A/N: Instead of opening narration this time, I wanted to apologize for the lateness of this chapter! I tried to get it done a lot sooner, but a deadly combination of finals, quarantine-induced panic, and a break up delayed it much longer than expected. So thanks for your patience!
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Chapter 13 - Deep Sea Diva
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Caspian nervously looked around the beautiful, mother-of-pearl hallway that lead to the Mermaid Queen's throne room. He had been there before, several times, but this time, he was the one who wanted something from her.
"So is this where King Triton lives?" Kennedy asked, whistling excitedly.
"Her name is Queen Lorelei, and she's not really big on visitors." Caspian held his boyfriend's arm tightly, nervous. "Especially ones with legs..."
Lorelei was an... interesting ruler. She did her job well enough, but she didn't have the regal personality you associated with royalty. She was vain, lustful, somewhat xenophobic, and easily bored. The merpeople adored her, however, and her critics were few and far between.
"Caspian Kalani, what in the seven seas are you doing here?" Someone asked, as soon as the two boys entered the throne room.
That someone was Lorelei herself, an intimidating figure in her own way. She had silvery-white hair that went down to her waist, sparkling pink scales on her long fish tail, skin the same color, pointy ears, and piercing blue eyes. She wore a white toga-like dress, a crown made of clam shells, and lots of pearl jewelry. Her throne was made of coral, in varying colors, and had a silver trident leaning next to it.
Kennedy was shocked by two things: One, none of the merpeople had human skin colors. Some were blue, others were green, and he even spotted a striped one; always the same color as their tails.
Two, and this one he was embarrassed about, the mermaids didn't have seashell bras. He suddenly realized he had a lot to learn about Shadowkind if he was going to get involved in Caspian's business.
"Your majesty, I believe that the Pearl Shell kingdom and River City are both in danger!" Caspian explained. "There's a sinister group called the Ebon Sun running around the surface, challenging my team to Shadow Duels and causing trouble. They've even recruited sahuagin to their cause, whatever it is."
"That's a nice bit of fear-mongering, Mister Kalani," A new merperson entered the room. This one was male, with green skin and bright blue hair. He was attractive (all merpeople were) and wore a sparkling toga, but had a nasty sneer on his face. "But you've given our queen no reason to listen to you."
"Sazed..." Caspian groaned as soon as he saw this merman. "So this is where you ended up. I was hoping I wouldn't have to see your pointy face again."
Kennedy immediately noticed the tension between the two. "You know this clown?"
"He's the queen's new adviser." The redhead explained. "I also... Might have broken up with him a while ago." Caspian didn't like bringing up his love life, especially now that he was finally with someone he actually wanted to date.
"It was mutual!" Sazed yelled, his face puffing up in anger. "But that's not why we're here. You and this human are spewing nonsense and trying to scare the queen into giving you something." He said "human" the way most people would say "garbage".
"It's not nonsense, I've got footage of four Shadow Duels recorded right here!" Caspian lifted up his Duel Disk, and opened up the video app.
Shadowchasers' Disks automatically recorded any footage of official duels, in case they needed to be used as evidence in a court case.
It was a simple program developed by a Shadowjack (magical hacker) in Jalal's employ, which could be downloaded onto any store-bought Duel Disk. Using cards made with dark magic was illegal, obviously, and so was intentionally starting a Shadow Game.
"Sazed, Caspian has never lied to us before..." Lorelei swished her tail, tapping her chin to show she was deep in thought. "But I also don't see how this Ebon Sun group is any danger to my kingdom. I think the best course of action would be... to have you and that handsome surface dweller duel."
"What?" Was the response from both young men. Caspian scowled possessively and wrapped his arms around Kennedy.
"I'll do it." Kennedy said, raising his Duel Disk and taking a step forward. He kissed Caspian on the cheek and ran a hand through his bright red hair. "Trust me, darlin', I can handle whatever this twink throws at me. And besides, I want to make a good impression on your team."
"So it's settled! The two of you will have a duel. If Caspian's lover wins, I'll listen to what he has to say. And if Sazed wins, I'll throw them out." Lorelei grabbed her trident and stamped it on the ground, making the decree official.
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Two sinister looking figures walked through River City, seemingly unnoticed by the crowds. One was a girl, with bleach white skin and platinum blonde hair, wearing a gothic lolita dress and some kind of complicated eye-wear made of black glass. The other a man, who was pale, but not as much as his companion, with pointed ears, green hair and red eyes. The two of them would stand out like sore thumbs normally.
