It had been an hour since the duel between Leviathan and Lance and word had once again spread about the ending of the duel, however since Leviathan had drawn a gun on the winner of the duel it had spread even quicker, if anything the match had confirmed one thing for the remaining competitors who weren't in the area where the duel was taking place, the duel between Chloe and Damien was far from an isolated incident.
Something that Eddie Roberts, the reigning champ, was concerned about, he had just won his first match of the tournament when he received word of the duel thanks to the news, he was sitting on a bench near Central Park resting up from his last duel against an insect duellist who fancied himself as the second coming of Weevil Underwood, yeah he didn't last long.
"I don't even have a use for his rarest card." Eddie thought as he looked in the card, Insect Queen (6/2200/2400). "Maybe I can trade it for something that will fit in with my deck's theme." Eddie thought before pocketing the card.
"Well, well, the reigning champ isn't travelling around the city in his helicopter." Eddie looked up and saw Miranda standing in front of him.
"Well, I'm not going to find duellists above the city!" Eddie chuckled as he looked up at her. "As a matter of fact I just won my first duel."
"That makes two of us!" Miranda said holding up her first locater card. "The guy I duelled got me to agree to a date if he beat me, I think you can guess how that went."
"At least tell me he had some decent cards?" Eddie asked folding his arms; she groaned and held up her new card. "Wait, you're not kidding about Happy Lover (2/700/1400) being his rarest card?"
"My sense of humour isn't that good!" Miranda rolled her eyes. "He was honest after the fight though, said that it was his first duel, no I don't know how he intended to do well in Battle City."
"Yeah, at least the Duel Academy kids have some talent, even the rookie on their team." Eddie said resting his hands on his legs. "From what I've heard two of them already have their first locater cards, unfortunately..."
"Don't tell me, another comatose opponent?" Miranda asked with a groan.
"It gets worse, the opponent Lance beat apparently drew a gun on him, and he went back to his hotel room afterwards." Eddie said running a hand through his hair. "One thing's for sure, this aint no simple tournament, not anymore."
"Yeah, so I noticed." Miranda said tossing the Happy Lover card in the trash. "Hopefully things will quieten down once the Semi Finals start."
"Yeah, the day we get a quiet Semi Finals for Battle City is the day that I give up duelling and take up a career as a male stripper." Eddie rolled his eyes. "Let's face it; Semi Finals that go normally just aren't that exciting."
"I know." Miranda said before walking off. "I'm off to find more victims, unless you intend to duel everyone whilst sitting in that bench I suggest you do the same."
"I will, in my own time." Eddie shrugged as he watched her leave. "I just hope that no more duellists end up in the hospital." Eddie muttered.
*elsewhere*
Whilst Chloe and Lance made their way back to the hotel with Hamden Brandon, Theresa and Lance's siblings where on the search for their first opponents in an area not far from where Lance duelled Leviathan and so far their search was unsuccessful.
"Man, every duellist we've met is either already duelling or resting up from another duel." Mike groaned as he followed the older duellists.
"Be patient Mike, there's still a city full of duellists left." Brandon reassured him. "You're just as impatient as your older brother."
"That's not fair Brandon, he's just eager to duel." Theresa pointed out folding her arms. "Let's face it, we all are." She added and Brandon frowned.
"Truth is? I don't want to risk them getting into an Orichalcos Duel, Lance is already overprotective of Chloe who she sees as an older brother, how'd you think he'd handle his actual siblings getting hurt...or worse." Brandon admitted.
"That's...an excellent point." Theresa admitted with a sigh. "Well if they have a third of their brother's duelling talent..."
"I would've joined Duel Academy long before Lance did." Mike interrupted her and the older duellists stopped in their tracks.
"Don't beat yourself up Mike; lots of duellists get rejected from Duel Academy every year." Brandon said reassuringly.
"That's the thing; I've been trying every year since I started duelling." Mike sighed leaning against the wall. "My brother says it's because of my deck not being powerful enough." Mike added and Brandon raised an eyebrow.
"May I see it?" Brandon asked.
"You mean my deck? Sure, here." Mike said taking it out of his duel disk and handing it over to Brandon who looked through it.
"Hmmm water deck, quite an interesting contrast with his older brother's deck." Brandon thought as he looked through it. "Well here's your problem, you have more monsters than you have spell and trap cards."
"So? Lots of duellists have more monsters than Spells and Traps." Mike said confused.
"Err, yeah Mike...I can only count one spell, A Legendary Ocean, and one trap, Tornado Wall, useful cards to have in a water deck but without more spells and traps your cards are pretty much useless." Brandon said as a massive sweatdrop rolled down his head, he looked around before seeing a card shop across the street. "Here, I'll be back in a minute." Brandon said handing the deck back to Mike, he entered the card shop and went up to the counter. "Hey, do you have any Water Deck boosters?"
"Yeah, we're stocked up on boosters for the tournament, anything in particular?" The clerk, a young woman with shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes, asked.
"Yeah, something Spell and Trap card oriented." Brandon asked as he got his money ready, the girl typed the information into the computer and sighed.
"Sorry, I only have three of them in stock at the moment." She sighed.
"That's fine; I'm helping a friend reconstruct his deck." Brandon said putting the money on the counter.
