Chapter 11: The Tag Duel
It was a cold, cloudy winter night. Chumley and Ghassan were facing each other in front of the Slifer Red dorm. On Chumley's side of the field was a gigantic blue koala. On Ghassan's side of the field. On Ghassan's side of the field was a copy of the spell card Solidarity, the monster Jurrac Hera (2300-3100/1500) and two face down cards in his spell and trap card zone.
"It's my move." Chumley drew a card. "Licious! I summon Sea Koala (100/1600) in defense mode!" A small brown koala with the tail of an otter appeared on Chumley's side of the field. The koala was holding a pink clam shell in it's hands.
"I guess it must have a pretty good effect if you were so happy to draw it." Ghassan stated.
Chumley nodded. "Once per turn, if I have another Beast monster on my side of the field, Sea Koala can make the attack points of one your monsters become 0!"
Ghassan gasped before Sea Koala threw it's clam shell at his monster with enough force to make it fall to the ground. (Jurrac Hera (3100-0/1500) "Damnit..."
"Big Koala (2700/2000), attack directly! Eucallyptus Bomber!" The large Koala jumped in the air before falling down to crash into Jurrac Hera.
"I activate my quick-play spell Shrink. This lets me halve the attack points of one of your monsters until the end phase. I choose Big Koala."
Big Koala started to shrink in size (Big Koala 2700-1350) before it tackled the Jurrac from above. (Ghassan 3000-1650) "Next I activate my continuous trap card, Backfire! When a FIRE monster I control is destroyed and sent to the grave, I do 500 points of damage to you!"
Chumley gritted his teeth before Jurrac Hera exploded into a burst of flames, several of the flames hitting Chumley. (Chumley 1700-1200) "I end my turn." Chumley stated. Big Koala grew back to it's original size. (Big Koala 1350-2700)
Ghassan drew a card. "It's a good thing I used Shrink. Otherwise I wouldn't have enough life points to pull this off. I summon Jurrac Velo (1700/1000) in attack mode!" The flaming raptor appeared on Ghassan's side of the field. "And thanks to Solidarity, since all of the cards in my graveyard are the same type, Jurrac Velo gains another 800 attack points." (Jurrac Velo 1700-2500/1000)
"Gonna take out my Sea Koala while making sure your monsters have enough points for you to survive against Big Koala, huh?" Chumley asked.
Ghassan shook his head. "I still have Backfire. Jurrac Velo, attack Big Koala!" The raptor charged at Big Koala only to be slashed through. (Ghassan 1650-1450) "Now, Backfire does another 500 points of damage to you!" Jurrac Velo exploded into flames, burning Chumley once again. (Chumley 1200-700)
"Why'd you do that? You have a clear field now. Next turn I'll be finishing you off."
"There won't be a next turn. I activate Jurrac Velo's effect! When it's destroyed by battle, I can special summon another Jurrac monster from my deck with 1700 or less attack points." Another Jurrac Velo (1700-2500/1000) appeared on Ghassan's side of the field. "You know where this is going, right?"
Chumley gasped. "You'll use a combination of Velo's effect and Backfire to finish off my life points."
"Jurrac Velo, attack Big Koala!" Once again, Jurrac Velo charged at Big Koala who slashed through it, causing flames to shoot at Chumley. (Ghassan 1450-1250/ Chumley 700-200) Due to Jurrac Velo's effect, a third copy of the monster appeared. "It's over Chumley."
Chumley sighed. "Well, at least I tried." The raptor charged at Big Koala once more before being slashed through. A final flaming explosion occurred, knocking Chumley to the ground. (Ghassan 1250-1050/ Chumley 200-0)
Ghassan deactivated his duel disk. "Now can I go to sleep?"
"Sure. Sorry for keeping you up so late." Chumley drew the next card in his deck. "Aww, I was gonna draw Polymerization next." Chumley looked at one of the cards in his hand. "Sorry Des Kangaroo. I couldn't get out Master of Oz."
Ghassan remembered that a few days ago, Jaden and Syrus gave Chumley Master of Oz, and Des Kangaroo respectively for Chumley's duel against his dead. Chumley lost, but did well enough to earn his dad's respect. "So Chumley, why'd you call me out to duel in the middle of the night anyway? I thought you didn't care about dueling."
Chumley stood up. "That used to be the case yeah. But I dunno, I guess watching Jaden's duel against your friend made me grow a passion for it again."
"His duel with Scott?"
