Hello yet agin, and welcome to yet another chapter of Duel Phantom!
Alright, I'm running out of things to say. I admit it. By the way, three original characters hsow up in this chapter, but I assure you none of them are designed to take the story otu from under the REAL heroe's feet...although they will play a major part. Also, any similarities between one of the OCs and oen of the existing characters is completely coincidence...(sweatdrop).
By the way, a big "Thank you" to Gamma Bond ,for telling me whether Ritual Summmong was Special (which it is) or Normal (which it isn't) summoning.
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"Oh, this is just great!" shouted Jaden. "I save the whole school from some genie-ghost-girl, and what do I get as a reward?" He walked onto the stage I front of the big screen TV in the main classroom "I have to sit through some stupid assembly… "
You see, the beginning-of-the-year school assembly was optional to come watch…unless you happened to be part of the ceremonies. Then, you had to come. "Sigh…I guess I should feel honored, but…right now, all my friends are eating lunch! And I'm starving!" Jaden continued, as the other four students on the platform slowly stepped away from him.
Jaden looked up to the crowd, where Syrus and Danny waved. "Well, almost all of them," he said. "Maybe for once I'll let them eat their soup, instead of eating it myself!" He stopped short, suddenly, putting his hand on his head. "I must be hungrier than I thought…I'm starting to go crazy!"
"Attention, everyone who came here today!" Chancellor Crowler shouted to the fourteen or so people in attendance. "Today, as we begin a new school year, we honor the five highest-ranked duelers in the school! Now, note that ranks are not everything, as even computers can make mistakes. Also note that I like big butts and I cannot lie…wait a second!" Crowler shouted, as the fourteenish students started laughing hysterically, the fourteen not counting the five students on the stage…okay, counting them too. Minus one, who was trying not to laugh. "Who wrote that on the teleprompter? I'll have their school uniform for this!"
No one fessed up to it, of course. Who would be that stupid? Although Jaden did notice the African-American kid next to him sniggered a bit longer than everybody else. "Sigh…let's move on," said the poor Chancellor, even as the teleprompter was shut off and the TV screen flashed on behind them. "Our fifth-ranked duelist is Sergeant Hassleberry!" As Crowler said this, a boy walked to the front of the stage. He was dressed in a Ra Yellow jacket-uniform, but the sleeves had been torn off. His body was tan and muscular, his eyes were brown, and his hair was dark and styled into three individual braids. He had a bandana on his head, also yellow, and custom-made to look like a Tyrannosaurus's head.
He smiled and waved to the crowd. "Howdy!" he said, even as the screen behind him lit up, three smaller screens appearing inside of it. One screen showed a Tyranno Infinity attacking a Giant Rat and decreasing some opponent of Hassleberry's to zero. Another showed the Sarge activating a trap called Jurassic Blast. The last one showed an Archaeonix attacking an opponent directly, despite there being two monsters on the field in front of the opponent. "I'm the best there is! My Cretaceous creatures, my dino destroyers, my titanic troops never accept surrender, and never surrender themselves! They'll beat you down in two turns or less, or my name's not Sergeant Hassleberry!"
After he said this, he backed off. Crowler continued as the African-American Jaden heard sniggering stepped up front. "Our fourth-ranked duelist is Marco Jordan!"
"Yo!" said Marco, even as the three screens appeared again. One showed him tributing a Blast Juggler in order to destroy a Rainbow Flower and a Jinzo #7. Another one showed him playing Monster Reborn to bring back a Mechanical Hound. The final one showed him…using Steam Gyroid and Limiter Removal in order to destroy a Neo Aqua Madoor!
"Hey!" said Syrus. "Vehicroids are my things!"
Marco chose to ignore the outburst. "Despite what the card says, I'm the true Machine King! I'm the master of everything electronic! If it's got wires and circuits, I can probably hack it, so if you make me angry, either my monsters will crush you flat…or your PDA won't be a PDA no more."
As Marco stepped back, Jaden got a good look at him. He had short, black hair, in much the shape of his head. His eyes were a bright blue, in contrast to his dark-chocolate skin. His Ra Yellow Uniform almost looked out of place on him. He walked confidently, almost cockily, much like his talk.
