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: Zero Radiance by Adriel Touchstone :

Episode IV – Key to the Diamond

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"Oh look. We're on TV." Masuyo said. Once again, the trio was back at Andrew's house. The news was running a story on the weird attacks that had been going on.

"So they finally realized all the attacks have been at the park..." Andrew said. Depicted on the monitor was an assortment of police, SWAT teams, National Guard units, and government officials investigating the park.

"Current analysis indicates that no weapon known to our society today could have caused a considerable percentage of the damage sustained by this area." said one official. "We are, of course, using all our available resources to investigate the nature of these activities."

"Idiots." Vincent said. "They won't be able to do anything against the DC."

"At least they're trying, though." Andrew replied.

"Admirable as the sentiment may be, it'll make it harder for us to train if this entire city is being watched." Masuyo mused. "And I'm still not confident about your powers, Andrew. They've shown themselves twice, now, but there was no transformation associated with either incident. And after all, it was Vincent who took out the shadowforms."

All three boys took a second to remember how Andrew's powers fizzled out after Alexander ran off. Luckily, Vincent came out of his trance and quickly did away with the shadow monsters.

"Yeah, I guess..." Andrew said, sighing. "But what can we really do? I can't go around trying to kill things, they'd lock me up right away."

"Against this Alex guy, I think you'd stand a fair chance of getting a duel... so maybe work on your deck?" Masuyo suggested.

"Come to think of it, we haven't seen yours yet." Vincent replied.

"Oh...right! So maybe me and Andrew have a duel?" Masuyo said.

"Alright, I'll go for that." Andrew said.

"Remember Andrew, you made a Blue Eyes. This time around, though, I think you should try and bring out your latent powers – make cards that are your own. The DC has a lot of money and now that they know we're challenging them with duelists, they'll be implanting their agents with knowledge of the game." Masuyo said, drawing five cards.

"They can do that?" Andrew asked, drawing six. "I'll take your word for it... and summon Obnoxious Celtic Guard to the field!" 1400/1200 A green-armored monster with a dark blue cloak appeared on the field. "This monster can't be destroyed by a monster with 1900 or more attack points, making it a great stall! I then set two cards face down and end my turn."

Masuyo drew. "You're right. It is a good way to prevent me from getting rid of your monster. However, I don't look to defeat your monster through sheer force." He slid a card into his disk. "I play the field spell card Hall of Hypnosis!"

All around the two duelists, the scenery became odd and distorted. An ominous ticking sound could be heard from an unknown source and the images of pocket watches of various sizes kept fading in and out.

"I now summon Elegant Hypnotist!" 1300/1000 A monster clad in a tuxedo with a black cape appeared on the field. "Hall of Hypnosis makes it impossible for this monster to be destroyed through battle, one-upping your monster. At any rate, it's time to show you what my deck can do and try to wake up your deck. Go, Watch of Hypnosis!" A golden pocket watch appeared in the hands of his monster. "I'll keep this out for insurance, not that it's necessary... but this card can act as a surrogate Hall of Hypnosis for an equipped monster, allowing it to access its effects... effects such as this one! Reverse Dextrism!"

Andrew watched as his monster switched its sword from its right hand to its left. "Reverse Dextrism allows me to take your monster's weaker value and subtract it from the stronger and apply that number to either its attack or defense value. In this case, I choose attack." 200/1200 "And now I attack your monster with Elegant Hypnotist!" His monster swung its watch like a pendulum several times before it suddenly stopped as it was at its lowest point. A beam of yellow energy shot from the clock face and struck through Andrew's monster, continuing to hit him as well. (A LP: 2900)

Andrew was about to draw, but Masuyo stopped him. "Wait! If you draw like you must be thinking to draw right now, you'll only get one of your normal deck cards. You need to focus, need to bring out your inner radiance. You know you can do it now, so just believe in that!"