"Well, aren't you sweet?" The woman said with a smile as she went off to get the packs, as he waited he heard the door open and saw a tall, muscular man with short dark hair, blue eyes and a tan clad in a grey muscle shirt, blue jeans and black boots, though the one detail Brandon DID notice above all else was the duel disk strapped to his arm.
"Hey kid, you see a blonde chick around here?" He asked.
"Only blonde woman I've seen is the clerk and she's serving me at the moment." Brandon said leaning against the counter.
"Yeah, that's the one I'm looking for." The man nodded just as the woman returned with the cards, once the cards where paid for she looked up and frowned.
"What are you doing here Zane?" The clerk frowned folding her arms. "What part of "restraining order" don't you understand?"
"Oh come on Louise, you know we're made for each other!" Zane grinned.
"Yeah, the fact that she has a restraining order against you means that you two are a great couple!" Brandon said sarcastically.
"Stay out of this punk! This doesn't concern you!" Zane snapped at him before noticing the duel disk. "In fact here's a deal, we're both duellists and I think it's a safe bet that you're a battle city competitor as well."
"Yeah, what's your point?" Brandon asked folding his arms.
"We duel outside, I win you mind your own business, you win I leave her alone." Zane said and Brandon smirked.
"You do know that we can simply report you to the cops for violating the restraining order right?" Theresa said entering the store. "Sorry Brandon, I was wondering what was taking you so long."
"No problem." Brandon said with a grin. "And she's right, what's to stop us from doing that?"
"If it where that simple they'd of thrown his brainless ass in jail already!" Louise groaned.
"But the fact of the matter is my folks are close friends with the police commissioner and he makes any charges against me go away just like that." Zane said snapping his fingers at the last word clearly angering Theresa.
"So in other words your folks prevent the cops from doing their jobs." Theresa said folding her arms. "As the daughter of a cop you disgust me."
"I didn't ask for your opinion!" Zane snapped at her before turning to Brandon. "So what about it, do you accept my request or not?"
"Actually, he doesn't." Theresa said stepping in between the two boys. "I accept your request for a duel in his place."
"But Theresa what if he has...you know..." Brandon trailed off.
"Relax; he's obviously not one of them, just look at his duel disk." Theresa said with a smile. "Besides, putting punks like him in his place is a favourite hobby of mine."
"I don't know what you two are talking about but any duel is fine with me!" Zane grinned. "What's your name little lady?"
"Theresa." Theresa said with a smirk. "Let's see if you still feel the same after I beat you, same stipulations as before."
"You have a deal." Zane said leading her outside. "I should warn you though; I'm one of the top ranked duellists in the US."
"Then I should warn you likewise, back at Duel Academy I'm considered one of the best duellists in Obelisk Blue." Theresa said as they stood opposite each other in the street.
"Oh, thought I recognised ya from somewhere, honestly I was hoping I'd duel that Osiris Red chick for an easy win but you'll do nicely." Zane grinned and Theresa frowned.
"Keep talking, you're only making your defeat that much more satisfying." She said before removing her bag from her shoulder and looking through it.
"Err, what are you doing?" Zane asked scratching his head.
"I'm choosing my deck." Theresa said plainly. "Ah, this will do nicely." Theresa said loading her deck into the duel disk putting her bag back on. "Okay, who's going first?"
"I'm kind of curious to see your deck so I'll let you go first." Zane said as he and Theresa drew their hands, at this point Brandon came out of the store to watch the duel.
"Fine then, I will." Theresa said drawing her card. "I start by activating a Spell Card called Card Destruction forcing us to discard our hands and draw new ones." Theresa announced and Zane frowned before doing so. "Next I activate Reinforcement of the Army; this lets me add one warrior from my deck to my hand." Theresa said retrieving her deck and searching through it, she chose the card and added it to her hand before shuffling the deck and returning it to the deck slot. "Next I'll summon the card I retrieved from my Deck: Marauding Captain!" Theresa played the card and the captain appeared on the field (3/1200/400). "When he's normal summoned successfully I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower monster from my hand so I'll summon Field Commander Rahz in attack mode!" Theresa played the card and a man with short dark brown hair in blue and gold armour appeared on the field wielding a large sword (4/1600/1400). "My Field Commander has an effect of his own; when he's normal summoned or special summoned successfully I can take one Level 4 or lower Warrior type monster and place it at the top of my deck as long as it's not another copy of Field Commander." Theresa explained before searching her deck and adding the card she wanted to the top. "I'll set three cards facedown and end my turn."
"So, she's using her Warrior deck, it's been a while since she's used that." Brandon thought as he looked over the field. "If I know her strategies for using that deck as well as I think I do she has this is the bag." Brandon thought with a smirk.
"All right, I draw!" Zane announced as he drew his card. "I summon Panther Warrior in attack mode!" Zane played the card and the humanoid panther appeared on the field (4/2000/1600).
"What...why on Earth would you open with that? Panther Warrior requires a sacrifice in order to attack." Theresa blinked in confusion and Zane grinned.
"I'll worry about that later, for now I activate Scapegoat!" Zane played the card and the four small beasts appeared on the field (1/0/0). "And I sacrifice one of them so that Panther Warrior can attack Marauding Captain!" One of the Scapegoats disappeared and Panther Warrior charged at the captain and slashed him in two with his sword.
