Chapter 42: Fighting the Storm-Sky Dragon!

The powerful steaming dragon blew a jet of white mist out of its nostrils as it gazed across the field. Its body appeared to lay down upon itself on the field, though the actual details were shrouded in a haze that obscured its lower half.

"My Spirit Dragon of the Steam will not be so easily beaten," Matt said as the beast gave off another cry. "For starters, every Dragon in the Graveyard is able to boost its own power by 300 points."

Spirit Dragon of the Steam (12/?/? - 12/900/900)

Umbra scoffed. "And here I thought we had something to worry about," he said. "Your monster hardly has any attack points at all!"

"That may be true for now," Matt nodded, "but now, I can use these cards! I activate my face-down Dragon Shrine, along with my Emergency Provisions!"

Both of his face-down cards were revealed at once, triggering their effects almost simultaneously!

"First, Emergency Provisions will allow me to send Spell and Trap cards to the Graveyard and gain 1000 Life Points for each one - so I send Dragon Shrine and Terrorizing the City to the Graveyard to gain 2000 Life Points!"

Matt&Shannon: 3700
Lumis&Umbra: 3400

"And then Dragon Shrine's effect activates, sending first the Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck to the Graveyard, then by the second effect sending Jubilant Dragon to the Graveyard."

As two new Dragons were sent to the Graveyard, their souls appeared beside the Spirit Dragon, lending it their own power.

Spirit Dragon of the Steam (12/900/900 - 12/1500/1500)

Umbra scowled. "So he made us use our card so that he could get away with another one?"

"And now I'll discard another Blue-Eyes White Dragon to Special Summon Hardened Armed Dragon (4/1500/800) from my hand!"

The soul of another Blue-Eyes joined the Spirit Dragon's form as a large-winged dragon settled down onto the field.

Spirit Dragon of the Steam (12/1500/1500 - 12/1800/1800)

"And now it's strong enough to defeat Mask Collector!" Shannon cheered.

"Let's go, Spirit Dragon of the Steam!" Matt declared. "Attack Mask Collector!"

The dragon roared once more before opening its maw and shooting forth a furious blast of steam towards the panicking masked devil!

"I won't let you get away with that so easily!" Umbra called out. "I activate Burial Mask of the Forgotten!"

A new saggy mask appeared, withered and worn-down from time as its ancient magic poured out in a fog to deflect the attack from the Spirit Dragon.

"By banishing another Mask card in the Graveyard, Burial Mask of the Forgotten can negate one of your attacks!" Umbra explained. "So I'm banishing Mask of the Accursed to take away your Spirit Dragon's attack!"

And Hardened Armed Dragon isn't strong enough to attack the Mask Collector on its own, Matt thought to himself. "Before my turn ends, then, I'll use Super Rejuvenation to draw cards equal to the number of Dragons I ended up discarding or Tributing this turn! And since I discarded the two Spirit Dragons and a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, I can draw 3 new cards!"

Once Matt had completed his card's effect, Lumis stepped forward and drew his next card. "Looks like I'll be going now!" he said as a rolling steaming mist poured out over the field. The masked fiend started to look like it was sweltering under the heat, and its stats began to drop!

Masked Collector (4/1600/1400 - 4/1100/900)

"Wait, why is our monster losing points?!" Lumis asked in confusion.

"My Spirit Dragon has engulfed the field in a layer of steam," Matt explained. "That means that during each of our turns, your monsters will lose power while I'll end up gaining Life Points in the long run."

Matt&Shannon: 4200
Lumis&Umbra: 3400

"Feh, that's nothing!" Lumis scowled. "I'll use the Masked Collector's effect and discard Melchid the Four-Faced Beast to add a Mask of the Accursed from my deck to my hand! And then I'll use the Mask of the Accursed on your Spirit Dragon!"

Lumis activated the card, bringing back the familiar mask, but it didn't make a move towards the Spirit Dragon.

"What's going on? Go, attach to that dragon!"

"I'm afraid you can't target the Spirit Dragon of the Steam with your card effects," Matt explained. "Your Mask will have to find a new target to bear it."

"Rrrrgh, fine, I equip it to your Hardened Armed Dragon instead!" Lumis growled as the mask flew over towards the dragon. "Now I'll summon Grand Tiki Elder (4/1500/800) to the field!"

A green-skinned mask-wearing fiend now appeared next to the Mask Collector, almost similar in appearance. The Collector giggled gleefully as his new comrade appeared on his side.

"And now that I've got two monsters on my field, with one of them being Grand Tiki Elder, I'm allowed to Tribute them both and Special Summon the true terror of our decks!" Lumis announced, pulling out a card from his hand. "Behold, the power of the Masked Beast Des Gardius (8/3300/2500)!"

The two monsters were soon consumed in a vortex of wind from which a large clawed hand emerged. It dragged out a hideous three-faced demon with a mask covering each of its faces, its gnarled body wreathed in flames before dispersing to reveal its burnt orange skin. Shannon took a step back in shock.

"That's one of the most powerful Fiends in the game!" she exclaimed.

"Keep calm, Shannon," Matt said. "It may be strong, but we've got much stronger cards than that."

"Really now?" Lumis taunted. "Is your Spirit Dragon one of them? Because if not, I'm about to unleash a world of torment upon its soul! Go, Masked Beast Des Gardius! Attack the Spirit Dragon of the Steam!"

The monster lunged forward towards the dragon, clawing through its body and decimating it with ease, hurting Matt's Life Points severely and knocking him back down onto the ground.

Matt&Shannon: 2700
Lumis&Umbra: 3400

"Hahahahaha!" Lumis laughed triumphantly. "Now there's nothing you can do! Your partner's Monster Kings are sealed thanks to your own plays, and you have nothing more than a weak and pathetic monster to stand up against the might of our Masked Beast!"

"Hey, tone it down with the victory celebrations," Keith called out from the sidelines. "Besides, you haven't won yet."