"Thank you, Marco," said Crowler. "It appears we have a strong suspect for the hacking of the teleprompter…" Marco put on his best "Hey, I don't know what you talkin' 'bout, teach!" face, even as Crowler announced who the third-ranked duelist was: "Maria Hamilton!"
"Hey!" said the girl, walking up. Her voice was naturally perky. "How ya'll doin'?" Her tan was even darker than Hassleberry's, if that was possible, but even so, you could tell she was Caucasian. She had dark hair and brown eyes. He hair fit around her head like Marco's, but it also had a small ponytail in the back, near the base of the neck. She had a small touch of red lipstick on her mouth. Her shirt was white, and she had a black skirt that reached just past her knees. She had a red jacket on, to show she was Slifer Red.
"Now, my personality may be sweet, but if we get in a duel, you had best watch out, because my Amazons are ready to kick your butt!" she shouted as the three screens appeared behind her. One was Amazoness Archer, getting ready to shoot some poor kid for 2400 damage after four Scapegoats were sacrificed. Another was Amazoness Fighter, kneeing a poorer kid in the groin. The last was Amazoness Paladin, getting 300 extra attack points due to there being two unseen other Amazons on the field.
"You know, Miss Hamilton," said Crowler, "you look a lot like an Amazon yourself!"
"Thank you, Chancellor Crowler," Maria said, bowing. She walked back, and Crowler began to speak again.
"Our second-in-line for the dueling throne is Jerred Hawthorn!" The boy that stepped up was tall, at least six feet, probably a senior. His Obelisk Blue uniform's tail flared out at the back, and his hair, white as snow, reached his waist. His eyes were a dull gray, almost white. You could almost say he looked royal as he stood there, only giving a slight nod before turning and walking away. As he walked, the three scenes were of a small fairy being sacrificed for The Agent of Judgment- Saturn, some type of gelatinous ball, and a field card called Sanctuary in the Sky being activated.
"And our resident Kaiser is Jaden Yuki, proving that these ranks are not based on grades!" said Crowler.
Jaden walked up, saluted with two fingers, and said "Alright, duel academy, you'd best get your game on!" As he said this, the three screens showed Sparkman beating down a Goblin Attack Force in defense mode, Hero Signal being activated, and Winged Kuriboh Level 10 reflecting XYZ Dragon Cannon's attack. "I'm Jaden Yuki, and I'm gonna be the next King of Games!"
"Yeah, right," mumbled Marco under his breath.
"HEY!" shouted a voice near the stage's stairs. They all looked to see Syrus, breathing heavily. "You can't…use…Vehicroids…that's…my thing! And I ran…all the way…around to…the…other door in order to…defend that right!" Each "…" represents a pause for several breaths, by the way.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Truesdale," said Crowler, a bit angrily, "But you aren't allowed up here at the moment…security!"
"Hold it!" said Marco, stepping forward. "Let the boy talk…"
"I'm sorry?" asked Dr. Crowler.
"You heard me. C'mon, teach, can't you bend one little harmless rule for the fourth-best duelist in this school?"
"Oh, fine," said Crowler, backing off as Marco bent down.
"So, little man, what you got to say?"
"I'm not little!" shouted Syrus. "Sure, I'm short, but that doesn't mean I'm little…wait, that doesn't make sense…what I mean to say is…I may get scared often, but when it comes to my Vehicroids…no, wait…um…"
"You gonna challenge me or not?" asked Marco.
"Huh?" said Syrus, startled.
"That's right, little boy. A duel. That's what you came up for, right?"
"Um…yeah!" said Syrus, standing up straight.
"Then be at the dueling arena tomorrow, 10 AM sharp! Whoever wins gets to keep their precious Vehicroids…and considering I'm in the top five and you're in the top 100, I'd suggest you find a new theme."
With that, he walked off the stage, grinning smugly the whole time.
"Alright, Sy!" shouted Jaden. "Your first duel of the year!"
"Yeah…" said Syrus, trying to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat when Marco said the word 'duel'.
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8 hours later, 10 PM
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"Sigh…" sighed Syrus, sitting on a cliff overlooking a sea.