"I activate my trap card Desperate Tag!" Theresa announced after sending the card to the graveyard. "For starters this trap reduces any Battle Damage I would've taken to zero and at the end of the battle step I can special summon one Level 4 or lower monster from my hand!" Theresa announced picking up a card. "So I summon Sword Master in attack mode!" Theresa summoned the monster and a tanned muscular man with short dark hair and a tan appeared on the field wielding two swords and carrying a third on his back and wearing only a pair of white pants (3/1200/0). "Not only that but Desperate Tag is a continuous trap card so I can keep using it as long as it's on the field."
"Not bad, I can see why she's in Obelisk Blue, not that it matters." Zane thought before picking up a card. "I set this facedown for later and end my turn!" Zane played the card and Theresa drew the card she retrieved from her deck via the effect of Field-Commander Rahz.
"In that case I summon the monster I retrieved with Field Commander's effect, Gauntlet Warrior, in attack mode!" Theresa played the card and a short warrior in blue, green and silver armour appeared on the field wielding a red gauntlet (3/400/1600).
"HAH! Is that wimp supposed to scare me? It's barely strong enough to beat my Scapegoats never mind Panther Warrior!" Zane scoffed.
"Maybe you should learn the value of patience because Gauntlet Warrior has a special ability; by sacrificing him I can give my two existing warriors an attack boost of 500 points!" As Theresa said this Gauntlet Warrior disappeared from the field and Rahz and Sword Master's attack points rose to 2100 and 1700 respectively.
"Oh crap!" Zane gulped.
"That's not even the worse part because my monsters aren't targeting you Panther Warrior; they're targeting your Scapegoats!" Theresa said as the two warriors charged at two of the scapegoats.
"But that makes no sense! You could've destroyed my warrior and done some damage to my lifepoints." Zane pointed out and Theresa grinned.
"Yeah, the key word there is "some" because as long as Sword Master's on the field my monsters can deal damage to your lifepoints even if they're attacking defence monsters." Theresa said and Zane's eyes widened.
"Wait...time out!" Zane said as the warriors closed in on his monsters.
"Sorry, no time out in Duel Monsters!" Theresa said as Sword Master cut one of the scapegoats to ribbons with its swords and Rahz cut the other in half.
Z: 4200
T: 8000
"Are you starting to regret your decision yet?" Theresa taunted before looking at the sole remaining card in her hand. "Just need a Tuner monster and this guy's lifepoints will be mine for the taking." Theresa thought. "I end my turn but look on the Brightside, Gauntlet Warrior's effect has worn off." Theresa said as her two warrior's attack points returned to normal.
"Ugh, I won't be beaten by some snobby little bit..." Zane started but Brandon cleared his throat.
"That's my girlfriend you're talking about so if I were you I wouldn't even consider finishing that sentence." Brandon warned him.
"Fine, I'll just go ahead and draw!" Zane said angrily as he drew his card. "Just the card I needed, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon and use it to destroy Desperate Tag, not that it matters since you only have one card left in your hand!" Zane said as a typhoon ripped through the hologram of Desperate Tag. "And just so you don't get any ideas next turn I'll tribute another Scapegoat token and have Panther Warrior attack Sword Master." The second to last Scapegoat disappeared from the field and Panther Warrior charged at Sword Master slashing him with his sword.
"There's more than one way protect my lifepoints Zane, I activate the Trap Card Spirit Force!" Theresa activated her card and grinned. "This trap can only be activated after Battle Calculation and it reduces any battle damage I would've taken to zero." Theresa said before retrieving the cards in her graveyard. "Not only that but I can special summon one tuner monster with 1500 attack points or less from my graveyard!"
"But you don't...unless..." Zane realized.
"That's right, I discarded one earlier when I used Card Destruction." Theresa said selecting the card. "I think Attack Gainer will do nicely!" Theresa played the card and a young boy with long red hair in futuristic looking green and white armour appeared on the field (1/0/0). "Good, I have the cards I need to finish this guy off." Theresa thought.
"I'd better be prepared for whatever she Synchro summons, and my Sakeretsu Armour trap card will help me do just that!" Zane said picking up the card. "I'll set this facedown and end my turn."
"How did this guy get in the top ranked duellists in the US again? If I didn't know better I'd say he was a Osiris Red student." Theresa thought before drawing her card. "I activate Card of Sanctity to refresh our hands." Theresa announced and both duellists drew until they had 6 cards in their hands, she looked at her new cards and grinned broadly. "Next I summon another Marrauding Captain to the field and activate my last remaining trap card Copy Knight, now that I've summoned a Warrior type monster that has a level equal to or less than 4 I can bring out an exact duplicate of that monster in terms of level and name." Theresa said as her captain appeared on the field alongside a exactly duplicate of it save for the fact that it had 0 attack points. "Next I tune my tuner with the two Marauding Captains to summon Driven Daredevil in attack mode!" The three monsters disappeared and in their place stood a monster of a man with long wild hair and brown eyes wearing a green muscle top with white pants and wielding twin swords (7/2400/2100).
"You went through all that trouble to summon something that's only slightly stronger than my Panther Warrior?" Zane grinned.
"You'd better take another look at Panther Warrior's attack." Theresa said and Zane blinked before looking...and too his shock Panther Warrior's attack had been cut in half. "That's the effect of Attack Gainer, when he's used to Synchro Summon a monster I can cut one monster's attack by one thousand, but I'm not done yet because I activate Heavy Storm and use it to get rid of your facedown cards." A storm washed up the two traps on Zane's side of the field and Zane growled.
