Here's another chapter, people. I think it turned out quite well. I really enjoyed writing it, which is always a good sign. It was just hard to write this duel, since for one deck I had to make up a bunch of cards as I went along, and the other just wasn't very combo-intensive, for reasons you will quickly discover. However, once I had a clear idea of what I wanted, it was easy. Here you go.
Also, Torisuna Miyato is the property of Noble Paladin, as is his deck.
The Way of the Dreamer
Chapter Six-Raise the Fighting Spirit
"Well now, that was one bone-chilling match." Pegasus's voice was suddenly heard, booming over the speakers. "Now, let's not lose any of that momentum and go right on into the next match. Torisuna Miyato and Rodion Michkov, come on down!"
As the two students, both Ra Yellow, entered the arena, Pegasus noticed a sudden movement to his right. Turning his head just a few degrees, he smiled as he saw that it was Seto Kaiba himself, taking a seat next to the game tycoon.
"Ah, Kaiba-boy, so good to see you. It's been far to long since we met in person. It's almost as if you're angry at me." the white-haired man spoke first, though the younger one did not physically react in any way.
"I don't know what you're up to, Pegasus, but I don't like you involving my students in your little games." Kaiba finally huffed, though his eyes remained fixed on the arena.
"Moi?" Pegasus asked, his voice full of sarcasm. "You give me too much credit, Kaiba-boy. My life as a villain is long since over. Why, haven't I worked hard to support you and your friends, and now even this school? I'm holding this little get-together so that your students can enjoy themselves, and you have the nerve to accuse me of working some plot?"
"Yes." came the simple reply.
"You're too harsh, Kaiba. Haven't you ever heard of 'forgive and forget'?"
"Of course." Kaiba responded, shifting his eyes to glance at Pegasus, the corners of his lips tugging upward ever so slightly. "I just say that it's bull. Once an enemy, always an enemy, until one or the other is crushed into the ground and disappears from existence."
"So violent. I simply cannot understand how someone as stone-hearted as you could be such a gamer at the core." the president of I2 said, somberly.
"And I will never understand how someone obsessed with comics and cartoons can consider himself sane." Seto shot back.
As the two corporate leaders silently taunted one another, Eizan Kiske was sitting back against his own chair, tapping a finger against his chin in thought, mumbling completely incoherently as he did.
"What's on your mind?" Katsu asked, turning his head to glance at his co-worker and friend.
"A few things. Foremost, though, is this match, that it is. I saw yesterday that Torisuna was the one who had issued the challenge, meaning this is going to get ugly, that it will." the older man explained.
At hearing this, Katsu's eyes took on a knowing look as he turned back to the arena. He knew Torisuna. He was a good student, having earned his way into Ra Yellow shortly after the second semester had begun the year previous. However, he was also rather headstrong in what he believed.
Back in the arena, the two Ra Yellows were shuffling one another's deck, eyeing the other all along, sizing them up. The first had short, ruffled black hair and stood a few inches over five and a half feet in height. His yellow blazer was hanging open and a red armband could be seen above his duel disk with an indiscernible character written on it. Opposite him, his opponent stood several inches taller than him, with a much more muscular frame, and short cropped back hair.
After a few minutes, they returned the cards to their rightful owners, inserted them into their duel disks, and shook hands. At this time Rodion noticed that Torisuna was gripping his hand rather harshly, as if barely holding back a sense of savagery, though he wasn't surprised.
"Ah, Torisuna, it's been quite some time since we clashed in an arena together. When did it last happen? Final examination of last year, wasn't it?" The other boy nodded as he turned on his heel and began to head back to his end of the arena. "Well then, I hope that you are even stronger now than you were then. After all, four months is a long time, meaning I hope that your deck has developed since then, as has mine."
"My deck is as effective now as it was back then." Torisuna responded curtly as he reached the arena edge, turning back to his opponent. "However, I'll still never sink to your level." (TLP:4000)
"Why do you assume such venom upon me?" Rodion asked as he activated his own duel disk. "Our current record his one win and one loss for each. As for our personal records, you and I are even, meaning that the winner of this duel will advance in the Ra Yellow standings and may even earn their way into Obelisk Blue. Is that perhaps why you wish to face me?" (RLP:4000)
"You know why I challenged you, so draw your cards and let's throw down!" Torisuna called, whipping six cards off of his deck while his Russian opponent did the same, but one card less. Looking his cards over, the ruffled haired duelist quickly came to a decision. "I summon Apprentice Futaiten (1900/1000) in attack mode!"
A man in loose red martial arts pants that were tied around the waste while a ribbon of sorts wrapped around his lower torso repeatedly, looking like bandages around his ribs and disappearing underneath his belt. A red martial artist styled haori hung open over his upper body, the kanji for "Conviction" printed on the back. Finally, a white headband on his forehead completed the getup.
