Lance, Chloe, the teachers, Mike and Brandon backed off a good distance as Theresa and Edward got ready to duel, the Orichalcos duellist chuckled evilly as he and Theresa drew their opening hands.
"So, who's going first?" Theresa asked as she looked at her opening hand. "No sign of my Armed Dragon cards yet but I know they're in my deck somewhere." Theresa thought.
"I'll let you go first." Edward announced as he looked at his hand. "No sign of the Seal of the Orichalcos yet but it's only a matter of time before I draw it." Edward thought as Theresa drew her card.
"I'll start things off simply." Theresa said picking up four cards. "I set a monster in defence mode and three cards facedown, that'll do it for me."
"What a pathetic opening move, I have a hard time believing that you beat The Hunter." Edward announced as he drew his card. "I summon Card Trooper in attack mode!" Edward played the card and what could only be described as a small blue tank with a huge red robot head and arms appeared on the field (3/400/400) and every other duellist fell over anime style when they saw the monster.
"You're kidding right? THAT'S his opening move." Lance said flabbergasted. "You know Theresa I could still take him if you want me to take over!"
"Thanks but no thanks, besides if he keeps making moves like that this match won't last long anyway." Theresa smirked and Edward chuckled.
"Really? Then maybe I should demonstrate Card Trooper's special ability." Edward said holding up three fingers. "I chose a number between one and three and I remove the same number of cards from my deck as the number I've chosen, in this case three." Edward announced removing three cards from the deck and to everyone's surprise Card Trooper's attack shot up to 1900. "As you can see Card Trooper gains 500 attack points for each removed card."
"So? If you keep removing cards you'll deck out eventually." Lance pointed out and Edward smirked.
"True but this also serves another purpose, or haven't you noticed the lack of a certain Field Spell Card on the field?" Edward asked and the other's blinked...before it dawned on them.
"You haven't drawn the Seal of the Orichalcos yet, have you?" Theresa asked and Edward nodded. "That still doesn't impress me."
"If I wanted your approval I would've asked for it, now Card Trooper attack her defence monster!" Edward commanded and the small machine charged forward before skewering Theresa's monster...and Edward winced in pain as his lifepoints dropped to 7500. "What on Earth?" Edward demanded as Theresa held up her monster.
"The monster you attacked was Giant Germ (2/1000/100) and when one of them is destroyed it deals 500 points of damage to your lifepoints and lets me summon two more germs to the field." Theresa explained as she sent the monster to the graveyard and searched her deck before playing two of them, soon afterwards two giant pink organisms appeared on the field alongside each other.
"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Edward snarled as he picked up two cards. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Edward played the cards and Theresa drew her card.
"Maybe not by those cards but this one should do the trick." Theresa said but before she could play it Edward activated one of his traps.
"I activate the Trap Card Macro Cosmos, this has two effects, first as long as this trap card remains on the field any cards that would be sent to the graveyard are removed from play instead, as for its second effect it allows me to Special Summon a monster from my deck or hand known as Helios, The Primordial Sun!" Edward searched through his deck and played the card once he found it, the monster that appeared on the field was an odd one to say the least, it was a invisible humanoid figure covered with bandages and had a sun for a head (4/?/?).
"That wins the award for weirdest looking monster ever." Mike said scratching his head.
"This monster's attack points are equal to the number of monsters removed from play X100, in this case 300." Edward explained as the monster's attack rose to 300.
"That's still pretty damn weak; hell her germs can beat it!" Lance pointed out and Theresa nodded in agreement.
"Just watch." Edward chuckled.
"Anyway as I was saying, I sacrifice my germs to bring out Dark Horus in attack mode!" Theresa played the card and the two germs vanished, she instinctively went to send them to her graveyard before remembering about Macro Cosmos's effect so she pocketed them instead and in the place of one of the germs stood a massive jet back dragon which roared at Edward (8/3000/1800). "Dark Horus attack Helios!" The Dragon breathed fire at the monster and Edward smirked.