Andrew nodded hesitantly. "I've never made up a card before... when I summoned the Blue Eyes, I knew exactly what I needed! But how can I just make up a card and expect it to be real if it doesn't even exist? I guess I have to try..." he drew and looked at his card. "I guess I can only make a Blue Eyes..." he said to himself sadly, looking at the drawn Paladin of White Dragon.

"It doesn't work for me... sorry..." Andrew said in a low voice as he summoned Cyber Harpie Lady. 1800/1300 "But if I can still win with this deck, that should be good enough for now, right?" His two facedown cards flipped up. "I have to at least try! My first card is Call of the Haunted, reviving Obnoxious Celtic Guard, which I will be sacrificing to my second card, White Dragon Ritual. Come out, Paladin of White Dragon!" 1900/1200

Masuyo tried to look cheerful as his monster was clawed through, reformed in a burst of smoke, and slashed twice, reforming again. The life point counters drew even. (M LP: 2900) "It's alright. These things take time." He drew a card. "Not this long, though... I had gotten control over my powers after only a few hours. It's been more than a day." Masuyo placed his drawn card on his disk. "I play Chant of Hypnosis – Supernaturality. This card hypnotizes one of my own monsters, making it think it has supernatural abilities. I choose two abilities that are listed in this card's effect and during my end phase, that monster is then switched to defense mode until the end of my next battle phase. This time, I choose to let my monster attack twice in the same battle phase and also grant it 500 more attack points." 1800/1300

"Why would you..." Andrew trailed off as his Cyber Harpie switched its whip hand while his Paladin turned its swords upside down. 500/1300 700/1200

"As you can see, my monster has used Reverse Dextrism on both your monsters. Attack! Double Hypnotic Sleep!" Two more blasts of yellow light came out of the Elegant Hypnotist's watch, striking both Andrew's monsters. (A LP: 500) "You understand that at this rate, you'll lose next turn. Why is this so difficult for you?"

Andrew's expression shifted to one of shame and suppressed anger. "It's not my fault... We don't even know that I'm supposed to have these powers. And I don't know how to make something come out of nothing, so how can you expect me to just...do it?"

"Because with what's at stake, you have to." Vincent said from behind the two.

"What do you mean? How can that possibly make this easier?" Andrew shouted.

"You're right. It doesn't. But it makes it more necessary. Unless you can do this," Vincent held up a card. Blade Knight. With a flash of red, it transformed into the Crimson Knight card. "You will surely fall to the DC."

"I can't be weak..." Andrew said to himself, looking at his deck. "I have to show them that I can be strong, too." He was surprised as he felt the sleeves of his white shirt change texture. They changed back almost instantly. "Power...the need for power? Is that the trigger?" He searched his mind. The Blue Eyes had appeared when he needed to win a duel. The knife had appeared when he needed to be stronger than Alexander. "Alright...power." He looked up from his deck at Masuyo and Vincent. "You're right. I need to have a powerful deck to defeat the DC. My purpose is pure, so I deserve this power! So I claim it now!" As he drew, a white trail of light followed the card.

"This isn't exactly what I was expecting, but it's a step in the right direction." He placed the card in his disk, white light spurting out of the card slot. "I play the spell Key to the Diamond! This card revives one monster in my graveyard with the dormant power of my radiance!" Andrew's paladin returned to the field and grasped the diamond key that was hovering in front of it. The dragon it was riding on disappeared and the warrior's skin changed to the same pale blue tone. "This is... White Paladin Phase 1!" 1900/1200 Andrew was caught by surprise as the two cards in his hand flashed and morphed.

"I also play the field spell card Diamond Aether!" The strange effects from Hall of Hypnosis disappeared, replaced by a thin, glittering white mist. "While this card is on the field, I can draw one additional card in my draw phase for each diamond-powered monster on my field, and I can at any time discard a card from my hand to negate one part of a card's effect, as long as that part affects a diamond-powered monster."

