"All right guys, let's finish this punk off!" Alex grinned as he pointed towards his helpless opponent, he was in the middle of duelling a regional semi-finalist from the Midwest who's only defence was his facedown monster, Alex on the other hand had three monsters, X-Head Cannon (4/1800/1500) a blue and gold machine with cannons atop its head, Robotic Knight (4/1600/1800) an android dressed in red and gold armour and Drillago (4/1600/1100) a yellow machine whose body was covered in drills, three monsters had been powered up by Alex's Limiter Removal spell card which doubled the attack points of the three monsters (3200 for Robotic Knight and Drillago and 3600 for X-Head Cannon). "Robotic Knight, attack his defence, Drillago, X-Head Cannon, finish the job!" Robotic Knight charged forward and slashed the facedown monster, Tool Alligator (3/800/1600) which got sliced in half, X-Head fired its cannons at the duellist followed by Drillago charging forward and attacking him with its drills.
A: 1600
D: 0000
"Nice moves Alex." A feminine voice rang out from behind Alex once he retrieved his prizes; Alex turned around and saw Miranda with her left hand on her hip. "You're still relying on pure power I see."
"Don't knock what works Miranda." Alex said as the young duellist ran off. "I'm at three locater cards already!"
"Really...well aren't you special?" Miranda asked rhetorically holding up 5 locater cards, Alex's eyes widened.
"How did you get that many locater cards so quickly?" Alex asked and the woman grinned.
"You'd be surprised how many male duellists will line up to duel you if you're an attractive female offering a date to the winner." Miranda grinned before pausing. "I don't think it would work that great for you but still."
"Cute." Alex grumbled pocketing his locater cards. "That Osiris Red student duelled again, won after a competitive duel but..."
"Don't tell me that duel was an Orichalcos duel?" Miranda cut him off but Alex shook his head.
"Worse, Lance Alver's little sister ended up in one." Alex said and Miranda's eyes widened. "She won but she's being treated for injuries at the hospital."
"Damn it, isn't she 13 years old?" Miranda asked and Alex nodded. "I can't imagine what's going through his head."
"If I where him I'd just be glad that she's all right." Alex said before walking off. "I'm off to find me some more duels, encase you haven't noticed I have catching up to do."
"You do that, I have all the time in the world." Miranda grinned before walking off in the opposite direction.
*elsewhere*
Once again the Duel Academy students found themselves at a local hospital though this time it was due to a relative of one of the students being injured in a duel, Andreas and Marcus had been called on the way to the hospital and they had met the other students outside the hospital alongside Jeff and they were in the waiting room.
"Okay...so how am I going to explain this to mom?" Lance gulped as he paced back and forth.
"What do you mean? Didn't you call her on the way over?" Marcus asked and Lance nodded.
"I did, she hung up after I told her that Sophie was in the hospital." Lance sighed before sitting down next to Chloe. "I think it's a pretty safe bet that she's on her way though."
"What about your dad? Is he coming?" Marcus asked and the expressions on Lance's and Mike's faces darkened instantly.
"My dad divorced from my mother years ago." Lance said folding his arms. "Shortly after Sophie's birth to be precise, to make matters worse he fled the country before he could start paying child support." Lance explained. "Mom remarried eventually but that wasn't until after a stint in rehab to deal with her alcoholism...and fighting tooth and nail to keep being the legal guardians of me and my siblings."
"Is that why you're so overprotective of your siblings?" Andreas asked and Lance nodded.
"I pretty much had too during my brief time in Child Services, if that bastard had won the match...I don't know what I would've done." Lance said sadly.
"Though I get the feeling it would've involved your fist colliding with his face." Ray added folding his arms. "Try not to worry about explaining this to your mom kid, just be glad that she's going to be okay."
"Easier said than done, in terms of over protectiveness my mom makes me look laid back in comparison." Lance answered shaking his head. "But yeah, I'm glad she got away with minor injuries despite that."
"LANCE!" A female voice rang out making the teens jump, Lance looked up and saw his mom approaching him looking angry.
"Oh...hi mom..." Lance gulped as she approached him...completely unprepared for the ensuring slap.