"Big mistake, I activate my other trap card Dimension Prison!" Edward said as the card flipped up and to Theresa's surprise Dark Horus disappeared from the field. "This trap can only be activated when you declare an attack, this trap lets me target that monster and remove it from play."
"Shit that means I'm wide open." Theresa gulped as she pocketed Dark Horus. "And in big trouble if his next draw is the Seal of the Orichalcos." Theresa thought. "I end my turn."
"Very well." Edward said drawing his card. "Ah yes I almost forgot, since you just removed three monsters from play Helios gains another 300 attack points." Edward explained as his monster's attack was shown to be 600; he looked at his card and grinned manically. "And now I will play the instrument of your demise right now, I ACTIVATE THE SEAL OF THE ORICHALCOS!"
"Not again." Theresa muttered as the seal surrounded both duellists, soon the Seal's symbol appeared on the foreheads of Edward's monsters and Edward himself and at the same time Card Trooper and Helios's attacks grew to 1100 and 900 respectively.
"But why rely on such weaklings to do the damage? I summon D.D. Assailant in attack mode!" Edward played the card and a tanned man in tattered robes appeared on the field alongside the two monsters (4/1800/500) and his attack rose to 2300 as soon as the Seal's symbol appeared on his head. "Go my monsters, attack her lifepoints directly!" Theresa braced herself as the monsters charged forward and attacked her sending her to the ground
E: 7500
T: 3700
Theresa grit her teeth in pain as she got up to her feet, her ponytail had come loose during the attack and as a result her shoulder length hair was shadowing her eyes. "Is...that...the...best...you...can...do?" Theresa said in between deep breaths as she gathered up her hand.
"That's not even half of it." Edward said picking up and setting a card. "I set this card facedown and end my turn." Theresa drew her card and Edward activated it. "I activate the trap card Graverobber's Retribution, during each of my following standby phases this trap card will inflict 100 points of damage to you for each monster that's been removed from play and I count three."
"And thanks to Macro Cosmos that number will keep increasing every time I destroy a monster." Theresa frowned before looking at her new card, "I summon Blindly Loyal Goblin in attack mode!" Theresa played the card and a small red goblin wearing purple pants and wielding a sword appeared on the field (4/1800/1500).
"Oh no, it's only strong enough to beat my weakest monster, whatever will I do?" Edward said mockingly before laughing. "You will have to try harder than that!"
"Whoever said I was done? I activate my trap card Metalmorph and I equip it to my Goblin!" Theresa announced as her goblin was covered in metal armour and his attack rose to 2100.
"That's still too weak!" Edward pointed out and Theresa smirked.
"Blindly Loyal Goblin, attack DD Survivor!" Theresa commanded and everyone else did a double take...before the Goblin's attack shot up to 3250. "That's the effect of Metalmorph, on top of the initial power boost during an attack on a monster that my opponent controls it takes half of the opponent's monster's attack and adds it to his attack points, in this case 1150."
"Oh dear." Edward gulped as DD Survivor was slashed in half.
E: 6450
T: 3700
"Big deal, I still have the lead." Edward said as he pocketed DD Survivor and Helios's attack rose to 2200, Theresa looked at her hand.
"I noticed but for now I'll end my turn." Theresa said and Edward drew his card.
"Why didn't she attack one of his weaker monsters?" Mike asked.
"Metalmorph's secondary effect only works during her turn; if she had then Edward would've been able to destroy her goblin." Brandon explained as Graverobber's Retribution's effect kicked in.
E: 6450
T: 3400
"I need to get rid of Graverobber's Retribution if I want to win this duel." Theresa thought as Edward looked at his card.
