Tournament of Souls – Regional Quarter Finals
"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." – Murphy's Law. Editor's Note: This is called a law and not a theory for a reason. It has been proven.
As Lucien easily won his duel, Aliya and Raoul were having more difficulty with theirs. Raoul was facing a boy named Max. As Lucien started to look for his friends, Raoul was up to his eyeballs in trouble.
Raoul: 300
Max: 700
Raoul had a Skilled White Magician (1700/1900) in attack mode on his side of the field and a face down. Max had a Mecha-Dog Marron (1000/1000) in face upattack mode and a face down card. It was Max's turn.
"So Raoul, what will you do? You can't do anything to stop my Mecha-Dog without taking damage to your life points. If you destroy it, you loose 1000 life points. If you attack it, we both loose 1000 life points, and we will have to do this all over again. And I am confident that if we did, I would win. I will play Pot of Greed. I will now set both of the cards that I drew face down. Your turn." Raoul was sweating as he drew his next card, but then he smiled.
"It looks like I just drew just the card to end this."
"Really now? Something to combo with your face down card no doubt. Too bad. I activate Dust Tornado, and destroy your face down." Raoul smiled and moved his Trap Jammer to the graveyard.
"It doesn't matter, I didn't need that anyhow. You don't have any traps left that could hurt me. You've already used Mirror Force and Magic Cylinder. There are no more of your little machines to use with Covering Fire. You have nothing worth negating. I play Dark Core, and I will remove your Mecha-Dog Marron from play. I need to discard my Dark Magician, but it is well worth it. I just got rid of your last defense. Now, Skilled Light Magician, attack him directly."
"You forget I still had two face down cards. Admittedly, one of them was Limiter Removal. That would have finished you if you had decided to go for the tie. The other one is this. Dimension Wall!" Raoul was shocked.
"What? I've never heard of such a card."
"That would be because it is fairly new. Industrial Illusions only released it recently, and the pack still hasn't been widely circulated. What it does, is similar to Magic Cylinder. But it doesn't negate the attack. All it does is give you the damage that I would take."
Raoul: 0
Max: 700
Raoul picked up his cards and stood up without a sound. It was then that Lucien found him.
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The crowd of spectators made it harder to find anyone. In fact, it made it harder to move without either hurting someone or invading their personal space, and by the time Lucien had made it to Raoul's table he had done a lot of both as could be seen from the line of people nursing hurt toes. Lucien had just seen the end of the duel and as Raoul was standing up and getting ready to leave, Lucien called out to him from the other side of the table.
"Hey, Raoul!" Raoul looked up sullenly.
"I lost." Lucien looked at him quizzically.
"Well I already knew that, otherwise you would already have gone to the vending machines. It's ok though, you aren't at your best right now anyhow. It isn't that bad anyhow. Our theoretical odds for winning are the same as they were before this round; one out of four. I just have to beat two duelists and I win. Then you, I, and Aliya all go to the state championship." Raoul smiled.
"Ok man, just make sure you win. These guys are tough."
"Don't worry, I will. Unless one of them gets all of Exodia the Forbidden One in the starting hand, I'll be fine." Raoul laughed and Lucien turned away to hack his way through the crowd to find Aliya, but just as Lucien began to be surrounded in the crowd, Raoul called out to him again.
"Lucien?" Lucien turned back to him.
"Yeah?"
"What should I do now? I could try and advance my position, or should I just drop and take 8th place?" Lucien considered for a moment.
"Well, it would be 7th place at the very least, my opponent already dropped. Unless you feel particularly strongly about it, drop so you can root me and Aliya on."
"Ok, what table is Aliya at?" Lucien thought back, and felt somewhat foolish when he realized that he had absolutely no idea where he was heading. Before Lucien could respond though, Raoul had made his way over to the board (he was a few inches taller than Lucien, and more thickly built, so he had an easier time with the crowd) and shouted over the din of the crowd.
"I found it! She's at table five. I'll be right over as soon as I sign the drop sheet." Without waiting for a response, Raoul headed toward the counter where Mr. Kiwasaki had the drop sheet. Lucien turned back to destroying all the toes between him and table 5.
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When Aliya had sat down at her table, her opponent had yet to arrive. While she waited, she was constantly shifting positions nervously. If she lost this one, she had let Lucien down. Loosing wasn't an option. Just then, her opponent arrived. He had a Mohawk that was dyed purple, and his ears were pierced in 5 different places. At least he only had five earrings in each; Aliya suspected that they weren't all that was pierced. Yeesh, talk about bad taste. I wouldn't be surprised if he ran the tackiest monsters that he could find. That or Archfiends.