"How on Earth could you let this happen to your sister, I trusted you to look after your siblings?" His mother demanded as Lance rubbed his sore cheek.
"Mrs. Alvers, it's not his fault." Chloe said approaching the older woman. "Sophie snuck off to challenge that guy because she didn't want me to end up in a hospital bed again."
"Yes, but now his sister's in the hospital in your place." Mrs. Alvers pointed out.
"I don't like it anymore than you do but you can't change the past." Lance pointed out with a frown. "Ideally I would've challenged that idiot in her place but obviously that didn't happen."
"Lady, if it's any consolation, your daughter held her own against her opponent and won despite suffering quite a bit of damage." Ray said and Mrs. Alvers turned to him. "And like Lance I would've gladly challenged that moron in her place."
"And you are?" Mrs. Alvers asked as she started to calm down.
"Ray Edwards, I'm a student at North Academy and I'm the one who drove your sons here." Ray introduced himself; Mrs. Alvers sighed and sat down.
"Thank you for your help Ray." She sighed looking at him.
"Err...excuse me." The four of them looked up and saw a clearly uncomfortable doctor. "Sophie Alvers is ready to see visitors."
"Yes, thank you doctor." Mrs. Alvers said as she followed the others to Sophie's room, Lance trailed behind and Chloe caught on to this.
"Is there something on your mind?" Chloe asked as she slowed down a bit until she was walking at her friend's pace.
"Plenty of things, my anger towards that bastard who hurt my sister, the pain from my mom's slap, the fact that I need to do some catching up in the duel department...and that's just for starters." Lance admitted glancing down at his duel disk. "I'm just glad that it was Victor whose soul was taken and not Sophie's."
"Yeah, I agree there." Chloe said brushing some of her hair behind her ear. "You'll find another duel eventually."
"Thanks, but I'd prefer to find an opponent before the Semi-Finals start." Lance admitted before turning to Chloe. "Does your dad know about the nightmares you've been having since we got here?" Lance asked and Chloe shook her head.
"He doesn't the most he knows is that the others walked in at the wrong time." Chloe said with a sigh. "It was awkward enough telling you, let alone my stepdad."
"You'll tell him eventually right?" Lance asked concerned.
"Yeah, I will eventually." Chloe nodded as the others reached the private room where Sophie was, Lance stopped and Chloe looked at him concerned. "Is there something wrong?"
"I don't know if I feel comfortable going in there." Lance said leaning against the wall. "During our brief time in foster care I told my siblings that I'd look out for and protect them no matter what, but..."
"You think you failed her, right?" The two teens looked up seeing Brandon standing there, Lance nodded and sighed.
"Yeah, and there's strong evidence to support that fact." Lance sighed motioning to his sister's room. "What kind of a big brother am I? I let my sister get injured because I wasn't keeping an eye on my siblings."
"Do you always blame yourself when people close to you get hurt?" Brandon asked and Lance smirked.
"Yeah, pretty much." Lance admitted.
"Don't, it's not exactly healthy." Brandon said plainly. "Come on, even if you did fail her..."
"That's not exactly helping." Lance frowned and Brandon gulped.
"Fair point, basically she still wants to see you." Brandon said once he amended his statement. "Besides, you'll find a duel soon."
"Excuse me I couldn't help but overhear but are you looking for a duel?" A male Irish accent rang out and the three students looked up and saw a young man with shoulder length light brown hair in a ponytail and brown eyes wearing a red t-shirt, khaki pants and brown boots, Lance smirked and stepped up.
"I am, are you in the tournament?" Lance asked and the male smiled.
"That I am, the name's Phillip Masters, you're three of the duellists from Duel Academy right?" Phillip asked and they nodded.
"Yeah I'm Lance, she's Chloe and he's Brandon." Lance introduced the three of them. "Would you mind waiting a few minutes? My sister's in the hospital."
"Sorry to hear that, it's not too bad is it?" Phillip asked and Lance shook his head.
"No but it could've been a lot worse." Lance answered shaking his head. "So...are you up for meeting me outside in 20 minutes for our duel?"