"That's strange." Kazuki muttered aloud to himself. "That monster doesn't have any kind of effect."
Taking another card from his hand, Torisuna slipped it into a magic zone, a brown backed card appearing in front of him. Taking another card, he slipped it into the slot directly behind his monster and instantly the lightweight shoes, as well as the feet of the fighter began to glow with a bright golden light as an enlarged image of the played magic card appeared behind him. "Big Bang Shot increases my monsters attack by four hundred and allows him to deal damage through defense."
"That is very impressive, a monster on the first turn with twenty-three hundred attack points and trample, and without any real drawback." Rodion commented, drawing a card. "However, while your monster has no backlash to his impressive base power, your magic card does have a weakness, which I will now exploit to my advantage."
Grabbing a card from his original five, the Russian duelist slapped it onto his duel disk, summoning a young woman with faded azure and gray hair and dressed in light blue robes. "This is my Twilight Sorceress LV3 (1100/600), who when summoned destroys one of your magic or trap cards on the field, and I am targeting your equipment magic card."
Lifting her arms and extending her fingers towards Torisuna's field, the young girl released a shower of sparks that floated gently through the air, completely ignored by the fighter as they passed him by and attaching to the holographic image of the magic card behind him. Once they were all gathered upon the card, covering it in a thin coat of the sparkles, they began to detonate themselves, as if it had been covered in five crackers, eventually crumbling into nothingness.
Growling in annoyance, Torisuna moved to place the magic card into his graveyard but was stopped by his opponents gruff voice. "Do not forget that when Big Bang Shot is sent to the graveyard, the monster that it was equipped to is removed from play." True to his words, the fighter faded away from existence, leaving Torisuna with just his one set card. "Now it is time to see if you are hiding anything for me to worry about. Twilight Sorceress LV3, attack him directly!"
Again aiming her fingers in the direction of the darker haired boy, the feminine spell user unleashed a flurry of sparkles, these golden instead of the previously red ones, which dropped all around Torisuna, popping upon contact with him, though he did not seem to notice the minuscule bits of pain. Nor did he activate his set card, meaning the attack was completely successful. (TLP:2900)
"You're as determined as ever," Rodion sighed, taking another two cards from his hand. "I will set two cards face down, and that will end my turn."
Drawing a card, Torisuna considered his five separate options. "I summon Crusher Heshioru (1900/1350) in attack mode!" A man with an extremely muscular body appeared, his shoulders being at least four feet wide. He wore pants styled much like the previous monster, only white and ragged, the bottom hems completely shredded by years of harsh training. However, he wore no clothing over his upper body, nor did he have any sort of footwear.
"Next I'll use my Bond of Brothers magic card to pay one thousand of my life points to special summon two more level four or lower monsters of the same type as another monster on my field from my deck. So here come two more warriors!" (TLP:1900) Fanning his deck out, Torisuna quickly located the two monsters he was searching for and slapped them down onto his duel disk, each appearing on either side of the huge fighter he had summoned previously.
First to appear was a man almost identical to the first monster of the game, only his clothes were white and the kanji on his back read "Spirit" and his headband was navy blue. The second one was a slightly elder fighter, a thin mustache and beard beginning to frame his mouth, his scalp completely void of fuzz. His garments were also white, but his top was closed up and reached down to past his knees, much like a tai kwan doa uniform. On the back were two kanji, reading "Roundhouse Master".
"More normal monsters?" Kazuki asked himself, unable to wrap his mind around what Torisuna was doing. He'd had access to any level four or lower monsters in his deck. Surely he could have chosen monsters with effects to help reinforce his moves.
"These are Grappler Ikioi (1950/1600) and Kikanko Sensei (1950/0)." Torisuna introduced as the first took an aggressive fighting stance and the second one bowed slightly in reverence. "Next, before I go ahead and kick your ass, I'm gonna use Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the set card on your right!" As he spoke, a funnel of wind burst from the card image that appeared on his field, arching over the field and striking the target card, which revealed itself for a moment to be a Negate Attack trap card. Rodion grimaced. "Kikanko Sensei, attack his Sorceress of Twilight LV3!" Hands still clasped behind his back, the fighting master sprinted forward and leapt into the air, performing a forward flip, and extending his right leg as he completed the turn, using the force of his turn and drop to deliver a high-powered kick.
"Activate face down card!" Rodion called as his other set card shifted into the active position. "Level Flux allows me to sacrifice a LV monster on my field and then special summon a higher form of that monster, but no more than two evolutions further. For instance, I could use this card with an Armed Drgaon LV3 to summon either Armed Dragon LV5 or LV7, but not LV10. In this case, I will summon Twilight Sorceress LV7 (2500/2000) from my deck!" he explained as the female magic user on his field flashed brightly for a few seconds. When the light cleared, a much older and more experienced version of the blue haired witch could be seen, her hair a much livelier shade of blue and her robes now dark as midnight.
