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: Zero Radiance by Adriel Touchstone :
Episode V – Weed Issues
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Each player drew five cards, Alexander drawing a sixth. "I'm sure you all respect seniority, right?" The three radiants half-nodded in reply. "Glad to see that some sense of propriety still remains.
"Well then, shall we? I'll start off by summoning Shade the Lotus in attack mode." 0/500 A fairly large lotus flower appeared in front of Alexander, flower yet to bloom. "I'll then set a card face down and end my turn. I think it fair that one of your team takes the next turn."
"Those are the rules, old man." Masuyo said, drawing. "Hall of Hypnosis and Elegant Hypnotist in attack mode!" 1300/1000 Masuyo's two cards both activated. As his monster appeared, standing elegantly, the field around the six warped oddly and a ticking sound became audible. "Back to your side."
One of Alexander's agents drew a card. "I summon Dark Nutrient to the field." 700/700 A black collection of minerals appeared on the field. "I then play the spell card Nutrient X." A black capsule appeared on the field. "This card is unique among the nutrients, for it allows me to convert cards in my deck to either life points as is standard, or attack points on my monster – 100 for each card discarded to the graveyard. I discard 34 cards!"
Andrew gasped as the agent discarded his entire deck to the graveyard, his monster's attack points rising to 4100. "Then from my hand I play the spell Magic Shard Excavation. This card allows me to discard two cards from my hand to return one spell to my hand. One of the cards I discarded was Nectar of Darkness which, when put into the graveyard, allow me to add a card from my graveyard to my hand." The agent placed two cards from his graveyard into his hand, bringing his hand count to three.
"I now play the two Déjà vu spell cards in my hand, allowing me to return ten cards from my graveyard to my deck." Twenty cards returned to his deck. "I then replay the Nutrient X that I returned to my hand from Magic Shard Excavation." Twenty cards left his deck again, leaving him with no hand, no deck, and a monster with 6100 attack points.
"Finally, I equip my Dark Nutrient to my commander's Shade the Lotus. The effect of Dark Nutrient is that when equipped to a plant-type monster, that monster gains Dark Nutrient's attack points."
The minerals spread across the ground that the lotus flower was resting on and were absorbed into it. A strange symbol appeared on one of the lotus' petals. "The first effect of Shade the Lotus is that whenever it is equipped with a card, that card is destroyed and any bonuses it granted my monster become permanent." 6100/500
"I end my turn." the agent said.
Andrew drew. "This is ridiculous. So you tricked me into a three on three duel in order for you to just leech off of your partners?" he accused. "Yes!" he mentally said to himself, looking at the card drawn. "Unfortunately, that plan backfired for you! I play Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two.
"Next I play Key to the Diamond, reviving Paladin of White Dragon as White Paladin Phase 1!" 1900/1200 Andrew's monster was no longer on its dragon, its skin color now the same as its dragon's used to be.
Just like last time, Andrew's hand cards morphed. He took a moment to look them over. "I set three cards face down and end my turn."
The last of Alexander's agents drew. "I also summon Dark Nutrient to the field!" 700/700
"This can't be right..." Andrew said as the agent executed the exact same move that his partner had. "Can it? They have to be cheating!"
Vincent shook his head. "Their sole purpose in existence seems to be supplementing Alexander in duels. Their Dream Drives have probably been tampered with..."
The lotus was now the size of a small house and had moved to behind Alexander. 12,200/500
"End turn." the agent said.
Vincent drew. "I summon Crimson Knight to the field in defense mode and equip it with Crimson Shield." 1400 /1000 + 1000 Vincent's avatar monster appeared, crouching behind its shield. The three radiants watched in surprise as a red glow illuminated Alexander's lotus for a second, its defense points rising by 1000. "End turn." Vincent said, no counter to this surprise.
Alexander drew. "Ah, the rush of a good duel..." He flipped his facedown card face up. "Root System can only be activated when I have a plant sub-type monster on the field. I can sacrifice life points to add to its attack points. Additionally, for the rest of the duel, all our graveyards are treated as one. However, I don't intend to use it yet... I activate two spell cards, Mutual Agreement and Forked Magic." The first of his cards displayed a contract with two signatures, while the second displayed a stream of magic hitting some sort of pole and splitting, then flying off in opposite directions. "Mutual Agreement lets me declare a number of life points, as long as that number won't finish off the target player...I'll get to this in a second. That number is divided by 400 and rounded up. Then, I choose a player to give me that many life points. Then, they draw the smaller number in cards. Forked Magic, meanwhile, allows me to discard a card from my hand to give the effect of a card to two players instead of one. The number I declare is 3999 and the players I choose are my two agents."