Masuyo was smiling openly, while Vincent was being slightly more internal. However, the same thought lurked at the back of their minds... "Key to the Diamond is still a wildcard. He had time to focus and was under no stress to create it. While we've seen him work miracles under pressure, we'll need to put him through more tests to make sure he's aptly in control."

"This begins my strikeback! Paladin, attack his hypnotist with Diamond Dance!" His monster crouched low to the ground and jumped up, raising its swords above it. As it fell, it brought its blades down, slashing the hypnotist. It then brought them up in an X-shape and spun around once, slashing horizontally. Each slash erupted in white light and the hypnotist dissolved. Andrew's monster teleported back to its proper side of the field. (M LP: 1000)

"Wait, 1000 life points?" Masuyo asked out loud, caught off-guard.

"Yes. To replace the lost ability to call a Blue Eyes to the field, my monster now deals the attack of a monster it destroys in damage to you, in addition to normal battle damage." Andrew replied, ending his turn.

Masuyo drew, well aware that his monster would not return since the Hall of Hypnosis had been destroyed.

"Good move. Then I'll simply set this monster face down and end my turn."

Andrew pulled a card from his deck. "Aw man, I guess Key to the Diamond only affects the cards I had in my hand when I played it... still, I can use this to discard if he gets another hypnotist out." "White Paladin, attack that facedown!"

His monster leapt up and fell horizontally at the card, spinning rapidly. The card was slashed through, revealing a young boy in a tuxedo far too big for him. The boy exploded in white light. (M LP: 200)

"The card you destroyed was Novice Hypnotist. This card allows me to either add a spell from my graveyard to my hand or to summon a level four or lower hypnotist from my deck to my field. In this case I'll summon another Elegant Hypnotist to the field, in attack mode." 1300/1000

Gritting his teeth, Andrew opted to try and remain on the bright side. "I end my turn."

Masuyo drew calmly. "Alright. I might not be able to use Reverse Dextrism since I don't have a Hall or Watch, but I still have my array of spells to use on you. And while you can negate two of them since you have two cards, I have four cards in my hand. Go, double Chants!" Inserting two of his cards in his disk, Masuyo commanded his monster to target the White Paladin. Twice, Andrew discarded, and twice, his monster was enveloped in the Aether. "Now you have no way of defending yourself. I activate Chant of Hypnosis – Sleep. Your monster's attack power is reduced to zero!"

The paladin slumped down onto its knees, leaning slightly forward, apparently asleep. "Elegant Hypnotist, win this battle for me!" Masuyo's monster waved its hands oddly and a pulse of energy flew out at Andrew's monster, who crossed its swords in front of itself. As the blast shattered, so seemingly did the paladin.

"What's going on?" Masuyo demanded.

"Phase monsters function similarly to Level monsters." Andrew replied. "To advance to second phase, a monster needs to have been targeted three different times. Even though two of your cards were negated, it was still targeted by them, so that was two. Your third chant sealed it. My monster evolves to Phase 2!"

The paladin's armor grew to cover its stomach area, a long tail grew out of the base of its spine, and its cape became longer. It started to levitate slightly and its swords flashed, blades turning gold. White Paladin Phase 2 2400/1400

"The duel is now mine! Paladin, counterattack!" Andrew's monster rose further into the air and crossed its swords, points towards Masuyo. From their intersection a crackling bolt of silver energy crashed into Masuyo's hypnotist, obliterating it just like its brother.

"Congratulations, Andrew. It looks like your deck is finally starting to grow into itself." (M LP: 0) "Let's see how long it'll last..."

Both players switched off their disks and put their decks away. "So what now?" Andrew asked.

Vincent walked out from under the shade of a tree. "You accessed your powers directly in a duel and now we see if you can do it outside of a duel."

"Wha-" Andrew didn't get a chance to formulate a sentence as Vincent's sword was suddenly aimed at his throat.

