Tournament of Souls –Chapter 23
The Card Shop vs. Galactic Games
1-0
"He'd been wrong, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and it was a flamethrower." – Terry Pratchett, Mort
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There are few people who can, directly before mortal combat, look their opponent in the eye and ask about the weather. Raoul was not one of those people.
He asked about the food.
"Have you tried any of the health shakes?"
The team captain of Galactic Games looked at him like a gastric bypass surgeon being told by his patient to lose weight. That is rather as if he though Raoul was crazy to say such a thing to him while he was the one holding the scalpel.
"No."
"You know, neither have I. I opened one and looked in but it was green on the inside. I suppose that's why the bottles aren't see-through."
"Do you think we could start?"
"Oh, of course we can. Sorry about that."
They had already inserted their decks. Raoul's gem had of course turned the purple of his Dark Magician. His opponent's had gone a rather delicate shade of yellow. The spinner appeared and landed on the yellow.
"I'll be going first then."
Raoul: 8000
Galactic Games Captain: 8000
"And I'll start the duel by summoning Insect Knight (1900/1500) and setting two cards face down. I'll end my turn to see if you can do anything against a basic play."
Raoul was annoyed. His opponent might call it a basic play, but it wasn't going to be easy to counter immediately. "I'll set a monster. It's your turn to go up against a simple play."
Unfortunately Raoul couldn't quite pull off the turning of the tables. He was trying too hard. The opposing duelist smirked.
"I think I can already guess what your face down monster is. I'll activate my trap, Skill Drain, and we can see if I'm right. This trap works by my paying 1000 life points to activate its powers, but after that all monster effects on the field are negated."
Raoul: 8000
Galactic Games Captain: 7000
"If that monster is what I think it is, then it won't be on the field to be negated when I attack it. So I'm going to play Stop Defense on it."
The face down card changed position and was revealed to be Old Vindictive Magician (450/600).
"It is just as I thought. I'll summon a friend now. You seem to play spellcasters; you should be familiar with Gemini Elf (1900/900). Gemini, attack his Old Vindictive Magician."
Raoul: 6550
Galactic Games Captain: 7000
"Then Insect Knight attacks directly."
Raoul: 4750
Galactic Games Captain: 7000
"If you hadn't already made it to this point I'd think you were stupid. You must be planning something. But what I wonder? Alas I will not be waiting to see. I play Non-Spellcasting Area so that normal monsters are unaffected by spell cards. End turn."
Raoul wished he had a plan. The truth was that he had just about as much of a plan as an ostrich has chance of flying.
"I set a monster and another card before ending my turn."
His opponent drew, smirked, and made his move. "I'll begin my turn by playing Heart of the Underdog. Now during my draw phase, if I draw a normal monster, I may show that monster to you in order to draw another card. Now I will have my Gemini Elf attack your facedown monster."
Raoul found a genuine air of confidence. "My facedown monster is Skilled White Magician (1700/1900). You're not getting through him."
"I'm not through with him yet." Was all his opponent would say as he ended his turn.
Raoul drew but left the new card in his hand instead taking out one he'd had from the start. "I sacrifice Skilled White Magician for Magical Marionette (2000/1000) and have this new monster attack Gemini Elf."
All of a sudden a card flipped and his opponent smiled. "I activate the trap Reinforcements. My monster gets five hundred extra attack points for the turn (2400/900)."
Raoul's marionette had already thrown its dagger and it was too late to do anything about it. Gemini Elf caught the dagger and sent it, glistening, back at its owner.
Raoul: 4350
Galactic Games Captain: 7000
All of a sudden the card he'd just drawn was looking very good. "I set a card and pass."
The open field was a tempting target for Raoul's opponent, too tempting perhaps. His opponent looked at Raoul's face down cards warily as he drew and flashed Raoul the card; Beast of Talwar and Heart of the Underdog glowed. He drew another card and looked to Raoul for any hint as to his intentions. Getting only a broad grin, he flipped one of his face down cards.
"I activate Rageki Break, discarding Vorse Raider, to destroy the card you two turns ago."
Pitch-Black Power Stone appeared and shattered. The opposing captain snarled, irritated to have wasted destruction on a useless card. "I'll tribute Insect Knight for Beast of Talwar (2400/2150) and attack with Gemini Elf."
Raoul: 2450
Galactic Games Captain: 7000
"And now I attack with Beast of Talwar."
"No!"
"And how do you intend to stop me?
"Activate, Magic Cylinder."
The sword-wielding fiend blundered into one tube and out the other- straight into its lord and master.