"Urk...sorry, boss. I'll just end my turn then."

Shannon ran over to Matt's side. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, just a bit of a rough patch," Matt replied, standing back up. "But we can still do this."

"How? We've only got one monster on the field," Shannon pointed out. "My Monster Kings need at least two Tributes without Terrorizing the City in play…"

"Don't give up just yet," Matt said. "Remember, we've still got plenty of Life Points left. All we need is the right set of cards."

"Come on you guys! You got dis!" Joey called out from the sidelines.

"That's right, sir!" Willaby joined in. "You've been in much tougher spots than this one!"

Yugi nodded. All they need now is to believe in the heart of the cards.

Shannon looked around at the others cheering them on as Matt put a hand on hers. "It's all up to you, Shannon," he confided. "You can do this."

Shannon smiled and gave a firm nod. Then she stood up and turned to face the threatening demon before her.

"IT'S MY TURN!"


"And now I'll sacrifice my Whirlwind Prodigy in order to summon my Storm-Sky Dragon (9/2600/2900)!"

The kid summoned up a miniature twister that formed a windy duplicate of himself before both were sacrificed into an even larger tornado. The twister contorted itself into a large draconic creature, its limbs formed from whirlwinds while its tail thrashed about. The monster roared proudly, dispersing the gales surrounding it to reveal its green scales and magnificent wings.

"And when the Storm-Sky Dragon is summoned to the field, I destroy all Spells and Traps in play," Emilia explained. "And since I've got a WIND monster, my Gale-Protection Seal protects my own cards, meaning only yours are destroyed!"

The swirling winds slashed down at Andrew's cards, wiping out all of his face-down Disturbance of the Grave, Ancient Signal, and Fear of the Ancient Heroes.

"Well, so much for that idea," he murmured to himself. Then he looked up at Emilia and asked, "If I'm to guess that your dragon works anything like the others, it can't attack in the turn it's Summoned, right?"

"That would be correct," Emilia confirmed with a nod. "And so I end my turn here."

"Geez, she went through all that trouble to get that monster, and she can't even attack with it?" Creighton chastised.

"The duel is heavily in her favor at this point," Izzy pointed out. "Andrew's monsters aren't strong enough to attack the Storm-Sky Dragon head-on, and even if he did summon a stronger monster, he can't make an attack this turn because of his Piratical Demon's effect."

"Pssh, no problem! He's still got Thundorus on the field, and that guy can take out any monster he needs it to!" Creighton retorted.

"I'm not so sure about that…" Kari muttered to herself, looking at the field with concern.

"Alright then, my go!" Andrew declared as he drew his next card. "And now I'll use Thundorus to destroy your Storm-Sky Dragon!"

The sentient thundercloud pulled back one of its arms and thrusted it forward, unleashing a powerful thunderbolt across the field towards the dragon!

"Don't get too cocky," Emilia countered, flipping over her face-down card. "I use The Great Western Winds!"

Out of nowhere, a powerful gust blew across, sweeping up the dragon and causing the thunderbolt to miss! The wind swiftly came across with the dragon, who rode upon it with ease as it dived down and crashed through Thundorus, decimating it in an instant.

"With my Trap card, I can negate the effect of any card that would destroy a WIND monster I control and destroy the card in question," Emilia explained as her dragon settled back onto her field.

"She completely countered him?!" Creighton yelped with surprise.

"You're surprised?" Izzy remarked sarcastically.

"Oh like you were expecting that to happen!" Creighton retorted.

"Well, she did Set that card on her last turn…" Kari noted quietly.

Andrew looked over the cards in his hand. I'm gonna need more than this if I'm going to take down that dragon, he thought to himself. Time to get some back-up!

"I activate Ancient Time Acceleration, letting me look at the top 3 cards of my deck-" Andrew proceeded to peek at the cards. "-put any I want on the bottom-" He slipped two cards to the bottom. "-and then draw based on how many I stuck down there!" Finally he drew the one card he placed on top as well as the next one. Looking over his new hand, he slyly smirked.

"I'll Set a monster and switch my Demon to Defense mode," he declared, "and with that, my turn is over."

Ancient Hero Piratical Demon (6/2300/1200 - 6/2300/1200)

"He's in a bind alright," Izzy said. "He may have had the Life Point advantage, but that Storm-Sky Dragon has turned this duel in her favor."

"He'll be fine," Creighton said warily. "I'm sure of it!"

"It's my turn then," Emilia announced, drawing her next card. "And I'll have my Storm-Sky Dragon wipe out your face-down monster!"

The dragon summoned forth twisters to its forearms before baring down on the monster, revealing it to be a shady scaly creature with shades. The creature yelped as it shielded itself from the attack.

"My Ancient Heroes can't be beaten in battle," Andrew called out over the winds, "so your attack won't do much good!"

"That's where you're wrong," Emilia retorted. "I activate a Quick-Play Spell! The Gale of the Northern Winds!"

Suddenly another gust of wind blew out from another direction, slashing past the small creature and catching it by surprise! With the wind already bearing down on it, the twin twisters tore through the creature and annihilated it with ease.

"With this card, I can negate the effects of a monster that is being attacked by a WIND monster," Emilia explained. "So even though your Ancient Heroes are normally immune to battle damage, the Gale strips them of their effects for this turn."

"That may be so, but since you destroyed my Ancient Hero Greedgio (3/200/1400), his effect still lets me draw a card," Andrew said, drawing his next card.

"You may have the defenses, but you lack the offense," Emilia said. "If you can't get past my Storm-Sky Dragon, there's no way you'll be able to claim the medallion."

"That may be," Andrew noted, drawing another card. "But I think I've got everything I need to do that."

Emilia raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Well then, let's see what you've got."

"With pleasure!"


Shannon looked over her cards as the Mask drained away at their Life Points.

