Sandwich and Card Robbery
After finishing today's classes, Jaden, Syrus and Andrew were running down the hallway leading to the card shack.
"Jaden, wait up!" Syrus called out.
"I can't! Not on Sandwich Day!"
Eventually, they made it to the card shack, were a bunch of Slifer and Ra were crowding around a bin of packaged sandwiches. The packages had the Duel Academy logo on them. All three of them walked up to the bin and looked inside.
"Isn't Sandwich Day just the greatest, guys?" Jaden asked. "All these choices and not one of them labeled."
"How's that the greatest, Jaden?" Syrus asked.
"Yeah, there are ostrich burgers, grilled tongue sandwiches, or a half-dozen other mystery meals that aren't exactly tasty." Andrew said.
"Yeah, but there's one good one. Compliments of that magical rooster that lays the golden egg."
"That's crazy talk Jaden. Everyone knows roosters can't lay eggs." Syrus said.
"Not to mention golden ones." Andrew added.
"Look, the point is that eggwich is delicious, and well worth rooting through all those other nasty items to snag."
"Well, good luck. It's been five weeks since you've been able to draw it." The smaller Slifer said.
"Here goes." Jaden picked up a sandwich, tore open the package and took a bite… "Ugh!"
"Wrong sandwich it seems." Andrew said, looking at the Slifer's disgusted face.
"Grilled tongue." He whined as he dropped to his knees.
"I guess you're just in a slump, Jaden." Syrus said. "But I'm sure you'll get over it soon."
"Better a bad draw here than during a duel."
The boys turned around to see Alexis holding up two non-eggwiches in her hands.
"Hey Alexis." Andrew greeted.
"Oh, so you took the eggwich to have lunch with me, huh?" Jaden said.
That comment caused Alexis to blush. "I did no such thing!" She retorted. "I was just practicing my draws!"
"Sure you were." Jaden continued his teasing.
"Yeah, I was!"
"Alexis didn't draw the eggwich, Jaden." Everyone saw Jenny and Ms. Dorothy come up to them. "From what I've heard from Ms. Dorothy, nobody has been able to draw the eggwich for the last five weeks."
The group gasped.
"At least no one I know." Dorothy added. "Someone must be sneaking in and stealing them."
"Stealing them?" Alexis asked.
"Whoa, that thief must be pretty good to be able to draw it week after week." Syrus noted. That made Jaden angry, scaring the little guy.
"It's true. None of the other sandwiches are opened. Anyway, I'm sorry." Dorthy said as she lowered her head.
"Don't be like that, Ms Dorothy. It's not your fault." Andrew consoled her.
"That's right. It's this eggwich thief's fault, which is why we're gonna do something about it." Jaden declared.
"Hold on, we are?" Syrus asked.
"Yup. We're going on sandwich stake out 24/7."
"Great." The smaller Slifer replied with a smile, but then realized what Jaden said. "What!?"
"Sounds like a good idea." Andrew said.
"In that case, we better get ready for tonight." Jenny added.
"Oh thank you so much." Dorothy said gratefully. "Shiori could use some help for his own stake out."
Everyone blinked. "Shiori?" Andrew repeated.
The person in question came up to them at that moment. "Hey guys."
"Hey Shiori." Jaden greeted. "What's this about you being on your own stake out?"
The ritual duelist frowned. "Well, something bad has been going on here, besides this eggwich thief. Come here." The group followed him to Dorothy's office and stopped at a table. What they saw on the table was something very shocking; a bunch of open booster packs and cards.
"Whoa! What is this?" Andrew asked.
"Someone has been sneaking into the card shop at the last few nights, leaving all of these on the floor. It's possible that this person was trying to get a certain card from one of these packs." Shiori explained.
"I can't believe someone would do something like that." Alexis said.
"Could this card thief and the eggwich thief be the same person?" Syrus asked.
Shiori shook his head. "I doubt it. Like I said, the person responsible for this mess did it during a few nights."
"So we got two thieves to deal with." Jaden said.
Andrew looked over the cards on the floor, and noticed a familiar ritual card. "Oh, that's Black Illusion Ritual. So you can get a Relinquished from this kind of booster pack."
Shiori smirked. "Got that right. These booster packs are limited here. In fact I bought one of these packs last week, and was lucky enough to get this one." He held up a card and showed it to everyone. It was a fusion monster card. The monster in the picture was something unique. It looked similar to Relinquished. But the body of this creature had a nasty purple color and was covered by tons of little eyes. And the part of the body where it would have been Relinquished's grey circle was a mouth with sharp teeth.
The group gasped.
"No way! That's Thousand-Eyes Restrict!" Jaden pointed out.
"One of the most rarest cards in the game." Jenny added.
"You really are lucky, Shiori." Andrew said, amazement in his voice.
"I know, right?" He replied before pocketing it. "Anyway, we better prepare ourselves for tonight."
Everyone nodded. But no one noticed a person standing outside the office and eavesdropped the conversation.
"Interesting. Maybe I can use this to my advantage to get the card I want." The person said.
Later that night, the Slifer trio (including Chumley), Andrew, Shiori, Alexis and Jenny were hanging out in Dorothy's office. Andrew, Shiori and Chumley were watching as Jaden and Syrus played a regular card game. Alexis and Jenny were reading for their homework.
"Quiet, it's coming. Slowly, slowly. Here it comes." Jaden said as he was about pick one of the cards from a nervous Syrus, who by the way had two cards in his hand. A joker and a spade 4. "This one…" The card Jaden took was the spade 4. "Yep, high card!"
"Nice one, Jaden." Andrew commented.
"Picking cards, drawing cards, amazing." Syrus said.
"Why thank you." Jaden said.
"So you think when this sandwich thief guy comes, he's gonna have anything on him?"
"For the last time, Chumley, he steals egg-sandwiches, not grilled cheese." Shiori said. "Would you tell him Alexis?"
"It's true Chum." She said, momentarily taking her eyes off the book she was reading.
"Hey, what's Lex doing over there anyhow?" Jaden whispered to the gang.
"Maybe homework." Andrew guessed.
'What I'm doing is waiting for this thief to come. Who knows? He may have something to do with my missing brother, and all the others.'
Jenny gave her a look, knowing exactly what she was thinking.