"You may have a strong monster, but I now have the right of recall." Torisuna commented as his monster suddenly retracted his foot, allowing him to come to a stop just inches from the empowered monster, landing in a crouch. Springing backwards, he landed next to the other two monsters and folded his arms across his chest.
"Yes, but none of your monsters has the needed attack points to defeat my monster." Rodion responded. "However, before you continue allow me to point out the final effect of Level Flux is that I take damage equal to the attack of the monster I sacrificed to activate it." His life points dropped by eleven hundred, ending so that they were equal to what Torisuna had when his turn had begun. (RLP:2900)
"Go, quick-play magic card!" Torisuna shouted, taking one of the two cards from his hand and activating it. "Fighter's Pride!" As the card activated, both the massive man and the swift brawler seemed invigorated with confidence and stood forward, appearing ready to take on the world. However, both were stopped as the older man lightly extended his arm to the side and gave a highly confident look to the younger warriors, who looked back at him knowingly before standing down. "This card doubles the attack points of a level four or lower non-effect monster on my field until my next draw phase, but it is the only monster I may attack with this turn. However, to make up for that loss, as well as the situational requirement, when he destroys a monster I will gain the destroyed cards attack power as life points. Also, your monster cannot refuse the battle and it cannot be chained to."
Stepping forward, his pose oozing with self-assurance, the master fighter turned so that he was facing the female mage at a forty-five degree angle. Lifting his right arm out from behind his back, he curled his five fingers towards him in a "come" command, smirking all the while.
Taking the challenge, the sorceress lifted just her right arm, palm out, and fired a blast of purple light at the sagely warrior, who continued to smile knowingly.
Jumping into the air, he dodged the attack. Slashing his arm through the air and pointing towards her, fingers stretched out, a simple cloth ribbon shot out from within his sleeve, moving with such speed that it was more a blur to those watching. Wrapping around the maidens neck, he pulled her towards himself, choking her slightly as she sailed through the air, coming to a stop against his thrusting foot, shattering into thousands of fragments of light.
The players scores quickly began to change, showing the dramatic shift in advantage and power following the battle between the pumped-up Kikanko Sensei (3900) and the Twilight Sorceress LV7 (2500), as well as the final effect of Torisuna's magic card. (RLP:1500)(TLP:3300)
"That ends my turn." Torisuna declared, happy with how that exchange had gone, although he had to use up most of his hand. Now he only held one card, while Rodion had four after drawing for his turn.
"I set two cards face down and summon a monster in defense mode to end my turn." Rodion called as the three cards appeared before him, evening out the number of cards they both held.
"Now I've got you and your level monsters on the run. Draw!" Torisuna called. Looking at the card in his hand, he frowned when he could not use it and so added it to the other one he held. Then, turning his attention back to the field, he called to his monsters, "Crusher Heshioru, attack his monster!" Cracking his knuckles, the massive fighter approached the horizontal card, lifted both arms above his head, clasped the hands together, and swung down with all the power of every muscle in his upper body (which was quite a few), shattering the card without any form of struggle.
"Reveal face down card!" Rodion shouted as one of his two cards flipped up. "My Evolution of Desperation trap card, which I can only play when a LV monster that is the lowest in its set is destroyed. I may skip my next draw phase to special summon the next highest level of that monster. You destroyed Armed Dragon LV3 (1200/900), so now I may summon Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1700)!"
In the wake of the shattered card formed a large beast, standing about seven feet high. It had short legs, thin arms ending in large hands, as well as a thick tail and small wings out of its back. It's head was rather bulbous, with large teeth and a seemingly stupid look in its eyes. It's body was mostly covered in orange scales, but much os it was covered in charcoal gray armor with spikes jutting out to add to the menacing factor.
"Damnit." Torisuna cursed, glaring at the large dragon. He knew of it's effect, as well as the potential abilities it could gain, and it meant that he had suddenly been forced onto the defensive. Sighing, he reached for the monster cards on his duel disk and began to shift them sideways. In response, each monster on the field fell into a crouch, arms crossed over their bodies defensively.
"My turn." Rodion called. "However, as I said, I must skip my draw phase this turn. However, it matters little thanks to the card in my hand. I play Level Up to turn my LV5 monster into Armed Dragon LV7 (2700/1000)!" he called as he emptied his hand. As he did so, the squat dragon on his field began to glow, his form growing until it was twice its previous size.
When the light faded, it was obvious that the new beast was much more deadly than it's earlier form. It's body was now fully matured, with powerful arms, a sturdy body, a narrow, developed head, and it's body covered in thick obsidian and silver armor with dozens of steel spikes and blades extending out at various points and angles. In every way it was more devastating than its previous form.