Chumley nodded. "Jaden was having fun the whole way through, winning or losing. And a lot of the time in that duel, when I thought he was finished, he found a way to turn things around. Made things exciting, you know?" Chumley looked at his cards. "I started to lose interest in dueling because I wasn't very good at it. But seeing Jaden be so happy during a duel, even when he lost against a guy who dissed his deck half of the duel, it made me think...maybe I can enjoy duels even if I lose a lot, y'know?"
Ghassan shrugged. "Well, glad to hear it." Chumley was one of the only people Ghassan didn't mind bonding with at Duel Academy. He wasn't a skilled enough duelist to get in the way of the trio's plans, and he would be leaving Duel Academy by the end of the first year, so Ghassan didn't see how hanging out with Chumley from time to time would endanger the mission. Besides, since Scott and Damian were living in the Ra Yellow dorms and often were busy with their own things, Ghassan figured it would be nice to have some company if those two weren't available. Of course, he made sure not to get TOO buddy buddy with Chumley as a precaution.
"I just hope that Jaden and Syrus will pull it through in their tag duel tomorrow. I'd hate to see them go."
'And I'm hoping that they lose.' "Anyway, I'm headed to bed. Night." Ghassan and Chumley waved goodbye before walking to their respective dorms.
Ghassan entered his dorm room, and started to take off his school unform. 'Jaden's a really good duelist, but Damian and Scott are using much better decks than him. And this is at the point of the story where Syrus isn't that great of a duelist yet, he only starts to get decent during the tag duel, so I think it's safe to say that Jaden's getting the boot tomorrow. So that leaves one task.'
Ghassan changed into his pajamas and got on his bed. 'The Light of Destruction said we'll need to find a way to restore it's power. I don't know how we'll do that, but I remember Damian mentioning how Duel Energy was used to restore some guy's youth at the end of the Shadow Riders arc or something.'
He stared at the window. 'I don't remember much about the Shadow Riders arc, but I do remember than Professor Banner's one of them. He'd probably know about using Duel Energy as a source of power. We should probably get some information from him. But how will we do that without blowing our cover entirely?'
Damian's guilt distracted himself from the heat of the scorching flames that covered the island. Screams of pain and terror filled his ears. He turned around to see the trail of corpses behind him. "I didn't want it to end up like this."
"Damian...you bastard..." Damian turned back in front of him and saw an injured Chazz lying on the ground near the unconscious bodies of Alexis, Syrus, and Bastion. "This is all your fault...you killed us!"
Damian took a breath. "I'm sorry."
"Damn you...DAMN YOU!" Chazz's body dissolved into light before the bodies of the other duel academy students did as well.
Damian felt two hand being placed on his shoulder. He turned to see Ghassan on one side of him, and Scott on the other. "Don't feel too bad about it Damian. We got rid of Jaden. We did what we needed to do." Ghassan told him.
"We can finally go home now." Scott added.
"We're murderers guys." Damian said. "We let this whole dimension get destroyed."
Ghassan gave Damian a hug. "Like I said, we did what we needed to do. The Light's the real murderer. We're just trying to get back home. And now, we finally can."
"But...we hurt so many people to do it."
"Think about mom and dad. Think about your friends. They must be worried sick for us. Trust me Damian. We made the right decision."
Damian nodded. "You're right. It's for the best."
Damian's eyes shot open. 'Did The Light cause that dream? Or was that a regular one?' Damian looked at his clock. "Whoa. I definitely overslept. Only twenty minutes before the tag duel." Damian stood up, brushed his teeth, took off his pajamas, and got dressed. This time, he decided to wear a Slifer Red jacket rather than Obelisk Blue. He believed that wearing it would be a way of giving honor to Jaden and Syrus. "Well, better see if Scott's still in his dorm."
Damian got his Duel Disk and his Fluffal deck before heading out of his room. He went to Scott and Bastion's room and gave it a knock. A few seconds later, the door swung open, Bastion coming in front. "What is it?" Bastion asked. Bastion seemed to be hiding it, but Damian got a vibe that Bastion wasn't happy to see him.
"I'm looking for Scott. The two of us are gonna be watching Jaden and Syrus's tag duel."
"Yes. You'll be 'watching.'" Bastion replied.
Well, Damian had a good idea why Bastion seemed upset with him. "How'd you find out? Did Scott tell you?"
Bastion shook his head. "I heard Chazz talk about how he's glad you'll be getting Jaden kicked from the academy, but wished that he was the one doing it. And let me guess. The fact that you came for Scott means that he's your tag partner?"
Damian nodded. No point in keeping it a secret when Bastion would be finding out minutes from now. "Yeah. I came to come get him, but I guess he already left your dorm."