"We have enough control over our powers to be able to fight you without killing you." Masuyo replied, backflipping into Vincent's tree. "And your powers aren't developed to a point where they can really hurt us."

Andrew backed up but stopped as an arrow landed at his foot. "Uh..." he said.

"This isn't-" Vincent said before being cut off as something tackled him.

A blue arrow pierced the creature, which dissipated into smokelike shadow. "We're not safe anymore. Alexander has scouts looking for our energy signals." Masuyo said, jumping down from the tree.

"But that means..." Andrew said as several pools of shadow spawned. Out of each pool jumped one of Alexander's beastlike shadowforms.

"So much for the training," Vincent said, transforming. The area around him grew dark with the appearance of a dingy city, Vincent standing in the middle of a block of skyscrapers. He ran forward in the street and jumped into the air, swinging his sword in a vertical arc. It left several afterimages, each one disbanding into several strings of red light. These strings shot into the sky as Vincent landed, crashing down on him as a bolt of red lightning, also destroying the buildings around him. When the light dissipated, Vincent was standing in his armor in the middle of the fiery ruins.

"Try not to die, kid." Masuyo added. All of a sudden, he was standing on the surface of a small pond in what looked like a Shinto temple. The moon was shining above. Masuyo materialized his bow and arrow and fired at the moon. A column of blue light radiated downwards and illuminated him. It grew in intensity until Masuyo could no longer be seen. The waters of the pond blew away in a spiral and the light dissipated, revealing Masuyo in his Radiant costume. A breeze of cherry blossom petals blew past his face.

"They're ignoring me again..." Andrew said to himself, watching the two of them attack the shadowforms. Out of the corner of his eye, Andrew spied a dark figure moving slowly about. "My chance!" he said, trying to materialize a knife. Nothing happened and the figure started to stealthily close in on Masuyo and Vincent. "Stupid powers..." he muttered in a resigned tone. "Watch out!" he shouted, pointing directly at the figure.

On reflex, Masuyo shot an arrow and Vincent blasted a beam of red energy at their new target. It jumped out of the way and landed in front of Andrew. "You know, my boy, that wasn't a very polite thing to do."

"Neither is sneaking up on those guys while your lackeys do all the work...Alexander." Andrew replied.

"Ah, so you know my name. Weren't you the one who swore to take me down? Diamond Radiant, I recall?" Alexander said in the same tone used when one speaks to a child.

"Yeah, well... my powers have been glitchy lately." Andrew lied.

"That's unfortunate... as a gentleman, I would give you time to recover so we could have an honorable fight, but as a representative of the Dream Crisis organization, I'm afraid I have to take advantage of your temporary weakness and kill you." His black rapier appeared in his right hand. "You understand, of course."

Andrew raised his DuelDisk in response. "As a gentleman, you'll accept my challenge to a duel, right?" Not waiting for an answer, he slid his deck into its slot. "Sorry for not having a glove on hand...excuse the pun."

"My boy, there would be no honor in my defeating you in a duel. You're still a child." Alexander replied.

"Then how about making it a three on one?" Vincent asked. He and Masuyo had both materialized DuelDisks on their arms, having dispatched all of the shadowforms.

"And you consider that fair?" Alexander asked.

"Then make it a three on three." Masuyo replied. "Call in some of your agents or something."

Alexander dissipated his rapier and stroked his chin in thought. "Hmm...alright. I accept." Snapping his fingers, two agents appeared next to him, each with a loaded Dream Drive cannon. "A three on three duel, men." The agents both grinned darkly and all three men materialized black DuelDisks on their arms, decks appearing in a puff of black smoke.

"Duel!"

End

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Sorry for updating a bit late in the day, but I overslept. In response to a question of Andrew attaining his powers easily, this chapter shows that they don't work on command, per se. Andrew got his deck to half-function by focusing on his drive for power, but he still doesn't grasp the concept he needs to understand to access them completely.

Submit characters!

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