A Flipping Ritual

The sun was shining high and bright over Academy Island, making the water sparkle and the grass warm. The weather was perfectly peaceful. Over at the Slifer Red dorm, many of its residents were relaxing. In his own room, Matt Collins was at his desk and went through his deck.

"Okay, take this monster card away, replace it with this spell card and…" He mumbled while rearranging his deck. But then he frowned and leaned back. "Man, rebuilding my deck is so frustrating. It's so difficult to do something to improve it." He then hummed and crossed his arm, trying to come up with something. And then, a lightbulb went off in his mind as he opened his eyes. "Maybe it's time for little shopping." He gathered his cards and headed to a certain place in the academy building...


...The card shop

Matt found himself there, looking through the shelfs, trying to find something useful. A few students were there as well. They were either looking around or chatting with each other. Matt hummed while looking at the booster packs in the shelfs.

"Let's see, what could be useful for my deck? It must be something that can benefit from my flip effect monsters. But what?" The purple-haired Slifer turned away and was about walk to the next shelf. But he only a couple of steps before bumping into someone and fell on the floor, landing on his butt. "Oww." He moaned while rubbing his butt.

"Oh, sorry. Are you okay?" The person asked.

"It's fine. I'm the one who didn't watched my step." He looked up to see the person in front of him. It was a certain Ra Yellow boy with chocolate brown eyes and light-blonde hair with his bangs covering his left eye.

"Here, let me help you." He held up a hand. Matt grabbed let the Ra boy help him up.

"Thanks." Matt said while dusting himself off. It was then he recognized the boy in front of him. "Oh, wait. I've seen you before. You're Shiori Koizumi, right?"

Shiori blinked. "Yeah, but how'd you know?

"Well, I've seen you duel before. Like the time you dueled Michael Kageyama. That was one of the greatest duels I've seen since I attended this school."

Shiori smiled. "Oh yeah. It really was a tough duel. Michael is one of the strongest duelists I know. The only person I know who ever defeated him was Andrew Wilson."

"I sure can imagine that, especially after he defeated me."

"You don't say." Shiori then realized something. "Oh um, what's you're name?"

"Whoops, where are my manners. I'm Matt Collins."

The ritual duelist widened his eyes. "Andrew told me about you. You're the flip effect duelist who challenged him. You put up a good fight from what he told me."

"Yup. that's me. Flipping Slifer extraordinaire. It was a very exciting duel. I thought I was prepared for him, but apparently not. Well, better luck next time. So, what brings you here?"

Shiori shrugged. "I'm just trying to find new cards to add to my deck."

"Oh, same here. I'm trying to find something very suitable for my deck, but I don't know what."

Shiori cupped his chin, thinking about the matter for a moment. He then snapped his fingers. "I think I have an idea. Come on." He walked over to another shelf.

Matt raised an eyebrow before following him. When they both reached the next shelf, Shiori pointed at a box full of booster packs.

"For someone like you, I think this might be just what you are looking for."

Matt glanced at the booster packs and couldn't help himself. "No way!" He exclaimed. Each one of the booster packs had a picture of a woman in a purple dress with a card pattern on it. The woman had six arms, four of them being mechanical. "The Prediction Princess series. It's one of the newest archetypes. This one in particular focuses on flip effect monsters."

"Which is why this might be exactly what you're looking for. These cards will definitely take your flip deck to a whole different level." Shiori replied.

Matt nodded in agreement and took a bunch of packs and went to pay for them.


A moment later, Shiori and Matt were sitting at a table and had their cards laid out before them. They went through their decks to see how to improve them with the new cards they got.

"Hey, this card could be great in your ritual deck." Matt said while pointing at a card on the table.

Shiori picked it up and looked at it for a moment before agreeing. "Yeah, you're right." Shiori placed it in his deck and then noticed another card on the table. "And maybe that one could be useful for you?"

Matt picked up the card in question and nodded after getting a good look at it. "Yup, this should do."

They were sitting in silence for a while, until Shiori decided to speak up. "Hey Matt, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"What is it?" The flip duelist asked.

"Well, from what Andrew told me, you scored pretty high in the entrance exams. You did good enough to become a Ra Yellow student, but decided to start from Slifer Red. According to Bastion, your reason could have been because you wanted to work your way up, but is there another reason for that?"

