Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.
Vanguard Generations
Chapter 13: Victoran of the Humanity's Cross against Shinsei; Radiance versus E-Heroes
Shinsei shakily drew, and slid the card into his disk. "Go Pot of Greed." Two cards left his deck, but he nearly dropped them because of how much his hands were shaking. Looking at the two drawn cards…Shinsei closed his eyes and suddenly felt better. "What am I so afraid of?"
"You're afraid because you should have accepted my offer…" Victoran crossed his arms across his chest. "Well, make your move already."
Shinsei felt a hand touch his shoulder. ("Kenshin…")
("I'm here partner…we won't lose to him if you believe in your deck and in what it represents. This man uses his influence and power to bully people around, that he does. And that cannot be allowed!") The samurai smiled slightly and faded away. ("Believe in yourself, and don't let his power worry you.")
Shinsei opened his eyes. "He's right! The duel's still on, and in this turn your Guardian is graveyard bound!"
"Oh?" Victoran calmly stood his ground, not showing the slightest worry. "You can understand why I might find that rather hard to believe, can't you?"
"Sure…" Shinsei tossed a card onto his duel disk. "Go Bubbleman!" His favorite blue-armored superhero appeared on the field in an explosion of blue bubbles. "When this guy is summoned and I have no cards in play other than it, I can draw two." Sliding a pair of extra cards off of his deck, he fanned them out right in front of his face. ("I can win…I know I can win this duel!") "Go Metamorphosis! This magic card allows me to sacrifice a monster I have in play to special summon a monster from my fusion deck that is the same level!" A swirling blast of water appeared around Bubbleman as it changed, armor becoming sharper and better equipped to travel in water. "Bubbleman Neo (800/1200) is special summoned!"
"A weakling monster with no chance of defeating Radiance, fool." Victoran crossed his arms across his chest once more. "Please surrender to your fate, I've wasted enough time with you."
"Not a chance!" Shinsei snapped up another card. "Go Bubble Shooter!" A large bazooka-like weapon fell from the sky and landed on the shoulder of the superhero. "Bubbleman Neo's attack power in increased by 800 points!" (1600/1200) "Bubbleman Neo attacks Radiance, Bubble Shooter!" The superhero grunted as its weapon unleashed a powerful blast of water that struck Radiance and pushed the knight back a couple of feet.
Victoran scoffed. "Radiance, brush this annoyance aside."
"Yes sir!" The knight pushed against the water stream…and then let out a cry of pain as he exploded into dust. Victoran's eyes had widened slightly, but otherwise he didn't seem affected by this.
Shinsei smirked as the Bubble Shooter exploded. "Whatever monster Bubbleman Neo battles with is destroyed, and Bubble Shooter is destroyed instead of Bubbleman when he battles. I place two cards face-down on the field as a defense and then I end my turn." Rubbing his index finger under his nose, he coughed sharply. "It's such a shame that your Guardian was so easily brushed aside, no?"
Victoran drew the top card of his deck. "That hasn't happened in a long time. Perhaps your execution will not be as quick as I had hoped." Holding up the drawn card, he revealed Monster Reborn. "However, Radiance is far beyond anything you may have." There was a flash of light as the knight reappeared on the field. (3400/2500)
Shinsei grimaced at how easily that annoying knight had been returned to play. "What makes you think my face-down cards aren't traps meant to blow your warrior away?"
Victoran sighed. "I hate trap cards so…they represent the weakness that most duelists have…the insecurity to try and fight with their own strength and wits during their turn. A good duelist and a good Vanguard will leave their opponent unable to do anything of worth during their turn, instead of having to set trap cards. And with that I play my continuous magic card!" There was an explosion of light that came from his deck. "Tactless Determination! When this card is played, all trap cards in my deck, hand, and on my field are sent to the graveyard. After that, you may no longer activate any trap cards on your field. Also, if at any point I play a trap card, I lose the game." He pointed right at Shinsei. "Now there is no way for you to run from this fate! Go Radiance, slash through his warrior!"
"As you command!" The warrior drew its silvery sword. "Prepare yourself for death!" Yelling out a battle cry, he launched right at Bubbleman Neo without any fear of the monster's effect.
"I may not be able to activate trap cards on my field, but trap cards from my hand are still within limits! Reverse card open!" One of Shinsei's two face-down cards flipped up to reveal a card with a picture of Bubbleman wearing a magician's tophat and cape, and making a dramatic gesture. "Bubble Illusion is a quickplay magic card that lets me activate a trap card from my hand." Snapping up the only card in his hand, he smiled slightly. "Hero's Shadow!"
There was a flash of light and suddenly there were two Bubbleman Neo on the field. One was standing tall, while the other was crouched down on the field. It was the crouching one that was cut by Radiance's sword. In one explosive blast, the knight was blown away with the crouching Bubbleman Neo.