Here opponent looked her over, and snorted,
"Let's get this over with girly, so I can get picked for the team, and show all you little pricks what Mitch is made of." I have to admit, I'm intimidated. But I can't let that stop me. What would Lucien say? Then it occurred to her.
"And by that you mean 97 water, and three percent hot gas?" There was a flicker of uncertainty in her opponent's eyes, and a few of the spectators who hadn't been able to find room around the top eight tables and had gathered around them laughed.
"Oh I'll get you for that one girly. Let's get down to business. I'll even let you go first." Aliya's eyebrows went up at this.
"Well, if you insist." Aliya drew six cards. Not the best hand in the world, but it will have to do.
Aliya: 8000
Mitchel: 8000
"First off, I play Spell Absorption." Her opponent frowned.
"What does that do?" Aliya glanced at him quizzically.
"The name says it all really, whenever a spell card is played, I gain 500 life points. Got it?" Mitch was silent so Aliya continued.
"I play the continuous spell card, Stumbling. You know what that does, right?" Mitch looked baffled but nodded his head. He doesn't know the uses I can put this card to. And I don't think I'll tell him just yet.
"And don't forget, that's a spell card so I gain 500 life points."
Aliya: 8500
Mitchel: 8000
"I'll end off by setting a monster. You're up." Mitch drew and grinned broadly.
"And you're going down. I play Pot of Greed." He drew two cards.
Aliya: 9000
Mitchel: 8000
"It looks like you've gotten off easy this turn. I'll just summon Berserk Gorilla (2000/1000) and attack your face down monster with it."
"That would be in your fantasy world of course. Stumbling stops you in this one."
"What!" Aliya shook her head in mock sadness.
"You need to pay more attention. Stumbling switches all monsters positions when they are summoned. Oh, and take a closer look at your maniac's effect. When it goes to defense mode, it gets destroyed. So say bye-by to your only monster." Mitch grumbled, but complied.
"I'll set three cards face down. Make your move." Aliya drew and frowned slightly.
"I will set one card and pass my turn." Mitch drew.
"I will summon Gyaku Gire Panda (800/1600) (1300/1600), and it is switched to defense mode. That will be all." Aliya started her turn and thought for a moment. His panda will get more attack the more monsters I have. It only has 1300 right now, so it isn't much of a threat. But if I summon another monster…
"I will summon Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (1800/200). It is switched to defense mode by Stumbling. Then I flip summon Banisher of the Light (100/2000), and the same happens to it. To finish I will just set a card face down." That card will hold me for long enough to do some damage.
Mitch laughed out loud.
"Don't you know anything? Because of your monsters, my Gyaku Gire Panda now has 1800 attack! Oh, and you didn't know that it deals damage through defense, did you?" Uh-oh, I'd forgotten that part. But it doesn't really matter now, just wait for the attack.
"Now to make things more painful, I'll activate my face down Ojama Trio. Now you have three more monsters on your field and all of those have no attack points (0/1000)."
"That doesn't matter, they're in defense mode!" Mitch shook his head and tapped the side of his nose knowingly.
"Oh but did you forget about your own card? Stumbling makes them switch to attack mode. Now I think I'll have my 3300 attack panda attack one." Aliya's hand flew to her face down card and Mitch's eyes widened. Aliya's hand stopped before it reached the card as a thought hit her. He has my field blocked up! If I stop this attack, then I won't be able to summon any more monsters. But I'll be taking so much damage…She withdrew her hand from over the card.
Aliya: 5400
Mitch: 8000
"Now that you've taken so much damage, I'll just pass my turn to you." Aliya drew and smiled.
"Before I start my turn, I just want to make sure that we're clear on one point."
"And what would that be?"
"That all cards that are sent to the graveyard are now removed from play due to my Banisher of the Light. That includes your Ojama Trio." Mitch shrugged; there was a reason that he wasn't in the top 8. He couldn't predict his opponents strategy if his life depended on it. Then again, with Aliya's strategy, few people could.
"Just making sure that you were aware of the fact. Now, I summon Fire Princess (1300/1500). It gets switched to defense mode by Stumbling. Next I play Soul Absorption. Whenever a card is removed from play, I gain 500 life points. Now, that is a continuous spell card so I get another 500 life points from Spell Absorption. In the mean time, Fire Princess makes you loose 500 life points because I gained life points."
Aliya: 5900
Mitch: 7500
Aliya surveyed the field. Her opponent could deliver a crushing blow at any time, but she had the means to stop it. Any spell that was played would put her above Mitch by 2000. Anything else going out of play would do the same on half the scale. Long enough of that and she could finish him.