Raoul: 2450
Galactic Games Captain: 4600
The crowd ooh-ed and ah-ed. Lucien glared at the audience in general for disturbing his thoughts. He had been trying to puzzle out both the meaning of the pictures Lys had given him and what type of action to take against Larron's killer. The pictures were the easier of the two, though the one without a time limit. Despite this, Lucien tried to focus on them. Whenever his thoughts strayed to the red-headed villainess his thoughts were colored with the red of rage and could not be trusted.
Lucien turned his attention to the platform as the duel continued. It was Raoul's turn.
Raoul had some catching up to do. His opponent could kill him with ease on this next turn- it would take cunning to avoid that fate. Now Raoul wasn't well known for wits. What he could be depended upon for was his survival instinct, born of many years competitive athletics.
"I set one monster to end my turn."
His opponent drew, sneering. "To end the turn you say? To end the duel more like." He looked at what he had drawn and simply added it to his hand. He had clearly failed to get an extra draw from Heart of the Underdog. With luck that also meant that he didn't have the resources to finish off Raoul.
"I play Dark Factory of Mass Production which allows me to take two normal monsters from my graveyard and add them to my hand. You know what that means." He said as he retrieved Vorse Raider and Insect Knight. "Have fond memories of Insect Knight? I hope so, because he remembers you. I summon Insect Knight (1900/1500)."
The monster again appeared on the field which got the spectators excited all over again. Half of them were dreaming of the miraculous ways Raoul would save himself, and the other half thought of nothing but Raoul's imminent defeat.
Raoul's opponent soaked up the attention and reflected it back on the audience with what he must have considered a jaunty grin and brushed his hair back with one hand. "Since I know you want to see Insect Knight in action, he'll attack your face down monster."
A purple garbed magician looked up in shock and shattered. A face down card appeared to replace it.
"You just destroyed my Apprentice Magician, and since it was wiped off the field, its effect activated summoning a weak mage to the field face down."
Raoul grinned as his opponent steamed. It wasn't difficult for his opponent to intuit what that card might be. After fiddling with one of the cards in his hand he made his decision. "Beast of Talwar will attack the facedown monster."
Aliya whistled softly. "This guy isn't bad. It takes skill to make a decision like that. If he attacks with his stronger monster, Raoul will have to destroy the weak one that hasn't attacked to prevent damage." Lucien grunted in agreement.
The duelists hadn't paused for the comment however, and the anticipated Old Vindictive Magician (450/600) had been destroyed, taking Gemini Elf with it. Raoul's opponent was just finishing off the turn.
"I'll set a card and end. I still hold control of the board."
Raoul drew a card off his deck and adopted a serious expression for the first time in the duel.
"What makes you believe that you hold control of the field?"
His opponent guffawed. "What doesn't? I have two powerful monsters on the field, supported by cards what make them hard to rival. You have no cards on the field and I'm willing to bet that the cards in your hand are spells which Non-Spellcasting Area has rendered useless."
Nodding slowly, Raoul selected a card from his hand. Lucien nodded along with him and spoke to Aliya. "What he says is mostly true. But he needs to learn that not everything is based on what his opponent wants to do to him. Some things are purely for their own gain. Is it greed? Not always. Look at your deck for instance. It-"
Aliya grinned. "Lucien! I know how my own deck works."
Lucien rubbed the back of his head and blushed lightly. "You have a point, sorry about that." Their attention returned to Raoul.
"I bring Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700) to the field."
His opponent immediately smirked knowingly. "Do you hope to destroy both your monster and my Insect Knight in order to spare yourself for another turn? I welcome you to try but you must have forgotten that I have Vorse Raider in my hand still."
Raoul blinked sagely. Then he shook his head as if shaking off sleep and returned to his normal, playful self. "I'd let you stay wrong, but unless you're really stupid you'll catch on soon. You probably know that Skilled Dark Magician's normal purpose is to summon Dark Magician."
"Well, yes. But Skill Drain has stopped that."
"Right, well that's what you think. Skilled Dark Magician is still going to bring on his master, but he'll need some outside help. I play Tribute Doll, allowing me to sacrifice one monster on the field so as long as I don't mind not attacking with it I can special summon a seven star monster from my hand. And guess how many stars Dark Magician has?"
"Seven!" A gaggle of overenthusiastic girls screamed from the stands behind the team bench. Evidently Raoul had just scored his own cheering squad. And according to their shorts they attended the same school as he.
Atypically, Raoul ignored his fans. "So, how many stars?"
For the first time in the duel, the opponent was under pressure. For the most part Raoul hadn't done much to facilitate this. He just added a few key lines that made it seem like he was in control. The new angle was a function of the crowd's mood.