"Ah excellent, I activate Chaos Greed!" Edward played the card and smirked. "This can only be activated if I have four or more monsters that have been removed from play and no cards in the graveyard and it will allow me to draw an additional two cards." Edward drew the cards and pocketed the spell card. "Excellent, I summon the mighty Necroface in attack mode!" Edward played the card and a truly hideous site appeared on the field, it was a floating, disembodied blue head with various tentacles coming out of it and part of its brain exposed (4/1200/1800) and it's attack rose to 1700 thanks to the seal.
"And there goes my will to eat for the rest of the trip." Lance gagged at the site of the monster.
"You should be thankful because when Necroface is normal summoned every card that has been removed from play is returned to our decks!" Theresa blinked before returning her two Giant Germs and Dark Horus to her deck and shuffling it, Edward did likewise shuffling his four cards into his deck grinning even as Helios's attack dropped.
"Why would you do that? Your Graverobber's Retribution card is useless now!" Theresa pointed out and Edward grinned.
"It won't be useless for long, first Necroface gains a hundred attack points for each card that's been returned to our decks." Edward explained as Necroface's attack rose to 2400. "More than enough to destroy that pesky goblin, Necroface attack her goblin!" The monster's eyes started glowing a demonic colour and Theresa grinned.
"That's just what I was hoping for; I activate Magic Arm Shield which will make you target Card Trooper instead!" Theresa said as Edward's eyes widened as a pair of pliers pulled the small machine into the path of Necroface's attack, it was turned to stone before one of the tentacles lashed out and destroyed it.
E: 4950
T: 3300
After both players pocketed their respective cards Edward grinned. "You may of destroyed Card Trooper but his secondary effect now kicks in allowing me to draw another card." Edward explained as he drew another card. "Now I enter my second main phase and activate the magic of Dark Core!" Edward played the card and pocketed another card raising Helios's attack to 200 in the process. "As long as I discard a card from my hand this spell card will allow me to remove one face up monster from play."
"Let me guess, my Goblin right?" Theresa asked and Edward shook his head.
"Actually no, my target is Necroface!" Theresa did a double take before Necroface disappeared from the field but two of its tentacles still remained both of which struck Theresa's and Edward's decks. "When Necroface is removed from play both players are forced to remove five cards from the top of their decks."
"But if any of them are monsters that means..." Chloe trailed off.
"Theresa's in for some major hurting." Lance cut her off as Theresa and Edward removed their cards, Theresa looked at her cards and her eyes widened.
"Damn it, each one of them are monsters." Theresa thought as she pocketed them and Helios's attack rose to 1200. "Nice try but that monster's still too weak to defeat my goblin."
"We'll see about that, for now I'll set a card facedown and end my turn." Edward played the card and Theresa drew hers.
"Chiron the Mage, with him I'd be able to get rid of Graverobber's Retribution but..." Theresa looked at the rest of her hand and frowned. "I don't have any spell cards in my hand." Theresa thought before adding the monster to her hand. "Still it'll be good to give some backup to my Goblin." Theresa thought before picking up another card. "I summon Axe Dragonite in attack mode!" Theresa played the card and the axe wielding dragon appeared on the field (4/2000/1200). "Blindly Loyal Goblin, attack Helios!" The goblin charged at the monster and Edward grinned.
"Sorry but Waboku says otherwise." Edward said as the three priestesses blocked the attack.
"Fine, I'll end my turn." Theresa said and Edward drew his card, the effect of Graverobber's Retribution kicked in again and she winced.
E: 4950
T: 2900
"You're finished!" Edward chuckled as he played a card. "I activate Lightning Vortex; in exchange for discarding a card from my hand I can destroy your goblin and your dragon!" Edward said pocketing the card and, just before Helios's attack rose to 1300, Lightning approached Theresa's monsters.
"Sorry but I have a trap card of my own, it's called Magic Jammer!" Theresa activated the card and, after pocketing another card, a purple fog blocked the lightning. "Shit, the card I discarded was another monster." Theresa realized as she pocketed Magic Jammer.