Matt&Shannon: 2200
Lumis&Umbra: 3400

"Seems our Mask of the Accursed has drained a few more Life Points!" Umbra noted. "We'll have this duel soon enough!"

"It's only a matter of time now," Lumis added. "With our Masked Beast Des Gardius on the field, there's nothing you can do to stop us!"

"Maybe not with what we have...but I've got just the cards I need to make this work," Shannon announced. "I use the Spell card Star Blast!"

With her Spell's activation, she raised her arm into the air and fired off several red orbs with stars into the air, which thundered down on her Duel Disk.

Matt&Shannon: 700
Lumis&Umbra: 3400

"What?! You're draining more of your Life Points?!" Lumis stuttered.

"Why would you do that?!" Umbra demanded.

"Star Blast lets me pay any amount of Life Points in increments of 500 to lower a monster's Level in my hand by the same amount," Shannon explained. "So by paying 1500 Life Points, I can lower a monster's Level by 3 - meaning I can now sacrifice Hardened Armed Dragon to summon a Monster King at Level 6: The Monster King of Destruction (9/3700/3100)!"

The bony skeletal dragon vanished from the field, only to be replaced with hulking monstrosity. Its dark red skin and draconic body weren't as terrifying as its demonic appearance and dangerously powerful roar. The beast spread its large bat-like wings out wide as it showcased its dominance over the field.

"Thanks to Hardened Armed Dragon, my Monster King of Destruction can't be destroyed by card effects," Shannon continued. "And his own effects prevent him from being affected by your Trap cards! Looks like you won't be able to do much about this!"

"No! That's insane!" Lumis cried out.

"Go! Monster King of Destruction! Destroyer Beam!"

The monster spread out its wings as a gaping mouth in its chest opened wide, charging up and then firing off a powerful beam of energy towards the Masked Beast! The energy beam annihilated the fiend without a trace as the dueling mercenaries lost a chunk of their Life Points!

Matt&Shannon: 700
Lumis&Umbra: 3000

"And now they don't stand a chance! We can do this!" Shannon cheered.

"Aye! Way to go, Shannon!" Willaby called out from the sidelines.

"Yeah, way to rock em and sock it to em!" Joey threw in.

"No, something's not right," Matt noted, catching the expressions on their opponents' faces. "Their monster was destroyed, but they don't seem that concerned."

"Matt's right to worry," Yugi said grimly. "The Masked Beast Des Gardius has another effect when it dies, bringing out another mask that possesses the monster that killed it."

"Wait, say what?!" Joey yelped.

Sure enough, the remains of the Masked Beast's faces melded together to form a new hideous mask. Shannon watched with shock as the mask attached itself to her Monster King, causing it to lumber over towards their opponents. Now she was facing off against her own monster as Lumis cackled.

"You didn't think our monster would go down so easily, did you?" he called out. "Now with this Monster King on our side, there's nothing to stop us from defeating you! It's over now!"

Shannon grimaced as Matt spoke to her, "Don't give up just yet. We've still got the ability to turn this around."

Shannon looked over at Matt before looking down at her own hand. That's right!

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Good, now it's my turn!" Umbra said, drawing his next card. "And now to end this! Go, our Masked King! Destroy them with the attack that killed our monster!"

The Monster King opened up its chest once more, charging up its energy beam as it roared.

"Well well," Keith noted off to the side. "Guess we finally figured out the weak link in our opponent's strategy."

"Matt! Shannon!" Willaby cried out. "NOOO!"

The beam fired off towards the duo, engulfing them in a powerful light!

"It's over!" Lumis cheered, laughing with utter glee at the carnage.

The beam continued to pulsate, decimating the field in its wake. But as it continued on, the tag team suddenly looked worried.

"How come it's not stopping? Shouldn't they have been beaten by now?" Umbra asked.

"There's no way they could survive that!" Lumis declared. "Traps don't work on this Monster King!...unless…"

Suddenly he saw it - something was holding the beam back!

"No...it can't be!"

A giant reptilian monster pushed back against the beam with its bare body, mustering its strength as it revealed that Matt and Shannon had survived the attack! Not only that, it revealed the card that Shannon had triggered!

"I activated my Rivaling Monster Kings card," Shannon called out. "When you ended up declaring a direct attack, I was able to pull out a Monster King straight from my deck - and I brought out the strongest one of all: the Emperor of the Monster Kings (12/?/?)!"

"Impossible!"

The great Emperor soon pushed back the beam far enough so that it could fire off its own energy blast from its mouth, pushing back against the beam with all of its might!

Emperor of the Monster Kings (12/?/? - 12/3700/3100)

"And my Emperor has the ability to not only match the Monster King of Destruction's power," Shannon continued, "but it can stop itself from being destroyed by the battle - while my Monster King of Destruction cannot!"

"And it's only immune to card destruction effects thanks to Hardened Armed Dragon," Matt added in. "As far as this goes, we can still beat it in battle!"

The powerful emperor beam soon pierced through the Monster King of Destruction's attack and wiped it out with a single blow! As the great demonic dragon bowed down in defeat and disappeared from the field, the Emperor knelt down onto its knee and shielded itself from attack.

Emperor of the Monster Kings (12/3700/3100 - 12/0/0)

"Now what do we do?" Umbra asked.

"Don't look at me!" Lumis retorted. "We should have been able to defeat them with that attack!"

"Well then I guess we'll have to resort to our other plan," Umbra said. "I summon Shining Angel (4/1400/800) in Attack mode and end my turn!"

As he played his angelic creature, the reptilian emperor's strength rose to match it.

Emperor of the Monster Kings (12/0/0 - 12/1400/800)

"Then it's my turn," Matt announced, drawing a new card. "And now it's time to make our counterattack! First, I use Monster Reincarnation to discard a card and add back the Spirit Dragon of Fire from my Graveyard to my hand!"