"That explains why he decided to leave early. He probably wanted to get some minor last minute preparation done. Well, if I knew earlier, I'd have been much less friendly with Scott this morning."
"Look, I don't want to do this. I hung out with Jaden and Syrus from time to time. They're my friends to."
"Then why are you dueling to get them expelled?" Bastion asked.
"Crowler assigned us to do it. We didn't go up to him and request it. If we denied, who knows what could have happened? Crowler might have looked for an excuse to give us the boot too." Damian prepared this lie for a while. Most likely way he could get Jaden and Syrus expelled while still being on friendly terms with the other characters. He didn't need to make them his enemies yet.
Bastion sighed. "Well, I suppose I can't be angry at you or Scott for looking out for yourselves. Though I hope you won't take offense in me wishing you bad luck in the duel."
Damian laughed. "None taken. So, did Scott head off to the arena already?"
Bastion nodded. "I was on my way there as well." Bastion exited his room and closed the door. "I notice that you're wearing Slifer Red clothing today."
"Yeah. Closest thing I can think of to honoring Syrus and Jaden y'know?"
Bastion shrugged before the two headed out of the Ra Yellow dorm.
Several seats in the bleachers of the duel arena were filled with students. Scott was sitting in the lowest row of bleachers and looking through his deck. "Alright. I think I'm done tweaking my deck."
"Hey Scott." Scott looked up and saw Ghassan was standing next to him. Ghassan took a seat. "You ready?"
Scott nodded. "Never dueled in a tag duel before, but with the time me and Damian spent going over each other's decks, I think we'll make it through."
Ghassan nodded. A few minutes later, Damian entered the arena alongside Bastion. Bastion walked towards a higher row of seats while Damian walked up to Scott and Ghassan. "Well, looks like today decides if we're getting home this year or next year."
"Not necessarily. We can create more oppertunities to get Jaden expelled you know, even if we do lose." Scott replied.
Damian shrugged. "I guess so." Damian sat down. "Now all we have to do is wait for Jaden and Syrus."
More time passed before the students heard a man's voice over the speakers. "Attention students! The tag duel will begin in just a few moments! And remember, this is a sudden expulsion match!"
"Geez, those two are pretty late for their own tag duel." Scott said.
As if on cue, Jaden and Syrus entered the Duel Arena from one of the entrances. "Whoa, there's so many people here." Jaden said in amazement.
"Yeah. We really have to duel in front of all of them? It makes me nervous." Syrus said.
Jaden ruffled Syrus's hair., both of the two laughing "Well it just gets me fired up! Come on Sy!" Jaden walked towards the duel field.
"Coming bro." Syrus followed Jaden.
Chazz angrily kicked the seat in front of him as he watched the two walk. "I should have been the one who crushed you Jaden."
While standing at the top entrance of the arena, Zane watched Jaden and Syrus. 'Syrus...it's time to show me your skill as a duelist.'
Damian and Scott looked at each other. "Guess it's time." Damian said.
Scott nodded. The two got out of their seats and walked to the Duel Field as well.
Alexis's eyes widened. She was sitting next to Bastion in an upper row in the bleachers. "Those two are gonna be duelong Jaden?"
Bastion nodded. "I heard that Scott beat Jaden in a duel recently, so this might turn out bad. However, Jaden was handicaping himself at that point in time."
Chumley entered the Duel Arena from the top entrance. "I...made it. Ugh, I hate running." He then looked at the duel field. "Wait, Scott and Damian are their opponents?!"
Syrus gasped as the two walked. "You two are trying to get us expelled? But you guys are our friends!"
"We were assigned to by Crowler. Who knows what punishment we might get if we refuse, or throw the duel." Damian said.
"Indeed." Crowler walked up to the arena as well. "After the duel, if Scott and Damian lose, I'll be inspecting their hands and any face down cards they had. If I'm led to believe they let you two win, all four of you will be expelled for rigging the tag duel."
Damian and Scott were taken aback by this. They both turned to Ghassan, who was smiling. 'I'm glad Crowler decided to take up my idea. This'll ensure that Damian won't sabotage the tag duel.' He thought to himself.
'Ghassan doesn't want to take any chances huh.' Scott thought.
"How could you blame me and Syrus for that? We didn't even KNOW they would be our opponenets." Jaden replied. "Besides, I'd never want somebody to lose a duel against me on purpose."