The entirety of the duel, the Galactic Games representative had been riding the wave of public opinion. Despite remaining nameless, he had received the crowd's favor. But now the power of a few attractive (Lucien would contest this point) females had swayed the entire audience.
So that's why football teams need cheerleaders.
After an uncomfortable pause the opponent spoke. "Don't you know your own monster?"
An impromptu Galactic Games banner was ripped. A lot of foresight had gone into that.
Raoul held back a laugh. "I do so I'll tell you; seven. I special summon the star of the show, Dark Magician."
Despite the climax, the graphic designers failed to manifest anything other than a few sparks which sputtered pitifully next to the purple clad mage.
"I'm about up to here with your fancy backfield." Raoul said, "And I'm going to get rid of it once and for all. I play Dark Magic Attack." One by one his opponent's safeguards were consumed by violet waves of magic. First Skill Drain, then the rest all the way through the Rising Energy he had facedown.
"End."
Lucien wasn't impressed. "Raoul's left himself open. If his opponent can destroy Dark Magician, he's toast."
Aliya shook her head, a strand of hair escaping the clips. "True, but think of all the things in Raoul's deck that could let him take control of the duel."
"And then the world is his bivalve."
"Oyster."
Raoul's opponent was looking nervous and desperately trying not to show it. That was what gave him away. "I set a card and summon Vorse Raider (1900/1200). I end."
When he drew, Raoul accidentally knocked a few cards off the top of his deck. This being the most excitement the judge had seen all day, he rushed over to make sure the deck was properly shuffled and unseen, the whole administrative bit. Lucien took the opportunity to divulge more of his common wisdom.
"It looks like the captain just outwitted himself."
Aliya was confused. "How's that?"
"Simple: he's trying to make it look like he has a trap facedown that will make even his weaker monsters stronger than Dark Magician. But the only card he has that does that is Rising Energy, and that requires a discard from his hand. By summoning Vorse Raider, he emptied his hand. "
Aliya pondered this. "He could have Rush Recklessly."
Lucien chuckled. "If he does, he's a fool. Non-Spellcasting Area would stop that from working effectively."
"He could still have Covering Fire."
Lucien had to admit, she had a point. "Maybe. We'll just have to hope he doesn't and Raoul has some kind of all around solution."
Raoul couldn't have cared less about what his friends thought about the situation. Somehow or another, his friend's opinions ranked under the cheerleaders, and he had ignored the cheerleaders. He made his move.
"I summon Breaker, the Magical Warrior (1600/1000)-(1900/1000). I will use his special ability to destroy the card you set last turn (1600/1000)." Covering Fire appeared and shattered. Aliya stuck out her tongue at Lucien as he smoldered.
"Now, Dark Magician, attack Beast of Talwar with Dark Magic Attack!"
The attack ripped through the fiend like a baseball through the living room window.
Raoul: 2450
Galactic Games Captain: 4500
"I'll end there."
The opponent took a calming breath and drew. "Gemini, attack the 'Magical Warrior.'" Before the end of the sentence he had recovered his sarcasm.
Raoul: 2150
Galactic Games Captain: 4500
Raoul didn't even blink as his monster was destroyed. "Is that going to be all?"
"No. I play Share the Pain, sacrificing Vorse Raider. Now you need to choose a monster to sacrifice. And you only have one."
Raoul sighed. "I sacrifice Dark Magician. Now will you end?"
"I end."
The turn didn't take long. As far as anyone else could tell, Raoul was hanging on by a thread. Raoul himself seemed perfectly comfortable.
"I'll set a monster and pass."
His opponent was on the turn like a rabbit on… well, another rabbit. "I play Heart of the Underdog, you know what it does. Now, Insect Knight, attack his monster."
The bug ran forward to have its blade frozen in place as a librarian shushed it. The monster was Royal Magical Library (0/2000).
Raoul: 2150
Galactic Games Captain: 4400
It was only then realized that the opposition had been leaning forward over his cards in anticipation. Now he relaxed back into a more standard position. "Are you so scared you need to hide behind defenses?"
Raoul took the insult easily. "Not really, its just the only card I had. Isn't it strange how no one's ever summoned Blue Eyes when the only card in their hand was Kuriboh?"
"I think I'm rubbing off on him." Lucien said.
"End." The opponent was getting a little excited. This was understandable seeing the stakes. This was the third round of a 32 team tournament. He was on one of eight teams still in the tournament. The next round was the semi-finals. He was thinking: If we win here, that places us in the top four.
Raoul thought: If I win here, I get to go to lunch, and drew. After a moment's consideration he decided that one option didn't deserve thought, not with lunch looming over him. He juggled his weight between one foot and the other.
