"...Am I the only one concern as to why Yuya is just sitting out in the middle of the Action Field?" I asked out of the blue as most of us were by the glass looking at him.
Well, Yuya won the match I went to go see and boy was that quite entertaining. Not exactly the best one I've seen but hey, this kid is trying so I'm being supportive. Though now not a day later he's just been... sitting without any Action Field. Could put this on mediation or something like that, but considering how long he's been there I'm beginning to doubt it.
"Yuya has been sitting for quite a while…" Ayu nodded with my question.
"And he seemed so happy yesterday talking about he only has to win two more matches to qualify for the tournament…" Tatsuya continued.
"Maybe his brain is all shivered out from all those quizzes?" Futoshi asked as I rolled my eyes.
"I doubt that's the thing Yuya's been thinking about…" I then noticed Niles coming up towards the glass.
"...I got a pretty good feeling Yuya's there for a reason regarding his dueling," His blue eyes went straight to Yuya, "He'll be fine."
"He's been there for nearly two hours and hasn't gotten up to use the bathroom Niles," I raised an eyebrow while folding my arms, "If anything, he should be constipated."
"...Has he really been out there for two hours?" The kids looked surprised as I pulled out my phone again.
"Eh, I guesstimated after like twenty minutes and now checking my timer again… we're nearly up to two hours and ten minutes." Just then we all heard a thud. Looking up, we all saw Yuya completely sprawled out on the ground staring into nothing. "Well, scratch that he did move."
"Maybe if he's frustrated on something, we should help him," Niles suggested. "But only if he asks because as long as I've known him, I rather let him learn it himself."
"Say, that reminds me… how do you know Yuya?" I brought that question up, deciding to change the subject.
"Me? Well, it's a funny story. I met his father way before I ever got to meet Yuya," Niles began. "Yusho Sakaki was one of the first Entertainment Duelists I ever watched. I loved every moment he was dueling. He was what inspired me to pursue dueling in the first place. At one of his shows, I got to meet the man face to face and it was one of the best experiences I've gotten. Gave me a card to remember him by."
The XYZ Duelist stood up and grabbed his deck, pulling out a card before showing it to us. A Spell - Smile World. "I treasure this card very much and I worked long and hard to get to You Show. But here I am and I wouldn't change it for anything else in the world."
I chuckled a bit, smiling with the imagination of his memory. "I sure you are. Reminds me a bit of my old friend. Though he's been away for so long I still think we could still call each other friend. Estranged for now, but we bonded together over dueling. So if I ever get a chance to meet him again, I'd like to remind him of those times and bond we once had with an entertaining duel!"
"Yuya!" Ayu's call to the Pendulum Duelist broke the moment as we saw the tomato head running off somewhere.
"Where are you going?" Tatsuya questioned.
"...Should we go after him?" I asked as the kids ran off after Yuya. "By the way, next time I see Yuya remind me to never let him waste two hours and fifteen minutes of my life here while the Principal is having daughter issues."
"Duly noted." Niles nodded as we both decided to follow them.
LDS, Miami City, 3rd P.O.V.
The teen talking before was casually strolling out of the LDS building, not paying any attention to his surroundings.
"Kazama! Where are you going?" The black-haired teen turned around to see three students come from behind him, much to his surprise.
"Yaiba, Horoto… Masumi?" He was shocked as they ended up outside the LDS building, "What are three doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Masumi then looked away, "But that's not why we are here."
"Masumi is thinking about going to look for that mysterious duelist again," Yaiba answered the question.
"Mysterious duelist? What are you talking about?" Kazama was confused to the mysterious duelist situation.
"You know, the one in the black mask who attacked Professor Marco!" Masumi clenched her fist, "I need to know what happened to him!"
"But Masumi… are you even sure that was the guy who did it? For all, we know he could just be a guy who wears a mask to hide an ugly scar he had from an accident or something." Kazama suggested, immediately recalling the things he heard while he was getting in and out of the LDS building.
"You didn't even see him XYZ Summon did you?" Horoto added his question on to Masumi.
"That's exactly why I'm going to find this mystery man and duel the truth out of him!" Masumi ran off determined, leaving the three males behind.
"So, you two want to go after her or is it my turn?" Kazama asked glancing over their way.
"I went last time and Hotoro went yesterday," Yaiba shrugged with his sword, "So it turns to go with her."
"I understand where she's coming from, but to this extent?" He sighed, "I swear this woman is trouble to deal with than a complex duel I'm normally in."