"Who knows? They might have told you while I wasn't around." Crowler got a microphone. "The tag duel will now begin! Facing off against two Slifer students who trespassed on forbidden property are Ra Yellows, Scott Shaeffer and Damian Abunura! ...Yes, despite the Slifer Red jacket, Damian is a Ra Yellow."
Chancellor Sheppard walked to the edge of the Duel Field. "Interesting. Usually we have teachers or Obelisk Blues be the opponents for duels like this."
"Yes but...I felt it would be fair to give the two a sporting chance." Crowler lied. He obviously couldn't tell Sheppard the truth about being blackmailed into it.
Jaden walked up to the two. "Well, it looks like we're having our rematch Scott. And we'll finally be getting to duel each other Damian." Jaden offered a hand.
"You're not angry at us?" Scott asked.
"How could I be? You guys were just decided to duel me by chance."
"Yeah...chance." Damian said. Damian shook Jaden's hand, Scott doing the same after.
"For those who don't know how this'll go, both teams will be sharing a life point bar of 8000 each." Crowler said on the microphone. "Your partner's field is considered your own for the sake of card effects, but you can't declare attacks with your partner's monsters. In addition, no duelist will be allowed to attack on their first turn. And of course, tag partners are not allowed to show each other their hands nor instruct them on what to do."
Jaden and Syrus activated their Duel Disks, Damian and Scott doing so as well. "Now then..." Crowler began to say.
"DUEL!" The four duelists said simultaneously as Crowler got off the duel field. (Jaden and Syrus 8000/ Damian and Scott 8000)
"I'll go first." Syrus drew a card. "I summon Submarineroid (800/1800) in attack mode." A cartoonish blue and yellow submarine with eyes that was holding a torpedo appeared on Syrus's side of the field. "I end my turn."
"I'll go next." Damian drew a card. "I summon Fluffal Mouse (100/100) in defense mode." A chubby, turquoise plush mouse with angel wings appeared on Damian's side of the field. It was holding a chocolate frosted donut. "I activate it's effect. I can special summon up to two more copies of Fluffal Mouse from my deck." Two more mice emerged on Damian's field. "I'll set two cards face down and end my turn."
"My move." Jaden drew a card. "I summon my Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000) in defense mode." The clay hero appeared on Jaden's side of the field. "I'll throw down a face down and call it a turn."
Scott drew a card. "I'll place a monster in defense position and a card face down. I'll end my turn."
Syrus drew. "Now that we all had a turn, attacks can be made now. I summon Drillroid(1600/1600) in attack mode." A drill-like vehicle with eyes appeared on Syrus's side of the field. "Drillroid, destroy one of those mice!" Drillroid charged at the Fluffal Mouse in the middle before drilling it through it.
'Good thing he didn't use Drillroid on my monster.' Scott thought. 'Drillroid would have instantly destroyed it due to it's effect. Good thing Syrus isn't that good of a duelist yet.'
"I activate my face down card, Fluffal Crane. When a Fluffal monster I control is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can add it to my hand and then draw a card." Damian did exactly that.
"And now..." Syrus turned to Scott. "I'm gonna activate Submarineroid's effect to attack you directly!" Submarineroid dived into the ground and launched a torpedo at Scott, exploding on impact with him. (Damian and Scott 8000-7200) "Then I'll use Submarineroid's other effect. If it attacks, it can switch to defense position." Submarineroid crossed it's arms in a defensive stance.
"See Syrus? I told you that you'll be a good tag partner." Jaden said.
Syrus smiled at Jaden. "I set a card and end my turn."
Damian drew a card. He smiled when he looked at it. "I activate Polymerization. I fuse Edge-Imp Sabres with the two Fluffal Mice on my field and the third on in my hand." A swirling blue and orange vortex appeared. "Demonic claws, sharp fangs. Become one in the mystic vortex and show us a new form and power." The four monsters dissolved into light before swirling together in the vortex. "Fusion Summon! Show yourself mystical beast of the jungle that rips everything to shreds! Frightfur Tiger! (1900/1200)"
The mangled, giant plush green tiger appeared. Alexis paled. "That's the same card he used to beat me a few days ago."
Bastion turned to her. "It doesn't seem too strong. I take it has a powerful effect then?"
Alexis nodded. "And it's effect is more dangerous the more fusion materials he uses."
"I activate Frightfur Tiger's effect. When I fusion summon it, I destroy cards on the field up to the amount of monsters I used to fusion summon it. I used four monsters as fusion materials, so naturally, I get to destroy four cards." Jaden and Syrus gasped at Damian's explanation. "I'll destroy Jaden's facedown card, Syrus's facedown card, Clayman, and Submarineroid!" The giant pair of scissors that stuck out of Frightfur Tiger's body extended before it destroyed the cards on the field.