"Who want some stake out snacks?" Dorothy asked as she entered the office, carrying a plate of pastries. "Here, dig in." She placed the plate on the table
"Grilled cheese?" Chumley asked before he noticed the tray. "Aw, what are those?"
"You really need to cut down on that, Chumley." Jenny said.
"These look tasty." Andrew said, referring to the tray.
"Thank you." Dorothy replied. "These are my special stuffed pastries. Three kinds. We have strawberry, chocolate and lemon custard as well."
"Thanks Ms. Dorothy." Syrus said.
"What's most like grilled cheese?" Chumley asked.
"Enough with your grilled cheese nonsense." Shiori said with an annoyed tone. "Which one of these is lemon custard?" He asked.
"Oh, it's right…"
"Wait!" Jaden interrupted Dorothy. "We should draw, and try to pick what we want. I want strawberry."
"Wait Jaden. So you want to draw pastries like cards?" Chumley asked.
"That's a good idea." Syrus said.
"Go for it, Jaden." Alexis encouraged.
"Alright, wish me luck." Jaden grabbed one of pastries, took a bite and showed everyone its red filling. "Strawberry!"
"On your first try too, Jaden. Way to go!" Syrus said.
"It's good to know I still got it. You know, for when we get that eggwich back. I can almost taste it already."
"Okay, I'll give it a try." Andrew declared, but before he picked one, he turned to Jenny. "Which one do you want, Jenny?"
The girl blinked. "What? You're picking one for me?"
Andrew smiled confidently. "Why not? I'm sure I can pick the one you want. So, which one?"
Jenny stood there in silent until she made up her mind. "Chocolate."
"Okay then." Andrew looked over the pastries carefully and picked one. He handed it to Jenny who took a bite. Everyone watched as she widened her eyes.
"Wow! You picked right."
Everyone else was amazed.
"Nice one, Andrew." Shiori complimented. "You sure know how to pick one."
"Thank you."
Eventually, everyone settled down to enjoy their midnight snack. But it wasn't that long until they heard sounds from outside the shop.
"Someone's coming." Jenny whispered. "Let's hide."
They turned off the light and all hid in different places around the office. When they heard the sliding door being lifted up, they moved to see through the glass door.
"It's the eggwich thief." Jaden said.
"He's an animal." Syrus commented as the mysterious person crawled under the door and went over to the sandwich bin.
"Let's get that eggwich thief." Shiori said as he was about to open the door.
But he was stopped by Alexis. "Wait! Someone else is coming."
Everyone looked and saw someone else crawling under the sliding door. Even though it was too dark to see the appearance of this person, they at least noticed that they were smaller than the first intruder. They watched as the second intruder snuck around the first one and went over to one of the shelfs to take a few booster packs.
"That must be the card thief." Shiori said.
Meanwhile, the one standing at the sandwich bin pulled one of the sandwiches out with a satisfied look on his face.
"Now!" Jaden said. They opened the door and turned on the lights, surprising the thieves. The one at the sandwich bin turned out be a muscular boy with long black hair and only wearing a pair of torn up khakis. The other person turned out to be an Obelisk boy, based on his blue uniform, wearing a black mask. "Stop you thieves!"
"Put the eggwich down!" Syrus added.
Dorothy gasped in surprised when she saw the muscular boy.
As for Shiori, he immediately approached the masked boy. "Alright pal, let go of those booster packs."
The masked boy grinned. "As you wish…" He replied as he dropped the packs...
"Agh!"
And slugged Shiori in his stomach, causing him to kneel down and grunt in pain. He then reached into the ritual duelist's pocket and took a familiar card from him.
"I'll take this." He said with a satisfied smile.
"M-my Thousand-Eyes Restrict." Shiori muttered.
Everyone gasped at this. But it didn't take long for Andrew to get angry. "Why you... That was just…" But before he could finish his sentence...
"Ah-ah-ahhhhhhh!" The eggwich thief let out a Tarzan yell and rolled out the shack with the sandwich bin, breaking the door.
"Whoa!" Jaden gasped. By the time Shiori recovered and got up on his feet, everyone noticed the Obelisk boy run away, with his card in hand.
"Time to go!" He said.
"Stop!" The group ran after the thieves.
"Jaden!" Andrew called out. "Me, Shiori and Jenny will get that Obelisk. You guys go after the other guy!"
"Got it!" With that, the group split up.
Jaden's group followed the muscular boy to the roof top of the academy building. "Oh boy He can really move."
'This guy's definitely got something to hide. There's no way we can let him get away.' Alexis thought.
When the muscular boy reached the edge, he jumped off into the trees, swinging on vines while letting out another Tarzan yell.
"Finally, we can stop running." Chumley said.
"Oh no, we can't." Jaden replied and ran off, followed by the others. "We gotta cut him off, or we'll never get those eggwiches back.
Andrew's group continued their pursuit, following the Obelisk boy into the forest.
"That guy is fast." Shiori commented.
"Come on. We can't let him get away." Jenny replied.
"Not on our watch." Andrew said.
They kept chasing him through the forest until he turned to left and came out of the forest... only to arrive at a cliff with a tree. The same place where Jaden dueled the monkey Wheeler.
"Oh crud." The Obelisk boy said. He turned around to see Andrew and the others arrive.
"End of the line." Andrew declared.
"You have no way to run, so just give up." Jenny said sternly.
"Yeah, hand over the card you stole from me!" Shiori demanded.
"Hmph, fat chance, loser. This card is mine." The thief said.
"You can't just steal someone else's card like that." Jenny argued. "Why can't you just buy the booster packs?"
"Because it would be waste of my money to try my luck on some packs."
"So you decided to become a thief? That's just low." Andrew said sternly.
"It's none of your business!" The thief snapped.
"Well it is now." Shiori said glaring at him as he stepped forward. "Especially since you stole my card. Hand it over, right now!"
The thief grunted before an idea popped in his mind. He gave them a sly look. "Okay, I'll give it to you."
"Huh?" The trio was confused by his words.
"Really? That was easy." Andrew said.
The thief however held up one hand. "Stop right there. I have one condition for giving it to you."
Shiori raised an eyebrow. "And that would be."
From out of nowhere, the thief picked up a duel disk. "We're dueling. The winner gets the card."
The trio gasped at this.