"You said it."
"Hey, don't let her hear you two say that. If you do, then you're going to be worked over." Hotoro reminded the two.
"Don't remind me about last week. If my spine nearly snapping just from that enraged duel with her, then I wouldn't want to know what she'd be like if she dueled with her admiration of Professor Marco was up front and center."
"Well, she's right about one thing. If we don't find this Joker soon, there could be big trouble," Yaiba mentioned.
"Yeah, rumor has it that quite a few other of LDS Elite Team members have been disappearing recently." Horoto looked over.
"More than just one? Well, there must be some reason as to why that's going on right?"
"Which means it won't be long until he comes for us too."
"Welp I'm going after Masumi; you two have fun with the big guy," Kazama walked off quickly, waving them goodbye.
"Big guy? Hey, what are you-!" Yaiba was cut off, seeing a huge shadow cast over him.
"KAZAMA!" His two friends screamed as the other duelist was chuckling as he went on his way not looking back.
?, Miami City, 1st P.O.V.
"...So, you're saying monsters requiring a Synchro-Tuner are extremely rare to come by?" Yuya inquired as we were strolling down one of the streets of Miami.
I nodded while taking a slurp of the milkshake we managed to get at one of the local shops. Through some stroke of luck, Niles, Yuya and I had a free afternoon and early evening. Went to see Yuya's Duel and it was quite enjoyable. Still not a complete fan of Action Cards. Didn't matter to the entertainment value! We were on good terms despite our first encounter led us to Duel. Niles was cool to chill with, learning the tricks he used while dueling and just his general charisma. Me? Well, according to these two over here, my knowledge of the card game and pointless trivia when it came to cards and summoning methods are interesting to listen to. The topic we choose to speak about today was Synchro Monsters and I thought I'd flex a bit.
"Indeed. Those monsters are quite rare despite their low level but are a key component when summoning extra special Synchro Monster," I thought back to Formula Synchron as an example, "Some Synchro monsters were restricted and could only be summoned tuning one of those monsters with a regular Synchro monster! That is different from a Synchro monster requiring two Tuner monsters. And even if you possessed the cards necessary, only a few Duelists could ever properly pull it off."
"And why's that? Shouldn't it be as simple as just tuning a regular Synchro monster with one or more regular tuners?" I chuckled at his question.
"Not exactly. This kind of Synchro Summoning was known as Accel Synchro Summoning and only a select few were able to achieve such a feat. Usually, one has to enter a mode known as Clear Mind to even successfully pull off feet." I delve back into my knowledge from the anime, "I honestly kind of hope I can summon a Synchro Summon using that method… but sadly I've yet to even get a Synchro-Tuner monster to test that for myself."
"What about the Synchro monster that requires two tuners?" Niles piped up about the other one.
"That's… I think to consider the term known as Double Tuning. Which requires a Synchro Monster with at least two Tuner monsters. Not sure if you always need a Synchro monster, but it always requires two Tuners. Levels usually ranging from Level 10 to 12. Don't quote me on that."
"Sounds like a lot of work to summon a monster… but I bet it must have been worth it; you ever saw one of those for yourself?" I stopped having more of my shake at the question.
My feet stopped in the middle of the sidewalk as my mind suddenly flashed back to when I was watching Yusei Fudo finally pull off. Seeing the first appearance of Shooting Stardust Dragon made my heart sore when he blasted forward after disappearing from sight. The white glistening across the sky… He had done it! I would have screamed if I could. Everything about me was full of excitement while I was standing there. With the others by just as awestruck as I was, the moment this duel was over I would just run out onto the track and-!
"-Yo Lowell! Still with me?" I was brought out with Niles snapping his fingers in front of my face, "Your milkshake is dripping."
My eyes drifting down to the liquidly desert dripping and I yelped before throwing it away. Hand soaked felt so gross… luckily I had some spare napkins to clean it and I hadn't resorted to wearing gloves yet.
"You alright? You spaced out for a while there…" He reached a hand to touch my forehead, but I slapped it away.
"I'm fine. I just… had a relapse of when I first witnessed the Accel Synchro Summon performed. That's all," I then placed both my hands in my pockets. "...So we were talking about Synchro Summoning, right? Did I ever mention there was such a thing as Dark Synchro Summoning?"
"Dark Synchro Summoning?" Yuya seemed to be a bit more surprised when I brought that up. "What in all of Slifer's name is that?"