"20 minutes it is." Phillip nodded before walking off; Lance hesitated before entering the room. "Err, Brandon...have you heard of this Phillip Masters guy before?"
"I remember reading his name in a report from a regional tournament over in Ireland that mentioned his name; he won the tournament and went on to win the nationals." Brandon said with a shrug. "Other than that I don't have a clue about him."
"Don't tell me you found an opponent at a time like this Lance." Theresa said disapprovingly and Lance shook his head.
"Well, to be specific he found me." Lance said assertively. "Besides if I wait around the semi-finals will start before I get to win my first duel."
"Okay, that's fair enough." Theresa admitted.
"Besides he was kind enough to wait 20 minutes before the duel starts." Lance added sitting down. "How are you feeling Sophie?"
"Better now than I was at the end of the duel." Sophie admitted with a smile. "You're going to kick that guy's ass right?"
"Off course I am." Lance smiled before sighing. "Sophie, I know you meant well but please don't pull stunts like that again, I don't know what I'd do if you had lost that duel."
"But..." Sophie protested but Lance's mom shook her head.
"Listen to your brother Sophie." Mrs. Alvers said assertively and Sophie sighed in resignation, twenty minutes passed by relatively quickly and once Lance realized that he stood up.
"Well, I have a duel to win." Lance said as he went to leave the room. "I'll come back as soon as the duel's over, regardless of result."
"You promise?" Sophie asked and Chloe stood up.
"I'll make sure he does." Chloe told Sophie and followed her friend out of the hospital; they found Phillip waiting outside on the opposite end of the street.
"I see you kept your word Lance." Phillip smiled as he revealed his duel disk. "I don't think I formerly introduced myself, my name's Phillip Masters, national champion of Ireland."
"I know that much Phillip, Brandon's heard of you before." Lance said activating his duel disk. "The only thing I don't know is what kind of deck you run."
"I suppose it's only fair that I tell you then." Phillip smiled. "I run a hybrid deck like your girlfriend; only difference is that I use Warriors and Dragons."
"That's all well and good...apart from one thing." Lance said folding his arms. "She's not my girlfriend, regardless of what the news outlets say."
"Well, if you say so." Phillip shrugged activating his duel disk. "So, how fair does putting two locater cards on the line sound fair to you?" Phillip asked.
"That's fine by me." Lance said. "Who's going first?"
"If you don't mind I'd like to go first." Phillip asked and Lance shrugged.
"Go for it." Lance answered as he drew his opening hand, Phillip did likewise and Chloe backed off to give the two boys some room.
"All right then." Phillip said drawing his first card. "I summon Familiar Knight in attack mode!" Phillip played the card and a knight in silver armour appeared on the field, he had red hair poking out the back of his head and had a red cape draped over his back, he drew his sword ready for battle (3/1200/1400). "I set three cards facedown and call it a turn." The three cards appeared on the field and Lance drew his card.
"Why did he open with such a weak monster? That is unless it has an effect that will help him." Lance thought before turning to Chloe. "Are you familiar with that card?"
"I'm afraid not." Chloe shook her head. "I'm guessing the pun wasn't intentional."
"Err...no it wasn't." Lance blushed upon realizing how bad the pun he just made was. "Anyway I summon Great Angus in attack mode!" Lance played the card and the beast appeared on the field (4/1800/800). "Great Angus, attack Familiar Knight!" The beast charged at Familiar Knight and bit him on the neck causing the knight's hologram to shatter.
P: 7400
L: 8000
"Nice move, but you've triggered the effect of Familiar Knight!" Phillip grinned as he picked up a card. "When my knight's destroyed in battle we can both summon a level four or lower monster from our hands, I chose Queen's Knight!" Phillip played the card and in Familiar Knight's place stood a blonde woman with long hair wearing red and gold armour and wielding a sword (4/1500/1600).
"Okay, that's a slight improvement over the last knight you summoned." Lance said picking up a card. "It's still not good enough though, I summon Flamvell Firedog!" Lance played the card and a dog that was seemingly made of magma appeared on the field, it had wings on its back but apart from that it closely resembled a Rottweiler (4/1900/200). "Attack Queen's Knight!" Lance commanded and the dog charged forward.