"You can't be serious." Jenny said.
Shiori however thought for a moment before he stepped forward. "All right. If you want to duel for it, then I'l duel you."
"You sure about this?" Andrew asked.
"I don't think he's giving us another choice, so yes."
With that said. the two duelists took their positions and activated their duel disks.
"Duel!"
Shiori: 4000
Thief: 4000
"I'll go first." Shiori declared as he drew his sixth card. "And I'll start by summoning Manju of the Ten Thousands Hands." The grayish humanoid creature with many hands stood tall on his field. (ATK: 1400 DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "With this monster summoned to the field, I can add any ritual monster or spell card from my deck to my hand. So I'll take Shinato's Ark." He took the named spell card from his deck and revealed it from adding it to is hand. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."
"My move then." The thief drew a card and smirked. "This should be good. I summon Griggle in attack mode." A tiny little turnip in blue boots appeared. (ATK: 350 DEF: 300 LV: 1)
Shiori and the other were surprised by the thief's opening move.
"A monster with only 350 attack points?" Andrew asked.
"What's he planning to do with that?" Jenny wondered.
"Griggle is something that can be pretty useful if used correctly. And I have just the card that lets me do so…" After the thief inserted a card into his duel disk, a spell card appeared. "I play Creature Swap. It makes each player to choose a monster on their own side of the field. And then, both monsters are forced to switch places. Of course there's only one monster on each side, so…" Everyone watched as Griggle and Manju switched places.
"So he played a weak monster, and used a spell card to give it to Shiori while taking his monster." Andrew summarized. "But that's all the Creature Swap card is all about…"
"Hold on! Something is happening to Griggle." Jenny pointed out.
True to her words, something was happening to the monster in question. It was glowing with a blue aura. And suddenly, the thief was surrounded by the same kind of aura. And then...
Thief: 4000-7000
Everyone gasped at this.
"What!? What just happened?" Shiori asked.
"This is Griggle's ability." The thief responded. "After the control of it shifts to my opponent, it gives me 3000 extra life points."
"So it wasn't just about to take control of Shiori's monster. He used the spell card to trigger Griggle's effect." Andrew realized.
"That is an effective combo." Jenny admitted.
"And now I think it's time to take away some of your life points. Now Manju, destroy his Griggle!" The multi-handed creature ran over to Shiori's field and smashed the little turnip.
Shiori: 4000-2950
"I place a card facedown and end my turn." The thief concluded as a card appeared behind Manju."
"My move." Shiori drew a card. "I summon Alexandrite Dragon in attack mode." The majestic dragon rose up on the field. (ATK: 2000 DEF: 100 LV: 4) "Sorry about this Manju." Shiori muttered. "Alexandrite Dragon, attack!" The dragon let out a stream of fire, destroying Manju easily.
Thief: 7000-6400
"Heh. That was nothing." The thief scoffed.
Shiori However ignored the thief's insult. "I activate the trap card Call of the Haunted. This lets me summon a monster back from my graveyard, and I'll resurrect my Manju." The multi-handed creature appeared beside the dragon. (ATK: 1400 DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "Since this was a special summon, I can't add any ritual card to my hand. But I can attack with Manju. Now go!" The monster in question dashed forward and gave the thief a strong punch on his face.
Thief: 6400-5000
"I end my turn." Shiori concluded.
"Okay then." The thief drew his next card. "I play a facedown monster in defense mode and end my turn." A facedown monster card appeared.
"Then here goes." Shiori said. "I activate the spell card Pot of Greed. So I get two cards." He drew his two cards and looked at them. 'Ah, Shinato. I should save him for later.'
"I play Graceful Charity. I can draw three cards from my deck, and then must discard two." Shiori drew three cards, looked at them, and smirked before he discarded two of them. "And now I activate the spell card Emblem of the Awakening. This lets me ritual summon a monster by sacrificing monsters with a total 4 or higher. So I sacrifice Djinn Demolisher of Rituals…" A fat fiend with light-red skin wielding a massive axe appeared for a moment before disappearing. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 600 LV: 3) "and Djinn Disserere of Rituals from my hand…" The brown-skinned fiend with his big shield appeared for a moment as well. (ATK: 200 DEF: 200 LV: 1) "in order to summon Cú Chulainn the Awakened." And so, the heavy-armored, spear wielding warrior appeared next to Manju. (ATK: 500 DEF: 1000 LV: 4)
"Hahaha! A monster with 500 attack points? I'm shaking in my boots." The thief mocked.
Shiori however smirked. "Well, you would be, if you were aware of his special ability."
"Huh?"
"Once per turn, I can take a normal monster from my graveyard and remove it from play. After that, my Cú Chulainn absorbs that monster's attack points until my next standby phase."
"And I bet Shiori discarded at least one normal monster, thanks to Graceful Charity." Andrew said.
"Then let's see which monster he's going to remove." Jenny added.
The emblem around Cú Chulainn's neck glowed with a multicolored light. And then, a monster rose up on the field in front of him. It was the big, blue dragon type monster known as Tri-Horned Dragon. (ATK: 2850 DEF: 2350 LV: 8) "Now Cú Chulainn, absorb the Tri-Horned Dragon." The dragon was absorbed into the emblem and the warrior's body glowed with the same multicolored light from earlier. (ATK: 500-3350)
"3350 attack points!?" The thief exclaimed.
"That's right and I'm about to use them all against you, but first I'm going to take care of your facedown monster. Manju, attack!" The monster with many hands dashed forward.
"Not so fast! I activate the trap card Magical Arm Shield." The thief's facedown card flipped up. "When you attack my monster, I can use this to take control one of your monsters, except the one you're attacking with. And then the monster I take will take the hit and remain on my field until the end of the battle phase. So how about to let me take your ritual monster?"
Once again, Shiori smirked. "Sorry, but that won't work."
"What!?"
"As you know, I sacrificed my two Djinn monsters to ritual summon him. And by doing that, each one of them gave him a special ability. From starters, my Disserere of Rituals gave him the ability to be immune to traps. And thanks to the Demolisher of Rituals, Cú Chulainn can't be targeted by any effect of your cards."
"Wow. That means Shiori's monster is completely safe from that guy's trap." Jenny commented.
Andrew smiled. "He certainly gave his monster a very good protection."