Shinsei grinned. "Hero's Shadow activates when an Elemental Hero is attacked. I can special summon a token of that Elemental Hero to the field in defense mode and redirect your attack to it."
Victoran didn't seem too surprised. "I assumed as much, which is why I was careful not to use any other cards during this turn. I play the magic card Careful Planning, which can only be activated if I have used two or less cards during this turn. It can copy one of those cards, at the cost of two cards from my hand. Monster Reborn!" There was a blast of light as Radiance reappeared in play. "Your efforts were for naught, fool."
Shinsei drew. "Let me be the judge of that!" Sliding the drawn card into his disk, he pointed at Victoran. "I place one card face-down on the field and switch Bubbleman Neo into defense mode. The turn goes back to you."
Victoran drew, little sparks of gold coming from his body. "Pitiful defense…and an even more pitiful play on your part! Radiance, ruin his chances of winning by cutting down his attack mode monster!" The knight launched in and slashed right through the superhero, blowing it apart. At that same time, an explosion of wind slammed into his Tactless Determination card and blew it apart. "Cyclone?"
"That's right, and that means I can use traps…right after your monster is destroyed of course!" Shinsei pointed at Radiance. "Later!"
"Fool." Victoran held up a card. "I play My Body as a Shield, to pay 1500 life points to negate that destruction effect."
Shinsei- 4000
Victoran- 2500
Shinsei shrugged and his face-down card flipped up. "Go Fusion Reflection Mirror! Metamorphosis and Bubbleman return to my hand!" Two cards came out of his graveyard and he added them to his hand.
From behind the wall, Kuruske smiled slightly. ("Well this is unexpected…most just faint from Victoran's sheer power…but in this boy's case, he seems unaffected by the fact that his opponent is so much stronger than him.") Something told him that maybe, just maybe, this boy might win.
"I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn." Victoran closed his eyes and waited patiently for Shinsei's next move. ("My face-down card will stop you cold, no matter what you try.")
"Draw!" Shinsei looked at the card he had drawn. ("Damn, this card won't do any good against this guy with the situation being as it is.") He threw a card down onto his disk. "Bubbleman (800/1200) in defense mode." While the superhero reappeared on the field, he drew two extra cards. Looking at the two extra cards, his heart skipped a beat. ("Actually…I might be completely wrong. With this kind of combo, I'll blow him away in one shot.") "I place two cards face-down on the field and play Mirage of Nightmare, end turn."
Airos widened his eyes slightly. ("Huh? Why didn't he use Metamorphosis to special summon another Bubbleman Neo?")
Victoran drew and his face-down card flipped up. "Activate counter magic card."
"Counter magic card?" Both Airos and Shinsei said at once.
"That's right. A counter magic card is a rare find, but for me it is quite useful. The card I activated is called Impossible Tax. When my opponent would draw cards this card is activated. The card that would allow the draw is destroyed, and the opponent must also offer an interest in the form of one other card on their field." Victoran still showed no emotion through all of this, which was starting to get on Shinsei's nerves.
Snarling, the boy sent his face-down Emergency Provisions and his Mirage of Nightmare into his graveyard. "There, happy?"
"Why would anything that you do make me happy?" The man pointed at Bubbleman. "Cut it down Radiance!" The knight held up his sword and the weapon released a beam of light that blew the superhero into dust. "I place one card face-down on the field and then I end my turn."
Shinsei took a deep breath and drew the top card off of his deck. "Believe it or not, this doesn't affect my plans too much." Sliding his drawn card into his duel disk, he placed the last card in his hand onto his field. "I place one card face-down and then I summon Elemental Hero Aquaman!" There was a blast of water that exploded out of the ground at his feet as a superhero wearing armor meant for the ocean appeared on the field in a standing position. (900/1100) "When Aquaman is summoned and I have no cards in my hand, I may draw three cards and then discard one." After doing so, he motioned at his first face-down card. "Go Metamorphosis! By sacrificing Aquaman…" The superhero disappeared in a burst of swirling water and was replaced by a powerful armor-wearing ocean warrior. "I can special summon Aquaman Diver!" (900/1100)
"Aquaman Diver?" Airos lifted an eyebrow at the monster. "It's in attack mode too…so what does it do?"
"I'm glad you asked Airos." Shinsei pointed at Victoran's field. "First, one magic or trap card in play is destroyed!" The higher level Vanguard's face-down card shattered. "Now comes the interesting part…and that is the destruction of Radiance because if the magic or trap card is destroyed, I can destroy a monster in play!" The knight exploded into pixels without making a single sound. "Go Aquaman Diver, Ocean Shooter!" A powerful jet of water exploded from the superhero's arm that struck Victoran.
Shinsei- 4000
Victoran- 1600
Shinsei felt his confidence rise to the max. ("I can win! I know I can!") "I place one card face-down on the field and then I end my turn!"