"Now it is time to activate my final set card, Level Strike, allowing me to activate the effect of a level monster on my field without cost, set to its maximum potential. However, I must forfeit my battle phase." he spoke. "But it will be worth it to allow my Armed Dragon LV7 to burn all of your monsters to ashes!"
Arching back its head, the large dragon let loose a massive wave of fire that engulfed the field, burning away all three of Torisuna's monsters without any trouble. The shorter duelist himself was forced to brace his body against the force of the attack and raising his arms up to try and protect himself from the blast.
"Is that all you've got?" he asked of his Russian opponent.
"For now, sadly, it is."
"Then it's my turn!" he called, whipping a card off of his deck, giving him three total. "I activate my face down card, Determination of the Underdog!" he shouted as the trap card revealed itself. "By discarding one card from my hand, I may special summon any normal monsters destroyed since my last end phase."
Taking the card he had drawn the previous turn, he placed it into his graveyard and smiled as three cards were shot out into his hand. As he set the cards onto the field, his Crusher Heshioru (1900/1350), Grappler Ikioi (1950/850) and Kikanko Sensei (1950/0) reappeared on his field.
"You can summon them all you want, but with my Armed Dragon I can just keep on destroying them." Rodion laughed as he watched the monsters return and scowl at him, showing their irritation at how he had destroyed them the way he had.
"Yeah, we'll just see about that. I activate Treasure of Fate, allowing me to roll a die and then draw a number of cards equal to what I roll. Then I have to remove that same number of cards from my deck from play." Torisuna called as the image of his new card appeared and spat out a die which bounced along the floor for a moment, eventually coming to a stop on...
"A two?" Torisuna frowned, his face falling in disappointment. Straightening himself out, he drew the top two cards off of his deck and then took two more and slipped them into his back pocket. "Not what I was hoping for."
"Heh, indeed it is most unexpected." Rodion agreed with a light chuckle. "However, you still hold three cards now, and I have none. Surely you can show me some of your resolve, can you not."
"Don't patronize me." Torisuna shot back. "I summon a monster in defense mode and set one card face down to end my turn."
Drawing a card, Rodion laughed lightly when he saw what the card was. "The times may have played against you this time my friend, but they seem to have an ironic sense of humor indeed. I activate my own Treasure of Fate. Now, let us see if my luck is any stronger than yours, shall we." Another white die fell to the ground and began to bounce about, finally coming to a stop with five black dots aimed at the ceiling. "And indeed it is." Rodion laughed, drawing five cards and then removing five more, in total burning away ten cards in his deck. Quickly glancing at what he had removed, he placed them into a small pouch that had been sewed onto his pant leg.
"Now that I have so many wondrous options open to me, I think I shall begin to take you apart. And I will begin by summoning my Mystic Swordsman LV2 (900/0) in attack mode." A short warrior in purple samurai clothing with a white headdress and mantle appeared, a small sword in his hands.
"Now I shall equip Armed Dragon LV7 with Level Slasher, which is a very useful tool in this deck. You see, when a Level monster destroys one of your monsters in battle, I may then sacrifice another Level monster on the field and summon the next level." he explained as the claws of the dragon began to glow with a golden light.
"Finally, the magic card known as Level Assault allows all Level monsters on my field to attack twice this turn, but may only be activated if I have fewer monsters than you do."
From his seat, Kazuki continued to ponder the way the duel was going. Thus far it had been pretty even, going back and forth over and over again. However, Torisuna had minimal defenses now, and Rodion didn't seem to worried about the success of his attack. After all, it was obvious that Torisuna didn't use effect monsters, so there was no threat from his set monster, and even if it were an effect monster then the Mystic Swordsman would easily take care of it.
Yet despite all of this, Torisuna didn't seem terribly worried. No, that wasn't it. He seemed plenty worried about losing his monsters. However, he seemed confident about something that went deeper than the current state of the duel. Was he just happy that the duel had been so even?
"What do you make of it, Eizan?" Katsu asked from his seat.
"Torisuna knows that he's about to lose his monsters, as well as a good number of life points, and that by the turns end he'll be facing off against two very powerful monsters. However, his pride is satisfied with how the duel is going. They have fought as equals, and he's still in this duel. He's being pushed to his limits, and that's what he wants. He says he has his ideals, but in the end, he duels for his pride and to get stronger." Eizan sagely explained.
"True." Katsu said, his voice cold as ever. "And of course Rodion is responding by giving his all. He duels simply because he enjoys it, yet Torisuna is capable of bringing something else to the surface in him. He can feel Torisuna's challenge, and so he feels compelled to respond and give his all. No one else is capable of drawing this out of Rodion, and that in and of itself is a victory for Torisuna."
Back in the arena, Rodion was setting a single card face down, leaving him once again with just one card in his hand. Looking across the field, his eyes met with his rival's, both sets narrowing in determination.