The thief growled. "Fine, I'll just take control of your dragon." The trap card summoned a shield with grabbing plungers. They reached out, grabbed Alexandrite Dragon and dragged over to the thief's side of the field. And when Manju was close enough, the dragon destroyed it with a stream of fire.
Shiori: 2950-2350
"Okay, my Manju is gone, but I can destroy your facedown monster. Cú Chulainn, attack!" The warrior dashed forward and stabbed the facedown monster with his spear. The monster that was revealed before being destroyed was some kind of rafflesia with a mouth and sharp teeth. (ATK: 300 DEF: 900 LV: 2)
"Rafflesia Seduction." Jenny mused.
"You know about that monster?" Andrew asked.
"Yeah. It's a monster with a flip effect that lets you take control of one of the opponent's monster for one turn." The fairy duelist then smiled. "Not that it matters."
Andrew smiled as well and nodded. It's true what she said. Since Cú Chulainn couldn't be targeted by the thief's card effects, that monster's flip effect was useless. And even if it worked, Shiori didn't have any other monster on the field.
"Alright, I can't attack you anymore this turn, so it's time for Alexandrite Dragon to return to me." The dragon in question flew over to Shiori's side. "I end my turn."
The thief growled. "Just you wait you punk." He drew a card. When he looked at it, he chuckled. "This should be fun. I summon Grinder Golem!" He held up that card glowed brightly. And then, everyone could feel the ground shaking. But that was nothing compared to what happened next. A big monster appeared on the field. And the most shocking part of this... is that this giant monster appeared behind Shiori. It was a humongous metallic behemoth with a buzz-saw blade for a head and spikes all over its body. (ATK: 3000 DEF: 300 LV: 8)
"What is this!?" Shiori asked while staring at the giant monster.
"Surprised? My Grinder Golem can't be summoned to my side of the field. I can only summon it to your side, by summoning two Grinder Tokens to my side." After hearing his explanation, everyone turned to his field. True to his words, two new monsters were standing on his field. They were like mini versions of Grinder Golem. (ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1) x2 "I place one card facedown and end my turn." A facedown card appeared behind the two tokens.
"Okay then." After Shiori drew a card, Cú Chulainn's attack strength returned to normal. (ATK: 3350-500) 'Let's see. It appears he could only summon those tokens in attack mode, so his facedown card must be something to protect them. But my Cú Chualinn can't be targeted by his card effects, or affected by his traps for that matter. But I better be careful though. cuz who knows what that guy will do?'
"First I'll switch Alexandrite Dragon and Grinder Golem to defense mode." The two monsters in question kneeled down. "Then I'll use Cú Chulainn's ability again. I remove Beast of Talvar from my graveyard to increase his attack strength." The winged demon appeared… (ATK: 2400 DEF: 2150 LV: 6) and was absorbed into the emblem around the spear-wielding warrior's neck. (ATK: 500-2900) "Now attack one of the Grinder Tokens!" The warrior dashed forward and stabbed one of the tokens with his spear, making it explode.
Thief: 5000-2100
"I end my turn."
"Looks like Shiori is taking the lead." Jenny stated.
"Yeah, but that was too easy." Andrew said slightly worried. "Sure, that facedown card could have been useless against his monster, but unless that thief is desperate, he must be planning something with it."
Speaking of whom, the thief drew his next card and smirked when he saw what he got. "Well well well. It looks like I drew just what I need, and my bluff was worth it."
Shiori blinked. "Bluff?"
"That's right, my facedown card wasn't a trap card, but rather a spell card…" The card in question flipped up. "I activate Owner's Seal. This lets me return control of all monsters on the field to their original owners."
Shiori looked grim. "Which means…"
"Which means my Grinder Golem comes back to me." The mechanical giant disappeared from Shiori's side, and reappeared on the thief's side. "I can't believe you actually fell for my bluff. And that will cost you dearly. I summon Melchid the Four-Face Beast." A new monster appeared. It had a rotating array of masks. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And now for the best part; by sacrificing two monsters, including Melchid here, I can summon an incredibly powerful monster." The masked creature disappeared along with the remaining Grinder Token. And then, they were replaced by a monster that rose up next to Grinder Golem. It was a very tall, horned fiend with sharp claws and three blue masks. "Say hello to Masked Beast Des Gardius." (ATK: 3300 DEF: 2500 LV: 8)
"No way! 3300 attack points!" Shiori said.
"Way to to state the obvious." The thief replied. "And now I switch Grinder Golem to attack mode." The monster in question stood up. "Now take this! Grinder Golem, attack! Destroy his Alexandrite Dragon!" The mechanical giant slammed the dragon with its right arm. "And now it's your little warrior's turn. Des Gardius, attack!" The masked fiend used its sharp claws to slash Cú Chulainn to pieces.
Shiori: 2350-1950
"I place one card facedown and end my turn."
"Now Shiori is facing two powerful monsters. This is looking pretty grim." Jenny said.
"Especially how tricky that thief is. He's using so many cards with the power to take control of the opponent's monsters. What could be next?" Andrew wondered.
"I draw." Shiori drew a card. "First I place two cards facedown. And then I activate the spell, Card of Demise. Now I can draw until I have 5 cards in my hand." Since Shiori placed two facedown cards a moment ago, he had one card in his hand, so he drew four cards. He looked at the new cards and nodded. "Perfect. Now I summon Armored Zombie." The zombie warrior appeared on the field. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 0 LV: 3) "And then I activate one of the cards I placed facedown, Amulet of Ambition." After the named card flipped up, the familiar golden amulet appeared around the zombie's neck.
"What does that do?" The thief asked.
"You'll find out soon enough. But first things first. I activate my other facedown card, Shinato's Ark." The named ritual spell card flipped up.
The thief grinned at this for some reason. "A ritual spell, eh? Too bad your Djinns will be off limits."
"What?"
"I activate my trap, Imperial Iron Wall." The thief's facedown card flipped up. "As long as this card remains on the field, none of us can remove any cards from the game."
Shiori gasped. 'But that means I can't use the Djinn monsters in my graveyard.'
"Oooh, not good." Andrew grimaced.
"No kidding. If Shiori can't remove his Djinn monsters from play, he can't use their effects." Jenny said.