Alexander's life points rose to 11,998. His agents both lost by deck out. "Now for Root System. I tribute all but 1 of my life points to add that number to my monster!" 24,197/1500 The lotus grew even larger behind Alexander. "And time to reveal the power of my monster. You see, when this monster attacks, it attacks all targets on my opponent's side of the field. Usually this problem is offset by Lotus' natural ability to retain all bonuses given to it, plus the ability to copy all stat bonuses given to my opponent's monsters, as you saw with that Crimson Knight. This, however, is a more direct method. Lotus, attack them all!"
The lotus flower suddenly bloomed and three vines shot out of its core, aimed at each other monster on the field.
A card on Andrew's side of the field flipped face-up. "Diamond Lattice allows me to switch one of my Diamond monsters to defense mode in order to turn your monster's attack points to zero for the battle phase!" The tables had suddenly turned. Vincent grinned despite himself.
The vines, however, had other plans as they redirected themselves and wrapped around Andrew's card, blocking its effect. Three vines exactly half the diameters of the originals shot out, flying towards the original targets. "The reason I gave my monster so much power," Alexander said calmly, "Is that I can halve its attack points to completely negate a spell or trap." 12,099/1500
Reacting quickly, a second card flipped up on Andrew's side of the field. "A second Diamond Lattice!" And once more, the vines snared his trap and three more shot out. 6050/1500
"Something tells me even you aren't lucky enough to have drawn three of your traps." Alexander said confidently.
"Fair enough." Andrew replied. "The other card I set is Kickback Trap. Don't bother negating it – its effect is the same as your monster's negation ability. It cuts your lotus' attack points in half." 3025/1500
"Still, it's enough to eliminate your monsters." Alexander replied, watching his monster diminish in size before continuing its attack. All three monsters were speared through, Masuyo also taking 1725 damage. (M LP: 2275) "Congratulations, however, on preventing me from delivering a one-turn kill, Andrew." Alexander said, applauding lightly. "I'll set these two cards and end my turn."
Masuyo drew. "Fortunately, the effect of Hall of Hypnotism prevents my monster from being destroyed as a result of battle." He looked his hand over – five cards. Vincent had four and Andrew two. Alexander's hand was completely empty.
"With no options left, this is our chance for a strikeback!" he said, playing three cards. "Chant of Hypnosis – Sleep reduces your monster's attack to zero, though I know you'll use its effect to halve its attack and negate my card." Alexander obliged, his monster's attack falling to an unimpressive 1513. "Chant of Hypnosis – Supernaturality lets me give my monster two of three effects - I'll give it 500 more attack points and let it attack twice. Even at such a low attack value, you're still forced to negate my card." Again, Alexander's monster shrunk 757. "My second supernaturality will also be negated, but by my calculations, your monster's attack has fallen to only 379. Using Reverse Dextrism would only be detrimental to me right now, so I'll just attack!"
Masuyo's hypnotist waved its hands and a pulse of invisible energy flew out, shredding Alexander's lotus. "The duel is over!"
Alexander started to laugh. "Is that what you think? Poison of the Old Man gives me 1200 life points before I lose...921 of them, what an odd value, don't you think?" (Al LP: 279)
As Andrew pulled a card, Alexander's lotus appeared back on the field with 3025 attack points. "Did you notice that Root System never disappeared? It lets me pay half my life points to destroy it. Then, I can resummon a plant sub-type monster to my side of the field that was destroyed through battle during the last turn. It returns as it was at the beginning of that turn."
"Doesn't matter!" Andrew replied. "Carbon Paper lets me do two things. Firstly, I can pay 500 life points to revive a monster from my graveyard for the turn. I can also copy the effect of one monster on the field and give it to one of my monsters. I copy Elegant Hypnotist's Reverse Dextrism and give it to my revived White Paladin Phase 1, marking two actions that have targeted my monster. I then attack your monster, using the technique I acquired!" Shade the Lotus' attack fell to 1525, its boosted defense serving to harm it rather than help it. Andrew's monster slashed it through, each cut glowing white before the lotus exploded into plant matter again. (Al LP: 2004)
"Wait, what?" Andrew asked, looking at Alexander's life points.