"So? Are you going to finish your turn?" Mitch had been getting annoyed at the wait. Aliya almost ended her turn there but then she remembered something.
"No, first I switch both Ojama tokens into defense mode, and Kycoo to attack. Now it's your turn."
"It's about time too. I think I'll have my panda attack your Fire Princess." This time Aliya flipped up her face down card: Mirror Force.
"I'm afraid I can't let that happen. Aside from destroying your monster, two cards went out of play which means I gain life points and you loose them."
Aliya: 6900
Mitch: 6500
"Just because you're 400 points ahead doesn't mean you'll win." Mitch growled. "You don't stand a chance. I'll take care of you next turn and to ensure that I'm setting these two cards face down. Make your pathetic little move now." Aliya felt weak. She didn't stand a chance against this guy. Who knew what kind of strategy he had, but his one monster had more attack than any thing she had ever seen other than a Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth that she had seen the former Japanese champion summon once on tv; or Seto Kaiba's Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon that she had seen in one of his many televised duels. In the first round, she had faced a kid who used a Masked Beast, but that wasn't as strong as this, and it didn't have a piercing ability. Plus, with all the cards needed to summon it, he paid more life than it was worth and a Magic Cylinder finished him. Her hand shook as she drew her next card.
"I—I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the…the face down card on the left." Mitch frowned as his second Ojama Trio was destroyed and he lost more life.
Aliya: 8400
Mitch: 5000
"And then I'll play Upstart Goblin. The life you gain from it and what you loose from it balance out."
Aliya: 9400
Mitch: 5000
"Now I play the card I got with my goblin, Dian Keto Cure Master."
Aliya: 11400
Mitch: 3500
Aliya smiled grimly.
"I think that's 7900 points ahead. Your turn." Mitch drew.
"I play Mystical Space Typhoon on your Soul Absorption." Aliya groaned. There went a major part of her strategy.
Aliya: 11900
Mitch: 3000
"I think its time to do what I said I would at the very beginning of the duel. Prepare yourself for my great strategy!" Aliya knew that Lucien would have some witty comment, but she couldn't think of any and sank into her chair listening to the thoughts bouncing around in her head. I can't loose this, I can't let Lucien down. I'm going to loose. I'm going to loose. Lucien will hate me. Lucien will hate me. Lucien will hate me.
"First I play Last Will and Timidity to make sure you don't try to destroy any of my traps."
Aliya: 12900
Mitch: 2000
"Then I summon the center piece of my deck. Rescue Cat (300/100)!" Aliya's eyes widened. She had never actually thought that this kind of deck could be pulled off. She tried to do the math.
"Now I activate Rescue Cat's effect. I tribute it to summon two level three or lower beasts from my deck. Come out my next two Gyaku Gire Pandas (3300/1600)!" He can't kill me with those in one turn can he?
"If you can do simple mathematics, you will know that I can't kill you with just those two monsters. But that's where the Last Will that I played comes in. Whenever one of my monsters is sent to the graveyard during this turn, I can special summon a monster with 1500 or less attack. Say hello to Rescue Cat number two! You should know the drill now. I tribute Rescue Cat for two Milius Radiants (300/250) and use Last Will to get a third. Milius Radiant's ability is to raise the attack of all earth monsters on the field by 500 and lower all Wind monsters by 400 making all of my monsters more powerful (4800/1600) (1800/250). Oh, and just to make matters worse for you, I'm activating the Final Attack Orders that I set last turn. Now all of your monsters are in attack mode." He looked to one of the spectators, a punk who had painted half his head black and the other half white and switched the colors for his hair (including eyebrows).
"So do you think I've shown this bitch I'm dueling what Mitch is made of?" The punk laughed but Aliya felt like crying. This duelist was far better than she would ever be. What was Lucien thinking when he said that I would stand a chance against the triumvirate of duel monsters; Yugi, Kaiba, and Joey? I can't even get through a little tournament in my home town. Aliya could feel the tears welling in her eyes when a voice came from behind her.
"To the greatest extent of my knowledge, you are neither dueling your mother nor your girlfriend, and there for your choice of noun was incorrect. Secondly all that you have shown your opponent here is that you are made up of 98.7 percent water and 1.3 percent hot gas though the percentage of gas is increasing." Mitch stared toward the person behind Aliya and even though she couldn't see him, only one person could say something like that. Lucien. But then another familiar voice spoke up.
"Really, Lucien, yo mama jokes? Man that's low." This time Aliya turned around to see Lucien shoot a crippling glance at Raoul. She giggled a bit and turned back to Mitch who was still stunned. He finally managed to regain control of his communication faculties.
"But I don't have a girl friend." The crowd tittered.