"Not this time, I activate Negate Attack to...well negate your attack and end your battle phase." The dog bounced off a forcefield and Lance blinked.
"Why did you wait until now to activate that trap?" Lance asked and Phillip shrugged.
"You'll see next turn." Phillip said plainly.
"Fine, I'll set three cards facedown and end my turn." Lance announced, Phillip drew his card and smiled.
"I activate Reinforcement of the Army, this lets me add a Warrior type monster from my deck to my hand," Phillip played the card and searched his deck for the appropriate card, once he found it he added it to his hand and shuffled his deck before he returned his deck to the appropriate slot. "I won't keep you in suspense much longer Lance, I'll summon the monster I just added to my hand so come forth King's Knight!" Phillip played the card and a knight in gold armour appeared on the field, he was blonde and had a long beard and a purple cape, he drew his sword ready for battle (4/1600/1400).
"What, another weak warrior?" Lance asked.
"Don't get ahead of yourself; if I summon King's Knight successfully and I have Queen's Knight on the field already I can summon a third knight from my deck so come forth Jack's Knight!" Phillip once again searched his deck and found the appropriate card and summoned it, the next knight was a blonde man in silver armour wielding a sword and a shield (5/1900/1000).
"Crap, now you can destroy Great Angus." Lance gulped but Phillip shook his head.
"Not yet." Phillip said after he shuffled his deck again. "I have one more card to play, the spell card Polmerization!"
"Oh great, now what will happen, you know besides the obvious?" Lance asked and Phillip grinned.
"Just watch, I fuse my three knights together to summon Arcana Knight Joker!" The three knights fused together and out of the vortex came a knight in gold armour over a business suit and a kilt wielding a sword (9/3800/2500).
"3800...I'm in trouble." Lance gulped as he saw the stats.
"You don't know the half of it, Arcana Knight Joker attack Great Angus!" The knight charged at the beast and Lance smirked.
"Nice try but I activate my trap card Sekeretsu Armour which destroys Arcana..." Lance never finished as the knight cut the hologram of the trap card in half.
"Sorry, but once per turn my knight can negate the activation of a Spell, Trap or the effect of an Effect Monster and destroy it." Phillip explained as the knight decapitated Great Angus.
P: 7400
L: 6000
"Gee, how lovely." Lance muttered sarcastically as he sent his trap and monster cards to the graveyard. "Great, not only do I lack any cards that come close to that thing's power but now I have to be careful about what spells and traps I use."
"I'll end my turn at that Lance." Phillip announced and Lance drew another card.
"I activate Card of Sanctity to refresh our hands." Lance announced and both duellists drew until they had six cards, Lance looked at his new hand and frowned. "Better build up my defences." Lance thought. "I set a monster in defence mode, switch Flamevell Firedog to defence mode and I remove Great Angus from my graveyard to summon Inferno in defence mode!" Lance set the monster before retrieving Great Angus from his graveyard and pocketing it and the small flame appeared on the field (4/1100/1900).
"Smart, this way I'll have to work in order to get to your lifepoints." Phillip complemented him. "Is that everything?"
"Yeah, I'm done for now." Lance nodded and Phillip drew his card.
"I summon Luster Dragon Number 2 in attack mode!" Phillip announced as a beautiful silver dragon appeared on the field (4/1900/1600). "Luster Dragon, attack his facedown monster." The dragon breathed fire at the monster...but to Phillip's surprise it was revealed to be Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (4/1400/1200).
"Nice try but you'll have to try harder." Lance said folding his arms.
"That I will, Arcana Knight Joker I command you to attack Inferno!" The knight charged at the flame and slashed it down the middle. "Don't think your Celtic Guardian will protect you for long, I activate The Warrior Returning Alive to return Queens Knight to my hand!" Phillip announced as he added the warrior to his hand from his graveyard.
"Is it my move?" Lance asked and Phillip nodded, he drew his card and grinned. "I sacrifice Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and Flamevell Dog to summon Infernal Flame Emperor in attack mode!" Lance's two monsters where consumed by flame and in the place of Obnoxious Celtic Guardian stood a massive centaur made completely of fire with the head of a Lion (9/2700/1600).