"Armed Dragon LV7, attack Kikanko Sensei and Grappler Ikioi!" As dragon arched back his head, preparing his attack, the two target monsters both sprang into action, sprinting across the field towards the beast.
Coming to a stop at the base of the dragon, the younger fighter spun around and squatted slightly, cupping his hands in front of him just as the elder warrior leapt into the air, his foot landing in the hands of his waiting partner, who flung him up towards the head of their target. Spinning in the air, the master fighter spun around rapidly in a roundhouse kick, striking the dragon on the side of the face.
The beast didn't even flinch.
Snapping its head down, the dragon released a stream of fire that engulfed both fighters and burned them to ashes, dealing immense damage both times. (TLP:1600)
"And since my Armed Dragon just destroyed two of your monsters, my Mystic Swordsman grows, first to LV4 (1900/1600) and then to LV6 (2300/1700)." Rodion explained as his monster grew until he was about five feet in height and his mantle changed so that there was a long white piece that hung over his front down to his knees and a long cape down his back. Also, he now held two glowing swords.
Then he grew again, this time ending at about six and a half feet, plus his headdress which now curved backwards while a guard covered the upper half of his face with holes for the eyes. His armor had turned dark blue, and the front half of the mantle was now sewed to the cape down to the waist, at which point both sides flared out in their own directions. Finally, his short blades were now much longer, made of the same plasmic energy as the previous forms only seeming to be flexible, and a second, short blade ran up along side each one.
"Now, Mystic Swordsman LV6 will attack your Heshioru and then your face down monster!"
Flipping the blades around in his hands so that they extended from the outer end of his fists, the swordsman charged across the field with expert grace, rivaling that of Torisuna's previous monsters. However, the massive crushing monster was no match for his agile foe, who twisted his body to the right, adding force to a slash from his left hand sword, slicing through the muscles of Torisuna's monster, defeating him in a single blow. Then, twisting to the left, the sword user slashed diagonally up, cutting the horizontal horizontal card, the last monster Torisuna had, in half. (TLP:1200)
"Also, do not forget the effect of my Mystic Swordsman LV6," Rodion pointed out. "Since he attacked a face down monster, it was destroyed by his effect and then set on top of your deck instead of the graveyard."
Clenching his teeth, Torisuna followed the directions, returning his monster to his deck. "I'm not out yet, you bastard. I've still got plenty of life points to go."
"Yes, but you're out of monsters, have only one set card on the field, which aparently you cannot use to protect yourself, and only one card in your hand. Add to that the fact that you will be drawing a useless monster in your next turn and the monsters on my field, and I would say I pretty much have you locked." the Russian boy replied, very matter-of-factly.
"We'll see about that. Draw!" he shouted, snapping the card off with a great ferocity. "I play my set card, Tiny Pound Hammer to shuffle itself and the two cards in my hand back into my deck and then draw that same number of cards!" he called as he shuffled the three cards into his deck quickly. Drawing three new cards, he smirked.
"Were you hoping that by setting that card for now you could bluff me out until you had enough cards in your hand worth shuffling in?" Rodion asked, curious.
"I knew it was only a matter of time before you tried something like that lock, so I decided to try and hold out until it was the right time to use my hammer." Torisuna answered as some of his hair fell over his eye. Brushing it aside, he examined his three cards.
"I summon Unarmed Soldier Kiryoku (1900/1450) in attack mode!" A man in red armor much like Rodion's swordsman without the headdress or mantle, appeared. Stamped onto his chest was the kanji for "Fist", and to enforce that he took a stance with his two hands clenched tightly and held at the ready for an attack, leaving the remainder of him unguarded.
"What is the rest of your plan?" Rodion asked, since it was obvious that Torisuna was planning a combination.
"Don't rush me." Torisuna shouted back as he grabbed the card on the right. "I equip my Unarmed Soldier with Never Hesitate, which can only be equipped to a non-effect warrior monster, powering him up by six hundred points and gives him a trample ability." A crimson aura began to emit itself from the monster on Torisuna's field, who now seemed even more eager than before to go into battle.
"Now, Unarmed Soldier Kiryoku (2500), attack his Mystic Swordsmna LV6!" Finally free to move, the red garbed fighter sprinted across the field, each step seeming to carry him across wide ranges of ground in an instant. Standing in front of the magical soldier, he startled the sword user and grabbed his wrist to keep him from using his weapons to attack. Then, moving the swordsman's arm out of the way, he punched with his right hand, digging into the belly of his opponent, causing all sorts of internal damage, killing the man without ever having to draw blood. (RLP:1300)
"I set one card face down and that ends my turn." Torisuna called, emptying his hand.
"Draw!" Rodion shouted, giving him two cards to choose from. "I summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4 (1600/1000) in attack mode!" A large bird, about three feet tall, appeared on his field, it's body entirely metal.