"That won't do you any good," Lumis retorted. "Not unless you've got some means of ridding your field of your Monster King! Or did you forget that you're limited to one monster on the field because of it?"

"I didn't forget," Matt said. "But if I use this Ritual Spell, I can sacrifice the Emperor to bring forth my Spirit Dragon instead!"

"What?!"

"I activate Volcanic Surge of Renewal, offering the Level 12 Emperor of the Monster Kings to Ritual Summon my Spirit Dragon of Fire!"

The Emperor became engulfed in flames that surrounded it in a molten core before the Spirit Dragon emerged from it like an egg, blasting onto the field and raining down fire across the mountainside!

"My Spirit Dragon of Fire gains power from all the FIRE monsters that have been removed from play, as well as all the Dragons in my Graveyard," Matt explained. "And with the Blue-Eyes I added into the Graveyard through Monster Reincarnation, I've got a total of 8 Dragons."

The spirits of the former dragons soon surrounded the molten form of the renewed Spirit Dragon and gave their power to it, powering it up!

Spirit Dragon of Fire (12/?/? - 12/1600/1600)

"Your monster may be powerful, but it won't do much when I use my Trap card on it!" Umbra retorted. "I activate my Trap!"

A negative beeping sound interrupted Umbra's move as he worked to activate his card.

"Why can't I use it on your Dragon?!" he questioned aloud.

"My Spirit Dragon of Fire is a powerful card that remains unaffected by your Trap cards - he can't be targeted by them," Matt explained. "So unless you're going to use it on your own monster, you can't use it on mine."

Umbra growled at the response as Matt continued, "But I'm not going to attack with him, at least not conventionally. Once each turn, my Spirit Dragon can unleash a molten firestorm on the field and incinerate your Life Points at the cost of 300 points for every card!"

"So wait, dat's the Spirit Dragon itself, the Shining Angel, the face-down card…" Joey worked to count up the number of cards on his fingers. "Dat's only 3 cards!"

"Still, that's 900 points of damage right to them!" Willaby chirped as the Spirit Dragon rained down fire upon the masked duo, incinerating their Life Points!

Matt&Shannon: 700
Lumis&Umbra: 2100

"But wait, why do dat?" Joey wondered aloud. "He could've put down more cards, right?"

"I think he was planning on his next move!" Yugi answered.

"And now I'll fuse my Spirit Dragon of Fire with the Spirit Dragon of Earth in my hand!" Matt declared. "So now they'll form together to create the Spirit Dragon of the Volcanoes (12/?/?)!"

The fiery dragon merged together with the earthy dragon and became a new dragon, one whose magma veins were etched into its rocky exterior as it plowed through the field, bursting forth and roaring out with dramatic flare! The dragon glowed even brighter as the spirits of the former dragons fueled its power!

Spirit Dragon of the Volcanoes (12/?/? - 12/3000/3000)

"Now for my Spirit Dragon of the Volcanoes' effect!" Matt announced. "With it, I can send the top card of my deck to the Graveyard. If it's a Monster card, I'll inflict damage to you based on its Attack! And if it's a Spell or Trap card, it'll decimate you for 1000 damage!"

"Grrr, curse you!" Lumis growled.

"Alright! If Matt draws a monster with enough Attack points, they'll win the duel!" Willaby exclaimed.

"And his deck's filled with Dragons, da strongest monsters in the game!" Joey added.

"That may be," Yugi noted, "but he's also got a much larger deck than other people, and he uses a variety of Spells and Traps to make up for it. He may end up drawing into one of those cards instead."

"Dat's a good point, but even then they've got this in the bag!" Joey remarked.

"Alright...here goes!"

Matt drew off the top card of his deck and revealed it: Mausoleum of the Emperor, a Field Spell. The Spirit Dragon then glowed with a burning heat and fired off a powerful fireball towards Umbra, incinerating his Life Points!

Matt&Shannon: 700
Lumis&Umbra: 1100

"He didn't get a monster…" Willaby sighed.

"No worries!" Joey said. "He can run over that measly angel with his dragon, and dis duel's done!"

"Time to end this," Matt said. "Go, Spirit Dragon of the Volcanoes! Annihilate their monster!"

The dragon charged up its fiery breath and unleashed a hot flash of magma onto the poor angel!

"I activate my face-down Curse of the Mask!" Umbra declared, this time his card activating and attaching itself to the Spirit Dragon. "Your last monster may not have been affected by my Trap, but it looks like your new one is! And with that, I lower its Atk by 500 for every Mask card I've got on the field!"

Spirit Dragon of the Volcanoes (12/3000/3000 - 12/2500/2500)

"That's not going to save you from my attack," Matt countered. "Your monster will still get destroyed, and you'll take damage equal to the difference!"

The magma burned past the nearly melted angel and pooled over around Umbra's feet, the heat emanating from it becoming unbearable.

"I activate the other effect of my Burial Mask of the Forgotten!" Umbra announced. "By banishing it from our Graveyard and sending Curse of the Mask there, I can negate the battle damage we'd take from this fight!"

Sure enough, the remains of the mask claimed the cursed mask card and cooled the magma, nullifying the damage being dealt to him. Matt frowned at this development but maintained his cool.

"And now I'll use Shining Angel's effect!" Umbra continued. "This allows me to bring out another Shining Angel from my deck!"

Just as quickly as the first had departed, another angel rose up and descended onto the field.

"I guess that's going to have to be the end of my turn," Matt concluded.

"Then it's my turn!" Lumis announced as he drew into his next card. He caught sight of it and smiled his gleeful smile. "I've done it! I've drawn just what we need! Behold the terrible power of the monster in our decks!"

Matt furrowed his brow as Shannon looked on with concern. This can't be good, she thought to herself.

"I banish Shining Angel and the three Giant Germs from our Graveyard!" Lumis declared. "With this LIGHT Fairy and these three DARK Fiends, I complete a new ritual for chaos to be born! Come forth, my Sky Scourge Norleras (8/2400/1500)!"