"I hate this city. The bright, flashing lights and constant noise drive me crazy." The man grumbled. He was holding a large, black umbrella that covered the both of them. It was tipped with a dark crystal that resembled the night sky, and the frame was pure black metal.
This was an Umber-ella, a very rare and expensive magic item that allowed Drow, vampires and other sunlight sensitive Shadowkind to walk around in the daytime without harm. It deflected light off the user, also making them difficult to see with the naked eye (not invisible, just fuzzy).
"Stop whining, Noir. We'll only have to put up with this for another month or so. Once the Mistress has gathered enough power, the whole world will finally be accessible to people like us." The girl said, removing her glasses. Her eyes were grey, with no visible pupils or sclera, just grey. "Or have you forgotten that I'm in the same boat as you?"
"You're so dramatic, Velvet." Noir, who was clearly a vampire, rolled his eyes at his human companion. "We've arrived at our destination." He stopped in front of a large restaurant, Romano's Italian Bistro. It looked exactly like how you would picture an Italian restaurant, with marble columns, Italian flags flying everywhere, and a statue of a portly chef holding today's menu.
"How stereotypical can you get?" Velvet scoffed, putting her glasses back in place as they walked into the place, the air filled with the smell of Italian food. She immediately thought of a joke involving garlic, but remembered that Noir had threatened to eat her if she ever made that joke again. And he probably wasn't exaggerating.
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(Kennedy LP 8000) - (Sazed LP 8000)
"I'll start things off!" Sazed grabbed two cards from his hand, slamming them down onto his Duel Disk... on the ends of the Monster Card Zone. "I load the Pendulum Scale with Scale 1 Abyss Actor Evil Heel and Scale 8 Abyss Actor Comic Relief!"
Two pillars of light beamed down from the ceiling, one on either side of the merman. The first one contained an ugly, bulbous fiend with a single white eye, wearing pants for some reason. The other contained a fat, pink skinned fiend with bushy white hair and a pointy toothed grin, which was wearing overalls.
"Wh-what the heck are these?!" Kennedy took a step back, not sure how to react. He quickly looked at his Duel Disk to read the cards. "Pendulum Monsters? Never heard of them." Caspian just shrugged, he hadn't seen Pendulums before either.
"Your boyfriend is a little out of touch, Kalani." Sazed rolled his eyes. "I guess I shouldn't expect more from a country bumpkin. Now, for my Normal Summon, I play Abyss Actor - Curtain Raiser!" A new monster, just as weird as the others, appeared on the field. It looked like the top part of a carousel, red and yellow stripes, but had a pair of arms stuck onto it, a face in the center, and a pair of legs wearing parachute pants sticking out the bottom. (ATK 1100)
"And when he's the only monster on my field, his attack points double!" (ATK 2200) "Now I set two cards and end my turn."
"Okay, I was worried at first, but if that's the best you can do, this is gonna be easy." Kennedy reached up to adjust his cowboy hat, like he did back in the pro leagues, but his hand grasped at air. Oh yeah, magic water breathing hat. Almost forgot. He quickly drew his sixth card, embarrassed.
"I summon Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede!" There was a whiny, and a frankly bizarre looking machine rode into the throne room. It was a train, like the name implied, but at the head was a robotic pegasus being ridden by a robot knight. (ATK 1800)
"Majestic." Queen Lorelei whistled, looking impressed.
"I chain activate my trap, Extra Buck!" Sazed snapped his fingers. The artwork on the card showed Goblin of Greed dressed like a chef, running a restaurant with grim looking patrons. "But its effect doesn't activate until later."
"That's not going to scare me." Kennedy smirked. "Because I summoned an Earth Machine monster, I get to special summon Heavy Freight Train Derricrane from my hand!" An enormous diesel crane drove into the palace, letting off huge amounts of smoke. (ATK 1400)
"Now I use Pegasus Stampede's effect to make it level 10, and I overlay both of them!" The Overlay Network opened, but its color was off. Instead of the usual orange, gold and brown colors that Caspian was used to when Kennedy Xyz Summoned, this one was bright green.