"Hey, Sy!" said a voice from behind him.
Syrus turned. "Hey, Jaden," he said.
"What's going on, buddy?" asked Jaden.
"Oh, nothing…"
"Don't bother. You're feeling scared, I can tell."
"Yeah, you're right…I kind of used up all my courage just getting to the stage…" Syrus said. "I don't think I can beat this guy…he's right. He's number four…and I'm number 98!"
"Actually, Steve Hoy dropped out, so you're number 97 now."
"Oh yeah, that helps so much," said Syrus sarcastically.
"Don't worry, Sy," said Jaden. "The odds may be against you, but you've got something he doesn't!"
"Dashing good looks?" asked Syrus.
"No," said Jaden. "You've got friends cheering you on!"
There was a long, long silence.
"Have you been eating paste, Jaden?" asked Syrus.
"Huh?"
"That was sudsier than your average soap opera."
"Sudsier?"
"Like cheesy. You know, they're always cheesy on soap operas?"
"Oh I get it," said Jaden.
"Yeah…" said Syrus. "The point is, I don't stand a chance!"
"Don't be ridiculous, Sy!" said Jaden, pulling him into a brotherly headlock and giving him a brotherly noogie. "Everyone's coming to see you duel tomorrow!"
"That's great, Jae…please let me go…"
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The next day, 9:54 AM0 0 0
The auditorium contained easily quadruple the number of people the assembly had. This made Syrus more than a little nervous. –After all,- he thought, -I'm going up against a guy who is only second to my brother when it comes to machines! Maybe I'd just better quit…-
"Hey, there Syrus!" said Sam, coming inside one wing of the dueling arena.
"Oh…hey Sam…" said Syrus.
"What's wrong?" the gothic vegan asked, concernedly.
"Oh, nothing unusual…I'm just scared out of my wits is all…"
"Of Marco? He's a moron," said Sam.
"Yeah, but he's a moron with power!" said Syrus. "I don't know…I'm gonna forfeit, find a new deck theme…I hear Fire is in this year…" He began to walk out to the arena early, set on throwing the match…
…When a hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. "Woah, there, slugger!" Sam said, turning him around. "You're better than he is!"
"No I'm not! He's number-"
"Forget about numbers!" shouted Sam. "Just keep telling yourself: you're better than he is! You're better than he'll ever be! It's the power of positive thinking," and she smiled. "You can do it."
Syrus took a few deep breaths. "Okay…I can do it…I can do it…I can do it…"
"Attention, students!" shouted Crowler from the arena. "Our match is about to begin!"
"I can't do it!" Syrus shouted, waterfalls coming from his eyes. Sam sighed, and began to push him out there…
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"Hey, Sam!" said Danny, as his love interest (Come on, you can't deny it! Though they probably could…) sat down next to him. "Where you been?" he asked, as Tucker fumed about "some geek-a-zoid copying my deck!" and Jazz got out her handy-dandy notebook.
"Just helping somebody get a little courage," she answered, as Syrus and Marco walked onto the dueling arena, shuffling their cards.
Down on the dueling arena, Marco smiled as the life point meters set to 4000 each and they both put in their decks. "You know," he said, "Your brother's got a nickname on the pro dueling circuit. They call him The Mechanic, so I guess that'd make you The Mechanic's Apprentice, huh?"
"Uh…yeah, I guess…" said Syrus, as they drew their cards.
Marco suddenly smiled. "Well, then you should give a good duel to your opponents." Then, just as suddenly, he frowned. "You should…but you don't. Seriously, man, you can do way better than near-to-last place on the board! Your monsters can be extremely powerful, especially if used right…and they should be used right in the hands of a master!"
"So why are they not being used right, Syrus?"
Syrus drew back, startled. This guy…his opponent…believed in him. There were only a handful of people who did that. Everyone else thought he was…Zane's little brother. Nothing more, nothing less, and definitely not The Mechanic's Apprentice.
"I'll go first!" said Marco, drawing a card. He looked at it for a second, before he said: "I'll summon Gyroid (1000/1000) in defense mode!" The card that appeared looked like a little blue helicopter with a face and arms. "And I think you know its effect, but I'll tell you anyway, for the sake of our crowd! Basically, this little guy has to be attacked twice in one round in order to be destroyed."