"Not bad but I've seen worse." Philip shrugged and Lance grinned.
"That is why I activate Rush Recklessly to increase my emperor's attack to 3400." Lance announced and Phillip shook his head.
"You forgot already? I activate the effect of Arcana Knight Joker to negate the activation of Rush Recklessly!" The knight charged forward and slashed the hologram of Rush Recklessly in half.
"I didn't actually; I activated Rush Recklessly as part of a chain!" Lance grinned and Phillip blinked.
"You activated it as part of a chain? What did you chain it with?" Phillip blinked and Lance pointed to his emperor.
"It was none other than my emperor's!" Lance grinned as he retrieving Flamvell Firedog and Inferno from the graveyard. "When he's tribute summoned successfully I can remove up to five Fire Type Monsters from my graveyard."
"Okay but I don't see the point." Phillip blinked and Lance grinned.
"I wasn't finished, for each monster I remove from play using my Emperor's effect I can destroy one Spell or Trap card on the field, and since I removed two I'm targeting your remaining facedown cards." Phillip shielded himself as the holograms of his facedown cards where consumed by fire and he sent them both to the graveyard.
"Even so your emperor's only strong enough to defeat Luster Dragon." Phillip pointed out and Lance said nothing, instead picking up another card.
"That was another reason I chained Rush Recklessly, so you couldn't negate this Spell Card's effect, I activate Lightning Vortex!" Lance played the card and Phillip could only watch as his monsters where struck by lightning.
"Well, well, looks like I underestimated ya." Phillip admitted as he sent his monsters to the graveyard.
"I'm in Ra Yellow for a reason." Lance asserted before pointing at his emperor. "Infernal Flame Emperor, attack his lifepoints directly." The emperor charged at Phillip and threw a fireball at him causing the Irish duellist to flinch in pain.
P: 4700
L: 6000
"Not bad, but I won't be beaten that easily." Phillip said folding his arms. "Sure you defeated my knight but I have more where that came from."
"Then let's see those monsters, for now I'll end my turn." Lance said and Phillip drew his card.
"Oh, you will." Phillip said drawing another card. "I set a monster in defence mode and a card facedown, your move." The holograms of the two cards appeared on the field and Lance drew his card. "I activate Thunder of Ruler, now you can't attack."
"Fine, I guess I'll have to pass for now." Lance said as Phillip sent his trap to the graveyard, he drew his card and smirked.
"All right, first I flip summon the monster I set last turn, the mighty Blackland Fire Dragon!" Phillip flipped over the monster and a small green dragon appeared on the field (4/1500/800).
"Err; yeah you might want to look up the word mighty in the dictionary." Lance said as a massive sweatdrop rolled down his head.
"Cute." Phillip said shaking his head. "Let's see what you think of my next monster, Delta Flyer!" Phillip played the card and an even smaller dragon appeared on the field, brown in colour it glared at Lance's much larger monster (3/1500/900).
"That still does not impress me." Lance pointed out and Phillip grinned.
"Watch and learn, first I invoke Delta Flyer's effect, once per turn I can increase the level of one of my monsters by one and I chose Blackland Fire Dragon." Phillip announced as the green dragon's level increased to 5. "By the way, did I mention that Delta Flyer's a Tuner Monster?"
"Oh, crap." Lance winced.
"That's right; I tune Delta Flyer with Blackland Fire Dragon to Synchro Summon Scrap Dragon!" The two dragons disappeared from the field and in the place of Delta Flyer a massive jet black, mechanical dragon appeared on the field (8/2800/2000). "I think it's time I dethroned that emperor, Scrap Dragon I command you to attack Infernal Flame Emperor now!" The dragon breathed fire at the massive centaur incinerating it.
P: 4700
L: 5900
"Well, I'm still ahead in lifepoints...but for how much longer remains to be seen." Lance thought as he sent his emperor to the graveyard. "Is it my move yet?" Lance asked and Phillip looked at his hand.
"Go for it." Phillip said and Lance drew his card.