"Damn it, my Skill Drain." Zane frowned as he looked at the facedown card he set earlier, Theresa raised an eyebrow.
"And you didn't activate it sooner because?" Theresa asked and Zane clenched his fists in anger.
"I have my reasons lady, just attack with your damn monster already!" Zane snapped at her.
"No wonder Louise has a restraining order against him." Brandon thought shaking his head in disgust.
"Well, if you're in that much of a hurry to lose, Daredevil attack Panther Warrior, Field Commander attack his last Scapegoat token!" Theresa commanded and Daredevil charged at Panther Warrior cutting it in half whilst Field Commander finished off the scapegoat.
Z: 2800
T: 8000
"Wait...wait I surrender!" Zane said putting his hand over his deck; Theresa raised an eyebrow at him but shrugged before deactivating her duel disk. "I want to come clean with ya anyway, I was paid by someone to duel you or your boyfriend."
"Paid? Do you honestly expect me to believe that?" Theresa asked folding her arms.
"Look, I have my payment right here, this Ultra Rare card." Zane said holding up Caius the Shadow Monarch (6/2400/1000). "Ask Louise, she helped me construct my deck whilst we were still dating, she can confirm that I never had that card in my deck before." Brandon turned to Louise who nodded.
"It's true, and he couldn't of brought it either, part of the reason we broke up was because he's a gambling addict." Louise nodded.
"Okay, but that doesn't explain your lacklustre performance." Theresa said folding her arms.
"Part of the deal was that I'd let you have your way with my lifepoints for a few rounds and never use any traps, I was ready to go back on that promise when you destroyed those traps." Zane grunted. "Just so the guy could get a good look at your duelling strategies." Zane added.
"Are you even in the Battle City Tournament or did you lie about that too?" Brandon asked and Zane shook his head.
"By the time I arrived here in New York it was too late for me to participate in the tournament." Zane sighed. "Hell I arrived in the middle of the announcement."
"What did you do? Walk from your hometown?" Brandon asked flabbergasted.
"That matters not foolish boy." A deep sounding voice emerged from a nearby alleyway and out of the alleyway stepped a tall, African American man with a shaved head and brown piercing eyes wearing a black t-shirt, black pants and boots, Theresa's eyes narrowed when she saw his duel disk however, it was the same type used by Damien and Leviathan.
"You wouldn't happen to know duellists by the names of Damien and Captain Leviathan, would you?" Theresa asked and the man scoffed.
"What, those weaklings? I may have known them but that doesn't mean I tolerated them, you may only know me as The Hunter and you." The Hunter said pointing at Theresa. "Are my prey, even if this fool went back on our agreement."
"No way, she was just in a duel!" Brandon said standing between them. "Let me duel you in her place."
"How noble of you but I will only duel her." The Hunter said activating his duel disk, Brandon's eyes narrowed but Theresa activated her own duel disk.
"Relax Brandon; I barely broke a sweat against Zane." She said before swapping out her warrior deck for another one. "Besides I have to catch up with Lance and Chloe somehow."
"The only catching up you'll be doing is with my comrades in the Orichalcos." The Hunter smirked as he and Theresa drew their hands.
"Mike, Sophie, get over here." Brandon called out to the younger duellists who did so rather quickly, he turned to Louise and Zane. "I suggest that you back off as well."
"Why?" Zane demanded.
"You'll see." Brandon said sternly and Zane reluctantly backed off as did Louise. "If this guy uses the Orichalcos than Theresa will have a hell of a fight ahead of her."
"Now, let the hunt begin!" The Hunter said drawing his first card. "Ah excellent, you may be familiar with this card after all...two of my comrades have used it." The Hunter smirked before playing the card. "I shall activate The Seal of the Orichalcos!" The Hunter played the card and soon the pentagram appeared on the field surrounding the two duellists, soon the Orichalcos symbol appeared on The Hunter's head and he grinned. "Now then, I shall set three cards facedown and a monster in defence mode, make your move if you dare." As the four cards appeared on the field Theresa drew her card and The Hunter activated one of them. "I activate the trap card Ordeal of a Traveller, as for what it does, try finding out for yourself."
"Fine, I will." Theresa said picking up a card. "I summon Masked Dragon in attack mode!" Theresa played the card and the small masked dragon appeared on the field (4/1400/1100). "All right Masked Dragon, attack his defence!"
"And the prey has fallen for the hunter's trap, when you attack with a monster Ordeal of a Traveller's effect kicks in." The Hunter said holding up his hand. "As you can see I currently have two cards in my hand, I pick one at random and you must guess if it's a monster, spell or trap card, guess correctly and the attack goes through, guess incorrectly and Masked Dragon returns to your hand." The Hunter picked the card on the right and held it up. "Now, choose!" Theresa bit her lip knowing that she had no trap cards in her hand and, as a result, if she guessed wrong than she would be defenceless.
"Much as I hate leaving things to chance I don't have a choice." Theresa said plainly. "I'll say that a Spell Card." The Hunter frowned before turning it around showing it to be Polmerization, Masked Dragon breathed fire at the monster consuming it...but when the smoke cleared a figure resembling the grim reaper appeared.