The crowd murmured and, without a word, Jazz began to write in her notebook, s obviously that Danny wasn't the only one to look over. Basically, she'd written down Gyroid's name, drawn it's card, written its attack, defense points, and effect, and written Mataza the Zapper in the margin near all that…within the course of twelve seconds.
"If that made you guys murmur," said Marco, taking another card form his hand, "This really will! I'll activate this: my Peace Offering card!" Marco shouted, playing the spell. Its image was Mystical elf, holding a basket with various fruits inside it.
-Ho boy,- thought Syrus. –Despite the name, that can't be good…-
"This card lets me tae a card in my hand and put it randomly in your deck without you seeing it!" shouted Marco. True to his prediction, the audience did murmur, as he walked over with a card from his hand separated from the rest.
-On second thought, it might be,- thought Syrus, even as Marco put the card in Syrus's deck.
Upstands, Bastion did not share the same sentiments. "That card is probably a bomb, metaphorically of course," he said, being all too right, as you'll see later.
"Well…Syrus still has to choose to use it, right? So...it can't be all bad!" Jaden said.
Marco had just gotten back to his side of the field, only stopping to give Gyroid a high-five. "I'll end my turn with a facedown card."
Syrus drew. "Not much to go on…" he said. "Oh, wait, I didn't mean to say that out loud!"
"S'okay. I'll pretend I didn't hear it," Marco replied.
In the stands across from Jaden and his crew sat Danny and his crew. "I take back what I said," Sam said softly (try saying that three times fast!). "He's not a moron or a jerk."
"You also called him arrogant," said Tucker.
"I know," said Sam.
"Okay…" said Syrus, "I'll summon Patroid (1200/1200) in, uh, attack mode!" The card that appeared looked like a comical police car with arms, legs, and a face. "And his effect says that I can look at one facedown card a turn…spell or trap, I mean…so, please show me that card!" And Patroid blew his whistle, the sound waves forcing the card upwards.
"Disgraceful Charity?" asked Syrus. "I've never heard of that…"
"Yeah, you will my next turn," said Marco. "You gonna attack, or what?"
"That would be pointless, since Gyroid needs to be attacked twice!" said Syrus. "I end my turn!"
"Fine," said Marco, drawing. "I play my spell card Graceful Charity, which means I draw three cards and discard two!" And the angel on the card appeared, dove into his deck, dove out with three cards. He picked one at random and, without even looking at the cards, gave the other two back.
"Um, wasn't that kind of…"
"Stupid?" asked Marco before Syrus could finish. "Not really, since I play my Disgraceful Charity Trap! Now, all cards discarded until the end of this turn come back to us…so I get the cards I discarded right back!" Instantly, Marie the Fallen One flew out of the card, zapped both their graveyards, and disappeared. Marco's two cards came back. "Therefore, it didn't matter which two cards I gave my angel here!"
"Oh…great…" mumbled Syrus, downcast.
"Then I'll summon Cycroid (800/1000), in attack mode!" The monster that appeared was like a little red bicycle, but with an eye where his head lamp would be. "But he won't be staying for long, because I play Failed Connection!" Suddenly, the two Vehicroids on his field fell apart!
"What happened?" asked Syrus, confused as the rest of the audience.
"Hold on just a second…now!" Marco shouted, suddenly. As he shouted, some of the parts flew into the air! They circled around for a while before combining in a flash of light!
The monster that appeared looked like a Cycroid with propellers for its handlebars and its back wheel extended outwards like a rotary blade! "You see, a failed connection is when you put two machines together that just weren't meant to be put together…like a cell phone and a VCR. Similarly, the Failed Connection spell card allows me to fuse two Machine-type monsters together, but they'll be destroyed at the end of the turn. On the other hand, its attack points are the combined attack points of the monsters used to summon it, and the same with its defense points!" True to his word, the monster's stats were (1800/2000)…and it was in attack mode. "Go, my monster, or as I like to call it, Cy-Gyroid, attack with Handlebar Blades! Your target is Patroid!" Instantly, the weird monster rushed forward…slicing Patroid in half with its whirring blades! Syrus's life points dropped to 3400. "I'll end my turn…now!" Instantly, Cy-Gyroid shattered into pixels!