'He could have discarded that card to destroy Torisuna's monster and then attack directly, so why didn't he?' Kazuki asked himself.
"Rather than recklessly using my dragon's effect to destroy your monster, I have summoned this little creature to help in bringing out one of the most deadly Level monsters there is. You have proven yourself to be far to resourceful, otherwise." Rodion explained to his opponent, though Kazuki got the feeling it was more so for the sake of those in the audience who were confused.
"Next I shall activate my face down card, Level Turning, to special summon a Level monster from my graveyard, regardless of his summoning requirements. So, I will of course choose my Mystic Swordsman LV6 (2300/1700). In exchange, you may now draw two cards." Shocked so see the energy sword wielding monster reappear on the field, Torisuna nearly forgot to draw the cards his opponent had just given him.
"And now, for my final magic card, Level Jump! I paying half of my life points, I may now evolve a Level monster on my field to its highest form. So, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4, become the Black Flame Dragon LV8 (3000/1800)!" (RLP:650)
In a flash of light, the metal covered bird multiplied in size, coming out to be just as big as the Armed Dragon, with its wings spread out wide, sturdy legs to stand on, a new draconic tail, and large, talon-shaped arms.
"While this monster is in play, I may choose to negate and destroy magic cards at my own discretion." Rodion explained while his opponent bit back a grimace. "Now, let us test the waters, shall we? Armed Dragon LV7, attack his Unarmed Soldier!"
Pulling its arm back, blades glowing with gold light, the dragon prepared his attack and thrust forward, intent on skewering the red armored fighter through the chest. In response, the smaller duelist's monster copied the movement, their fists connecting, power crackling at the point of impact. Though neither of them seemed ready to give up, everyone knew it was just for show and that the dragon would soon overtake the fight. And take the fight it did, beginning to push the red warrior back, and finally down onto one knee.
"Get out of my pool!" Torisuna suddenly called, surprising everyone as his trap card revealed itself. "Activate face down card, Fight to the Death! When you attack a warrior monster on my field, this card destroys your monster and increases my monsters attack by five hundred!" Instantly the struggle did a complete turn-around as the scarlet clothed warriors aura suddenly increased in size and intensity, allowing him to start pushing the massive claw back. Then, with one last spring of his legs he overpowered the dragon, dissolving its arm as he pushed forward, followed by the rest of its body.
"So very impressively done." Rodion clapped, invigorated by the battle, even though it had come out worse for him. "Since I have no cards left in my hand, my turn is over." Torisuna drew.
"Time for me to prove that I've been right all these years; that effect monsters are an abomination and that someone with a focused mind can break them in half!"
"Torisuna, you make the mistake in believing that one method of battle is superior to another." Rodion solemnly declared, his arms folded over his chest. "Do you think that there are others who share your feelings on the matter?"
"Of course." the shorter boy replied. "Many people will agree with me that relying on the effects of monsters is cowardice. We should push on with our monsters raw strength and use magic and trap cards to gain the advantage and protect ourselves. That is how this game first was, and that is how it should remain. Those who hide behind their monsters effects are just scared of what the opponent might have waiting rather than biting the bullet and fighting head-on! They were scared of trap cards, so they would use Jinzo. They couldn't handle powerful enemy monsters, so they'd use Cyber Jar. Even you; you use your monster effects to control the field while focusing your magic and trap cards to help use those monster effects. Why not just use normal monsters, and then get those destructive effects out of your magic and trap cards!"
"If that is what you have decided, then come at me, and let us decide here and now!" Rodion called back, accepting the challenge, a confident smile on his face.
"Yes, let's!" Torisuna shouted back. "Kiryoku (3000), attack Mystic Swordsman LV6!" Jumping into the air, the fighter's aura flared out, keeping him airborne and thrusting him forward. Upon reaching his target, he let loose a flurry of punches, striking faster than the eye could properly register. After a few seconds, the pummeled body of Rodion's monster fell to the ground and shattered, taking with it nearly all of his life points. (RLP:50)
"I set one card face down and end." Torisuna called, wiping some sweat from his brow.
"I draw and activate Level Draw, allowing me to draw one card for every two levels of a Level monster on my field. So I draw four because Horus is a level eight monster!" Rodion called, giving him a hand of four cards, twice the size of Torisuna's. "I play Level Restoration, allowing me to remove one Level monster that is at least level five from my graveyard from play to revive another Level monster. So I remove Armed Dragon LV5 from play to special summon Armed Dragon LV7 (2800/1000) from my graveyard."
As he spoke, Rodion watched the massive creature form on the field, restored to full power and ready for revenge. "I'm not done there, though. I sacrifice Armed Dragon LV7 to summon Armed Dragon LV10 from my hand!" In a flash of light, the black armored dragon grew again, the end result being bigger, darker, with even more ferocious looking armor, each blade looking to be about the size of a grown man's body. "Now to use his effect, I discard a card from my hand to destroy all face up monsters on your field."