"Okay, so I can't use the Djinn monsters in my graveyard, but I can use the one in my hand, Djinn Presider of Rituals." The green, chubby fiend with his rapier in hand appeared. (ATK: 1800 DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "And to make sure I sacrifice monsters with a total level of 8, I'll add Battle Footballer in the mix." The familiar football player appeared next to the Djinn. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 2100 LV: 4) And then, both monsters disappeared. "Now I summon Shinato, King of a Higher Plane." The two monsters were replaced by the blue-skinned angel. (ATK: 3300 DEF: 3000 LV: 8) "Say goodbye to your Grinder Golem. Now Shinato, attack with Divine Ring!" The golden winged angel created an energy ring that surrounded the giant machine and zapped it until it exploded. The thief held up his arms to protect himself.
Thief: 2100-1800
"Since I used Presider of Rituals to summon Shinato, I get to draw a card since he destroyed a monster in battle." Shiori drew a card. "And now I attack with Armored Zombie!" The sword wielding warrior made its way to the thief's field.
"But my Masked Beast is stronger than your monster."
Shiori smirked. "And why do you think I equipped him with the Amulet of Ambition? If he battles a monster with a higher level, his attack points are temporary increased by 500 multiplied by the difference between their levels. Your Des Gardius is a level 8 monster, and Armored Zombie is a level 3 monster, making him 5 levels weaker. Therefore, he gains 2500 attack points." The amulet around the zombie's neck glowed as it growled due tom the power boost. (ATK: 1500-4000)
"All right!" Andrew cheered.
"Nice one, Shiori!" Jenny added.
As soon as the zombie reached his target, he stabbed the giant fiend with his sword, making it shatter to pixels.
Thief: 1800-1100
Everyone cheered for Shiori's comeback after the zombie returned to his field. But then...
"Hehehe."
They fell silent as they heard the thief laughing. It doesn't add up. Why would he laugh after losing his two powerful monsters?
"Hey, what are you laughing at?" Jenny asked.
The thief calmed down before responding with a grin. "If you were me, you'd laugh at your friend's stupidity.
That comment made Shiori look at him angrily. "What's that supposed mean!?"
"Why don't you have a look at this…"
Everyone looked at the field and notice three objects floating in the air. It didn't take them long to notice what they were; the blue masks from Des Gardius' body. But that wasn't the end of it. The three masks joined together and glowed brightly for a moment and became a new mask. It looked gruesome and fiendish.
"What is that?" Andrew asked.
"This is The Mask of Remnants. After my Masked Beast is destroyed, I can play this spell card directly from my deck and equip it to a monster on the field. And then…" The thief's grin widened. "I can take control of that monster."
Everyone gasped.
"You wouldn't dare!" Shiori said almost horrified.
"You better believe I would. I'll use The Mask of Remnants to take control of your Shinato!" The mask attached itself onto Shinato's face who struggled to get it off. Eventually, he stopped and flew over to the thief's field mindlessly.
"Why you…" Shiori growled. "How many of my cards do you plan to steal!?"
"Aw, do you want him back?" The thief mocked.
Shiori grunted before he inserted his remaining card into his duel disk. "I end my turn with a facedown card."
"Then it's my turn." The thief smirked when he looked at the card he drew. "Well, it seems I don't have a monster to summon, but I can play this…" He held up the card he drew. "The spell card Snatch Steal."
Jenny gasped. "Oh no! Thanks to that equip spell's effect, he can take control of Shiori's monster."
Andrew widened his eyes. "That leaves him wide open!"
As soon as the spell card appeared, Armored Zombie disappeared from Shiori's field, and reappeared on the thief's field. "And with him out of the way, I can finish you off with your own monster. Say goodbye to the rest of your life points. Now Shinato, attack your former master!" The blue skinned angel rose up his arms to create another ring of energy.
While that happened, Shiori looked grim. "I don't want to do this, but you're leaving me no choice." He looked up and held up his right palm. "I activate Sakuretsu Armor!" His facedown card flipped up. "This trap card destroys your attacking monster, so Shinato is gone."
The thief gasped as Shinato exploded before his energy ring was complete. He then growled. "So you saved yourself from that one, but I can attack with Armored Zombie. Now go!" The monster in question wandered over to Shiori and slashed him with his sword.
Shiori: 1950-0450
Shiori grunted while the zombie returned to the thief's field.
"Are you okay?" Andrew asked.
"I'm fine." He replied.
"Yeah right!" The thief scoffed. "No way in hell you're okay. Just look at yourself." He said while grinning. "You've got no monsters, spells or traps on the field. No defense. Why don't you just give up?"
Shiori scowled. "Why don't you stop this nonsense and hand over my card?"
"Like a Ra Reject like you deserve such a powerful card." The thief said as he held up Thousand-Eyes Restrict. "This kind of cards is what makes duelists superior. These cards are about power and…"
"Oh, get over yourself!" Jenny snapped startling all the boys here, including the the thief. "There's more about Duel Monsters than powerful cards. A good duelist knows how to make the best out of what you've got, even weaker cards. And as for the card you stole from Shiori, you have no right to have it. True, that card is very rare, but a card is something you have to earn, not something you can simply take."
The thief scoffed again. "Give me a break. If you want something, then take it. That's the world I live in."
"Then I'm afraid your world is about to collapse." Shiori said, getting the thief's attention. "Because all I need is the right card to end this duel. So let's move on. I draw!" He drew his next card.
"Fine, suit yourself." The thief shrugged. "And not that it matters or anything, but since I'm controlling your Armored Zombie with my Snatch Steal, you gain 1000 life points during your standby phase."
Shiori: 0450-1450
"Fine by me." Shiori replied before he glanced at the card he drew and smiled. "Well, since you enjoyed taking cards from me, I should return the favor."
The thief widened his eyes. "What are you up to!?"
"Let me show you, starting with his." Shiori revealed one of his cards. "The spell card Pre-Preparation of Rites. This lets me take two cards from my deck and add them to my hand. A ritual monster, and the ritual spell card that is compatible with it." Shiori searched through his deck until he took two cards from his deck and showed them for the thief.
He gasped when noticed the image of the ritual monster. A certain golden eyed monster. "It can't be!"