Syrus bit his lip as he drew his next card. "I'll summon Jetroid (1200/1800) in attack mode!" Syrus shouted. "Attack him directly!" Instantly, Jetroid shot out 2 missles, which flew straight into Marco's chest and exploded!
"Gah…" said Marco as his life points fell to 2800. "Not too bad…" Then he drew. "I'll summon Steamroid (1800/1800) in attack mode!" Instantly, the little train appeared. "Then, I'll attack your Jetroid! And don't forget, my Steamroid gains 500 attack points when it attacks!" And Steamroid's attack rose to 2300! It shot forward toward Jetroid, suddenly stopping and blowing off so much steam that Jetroid went flying backwards, then shattered into pixels! Syrus's life points dove to 2300. "I'll end my turn," said Marco.
Syrus drew…he looked at his cards. "Come on…something…I can't think straight….is it getting hot in here or what?"
Up in the stands, the outlook was grim. "Syrus is panicking," said Alexis. "Surely he's got at least one good card in his hand!"
"Typical Syrus," said Chazz. "He's gonna lose…big time!"
"No he's not!" shouted Jaden, suddenly.
"I'm sorry, Jaden, but Syrus just isn't doing his best…" said Alexis, sadly.
Back on the field, Syrus's breathing had become heavy and labored. He was holding his head like a mole had dug into it. "Calm down, Sy!" shouted Marco, suddenly. "It's not like we're fighting for your life!"
"The Vehicroids are my life!" said Syrus, tears starting to form in his eyes. There were a few seconds where the only noise in the room was Syrus, starting to sob.
"So why aren't you fighting harder?" asked Marco, gently.
That seemed to snap Syrus back to reality. Instantly, he stopped sobbing, the tears un-formed, and a look of determination came over his face. "Alright…I'll summon Submarineroid (800/1800) in attack mode!" Like the other Vehicorids, this one had goofy, yet determined eyes, and dull-brown arms with white gloves. It did not, however, have a mouth. "This monster can attack your life points directly! So, go, my Vehicroid! Submerge!" And as he said this, Submarineroid dove underground, traveling toward Marco like it was underwater instead of under metal! It rammed into Marco's foot, sending him hopping and reducing his life points to 2000!
"Ow! Ow!" said Marco, oddly calm for someone who had just been attacked by a cartoon.
"Plus," said Syrus, "Submarineroid can switch into defense mode after he attacks!" And he was right, as the Roid crouched down, and least as much as it could, considering it didn't have legs.
"Fine!" said Marco, drawing a card. He looked down at his hand of four. "Hmm…" he said. "I'll guess I'll just have my Steamroid attack your Submarineroid!" The Steamroid's attack rose to 2300, and it drove toward Submarineroid…
"Hold on a second!" said Syrus. "I'll activate a trap: Castle Walls!" With this, his facedown card lifted, and, appropriately, Castle Walls surrounded Submarineroid. "This increases one of my monster's defense by 500, meaning that their scores are equal now!" Sure enough, Submarineroid's defense rose to 2300! Steamroid crashed into the Castle's Wall and was sent flying back! Submarineroid chuckled as Steamroid fumed.
"Fine, I'll end my turn," said Marco.
Syrus drew a card as the Castle Walls crumbled. "I'll summon my own Steamroid in attack mode!" said Syrus. Instantly, a mirror image of Marco's monster appeared on the field!
"Hold it!" shouted Marco. "I'm activating my trap, Just Desserts! Now you take 500 damage for every monster on your side of the field!" True to his word, two ghostly hands came out and started…tickling Syrus?
"Heh heh…hah ha ha! Cut it out!" shouted Sy, as his life points fell to 1300. "Phew…" he said, as the hands retreated. "I'll have my Steamroid attack yours! And since it loses 500 attack points when it's being attacked, you're pretty close to being done! Attack, my ultimate engine that could!" Marco's Steamroid fell to 1300 attack, but Syrus's rose to 2300! They rushed toward each other, and collided in a giant explosion of smoke and sparks! Marco's life points fell to 1000 even. "Then, Submarineroid will attack too!" And the Submarine shot out a torpedo from its belly! It hit Marco and reduced his life points to a measly 200! "I'll end my turn with one card facedown!" Syrus said.