Matt blinked his eyes, clearly not expecting Shiori to ask about something like that. Regardless, he took a couple of seconds before answering him. "Why I started from Slifer, huh?" He shrugged. "Well, it's partly because I want to work my way up, but there is another reason I did that. You see, I've heard about how many of the students from the Obelisk Blue dorm treats the lower ranked students because of… well, the ranks. Acting proud and arrogantly because of being in the highest rank, thinking that would make them best. I really hate people like that." He shook his head while speaking. "So, the main reason why I chose to start as a Slifer instead of Ra is because I want to show them that your rank doesn't prove your skills. I want to show them that even the lower ranked duelists can be better."

Shiori widened his upon hearing such an answer, but then smiled. "I think I understand where you are coming from. The lower ranks do have the potential to become great duelists. Jaden for example is a pretty skilled duelist, despite his grades. His duels against Crowler and Chazz are pretty much proof of that."

"I know, right? If someone like him can become a great duelist, anyone can." Matt proceeded to rearrange his deck until he was satisfied. "Well, I'm done."

"Same here." Shiori replied while finishing up everything with his deck.

"With that done…" Matt paused before taking up a duel disk. "How about you and I give our upgraded decks a spin?"

"Good idea. You're on." They both then headed to a place where they could duel each other.


Meanwhile, Jaden, Syrus and Andrew had just left the academy building and walked into the courtyard. The brown-haired Slifer boy seemed to be complaining.

"I can't believe I was forced to clean up the whole class room, just because I took a rest! Lousy Dr. Crowler."

"To be more specific, you were sleeping, as usual. Plus, you were snoring even louder this time." Andrew pointed out.

"Yeah, even other sleepy students became annoyed." Syrus added.

"Yeah, yeah." Jaden sighed. The boys were walking for a while. Eventually, the Ra Yellow dorm and it was then Jaden noticed something. "Hey, isn't that Shiori?" He pointed.

Syrus and Andrew looked at the direction he was pointing and indeed, Shiori was standing there, right in front of the building. They also noticed a duel disk strapped on his arm.

"It is Shiori." Syrus replied.

"And it looks like he's about to start a duel." Andrew added.

"Yeah, but who is he facing?" Jaden turned and saw the person standing on the opposite side. "Hey, it's Matt."

"The flip duelist?" The blue-headed midget asked.

"Well, that's interesting." Andrew commented. "Let's check it out." The boys then ran over to them.


Shiori and Matt had just activated their duel disks and drew their starting hands.

"Are you ready?" The ritual duelist asked.

"I'm ready when you are." The flip duelist replied.

"In that case…"

"Hey guys!" They both turned to see Jaden, Syrus and Andrew arrive at the sidelines, with the brown-haired Slifer being the one calling them out.

"Oh, what's up?" Shiori asked.

"Not much. Just wanted to watch your duel." Andrew replied.

"Fine by me." Matt said before turning to Shiori. "Shall we?"

"Yeah."

"DUEL!"

Shiori: 4000 Deck: 35

Matt: 4000

"I'll go first." Matt announced as he drew his sixth card. "I play one monster in defense mode." A facedown card appeared. "Then I'll play another card facedown and end my turn." Another facedown card appeared.

"Then it's my move." Shiori declared. (Deck: 35-34) "And I'll start by activating the spell card Unexpected Dai. Since I have no monsters on the field, I can summon a level 4 or below normal monster from my deck. I choose Alexandrite Dragon." The monster that appeared was a winged, majestic dragon with jewels embedded in its scales. (ATK: 2000 DEF: 100 LV: 4) (Deck: 34-33) "And for my normal summon, I play Dragon Zombie." Another dragon appeared. And just like the name suggested, this dragon had a purple, rotten body, making it zombie-like. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 0 LV: 3) "Now Dragon Zombie, attack his facedown monster! Deadly Zombie Breath!" The monster in question inhaled deeply and exhaled green smoke that surrounded Matt's facedown monster, making it flip up. The monster was a blue-skinned fiend that appeared to be headless, with a pair of horns at its shoulders. But it did have one big eye in the middle of its chest. (ATK: 650 DEF: 500 LV: 2) Due to being exposed by the green smoke the monster was destroyed.