"The monster you attacked was Spirit Reaper (1/300/200) and this monster, on top of receiving a bonus from the Orichalcos cannot be destroyed in battle." The Hunter explained as Spirit Reaper's attack increased to 800..
"I knew that, and I also know that Spirit Reaper can't be equipped with equip spells because it would be destroyed by its side effect." Theresa pointed out and The Hunter folded his arms with a scowl on his face.
"Are you done?" The Hunter asked impatiently, Theresa looked at the remaining cards in her hand before nodding. "Very well, it's my move." The Hunter said drawing his card and The Hunter activated his second trap. "I activate Non Aggression Area!" The Hunter announced and Theresa frowned. "Now that I've activated this trap card you are unable to summon a monster on your next turn and all I have to do to make this effect possible is discard one card from my hand." The Hunter did so before looking at his new card. "Perfect, I activate Polmerization from my hand to fuse the Spirit Reaper with Nightmare Horse (2/500/400) to form the unstoppable beast known as Reaper on the Nightmare!" The Hunter played the card and the two monsters fused together to form a monster that was basically Spirit Reaper riding atop a bandaged up horse made of blue flame (5/800/400) and it's attack rose to 1300 as the Orichalcos Symbol appeared on Nightmare Horses' head.
"Even with its power boost it's still too weak to beat Masked Dragon." Theresa pointed out and The Hunter smirked.
"Reaper on the Nightmare I command you to attack her lifepoints directly with Galloping Slash!" The Hunter commanded and Reaper on the Nightmare galloped forward past Masked Dragon and slashed Theresa.
T: 6700
TH: 8000
"What...what the hell was that? There's no way in hell that should've worked." Zane stammered as Reaper on the Nightmare returned to The Hunter's side of the field.
"Did you really think I'd waste Polmerization on such a weak monster if it didn't have a special ability?" The Hunter asked with a grin. "Reaper on the Nightmare has many abilities, for one he can bypass your monsters and attack your lifepoints directly, second when he does battle damage you are forced to discard one card from your hand." Theresa, after checking for blood and, to her relief, only seeing a small amount of blood being drawn, discarded her Card of Sanctity. "It also carries with it the weaknesses of Spirit Reaper but also its ability to withstand any attacks, in other words I have a monster that acts as the perfect defensive and offensive weapon." The Hunter smirked. "And with Ordeal of a Traveller on the field you can't risk attacking in case you get guess my card wrong."
"No strategy is perfect, you said it yourself that Reaper on the Nightmare shares Spirit Reaper's weakness and you emptied your hand on your last move." Theresa pointed out. "As soon as I draw a spell, trap of effect monster your perfect strategy is ruined." Theresa said drawing her card. "Good, just what I needed." Theresa thought. "I set this card facedown and I'll have Masked Dragon attack Reaper on the Nightmare." Theresa said and Masked Dragon breathed fire at the zombie.
"The hunter always comes prepared for the hunt; I activate the trap card Spirit Shield!" The Hunter retrieved Spirit Reaper from the graveyard and pocketed it. "In order to activate this powerful trap card I must remove one Zombie or Fiend type monster from my graveyard as I just did, in doing so I have ensured that my lifepoints remain safe as this card immediately ends your battle phase."
"Much as I hate to admit it, this guy's a damn good duellist." Brandon said leaning against the wall. "Theresa's facedown card will have to be a good one in order for her to survive."
"Fine, I'll end my turn." Theresa admitted and The Hunter drew his card.
"Excellent, I activate the magic of Card of Sanctity to refresh our hands." The Hunter said and both duellists drew until they had six cards in their hands. "I now activate two spell cards from my hand, Call of the Mummy and Pyramid of Wonders!" The Hunter played the card and grinned. "Call of the Mummy's effect won't come into play until later but Pyramid of Wonders will come into play right now, for each monster you control my monsters gain 200 attack points." The Hunter explained as Reaper on the Nightmare's attack rose to 1500. "Now then, Reaper on the Nightmare I command you to attack her lifepoints once again!"
"I don't think so; I activate my trap card Sakeretsu Armour which destroys Reaper!" Theresa said as a large explosion engulfed The Hunter's side of the field, once the smoke cleared however she saw Reaper on the Nightmare still on the field abet with its attack back at 1300.
"Surprised? You can't get rid of the Reaper that easily little girl, if a Zombie type monster is about to be destroyed and Pyramid of Wonders is on the field I can send Pyramid of Wonders to the graveyard in its place." The Hunter said with a smirk. "Now, where was..." The Hunter started but stopped when Reaper on the Nightmare's hologram shattered. "What's the meaning of this?"
"Aren't you forgetting something? Sakeretsu Armour targeted Reaper on the Nightmare and whilst you destroyed Pyramid of Wonders to save it from Sakeretsu's effect you didn't save it from its own weakness." Theresa said with a grin.
"Very well, I'll enter my second main phase and set one card facedown before calling on the powers of Call of the Mummy, you see once per turn if I don't have any monsters on my side of the field I can Special Summon one Zombie type monster to the field and my monster of choice is Vampire Lord!" The Hunter played the card and a tall silver haired man in a purple cape and a blood red suit appeared on the field baring his fangs at Theresa (5/2000/1500), the Orichalcos symbol appeared on the Vampire's forehead raising its attack to 2500. "Even if you destroy one mighty zombie another takes its place, I shall end my turn."