"Very well." Edward said picking up another card. "I guess I'll settle for the magic of Swords of Revealing Light!" Edward played the card and three golden swords rained down from the sky pinning down Theresa's monsters. "As I'm sure you're aware your now unable to attack for another three turns but who knows, maybe I'll defeat you by then."
"Don't get overconfident." Theresa said folding her arms. "Are you done?" Theresa asked and Edward nodded, Theresa drew her card and frowned.
"Not a spell card but this can come in handy later." Theresa thought before setting the card facedown. "I set this facedown and end my turn." Theresa announced as the first sword disappeared, Edward drew his card and Theresa winced as Graverober's Retribution kicked in again.
E: 4950
T: 2300
"I'll set this in defence mode and end my turn." Edward announced and Theresa drew her card.
"Still no Spell cards." Theresa thought before adding her new card to her hand. "I pass for now." Edward nodded before drawing a card and Theresa winced as Graverobber's Retribution kicked in again.
E: 4950
T: 1700
"Very well, I think I'll reveal my facedown monster, the dreaded Morphing Jar!" Theresa's eyes widened as the small black jar with a demonic looking face appeared on the field (2/700/500). "Judging from the look on your face you know his effect."
"Yes, when Morphing Jar is flipped we are forced to discard our hands and draw five cards." Theresa said discarding her hand, Edward did likewise and they drew their new hands, Theresa's eyes lit up when she saw her new hand even as Helios's attack rose to 2100. "I have what I need to turn this around." Theresa thought before looking up at Edward.
"You're finished!" Edward grinned as he played his new card. "I activate Chaos End, this can only be activated if I have seven or more cards removed from play and in exchange it destroys all monsters on the field!" Theresa's eyes widened as the four monsters disintegrated. "And now I summon my ultimate beast, the almighty Gren Maju Da Eiza in attack mode!" Edward played the card and a large demon that looked like a red version of Summoned Skull appeared on the field (3/?/?). "This beast gains 400 attack and defence points for each card of mine that's been removed from play and thanks to Macros that brings it's attack points up to a grand total of 7600 plus the 500 from the seal!" Edward explained as the demon's stats skyrocketed to 8100.
"Well, it was nice knowing you Theresa!" Lance said...only to get punched in the head by Brandon.
"That's my girlfriend you're talking about so try to be a bit more supportive...even if the odds are stacked against her." Brandon reminded him as Lance moaned.
"Gren Maju, finish her off!" The massive demon lunged forward...
"I activate Negate Attack!" Theresa announced as the demon bounced off an invisible force.
"Next turn, you're finished." Edward growled as Theresa drew her card.
"There won't be a next turn because I can beat you on this turn." Theresa said confidently and Edward snickered.
"I have a beast that's more powerful than every single duel monster in existence; I'd like to see you try!" Edward scoffed.
"Gladly, I activate my facedown card Call of the Haunted to revive the Giant Germ that was destroyed before Macro Cosmos was activated." Theresa announced as the first germ reappeared on the field. "Next I sacrifice my germ to bring out Armed Dragon Level 5!" She pocketed the germ and the hologram of it disappeared from the field and in its place stood the massive dragon (6/2400/1700). "Next I activate Level Up to level up my Dragon to its level 7 form!" She played the card and the dragon grew into its larger form (8/2800/1700). "Finally I sacrifice my dragon's current form to summon my strongest monster, Armed Dragon Level 10!" The dragon started growing again until it reached it's humongous final form (10/3000/1000).
"Your dragon maybe mighty but Gren Maju far surpasses it's power!" Edward scoffed...only to blink in confusion when he saw Theresa discard and pocket the second to last card in her hand. "What are you doing?"
"Activating Armed Dragon's effect, by discarding a card from my hand my dragon can destroy every monster on your side of the field." Theresa explained and Edward's eyes widened.
"WHAT?" Edward shouted but it was too late as the mighty dragon breathed fire at Gren Maju incinerating it. "I'm not concerned, not only do I have another copy of Gren Maju in my hand BUT since your dragon isn't strong enough to defeat me he'll be even stronger."