Offering up the sacrifices of the fallen angel and the long-departed germs, a dark vortex opened up as shadows poured out onto the field. Then suddenly a long white skeletal hand reached out and pulled out a shadowy demon from the depths, its menacing skull face grinning maliciously. It spread out its tattered wings behind it, shadows dripping down from them onto the ground.

"My Sky Scourge Norleras has but one ability to use," Lumis cackled. "By paying 1000 Life Points, I send all the cards on the field and in our hands to the Graveyard, wiping the slate completely clean!"

The demon let out a hollow laugh as it slashed with its claw into the field, opening up a black hole that swallowed up all the cards from Matt's hand and field, as well as the one card in Lumis' hand. It drained away most of his Life Points, but he managed to hold on as it finally entered through the portal itself, disappearing from the game.

Matt&Shannon: 700
Lumis&Umbra: 100

"After wiping away everything, I'm allowed to draw one new card from the top of my deck," Lumis continued, drawing his next card. He looked it over and smiled. "I'll Set this card face-down and end my turn."

Matt looked over at Shannon who met his gaze. "It's all up to you, Shannon," he said. "You can do this."

Shannon gave a firm nod, looking back at the top of her deck. With no cards in her hand, and no cards left on the field, it all came down to this last card. She closed her eyes and placed her hand down on her deck.

"There's nothing you'll be able to do," Lumis taunted from the other side. "You have no cards left to play, and your monsters are unplayable! On my partner's turn, he'll summon forth another monster and wipe out the rest of your Life Points!"

"That's right!" Umbra added, waving his full hand of cards. "Here I've got just the cards we need to destroy you with! You won't stand a chance against the beast I summon!"

"That depends on there being a next turn."

The masked duo were taken aback for a moment as Shannon spoke up. "But there won't be a next turn, because I'm gonna end this right here, right now! It's my turn!"

She drew the top card of her deck and looked at it. And she smiled.

"I summon the False Emperor of the Monster Kings (4/1800/1000)!"

A small reptilian beast appeared on the field...at least, it looked reptilian. It was like a miniature version of Shannon's ace monster, only it had an exceedingly fake quality to it. The skin almost looked more like rubber, and the eyes glowed an eerie electrical red. When it roared, it sounded more like screeching metal than the sound of the true Emperor.

"Now go my monster, attack them directly!" Shannon declared, sending her diminutive atrocity towards the masked duo.

"Ha! You think I'd go down so easily? Activate Trap card!" Lumis countered, revealing a hollow and gaunt mask that was surrounded by flies. "Mask of the Plague! When you attack with a monster, this card destroys it instead!"

The mask's mouth opened up and emitted a horrifying swarm at the reptilian beast! It completely coated it and ate away at its flesh, decimating it entirely.

"And now that your one monster is out of the way, we'll be able to destroy you without any resistance! You might as well surrender, as you have no hope-"

"Like I said, there won't be a next turn."

"What?"

The swarm continued feasting away at the skin until it hit something it couldn't eat, something metallic. The swarm began to disperse as the monster that stood before them now had completely transformed!

"My False Emperor of the Monster Kings may be weak, but it has one special ability that separates it from many of my others," Shannon explained. "When it's destroyed, it doesn't simply go to the Graveyard but instead sheds off its outer layer to reveal its true form underneath."

"What?! The monster was a decoy for my Trap?!"

"That's right. Here's my real monster: the Mecha-Emperor of the Monster Kings (12/4500/3800)!"

The monster before them was now a completely mechanized version of Shannon's ace monster, a robot that now towered above the field and let out its own metallic roar! Its silver body glistened in the light of day as Lumis and Umbra watched on with complete shock. Even Keith was surprised at this new beast.

"Well well," he murmured to himself. "Maybe she's not so helpless after all."

"Go! Mecha-Emperor! Imperial Laser Blast!"

The metal emperor opened up its chest cavity to reveal a large cannon. The cannon charged up an immense amount of energy before firing off at the duo, wiping out their remaining Life Points!

Matt&Shannon: 700
Lumis&Umbra: 0

"They did it! They won!" Willaby cheered.

"Yeahhhh! Way to play, you guys!" Joey shouted out from the sidelines.

Matt walked over to Shannon and placed on her shoulder, startling her out of her spacing out. She looked over to him as he smiled. "That was a well-played duel," he said. "I couldn't have asked for a better partner."

Shannon beamed at his remark, tears gently forming in her eyes. "Thank you," she replied.

Keith scoffed a little but chuckled at the end result. "Should've figured he's got some powerful allies too," he said. "Gotta hand it to em, though, I didn't think they'd be able to pull it off. Guess I will have to challenge them myself."

He then stood up as Lumis and Umbra skulked back to him, a look of shame on their faces. "Alright you two, let's get out of here," he said. "I've got some improvements to make and a pair of losers to send elsewhere."

The two of them winced at that last remark. "Y-yes, Keith," they responded as the trio turned to leave the area.

Next time, Matt, you're gonna be prey to the one and only Bandit Keith.


"It's my turn! I draw!"

Andrew looked over his cards and smiled. "Hope you're ready for this, because I'm about to wipe away your entire field in one go!"

His statement shocked everyone. "He's not serious, is he?" Creighton asked aloud.

Kari simply smiled. "If he is, then this is going to be a very interesting turnaround."

"First, I summon Ancient Hero Morpher (3/0/0) in Attack mode!"

The ever-familiar amorphous blob showed up on Andrew's field, its mass ever-shifting as it gazed up at the Storm-Sky Dragon.

"And I'll use his effect to copy over your monster - every little detail!" Andrew continued as his gelatinous monster shifted shape into an exact duplicate of the opposing dragon.