"Alright, enough games!" said Marco, drawing. "I'll summon my X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) in attack mode!" The monster he summoned was yellow and purple, but it looked…incomplete, somehow. The bottom half of it looked more like a connector to another machine. "And I'll have it attack your Steamroid!" As Steamroid's attack fell to 1300, the cannon shot its mighty blast! Steamroid was completely vaporized, and Syrus took 500 points of damage, landing him at 800! "Then I'll end my turn!"
Syrus drew a card. –Five cards in my hand, and so little I can use!- he thought. "I'll place a card facedown and end my turn." –After all, his facedown card is probably something that could really hurt me if I attack,- Syrus thought.
Marco drew a card, bringing his hand up to five…and smiled. "I play this: Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300) in attack mode!"
Up in the stands, Chazz and Tucker were both getting very angry…
"That little geek is trying to steal my cards!" shouted Chazz.
"Easy, Chazz!" said Jaden, who, along with the others, was trying to hold him down.
"Yeah!" said Atticus. "He's not copying you…lots of people use those cards!"
"I DON'T CARE!" Chazz shouted.
"I'm the cool kid with the machine-type monsters, not him!" shouted Tucker.
"Easy, Tucker!" shouted Sam, who normally would make some truthful crack about how Tucker wasn't cool at all, but could see now wasn't a good time.
"Yeah! So you're not the only techno-geek in town!" said Jazz. "It's not too big a deal…"
"I DON'T CARE!" shouted Tucker, angrily.
Back on the field, Marco was grinning. "Now I can equip my X-Head Cannon with my Z-Metal Tank in order for X to gain 600 attack and defense points!" Sure enough, as X-Head Cannon settled down on top of Z-Metal Tank, its stats changed to (2400/2100)! "Now, attack that puny Submarineroid!" shouted Marco.
"I activate Negate Attack!" shouted Syrus. The wall of light sprung up and stopped X's attack.
"Okay, then I'll end my turn with one card facedown."
Syrus drew. "I play Pot of Greed, in order to draw two more cards!" and he did so. He looked at them. –Dian Keto and…huh? This must be the card he put in my deck with Peace Offering! But…if I use this, I could cripple him! Well, I' best take advantage of this…but first…- "I'll play Dian Keto the Cure Master in order to regain 1000 life points!" Syrus's life points rose to 1800. "But then I'll sacrifice the life points I just regained in order to play System Down!" Suddenly, the two monsters on Marco's side of the field went limp, lights and circuits shutting down. They crumbled into pieces. "Now all your machine-type monsters on the field are removed from play!" shouted Syrus.
Marco took the cards and put them in his back pocket, his mouth a grim line of determination…but inside, he was smiling. "That your turn?"
"Nope!" said Syrus. "I sacrifice my Submarineroid," and the underwater exploration device exploded, "In order to summon UFOroid (1200/1200)!" The creature that appeared looked like a small, friendly UFO with a cute face. "Attack him directly and finish this duel!"
"Not so fast!" shouted Marco. "I play my own Negate Attack!" UFOroid crashed into the wall and was sent bouncing back, dizzy.
"Darn…" said Syrus. "I guess I'll jsut… cast Book of Moon, allowing me to switch one monster from face up attack mode to facedown defense mode!" he shouted, and UFOroid switched down. "Then I'll set one card facedown and end my turn." –My Magical Cylinder should finish him off!- Sy thought.
"Syrus has really turned this duel around!" remarked Alexis.
"He sure has!" said Jaden.
"Go, Syrus!" said Atticus.
"Beat down that loser copycat!" shouted Chazz.
Marco drew a card, bringing his hand up to four again. He smiled broadly…then, he said this: "I'll activate my own Pot of Greed!" And he drew two cards. "Then, I'll activate the spell card Perpetual Motion Machine!" he shouted, as a small vase-like machine appeared on the field. It was a dull white, with three gears on its front, arranged so that they would spin, but without anything to spin them! "You see," said Marco, "A perpetual motion machine is a machine believed by scientists to be impossible…and this card lets me do something that's nearly impossible: summon monsters that have been removed from play!"