"You destroyed Hiro's Shadow Scout. And its flip effect forces you to draw three cards from your deck and show them to me." Matt explained. Shiori drew his three cards and showed them. All three of them turned out to be spell cards; Ascending Soul, Shinato's Ark and Black Illusion Ritual. (Deck: 33-30) "And here's the nasty part. You must discard every spell card you just drew."

Shiori widened his eyes. And so did the spectators.

"What? But all three of them are spell cards." Syrus pointed out.

"Looks like Shiori walked right into that one." Jaden added.

"Matt is certainly a tricky duelist." Andrew said.

The ritual duelist discarded his spell cards before making his next move. "Okay, you got me there. But with no monsters on your field, I can attack you directly with Alexandrite Dragon." The dragon flew up and swooped down towards Matt.

"I activate my trap card, Metal Reflect Slime." His facedown card flipped up. "When this card is activated, it gets summoned in defense mode." The creature that appeared was a silver-colored, slimy blob. Shiori's dragon stopped in time as the slime creature grew and shaped to look like a spiky ball. (ATK: 0 DEF: 3000 LV: 10)

Alexandrite Dragon flew back to Shiori's field. "I place one card facedown and end my turn." A facedown card appeared behind the dragon.

"Alright then." Matt drew a card. "I play a monster in defense mode..." A facedown card appeared next to the slime monster. "And place one card facedown on the field." Another card appeared. "Your move."

"Here goes." (Deck: 30-29) Shiori looked at the card he just drew and smiled. "Just what I needed." He said, making Matt and the spectators curious. "I just drew the spell card Ancient Rules." The named card appeared in front of him. "With this, I can summon a level 5 or higher normal monster directly from my hand. So now I call to the field my Rabidragon!" And so, a third dragon appeared on Shiori's field. This one was, like the name suggested, the big, white dragon with a rabbit-like face. (ATK: 2950 DEF: 2900 LV: 8) "And now I'll have my Dragon Zombie attack your facedown monster. Deadly Zombie Breath!"

The zombie-like dragon exhaled some green smoke and forced Matt's facedown monster to flip up. The monster was a pink-skinned fairy with hair in a darker pink color and tied up to a pair of pigtails. It was wearing an unusual green hat and held up a golden coin. (ATK: 800 DEF: 1400 LV: 3) The fairy was instantly destroyed by the smoke.

"This time, you attacked Prediction Princess Coinorma." Matt said. "And thanks to her flip effect, I'm allowed to take a level 3 or higher flip effect monster from my deck and summon it facedown on the field." Matt searched through his deck and held up the card he wanted. It had the picture of a woman in a blue and purple dress with a veil upon her face. She had long blue hair falling past her waist. (ATK: 1400 DEF: 2200 LV: 5) Matt placed the monster card facedown on the field. "Now then, what's next?"

Shiori hummed. 'If I attack that facedown monster, its flip effect will activate. Of course, if I don't attack it, Matt will most likely flip it up on his next turn. In that case, I think I'll just go for it.'
"Rabidragon, attack his facedown monster with Icy Breath!" The dragon inhaled deeply and then exhaled icy air upon the field. Before it reached Shiori's monster...

"I activate my trap, Compulsory Evacuation Device." Matt's facedown card flipped up. "With this card, I can send a monster on the field back to its owner's hand. So you can take back Rabidragon." The monster in question disappeared and the monster card returned to Shiori's hand."

"Wow. He just stopped one of the strongest normal monsters Shiori has." Jaden pointed out.

"This is getting worse for him." Syrus added.

"That doesn't seem to worry him though." Andrew stated. The two Slifers looked at him confused before they turned towards the ritual duelist. True to Andrew's words, Shiori did not appear to be worried. In fact, he was smirking with a confident look on his face.

"Not bad. I guess I'll just have to attack with another monster I have."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "What's the point? Your Alexandrite Dragon can't get through my defense."

"Who said I was planning to attack with my dragon?"

Matt widened his eyes at that question. "Huh?"

"I have a bigger plan in store for you, which includes my facedown card." The card Shiori referred to revealed itself. "It's a trap card known as Urgent Ritual Art. I can activate it when I don't have any ritual monster on my side of the field. First, it lets me take a ritual spell card from my hand or graveyard and remove it from play." One spell card in particular ejected from Shiori's duel disk before he held it up. "The card I choose is Shinato's Ark."