Ancient Hero Morpher (3/0/0) - Morph-Sky Dragon (9/2600/2900)

Creighton tilted his head to the side. "But even with that, he can't destroy any of her cards," he pointed out. "Not as long as she's got that Seal."

"True, but he would need to get rid of her Storm-Sky Dragon, and with the Gates of the Eastern Wind, she'll negate the attack," Izzy added.

Emilia smiled. "Your friends are right," she said. "You'll have to do better than just copy my monster."

"Don't worry, I'm not done yet!" Andrew responded. "I'm gonna activate another card, my Ancient Soul-Releasing Ritual!"

A pedestal then appeared as three blue flames flickered around it. The surface of it began to glow as ancient chanting echoed in the chamber.

"My Ritual is unique in that it allows me to play any Ancient Hero with a Level of 8 or higher," Andrew explained, "but first I need to make a sacrifice."

"You're going to Tribute your Morpher just for another monster?" Emilia questioned. "It won't do you much good."

"Actually, I'm going to be sacrificing some other Ancient Heroes," Andrew replied with a confident smirk. "In fact, I'm going to sacrifice the Ancient Heroes that have already been destroyed!"

"He's banishing monsters from the Graveyard?!" Creighton yelped.

"Astonishing…" Izzy marveled. "I've never seen him pull off a move like that before."

"Now I sacrifice the Ancient Heroes Cosmo Star, Lunasolares, and Thundorus from my Graveyard in order to Ritual Summon the Ancient Hero Unknown (9/?/?)!"

Within the flames, the spirits of his fallen Ancient Heroes showed to aid Andrew in the ritual. The fires spun around and dived into the pedestal, which absorbed them before dulling its light. Then a dark shadow crept out from the pedestal, cracking it more and more until a shadowy beast emerged. A single eye opened up as the shadows formed around it, the revival of an ancient demon! Emilia took a step back with some alarm!

"Don't worry, you won't have to watch him for long," Andrew said. "Because now I'm going to sacrifice Ancient Hero Unknown for another, more powerful hero!"

A swirling portal opened up beneath the newly summoned Unknown, sucking it in and draining its shadows before the eye flew inside as well!

"By banishing the unknown, I gain access to the infinite! Behold, the power of Ancient Hero Infinity (10/?/?)!"

Out from the depths of the portal, the eye arose again, but now it served as the head of a large and muscular being. It appeared to be a cyclopean genie, bound to the portal but more corporeal than the previous monster. It flexed its arms, the symbol of the ankh embedded in its chest, a strand of black hair trailing from the top of its head.

"Amazing," Emilia said in a hushed voice.

"Now my Ancient Hero Infinity gains the power of all the Ancient Heroes that have been removed from play," Andrew explained as his monster's stats rose.

Ancient Hero Infinity (10/?/? - 10/5800/4500)

"On top of that, as long as he remains on the field, any card that has been removed from the game has no means of access back to the game," Andrew continued. "If it's gone, it's gone for good."

"So he can keep his power high without having to worry about any interference...impressive," Kari noted.

"And now I'll activate his effect!"

The dark genie raised its hand and opened up another portal, the body of Lunasolares appearing in the void. The monster's essence floated through the air and entered into Infinity's body, which began to glow like the sun!

"With it, I can duplicate the ability of one of my banished Ancient Heroes," Andrew continued. "And with it, I'll copy the power of Lunasolares to attack twice!"

"So now he can get past the Gates!" Creighton concluded with a whoop. "Go get 'im!"

"Now, Ancient Hero Infinity! Attack the Storm-Sky Dragon!"

The genie raised its hands into the air, each now brimming with power. It pulled back one fist and punched a beam of energy towards the Storm-Sky Dragon!

"I use the Gates of the Eastern Wind to negate your attack!" Emilia interrupted, with the gates opening up a powerful breeze to carry the dragon away from the initial blast.

"Then now, I attack again!"

The genie now punched forward its other fist, shooting out another beam of energy towards the dragon!

"Then I'll activate my Trap card, Gale Force!" Emilia countered.

"It won't work!" Andrew called back. "My monster can't be destroyed by Spells or Traps!"

Emilia laughed. "My card won't destroy it," she said. "Instead it'll halve his attack points!"

A crisp cutting wind sliced through the mythical genie, weakening its beam as the dragon blew out a fierce wind to counter it.

Ancient Hero Infinity (10/5800/4500 - 10/2900/4500)

"...wait a sec," Creighton said, "but the Storm-Sky Dragon is still weaker. Why would she do that?"

"She's reducing the damage she's taking by cutting Infinity's attack in half," Izzy explained. "It'll keep her in the duel, but unless it can stop his other Ancient Hero too, she won't be able to do much."

True to word, despite the dragon's attempt to deflect the energy beam, it still pierced through it and destroyed its body, defeating the beast once and for all!

Emilia: 1400
Andrew: 3600

"On the plus side," Emilia continued, "the Battle Phase now ends because of Gale Force's second effect."

"Well then, I guess that just leaves me one move left," Andrew said. "I'll use Ancient Hero Morpher's duplicated effect to discard a card and destroy all of your Spells and Traps!"

The copied dragon now flapped its wings and sent powerful twisters down onto the field, sweeping away the Gates as they crumbled, along with destroying the Seal!

"That's right! Without a WIND monster on the field, her Seal can't protect her cards!" Creighton exclaimed.

"And now you've got no cards left in play," Andrew announced with a raised finger pointing towards Emilia. "Just like I said would happen!"

"He did it! He pulled off a comeback!" Creighton cheered.

Emilia smiled as she drew her next card. "It's true, you've wiped out my field and my strongest monster," she said. "You've shown me that you have great power at your disposal, and I believe I have seen more than enough to assess your skills."

Then she took the cards in her hand and set them down on top of her deck. "To you, Andrew, I will concede this duel," she declared. "The victory is yours."