"Watch in wonder as these two titans of the land unite to form an even more massive mega monster! I Xyz Summon Skypalace Gangaridai!" An enormous machine rose out of the summoning portal. It looked like a boat with a giant, crimson balloon attached to each side. (ATK 3400)
"What... is that?" Caspian asked. The other merpeople nodded in agreement, confused. They were familiar with the concept of air travel, but very few of them had ever seen a plane, since they couldn't leave the water without magical assistance.
"To tell the truth, babe, I've got no idea." Kennedy shrugged. "What I do know is that it's bigger than your Abyss Actor! Attack with Torrid Torpedo!" The titanic Xyz fired off a missile, blowing Curtain Raiser to smithereens.
"Thank you, that's just what I was hoping you'd do."
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The two Ebon Sun generals walked past the customers and into the very back of the restaurant, the VIP Lounge. It was blocked off by a guard and a rope, but he quickly stepped aside when he saw the black sun pendants they wore. This wasn't their first visit to Romano's.
There was only one table in the lounge, and sitting at it were five orcs. Orcs in business suits, which was a pretty rare sight, but orcs nonetheless. Sitting at the head of the table was a particularly large (especially around the middle) one with a bushy beard that would make a dwarf blush.
"Another day, another thousand dollars, aye boys?" He laughed, his whole body shaking as he did. The other four laughed with him, he was obviously their boss. "I think a promotion's in order. You know who I'm talking to." His bright yellow eyes scanned the people in front of him, not even noticing the two intruders.
"Hate to interrupt, but we're here on important business." Velvet said, taking a step forward. "You're Gorbag the Butcher, right? My boss wanted me to speak with you directly, about a little meeting you had last week."
The orc stood up to his full seven feet of height, towering over the tiny human girl. He snarled, nostrils flaring, and looked her directly in the eye... to the best of his ability. "And just who are you? Some kind of goth bimbo Barbie?"
Velvet's pretty face turned into a horrible sneer. "What did you just call me?" She raised her hand and fired off a beam of crackling green energy, knocking Gorbag onto his back. "Eldritch Blast!"
"Now, now, Velvet, remember your manners." Noir lectured, a look of smugness on his otherwise emotionless face. "Mr. The Butcher, right? Do you remember our meeting exactly one week ago? The one where I told you that my boss wants you and your men out of the city?"
"And I told you to piss off. I don't care who you're working for, no one tells the Butcher family what to do! We were the first crime family in River City, and we'll be the last, as long as I'm standing." Gorbag snarled, pulling himself up. His men leaped to their feet and pulled guns out of their jackets, pointing them at the vampire.
"Too bad. This didn't have to end violently." Noir frowned. He made a clawed hand gesture, and a clap of thunder burst through the room, seemingly originating from the dinner table, which shattered. The orcs were knocked back one more, dropping their guns. "Shatter."
"My turn!" Velvet smiled gleefully and made the same gesture. "Ray of Sickness!" A ray of sickening green light shot out from her outstretched hands, hitting Gorbag straight in the chest. His face shriveled up, and his stomach lurched. He felt like he was dying... which was probably true.
"This isn't a game, Velvet. This is business." Noir said, stepping on the hand of an orc who was reaching for his gun. "We have to finish this quickly before someone can call the Shadowchasers. Shatter." He pointed directly at Gorbag this time, and there was a gut-wrenching crunch. The VIP lounge was soon filled with the all-to-familiar smell of death.
"You always steal my kills." The goth girl pouted, opening the Umber-ella once again. A cloud of darkness enveloped her and her companion, allowing the two Warlocks to leave completely unharmed.
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Back at the palace, Sazed pointed to his trap card. "You've activated the effect of Extra Buck! Every time a card is added to my Extra Deck, it gains a Spell Counter!" A small, glowing light appeared in front of the card.
"When the heck did that happen?" Kennedy checked the screen of his Duel Disk. Sure enough, there was a face-up card in Sazed's Extra Deck, which previously only contained a single card.
"Pendulum Monsters don't go the graveyard when they're destroyed, they go to the Extra Deck." The green merman explained. "So, does that end your turn, cowboy? Or do you have something else to drag it out with?"
"Only Caspian gets to call me 'cowboy'!" Kennedy growled. He set a card, and waved his hand to signify his turn was over.
