Shadows of the Small
Chapter 5
"Rule One: Do not act incautiously when confronting a little bald wrinkly smiling man." Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time
Author's Note: Sorry if this is late on account of my laptop having been stolen.
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Mel
I was scared out of my wits. I would have liked nothing so much as to run away and hide somewhere, turn up the volume on my CD player until I couldn't hear the shadows moving around me. But I didn't have my portable CD player.
As soon as the shadows had cut me off from my friends I began to run. I ran through the thickening shadows and the wisps of darkness seemed to grab at me to slow me down. I had a combination of the Jaws theme and Beethoven's 5th Symphony blazing a path through my head.
No matter where I ran, he was there. He would always be right in front of me when I stopped for breath.
I ran into a wall and screamed. Then I turned and saw him there waiting for me. I ran again. It seemed like hours later that I came to a stop. He appeared, panting, in front of me. I realize that it must have been mere minutes, but it felt like hours.
In any case, back to him. Just making to make sure, as if you hadn't noticed, I have some trouble focusing on one topic for too long. Ah yes, back to my opponent. He seemed to have all the operating features of your regular evil villain, but none of the pomp and circumstance. Anna would have been ashamed.
Then again, Anna would hit me over the head if she saw that I had said that because it implies that she likes classical villains. Ouch.
By the time I had brought my brain back to the here and now, we had both caught our breath. Well, he had caught his. Mine had lapped me awhile back so I was just going to wait for it to come past again before grabbing it.
Eventually he spoke.
"Have you realized the futility of escape yet?"
I felt an irrepressible urge to stick my tongue out. Instead of giving way or repressing it I decided to delay it until a point when it wouldn't make me look like a younger child than I was.
"No, just the limits of my endurance, so let's get this thing started." I started drawing cards. I had almost drawn my sixth when my opponent stopped me.
"I'm not letting you go first. I'm not going to mess this up."
Boy: 8000
Mel: 8000
He could have done an evil laugh after that, but completely missed the opportunity. Anna would have been ashamed.
"I'll set a card and a monster as my turn."
To my surprise the cards appeared face down in front of him. I assumed that there must have been some kind of projector hidden in all these shadows. Heck, wherever it was it was probably creating the shadows.
I didn't pause to think. "I summon Howling Insect (1200/1300) and attack your face down monster."
There was a splash of red and my opponent smiled. "You just destroyed Mystic Tomato (1400/1100). Its effect allows me to special summon a Dark monster with only 1500 or less attack, so I'll bring forth D.D. Scout Plane in attack mode (500/1200)."
I didn't know what he was doing, and I didn't particularly care either. "I'll set one card, and that will be it."
His intentions got no clearer as his turn progressed. "I'll set a monster and switch Sangan to defense mode. Then I will play the spell card Different Dimension Capsule. After this card has been on the field for two standby phases, I will be able to take a card from my deck and remove it from play. Two standby phases later I will be able to add it to my hand."
It looked like it would be a fairly boring defensive duel. Unless of course I did something to spice it up a little. "I think I need to spice things up a bit. So now I'll-"
My opponent was quick on the uptake. "No you won't. I activate Regulation of Tribe. This continuous trap card stops you from attacking with one type of monster as long as I tribute one monster on my side of the field at each of my standby phases."
Now I knew that I was in trouble. Every single one of the monsters in my deck was an insect. I didn't have much choice.
"I'll set one monster and end my turn. So, how's your day been?" I don't know why I said it. Somewhere in my vocal cords it had been lurking, just waiting to pop out at an inopportune moment. He stared at me.
"What did you say?" His tone of voice wasn't so much angry as inquisitive
"I asked how your day was, but never mind that. It was silly."
He looked like he wanted to say something else, but didn't. Instead he took his turn in stride. "I will sacrifice Sangan as the cost of Regulation of Tribe and by Sangan's effect I will take my second D.D. Scout Plane and add it to my hand. Now I'll set a monster and end my turn."
I drew. "To begin the turn I play Messenger of Peace. But it won't be staying her for long as I will send it and my face down Blast with Chain to the graveyard in order to pay the cost to special summon Anteatereatingant (2000/0)." A gargantuan ant appeared in front of me. It was well over twice my height.
"Allow me to explain the full extent of this monster's abilities. First its summoning conditions; it may only be special summoned by sending two spell or trap cards on my side of the field to the graveyard. Its second ability allows me to destroy one spell or trap on your side of the field if I give up my attack with Anteatereatingant. I'll do that now in order to destroy Regulation of Tribe." I could hear a jubilation playing in my head.