"It was a method that quickly died out. Long story short, the whole premise was a Dark Synchro monster would have a negative level count. A total negative level based on the lower level regular monster's level minus the Dark Synchro Tuner's level - which was most of the time at a higher level." I paused, realizing how strange and outright confusing that sounded. "Um… maybe I should give a better example."
"No. No. No. I think I understand pretty clearly. Instead of it being a positive math addition problem, Dark Synchro follows the negative number route," Niles smiled at me, "Though I got to ask… why did Dark Synchro Summoning die out? From how much knowledge is stuck in your head and the basic concept, it should have worked out fine."
I paused at his question but not because I suddenly had another flashback. It was because honestly, I had no clue. They were introduced when the Dark Signers were apart of the 5Ds anime and then just… kind of faded off into obscurity. Most likely those were only meant for one arc and then tossed aside. But the concept was still… very intriguing…
Clearing my throat, I decided to respond without mentioning anything regarding the anime. "...Honestly, I feel like that's one of the strangest mysteries. Not one inkling comes to mind about why they were ditched."
"Huh, guess so if I never heard of them," We continued walking down the sidewalk.
Afterward, we had a bit of small talk about how things have been. Nothing too important to note by the time we were spending to bond. Though as the sun began to send, it was about time we parted ways and both of us were just exiting a local bookshop. Just honestly browsing shelves but I sadly didn't find anything of note.
"So, guess we're parting ways here," I smiled. "This was nice to hang out."
"Yeah, and at least this time we didn't have any contact with LDS students." He then pulled out his phone. "Guess I'll walk with Yuya home. My place is across town and I stop by their house. Your place is just a block over right?"
I nodded as I saw one of the main street names right at the corner where we had halted. "Just gotta turn left and go down a block before I see my building."
"See you tomorrow Lowell! I would love to see you Synchro Summon more!"
I waved at both them, ways departing for the night. Yawning, I stretched and turned down the street. Not much should be happening tonight so it was all good. My hand reached for my phone and opened it up. All the apps seemed to be functional… but did I ever examine the contents? Curiosity got me, so I tapped on the photo icon first. The app opened and at first, I thought no photos were on my device. Then I noticed one photo was there; it seemed to be a group smiling for the camera. Enlarging the image, who I found to be inside was a bit surprising, to say the least. It appeared to be a trio: a grey/white-haired male with blue eyes in the middle wearing some sort of golden key around his next, a ruffled blonde with grey eyes wearing a worn-down uniform and a pink haired lady with green eyes wearing a darker green wrap dress.
"...2010?" I raised an eyebrow at the year since it was the only thing listed.
None of their faces clicked in my mind as I was staring at the photo. The background was obscured so their location was clearly out of the question. It was quite a pelorus photo and yet… the date seemed to mean something alongside these people. Geez, I guess there is another mystery to the pile. Turning off my screen, the device was in hand about to be shoved into my pocket. Before I could even get it halfway, I felt somebody running by slamming into me.
I didn't have time to shout as I fell to the ground as the person kept running. Groaning, I got up and brushed off the dirt, looking at the direction where they ran off until something felt off. Took me a minute to feel no weight in my pocket to put things together.
"...They stole my phone!" I exclaimed before running after them. That jerk pickpocketed me!
Sprinting after him, I saw a shadow running into an alleyway. A sharp turn was made as I saw the same hooded figure from the docks. Why would there be stealing my phone!? The chase continued between us until they reached a dead end. A perfect chance for me to challenge to discover their identity and retrieve my phone.
"Hey! I want my phone back!" I called out just as I stopped running. Next thing I did was the point at him, "So either you hand it over peacefully or I'll have to duel it from you!"
They didn't say anything and instead activated their Duel Disk, which had a different design than the ones I've seen. It appeared with a shield-like body and a sword-shaped blade with hues of red trim and an orange outline. Either way, if I had to duel I was prepared and so were they.
"Duel!" We yelled to begin.
Lowell: 4000
Vs
Hooded Duelist: 4000
"I'll begin this duel! I Normal Summon Bestia Unicorn to the field. While I control a Tuner-monster, I can Special Summon Bestia Robin from my hand to the field," I placed the card and the monster appeared, being the male humanoid avian with a mostly grey-brown coat and red underbelly while holding twin wing blades. My other monster was a humanoid female with long pink hair wearing a golden headdress dressed in a pink and white jumpsuit holding a golden sword.