"You should be concerned, or have you forgotten about the last card in my hand?" Theresa said turning it around. "It's called Megamorph, as long as my lifepoints are lower than yours my Dragon's attack is doubled!" Edward's eyes widened as the already huge dragon doubled in size and it's attack points doubled as well all the way to 6000.
"NO! STAY BACK!" Edward shouted as Theresa pointed at him.
"I'm sure Lance will enjoy this part..." Theresa started.
"Already have the popcorn ready!" Lance said as he munched away at the popcorn.
"Err, Lance where did you get that?" Brandon asked and Lance pointed to a popcorn vender across the street. "You sharing that?"
"Anyway...Armed Dragon finish him off!" Theresa finished as the dragon breathed fire at Edward incinerating him.
E: 0000
T: 1700
"Phew, that was a close one." Chloe breathed a sigh of relief and Theresa nodded in agreement.
"Come on, you didn't think I'd go down that easy would you...first one to make any dirty jokes gets kicked in the balls, yes even you Brandon." Theresa said before she realized what she had said and started blushing like a mad woman.
"We weren't going to!" Lance, Brandon and Mike said simultaneously before Theresa picked up her hair clip and started tying her hair up in a ponytail, as she finished tying her hair up the Orichalcos shrank down until it completely surrounded Edward who was barely conscious by this point, one blood curdling scream later and Edward's soul was consumed by the Orichalcos, Theresa returned the removed from play cards from her pockets to her deck and walked over to Edward so she could retrieve both of his locater cards, once she did she went to hand one over to Lance.
"Here, to replace the one he snapped in half." Theresa said but Lance shook his head.
"Keep it you earned those Locater Cards, besides I'd rather earn the rest of my locater cards rather than be given them." Lance said and Theresa looked at him suspiciously.
"Are you sure?" Theresa asked and Lance nodded and she pocketed the locater cards. "Oh, I almost forgot." Theresa said walking back to Edward's prone form and searching through his deck and found his rarest card, Dimension Fusion among the scattered cards in his hand. "Probably a backup plan in case Gren Maju failed." Theresa thought before getting one of her decks out and adding it to her deck.
"So what now? Mike and Brandon have yet to duel and I have another duel to do if I want to catch up with you." Lance asked and Theresa stroked her chin.
"So do I for that matter." Chloe pointed out.
"Let's worry about that later." Theresa said shaking her head. "We have one less Orichalcos Duellist to worry about, that's all that matters."
"True, anyway how are you feeling after that duel?" Lance asked.
"I'm feeling fine, sore but otherwise fine." Theresa answered before looking at her clothes. "At least my clothes aren't ripped unlike what happened to them in my last duel."
"Yeah, shame about that." Brandon laughed...only to get punched in the head by Theresa.
"Not helping." Theresa said plainly as Brandon moaned. "So, where too now?" Theresa asked as Brandon got back to his feet.
"Well, me, Chloe and Mike will look around the city in search of duels, what about you guys?" Lance asked and Brandon and Theresa looked at each other.
"We'll do the same, or haven't you noticed that Brandon hasn't duelled yet? Theresa said and Brandon nodded in agreement. "You have our phone numbers so if anything happens give us a ring."
"Will do." Lance nodded as he and his companions walked off. "See you around Axel...Axel?" Lance asked before realizing that Axel had left.
"He left after the duel ended." Hamden explained as he caught up with them. "So, where too?"
"I saw a news report earlier that said there was some duelling going on in Manhattan so I guess we'll head there." Chloe said as they walked off unaware that Michael was watching the duel from a nearby rooftop.
"Another duellist falls." Michael said with a frown. "At this rate me, Felix and Karen will be the only duellists left in the organisation by the time the semi finals start." Michael said as he put a hand to his earpiece. "Sir, Edward has fallen in battle."
"Blast, he was one of the strongest duellists in the organisation." The leader said the anger clear in his voice. "That Alvers kid is becoming a nuisance."