"I'm afraid it's true. I activate the spell card Black Illusion Ritual. And next I sacrifice the level 1 monster Thousand-Eyes Idol in order to summon Relinquished!" The monster card he held up as the sacrifice had the image of a green, round creature with a pair of arms and legs and countless eyes on its body. After the card disappeared, the golden eyed creature with its vein covered body appeared on the field. (ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1) "And now I activate his special ability; I can equip him with a monster on your side of the field and add that monster's attack and defense points to his strength. So I'll take back Armored Zombie." Relinquished's circle opened up and sucked in the zombie monster. And then, that monster's upper body appeared on one of its armor pieces. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 0) "And now you're finished."
"No! hang on a second…!" The thief panicked.
"No chance! Relinquished, end this duel with Pilfered Power Attack!" The ritual monster absorbed energy from Armored Zombie and fired a beam of pink energy at the thief, who cried out after taking the hit.
Thief: 1100-0000
The thief fell and landed on his back as the holograms disappeared.
"Nice one, Shiori." Andrew praised his friend.
"Thanks."
"And so, this the end for the card thief." Jenny said as she approached the fallen opponent. She noticed a card laying on the ground and picked it up. It was Thousand-Eyes Restrict. "Hey Shiori. I think this belongs to you."
The ritual duelist walked up to her and took the card. "Thank you."
"Now, we just have to take him to Miss Dorothy." The fairy duelist declared.
Andrew looked toward the forest. "Speaking of whom, I wonder how she, Jaden and the others are dealing with the eggwich thief?"
Well, the Tarzan look alike was swinging through the forest and surprisingly enough, came to an area where Jaden's group was. He passed them and ran to a waterfall and climbed up to get away.
Jaden's group arrived as well.
"Now, can we stop?" Chumley asked.
"Who on earth is this guy?" Jaden wondered.
"Damon!" Dorothy called out, making the Tarzan guy stop his climbing.
Everyone looked at her in confusion.
"You know him?" Jaden asked.
"Take your time to answer, I need a break." Chumley said.
"Yes, I know him. And he knows better than stealing."
The thief now named Damon looked back before he lost his grip and fell into the water below. Once he out of the water, Dorothy got a good look at him.
"My, you have changed."
"I change, I change for better." Damon replied.
"Not your grammar." Chumley said.
"How do you know him, Ms. Dorothy?" Jaden asked.
"Where else? From school. He used to be an Obelisk blue."
"Boy, they really had a chill dress code back then, huh?"
"No, he looked different back then. But then, one day, he just disappeared. I was so sad. He was one of my favorites. Always visiting me at the card shack, especially on sandwich days…"
Flashback
"Oh, how he loved trying to pick a good sandwich."
One example of the past was when Dorothy was in the card shop and watched a few students standing at the sandwich bin. One of them was Damon, whose appearance before he left the school was his hair being shorter and he was wearing an Obelisk blue uniform.
Damon picked a sandwich, opened it and took a bite... only to have a disappointed look on his face.
"Ugh, sardines?" He moaned as he fell on his knees, making Dorothy gasp.
Flashback end
"...Shame he was so bad at it." By the time she finished her story, Damon had already climbed out of the water and was now sitting on a rock.
"But this guy is always picking the good one. You sure it's the same person?" Jaden asked.
Damon stood up and let out a laughter. "Not same person. I new person now. I live in the nature. I hone my skills."
"Well, why'd you leave?"
"When I Obelisk, I test good, but when come to duel, Damon have some degree of difficulty…"
Flashback
"Alright, time to take down Jinzo." Damon (as a student) declared as he was dueling someone in the main arena. "Here goes." He drew a card and unfortunately, it was a bad draw. "Ah great, a trap! This is the worst draw I could have possibly gotten. I lost!"
Flashback end
"My draw ruined me, each time…!"
Flashback
"…So I decide I must improve. I do everything I can think of."
Damon was sitting at the docks, depressed of his bad draws. He then stood up and yelled towards the sea. "Someone! Please! Make me a better card drawer!"
"But no answer. Nothing happened. Only waves go back and forth. Back and forth. Always back and forth. Then... hit me!"
"Uh, you want me to hit you?" Jaden asked weirdly.
"No, 'it' hit me. Just like I know what come next in wave, I realized I can know what come next in cards, by simply be in tune with nature…"
Flashback end
'I'm thinking this guy can't help me find my brother. In fact, from the smell of him, I don't think he can even find a bar of soap.' Alexis thought, realizing that this wasn't the kind of clue she was hoping for.
"This why, I live out here. To train, to learn, to be at one with nature, to be at one... with the draw. I get very good, but still, only one way for I to be sure. Ultimate test; I draw eggwiches. This is why I take them these past weeks." He started to cry. "Not because I thief."
"We understand." Dorothy said sympathetically.
"I don't." Jaden said. "I mean, don't get me wrong, Damon. I don't think you're a thief anymore, but…"
"But?"
"But this: I like those eggwiches as much as the next guy, so let's duel. If I win, then you stop swiping them. You win, they're all yours."
Damon smirked. "Fine, but I expert drawer. There no way you can beat me."
"Hey, I'm no slouch."
"It's true." Syrus said.
"He's the best I know." Chumley added.
"It on! Now let's see how quick you are, on the draw." Damon reached behind a rock to grab a duel disk he kept hidden.
Jaden and Damon went over an open field near the waterfall and took their positions. The others were watching from the sidelines. While the duelists prepared themselves...
"Hey guys!"
They saw Andrew, Jenny and Shiori walk up to them along with the card thief, who was restrained by the boys."
"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay." Dorothy said before glancing at the masked Obelisk boy. "And I see you caught the card thief."
"It was really tough, but in the end, justice prevailed." Shiori replied.
"Oh, gag me." The thief grumbled. That however caused the ritual duelist to bonk him on the top of his head.
"Anyway…" Andrew spoke up. "On our way back, we heard the eggwich thief's roar and decided to see if you guys got him."
"So what's going on here?" Jenny asked. "Is Jaden going to duel that guy?"
"Yeah, and if he wins, Damon won't steal the eggwiches again." Syrus replied.
"Damon, huh?" Andrew parroted. "And what's the story behind him?"
"It's a long story. We'll explain everything after the duel." Alexis said.
"All right, Damon. Get your game on!" Jaden called out.