The monsters then vanished from the field as the group of friends celebrated Andrew's victory. Emilia walked over and raised her hand, a key forming out of thin air. "I will entrust this key to you and your brother," she said as she handed it over to him. "I hope that the two of you will exceed our expectations."

"Thank you," Andrew said graciously, taking the key from her and preparing to send it off as he had done before.

"You have made great progress between the two of you," Emilia remarked. "But now if you are to continue, you'll need to know your next objective, won't you?"

Andrew smirked. "You're very generous to offer such aid," he said. "But why the change of heart? When I saw Sandra back in the Antarctic, our introductions weren't so friendly."

Emilia laughed. "Sandra's always been a bit tense," she explained. "I can't really blame her, knowing we have powerful enemies. But we have the power of the wind on our side."

She looked up as the wind echoed into the cave an eerie note. "It is by the grace of the wind that we have prospered so," she continued. "With it, we obtained the spirit to live and fight on, just as fire has given us courage and earth has given us life. And of course water has tempered our minds to be clear."

She then looked back at the group and smiled. "You might call it a hunch, but the wind is what tells me the truth."

The group all stared back at her curiously, but Andrew was the first to smile back and respond, "So word really does travel faster on the winds."

"Yes, that's one way of looking at it," Emilia nodded. Then her face turned serious as she continued, "Now you must go to Babylon, for the final advisors will be waiting for you there."

The group looked at each other. "Final advisors?"

"They are some of the strongest among our ranks, second only to the leaders themselves," Emilia warned. "They will not give up their keys so easily…" Then she smiled. "...and they know you're coming."

Andrew nodded firmly. "Then I accept their challenge!"

For the sake of my brother, our friends, the Egyptian God cards, and the world...I will not lose!


AUTHOR'S NOTES

Looks like they were all able to pull it off! But will these cards help them out against these new advisors?

Emilia vs. Andrew

Storm-Sky Dragon (Effect Monster)
Level 9, 2600 Atk, 2900 Def, Dragon, WIND
Effect: If you Tribute Summon this card, the Tributes must be WIND. If this card is Summoned: destroy all Spell/Trap cards on the field. Cannot attack ihe turn it is Summoned. Once per turn, during your Main Phase: you can discard 1 card; destroy all Spells and Traps your opponent controls. This card cannot attack the turn you activate this effect.

The Great Western Winds (Counter Trap)
Effect: If a WIND monster you control would be destroyed by a card effect: negate the effect, and if you do, destroy the card.

Ancient Time Acceleration (Normal Spell)
Effect: If you control an "Ancient Hero" monster: Excavate the top three cards of your Deck; place any number of those excavated cards at the bottom of the Deck, also place the rest (if any) on top in any order, then draw cards equal to the number of cards you placed at the bottom.

Ancient Hero Greedgio (Effect Monster)
Level 3, 200 Atk, 1400 Def, Reptile, LIGHT
Effect: Cannot be destroyed by battle. If this card is sent from the field to the GY: draw 1 card. If this card is sent from your hand or Deck to the GY: draw 2 cards.

The Gale of the Northern Winds (Quick-Play Spell)
Effect: Target 1 attacking WIND monster you control; negate the effects of any monster the targeted monster battles this turn.

Ancient Hero Morpher (Effect Monster)
Level 3, 0 Atk, 0 Def, Aqua, WATER
Effect: Cannot be destroyed by battle. Once per turn: you can target 1 monster on the field; while this card is face-up on the field, this card's name, Level, ATK, DEF, Type, and Attribute become the same as the targeted monster, also it gains its effects.

Ancient Soul-Releasing Ritual (Ritual Spell)
Effect: Banish any number of "Ancient Heroes" from your GY; Special Summon 1 Level 8 or higher "Ancient Hero" monster from your hand (if the monster is a Ritual Monster, this Special Summon is treated as a Ritual Summon).

Ancient Hero Unknown (Ritual Monster)
Level 9, ? Atk, ? Def, Fiend, DARK
Effect: Must first be Ritual Summoned. This card's Atk/Def are equal to the total Atk/Def of all banished "Ancient Hero" monsters. Cannot be destroyed by battle. Cannot be targeted by your opponent's card effects. Once per turn (Quick Effect): cards you control cannot be destroyed by your opponent's card effects.

Ancient Hero Infinity (Effect Monster)
Level 10, ? Atk, ? Def, Spellcaster, DARK
Effect: Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand) by banishing 1 Level 8 or higher "Ancient Hero" monster from your field. This card's ATK/DEF are equal to the total ATK/DEF of all banished "Ancient Hero" monsters. Cannot be destroyed by battle or by your opponent's Spell/Trap cards. Negate any card effect that would move a banished card to a different place. Once per turn (Quick Effect): you can target 1 banished "Ancient Hero" monster; this card gains that target's effects until the end of the turn.

Gale Force (Normal Trap)
Effect: If a WIND monster you control battles an opponent's monster: Halve the ATK of the opponent's monster.

Matt and Shannon vs. Lumis and Umbra

Spirit Dragon of the Steam (Fusion Monster)
Level 12, ? Atk, ? Def, Dragon, DIVINE
Effect: Must be Special Summoned (from your Extra Deck) by sending "Spirit Dragon of Water" and "Spirit Dragon of Fire" from your hand or field to the GY (you do not use Polymerization). This card's Attribute is also treated as WATER and FIRE. Gains 300 ATK/DEF for every banished WATER and FIRE monster, also gains 300 ATK/DEF for every Dragon monster in your GY. Cannot be targeted by your opponent's card effects. During each player's Standby Phase: monsters your opponent controls lose 500 ATK/DEF, also gain 500 LP.

Dragon Shrine (Normal Spell)
Effect: Send 1 Dragon monster from your Deck to the GY, then if that monster in your GY is a Dragon Normal Monster, you can send 1 more Dragon monster from your Deck to the GY. You can only activate 1 "Dragon Shrine" per turn.