"It wasn't Alvers that duelled him, it was Theresa Daniels one of the Obelisk Blue students and the duellist who defeated The Hunter." Michael answered.
"I see." The leader answered. "The agent assigned to her is in the area so they should duel soon, in the meantime the agent assigned to the other two Ra Yellow students is close to their location, I'll need you to observe the inevitable duel between them."
"Off course, where are they?" Michael asked.
"Near Central Park." The leader said and Michael smirked.
"The site of Damien's defeat, how fitting." Michael thought before walking off.
*elsewhere*
"I swear Marcus will have used up his spending money by the time the Semi-Finals start!" Andreas said out loud as he and Jeff waited for their companion outside of a card shop not too far from Central Park.
"At least he's spending it on support cards for that card he got from Lance's opponent." Jeff commented with a small smile.
"True." Andreas shrugged as he looked around, he got a text and dug into his pocket too retrieve his cell phone, he frowned when he read the text message. "Oh great, Theresa was in an Orichalcos duel."
"Is she okay?" Jeff asked and Andrea nodded.
"Yes, she won the duel by the skin of her teeth but she's fine." Andreas said with a sigh of relief. "Just how many Orichalcos duellists are there?"
"Doesn't matter how many there are, we'll take them down one by one!" Marcus said walking up to them as he added his new cards to his deck. "The cards I got from the card shop will definitely help in that department."
"Indeed." Andreas nodded in agreement. "Speaking of duels I'm hoping that I get one soon, Lance, Theresa, Chloe and Sophie are already ahead of us in that department, unfortunate circumstances surrounding Sophie's duel aside."
"We'll find a duel soon." Marcus said before spotting a girl around their age with shoulder length light brown hair with blonde streaks and blue eyes wearing a black sleeveless t-shirt, blue jeans and black boots being harassed by a group of four boys. "You see what I see Andreas?"
"As clear as day." Andreas nodded with a frown as they saw the boys follow her into an alleyway. "I think we should help her."
"I agree, besides I always did want to play Prince Charming." Marcus said as they got up and followed them into the alleyway.
"Leave me alone!" The girl said defiantly as she reached a dead end.
"Or what?" One of the boys said as they closed in on her.
"Or you'll have to deal with us." The boys blinked before turning around and seeing Andreas and Marcus standing there with frowns on their faces, it was Marcus that had spoken up. "We don't appreciate bullies ganging up on people weaker than they are."
"And what do you plan to do about that? You're outnumbered four to two!" The leader pointed out with a smirk.
"So? We can still kick your..." Andreas started but stopped when he saw that the gang of boys where armed with crowbars. "You...you wouldn't hit a boy with glasses would you?" Andreas asked and Marcus fell over anime style.
"You'd better listen to them." Jeff said walking up to them. "In fact I'd run if I were you because I just called the cops on you boys." The boys' eyes widened before they ran off. "Are you okay miss?"
"Y...yeah." The young girl said nervously, it was then that the boys noticed a duel disk on her arm.
"You're a duellist?" Andreas asked, the girl blinked before nodding.
"Err, yeah." The girl nodded. "I'm competing in the Battle City tournament." The girl added and the two boys shared a look before grinning.
"That's perfect, we were looking for an opponent!" Marcus said and the girl smiled broadly. "Just one thing, which one of us will face you?"
"I...I'd like to face the boy with the glasses." The girl said and Andreas blinked.
"Err, why?" Andreas asked and the girl blushed.
"He's cute." The girl shrugged and the boys fell over Anime style.
"Well...I certainly like to think so." Andreas laughed as he got up. "So...do you have a name?"
"Nicola." The girl smiled as she activated her duel disk. Andreas motioned her to follow him out into the open and she did so followed by Marcus and Jeff, the latter two sat down on a nearby bench whilst Andreas and Nicola took up positions opposite each other and Andreas activated his duel disk. "I hope you're not going to go easy on me just because I'm a girl."