"Uh-oh." Jaden said.
Damian turned to Jaden. "Jaden has a clear field now. Frightfur Tiger's other effect activates. All Frightfur monsters gain 300 attack points for every Frightfur or Fluffal monster on the field, including itself." (Frightfur Tiger 1900-2200/1200) "Frightfur Tiger, attack Jaden directly!" The Tiger giggled madly before lunging at Jaden, slashing him. (Jaden and Syrus 8000-5800)
"Bro!" Syrus yelled in concern.
"I end my turn." Damian said.
Jaden drew a card. "I activate Pot of Greed. This lets me draw two cards." Jaden drew two cards from his deck, "Next I summon my Elemental Hero Wildheart (1500/1600) in attack mode!" A dark skinned tribal warrior with red tatoos and a large sword on his back appeared. "Next I activate H-Heated Heart. This will increase his attack points by 500, and allow it to inflict piercing damsge." A flaming aura surrounded Wildheart. (Elemental Hero Wildheart 1500-2000)
"Go Wildheart, destroy Scott's monster!" Wildheart jumped towards the set monster and slashed it with it's sword. From the set card, a pterodactyl made out of plants blocked the slash with it's teeth. "What the-?"
Scott smiled. "Sorry, but my Predaplant Pterapentes (300/2100) has more defense points than your monster has attack points." Pterapentes kicked Wildheart away. (Jaden and Syrus 5800-5700)
"Well, that's not how I was expecting things to go." Jaden chuckled in embarassment.
"That's not all. When Pterapentes inflicts battle damage, I can choose one monster my opponenet controls and place one Predator Counter on it. I choose Wildheart." A small, floating dog-like plant with red eyes materialized in the air before flying towards Wildheart. It bit the Elemental Hero on the leg, causing it to scream in pain.
"Wildheart!" Jaden yelled.
"A monster with a Predaplant Counter on it has it's level become 1." Scott explained.
"I'll throw down a face down and end my turn."
Scott drew a card, put it in his hand, and got out another one. "I summon Predaplant Moray Nepentes (1600/1000) in attack position." Fitting to it's name, a plant that looked like a combination of the Nepnthes plant and the Moray Eel appeared on Scott's side of the field. "Moray Nepentes gains 200 attack points for every Predaplant counter on the field." (1600-1800/1000) "Moray Nepentes, attack Drillroid!" The Predaplant streched it's roots to wrap around Rescueroid before crushing the monster, destroying it. (Jaden and Syrus 5700-5500)
"Next, Moray Nepentes' effect activates. When it destroys a monster by battle, I can equip the monster to Nepentes." Drillroid appeared on Scott's side of the field, trapped within Nepentes' entaglement. "I'll activate Nepentes' final effect. Once per turn I can destroy a monster equiped to Nepentes to gain life points equal to it's attack points."
"Drillroid has 1600 attack points, so that means Damian and Scott will gain 1600 life points." Bastion stated.
The Predaplant crushed the vehicroid a second time as a green aura surrounded Scott and Damian. (Damian and Scott 7200-8800) "Aww man. Not good, not good." Syrus said.
Scott smiled. "I'm not done yet. I activate Polymerization." The two Predaplants swirled together in the vortex. "I fuse my Predaplant Moray Nepentes and my Predaplant Pterapentes to summon Predaplant Chimerafflesia!" (2500/2000) An enormous beanstalk with a gigantic pink flower on top and two venus flytraps for vines appeared on Scott's side of the field.
"I gotta say Scott, the monsters in this deck of yours sure are a mouthful." Jaden said.
Scott ignored Jaden. "I activate Chimerafflesia's effect. Once per turn I can choose one monster on the field that has a level lower than or equal to Chimerafflesia's and banish it. Chimerafflesia is level 7 while Wildheart is only level 1." Jaden's eyes widened before the flower sprayed gas at Wildheart, causing it to vanish. "Now, I activate my continuous trap card Predaplanet. Once per turn, if a monster with a Predaplant counter leaves the field, I get to add a 'Predap' card from my deck to my hand. I choose to add the quickplay spell Predaplast." Scott added the card to his hand. "I set a card and end my turn."
'Things are looking bad.' "My draw!" Syrus drew a card and looked at it. 'This is one of the cards Banner gave me the other day.' "I summon Mixeroid (0/2200) in defense mode!" A cartoonish cement truck with eyes appeared on Syrus's side of the field. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."