"Well that was obvious." Responded Lucien. "If you did you wouldn't look like that. Or is it the other way around?" Mitch didn't notice the contradiction and the crowd ignored it having found a new scapegoat. Mitch however recovered himself fairly quickly but this time Aliya was better prepared.
"I'm still going to win though. There is nothing you can do now. All of your monsters have been switched to attack mode. I'm going to more than halve your life points in one turn. Here is how this attack is going to happen. Gyaku-Gire Panda will attack Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, and then the other one will attack Fire Princess. The Milius Radiants will attack the Ojama Tokens and then Banisher of the Light. Do you have anything to stop me? If not, than record the massive amounts of damage that you just took!" Aliya shook her head and turned to write down the life points on a sheet of paper but found that she couldn't see it to write as her eyes were blurred with tears. Her hand was so unsteady that she wouldn't have been able to write anyhow but a hand reached out and took the paper and pencil. Aliya looked up at Lucien, but he wasn't looking at her, rather straight ahead towards Mich.
"You can beat this punk Aliya. You could beat him with the twitch of a finger. Just choose your timing carefully." He put the paper back down and tucked a pen back into his pocket.
Aliya: 500
Mitch: 2000
Aliya puzzled over his cryptic statement. 'You could beat him with the twitch of a finger.' What did Lucien see that she didn't? Before she went for down this train of thought, she turned back to Mich.
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"Is that all?" Mitch looked shocked at the audacity of this. She was supposed to be crumbling, and crying like she was a minute ago. But then that guy had come and said something and she was confident even though she only had 500 life points left!
"Yeah it's all. There's nothing you can do to stop me now. But as I end my turn, all of the monsters that were summoned with Rescue Cat are destroyed leaving me with a lone Milius Radiant (800/250). But I set a card face down. I dare you to attack me." That guy that was looking down at his opponent was making him nervous. Him and that African American friend of his. But then Mitch remembered one of the things that he had seen on pieces of paper tacked up on some of the walls. The code of conduct or some such nonsense that he like to rip down whenever he found it. But somewhere on that it said that if spectators were intimidating one of the duelists, they could be asked to leave. Of course in the big leagues this wasn't an option but in these places where all the little kiddies were dueling they put up rules like this to make everyone comfortable. Mitch decided to take advantage of it.
"Lucien- that was your name wasn't it? Stop watching the duel. As one of the duelists I have the right to say that someone can or cannot watch the duel. I think that you are illegally trying to help your friend so I want you and the guy next to you to leave. If you don't do as I say, I call a judge."
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Aliya was aghast, but Lucien merely nodded and walked away, but turned back to look at Aliya and wink. Aliya didn't know what it meant, but she was comforted.
"It's my turn Mitchel. I will set a monster and end my turn." If I had anything strong enough I would love to call his bluff, but I can't. I just have to hope that he doesn't have anything else. Mitch drew and he grinned; a big lopsided grin that wasn't in the least friendly.
"I think you're doomed. I play Nobleman of Crossout on your face down monster. It gets removed from play." Aliya resignedly moved her Stealth Bird to the removed from play pile.
Aliya: 1000
Mitch: 2000
"Now I summon my final Rescue Cat (800/100). I don't have any compatible monsters left in my deck to use, but I don't need to. All I need is the attack." Aliya's mind spun. 'You can win with the twitch of a finger.' What did it mean?
"Unless you have a House of Adhesive Tape or Eatagaboon face down to stop my summon, I win." All of a sudden it all clicked into place. She had the means of winning right in front of her this entire time; the card that she had set down on the first turn.
"No one runs either of those cards, but I have something better." She declared.
"I activate D.D. Dynamite. What with all of the spell cards you played to prepare for your grand rush, there is more than enough to kill you. I win." Mitch growled and flipped his deck upside down and started to add his graveyard and removed from play piles to it along with his field. Aliya noticed that one of his face down cards was Trap Jammer. So that's why Lucien said to choose my time carefully; if I'd waited until the battle phase he would have stopped it. I can't wait to tell Lucien and Raoul I won! But judging by the noise at the snack machine, they already knew.
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Rex: Of course Lily reminds you of someone you know! I did that on purpose... ok, so I didn't. But that doesn't mean that I can't read minds! And thank you for recommending my story to some of your reviewers.
John: I know that, but the deck fits my purposes.
Demon Fan: I couldn't tell whose Dark Paladin you were talking about, but good job winning.
Blue Eyes White Knight: Glad to have you reviewing, and I hope this was fast enough (but we both know that it wasn't)
Darksoulki: Man am I ever getting a lot of new reviewers! I'm glad you like it. I try to make the characters as realistic as possible.
Sdrive: Review next time!