"And what do you get by removing it from play?" The flip duelist asked.

"Something like this…" Shiori's trap card glowed for a moment before its image changed. To everyone's surprise, the trap card had now the same image of the spell card that was removed from the graveyard. "After removing my spell card, the effect of my trap card becomes that card's effect. In order other words, Urgent Ritual Art lets me use the effect of my ritual spell card."

Matt couldn't help but gasp. "Unbelievable!"

"Activate Shinato's Ark"! A familiar, giant ark appeared right above Shiori's monsters. "Now I can sacrifice monsters with a total level of 8 or higher in order to summon my ritual monster. I only need one sacrifice, Rabidragon." The monster in question appeared on the field before the giant ark opened and absorbed it. "Now come forth, Shinato, King of a Higher Plane!" The ark opened again and out of it, came the blue-skinned man with golden wings. (ATK: 3300 DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

"He just summoned one of his best ritual monsters." Jaden said in amazement.

"I never thought he could use a trap card for a ritual summoning." Syrus commented.

"I guess it's safe to say anything is possible in Duel Monsters." Andrew added.

"Now I have a monster strong enough to take down any monster you have on the field. And I think I'll start with your facedown monster. Shinato, attack with Divine Ring!" The golden winged ritual monster created an energy ring that surrounded Matt's facedown monster, forcing it to flip up. The blue and purple dressed woman was now standing in a defensive position with an object in front of her. It was a golden pendulum-like stand with an amethyst crystal ball upon it. (ATK: 1400 DEF: 2200 LV: 5) Regardless, the energy ring zapped the woman until she shattered into pixels.

"You triggered Prediction Princess Crystaldine's flip effect. Now I can take a ritual monster from my deck or graveyard and add it to my hand." Matt searched through his deck and took the ritual monster he was looking for.

"What? Matt has a ritual monster of his own?" Syrus asked.

"Looks like it. I can't wait to see what it can do." Jaden said.

"I think we'll find out soon." Andrew replied.

"My Shinato has a special ability as well." Shiori spoke up. "After he destroys a monster in defense mode, you take damage equal to its original attack points." The same energy ring surrounded Matt and zapped him.

Matt: 4000-2600

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." A facedown card appeared behind the fairy type monster.

"My move." Matt drew a card and looked at it. 'Just what I needed.' He smirked. "Alright, it's time for me to fight fire with fire. Watch as I summon my own ritual monster."

Everyone were shocked.

"Whoa! Already?" Jaden asked.

"Aw man." Syrus said.

"So you already got it?" Shiori asked.

"That's right. I drew my ritual spell card…" Matt held up the card in question. "Prediction Ritual." As soon as the spell card was activated, a stone pillar with a magic circle engraved on the top rose up from the ground underneath Metal Reflect Slime. In center of the magic circle, was a coffin. "For this ritual summoning, I must sacrifice monsters with a total level of 9 or higher, and I think Metal Reflect Slime will do." The coffin opened a little and absorbed the slime creature. And then, after the coffin closed itself, the circle on the stone pillar glowed with a powerful, purple light. Everyone watched in awe as the magic circle created a pillar of light. "I summon Prediction Princess Tarotrei!" The stone pillar sank beneath the ground, letting a new monster stepping out from the light pillar. It was a giant woman with a long flowing, purple dress with black robes over her, adorned with golden accents. She bore six arms and a card pattern on her dress that was actually moving within its fabric. (ATK: 2700 DEF: 1200 LV: 9)

"Wow! That monster is impressive." Andrew commented.

"No kidding. Way to go, Matt!" Jaden cheered.

"But she's a little weaker than Shinato though." Syrus pointed out.

"Attack points aren't everything, Syrus." Andrew replied. "It's very possible that this new monster has a special ability."

"Now I place a facedown monster in defense mode." A card appeared next to the Prediction Princess. "And now to let you witness Tarotrei's power. You see, she has two special abilities and I can activate one of during either player's turn. And I choose the first one; During either player's turn, I can target a facedown monster on the field and flip it up into attack mode."

The spectators gasped at this.

"Then you…" The ritual duelist said, knowing already what this means.