"No way!" shouted Syrus, even as the crowd murmured again. –I fell right into his trap…-
"Of course," said Marco, "They have to be Machine's with 2000 attack or less, each, but hey, that's no problem! Get out here, guys!" The small machine's gears began to spin wildly for no apparent reason, and X-Head Cannon and Z-Metal Tank appeared on the field again! "Next, I'll summon Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600) in attack mode!" And the third piece of the puzzle appeared.
"Oh, no…" said Syrus, quietly.
"Now, I can remove all three of my monsters from play I norder to summon XYZ DRAGON CANNON!" Marco shouted, as the three machines began to join together…Y-Dragon Head folded up its wings and drew in its head, as a hatch opened up on its back…X-Head Cannon settled into the hatch, quite comfortably…a hatch opened up on the back of Z-Metal Tank, and Y-Dragon head put itself inside the hatch, crouching down…
The XYZ Dragon Cannon had formed! (2400/2100)
"Oh, no!" shouted Syrus, crouching into a ball.
"Oh, yes!" shouted Marco. "And now, by discarding a card, I can destroy a card on your side of the field…so I'll discard the rest of my hand in order to destroy your entire field!" The XYZ Dragon Cannon fired a massive blast, vaporizing Syrus's field!
-Oh, man!- thought Syrus, crouching into a ball. –UFOroid's effect only activates if it's destroyed in battle, not by effect…wait a second!- He suddenly looked up. –That' it!- he thought, standing up.
"Now, my Ultimate Monster!" shouted Marco, "Attack Syrus directly! Fission Blast!"
The Dragon Cannon charged up its massive blast…
"Hold it, Marco!" said Syrus. "One of the cards you destroyed was Wonder Garage!" and he held it up. "And when it is set and sent to the graveyard, its effect activates, allowing me to summon a Level 4 or lower Vehicroid from my hand…like my Decoyroid, (300/500) in defense mode!"
"Fine, then my XYZ Dragon Cannon will attack that!" Marco shuted, and the Dragon Cannon launched its attack, hitting the target dead-on and sending Decoyoid to the graveyard! "I end my turn!"
-Ho boy,- thought Syrus. –This had better be a good card…- and he drew. He looked at it. –Hey…this is the card Maria gave to me!-
FLASHBACK…
"Oh man…" said Syrus.
Sam had managed to push him halfway ot the stage before he'd promised to go out himself. That didn't mean he was confident now, though. In fact, just the opposite.
"What am I gonna do?" he asked nobody in particular.
"You could always do what I do," said a voice behind him. Syrus turned…and standing there was Maria Hamilton!
"Hey, Maria," Syrus said, a little distracted. Suddenly, he realized what Maria had said. "Wait…you mean you get scared?"
"Oh, yeah, like a ton!" she said. "Even the Amazons get scared. But that doesn't mean they aren't brave! No, being brave is when you're scared, but face up to your fears anyway! That's what I always do!"
"Yeah, pretty words, Maria…"
Miss Hamilton frowned. The, she smiled. It was a gentle smile, full of happiness. She pulled a card out of her deck. "Here, take this…I have an extra copy."
Syrus took the card. "Wow…nice effect…" he said.
"Mm-hmm," replied Maria. "See, she goes up against the biggest of monsters and the baddest of creatures because she knows that, even thoguh she's scared, and she'll probably get a little hurt, she and, more importantly, the rest of the Amazons will come out on top." She slowly ogt up form her kneeling position (so she could be eye-level with Syrus), and walked off. Syrus looked after her for a while…and then added the card to his deck.
END FLASHBCK…
-Yeah…- he thought. –I've got to be brave!- He looked up to Maria, sitting up high in the stands, who slowly smiled, then nodded. –Even though I'm scared…- "I'll summon Amazoness Swords Woman (1500/1600) in attack mode!" he shouted, as a tanned, young woman appeared on the field. She had long, wild red hair, a blue bikini top, and a blue, tattered skirt. She carried a wicked sword.