Emergency Provisions (Quick-Play Spell)
Effect: Send any number of other Spell/Trap cards you control to the GY; gain 1000 LP for each card sent to the GY this way.

Jubilant Dragon (Effect Monster)
Level 4, 200 Atk, 1900 Def, Dragon, EARTH
Effect: If this card is Summoned: draw 1 card. If this card is destroyed: draw 1 card. If a Dragon monster is Summoned: you can discard 1 card; draw 1 card.

Hardened Armed Dragon (Effect Monster)
Level 4, 1500 Atk, 800 Def, Dragon, EARTH
Effect: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by sending 1 Level 8 or higher monster from your hand to the GY. If you Tribute this card for the Tribute Summon of a Level 7 or higher monster, that monster cannot be destroyed by card effects.
NOTE: Noting the last part of this effect and knowing what happens in this chapter, the monster that would be Summoned with just Hardened Armed Dragon as Tribute - though its original Level might be 7 or higher - would not gain the effect that it can't be destroyed by card effects if its Level is reduced to 6 or lower because of a card like Star Blast or Cost Down. Fortunately, the actual situation doesn't come up in the context of the story, but it should be noted that the effect is read more of as the original Level of the monster in that context - it would not work that way in the real card game.

Burial Mask of the Forgotten (Normal Trap)
Effect: When an opponent's monster declares an attack: banish 1 "Mask" card from your GY; negate the attack. When an opponent's monster declares an attack: you can banish this card from your GY; negate the attack.

Super Rejuvenation (Quick-Play Spell)
Effect: During the End Phase of this turn, you can draw 1 card for every Dragon monster that was Tributed or discarded from your hand.

Melchid the Four-Faced Beast (Normal Monster)
Level 4, 1500 Atk, 1200 Def, Fiend, DARK

Grand Tiki Elder (Normal Monster)
Level 4, 1500 Atk, 800 Def, Fiend, DARK

Masked Beast Des Gardius (Effect Monster)
Level 8, 3300 Atk, 2500 Def, Fiend, DARK
Effect: Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must first be Special Summoned (from your hand) by Tributing 2 monsters, including at least 1 "Grand Tiki Elder" or "Melchid the Four-Faced Beast". If this card is sent from the field to the GY: Target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; equip 1 "The Mask of Remnants" from your Deck to it.

Star Blast (Normal Spell)
Effect: Pay any number of Life Points in multiples of 500; reduce the Level of 1 monster you control or that is in your hand by 1 for each 500 Life Points you paid, until the End Phase.

The Monster King of Destruction (Effect Monster)
Level 9, 3700 Atk, 3100 Def, Fiend, DARK
Effect: This card's controller can only control 1 monster. This card can attack all of your opponent's monsters once each. Unaffected by the effects of your opponent's Trap cards.

The Mask of Remnants (Normal Spell)
Effect: When this card is activated: Shuffle this card from the field into the Deck. While this card is equipped to a monster by the effect of "Masked Beast Des Gardius", take control of that monster.

Rivaling Monster King (Normal Trap)
Effect: When your opponent's monster declares a direct attack: Special Summon 1 "Monster King" from your Deck.

The Emperor of the Monster Kings (Effect Monster)
Level 12, ? Atk, ? Def, Reptile, FIRE
Effect: This card's controller can only control 1 monster. This card's ATK and DEF are equal to the total ATK and DEF of all other monsters in play. Once per turn, if this card would be destroyed: negate its destruction, then switch this card to Defense Position.

Shining Angel (Effect Monster)
Level 4, 1400 Atk, 800 Def, Fairy, LIGHT
Effect: When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the GY: you can Special Summon 1 LIGHT monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck to the field in face-up Attack Position.

Monster Reincarnation (Normal Spell)
Effect: Discard 1 card, then target 1 monster in your GY; add it to your hand.

Volcanic Surge of Renewal (Ritual Spell)
Effect: This card is used to Ritual Summon "Spirit Dragon of Fire". You must also banish monsters from your hand, field, or GY whose total Levels equal 12 or more.

Spirit Dragon of the Volcanoes (Fusion Monster)
Level 12, ? Atk, ? Def, Dragon, DIVINE
Effect: Must be Special Summoned (from your Extra Deck) by sending "Spirit Dragon of Earth" and "Spirit Dragon of Fire" from your hand or field to the GY (you do not use Polymerization). This card's Attribute is also treated as EARTH and FIRE. Gains 300 ATK/DEF for every banished EARTH and FIRE monster, also gains 300 ATK/DEF for every Dragon monster in your GY. Once per turn: you can send the top card of your Deck to the GY; activate the following effect, based on the type of card (Monster, Spell, Trap) sent for this effect:
● Monster: inflict damage to your opponent equal to its ATK.
● Spell/Trap: inflict 1000 damage to your opponent.

Sky Scourge Norleras (Effect Monster)
Level 8, 2400 Atk, 1500 Def, Fiend, DARK
Effect: Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must be Special Summoned by banishing 1 LIGHT Fairy monster and 3 DARK Fiend monsters in your GY. You can pay 1000 Life Points; send all cards in both player's hands and on the field to the GY, then you draw 1 card.

False Emperor of the Monster Kings (Effect Monster)
Level 4, 1800 Atk, 1000 Def, Machine, EARTH
Effect: If this card on the field is destroyed: Special Summon 1 "Mecha-Emperor of the Monster Kings" from your hand or Deck.

Mecha-Emperor of the Monster Kings (Effect Monster)
Level 12, 4500 Atk, 3800 Def, Machine, LIGHT
Effect: This card's controller can only control 1 monster. If this card attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage. At the end of the Damage Step, if the monster this card battled is not destroyed, destroy that monster.

The journey to Babylon will be long and arduous, but our heroes must achieve success! The fate of the Spirit Dragons - and consequently the world - rests on their victories!