"I set a monster in defence mode and end my turn." Lance announced as the facedown monster appeared on the field, Phillip drew his card and grinned.
"I summon Element Dragon in attack mode!" Phillip played the card and alongside Scrap Dragon stood a small pink dragon with a long neck (4/1500/1200). "Element Dragon, attack his defence monster!" The dragon breathed fire at the monster, revealed to be Ultimate Baseball Kid, and incinerated it. "Scrap Dragon, attack his lifepoints directly!" The larger dragon breathed fire at Lance and he winced.
P: 4700
L: 3100
"You're move!" Phillip said and Lance drew his card.
"I set another monster in defence mode and end my turn." Lance announced as Phillip drew his card.
"Element Dragon, attack his defence!" The dragon breathed fire at the monster, revealed to be Flame Ruler (4/1500/1600) which was quickly incinerated. "Before you ask, Element Dragon gains 500 attack points when attacking a fire type monster, and on that note Scrap Dragon, I command you to attack his lifepoints directly!" The massive dragon breathed fire at Lance who winced.
P: 4700
L: 300
"Only one turn left Lance, use it wisely." Phillip said as Lance drew his card.
"I activate the Spell Card Pot of Avarice, now I can return five monsters from my graveyard to my hand and draw two more cards." Lance did and so and raised an eyebrow. "Hey, it's that ritual card...haven't used this since...well before I joined Duel Academy." Lance thought adding it to his hand. "This maybe my only chance at beating his dragon but I don't have the monster to go with it." Lance thought before picking up another card. "I set this in defence mode and a card facedown and end my turn at that."
"Very well then, I'll take my move." Phillip announced drawing his card. "Element Dragon, attack his defence." The dragon breathed fire at the monster revealing it to be UFO Turtle (4/1400/1200) which was quickly incinerated.
"Since you destroyed my UFO Turtle I'm allowed to search my deck for a Fire type monster with 1500 attack points or less and I choose another UFO Turtle." Lance explained as another UFO Turtle appeared on the field.
"Not bad but not good enough, Scrap Dragon attack his second UFO Turtle and finish it!" Phillip instructed and the much larger dragon breathed fire at the turtle incinerating it.
"Not quite, I activate Enchanted Javelin which increases my lifepoints by Scrap Dragon's attack." Lance announced as a javelin went through Scrap Dragon.
P: 4700
L: 1700
"Rather than bring out another turtle I instead chose to summon Solar Flare Dragon from my deck in attack mode!" Lance announced as the dragon made of flames appeared on the field (4/1500/1000). "Since you already attacked my lifepoints are safe for another turn."
"True." Phillip admitted before looking at the rest of his hand. "I'll call it a turn for now." Phillip announced and Lance drew his card.
"Just what I needed, I summon Senju of The Thousand Hands in attack mode!" Lance announced as and a man with many arms appeared on the field, he was muscular and his face was covered by a tribal mask (4/1400/1000).
"And how is that supposed to help?" Philip asked and Lance grinned.
"Because when Senju is summoned to the field I can add one ritual monster from my deck to my hand." Lance did but his eyes narrowed when he saw how low his deck was getting. "I'll need to finish this fast if I want to avoid decking out." Lance thought. "I activate the Ritual Spell Card Incandescent Ordeal, in order to activate it I must send monsters whose level equals seven or more so I'll send Senju and Solar Flare Dragon to the graveyard to summon Legendary Flame Lord in attack mode!" Lance played the card as the two monsters where consumed by fire and in Senju's place stood a king with long red hair and blue eyes carrying a staff with a glowing red gem on top (7/2400/2000).
"That thing's only strong enough to beat my Element Dragon." Phillip scoffed but Lance smirked.
"I noticed but my Flame Lord has a special ability, first I activate the spell card Monster Reincarnation to add Solar Flare Dragon back to my hand." Lance announced as he returned the monster to his hand and Flame Lord's staff glowed even brighter. "Next I activate the two Red Medicines in my hand to increase my lifepoints to 2700." Lance said as his lifepoints increased to 2700 and the Flame Lord's staff started to glow twice as much.
"Okay, I'll bite, why is the Flame Lord's staff glowing so much?" Phillip asked as he shielded his eyes.