Bestia Unicorn: Level 4 LIGHT Beast-Warrior/Tuner/Effect ATK: 1200 DEF: 1300
Bestia Robin: Level 2 LIGHT Winged-Beast/Effect ATK: 300 DEF: 900
"I tune my Level 4 Bestia Unicorn with my Level 2 Bestia Robin! Burning bright with your flames of passion and elegant dance of flames! Fan your wings to smite your foes! Synchro Summon! Reveal your true form! Level 6, Besita Vermilion Crane!" My Synchro monster appeared on the field, landing on the ground gracefully.
She appeared as a slender woman with short black hair with red bangs. A snow white Chang-ao dressed the monster, but the sleeves were more like crane wings than that of a human. The tail end of the attire was longer than the rest.
Bestia Vermilion Crane: Level 6 FIRE Winged-Beast/Synchro/Effect ATK: 2000 DEF: 2500
"I set two cards and end my turn," I then looked at the monster in my hand; they can be used next turn.
"My turn! Draw!" The duelist drew their card and took a peek. Placing the card in their hand, they pulled out one from their starting hand. "I Normal Summon Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger!"
Did… he just says Crystal Beast? It caught me off guard when the roar precluded the appearance of the feline. Well, that was something I never expected to see. It was really a Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger. Weren't these things retired from the show after GX because of Jesse? What were they doing here!?
Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger: Level 4 EARTH Beast/Effect ATK: 1600 DEF: 1000
"Next I activate the Equip Spell Crystal Release!" The spell appeared before they pointed at their monster, "And I equip it to Topaz Tiger to raise the attack by 800!"
Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger: Level 4 EARTH Beast/Effect ATK: 1600 - 2400 DEF: 1000
"Battle! I attack your monster with Topaz Tiger!" The opposing beast took off, "And I activate his effect! When this monster attacks your monster, he gains an additional 400 to his attack!"
Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger: Level 4 EARTH Beast/Effect ATK: 2400 - 2800 DEF: 1000
My gut reacted immediately, so I quickly played a counterplay to save myself. "I activate my Trap Miracle Beacon! If a 'Synchro' monster would be destroyed this turn by battle or card effect I can negate the destruction!"
"But you still the damage!" I felt the impact as my monster defended herself.
Lowell: 4000 - 3200
Vs
Hooded Duelist: 4000
"I set one card and end my turn. Topaz Tiger's attack also returns to normal," They said as the monster returned to his side of the field.
Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger: Level 4 EARTH Beast/Effect ATK: 2800 - 2400 DEF: 1000
"Alright! My move!" I drew my card before thinking about my next move.
Bestia Vermilion Crane doesn't currently possess enough attack to destroy Topaz Tiger as long as that Equipped Spell. In that case, I need to get a power boost to my Synchro Monster. But, the strongest monster I got is Bestia Valliant Alicorn. She's got at least 2400 ATK and should negate that Equip Spell during battle. I don't have any monsters that could facilitate such a play to get her out. Guess I play defensive for the time being.
"Switching Bestia Vermilion Crane into defense mode, I set one card and end my turn." I had to make do with this move; no other option was available for me to perform.
"Draw!" Suddenly they looked at the card and I swore something was up. "I Normal Summon Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat!"
Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat: Level 3 EARTH Beast/Effect ATK: 1200 DEF: 400
"Battle! I attack your Bestia Vermilion Crane with Topaz Tiger! And I activate his effect! When this monster attacks your monster, he gains an additional 400 to his attack!" Once again his monster had an attack that surpassed my own monster's defense and I had to watch Valiant Alicorn get destroyed. "Then I directly attack you with Amethyst Cat!"
Lowell: 3200 - 2000
Vs
Hooded Duelist: 4000
Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger: Level 4 EARTH Beast/Effect ATK: 2400 - 2800 DEF: 1000
I decided to take the direct hit from the other Crystal Beast to set up my play for the turn after next. I groaned before revealing one of my face-down. "I activate Miracle's Wake to return Bestia Vermilion Crane to the field!"
Bestia Vermilion Crane: Level 6 FIRE Winged-Beast/Synchro/Effect ATK: 2000 DEF: 2500
Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger: Level 4 EARTH Beast/Effect ATK: 2800 - 2400 DEF: 1000
"Turn end." With that, I drew my next card and smiled upon seeing what I drew.
"Now we're in business! I reveal my Continuous Trap Mirror Pool. Once per turn, I can discard a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand in order to Special Summon another copy of that monster from my Deck. I discard Bestia Chinchilla from my hand to Special Summon another!" From my hand came a humanoid, young with dark black-blue tone to his fur that covered his entire form. Sporting two large ears and a furry tail, he was quite smaller than many of my other monsters. Appearing more like a young kid than a teenager while being placed in defense mode.