(KLP 8000) - (SLP 6800)
"My turn, then. I'll start by activating Abyss Actors Back Stage!" Another trap lifted up. The artwork depicted five monsters, presumably more Abyss Actors, lounging around a cozy looking room. "Because I have two Abyss Actor cards in my pendulum zone, I can take two more from my deck and place them in my Extra Deck." Two cards shot out of his deck, and Sazed quickly tossed them into the other slot.
"Which means Extra Buck gains two more counters. And I can send it to the graveyard to draw twice!" The continuous trap exploded, and Sazed smiled that obnoxious, cocky smile Kennedy had come to hate. He fanned out the cards in his hand, looking them over. "I Pendulum Summon again!"
The summoning portal opened up once more, and this time, three monsters came out. "I Pendulum Summon Abyss Actors Wild Hope, Curtain Raiser, and Mellow Madonna!" The new monsters were just as strange looking as the familiar ones.
Wild Hope looked vaguely like a cowboy, with a black and gold hat, purple clothes and an orange bandanna. He -assuming it was a man- held what looked like a toy gun in his hand. (ATK 1800) Mellow Madonna, on the other hand, was much more normal looking. A female monster with light purple skin, and long pink hair, wearing a simple black dress. For some reason, she had no fiendish features at all, aside from her unusual skin color. (ATK 1800)
"So where'd you get these things?" Kennedy asked. He'd seen some weird cards in his day- Ojamas, Worms, Symphonic Warriors, and even Kuribohs - but there was something odd about these Abyss Actor monsters. "I was in the pro leagues, up until a few weeks ago, and I never heard of anything like this."
"I have friends in high places. They supplied me with these cards as payment for my continued services." Sazed explained, looking more smug than ever now. He ran his fingers through his hair, glaring at Kennedy. "I activate Abyss Prop - Wild Wagon! But I'll get into its effect later."
A Continuous Spell appeared, depicting an old fashioned wagon pulled by two fiendish horses. The three Fiends glowed with eerie light. "Now, Wild Hope, attack his big oaf of a machine!" The cowboy Fiend raised its fake gun, firing a bullet of compressed air at Skypalace Gangaridai.
"Are you trying to lose? My monster's way stronger!" Kennedy laughed. If this was the best Caspian's ex had to offer, he could see why they broke up.
"Not if I use Gravity Lash! That lowers your monster's attack points by an amount equal to its defense!" Gangaridai crashed to the ground, seemingly having lost its ability to fly. The air bullet hit it head on, shattering the Xyz Monster into pieces.
"Well that's humiliating..." The blonde cowboy groaned. He didn't have time to do anything else, as Mellow Madonna and Curtain Raiser immediately attacked him. The first slapped him across the face, while the the second headbutted him in the stomach. Kennedy was knocked back, spinning over backwards due to water's weird effect on physics. "And that was even more humiliating."
"What's humiliating is the fact that you think you can challenge me!" Sazed spread his arms in a dramatic gesture. "I end my turn."
Kennedy sighed and drew a card. Okay, I can work with this... He thought, wiping his forehead. Was it possible to sweat underwater? Magical physics were weird.
"Alright, here we go! I summon Night Express Knight!" The knight train rode into the throne room, lance at the ready. (ATK 0). "Bet you've never seen anything this big before, four eyes." Kennedy chuckled, looking down at his opponent's tail.
Sazed blushed, a strange yellow color. "Th-that's very immature of you, cowboy." He growled. Looking over his shoulder at Queen Lorelei, she was clearly enjoying herself. She had her eyes fixed on Kennedy, like he was a brand new car on display.
"We're playing a children's card game, and you're expecting maturity?" Kennedy laughed. "Back to the duel. Because my only monster is an Earth Machine, I get to special summon Super Express Bullet Train from my hand! Hold onto your hats!"
A railway track suddenly laid itself out on the castle floor, and a new train rode in. This one looked like some kind of science fiction spaceship, and had three blue rockets attached to its front. (ATK 3000)
"Pretty, ain't it? But it's not sticking around for long. I activate Special Schedule, which lets me bring back my Heavy Freight Train Derricrane." The construction train joined Kennedy's field, filling the throne room with holographic smoke. "Now that I have three level 10 monsters, I can overlay all of them! Prepare to be blasted out of this world!"
The overlay network opened up, but it looked different this time. There were bright stars flying out, and it seemed sparklier than usual (if that's a word). The three massive machines were sucked in, and something even bigger rose out. The entire palace was quickly replaced by a cosmic scene, a trick Duel Disks pulled whenever a monster was too big for its current surroundings.