My opponent was unfazed by the destruction of his trap. "Is that all you're going to do?"
"Far from it; first I flip my face down Gokipon (800/800) up into attack mode. Then I will have Howling Insect attack your face down monster." It came face to hull with D.D. Scout Plane (500/1200).
He grinned across at me. "My defense is equal to your attack."
My internal orchestra started making sick duck noises. "I just have to end my turn then."
"Wonderful, then I can get started. Now I suppose I should remind you that it is the second standby phase for Different Dimension Capsule and that I have chosen a card from my deck and laid it aside. After that I will summon Bazoo the Soul Eater (1600/900).Then I will play Gift of the Martyr. This spell allows me to sacrifice one monster on the field and add its attack to another monster's for one turn. So I will tribute D.D. Scout Plane and add its attack to Bazoo's (2100/900)."
All of a sudden I didn't like how the field was looking. And it was about to get worse as my opponent cracked a smile. "Now I am going to use Bazoo the Soul Eater's special ability, to remove up to three monsters in my graveyard from play to increase his attack by three hundred for each one. Now I am going to remove Mystic Tomato and both of my D.D. Scout Planes from play to give Bazoo three thousand attack points."
I think I knew how Yugi felt whenever he was looking one of Kaiba's Blue Eyes White Dragons in the face. Only Yugi always managed to win anyhow. I wasn't so sure about myself. I braced myself for the attack and as I waited, two familiar shapes reappeared on the field.
"First you ought to know that my D.D. Scout Planes always come back to the field when they are removed from play, and I will summon them in defense mode. Now Bazoo, attack her Anteatereatingant." My monster was utterly decimated by the beam of power that issued from the mouth of that overgrown monkey.
Boy: 8000
Mel: 7000
"That will be all."
There wasn't much I could do so I began to set up defenses, trying to tone the duel down to a piano so that I could bring it back up to fortissimo later on my own terms. "I'll set one monster and switch all my monsters into defense mode, end turn."
There was no way my opponent was going to let me off the hook that easily. "First things first, I'll summon my third and final D.D. Scout Plane (500/1200). Then I will switch the other two into attack mode."
I looked face to point-of-hull with the ships. I blinked first and looked away. What can I say; I was being stared down by three ships that didn't actually have eyes. Then again it wasn't the first time I'd had that feeling. It happened all the time when I was facing an endless wave of Tim's Battleships. And nothing ever felt quite as good as crushing them one at a time.
My opponent couldn't have cared less. "I will now play Share the Pain which causes each of us to tribute a monster. I will tribute my newly summoned D.D. Scout Plane."
"I'll sacrifice Gokipon." It was an easy choice; not only was it weakest, but it had the least useful effect as well.
He shrugged. "I suppose I shouldn't have hoped for better. In any case, I will now use Bazoo's ability to remove that D.D. Scout Plane from play, which brings it to the field, and increasing its own attack by 300 (1900/900). Now ,Bazoo, attack Howling Insect."
The overgrown baboon let loose a burst of energy from its mouth that made me think of the world's biggest belch competition (which had been televised at some point previously). When the energy reached my insect, it burst into a cloud of bugs, each keening horribly; hence the monster's name sake.
The swarm of howling bugs soon cleared to reveal a swarm of a different kind; a Swarm of Scarabs (500/1000).
My opponent patiently raised an eyebrow and waited for me to explain.
"When Howling Insect is destroyed as a result of battle I may special summon an insect from my deck with 1500 or less attack, so I special summoned Swarm of Scarabs in defense mode, satisfied?"
He nodded. "Quite. Well then, I'll have one of my D.D. Scout Planes attack your face down monster… Wait, I won't risk it. I have a different way to do some damage to you this turn. I play the continuous spell card Ectoplasmer. Now at the end of each of our turns, we must sacrifice a monster from our side of the field and deal half of its attack points in direct damage to our opponent. And don't try to weasel out of it; its not optional."
"It was the farthest thing from my mind." I lied.
"Sure. In any case, I'll end my turn and sacrifice one of my D.D. Scout Planes." A ghostly effigy of the monster appeared and flew at me. It gave me the shivers, but there was no visible damage.