Lowell: 2400 - 1900
Vs
Hooded Duelist: 4000
Bestia Chinchilla: Level 1 LIGHT Beast-Warrior/Effect ATK: 800 DEF: 800
"Bestia Chinchilla's ability activates. When this monster is sent from my hand to the Graveyard and I have a Tuner monster there as well; I can banish both of those monsters in order to Synchro Summon a monster." I looked at the two monsters currently in my Graveyard. "So I'm banishing the Level 4 Bestia Unicorn and my Level 1 Bestia Chinchilla to perform a Synchro Summon. Combining feathers of many gentlefolk, you rise up from the forests of your homeland to protect your kind. Synchro Synchro! Level 5 Bestia Wolpertinger."
Bestia Wolpertinger appeared as a young teenage male with a brown tone. From the darker brown hair had two bunny ears and golden antlers protruding; even his mouth had little fangs poking out while his eyes were obscured. A skin-tone jumpsuit covered his form, brown and white spotted wings fluttering out while he had tan boots on.
Bestia Wolpertinger: Level 5 LIGHT Beast-Warrior/Synchro/Effect ATK: 1500 DEF: 2300
"Wolpertinger's ability activates! I can equip this card to another monster I control: I choose to equip Wolpertinger to Vermillion Crane after switching her back to Attack Position," The smaller Synchro Monster vanished and Vermillion acquired some furry features around her fans and her gown. "And while equipped to a monster, Wolpertinger increases the Attack of the Equipped monster by its own Attack. So Vermillion Crane gains 1500 ATK."
Bestia Vermilion Crane: Level 6 FIRE Winged-Beast/Synchro/Effect ATK: 2000 - 3500 DEF: 2500
"Time to fight! I attack Topaz Tiger with Bestia Vermilion Crane! Fanning Fury!" My monster flew up into the air before charging right through the Crystal Beast.
Lowell: 1900
Vs
Hooded Duelist: 4000 - 2900
The smoke settled down as both my monster returned to my side of the field. As it did, I was made quite aware that both of the Crystal Beasts becoming Continuous Spells. Since I had no other plays. "I end my turn."
"Draw!" He now possessed five cards in his hand but I felt confident at the moment.
Currently, none of his monsters could match Bestia Vermillion Crane in the attack department. Bestia Wolpertinger currently equipped should ensure me a quick victory. The only way to deal damage to me would have had to be Amethyst Cat by the effect to directly attack me. As long as that was the case, I could win against this strange duelist and see if my hunch was correct.
"...Looks like you need to get your game on. Using Scale 2 Crystal Keeper and Scale 5 Crystal Master, I set the Pendulum Scale!" My heart skipped a beat when they said that. "With this, I can Special Summon monster between Levels 3 to 5! Come forth my monsters! Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus and Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth!"
Somehow… this person has two Pendulum Cards!? Reality seemed to crash down as both beasts emerged from the two different colors rays that depart from the portal. Each one standing proudly on the field in defense. Just… when was this a thing!?
Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus: Level 4 WIND Beast/Effect ATK: 1800 DEF: 1200
Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth: Level 4 EARTH Beast/Effect ATK: 1700 DEF: 1600
"I activate the effect of Sapphire Pegasus! When he is successfully summoned to the field, I can place 1 Crystal Beast from my hand, deck or graveyard into the Spell and Trap zone as a Continuous Spell! I choose to place Emerald Tortoise from my deck!" He pulled out the monster card and did so.
Something was off about the play. Sure if anything this person would have gone for a card from the Extra Deck yet they haven't. If they wanted to XYZ Summon, they would have done so earlier. Same with Fusion - unless they didn't have Polymerization. So what could they be going after?
"Next I activate the Spell Rare Value! While I control two or more 'Crystal Beasts' in my Spell and Trap zone, you are allowed to choose 1 card from the zone for me to send to my Graveyard," The Spell card was revealed to me.
"...And if I do?" I inquired since I was having a bit of trouble remembering what the card would do.
"I get to draw two more cards." Well, if that's it then…
"Okay, I choose Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger," I pointed at the back row; that Tiger would be the most painful if it returned to the field.
"If you say so," The monster was removed and sent to the Graveyard as he got to draw two more cards, "I activate the Spell Pot of Greed! This card lets me draw two more cards."