A titanic, dark blue robot, resembling something out of the Gundam franchise, slowly exited the portal. It flexed its metallic wings, standing taller than anything anyone in the room had ever seen. "Meet Superdimensional Robot Galaxy Destroyer!" (ATK 5000; 3 OU)
Sazed's glasses dropped, along with everyone's jaws. "Yeah, I tend to get that reaction." Kennedy smirked, looking over at Caspian. The redheaded merman was barely holding in his excitement, he loved seeing this monster in action. "I'm dedicating this move to you, darlin~ Go, Galaxy Break!"
Galaxy Destroyer absorbed one of its overlay units, before opening up its chest, revealing an array of laser cannons, which immediately fired. Sazed's two pendulum monsters, along with his continuous spell, were blown to smithereens! "What did you do?!"
"By detaching an overlay unit from my robot, I can destroy all of your spell and trap cards. And because I detached Derricrane, it destroys your Mellow Madonna!" The female Fiend exploded into pixels, leaving Wild Hope alone. "Now attack! Cosmic Crusher!"
Galaxy Destroyer raised its fist and took to the sky, before coming down on the pendulum monster, fist first. The shockwave knocked everyone back, except the queen, who was sitting down. "Impressed? You should be. I'm ending my turn with that." Kennedy winked at his boyfriend, before returning his attention to the duel.
(KLP 3700) - (SLP 3400)
Sazed drew his card, muttering something to himself. There was a soft light coming from underneath his toga, which seemed to spread to his deck. "I activate Spellbook Inside The Pot, so both of us draw three cards." He snatched up his cards quickly, like he was in a hurry.
Kennedy picked up his three, not bothering to look at them. "You better hope those are good cards, buddy. Cause I'm sittin' on a monster with 5000 attack points, and you've got nothing."
"Oh, I got some good cards alright. And I'm about to get more." The merman growled, struggling to keep his composure. "I play Pot of Riches. This shuffles three Pendulum Monsters from my Extra Deck back into my main deck, and then lets me draw two cards. However, I cannot special summon monsters for the rest of this turn, except by Pendulum Summon."
Three cards shot out of his Extra Deck slot, and he shuffled them into his deck, drawing twice. "I load the Pendulum Scale with Abyss Actors Sassy Rookie and Trendy Understudy!" Two new Pendulum Monsters appeared, both bizarre looking in their own way.
The first was a scrawny, hunchbacked fiend with a blue afro and large red eyes, with a 2 underneath it in its column. The second was a rotund, egg shaped old man with a large, bushy mustache, dressed like a circus ringmaster. The number in his column was an 8.
"I Pendulum Summon three monsters! Wild Hope, Curtain Raiser, and Abyss Actor Twinkle Littlestar!" The cowboy and circus tent fiends reappeared, alongside a new one. It was female, and very small, fitting the name. She had purple skin and reddish-pink hair, and wore a very poofy dress that vaguely resembles a tutu, as well as a conical hat. (DEF 1000)
"Man, these things are fuckin' weird." Kennedy whistled. "Where'd you get em?"
"I have some friends in high places." Sazed smirked. "Now, I set one card and end my turn. Try to impress me, cowboy."
"Can and will!" Kennedy drew. "I activate Galaxy Destroyer's effect a second time!" He discarded Night Express Knight's card, and the giant robot's missile launchers opened up again, firing off multiple rounds.
"No you don't! I activate Pendulum Impenetrable, so cards in the Pendulum Zone can't be destroyed this turn!" An enormous, swinging pendulum appeared, blocking the missiles mid-flight.
"Damn..." The blonde cowboy pouted. "Alright, plan B. I tribute your Twinkle Littlestar in order to summon Gamaciel the Sea Turtle Kaiju!" The tiny female fiend vanished, replaced by an enormous, vaguely turtle-like monster. (ATK 2200)
"Well that's annoying. How do Kaijus fit into a Machine deck?" Sazed asked, staring at the Aqua.
"Fuck you, that's how." Kennedy winked. "Now, before we get to the big show, I summon Ruffian Railcar!" A bright red train car with an angry face drove into the room, making a lot of noise. (ATK 1800)
"Superdimensional Robot Galaxy Destroyer attacks Gamaciel! Cosmic Crusher!" The giant mech lunged forward and attacked the turtle, punching straight through its shell. Then Ruffian Railcar slammed into Curtain Raiser, shattering it. "I'll set this and end my turn."