"Yup, I'll use her ability to reveal my facedown monster." The card in question flipped up and summoned a monster to the field. It looked like a human figure wearing a black cloak, but if one were to look closely, they would notice the monster's skull-like face. The cloaked person was wielding a serpentine blade. The most interesting feature of this monster is that its arms were covered in blue flames. (ATK: 200 DEF: 500 LV: 3) "This monster is called Night Assailant, and he has a flip effect which allows me to destroy a monster on your field. There goes your Shinato." The assailant jumped over to Shiori's side of the field, but then suddenly disappeared. A moment later, Matt's monster appeared behind the ritual monster and backstabbed it, making it cry in pain before being destroyed.

"My Shinato is gone."

"Now to take down your Dragon Zombie. Now Tarotrei, attack with Tarot Fury!" The giant woman held up all of her six hands in the air and created a bunch of glowing tarot cards before sending them onto the undead dragon.

"I activate the trap card First-Aid Squad." Shiori's facedown card flipped up. "This card lets me take a normal monster from my graveyard and add it to my hand. So I'll take back Rabidragon." He took the named card from his graveyard slot and placed it in his hand. Regardless, Dragon Zombie was cut down to pieces by the tarot cards.

Shiori: 4000-2900

"And now you only have Alexandrite Dragon on the field." Matt pointed out.

"Guess again." Shiori replied. And it was then a familiar trap card appeared from nowhere.

"First-Aid Squad?" Jaden said.

"Why did that card reappear?" Andrew wondered.

"Because of its second effect." Shiori replied. "When a normal monster is destroyed in battle, I'm allowed to summon this card in defense mode." And out of the trap card, four people appeared. All of them were wearing what appeared to be some kind of blue and white first-aid outfit. One of them was a muscular man with light-brown hair and a beard. The other three people were women. The first one was dark-skinned with black hair. The second one had lighter skin and dark grey hair. The third one had light skin like the second woman, but had blonde hair. (ATK: 1200 DEF: 400 LV: 3)

"So Shiori got a trap monster of his own?" Syrus asked.

"It appears so." Andrew replied.

"Well, I didn't expect that." Matt admitted. "Let's see what you're going to do with that after I place this card facedown." A card appeared behind Night Assailant. But then, Matt snapped his fingers. "Oops, I almost forgot. Tarotrei has another special ability. During my end phase, I'm allowed to take a flip effect monster from my hand or graveyard and place it facedown." He took a monster card from his graveyard and showed it to Shiori. "And I choose Prediction Princess Coinorma."

"No way. That means he can bring out another flip effect monster." Jaden said.

"Yeah. It looks like Matt's new monster is able to maximize his flip effects. This duel will be tough for Shiori." Andrew added.

"I draw." (Deck: 29-28) "I activate the spell card Trade-In. By discarding a level 8 monster, like Rabidragon, I can draw two more cards." After discarding the named monster card, Shiori drew two new cards and looked at them. (Deck: 28-26) "This will do. First I activate the spell card Ritual Cage." The continuous spell card appeared. "Next, I'll activate the spell card Fulfillment of the Contract. By paying 800 life points, I can summon a ritual monster from my graveyard. So welcome back, Shinato." The blue-skinned angel appeared on the field again. (ATK: 3300 DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

Shiori: 2900-2100

"And now when I have Ritual Cage on the field, my ritual monsters can't be targeted or destroyed by monster effects. Also, all battle damage I take from their battles become zero."

Matt clicked his tongue. 'That will be a problem.'

"Now Shinato, attack his Tarotrei with Divine Ring!" The blue-skinned man created another energy ring and threw it at the giant woman.

'Okay, guess I'll just go with plan B.'
"I activate the trap card Gravity Bind." Matt's trap card revealed itself.

"I've seen that card before." Shiori said. "It prevents all level 4 or above monsters from attacking."

Matt nodded while smirking. "Which means your attack is cancelled out." Before the Divine Ring could reach Matt's field, the continuous trap card glowed. And at the next moment, the energy ring was sent to the ground by a gravitational force and exploded.

"Aw man. Shiori's attack was easily stopped." Syrus said.

"And to think he's facing the same trap card as Andrew." Jaden added.

"And it's pretty much obvious that Gravity Bind is used to protect the flip effect monsters." Andrew said. "Which means Matt can use their effects with a smaller risk of them getting destroyed."

Shiori sighed. "I end my turn."