Now he has three cards in hand compared with the five he had before. Yet I'm over here with no cards. I just need to pray my topdeck was worth something to get me a win.
"I place two cards face down and end my turn. Your move," Something was strange with their voice.
I couldn't quite place it, but it was strange to summon those monsters in defense position as well. Were they trying to accomplish the main boss monster? Either way they couldn't get over a 3500 ATK monster.
I shook my head and drew my next card, looking at it, I was surprised to see the card but I knew what to do here. "I set one card and I choose to battle my Vermilion Crane against your Amber Mammoth!"
My monster took off into the sky and began to charge. The Amber Mammoth wasn't scared and I soon found out why.
"Not so fast! I activate the Pendulum effect of Crystal Keeper! The first time any Crystal Beast monster would be destroyed by battle, the destruction is negated: Crystal Mirror!" The Pendulum monster spun his sword around before a crystal shield formed.
Valiant Alicorn broke through the mirror and returned to my side, but the monster remained on the field and I groaned. "Well, you managed to save him this one time… but I know that if I were to declare an attack on Sapphire Pegasus, your Mammoth would redirect it to itself and I'd take damage. I end my turn."
"So you do know about Crystal Beasts; I'm almost impressed." They drew their next card from their deck before something changed. "Alright! Let's see how you handle this! Using Scale 2 Crystal Keeper and Scale 5 Crystal Master, I Pendulum Summon once more! Get ready to meet more of the Crystal Beasts! Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle and Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle!"
Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle: Level 4 WIND Winged Beast/Effect ATK: 1400 DEF: 800
Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle: Level 3 LIGHT Fairy/Effect ATK: 300 DEF: 300
"I now activate Ruby Carbuncle's effect! When this card is Special Summoned I can Special Summon any number of 'Crystal Beast' monster from my Spell and Trap zone, so I'm bringing Emerald Tortoise back to the field!" The Tiger returned after the gem on Ruby Carbuncle's tail shined.
Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise: Level 3 WATER Aqua/Effect ATK: 600 DEF: 2000
"Now I activate the Spell United We Stand to Ruby! With this in play, Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle gains 800 attack and defense for each face-up monster I control!" The gemstones upon its head and tail began to glow to signal the effect going through. "And I've got five face-up monsters on my field currently!"
Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle: Level 3 LIGHT Fairy/Effect ATK: 300 - 4300 DEF: 300 - 4300
"What!?" I didn't take this into account! That one Equip Spell actually screwed me over; this card hasn't been played in who knows how long. Yet now here it is shadowing the current attack of Bestia Vermillion Crane. Not even when he changed everyone to Attack Position as well.
"Battle! I attack Bestia Vermillion Crane with Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle!" The monster started to race towards my own, but I had to just sit back and take the blow; my face-down wouldn't work otherwise so I took damage.
Lowell: 1900 - 800
Vs
Hooded Duelist: 2500
"I then attack your Bestia Chinchilla with Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth! After that, I'll attack you directly with the rest of my Crystal Beasts!" He pointed at my monster as the Mammoth charge forward, followed by Topaz Tiger, Sapphire Pegasus, Cobalt Eagle, and Emerald Tortoise.
I gulped, looking back down to my Duel disk where my set card was. Okay, relax Lowell you got this! Taking a deep breath, I knew the only play I had left. Okay… here goes nothing!
"I reveal my face-down Miracle Barrier! I tribute a Bestia monster on my field and for the rest the turn. I take no damage from monster higher than the tributed monster for the rest the turn. I tribute Bestia Chinchilla to activate this effect!" My Level 1 monster vanished from the field before a barrier forming in front of me.
The person shook their head before waving off the attack. "Not bad at all, but next turn I'm securing my victory."
"Let's see about that! I draw!" Drawing my next card, I was a bit surprised to see what I managed to find.
It was Bestia Gatekeeping Witch; a card I had only glance over the last time I dueled. While I did look at most of my cards, I rarely had much time to read the effects. Now was a different story, since with this effect… I may just pull a win!
"I banish Bestia Vermilion Crane, Bestia Wolpertinger from my Graveyard in order to summon this monster! From the peak of light do you emerge from the darkness, let's get going Bestia Gatekeeping Witch!" Upon summoning her by removing both from play, she emerged from the single shining light in the darkening portal. Wearing a large black witch hat, she rested upon a broomstick enchanted by green magic and carrying a cauldron at one end. Her attire consisted of a green fishtail dress that obscured her legs as both her green-gloved hands constantly the pale skin and glowing green eyes from underneath the hair, ebony and long.