"And Chloe thought her opponent talked too much." Theresa thought before drawing her card. "I activate a spell card called Offerings to the Doomed, at the cost of my next draw phase I can destroy Vampire Lord!" Theresa said as a hand rose up from the ground to grab Vampire Lord.
"Or so you think, I activate my trap card Tutan Mask; this negates the activation of Offerings to the Doomed and destroys it!" The Hunter said as the hand shattered.
"At least I still get to draw next turn." Theresa thought before picking up three cards. "I set three cards facedown and switch Masked Dragon to defence mode, your move." Theresa said as the dragon knelt down and the holograms of the three facedown cards appeared.
"Yes, kneel down before a truly superior duellist!" The Hunter taunted before drawing his card. "Vampire Lord attack Masked Dragon now!" The Hunter commanded and Vampire Lord flew towards Masked Dragon.
"The only one who's going to be doing any kneeling is Vampire Lord! I activate my Quick Play Spell Card Book of Eclipse, this flips all face up monsters facedown until your end phase at which point I flip up my monster and you draw a card for each monster I flip up." Theresa explained as she activated her spell card and just like that Vampire Lord and Masked Dragon disappeared from the field the holograms of a facedown monster appearing in their places.
"Very clever, I shall end my turn." The Hunter said as Masked Dragon reappeared on the field and he drew his new card as did Theresa.
"Why did she do that? Her monster was in defence mode?" Louise pointed out.
"Unless she has something planned." Brandon said folding his arms.
"I activate the Spell Card Nobleman of Crossout." Theresa said as a warrior in grey armour with long blonde hair appeared on the field, he charged at the facedown card and drove his sword into him shattering it. "This spell card destroys and removes from play one facedown monster on your side of the field." The Hunter growled before pocketing Vampire Lord. "I knew Vampire Lord's effect would allow it to return to the field on your next turn if I destroyed it which was why I made this move."
"Very clever but I still have Spirit Shield and Ordeal of a Traveller on the field!" The Hunter pointed out and Theresa grinned.
"That's where you're wrong, I activate Heavy Storm to clear the field of spell and trap cards!" Theresa said as a storm cleared the field of Ordeal of a Traveller, Call of the Mummy, Spirit Shield, and Theresa's remaining facedown cards.
"Huh? Why wasn't the Seal destroyed?" Zane wondered as Theresa and The Hunter sent their respective cards to the graveyard.
"The Seal can't be destroyed or negated." Brandon told him plainly. "And it looks like Theresa has yet another trick up her sleeve." Brandon added as two Wicked Tokens (4/1000/1000) appeared on the field.
"Let me guess, your facedown cards where two copies of Statue of the Wicked?" The Hunter asked and Theresa nodded.
"Yeah but my Wicked Tokens aren't sticking around, I sacrifice them both to summon Dark Horus in attack mode!" Theresa played the card and the two tokens disappeared and in their place stood the massive jet black dragon (8/3000/2000). "Dark Horus, attack his lifepoints directly." Theresa commanded and the dragon breathed fire at The Hunter.
T: 6700
TH: 5000
Even as the smoke cleared The Hunter was laughing maniacally even as the flames burnt him. "You fool, by attacking my lifepoints with such a powerful monster you have fallen for my trap."
"Well, now I've seen everything." Brandon muttered. "I never thought I'd see anyone so happy to take 3000 points of damage."
"You'll see soon enough boy, when I suffer damage I can special summon my mightiest creature from my hand!" The Hunter said picking up and playing the card. "Come forth Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness!" Suddenly a massive creature appeared on the field, it was humanoid in form and was covered in grotesque looking armour (7/2700/2500) and its attack rose to 3200, Theresa gulped but too her surprise a transparent version of Horus appeared on the field with Horus's stats to boot, alongside the power boost from the Orichalcos. "What the hell is that?"
"That my child is an Emissary of Darkness Token (7/?/?). And its master can summon him with the exact same stats as the monster that dealt damage to my lifepoints, are you done?" Theresa looked at her hand before nodding reluctantly and The Hunter drew his card. "Emissary of Darkness Token I command you to attack your counterpart and destroy Horus!" The copy of Horus breathed fire at the real thing incinerating him. "Gorz, destroy her pathetic Masked Dragon!" Gorz stuck his gigantic palm in the face of Masked Dragon and fired a beam of black energy in the Dragon's face destroying it.
T: 4400
TH: 5000
"My Masked Dragon maybe gone but his effect kicks in allowing me to summon Armed Dragon Level 3 in attack mode!" Theresa searched her deck for the card and played it after finding it at the bottom of her deck and the small dragon appeared on the field (3/1200/900).
"What, another pathetic monster? Your soul will be easy prey." The Hunter said before motioning for her to take her turn, she drew her card and sent Armed Dragon to the Graveyard and replaced it with its Level 5 form (5/2400/1700) and the larger dragon appeared on the field. "Level him up all you want my Emissary is still far too powerful."
"Actually now that you mention it levelling him up again sounds like a great idea so I activate the Spell Card Level Up!" Theresa played the card and swapped out Level 5 for its Level 7 form (7/2800/1700) and the massive dragon appeared on the field, The Hunter stood there with a massive grin on his face.