"I activated the trap Lotus Blessings, doubling the attack of a monster on your side of the field in exchange for me setting a card on my side of the field from my graveyard. This time, I chose your monster, giving it 3800 attack points instead of 1900. Then I activated my set card, Nutrient Z, to give myself 4000 life points before your attack got through."
"Still," Andrew said, his monster slashing at Alexander. "The effect of my monster is that it deals the attack of the monster it destroys as damage to your life points. And according to the effect of Carbon Paper, if my monster destroys another monster as a result of battle, it gets to stay on the field, though the copied effect does wear off." (Al LP: 479)
Vincent drew. "Nothing left, Alexander. Surrender."
Alexander waved Vincent on. "You'll find I'm far from done."
Accepting the challenge, Vincent placed a card on his disk. "Crimson Ranger in attack mode!" 1250/1400 A monster in a red cloak appeared on the field with a longbow in hand. "I attack you directly."
The monster shot a red arrow from its bow which collided with a large pill that had appeared on Alexander's side of the field, cracking it and spraying its contents all over Alexander. "The trap card Nutrient Y." he explained. "In the case of a direct attack, before your attack goes through, I gain the attack of all attack-mode monsters on the field as life points." (Al LP: 479 + 1300 + 1900 + 1250 – 1250 3679)
"End turn." Vincent said.
Alexander drew and smiled. "My Lotus was my warmup to test your skills. Now, however, we'll try for something a little more higher-powered. Since I have a copy of Nutrient X, Nutrient Y, and Nutrient Z in my graveyard, I can remove them all to special summon this card, Nutrient Absorbing Deathleaf!" ? A monster that looked like a giant tree with black leaves and six giant pills in place of fruit appeared on the field.
As he was about to protest, as Alexander never used Nutrient X, Masuyo remembered the effect of Root System – all graveyards in play were merged, assumedly including the two agents who were out of the game.
"Deathleaf's attack and defense are equal to 900 times the number of nutrient cards in the graveyard. Now let's count... My agents each had three copies of Nutrient X in their decks, to heighten the probability that they would have one such card on their first draw. That's six. Added to my used up Nutrient Y and Nutrient Z, that makes eight. Therefore, my monster's stats become 7200 each."
"And its other effects?" Andrew demanded, knowing there was more to the monster.
"My monster allows me to remove nutrient cards from my graveyard to activate their effects without the costs, only the boost also goes to my monster's attack points for that turn." Alexander said. "Furthermore, I can remove a nutrient card from my graveyard to prevent Deathleaf from being destroyed."
"How the heck are we supposed to win now?" Masuyo thought to himself. "All our monsters are in attack mode, so one of us is going to lose now..." then he had an idea. "Alexander," he said. "I can hardly believe that someone who's supposed to be so honorable would just continue to throw down these overpowered monsters without giving his opponents an actual chance to fight back."
Alexander looked at Masuyo for a second. "What are you getting at?" he asked.
"All I'm saying is that you're playing a game with a bunch of kids and you're acting like some playground bully. There's nothing at all professional with what you're doing... you even sacrificed your two partners just to make yourself stronger."
"Your point?" Alexander asked.
"You're not a gentleman." Masuyo replied curtly.
Alexander's eye twitched a few times. "What do you suggest? There's not much any of you can do to stop me at this point."
"Figure it out yourself." Masuyo replied.
Alexander thought to himself for a moment. Andrew and Vincent watched tensely, while Masuyo was fairly sure of what he was doing. "Alright." Alexander replied. "I'll skip my attack for the turn."
Masuyo smiled. "Workable." He exchanged a meaningful glance with Vincent. Then, both he and Vincent looked at Andrew, who felt a strange sensation. Focusing hard, Masuyo drew, a slight smile coming to his face. "I set a card face down, switch my monster to defense mode, and end my turn."