Boy: 8000
Mel: 6750
Well, it was my turn and I had some work to do. "First things first: I flip summon my face down Swarm of Locusts (1000/500). This monster has an ability that allows me to destroy one of your spell or trap cards when it is flip summoned, which I will do now. It also has a second ability that allows me to flip it back face down once per turn, which I won't be doing just yet."
The swarm flew over my opponent's field, and when they returned, Ectoplasmer was missing from it.
"Excellent," I said. "Now you should know that Swarm of Scarabs has two effects very similar to Swarm of Locusts'. First I will use the one that they have in common to flip Swarm of Scarabs face down. Then I will flip summon it to use its ability to destroy one monster on your side of the field. I choose Bazoo."
Hundreds of tiny scarab beetles crawled over Bazoo until it was no longer visible. The heap slowly sank to the ground as the monster was consumed.
I thought for a moment. It was a very short moment. "Next I will sacrifice Swarm of Scarabs for Saber Beetle (2400/600). This monster can do damage through defense, but that doesn't matter quite yet. But right now it's going to attack and destroy one of your D.D. Scout things which you so kindly left in attack mode."
Boy: 6100
Mel: 6750
"And then I will follow that up by attacking your last one with Swarm of Locusts."
Boy: 5600
Mel: 6750
"I'll end the turn by changing Swarm of Locusts to facedown defense with its effect and setting a card."
My opponent looked so full of himself that I wondered what I had done wrong. It soon became clear. "Well, I can't say I'm about to complain about this. During my standby phase, Different Dimension Capsule activates and gives me the card that I set aside. And I suppose that it wouldn't hurt to tell you what it is, so I'll summon it. Come to the field, Bazoo the Soul-Eater (1600/900)."
I felt my jaw drop. I hadn't considered the possibility of him getting another one so soon. This wasn't good. My opponent once again missed an evil laughter opportunity and went straight into his turn.
"I think I'll use its ability straight off the bat to remove all three D.D. Scout Plane's from play to increase its attack by a total of 900 (2500/900). And of course, all of my scout planes return to the field in attack mode (500/1200)." This was going to hurt.
"Next I will play another copy of Share the Pain. I'll sacrifice one of my D.D. Scout Planes."
Curse it; I was up against the wall. "I sacrifice my face down Swarm of Locusts."
"Well then I'll just have my Soul Eater deal with your Saber Beetle."
Boy: 5600
Mel 6650
"And then I'll attack you directly with both of my remaining D.D. Scout Planes."
Boy: 5600
Mel: 5650
"I'll end my turn."
Well, I was in a bad position. I couldn't see an easy way out. Oh well, when in doubt, defend. "I'll set a monster face down and end my turn."
My opponent was so sure of himself that the self assurance practically poured off him. "First I'll remove my D.D. Scout Plane, my original Bazoo, and Sangan from play to increase Bazoo's attack back up to 2500 points as well as bringing D.D. Scout Plane back to the field. Then I will play my second copy of Gift of the Martyr. This time I'll sacrifice a D.D. Scout Plane to increase the stats of another D.D. Scout Plane. And now the strengthened plane (1000/1200) will attack your face down card."
A many handed merchant was destroyed along with its wares. I scowled. "You just destroyed Magical Merchant (200/700). When it is flipped I get to pick up cards from my deck until I reach a spell or trap." I flipped up the top card of my deck; it was Pinch Hopper and got tossed in the graveyard. I picked up the next one; Pot of Avarice, and added it to my hand.
My opponent ignored my gains. "It doesn't matter what you got. I'm attacking directly with Bazoo and my last D.D. Scout Plane."
Boy: 5600
Mel: 2650
"To finish off my turn I'll play another Ectoplasmer and sacrifice my double strength D.D. Scout Plane."
Boy: 5600
Mel: 2150
I drew and was disappointed, but I wasn't finished quite yet. "I play Pot of Avarice. This spell card lets me draw two cards from my deck after I mix five monsters from my graveyard back into my deck. So I'll put Pinch Hopper, Howling Insect, both of my swarms, and Anteatereatingant back into my deck." I drew two cards. Finally something I could work with.
"Now, watch carefully. I special summon Doom Dozer (2800/2600) by removing Magical Merchant and Saber Beetle from play. Then I will attack your D.D. Scout Plane. Just so you know, when Doom Dozer does damage to you, you have to discard the top card of your deck."
Boy: 3300
Mel: 2150
I was lucky; the top card of his deck was none other than his third Bazoo the Soul Eater.