"He gains a spell counter every time either of us plays a spell card and encase you haven't noticed I've played three spell cards." Lance said with a grin.
"Yeah, so what, that doesn't change a thing?" Phillip asked and Lance grinned.
"That's where your wrong, now that Flame Lord has three counters I can activate his effect, by removing three spell counters from him I can destroy all monsters on the field save for him!" Phillip's eyes widened as fire consumed his dragons. "However before I do anything else I'll summon Solar Flare Dragon back to the field!" Lance played the card and the dragon reappeared on the field. "All right guys, attack his lifepoints directly!" The two monsters fired streams of fire, Flame Lord from his staff and Solar Flare Dragon from its mouth, burning Phillip.
P: 800
L: 2700
"I'm still in the game!" Phillip said but Lance shook his head.
"Sorry but at the end of my turn Solar Flare Dragon will deal a thousand points of damage to you, this duel's over in other words." Lance explained and Phillip's eyes widened. "And with that I end my turn!" Lance said as the dragon once again breathed fire at Phillip.
P: 0000
L: 2700
"Well played." Phillip said digging into his pocket and retrieving his locater cards. "As promised here are my locater cards and..." Phillip thumbed through his deck before picking up a card. "My rarest card, look after him will you?" Lance nodded before taking the card...and did a double take when he saw the card.
"The Red Eyes Black Dragon (7/2400/2000) were on Earth did you get this rare a card?" Lance asked and Chloe was equally shocked.
"It was a prize for winning Ireland's national championships." Phillip explained and Lance frowned.
"Problem is it doesn't really fit in with my deck." Lance said rubbing the back of his head nervously.
"I'll take it." The three duellists looked up and saw Marcus standing by the hospital's entrance. "I've been searching for that card for god knows how long!"
"That's fine by me." Phillip shrugged handing over the card to Marcus. "Look after this card all right?"
"You bet I will." Marcus said taking the card and adding it to his deck. "Looks like you're up to four locater cards already Lance."
"Yeah, which means you guys have catching up to do." Lance laughed before he and Chloe followed Marcus inside the hospital.
"Oi, Lance." Phillip called out to him and Lance turned around. "Good luck in the tournament and I hope your sister gets well."
"Thanks." Lance nodded as he and his friends entered the hospital, unbeknownst to the duellists however a cloaked figure had been watching the duel from a nearby rooftop.
"Soon you're soul will be consumed Lance Alvers." The figure muttered to himself before putting a hand to his earpiece. "Are you in position?"
"Yes, I am." A voice on the other end said and the figure smirked.
"Good." The figure said before walking off.
*an hour later*
Lance, his siblings, his mother, Chloe, Brandon, the teachers and Theresa left the hospital after Sophie was discharged, Sophie and her mother was heading back to their hotel room and Marcus and Andreas had left earlier in search of duels.
"All right kids, good look in the tournament." Mrs. Alvers said as she and Sophie got into the rent car. "Mike, try to stay out of Orichalcos duels as well."
"Yes mom." Mike moaned as she drove off. "Man, now I have to find another duel to catch up with you bro."
"So do I for that matter." Chloe agreed with a smile, before Brandon or Theresa could say anything else a little kid bumped into Lance knocking him over.
"Sorry mister." The kid said quickly running off.
"You okay bro?" Mike asked as Lance got up.
"Yeah, he just caught me off guard." Lance said putting his hand into his pocket...and his eyes went as wide as dinner plates. "MY LOCATER CARDS!"
"What about them?" Brandon asked as Lance started searching frantically around his pockets.
"They're not in my pocket, that's what!" Lance said looking around the ground where he had fallen. "They didn't fall out of my pocket so..." Lance's eyes narrowed. "HEY KID! GIVE ME BACK MY LOCATER CARDS!" Lance said running after the kid.
"Make me!" The kid shouted back.
"We should probably help him." Chloe said running off after them.
"Or we could call the cops..." Theresa called after them but no one paid attention. "Does he even realize that kid could have a gun on him?"
"What, that little kid?" Brandon asked and Theresa shook her head.