Damian drew a card, and smiled. "I activate the continuous spell card Frightfur Sanctuary. By discarding a card and sending two monsters from my exta deck to the graveyard, all fusion monsters on my field are also treated as Frightfur monsters." Damian discarded a card and sent a copy of Frightfur Bear and Frightfur Wolf from his extra deck to his graveyard.
"Huh? What's the point of that?" Syrus wondered.
"Because Frightfur Tiger gets stronger with every Frightfur monster on the field." Jaden answered. Syrus gasped.
"Right, but it's not only Frightfur Tiger. ALL Frightfur monsters gain 300 attack for each Frightfur or Fluffal monster." Damian replied.
Scott smiled. "Which means Chimerafflesia is also gonna be getting stronger." (Frightfur Tiger 2200-2500/1200) (Predaplant Chimerafflesia 2500-3100/2000)
'Scott made a good call suggesting I use this card for our tag match.' "Next I activate the effect of my the Edge Imp Chain I discarded to add a Frightfur card to my hand. I choose Frightfur Fusion."
Chazz chuckled. "Looks like the slackers are in trouble now."
"I activate Frightfur Fusion to remove from play the Edge Imp Chain and a copy of Fluffal Mouse in my graveyard." Transparent images of the monsters appeared before vanishing. "Fusion Summon! Reveal yourself chained beast that binds everything! Frightfur Sheep! (2000/2000)" The demonic looking plush sheep appeared.
"What the-I figured that monster needed both Fluffal Sheep AND Egde Imp Chain!" Alexis yelled in shock.
Damian was really happy that the card game made it easier to summon Frightfur Sheep. "And naturally, a third Frightfur means more attack points for all of them thanks to Frightfur Tiger's effect." (Frightfur Sheep 2000-2900/2000) (Frightfur Tiger 2500-2800/1200) (Predaplant Chimerafflesia 3100-3400/2000)
"This is bad. If both Frightfur Sheep and Frighfur Tiger attack Jaden directly, Jaden and Sy are gonna lose." Chumley said.
"Battle Phase! Frightfur Sheep, attack Jad-"
"Not so fast!" Syrus interupted. "I activate my trap card Waboku. Monsters can't be destroyed by battle and we can't take battle damage."
Jaden turned to Scott. "Thanks for recommending it when we first dueled each other."
Scott looked annoyed, but Damian smiled. It would be boring to beat them so soon. "I end my turn."
Jaden drew. "I activate Graceful Charity. I draw three cards as long as I discard two." Jaden drew three cards from his deck, and put one of the newly drawn cards in his graveyard as well as a card previously in his hand. "Next I activate Polymerization to fuse Elemental Hero Avian with Elemental Hero Burstinatrix to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! (2100/1200)" Agreen and red Elemental Hero with one wing, a red tail, and a dragon-like creature for a right arm appeared on Jaden's side of the field.
"Your monster still isn't strong enough to take out any of ours Jaden." Scott pointed out.
"Normally yeah. But I activate the field spell Skyscraper!" Multiple buildings rose up from the ground before the four duelists found themselves in a large city. Damian and Scott looked up and saw that Flame Wingman was standing on top of the largest one."Thanks to Skyscraper, whenever an Elemental Hero does battle with a monster with more attack points than it, it gains 1000 attack points!"
Ghassan gritted his teeth. 'Shit. I forgot that it's effect was better in the anime than the card game. Flame Wingman will gain 1000 ATK if it gets attacked as well.'
"How about I take out the monster that's giving the rest a buff? Flame Wingman, destroy Frightfur Tiger! Skydive Scorcher!" The Elemental Hero leaped off the building, and headed down towards Frightfur Tiger, surrounded by flames. It charged through the mangled toy, destroying it. (Damian and Scott 8800-8500)
"Licious! Now that Frightfur Tiger is gone, the attack points of those other monsters will go back to normal!" Chumley said in joy. (Frightfur Sheep 2900-2000) (Predaplant Chimerafflesia 3400-2500)
"Next is Flame Wingman's effect. When it destroys a monster by battle, it does damage to you equal to the attack points of the destroyed monster in your graveyard!"
"So that means it onyl does damage equal to Tiger's original attack points then?" Damian asked.
"Yeah, but that'll still leave a mark. Go Flame Wingman! Infernal Rage!" The dragon acting as Flame Wingman's right arm opened it's mouth before a torrent of flames headed Damian's way. (Damian and Scott 8500-6600) "I end my turn."