He looked in disbelief at the card he had just discarded. "You just got lucky, but I'm still going to win this."
I looked at him curiously. "I don't see why it matters. Bazoo is no longer a threat. If it was a threat, I would have attacked it instead of one of your D.D. Scout Planes."
He finally adopted the manic smile that he should have been wearing from the beginning. "Oh, you'll see how little of a threat Bazoo is. Just end your turn."
"Very well, I end."
He laughed insanely (though it wasn't quite the hearty maniacal laugh that one has come to expect from a villain as it was far too breathy and desparate). "You fool! You need to sacrifice a monster to Ectoplasmer and you only have one. Now, sacrifice it so that I can defeat you."
I looked across at him. "I know that, which is why I activate this: Pole Position. It makes the strongest monster on the field immune to spell cards. That means Doom Dozer is un-affected by Ectoplasmer and is not sacrificed by its effect."
He gawked and didn't seem to quite recover from the shock all through is turn, which didn't take very long. "I'll activate Bazoo's effect to remove all three D.D. Scout Planes from play and bring them back in defense mode to increase its attack (2500/900). I'll leave it at that and sacrifice one of the planes to Ectoplasmer."
Boy: 3300
Mel: 1900
Things looked like they were going to slow down. Oh well, I could pick up the tempo later. "I'll set a card and have Doom Dozer attack a D.D. Scout Plane before ending my turn."
He looked at his next card and cracked up. I swear, I've been known to get a tad excited near the end of a duel, but this was crazy. He was laughing like some crazed axe murderer who was about to escape the police by killing each and every one of them just before he was placed on the electric chair.
I'll admit it; I've seen too many horror movies. Still, as he made his move, he looked like he had just gone way over the deep end. "I can't lose! You will be destroyed soon as I play Gift of the Martyr one final time, sacrificing my final D.D. Scout Plane to increase Bazoo's attack (2100/900). Then I will remove all three D.D. Scout Planes from play, increasing Bazoo's attack to astronomical levels (3000/900)!"
I didn't want to pop his bubble yet by reminding him how he had already done this once already.
"I will return all of my Scout Planes to the field in attack mode. Now, Bazoo the Soul Eater, destroy her monster."
"Sorry sucker, I activate Blast with Chain. This trap equips to my monster increasing its attack by 500 (3300/2600)."
Bazoo let loose its 'belch from beyond' and Doom Dozer opened up that huge maw it had. It was like French kissing from hell. The beam of energy was swallowed, soon followed by the world's hairiest monkey.
Boy: 3000
Mel: 1900
He was hysterical with shock. "This, this isn't happening, I'm going to win, I need to win, I don't want to die, I can't!" Now, I didn't see where all the death was going to come from, this was just a duel after all. Then I felt my throat and the marks that had been left when I was savaged by Sangan. Maybe it wasn't just a game.
But if it was between him and me, I was going to win. I didn't wait for him to end his turn; he was never going to get around to it. In any case, some other force seemed to have decided for him. One of his D.D. Scout Planes had been sacrificed for Ectoplasmer.
Boy: 3000
Mel: 1650
"I summon Swarm of Scarabs (500/1000) to the field and have Doom Dozer attack a D.D. Scout Plane." It was strangely therapeutic to see those little recurring orbs of annoyance destroyed each time.
Boy: 200
Mel: 1650
My opponent's eyes had gone wide with disbelief. It reminded me that he couldn't have been too much older than me; two or three years at most. I wasn't about to cut him any slack.
"The time has come for me to be grateful for your spell card. I sacrifice Swarm of Scarabs to Ectoplasmer at the end of my turn."
Boy: 0
Mel: 1650
Finally I got to stick my tongue out at my defeated opponent as the spirit of my swarm overran his body.
I wandered around for awhile, lost. I wouldn't have been shocked to find out I that had started to cry. In any case, I had sat down in the empty space. Then something hard hit my leg and I heard someone curse as they tripped over me.
"Hellfires!"
I looked up. "Anna!"
"The one and only." She came closer so I could see her and I stood up.
"So, what do we do now?" I was clueless, as usual. She was the smart one after all.
"Find the others. And then we need to find the door. We should also turn off this smog somehow. I don't want to try and walk up the stairs or along the catwalk when I can't see a yard in front of me."
I could see the logic.
"Let's find the others."
"What else were you planning on doing?" Anna had affected an irritated tone of voice that suggested that no one nearby was as smart as her.
At least something was back to normal.