(KLP 3700) - (SLP 600)
The onlooking merpeople began cheering for Kennedy, completely forgetting their prejudice. Caspian swished his fins excitedly and grabbed his boyfriend's arm, whispering in his ear. "If you win this one for us, I'll-" Kennedy's face turned completely scarlet.
"I have to say, Caspian, your human is giving me quite the show!" Queen Lorelei spoke up, clapping slowly. "Sazed, you're disappointing me. What would your mentor say if he were here to see this?"
"Trust me, your majesty, things are about to get much more interesting." Sazed growled, snatching the top card off his deck. "I summon Abyss Actor - Extras!" The new monster was actually three of them. A trio of skinny, blue fiends with only one eye each, wearing bowler hats and different colored vests. (ATK 100)
"Now I activate Polymerization!" Caspian had seen the Fusion vortex hundreds of times, maybe more than that, but this time it looked different. The usual orange and blue were replaced by violet and grey, and it generally looked like a black hole.
"Two become one, and from the hell beneath your petals, give birth to a new terror! Fusion Summon! Poisonous dragon with hungry fangs. Level 8, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!" Abyss Actors Wild Hope and Extra vanished, replaced by... something monstrous.
It looked more like a serpent than a dragon, incredibly long and thin, with scrawny arms and legs. The main body was sickly green, but it had bulky, violet patches of skin on its limbs and wings, and it was covered in glowing red orbs. (ATK 2800) "You're going to lose this turn, cowboy!"
"That's a Dark Card!" Caspian pointed out, drawing his sword. "Do you have any idea how illegal that is? I could arrest you right now just for owning that thing!"
"You have no proof, Cassy." The green merman sneered. "The duel will continue until one of us loses, like your boyfriend is about to!"
Hundreds of glowing violet tendrils shot out of Starving Venom's crooked wings, latching onto Superdimensional Robot Galaxy Destroyer. It was enveloped by an unnerving violet aura, which spread back to the Fusion Dragon. "When my monster is summoned, it gains attack points equal to the ATK of one monster you control for the rest of this turn!"
Starving Venom began rapidly growing in size, shooting up to 7800 attack points. "Now for my battle phase. The last one of this duel!"
"I activate Destruct Potion!" Kennedy's trap lifted up, and Ruffian Railcar transformed into grains of light, which were absorbed by Kennedy's Duel Disk. "So I get 1800 more life points, and you have to choose a new attack target."
Sazed's eye twitched. "Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, attack Galaxy Destroyer with Venom Drench!" Starving Venom opened its missized, jagged toothed jaw and regurgitated a blast of acidic slime, which slowly dissolved the giant Xyz Monster into nothing.
Several merpeople screamed, including the queen. "You expect me to believe that isn't a Dark Card, Sazed?" Lorelei asked, pointing her trident. "That attack was too realistic to be Solid Vision!"
"That's what people said when Parasite Paracide was invented, my queen. The humans who make this game just like scary monsters." Sazed waved his hand dismissively, ignoring the obvious evil nature of his monster. "I end my turn. Your move, human."
Kennedy drew a card, then set it. "That's all I can do." He lowered his head.
(KLP 2700) - (SLP 600)
"You really chose this himbo over one of your own, Caspian?" Sazed drew a card and immediately played it. "And I thought you had taste. Megamorph will double my dragon's attack points, as long as my life points are lower than yours."
Starving Venom roared as its ATK rose to 5600. "Attack him directly!" The ugly dragon fired off its Venom Drench again, only to be stopped in its tracks by a massive wall of silvery slime.
"I activate Metal Reflect Slime!" Kennedy said, pointing to his set card. "So I'm still in this for another round!" Caspian stuck his middle finger up at Sazed, hand still on his sword.
"You have more lives than a cat from hell!" The green merman roared. "I end my turn."
"Yeah, us humans tend to be like that." Kennedy drew. "I summon Heavy Armored Diesel!" Another set of trail tracks set themselves on the ground, and a large, red diesel engine drove onto the field. "By doing that, its attack and defense points are cut in half." (ATK 1400)
"Aren't you a little old to be playing with toy trains?" Sazed snarked.