"Encase you forgot this is New York we're talking about." Theresa sighed.
"We should probably help anyway." Hamden said running after the students, the Obelisk Blue students sighed and ran after him.
*meanwhile*
"Another one bites the dust." Axel Loather grinned as he looked at his new locater card; he had declined the loser's rarest card because it didn't fit in with his deck theme but the fact that he had another Locater Card was good enough for him. "I wonder how the other duellists are doing." Axel thought.
"GIVE ME BACK MY LOCATER CARDS YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Axel blinked before turning around and seeing Lance chasing the pickpocket.
"Sorry, finder's keepers, losers wee..." The kid was cut off by bumping into Axel who looked at the scene with a raised eyebrow.
"Lance, what's going on?" Axel asked as Lance picked up the kid by his shirt.
"This kid stole my locater cards outside of a hospital; I had just won two locater cards to boot." Lance grunted. "And you're going to give me them back."
"I'...I'm sorry, here, take them!" The kid said handing over three locater cards, Lance frowned.
"Where's the fourth one?" Lance demanded after he took the locater cards.
"Looking for this?" Lance looked up and saw the cloaked figure holding up his locater card. "Oops." The figure mocked as he snapped it in half.
"You piece of shit." Lance growled as he let go off the kid. "Do you have any idea how hard I worked to win that Locater Card?"
"Why yes, I did see your duel against Phillip Masters." The figure chuckled before taking off his hood and revealing a shaved head with multiple piercings. "You want to earn back that locater card? Beat me in a duel." The figure said revealing a black scythe like duel disk.
"Oh great, as if I needed another reason to hate you, now I find out that your an orichalcos duellist." Lance's eyes narrowed. "Who the hell do you think you are?"
"You can call me Edward, the boy who stole from you is...an associate of mine." Edward said and Lance and Axel turned to him.
"He...he just paid me 20 bucks to take your locater cards as soon as you left the hospital, when I went to give them back he only wanted the one." The kid stammered and Lance growled.
"Using little kids to do your dirty work for you, that is low even for someone working for the organisation that brought back the Orichalcos." Lance growled as Brandon, Chloe, Mike, the teachers and Theresa rejoined them.
"Lance, do you have your locater cards?" Theresa asked and Lance shook his head.
"I have three of them, that piece of shit snapped the other one in half." Lance explained with a frown. "All so he could challenge me to an Orichalcos duel."
"Not the way I would've put it but the boy is correct." Edward said activating his duel disk. "So what about it Lance, do you accept my challenge?"
"I accept it in his place." Theresa said stepping forward. "He was just in a duel but me? I haven't duelled all day so you'll get a better fight out of me." Theresa said and Edward smirked.
"Hmmm...sure, why not, one soul is as good as another." Edward chuckled as Theresa searched through her bag and selected a deck. "I know of your duel against The Hunter foolish girl, I know you run and Dragon and a Warrior deck."
"Then I have bad news for you, I have more decks where that came from and the one I'll be using against you is something I've been working on for a while." Theresa said; Brandon blinked before realization dawned on him.
"You mean THAT deck, I thought it was still a prototype?" Brandon asked and Theresa gave him a reassuring smile.
"Relax; I've improved it a lot since I last used it." Theresa said before putting the deck in the deck slot and activated her duel disk.
"What deck is she talking about?" Lance asked and Brandon frowned.
"It's a bit of a long story but...well Theresa's always been a big Seto Kaiba fan and one of her first decks was a deck based off of Seto Kaiba's Battle City deck but slightly updated...no she doesn't have the Blue Eyes White Dragons or Obelisk The Tormentor but she has the closest equivalent to those monsters in the form of Armed Dragon Level 10 and...well just see for yourself." Brandon explained. "The main problem with the deck has been balance but if she's been able to fix that issue than this guy's in trouble."
"How powerful is this deck anyway?" Chloe asked.
"She used an earlier version against you in that duel you two had a few weeks back." Brandon explained and Chloe shuddered at the memory.
"Doesn't matter what deck this foolish girl uses." Edward said with a sadistic grin. "I will make quick work of her with my Different Dimension deck!"