"Okay then." Matt drew a card. "Now I activate one of Tarotrei's abilities. During either player's turn, I can target a face up monster on the field and change it to face down defense mode. And since your Shinato can't be affected, I choose Alexandrite Dragon." The dragon glowed and disappeared, before being replaced by a facedown card. "And then, I reveal my Prediction Princess Coinorma." The little fairy appeared again. (ATK: 800 DEF: 1400 LV: 3) "And now I'll use her flip effect to summon another level 3 or higher flip effect monster facedown." A facedown card appeared next to the little fairy. "And as I recall, your dragon has only 100 defense points, and that will make it an easy target for Night Assailant. Now attack!" The cloaked monster leapt in the air and landed right in front of the facedown monster, before cutting it in half with his blade. "Next I'll attack your First-Aid Squad with Coinorma." The fairy's golden coin glowed before she threw it like a frisbee, making it cut the First-Aid Squad in half. After they were destroyed, the coin returned to her. "And with that, I'll end my turn."

"I draw." (Deck: 26-25) "I summon Armored Zombie in attack mode." The zombie warrior rose up on the field. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 0 LV: 3) "Since he's a level 3 monster, he won't be affected by your trap card. Now attack his Coinorma!" The zombie ran towards the little fairy.

"Have you forgotten, Shiori?" Matt asked. "My Tarotrei has two certain abilities, and I can activate one of them."

"Let me guess, you're going to flip down your Coinorma so my attack will trigger her flip effect?"

The flip duelist however smirked. "Actually, I'm going to use the other ability, and flip up my facedown monster into attack mode." The tarot cards within the fabric of Tarotrei's dress glowed brightly, making the facedown card in question glow as well, before it flipped up. The new monster that appeared was a purple skinned elf wearing a floral garb. (ATK. 800 DEF: 700 LV: 3) "Say hello to Prediction Princess Petalelf."

"Another Prediction Princess, huh?" Andrew mused.

"She looks kinda pretty." Syrus commented with a small blush on his face. Andrew couldn't help but give the smaller Slifer a weird look.

"She's got more than beauty." Matt replied. "Thanks to her flip effect, any monster on my opponent's field is forced to switch from attack to defense mode. And since Ritual Cage prevents ritual monsters from being targeted or destroyed by monster effects, and nothing more, that means Shinato will fall for her ability as well." The blue-skinned angel kneeled down and crossed his arms, while Armored Zombie made a halt and kneeled down as well. "And by the way, any monster being affected by Petalelf's ability cannot change their battle mode, so both of your monsters are stuck."

Shiori widened his eyes for a moment before smiling. "Never thought you would get around my Ritual Cage. It seems your new cards are working really good in your deck."

"I know, right? These cards gives me a bunch of new opportunities for my flip monsters. So, how about we continue?"

The ritual duelist nodded. "Okay, I'll just end my turn."

"Fine by me." Matt looked at the card he drew and smirked. 'This might work.'
"First I'll place a facedown monster in defense mode." A facedown card appeared. "Then I'll use Tarotrei's ability and switch Petalelf back into defense mode." The named monster was replaced by another facedown card. "That's it for now."

"I draw." (Deck: 25-24) Shiori glanced at his new card. 'Demise, King of Armageddon. This monster is just what I need to turn this around. The only problem is I don't have my ritual spell card. At least not yet. I just hope I can keep myself in the game until I draw it.'
"I pass."

"In that case…" Matt drew a card. "I think it's time to show you my new way to win a duel."

Shiori blinked at this. And so did the spectators.

"A new way to win a duel?" Syrus asked.

"What could it be?" Jaden wondered.

"Let's see what happens." Andrew said.

"So what are you up to now?" Shiori asked.

"Well, this is what I have in mind. You see, my original plan was to use the combined power of Tarotrei and Night Assailant to take down your monsters until you became wide open for direct attacks. However, since you played the Ritual Cage to give your ritual monster protection, I was forced to use my Gravity Bind to keep you from attacking me. Of course, it prevents me from attacking you as well. But…" Matt smirked while speaking. "Since you can't attack, you might have trouble to stop my newest plan. And that plan requires my latest facedown monster. Now, let me show you who I invited." The facedown card he mentioned flipped up, revealing a monster that looked like a purple worm with large spike protruding from its head and side. (ATK: 750 DEF: 600 LV: 2)

"Huh? A bug?" Syrus asked while raising an eyebrow.