"Let's do this!" The both said as they activated their duel disks and activated their duel disks.
Jaden: 4000
Damon: 4000
"It's time to throw down!" Jaden declared. "Here goes!" He drew his sixth card and looked at it. "Sweet! I summon Elemental HERO Avian, attack mode!" His feathered green hero made his entrance. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "I'll also trow down a facedown and that'll do." He concluded as he inserted a card into his duel disk. "Your draw. Let's see what you got."
"Just as trees swing too and fro, I know what will come." Damon let out a Tarzan yell while drawing his sixth card. He chuckled while looking at it. "Yes, the Nature has taught me well. I play card facedown, then summon card I drew, Drawler." He let out another Tarzan yell as his monster appeared. It was a huge stone figure with huge wheels underneath its limbs. (ATK: ? DEF: ? LV: 3)
"What's that thing?" Syrus asked.
"Not friendly." Chumley replied.
"Now for every card in my hand that I return to deck, Drawler gain 500 attack and defense points. And I return 4 cards from hand."
"That's all his cards!" Shiori stated
"Then Jaden better brace himself." Andrew commented.
Drawler growled while glowing by the power boost. (ATK: ?-2000 DEF: ?-2000) "Drawler, attack Avian! Stone Roll Wrecker!" At Damon's command, the stone creature ran over Avian with its huge presses, flattening him like a pancake.
Jaden: 4000-3000
Jaden looked at his deck to see that his card went back to the bottom of it instead of the graveyard. "What the…?
"When monster in attack mode get beat by Drawler, he no go to graveyard, he go to bottom of your deck." Damon explained. "So you won't be able use for long time. Now my turn end."
"Wow, nice move." Jaden complimented before drawing his next card. 'Sweet. Another good draw.'
"I activate the spell card Polymerization, and fuse Elemental HERO Clayman and Burstinatrix to create Rampart Blaster!" The heroes combined together and appeared as the female armored hero. (ATK: 2000 DEF: 2500 LV: 6)
"In defense mode?" Damon asked.
"Yup. But if take her attack points and split them in half, I'm allowed to wage a direct attack." (ATK: 2000-1000) "Rampart Barrage!" The hero shot a series of missiles from her cannon arm which exploded, making Damon let out another Tarzan yell.
Damon: 4000-3000
"That'll do for me."
'He draw good for man who wear shirt and have hair cut. But still, he no match for the way of Nature.' Damon thought
As Damon rose to his feet, Jaden looked straight at him. 'Uh oh, he's guy's got a weird look in his eyes. Well, weirder...'
"I activate trap! Go, Miracle Draw!" The named card was raised. "This how work, before I make card draw from deck, I announce what card I think draw, and if I right, you take 1000 damage. I wrong, I take damage."
"He's guessing what he's gonna draw?" Syrus asked.
"Good luck. This is one gutsy move." Jaden commented.
'No joke. Nearly 40 cards in that deck, and he's gonna guess the top one?' Alexis thought.
"You think I won't guess right?"
"You might."
"No might. The snow no not might melt, it will melt. And I will guess right." Damon closed his eyes and concentrated. Eventually the image of a spell card appeared in his mind. "Draw will be Card Loan!" He drew his next card and held it up to show them all that it was Card Loan.
"He's right?" Syrus asked.
"No way!" Jenny said.
"This guy's weirding me out." Chumley commented.
"Incredible." Andrew added.
"Now you take 1000 point damage." Once those words left Damon's mouth. Jaden's duel disk sparked with electricity making the latter grunt.
Jaden: 3000-2000
"Next, I activate Card Loan. You regain 1000 points…"
Jaden: 2000-3000
"And I lose 1000 life points…"
Damon: 3000-2000
"But I get to draw one card from deck, and then I must return card to my deck at the end of my turn."
"All of that just to make a draw?" Chumley wondered.
"He must have a good hunch what's there." Shiori said.
"Here draw…" Damon looked at the card he drew. "I like! Okay, I activate Drawber, a spell card. Now you draw card and I guess what it is. I guess correct, and all card in your hand and on field go back to your deck."
"Oh no, that'll leave Jaden wide open." Chumley said worriedly.
"There's no way that monkey boy can guess right again." The card thief said.
After Jaden drew a card, Damon closed his eyes and concentrated again. When the image of another card appeared in his mind, he said… "Draw is De-Fusion!"
Jaden looked at the card in question and laughed. "Right again."
"That's impossible." Syrus said, being as shocked as the rest of the group.
Jaden gathered his cards and shuffled them back to his deck. "Guess everything goes back to my deck." He said as Rampart Blaster disappeared.
"This is gonna hurt." Shiori commented.
"Drawler, attack with Stone Roll Wrecker!" The stone monster moved forward, passing through Jaden like a ghost.
Jaden: 3000-1000
After the attack was successful, Damon took the Drawber card and placed it on the bottom of his deck. "I end my turn."
"All right then, here's mine." Jaden drew a card. "I'll summon Wroughtweiler in defense mode." The mechanical dog lay down in front of him. (ATK: 800 DEF: 1200 LV: 3) "And I think I'll leave it at that."
"Not Lishus." Chumley said. "With Miracle Draw still out, all Damon has to do is guess one more card right, and it's goodbye eggwiches for good."
'Come on, Jaden.' Alexis thought worriedly.
"Aw man." Syrus groaned.
"Is it over yet?" Dorothy asked.
Everyone looked at her weirdly. "No, it's not." Shiori replied.
"We have to believe Jaden can pull this through." Andrew said confidently.
'This it. Just as I know leaves wilt and grow, I know I can pick my next card.' Damon thought. 'And with Wroughtweiler in defense mode, there is only one card that can help me. With it, I can destroy monster, then... destroy Jaden.' He closed his eyes and concentrated. 'I must draw Shield Crush. Must draw Shield Crush. Give me Shield Crush!'
"Draw will be Shield Crush!" He declared as he drew his next card.
"If he guess this card right, it's all over for Jaden." Chumley said.
But when Damon looked at the card he drew… "Oh no!"
"He's wrong?" Jenny asked.
Damon let out a more normal yell as he suffered the damage.