"Bring out as many forms as you want, it won't help you." The Hunter taunted and Theresa just grinned.
"Well, there is one more form I need to bring out...and that form just happens to be in my hand!" Theresa said sending Armed Dragon Level 7 to the graveyard and in its place stood the massive final form of Armed Dragon easily towering over the small card shop (10/3000/2000). "Say hello to Armed Dragon Level 10!"
"Why am I suddenly glad so didn't use this deck against me?" Zane gulped as she saw the dragon which let out a mighty roar.
"Your dragon's mighty but it's still no match for my Emissary!" The Hunter pointed out and Theresa smirked.
"This is exactly where Armed Dragon's effect kicks in." Theresa said discarding a card from her hand. "By discarding this card from my hand I can destroy all monsters on your side of the field."
"Oh..." The Hunter said showing fear for the first time in the duel as the dragon breathed fire at Emissary incinerating the monster.
"That's not all." Theresa said pointing to The Hunter. "My dragon can still attack, so go Armed Dragon Level 10!" Theresa said and the Dragon breathed fire at The Hunter, he grunted in pain as the fire consumed him.
T: 4400
TH: 2000
As the smoke cleared The Hunter started laughing maniacally as he held up a card. "Foolish girl, did you honestly think that was my only copy of Emissary of Darkness?" The Hunter played the card and Emissary reappeared on the field power boost in tact as did the token, Theresa sighed knowing that she used the last card in her hand to bring out Armed Dragon Level 10 and ended her turn, The Hunter drew his card and pointed at Armed Dragon. "Emissary of Darkness, Emissary of Darkness Token, I command you both to attack her!" The dragons copy incinerated Armed Dragon Level 10 with a breath of fire and Emissary of Darkness fired its beam of dark energy at her consuming her.
T: 700
TH: 2000
"NO! THERESA!" Brandon shouted as the smoke cleared, his girlfriend was breathing heavily and her clothing was damaged in several areas.
"One more turn and your soul will be consumed foolish girl!" The Hunter taunted before ending his turn, Theresa closed her eyes as he drew her card.
"Come on Heart of the Cards, guide me!" Theresa thought before looking at the card. "I set this facedown and end my turn!" Theresa announced as the hologram of the facedown card appeared on the field, The Hunter laughed maniacally as he drew his card.
"Emissary of Darkness, I command you to finish this foolish girl off!" The Hunter commanded and the monster fired its beam at Theresa.
"The only one who will be finished off is you!" Theresa said activating her trap. "I activate Magic Cylinder!" Theresa announced and The Hunter's eyes widened.
"No! But that means..." The Hunter realized as the beam went in one cylinder and out the other, he looked at the card he drew and his eyes widened. "Mystical Space Typhoon, if I had played this then the duel would be mine!" The Hunter realized just before the beam made contact with him.
T: 700
TH: 0000
"Okay heart, you can resume beating." Brandon muttered with a sigh of relief. "That was a great duel Theresa!" He called out to his girlfriend who smiled at him, before anyone could say anything else the Orichalcos closed in around The Hunter, he was silent for a few moments before letting out a blood curdling scream as his soul was consumed by the Orichalcos, he fell over backwards once the Seal disappeared.
"What...what did you do to him?" Zane asked his eyes wide with fear.
"I did nothing, The Seal of the Orichalcos consumes the soul of the loser of the duel, in this case him." Theresa said before walking over to the Hunter's prone form. "And now I can claim my prize, his locater card and his rarest card." Theresa said bending over in front of him; she looked for his rarest card and found Vampire Genesis (8/3000/2100). "Perfect, this will complete the zombie deck I'm working on."
"Won't you need Vampire Lord for that?" Brandon asked and she shook her head.
"Already have a copy in my deck." Theresa said reaching into her pocket and retrieving her deck, she added Vampire Genesis too it and added the deck to her bag. "That reminds me." Theresa said motioning with her head to Mike.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot with all that's happened." Brandon said sheepishly before handing over the boosters to Mike. "Here, these packs contain water based Spells and traps, these should help you in the tournament and who knows? Maybe next year they'll help you join Duel Academy alongside your brother."
"Thanks man." Mike said smiling broadly, he ripped open the packs and added the cards to his deck; Zane looked between the teens and The Hunter's unconscious form with a look of fear in his eyes.
"Screw this, I'm moving out of the country!" Zane said running off.
"Should we tell him that we don't live in New York?" Theresa blinked as she watched him flee.
"Where's the fun in that?" Brandon laughed before frowning. "Well, so far three of us have won our first duel, maybe we should call the others, tell them what happened." Brandon said, Theresa took one look at the state of her clothes and frowned.
"Actually I'll head back to the hotel, in case you haven't noticed my clothes are ripped." Theresa said with a frown.
"You don't hear me complaining." Brandon grinned and Theresa rolled her eyes.
"You're lucky you're my boyfriend otherwise you'd be on the ground clutching your balls in pain." Theresa grinned before getting her cellphone out. "I'll tell Lance and Chloe what happened when I get there."
"So why are you getting your phone out?" Brandon asked.
"I'm calling a cab, unless you want your girlfriend to walk across New York in ripped clothes." Theresa said as she called a cab company. "You guys can go ahead if you want; I'll catch up with you."
"Well I do have to do some duelling of my own." Brandon said before walking off in the opposite direction. "And if Lance asks his siblings are safe for now."