"That's not a Vehicroid!" said Marco, more than a little surprised.
"Yeah, but she was given to me…by a friend. Attack his XYZ Dragon Cannon, Swords Woman!"
To most of the crowd's surprise, Swords Woman leapt up, intent on striking the Dragon Cannon, which was startled for a second, but then quickly shot its Fission Blast, vaporizing her! "Heh…" said Marco. "Guess he wanted to go out with a bang…"
"Oh yeah , there'll be a bang!" said Syrus. "But it'll be you going out! You see, when my Swords Woman battles, you take all the battle damage I would've taken!"
"WHAT?" shouted Marco, even as his life points drained to zero and the crowd started cheering and the holograms disappeared. He looked down to his Duel Disk in shock as Syrus raised his hands into the air and the crowd started cheering.
"The winner is Syrus Truesdale!" shouted Dr. Crowler into the microphone. "And, since Marco was worth 45 rank points, Syrus moves up to rank number 85!" And the crowd cheered again…except numbers 96 through former number 85. Marco finally came out of his shock, and smiled.
-Well done, Mechanic's Apprentice…- he thought.
"Hey, Marco?"
"Huh?" asked Marco, as Syrus walked over.
"Nice game," said Syrus. "You can use Vehicroids if you really want."
"Thanks, but no thanks," said Marco. "At least, not very often. They're just not my real style. I only used them the time you saw on the screens!"
"But…why didn't…"
"Why didn't I tell you?" said Marco, finishng Sy's sentence. "Well ,if I'd told you, you wouldn't have dueled me, would you? And you wouldn't have gotten oyur courage, would you?"
Syrus smiled, looking up to where Maria was. –No…- he thought. –I wouldn't have gotten my courage…or rank number 85…or a new friend. Make that two new friends! The only way this day could be ore perfect…is if lunch is edible. Yeah, right…-
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Meanwhile, in a stereotypically dark and spooky lair, a stereotypically wvil figure sat on a stereotypical throne looking into a stereotypical crystal ball. "The young one is powerful, but only when he has courage…" said the Master, behemoth growling in agreement. "If put in a situation without the help of his friends, he cannot function properly in a duel…" The figure smiled. "This proves quite interesting…"
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Disgraceful CharityType: Spell/Quickplay
Attribute:-
Level:-
Atk:-
Def:-
Card Description: Marie the Fallen one, a card levitating in between her hands.
Each player returns to his or her hand all cards that were discarded from their hands to the Graveyard by card effects during the current turn.
Note: This card was originally used in the multi-part episode 'Clash in the Coliseum'. All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.
Failed ConnectionType: Normal Spell
Attribute:-
Level:-
Atk:-
Def:-
Card Description: Some sort of ghastly abomination made of frayed wires and metal pieces of different sizes and colors.
Tribute two Machine-type monsters on your side of the field. Summon one FC Token on your side of the field. The token's attack is equal to the combined attack of the tributed monsters, and the token's defense is equal to the combined defense of the two monsters.
Peace Offering
Type: Normal
Spell
Attribute: -
Level: -
Atk: -
Def:
-
Card Description: Image of Mystical Elf holding out a fruit basket to an unseen receiver.
Take one card from your hand and place it in your opponent's deck without him seeing it. Then, your opponent shuffles his deck.
Perpetual Motion Machine
Type: Normal
Spell
Attribute: -
Level: -
ATK: -
DEF:
-
Card Description: Image of a crazy-looking machine without any apparent purpose.
Special Summon up to three of your MACHINE-Type Monsters that have been removed from play whose base ATK does not exceed 2,000 apiece in face-up Attack Mode.
Note: The above two cards were first used in "Yu-gi-oh! The Thousand Year Door", a fanfiction by Cyber Commander. All creative credit goes to him.
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And cosidering Maria uses Amazons, that probably won't be the last two cards I use from the Thousand Year Door, either... anyway, review if you guys get the chance, and begin the countdown until I have to edit this chapter...
3...2...1...EDITED 10/8/06: Originally, Sam had given Syrus a card, but the I decided to have Maria give him Amazoness Swords Woman...but forgot to take out one of the mentions of Sam. Whoops...