"Set card and end."
His opponent clearly disdained Raoul's defensive plays. He then flashed a Gemini Elf and drew again. He looked suspiciously at Raoul's face down card and then at Royal Magical Library. Evidently he decided that the library wasn't worth considering and that the face down card was only a little more dangerous.
"I play Non-Spellcasting Area and end my turn." He hoped no one noticed that he hadn't been any more aggressive than his opponent.
One of the librarians was now sitting reading what was probably a dangerous magical tome. It looked just like any other book though. Raoul explained as he drew. "Whenever a spell card is played, Royal Magical Library gets a spell counter." He considered the card in his hand carefully. "And now I think I'll summon Apprentice Magician (400/800)."
There was the loud sound of someone choking on a hoagie roll.
Raoul's opponent stared for a moment and started laughing. "I realize you want to get me to attack it, but with it in attack mode, you'll lose!"
Raoul smiled and risked a quick glance at the score board. His smile broadened. "I'm afraid not. I'll still have a few hundred life points left. And I didn't summon it so you'd attack it. I summoned it for its other effect."
His opponent paused. No one had ever told him that Apprentice Magician had two uses. "And what's that?"
"When I summon it, I can add a spell counter to one of my monsters. So now Royal Magical Library has two."
Now the opponent decided to exercise his astounding card knowledge. "But it needs three counters, right?"
Raoul just kept grinning. "Royal Magical Library needs three. The card I'm about to activate only needs the two. I activate the trap Miracle Restoring. To play this trap I only need to remove two spell counters from my side of the field and I get to special summon either Dark Magician or Buster Blader from my graveyard. Dark Magician is back for an encore (2500/2100)."
The great mage rose from the field and the cheerleaders cheered. A few keystrokes later and the mage wore a grin matching his master's. It completely ruined the image. Evidently it didn't matter if Kaiba or Industrial Illusions as a whole held a grudge; someone in the control booth didn't like Yugi or his signature monster.
Either that or some higher up gave orders to have all major monsters mimic their owners.
Luckily Raoul couldn't see his monster's face, but he did have to stop smiling in order to declare the next part of his move, and that solved the problem. "Dark Magician attacks Gemini Elf. I'm sick and tired of those ladies."
The cheerleaders remained oblivious. Then again knowing Raoul, he might not have meant them. Lucien couldn't have rubbed off on him that much.
(Incidentally, later that day, the first successful brain transplant took place. The surgery was done on a lab rat. After two minutes it was deemed insane. After three it was considered to be dead. It stopped running not long after.)
The two elves were swept away on the tide of dark magic.
Raoul: 2150
Galactic Games Captain: 3800
"Now I'll end my turn."
A commentary began on the sidelines.
"Tension is high after the masterful moves of the combatant Raoul, representing The Card Shop. His opponent does not look in the least anxious although he is sweating profusely which some might suggest is a sign of anxiety. However this commentator-"
"Lucien?"
"-is being glared at by the wonderful young-"
"Shut up."
The captain of Galactic Games began his turn. "I set one card face down and have Vorse Raider attack Apprentice Magician."
Raoul: 650
Galactic Games Captain: 3800
Raoul dug a card out of his deck. "I special summon a face down monster."
His opponent nodded. Now he was in familiar territory. "Insect Knight, attack the face down."
The final Apprentice Magician shattered and a card appeared, face down.
Shocked, the opposing captain blinked. "I could have sworn you were going to summon your last Old Vindictive Magician."
Raoul did his best to look mysterious. "Maybe I just did."
The captain just about hacked up a lung. "Of course you just did! What else is there for you to summon? In any case I end my turn."
Raoul drew a card and glared at it as if daring it to tell him that it wasn't actually what he had wanted. It wasn't.
"I'll just have Dark Magician attack Vorse Raider."
Raoul: 650
Galactic Games Captain: 3200
"I'll end."
Quickly, the captain of Galactic Games drew his next card and revealed it to be Tri-Horned Dragon. He drew another card as Heart of the Underdog glowed. "To begin the turn I activate my trap, Soul Resurrection. This continuous trap special summons one normal monster from my graveyard in defense mode. Now it carries the side effect that the chosen monster must remain in defense mode, but it remains the perfect way to get a free tribute. So I will special summon the Vorse Raider you just destroyed in defense mode (1900/1200)."
A vaporous version of Vorse Raider appeared on the field.
"And now, I sacrifice my Raider and Insect Knight for the mighty Tri-Horned Dragon (2850/2350)."