Bestia Gatekeeping Witch: Level 8 DARK Spellcaster/Effect ATK: ? DEF: ?
"Battle! I attack Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth with Gatekeeping Witch! Tonic Surprise!" My monster flew up into the sky to prepare the attack to their monster.
"What are you doing? Your monster doesn't have any attack points!" They asked before I smiled, recalling the effect of my monster. Then I took note of my Continuous Trap that was destroyed by her summoning.
"Bestia Gatekeeping Witch's effect activates! The attack and defense of this monster are calculated by the total attack of all Special Summoned monsters on the field! That means all your Crystal's Beast total attack is currently my own monster's attack!" My monster's cauldron began to glow as they pulled out their ebony and lavender wand from inside the green mixture.
Bestia Gatekeeping Witch: Level 8 DARK Spellcaster/Effect ATK: ? - 11,400 DEF: ? - 11,400
"11,400 attack!?" They were surprised to see that kind of boost coming from my monster.
"Go now! End this Duel Gatekeeping Witch!" Spinning her wand, she began to create a summoning circle using the magic from her wand.
"Not so fast! I activate the Trap Amber Crystal Circle!" He revealed his face-down, "When Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth is attacked, it gains attacks equal to the combined attack of all other face-up "Crystal Beast" monsters I control."
Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth: Level 4 EARTH Beast/Effect ATK: 1700 - 11,400 DEF: 1600
"I activate Gatekeeping Witch's other effect! By banishing a 'Miracle' Trap from my graveyard and reducing her attack by half, Bestia Gatekeeping Witch can attack you directly!"
Bestia Gatekeeping Witch: Level 8 DARK Spellcaster/Effect ATK: 11,400 - 5,700 DEF: 11,400 - 5,700
My monster flew overhead while continuing to cast the spell until appearing from her cauldron and summoning circle, a dark purple-mist serpent appeared and lunged straight towards the Duelist. The impact of the duel somehow caused a cloud of dust to appear, but looking down at my Duel Disk proved that the attack went through.
Lowell: 800
Vs
Hooded Duelist: 2500 - 0
Winner: Lowell
3rd P.O.V.
After the surprising victory from Lowell, the dust began to settle as she sighed. It was a hard match until she got the top deck. Now with the match over, she deactivated her disk and approached the defeated duelist. Before she got close enough, something was stirring to the side, a faint red glow emitting from what should have been nothing. Her eyes widen before more could be made out. The glow was from a large gemstone attached to a long tail that belonged to a creature - or rather a Duel Monster. It wasn't just any monster thought.
"...Ruby Carbuncle!?" She looked at the monster and rubbed her eyes, "...I-I… This shouldn't be-!"
A light from her deck grew brighter and brighter until a blinding light enveloped all in the alleyway there in the alleyway. It slowly started to change in both appearance and color until only a muted rainbow mist remained in its place. Shapeshifting, it reformed into a creature that let out a harsh roar. The roar went and shattered all glass in the proximity as the power went out shortly afterward. Then it split and scattered, into the darkness of the night and the only one left after the sudden event was Kazama, who was holding a card from his deck glowing as the mist left. He jumped down from his place on the roof.
"...Well shit, didn't expect that to happen… fortunately, it appears that thing preferred to whisk her off to safety and not deal with me," He looked at the card in hand before pulling it back into his deck.
Kazama tapped his Duel Disk, finding everything working in order. He swiped one way to the footage capturing side but was surprised to see a bit was corrupted. The place was when Lowell's deck began to glow and last until the mist scattered. Otherwise, from the first encounter between Lowell and duelist to the current time of recording, everything was secured. He stopped the recording.
"At least I got most of the footage; Reiji Akaba should suffice with this amount of data from the power both these duelists exhibited. The fancy new user of Pendulums, more of Synchro data of that caliber and overall more knowledge of how to handle these two." Kazama shrugged as he deactivated his Duel Disk.
He turned to observe some of the broken glass nearby and then all the currently blackout around that area of Miami City. "Though I guess LDS is going to be paying a lot more for damages…"
Lowell's Fan Cards
Bestia Vermillion Crane
Level 6 Attribute FIRE
Winged-Beast/Synchro/Effect
ATK: 2000 DEF: 2500
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Bestia Monsters
When this card declares an attack on a Level 6 or higher monster: Halve the ATK of the target monster until the end of the Damage Step. This card cannot be targeted by the effects of Level 6 or lower monsters.