Damon: 2000-1000
"I summon Doron in attack mode." The monster that appeared was a strange figure. It sort of looked like a blackened mummy. (ATK: 900 DEF: 500 LV: 3)
Jaden smirked at this.
"So I guess wrong, it no matter, I still beat you. Just you wait and see! Drawler attack Wroughtweiler with Stone Roll Wrecker!" Just like what it did to Avian, the stone monster ran over the mechanical dog and flattened it.
When that happened, two cards came out of Jaden's graveyard slot. "I activate Wrought's special ability. Now since he was sent to the graveyard, I'm allowed to put Polymerization and Burstinatrix back to my hand."
"Fine, but I'm not done yet. Now Doron attack's you. Mad Dash Stinger!" Three transparent clones of the named monster ran out of the original and surrounded Jaden, each one punching him multiple times. Jaden winced at the loss of life points.
Jaden: 1000-0100
"Jaden!" Syrus cried out.
"Is it over now?" Everyone sighed at Dorothy's question.
"No." Jenny replied with an almost annoyed tone.
"I end turn." Damon concluded. "And since you only have hundred life point remaining, soon like seasons end, I end you."
"Okay that's enough!" Jaden snapped. "All this nature, that terrible fake voice?"
"Fake voice?"
"Come on, Damon. You've spent one year out in the wilderness. I mean it's not like you were raised there as a baby or something. It's time to get real."
"You wrong!"
Andrew decided to step in. "If drawing cards was predictable as snow melting you'd never guess wrong. And the fact you just did proves that it's not."
Jaden nodded. "That's right. Drawing is about using your gut. You know, being in tune with yourself. Even then you'll never guess every draw right. After all, you're only human, Damon. Even if you do get around by swinging on vines. That's what makes drawing great, you never know what you'll get. But you can always hope. Like now, I'm hoping for a certain card. And I've played the way I have. Quz my gut told me I get it, and what do you know?" He drew his next card. "Remember that first card you destroyed with Drawler, how it went to the bottom of my deck instead of to the graveyard. Well since you made me shuffle my deck, guess who's back on top." He turned the card over to reveal Avian.
"So Drawler just have to destroy him again."
"Don't think so. Not this time." Jaden's response made Damon confused. "I activate Polymerization. And fuse from my hand Burstinatrix and Avian to create the Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!" The two heroes merged to form Jaden's headliner. (ATK 2100 DEF: 1200 LV: 5)
"What!?"
"All right! That Drawler won't be destroying anything." Syrus cheered.
"Especially not after this attack." Andrew added.
"Now, Flame Wingman! Attack Drawler with Infernal Rage!" Jaden's hero shot fire from his dragon arm which hit the stone monster, shattering it to pieces
Damon: 1000-0900
"I still standing." Damon pointed out.
"Yeah but not for long. Cuz now I'm activating Flame Wingman's super power. And that means you take damage equal to your monster's attack points. And that brings you down... to zero."
Damon: 0900-0000
"I lose?" He then fell to his knees.
"Way to play, Jay." Syrus said.
"Good stuff." Chumley added.
Even the card thief was impressed. "Wow! I didn't see that coming."
"I can't believe I lost." Damon said, but with a different voice. "I-I don't understand. I trained out here for a whole year."
"So, now you're talking like a human being again, huh?" Andrew noted.
"Uh... I no get what…"
"Hey, it's okay, Damon." Jaden said. "You can just be yourself."
Damon looked up. "You mean it? Cuz I could really use a shower." Everyone laughed. "And a haircut…"
"And a shirt." Dorothy added.
"Well, actually I thought, all that vine swinging got me pretty ripped. So, I was thinking maybe." Damon said while sobbing.
Dorothy walked over and knelt in front of him. "Damon, a shirt."
"Okay…" Damon then hugged her as he continued to cry.
Everyone was touched by this. Well, except for the card thief.
"Okay, that's sweet and all, but can you let me go now?"
"NO!" Andrew, Shiori and Jenny said sternly.
The others then looked at him curiously.
"So, who this is guy?" Syrus asked.
Shiori snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, we haven't gotten a look on his face yet."
Jenny approached the card thief and took off his mask. Everyone could see that this Obelisk boy had messy brown hair. In fact, this guy looked familiar.
"Oh, I know you." Andrew said. "You're one of those who tried to pick on Matt.
"I can't say I expected someone like you capable of bullying and stealing." Jenny said.
"Oh that's right. Matt kicked his butt when we first met." Jaden said. "Too bad we couldn't watch the whole duel, cuz that finale was sweet.
"Shut up, you Slifer Slacker." The Obelisk boy grumbled.
Everyone was glad that everything was solved.
"It's Eggwich Time." Jaden declared.
One week later, Damon had returned to Duel Academy, in his former Obelisk form and his long hair cut. And as he promised, he didn't steal eggwiches anymore. Today was Eggwich day. And a bunch of students were trying to get the eggwich. Andrew and Shiori had just arrived at the card shop. They saw Alexis and Jenny digging through the bin.
"Hey girls." Andrew greeted.
"Trying to get the eggwich?" Shiori asked.
"Yeah, and so far no one has drawn it yet." Jenny said. "I'm glad that Damon promised he wouldn't steal them again.
"Speaking of stealing, what happened to our other thief?" Andrew asked.
"Well, as punishment for opening those booster packs, he's working part time until the packs are paid." Jenny said while pointing at her side. The boys turned to see the Obelisk boy in question sorting booster packs in the shelf while grumbling.
"Well, what goes around, comes around." Shiori said.
It was then Jaden and Damon arrived.
"So, has anyone drawn the eggwich yet?" Jaden asked Ms. Dorothy, who was standing behind the counter desk.
"No, not yet. Good luck."
"Yeah, better luck than I had with this haircut at least." Damon said he and Jaden plunged their arms into the bin. However...
"I drew it! The eggwich, it's mine!" They looked up to see Alexis holding the sandwich in question triumphantly.
The two of them groaned in disappointment.
"Aw, and I haven't tried to pick one yet." Andrew said.
"Better luck next week." Jenny said.
"Hey Alexis, I'll trade ya. I got something… greenish." Jaden offered, desperately wanting the eggwich.
"I'll take it." Damon said, getting a weird look from Jaden and the others. "What? I've been eating tree bark and grub for the past year."
That's all she wrote. Until next time.