Preparing a fireball of immense proportions, the dragon continued to watch it's prey, a monster of equal attack power, though significantly smaller. Add to that the fact that it didn't even have a special ability of its own, and the dragon was terribly insulted. As it let loose the flame, one could have sworn they saw the dragon smirking at the coming destruction.
One would be even more surprised when they saw the ball of fire suddenly fizzle out in mid flight, as if it had suddenly run out of material to burn to sustain itself.
"What happened?" Rodion asked, his surprise immense. Then he saw Torisuna's field, and he understood.
"I activated my Skill Drain trap card to pay one thousand life points, and so now all monsters on the field are stripped of their effects. Without an effect, your dragon can't destroy my monsters." the smaller boy explained, smirking, even though it had taken most of his life points to do that. (TLP:200)
Chuckling, Rodion set a card face down and ended his turn. Instantly Torisuna drew, the transition from one player to the other looking like one fluid, synchronized motion. Taking a minute to glance at his armband, he instantly came up with a move.
"It ends here, Rodion, so let's test my luck again. I play Magic Shard Excavation to discard the last two cards in my hand to take back a magic card from my graveyard." Dropping the cards into his graveyard, he waited a minute for the card he wanted, which he then played. "Treasure of Fate once again!" Biting his lip, he waited with baited breath to see what he would roll, and nearly split his face in half laughing when it came up as a six! Drawing and then removing a total of twelve cards, he looked his new hand over and instantly grabbed half of them and began slipping them into magic zones.
"I play Spell Economics, meaning I no longer have to pay life points to magic cards. Then I have two more Bond of Brothers cards to summon a total of four monsters from my deck, and its free this time because of my Economics card." he laughed as he searched for the cards he wanted.
"Fist Fighter Sentou (1950/750)!" A man in clothes just like the first few monsters Torisuna had summoned wore, only black, appeared, with a black headband and the kanji reading "Fight" written in white on his back. "Grappler Ikioi (1950/1600)!" Another copy of the man in white, but otherwise identical to Sentou appeared, his back still reading "Spirit". "Kikanko Sensei (1950/0)!" Another of the elderly fighting masters appeared, hands behind his back as he stood tall and ready for battle. "And Deathblow Jifushin (1950/1550)!" A man in clothes identical to the master fighter, only blue and the kanji for "Pride" on his back, appeared. Also, he wore his top hanging open so that it appeared more like a trench coat of sorts, revealing a very muscular body underneath, with a white tank-top wrapped around him.
"And what do you plan to do with these monsters?" Rodion asked, although he already had a pretty good idea what Torisuna was planning.
"My monsters are going to unite and kick your now effectless monsters into next semester! Maybe the semester after that." Torisuna shouted back as he took the center card from his hand and played it. "Brave Attack allows my monsters to combine for an attack this turn, but I'll have to sacrifice them all at the end of the turn. However, I doubt that that'll be a problem, since combined they total ten thousand eight hundred attack points!"
Rodion's eyes widened at seeing this. Although he had expected something like it, seeing the combo actually unroll was still an amazing sight. Shocked, Kazuki found himself just staring at the field of five monsters, his jaw hanging as he tried to wrap his mind around the fact that there were enough attack points there to beat any duelist full of life points nearly three times over.
Taking a minute to twist so that his armband was facing his opponent, Torisuna quoted what was written there: "'Stength of Mind, Strength of Victory!' That is what I've done here. I've combined my own ideals with my monsters, who I combined with magic cards and then with each other, and now victory is mine!"
Taking another of his cards from his hand, Torisuna pushed it into a magic zone. "A Vow on the Grave of a Fallen Hero allows me to remove normal warrior monsters in my graveyard from play to destroy one card on your field, so I remove Crusher Heshioru from play to destroy your face down card." Taking the card from his graveyard, Torisuna did not seem to notice as a massive, astral fist appeared on his field, spinning rapidly before launching forward and smashing the target card to pieces.
"Now the stage is set. Fist Fighter Sentou, Grappler Ikioi, Unarmed Soldier Kiryoku, Kikanko Sensei, and Deathblow Jifushin, attack his Armed Dragon LV10!"
As one, the five warriors leapt into the air, a blue aura encompassing them, combining their strength. Simultaneously they struck, Sentou's fist striking the chest, Ikioi ramming head-on into the dragon's throat, Kiryoku's fist embedding itself in the dragon's stomach, Kikanko Sensei kicking strait up, knocking the dragons head to snap back, cracking its neck. Finally, Jifushin decended from above, kicking directly into the face of the dragon, causing its face to cave in slightly.