Miracle Beacon
Counter Trap
If a Synchro Monster you control would be destroyed by battle or card effect; negate that destruction. You can only activate "Miracle Beacon" once per turn.
Mirror Pool
Continuous Trap
You can discard 1 Level 4 or lower monster from your hand to the Graveyard, and if you do; Special Summon another copy of the same monster to the field. You can only activate the effect of "Mirror Pool" once per turn.
Bestia Chinchilla
Level 1 Attribute LIGHT
Beast-Warrior/Effect
ATK: 800 DEF: 800
When this card is sent from your hand to the Graveyard and you have a Tuner monster in your Graveyard; banish both this card and the Tuner, and if you do, Special Summon 1 Bestia Synchro monster from your Extra Deck. The Synchro monster must have its Level equal to the Total Level of the monsters banished to perform the Special Summon. This is treated as a Synchro Summon. You can only use the effect of "Bestia Chinchilla" once per turn.
Bestia Wolpertinger
Level 5 Attribute LIGHT
Beast-Warrior/Synchro/Effect
ATK: 1500 DEF: 2300
1 Tuner monster + 1 or more non-Tuner Bestia Monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned: target 1 Synchro monster you control. Equip this card to the monster. The equipped monster gains Attack equal to this card's Attack. If this card is Equipped to a Synchro monster and is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard: Target 1 Level 5 or higher monster your opponent controls; equip this card to that monster. That monster cannot declare any attack as long as this card is equipped to that monster and it loses Attack equal to this card's defense. You can only use the second effect of "Bestia Wolpertinger" once per turn.
Miracle Barrier
Normal Trap
When your opponent declares an attack; tribute 1 Monster you control. For the rest of the turn, you take no battle or effect damage from monsters that exceed the Level of the Tributed monster. You can only activate the effect of "Miracle Barrier" once per turn.
Bestia Gatekeeping Witch
Level 8 Attribute DARK
Spellcaster/Effect
ATK: ? DEF: ?
Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Always treated as a [REDACTED]. Must first be Special Summoned (from your hand) by banishing 2 Level 5 or higher Bestia Monsters in your Graveyard. The ATK and DEF of this monster is equal to the total ATK of every Special Summoned monster on the field other than this one. This card can only attack once per turn. Once per turn: you can banish 1 'Miracle' Trap from your Graveyard and if you do; cut this card's ATK in half and directly attack your opponent.
Revision: 11/19/18
Minor changes with this Duel to introduce a couple of new Bestia Monsters. Results still the same with no other major changes. That is all I'll say for this chapter.
I promised to myself that we'd get back to Duels and honestly I had a couple of options with this one: Lowell versus Yuto; Lowell and Niles/Kazama versus Yuto and Shun; Niles versus Yuto/Shun; among some other crazier ones like Lowell versus Masumi or Lowell versus Sora versus Yuzu. The time came around and I thought that having Lowell face off against the hooded duelist fitted more than the others so here we are!
This Duel was fun to write since I had to figure out how would Lowell play around Crystal Beasts as a whole. She did have a bit of trouble since, to be honest, when was the last time anyone dueled against this archetype? Especially with some of the new support that came out - including Pendulum Cards. Reflecting her confusion during the Duel and unable to activate certain effects to win was kind of the point. After all, she is still getting back into the swing of dueling.
Though for next week there won't be any major update to this story because I'll be on vacation for most of next week. So by the week after, I should return to regular posting schedule if all goes well on my end. Who knows? I may have a two chapter upload by then if I'm feeling lucky.
Let's swing back over this way to give a little thanks to some people! Thanks to matthewszabo24 for the follow! An extra thanks to both Citylover76 and sanampatel881 for doing both!
Darkblade2814 - No Dark Synchro Summoning just yet! I'm putting that off a little bit longer before we get to see Lowell reveal her first Dark Synchro Monster in the story. Though I did drop a bit of Dark Synchro knowledge here to compensate. Hopefully, that helps.
Diabolic Tracer - Okay firstly I just now realized that I got your name wrong and I'm sorry for that. (This is what I get for usually writing these last at night and sometimes overlooking details the next morning while editing.) Your name should be fixed up in the previous chapter; thanks for letting me know. Reiji is starting to catch on about the events going on as you took notice of. I felt like he'd be more on top of this than how it was written in the first one. Very intentional as now Kazama's role should be a bit clearer here.
That should be it for now; until next time I'll see you later!