Victoran drew and inserted the card into his graveyard. "Pot of Greed." Drawing two more cards, he inserted them both into the graveyard. "Now I play the magic card Return of Warrior, which allows me to discard one card from my hand to add one warrior monster in my graveyard to my hand. Also, I select a second warrior if I discard a card from my hand." As Radiance's card returned to his hand, he placed it onto his disk. "And now I'll return Radiance to the field."
"Hang on a minute, your monster has a level of eight right? You have to sacrifice two monsters to just normal summon him like that." Shinsei knew the advantage was now his. ("This guy isn't anywhere near as scary as I thought when I sensed…")
The silver knight appeared on the field before Victoran, sword held up. "The card my partner discarded was Chivalrous Tribute, which when discarded allows him to summon my card without sacrifice during that turn."
Shinsei closed his eyes and took another deep breath. ("Its okay…this guy won't attack…not when I have two face-down cards.")
"I grow tired of playing with you. Open your eyes and feel the power that comes with becoming level four!" Victoran held out his hand and Radiance began to glow. "I offer Radiance to bring out his first release!" In an explosive blast of silver light, a glowing warrior a pair of shimmering short swords appeared in place of the knight, a helmet hiding its features. "Look upon your executioner, fool. This is Radiance's first release, Incandescence!" (4000/3200)
"Release? First?" Shinsei lifted one of his eyes brows in concern. "What…what did you do to him?"
"Every Guardian possesses the power to ascend to higher forms when their Vanguards reach level four…it is a powerful and very rare skill though that you must work for." Victoran pointed at Aquaman Diver. "Now die." The glowing knight launched in towards the superhero, sword lifted up to strike.
Shinsei snapped his hand. "You're the one acting like a rookie now! Go Hero Halo!" His face-down card flipped up, and then lit on fire from the powerful light coming from the knight. "What?"
"I told you that I hated traps…and it is reflected in the power of my Guardian. He negates and destroys all traps you play." Then Radiance's blades fell, carving Aquaman Diver into tiny little pieces that all shattered into dust.
Shinsei- 900
Victoran- 1600
Shinsei dropped to one knee and screamed in pain as huge cuts appeared along his chest, blood spraying from the wounds in huge arcs.
Victoran closed his eyes to the sight. "So unsightly…at least handle your pain with some dignity."
"S…shut up!" Shinsei leapt to his feet. "I won't fall to you…no…draw!" He somehow managed to draw, despite his pain. "Go Sennyu Spy Hero!" A grey figure appeared right next to Victoran. "By discarding the top two cards of my deck, one random magic card from your graveyard will go to my hand!" A card launched out of the man's graveyard and went to his hand. "G…g…go Pot of Greed!" Drawing two extra cards, Shinsei felt the blood he was losing pouring out like a waterfall. "I…I can't lose here! I will win this tournament! Go Miracle Fusion! By removing Bubbleman Neo and Aquaman Diver from the game, I will special summon Ultra Waterman!" A tidal wave erupted in front of him and a blue form slowly rose up into view. (1700/1600) "When this monster is summoned…I…I draw six cards." As he refilled his hand, Shinsei felt his vision waver and he slammed a card into his disk. ("Forgive me partner…but if I pass out I lose!") "Go Familiar Summon!" The concealed water form disappeared and a pair of Japanese sliding doors appeared in front of him. "Come…Kenshin…"
"Kenshin? Is that the name of your Guardian?" Victoran sighed once more. "This is taking far too long…and it isn't even interesting. It's just the squirmings of rat trying to escape his death."
"If you're wise you'll silence yourself right now, that you will." The doors opened and the red-haired form of Kenshin Himura stepped onto the field. "Kenshin the Wanderer of Twilight (1800/1500) appears."
Shinsei stood up, his wound gone. "Okay, it's time to tear down shiny man!" He slammed two cards into his disk. "Go United We Stand and Kaiser Sword!" A golden sword appeared on Kenshin's back and a blue glow sprang to life around him. "Kaiser Sword raises his attack points by 500, while United We Stand raises Kenshin's attack and defense points by 800 per face-up monster I have on my field!" (3100/2300) "Oh, but wait there's more!" Now he tried his best to sound like a game show host. "We also have a lovely consolation prize in the form of this continuous magic card called Thousand Selves! This card can only activate when I have a single monster in play. The rest of my monster zones are filled but as long as this card is in play I am considered to have four extra monsters on my field!" (6300/5500)
"Oh, the little rat has scrounged up a powerful monster from out of nowhere?" Victoran didn't reveal any emotions, even in his insulting words. "Then come and fight."
Kenshin drew his katana slowly. "Shinsei…together now…" And then he charged right at the glowing knight, blade ready to strike.
To be continued…