A shroud of darkness cascaded over Raoul's opponent's side of the field and out of it rose the dragon. Disconcertingly the shadows extended beyond the dragon, all the way through to Raoul's side of the field. Lights flickered. Raoul shivered.
Lucien gazed on in horror. This couldn't be happening. Not here, not now. But it wasn't quite dark enough to be a shadow duel, was it? Plus, the lights were still on, just flickering. I hope I'm imagining things.
The captain was grinning, more in charge of the duel than ever. "Tri-Horned Dragon, destroy the Dark Magician!"
Impossibly, the ill-conceived dragon stalked majestically forward to breathe terrible fumes at its target. The violet mage never stood a mango sherbet's chance in a sauna.
Raoul: 300
Galactic Games Captain: 3200
The fumes made Raoul's eyes water and his flesh sting. What the hell's going on here?
His opponent wouldn't stop smirking.
"I play Dark Factory of Mass Production, recovering Beast of Talwar and Vorse Raider to my hand as my ending move."
Royal Magical Library had just gotten a counter. Nothing could have mattered less, but in a game where everything mattered, it could mean everything.
Raoul moved to draw a card but his spirit had been broken when his main magician had been destroyed. "I can't win this."
The opponent was sated. "Damn straight you can't."
Lucien wouldn't have it. He stood. "What do you mean you can't win this Raoul? What do you mean?"
Raoul looked down at his captain. "I mean I can't win. What could I draw that would let me win this game?"
Lucien stared him down. "It isn't a question of what you could draw. It's a question of what you will draw." He moved his head to face the other way. Raoul turned to face his opponent. But just as his hand hovered over his deck, Lucien spoke again.
"And Raoul? You will win. You want to know how. Well I don't know how. But I know why. You're going to win because you need to. You need to win for Larron. You need to win for your brother."
Raoul put his hand on his deck and picked up the top card. His hand flew to the field. "I flip summon my face down monster, Magician of Faith and add Tribute Doll to my hand. Now I play the spell card Emblem of Dragon Destroyer. We've got a dragon problem. Bring your sword. I add Buster Blader to my hand. Now I play Tribute Doll and I sacrifice Magician of Faith to special summon Buster Blader (2600/2300)-(3100/2300)."
He bowed his head as the third and final librarian sat down with a book. A triangle of magical bolts formed between the three. Raoul whipped his head up and looked to his monster. "I draw, sending three spellcounters out of play."
He swept his hand down towards his deck and a card came off it into his hand. The shadow and light wavered together and he stared at the card, but not for long. Lucien cast a long look at the news booth down at one end of the area. They better not have gotten that on film.
But then he looked back. There were more pressing things.
Raoul was about to make his move. "I play Polymerization, fusing Buster Blader with King of the Swamps to create Dark Paladin (2900/2400)-(3400/2400)."
"Dark Paladin, give that dragon a one way ticket to the magical dimension."
Raoul: 650
Galactic Games Captain: 2650
The shadows fluxed and faded, the lights were back in full. The captain's hands shook. Raoul had ended but he had yet to draw a card. Finally something dawned on him and he looked toward his deck in horror and drew. "I set a card. I summon Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in attack mode. I end."
Raoul drew, not looking at his card. "Dark Paladin, attack it."
Still struggling, his opponent smiled. "I chain, Rising Energy. I discard Beast of Talwar to increase Raider's attack by 1500 (3400/1200)."
The two monsters clashed and both fell. The field was bare but for the spells and Royal Magical Library, its lone librarian glowing softly. Raoul looked at the card in his hand for the first time; Mystical Space Typhoon.
His opponent drew. "I play my last Dark Factory of Mass Production. I add Gemini Elf and Beast of Talwar to my hand. I summon Gemini Elf and end."
The silence was only broken by the occasional 'click' of a camera. Raoul looked at his card and sighed. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Non-Spellcasting Area."
A whirlwind struck with lightning precision, blowing the spell into oblivion. Again the third librarian sat, and again the triangle was completed.
Raoul was ready, his hand a bare inch above his deck. "I draw." The card leapt to his hand and his fingers closed around it. "I play Magical Dimension! I sacrifice Royal Magical Library and special summon the great mage Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600). In accordance with the laws of the Magical Dimension I now destroy the Gemini Elves. Dark Magician of Chaos, finish this!"
The chaos mage appeared before the captain. Swiftly he tapped the human on each shoulder with his stave as if to knight him before blowing him into oblivion.
Raoul: 650
Galactic Games Captain: 0
The captain collapsed onto the door of the booth, holding it for support as the crowd erupted and the cheerleaders daintily vaulted the bar separating them from their latest beau.