Andrew drew. "What card is this?" he asked before setting it in his DuelDisk. "I was going to save this for later, but I equip my monster with Diamond Cutter. It gives my monster 700 more attack points and lets it automatically destroy any defense monster it battles with. Also, this is the third action that has targeted my monster. So now it levels up to White Paladin 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 sword blades turned to gold. 2400+700/1400 "Diamond Cutter is special because it accompanies my monster as it increases in phase. I also switch my new monster into defense mode, ending my turn."
Vincent looked at his deck, taking his card and setting it before even looking at it. "Crimson Ranger switches to defense mode and my turn ends."
Alexander drew. "You've had your chance to prepare. I equip my monster with the card I just drew, Overthorn. It lets my monster deal damage through defense and also lets me pay 600 life points for an additional attack. I'll activate the effect of my monster, tributing Nutrient Y to gain 7200 life points and double my monster's attack points before it loses 900 from the loss of the nutrient." One of the pills hanging from Deathleaf's branches cracked open. Al LP: 10,879 Deadleaf 13,500/6300 "Andrew, I start with you."
A thorny, leafless branch shot up from the top of the tree and flew forward, flying at Andrew's monster.
"Reveal Diamond Radiance! This card activates when your monster has over three times the current attack points of the targeted monster. My monster attacks your monster, though the attack results in no battle damage and my monster's attack points are subtracted from your monster's attack points. I attack until your monster has no more attack points. You take damage equal to the number of attacks squared, times 400. Then in my end phase, my monster is destroyed."
"In response," Alexander said, "I sacrifice Nutrient Z, giving me 4000 life points and giving my monster 3100 net attack points." (Al LP: 14,879) "I also sacrifice Nutrient X to prevent my monster from being destroyed." Deadleaf 15,700/4500 "So you see, I'll be safe at the end of this."
Vincent and Masuyo both grinned.
"Reveal Ruby Radiance!"
"Reveal Sapphire Radiance!"
"WHAT!" Alexander shouted, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"Ruby Radiance activates when your monster has over twice the attack points of the targeted monster's base stats. Your monster is destroyed and you take the current attack points of the targeted monster in damage. In the end phase, the targeted monster is destroyed."
"Sapphire Radiance activates when your monster would deal over 3000 points of damage in one attack. Your monster is destroyed instead and all the damage from battle goes to you. Then in the end phase, our monster is destroyed."
"By the way," Vincent said. "The Radiance cards chain oddly. If something would happen in the chain to prevent them from activating properly, their damage effects still trigger. So there's no escaping this."
Alexander knew that Vincent was right. Using more nutrients to power up his monster would make matters worse. Even if he prevented its destruction by using up nutrients, that still wouldn't save him. So he merely stood stoically as thousands of points of damage washed over him. (Al LP: 0)
"Congratulations. It seems I underestimated you." Alexander said as Andrew's monster exploded in brilliant light. "Next time I'll be more serious...and I won't fall for that trick again, Sapphire Radiant." He disappeared in a burst of shadow.
"Those cards... they were like that card you used the first night I met you!" Andrew said to Vincent.
"If you were able to materialize one, it might mean that your powers are finally setting in." Andrew looked at his cards. Though most of them had reverted to his old cards, White Paladin Phase 1 was not changing back.
"Finally..." Andrew said. "Now all I want to do is go home and rest. I'm really tired...but I can't wait to tell my friends at-"
"Tell who?" Vincent said suspiciously. "You can't tell anyone. You know that."
"No...well, yeah, I guess I forgot that, but I just remembered..." he said, face pale.
End
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Okay, sorry this was late. I forgot I had a trip over the weekend, visiting William & Mary and also going to Busch Gardens. The duel was a bit rushed because I had to finish it last night and I was not quite in my proper state of mind. This duel was an experiment for later - I haven't really written that much with 8052287452985792472396529528935 attack point monsters. I don't care to do it again any time soon because I didn't feel that this was really a good chapter, so I do apologize, both for its lateness and its poor quality.
On a more fun note! As you can see, I've decided to include Andrew's schooling as part of the storyline, mostly for humor. Submit classmates and teachers. It's not Duel Academy, but as this is the yugioh universe, I do want the school to have a dueling class. I'll figure out some good way of explaining it later. So, submit ideas for the professor if you want. Wolf gets priority cause I still haven't gotten a character submission from him and I'm trying to prod him in that direction :P
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