Scott drew. 'I remember that in the early anime, Flame Wingman was a level 8. That's higher than Chimerafllesia so it won't be able to use it's effect on Flame Wingman. I could destroy Flame Wingman by battle since Chimerafflesia decreases the attack of monsters it does battle with by 1000, but I think I can do more damage than that.'
"I activate my set card, Predaplast. I reveal any number of 'Predap' cards in my hand, and then I get to put Predaplant counters on that amount of monsters." Scott shown two cards in his hand. A hyrda-like plant, and a spell card called Predapruning. "I choose to put counters on Flame Wingman and Mixeroid." The small dog like plants materialized again before biting both Flame Wingman and Mixeroid. "And of course, their levels both become 1."
Jaden clenched his fist. He knew what was coming.
"Now that Flame Wingman's level 1, I activate Chimerafflesia's effect to remove Flame Wingman from play!"
"I don't think so. I activate my face down, De-Fusion! This card lets me return a Fusion Monster to the Fusion Deck."
"Protecting Flame Wingman from Chimerafflesia eh?"
Jaden smiled. "Who said I was using it on MY fusion monster?"
Scott seemed confused before he noticed Chimerafflesia dematerialize. "Wh-what the?!".
"De-Fusion doesn't say anything about only returning MY Fusion Monsters. And since De-Fusion only special summons the Fusion Materials if they're in my graveyard, you'll be left wide open."
Scott gritted his teeth. 'At the very least, I can still get rid of Flame Wingman since it has a Predator counter on it. I can tribute it to summon Drosophyllum Hydra. Still, I won't be dealing any damage this turn unfortunately.'
'Geez. I don't think anybody in the anime used De-Fusion on an opponent's monster. You'd think they would more often.' Damian thought. "Clever plan Jaden, but that's not happening. I activate my trap card Frightfur March! When you activate a card effect that target's a Frightfur monster, that card is negated and destroyed!"
Syrus was confused. "Hold on, Chimerafflesia isn't a-" Syrus then gasped, remembering the Frightfur Sanctuary Damian previously played.
"That's right. Frightfur Tiger isn't the only way I can help out Scott's monsters." Damian said. The De-Fusion on Jaden's side of the field shattered to pieces. The light that surrounded Scott's predaplant dissapeared, and the plant went back to normal. Damian turned to Scott. "I won't use Frightfur March's other effect since that'll get rid of Chimerafflesia."
Scott nodded. "Thanks Damian. Now, back to where we left off!" The flower breathed a breath of poisonous gas at Flame Wingman, causing it to dissolve. "Now, Chimerafflesia, attack directly!" One of the venus flytraps charged at Jaden and bit him in the side. (Jaden and Syrus 5500-3000) "Next, I feel like getting rid of Syrus's monster too. I activate the effect of Predaplant Drosophyllum Hydra! (800/2300)"
Syrus started to notice his Mixeroid dissolve into light. "Wh-what the?!"
"Dirosophyllum Hydra can be special summoned by sacrificing a monster with a Predator Counter on it. From EITHER side of the field." Scott explained. The hydra-like plant appeared on Scott's side of the field in defense mode. "Next, since a monster with a Predator Counter left the field, I can use the effect if Predaplanet to add a 'Predap' card to my hand. I choose to add Predaplant Chlamydosundew. Finally, I normal summon King of the Swamp (500/1100) in defense mode." A pile of swamp water that took the form of a head and two arms appeared on Scott's side of the field. In the center of it's head was a blue crystal. "I end my turn."
Crowler chuckled. 'This is great. Damian and Scott may not be in sync quite as much as the Paradox Brothers, but they have Jaden and his friend on the ropes..'
Syrus took a deep breath. "M-my draw." Syrus drew from his deck. "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards." Syrus drew two cards from his deck. He looked at one of the cards he drew and smiled. "I activate Monster Reborn to bring back my Mixeroid in defense mode!" The cement truck appeared on Syrus's side of the field again. "Next I summon Expressroid (400/1600) in defense mode." A cartoonish express train with eyes appeared on Syrus's side of the field. "When Expressroid is summoned, I can add two Vehicroids from my grave to my hand. I add my Submarineroid and Drillroid back."
"Building up a defense I take it?" Damian asked. "Because I'll still be in the clear to attack Jaden."
Syrus smiled. "That's what you think. I activate the effect of Mixeroid! By sacrificing a machine monster, I can special summon a Vehicroid from my deck as long as it's not a WIND monster. I sacrifice my Expressroid to special summon Armoroid (2700/1000) in attack mode!" A gigantic robot appeared on Syrus's side of the field. It reminded Damian, Scott, and Ghassan of Transformers as it looked like the robot morphed from a plane.