Jaden did the same. "What's with that?"

Andrew on the other looked serious. "It's pretty obvious that it's a monster with a flip effect."

Matt nodded. "Yes, and this one won't be fun for Shiori. Because this monster is Needle Worm, and its flip effect allows me to send 5 cards from the top of my opponents deck to the graveyard."

Everyone gasped. It was starting to be clear now. Shiori especially understood this. "So instead of damaging my life points, you will try to get rid of my cards instead."

"That's right. If I can't bring your life points down to zero, I'll just try to wipe your deck clean."

Shiori scratched the back of his head. "Man, this isn't good." He then was forced to take the top 5 cards from his deck and slide them into his graveyard slot. He frowned as he noticed that most of those cards were ritual monsters and spell cards. 'My ritual cards...' He thought. (Deck: 24-19)

"Now then, I'll use Tarotrei's ability to flip my Needle Worm back into defense mode." The purple worm was replaced by a facedown card. "And with that, I'll end my turn."

"Now then." Shiori drew another card. (Deck: 19-18) And frowned when he saw what it was. 'Synthesis Spell. If only I had Lycanthrope in my hand, I could use this spell. But so far, I'm not so lucky.'
"I end my turn."

"Why isn't Shiori doing anything?" Syrus wondered.

"It looks to me that he can't do anything at all." Andrew replied. "But, based on the situation, it's not surprising."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean it's over. After all, a duel is not over until the last card is played." Jaden said enthusiastic.

Andrew nodded. "Then let's see which one of them will play the last one."

"I draw..." Matt announced. "And summon Needle Worm." The facedown card flipped up and revealed the purple worm again. "And you know what to do, right?"

Shiori nodded as he drew 5 cards from his deck and sent them to the graveyard. (Deck: 18-13) He carefully observed every card he lost. 'Good. I didn't lose any of the cards I needed.'

"Now I'll use Tarotrei's ability and flip Needle Worm back into defense mode to end my turn." Needle Worm turned back into a facedown card.

Shiori drew another card. (Deck: 13-12) This time, he got Tri-Horned Dragon. No, this isn't the one I want.'
"Pass."

"Then it's my turn." The flip duelist said. "Once again, I flip up Needle Worm to trigger its effect." The named monster appeared again.

Shiori sent another 5 cards from his deck to the graveyard. He widened his eyes when he noticed one card in particular. 'Oh no! That was my End of the World card.' (Deck: 12-7)

"And once again, I'll use Tarotrei's ability again." Needle worm became a facedown card once more. "And now I'll place one card facedown." Another card appeared. It's your turn."

"Okay." Shiori looked at his deck. 'I'm almost out of cards. So here goes.' He drew his next card. (Deck: 7-6) Before he got a chance to look at it however...

"I activate Tarotrei's ability, and flip Needle Worm into attack mode." The named monster appeared yet again.

Shiori was surprised by that move. "Now you're summoning it during my turn?"

"That's right. So go ahead. Send 5 cards to the graveyard."

Shiori took another 5 cards and slid them into his graveyard slot. As usual, he observed them carefully. 'Hmm.' (Deck: 6-1) He then looked up to face Matt. "Since you used Tarotrei's ability during my turn, your Needle Worm is at risk, in case I would summon a monster that can attack."

The flip duelist however smirked. "That's why I placed this card facedown." The card he mentioned flipped up. "Book of Moon. This spell card lets me flip a face up monster on the field into facedown defense mode. And it should be obvious to you who I choose." Needle Worm became a facedown card. (Again.) "Well, I guess that's a wrap. With only one card left in your deck, it's unlikely that you can do anything this turn."

"That's true." Syrus said. "Almost all of Shiori's cards are in the graveyard. I don't think he can win this."

"Don't be so sure." Andrew replied. "Anything can happen in a duel."

Shiori smiled at his words. "He's right. In fact, you were actually able to help me."

Matt blinked at this. "Huh?"

"While you forced me to get rid of my cards, I was spared from the trouble of going through my deck in order to draw the card I just got." He inserted a card into his duel disk, making a spell card appear on the field. "Preparation of Rites. This card allows me to take a level 7 or lower ritual monster from my deck and add it to my hand. And this is the ritual monster I wanted." He drew the last card… (Deck: 1-0) and revealed it to everyone.