"Right, I got it." Theresa nodded before calling the cab company. "Come to think of it have you guys seen Martin?"
"I'm here." Martin said running over. "I stop to look in a shop window for five minutes and you wonder off, what did I miss?"
"An Orichalcos duel. I won." Theresa said pointing to The Hunter's prone form with her free hand. "Before you ask I'm fine if a little sore from his attacks."
"Well, you won that's the main thing." Martin said folding his arms. "Are you heading back to the hotel for a change of clothes?"
"No, I'll be walking around New York in ripped up clothes, off course I will." Theresa said with a smile. "In fact I'm waiting for a response from the cab company." She added with a hint of annoyance in her voice as she waited for someone to answer, unbeknownst to them Michael had been watching the duels from a nearby rooftop.
"And another duellist falls; if I was in the tournament we'd have their souls by now." Michael thought before putting a hand to his earpiece. "Sir, The Hunter has fallen."
"Curses, he was one of my stronger duellists." The leader growled. "No matter, another agent is nearby and he should be able to take care of the girl's boyfriend."
"We wouldn't be losing agents so quickly if I was in the tournament!" Michael said with a growl.
"Are you questioning my orders?" The leader said sternly.
"No, I'm just pointing out the obvious flaw in them." Michael said folding his arms. "What about the remaining Ra Yellow students?"
"I have the tag team specialists in my organisation ready to duel them in a tag team duel, they won't stand a chance." The Leader said before hanging up.
"Maybe they will actually succeed." Michael thought before walking off.
*elsewhere in the city*
"Yes I get it Marcus, you like to eat." Andreas said more annoyed than flabbergasted this time as Marcus returned with six hot dogs, three in each hand, the two boys and the Ra Yellow headmaster where sitting on a bench in the city centre. "It's a miracle that you haven't had a heart attack by now."
"Hey I exercise...sometimes." Marcus defended himself. "Mostly during Jeff's gym class or when I'm duelling."
"You can't blame him for having a healthy appetite Andreas." Jeff chuckled as Andreas took his hot dogs from Marcus. "Besides my younger brother makes him look like someone who frequently goes on hunger strikes in terms of how much he eats."
"Remind me never to meet your brother." Andreas said as he started eating the hotdog, he got a text and he read it on his cell-phone. "It's Brandon, Lance and Theresa where involved in Orichalcos duels."
"They okay?" Marcus asked concerned.
"A little sore, and in the case of Lance still pissing himself from having to face a monster with 9000 attack points...not sure if he's joking...and Lance and Chloe are back at the hotel." Andreas said pocketing the cell phone.
"He won despite facing a monster with 9000 attack points? How did he manage that?" Marcus asked and Andreas shrugged.
"He didn't specify." Andreas shrugged. "Err, Marcus is it my imagination running wild, again, or are two attractive young women approaching me?" Andreas asked once he noticed two young women, both of whom looked to be in their late teens, one was a redhead with shoulder length hair, blue eyes and wearing a short blue dress and black boots, the other had waist length raven black hair, brown eyes and was wearing a stomach exposing black top, blue jeans and black boots.
"No your imagination isn't running wild, besides their approaching me!" Marcus responded with a grin.
"Err; yes I'm sure they're interested in the fat pervert who can't take his eyes off of their breasts." Andreas said sarcastically. "Besides you're wrong, they're interested in me!"
"Me!" Marcus asserted.
"Me!" Andreas asserted.
"Sometimes I wonder why I gave up duelling for teaching." Jeff thought pinching the bridge of his nose as the two boys went nose to nose with their argument; Jeff went to take a sip of his drink when the redhead spoke up.
"Actually gentlemen and I use that term as loosely as possible, we're interested in sharing the both of you." The redhead said with a distinctly French accent causing Jeff to do a spit take and the two boys to do double takes.
"Marcus, did I just hear those words comes out of her mouth?" Andreas said his eyes as wide as dinner plates.
"Yep, you did, high five!" Marcus said as the two boys went to slap their palms together.
"She meant in a duel dumbass." The raven haired girl interrupted them in an American accent causing the two of them to fall over anime style, when they got up Andreas's eyes narrowed.
"Marcus, you see what I see?" Andreas asked.
"You mean their amazing racks?" Marcus asked and Andreas facedpalmed.
"Their duel disks, anything familiar about them?" Andreas said annoyed, he saw them and Marcus's eyes narrowed when he saw the scythe like duel disks.
"Where did you get those? No use lying because we've seen those disks in action before." Marcus asked and the girls grunted.
"Our employer, that's all you need to know about them, well other than the fact that they will be your doom." The French girl said as the two girls activated their duel disks. "Here's how it's going to work, we're going to duel tag team style."
"Tag team?" Marcus blinked.
"What she means is the four of you will be split into teams of two with 4000 lifepoints each, you are allowed to use your monsters, spells or traps to defend your team mate." Jeff explained.
"What he said." The American girl said. "You can call me Karen."
"And you can call me Amanda." The French girl said before smirking. "We already know who you are Andreas and Marcus."
"Gee, I'm flattered." Marcus said as the two boys activated their duel disks. "But what will happen once the Seal's played?"
"Hmm, you know about that? You're smarter than you look." Karen scoffed as the two teams drew their hands. "You'll have to wait and see I'm afraid."