Damian's eyes widened. 'I thought he only had that card in the manga.'
"Armoroid, destroy Frightfur Sheep!" The vehicroid punched Frightfur Sheep, destroying it. (Damian and Scott 6600-5900)
"I activate Frightfur Sheep's effect! When it's destroyed by battle, I can special summon it again, AND it gains 800 attack points!"
Chazz smiled. "Now Damian's monster will be stronger than Armoroid."
"Sorry, but I activate my trap card, Emergeroid Call! When my opponent activates a spell, trap, or monster effect while I have a Vehicroid, I negate that effect. Then, you have to send all copies of that card to the grave!"
"Sweetness! Way to go Sy!" Jaden complimented.
Damian frowned. He threw two copies of Frightfur Sheep from his Extra Deck to the grave. 'That's six of my Extra Deck monsters in the grave. Thank god it wasn't until the 5d's era until there was an actual limit to amount of monsters that could be in your Extra Deck.'
"I end my turn with a facedown." Syrus said.
Damian drew a card. "I summon Fluffal Owl (1000/1000) in defense mode." The plush owl appeared on Damian's side of the field. "I activate it's ability. When Fluffal Owl is summoned, I add a copy of Polymerization to my hand. I choose to add Fusion Substitute, whose name is counter as Polymerization."
"Looks like we have another Fusion summon heading our way." Jaden said.
Damian turned to Scott. "Thanks for the King of the Swamp Scott."
Scott nodded. "No problem."
Damian activated the card he added to my hand. "I activate Fusion Substitute to fuse Fluffal Owl and King of the Swamp!"
The gem on King of the Swamp's head started to shine before the swamp monster changed form. It changed into a liquid version of a demonic looking bundle of saw blades. "Wh-what the?!" Syrus yelled in shock.
"King of the Swamp can be used as a substitute for any Fusion Material whose name is specifically listed on the Fusion Monster card." Scott explained.
"And I use King of the Swamp as a substitue for Edge Imp Saw." Damian said. "Steel blades posessed by demons, sage of the forest. Become one and show us a new form and power!" Damian smiled as the two monster started to combine. "Fusion Summon! Show yourself King of the beasts that tears everything to pieces! Frightfur Leo! (2400/2000)" A horribly mangled large stuffed lion appeared on Damian's side of the field. A large saw blade was stickking out of it's torso, another large saw blade sticking out of it's head, the latter having several smaller saw blades attached.
"Geez, you sure have a lot of freaky looking monsters Damian." Jaden said.
Syrus gulped in fear of the monster before composing himself. "The monster still has less attack points than Armoroid." 'Even if he attacks bro, I have the trap card Taunt set, making Armoroid the only available attack target.'
"I activate Frightfur Leo's effect! At the cost of it not being able to attack this turn, I can target one face-up monster my opponent controls and destroy it! AND it'll inflict damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack points!"
"Wh-wh-WHAT?!" Syrus yelled in shock.
"Frightfur Leo, destroy Armoroid! Wheelsaw Panic!" The smaller wheelsaws started to spin rapidly before the Frightfur fired them at Armoroid. The barrage of blades cut through the Vehicroid before it exploded, the shockwaves from the explosion blasting Syrus backwards. (Jaden and Syrus 3000-300)
"Syrus!" Jaden yelled in concern.
Crowler, Chazz, and Ghassan all smiled. They were confident that it was pretty much over for the Slifers.
"Great job Damian. But don't get cocky. They're hanging on by a thread, but they can turn things around." Scott reminded.
Damian nodded. "I set a card face down and end my turn." Damian looked at Syrus who was struggling to get up. '300 life points until Jaden and Syrus are expelled from Duel Academy. That means...'
Images of the dream Damian had flashed into his mind. '300 life points until we cause this world's destruction.'
Hoo boy. This was my longest chapter yet, so it took a lot out of me. But I had a lot of fun writing this. Jaden and Syrus are able to put up a fight, but they find themselves really struggling against Damian and Scott. Damian's feeling a little guilty about leading to the world's destruction, but he still plans on following through with it for the sake of getting back home.
When I planned the tag duel out back in early September, I went through a lot of different possible decks for Damian and Scott to use. Ideas were thrown around such as Scott using an Invoked deck with Damian's Frightfurs, or Damian using a Red-Eyes deck while Scott uses the same Dragon deck he used against Jaden before deciding that it would be best to have any Dragon decks used by Scott in the story. But I eventually found myself most satisfied with this combination. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to the next one!