"Lycanthrope." Matt said.

"Whoa! So the last card is a ritual monster? Sweet!" Jaden said.

Syrus on the other hand tilted his head. "But what can that monster do? As long as Gravity Bind is in play, he can't attack."

But Andrew just smiled. "I don't think that will be a problem."

"He's right. Because my spell card has a second effect. In addition to take a ritual monster from my deck, I'm allowed to take back any ritual spell card I want from my graveyard. And the card I choose is…" A certain spell card ejected from Shiori's duel disk. "End of the World."

The flip duelist gasped. "Could it be…?"

"That's right. I'm about to summon my most destructive ritual monster." Shiori held up his End of the World card, making dark clouds appear above the field. "And now I sacrifice my level 8 monster Shinato in order to summon Demise, King of Armageddon." The blue-skinned angel was struck by a lightning and blue flames covered the ground in his place. And then, the dark armored fiend rose up from the ground, with its massive axe in its hands. (ATK: 2400 DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

"No way!" Syrus gasped.

"Looks like Shiori pulled it off." Andrew said.

"He sure did." Jaden added. "Nice move Shiori!"

"And now I activate my King's special ability. By paying 2000 life points, I'm able to let him destroy all other cards on the field."

Shiori: 2100-0100

"Go! Flames of Armageddon!" The fiend slammed his axe down and unleashed a wave of blue flames which destroyed everything around him, including Matt's monsters and trap card.

Matt held up his arms in protection until the flames died down. "Oh man, now I'm defenseless."

"Indeed. But I'm not done yet. I have another card to play." Shiori held up a certain card. "The ritual spell card Synthesis Spell."

"What? Two ritual summonings in one turn?" Syrus asked surprised.

"No way!" Jaden added.

"This is gonna hurt." Andrew stated.

"Now for a sacrifice worth of at least level 6, I sacrifice the level 8 monster Tri-Horned Dragon in order to summon Lycanthrope." The blue dragon with many horns appeared on the field for a second, before disappearing. And then, a familiar werewolf-like monster rose up next to the dark armored fiend. (ATK: 2400 DEF: 1800 LV: 6)

"Yikes! Now I got two ritual monsters staring down at me."

"You sure do. But, only one of them will be enough to wipe you out."

Matt blinked at Shiori's response. "What does that mean?"

"I'll show you. Now Lycanthrope, attack him directly!" The werewolf let out a mighty howl before it leapt in the air, landed in front of the flip duelist, and then clawed him.

Matt: 2600-0200

"And for his special effect. Whenever he deals battle damage to your life points, you take an additional 200 points of damage for every normal monster in my graveyard."

"And Shiori has more than one normal monster in his graveyard, all thanks to Matt." Andrew pointed out.

"So that's it?" Syrus asked.

"It sure is." Jaden replied.

Matt sighed before being surrounded by a red aura as a sign of losing life points.

Matt: 0200-0000

Shiori approached him after the holograms disappeared. "Well Matt? What do you think of the results of our improved decks?"

"I think the results are acceptable." The flip duelist replied.

"Yeah, I agree. That was a great duel." The ritual duelist offered him a handshake, which Matt accepted.

"Thanks."

The spectators walked up to them.

"Nice dueling, guys." Andrew said.

"Yeah, it was awesome." Syrus added.

"Thanks." they replied.

"That duel was sweet." Jaden complimented. "How about to duel me? I can face any of you two, so get your game on!"

Shiori and Matt looked looked at each other with a weird look in their faces before turning to the brown haired Slifer. "Um, sorry, we're tired. Maybe next time." They said.

"You guys are no fun." Jaden pouted.

Andrew chuckled. "Ya know, I'm surprised that you have so much energy, for someone who fall asleep in classes."

Jaden just shrugged. "Hey, what can I say? I always save my strength for dueling."

"Why not save your energy for studying?" Shiori asked.

"No way!"

Everyone laughed at Jaden's respond.

With another duel, the friendship between the duelists have grown bigger.


Okay, I think that's enough for now. And I think I should tell you guys something. I've decided that my next chapter shall be April Fools Day themed. Just to let you all know when my next update will be. Until next time.