"These toy trains are kicking your scaly, nonexistent ass!" The blonde cowboy smirked. "Now I'll play Monster Reborn and bring back my Night Express Knight. Can't get enough of a good thing." The majestic train reappeared, with all of its attack points this time.
"I overlay both my monsters and Xyz Summon my Super Steam Engine!" There was a loud whistle, and an enormous, shark shaped train drove into the throne room, pouring steam out of its top. (ATK 3000)
"It's not strong enough to destroy my dragon." Sazed crossed his arms. "Unless it has an effect that deals effect damage, I don't see what the big deal is."
"Nah, Gustav Max is the only one of my monsters that deals effect damage. I'm just gonna run your dragon over the old fashioned way." Kennedy chuckled. "My Steam Engine's effect switches the attack and defense of all monsters on the field for the rest of this turn!"
Super Steam Engine absorbed one of its overlay units, and its steam changed to a bright blue color. A blast of steam fired out of its sides, and Starving Venom's attack points dropped to 2000. The Xyz Monster remained unchanged, however. "And now I activated Limiter Removal! Go big or go home, that's how we do things in the pro leagues!"
The steam train charged forward, facing the evil dragon head on. "Finish this duel with Steampunk Pummeler!" Starving Venom Fusion Dragon roared as Super Steam Engine drove straight into its chest, blowing it to pieces. Not pixels. Nasty, meaty, green blooded pieces.
(KLP 2700) - (SLP 0)
"No, this isn't happening!" Sazed dropped to the ground, screaming. An eerie light circled his neck, forming into an Ebon Sun necklace. "I've failed..." The necklace burst into violet flames, which consumed him in a matter of seconds.
Caspian rushed to Kennedy's side, hugging him tightly. "Are you okay? Is your soul still intact? How many fingers am I holding up?!" Your first Shadow Duel was always the most intense, especially for humans, who didn't have a natural connection to magic like Shadowkind did.
"Baby, stop panicking. I'm fine." Kennedy laughed, kissing his boyfriend softly. "Um... so, your majesty, does this mean you're gonna listen to what the Shadowchasers have to say?"
Queen Lorelei was staring at the floor where Sazed used to be, like she couldn't believe what just happened. "I don't think I have a choice, now. You kind of murdered my advisor."
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Back at the River City Shadowchasers headquarters, the five young adults sat around, sharing the information they had gathered.
"According to Baharat, multiple Shadowkind community leaders have been approached by people wearing black sun pendants, offering them money or power in exchange for joining their group." Kim explained, sipping her coffee. "So far, only the werewolves and sahuagin have taken their offer. A few crime lords have also been bullied out of town, or had their leaders killed in mysterious accidents."
Sabrina spoke next. "We searched the library records, and an Incan mummy vanished from the history museum ten years ago. It was buried in a stone coffin with some carvings on it that historians were in the middle of studying, but never translated."
"It sounds like someone is trying to gather up as much power as they can in the underworld." Caspian added. "Whoever they are, they don't want any competition."
"And they've managed to stay under our radar, somehow." Tyler nervously played his Letterman's jacket, one hand on Sabrina's lap.
"I guess it's time for a trip downtown." Kim sighed, placing her cup on the table. "Let's see if we can't force another encounter with the Ebon Sun."
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Alright, well I hope that was entertaining! I promise the next one won't take nearly so long.
Next time, the Shadowchasers enter the bad part of town, looking for our villains. And we start a mini-arc, featuring some custom cards you might've seen in a very, very old fanfiction! Join us in Warrior Elimination!
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Original cards-
Heavy Armored Diesel:
Card Type- Effect Monster
Monster Type- Machine
Level- 10
Attribute- EARTH
ATK/DEF- 2800/2800
Text- You can Normal Summon this card with no tribute. If you do, its ATK & DEF become halved. If this card is detached from a Rank 10 Xyz Monster you control via its own effect, you can draw 2 cards, then discard 1.
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Super Steam Engine:
Card Type- Xyz Monster
Monster Type- Machine
Level- Rank 10
Attribute- WATER
ATK/DEF- 3000/3000
Text- 2 Level 10 monsters. Once per turn, during either player's turn, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card, then switch the ATK & DEF of all monsters on the field, until the End Phase. This card cannot be destroyed by battle with or by the effect of a Level/Rank 8 or lower monster.