With the combined power of the attacks, the dragon fell backwards, dissolving into millions of pixels as it did so. (RLP:0)
Everyone was silent, watching in awe at the incredible display. Had Torisuna, armed with a deck void of effect monsters, brought Rodion Mevich and his Level monsters crashing down? It seemed almost unthinkable. How could a deck with only so many effect cards be so powerful? Was Torisuna right?
"Well done both of you." Pegasus called, rising to his feet. "What a display. I don't know if anyone will be able to follow it up. It just went back and forth, back and forth, until finally ending in a tie."
"A tie?" Torisuna asked, looking down at his life point reader. (TLP:0) A holographic image of the score flashed above his head, followed by countless confused murmurs from the audience, drowning out all other noise.
"Please, please, calm down." Pegasus called, his voice barely rising above everyone else thanks to the microphone at the base of his neck. After several minutes of this, the confused voices died down and then the event sponsor continued.
...At least he would have if he hadn't been cut off by the voice of Seto Kaiba as he stepped forward, standing next to his business rival.
"Torisuna did not destroy Rodion's set card, Rodion activated it-"
"Kaiba, whatever are you doing? I was doing a fine job of handling the crowd and was just about to explain." Pegasus interjected, his voice feigning offense.
"You take far too long. Plus I thought I'd spare them the sound of your voice." the younger man answered before turning back to the audience. "Rodion's set card was a trap known as Level Corruption, which deals the opponent damage equal to the level of an LV monster times two hundred at the time of destruction. It's effect blankets the field all turn long, so even though it was destroyed before Armed Dragon LV10 was destroyed, it's effect remained, and so Torisuna took two thousand damage when he destroyed Armed Dragon."
After hearing this, the crowd instantly broke out into cheers after seeing such an amazing duel. It would be a hard act to follow, but there were plenty of duels to follow.
Down on the field, Torisuna and Rodion were shaking hands, both smiling.
"That was quite a duel." Rodion commented.
"Yeah, it was." Torisuna agreed. "Of course, next time I'll be stronger and I'll prove my point there and then."
"Torisuna, is it no possible that neither way is absolutely true?" Rodion asked. "So long as you push yourself, testing your every faculty, isn't victory always possible, and isn't such a warrior always honorable?"
"Even if that's true, I'm going to continue on my path as I have until someone can prove to me the absoluteness." the shorter of the two answered. Turning around, he walked off, casually waving as he did so. Rodion did the same.
XXXXXXXX
"Well, that was unexpected, that it was." Eizan said, leaning back.
"It's only unexpected because these duels don't have anything to do with your plans." Katsu pointed out, straitening his glasses.
"Of course they are related to what is to come. It just doesn't matter to me who wins, just so long as he's watching, that it does. For now, sit back and relax. You'll need to be ready for later, that you will."
"Do you think Pegasus will keep his word?" Katsu asked.
"Of course." Eizan smiled. "He has nothing to lose, that he does not. Plus he's a man of honor. Once we do our part, he'll fulfill his part of the contract, that he will. In truth, I don't think he'd normally have put the conditions on it if I hadn't explained the situation."
"I have little doubt of that." Katsu said. "Still, the conditions are there, and Pegasus is no fool. He's a very clever man, and an eccentric one at that. Despite how much you've planned this out, he wont make it easy, and he'll do everything he can to catch you off guard."
"I know that." Eizan said, his face and voice caught between his usual sing-song happy and dead serious. It was a bizarre and frightening combination. "I'm counting on it, that I am."
To Be Continued...
Well, that was certainly interesting. And an intense duel, if I do say so myself, which I do. Again I'd like to thank Noble Paladin for submitting Torisuna and his interesting deck. And, of course, I appreciate all of my readers and reviewers who have enjoyed this story. Your excited words continue to inspire me to write, and all too often do I find myself in a situation where writing just doesn't sound all that great. Then I remember you guys and force myself to get started, and that is how I really get into the work.
Next Time-In the wake of the duel between Torisuna and Rodion, various others clash in harsh competition. Before too long, the day is half done. Now it's time for the duels between two higher-up students to begin. Up first are two young Ra Yellows, both with just one goal in mind: Obelisk Blue!
Next Time-Hero's Journey; Nine Virtues
Torisuna-Fighter's Pride
Rodion-Twilight Sorceress LV3, Twilight Sorceress LV7, Level Flux, Evolution of Desperation, Level Slasher, Level Draw (Seeker of the Soul), Level Assault, Level Jump, Level Corruption, Level Restoration, Level Strike
Torisuna's Cards by Noble Paladin-Apprentice Futaiten, Kikanko Sensei, Grappler Ikioi, Crusher Heshioru, Never Hesitate, A Vow on the Grave of a Fallen Hero, Fight to the Death, Fist Fighter Sentou, Unarmed Soldier Kiryoku, Deathblow Jifushin