"Certainly not." Andreas said as the two duellists drew their opening hands. "One of the best duellists I know is a woman after all, name's Andreas by the way."
"Isn't that a girl's name?" Nicola blinked and Andreas blushed.
"Err, no that's Andrea, Andreas is a German boy's name." Andreas explained. "So who's going first?" Andreas asked and Nicola looked at her hand.
"Erm...I think I'll let you go first." Nicola said and Andreas drew his card.
"All right then." Andreas said looking at his hand. "I set two cards facedown and I set a card in defence mode, you're move."
"Err, yeah." Nicola said drawing her card.
"Hey Jeff, am I the only one noticing something odd about her?" Marcus whispered and Jeff nodded.
"No, I noticed that as well." Jeff nodded in agreement.
"I can hear you!" Nicola said turning to the two of them and they blinked.
"Okay, so she has some really good hearing." Marcus said once his surprise wore off. "Sorry about that!"
"No problem." She sighed before looking at her card. "I activate the Field Spell Card Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins!" Nicola played the card and the scenery changed to an ancient looking arena with a rainbow above it.
"Hmmm, so she uses that archtype." Jeff thought scratching his chin. "This'll be interesting to see." Jeff added mentally as Andreas looked around his new surroundings.
"Well, the surroundings are pretty I'll give you that." Andreas said turning his attention to Nicola. "But does it do anything?"
"Just watch, I play this card Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth!" Nicola played the card and a grey mammoth with two sets of tusks appeared on the field with a small orange and red gem on its head (4/1700/1600). "Amber Mammoth attack his defence monster!" The mammoth charged forward and skewered the facedown monster with its tusks...only to be sent flying back. "Huh?" Nicola blinked before looking at her lifepoint counter.
A: 8000
N: 6300
"Ever hear of the phrase "look before you leap?" Andreas asked as a small brown koala appeared on the field (4/1100/1800). "Meet Des Koala, not only is his defence too strong for your mammoth to penetrate but now his effect kicks in, after he's flipped he deals 400 points of damage to your lifepoints for each card in your hand and I count four cards so you lose 1600 lifepoints on top of the hundred lifepoints you lose from your failed attack."
"Nice move Andreas!" Marcus shouted from the sidelines, Andreas smiled at his friend before turning to Nicola, though the smile quickly turned into a look of concern when he saw that she was stressing out.
"Nicola, are you okay?" Andreas asked as she ran a hand through her hair.
"No, I...I screwed up." Nicola sighed. "On my first turn as well."
"Hey, relax we all make mistakes." Andreas said reassuringly, Nicola took a deep breath before nodding. "Marcus was right, there's something definitely odd about this girl." Andreas thought as she picked up a card.
"I...I set this card facedown and end my turn." Nicola announced as the card appeared behind Amber Mammoth and Andreas drew his card.
"Very well." Andreas said before looking at his new card. "I sacrifice Des Koala to summon my own mammoth, Big Tusked Mammoth in attack mode!" Andreas played the card and Des Koala disappeared from the field and in its place stood a massive purple mammoth (5/2000/1000). "My mammoth has a special ability, any monsters you summon from now on have to wait a turn before attacking."
"Right." Nicola nodded seemingly unfazed by the news, Andreas raised an eyebrow at this.
"She doesn't seem concerned that my monster's stronger than hers, either that or she has a really good poker face." Andreas thought before pointing to his mammoth. "Big-Tusked Mammoth attack Amber Mammoth!" The larger mammoth charged at the smaller one and Nicola smiled.
"I activate Amber Mammoth's effect!" Nicola announced as Amber Mammoth was skewered by Big-Tusked Mammoth and Andreas did a double take when he saw the monster card appear in the Spell and Trap Card zone.
"Marcus, am I the only one seeing a monster card in her Spell and Trap card zone?" Andreas asked and Marcus shook his head.
"No, I see it as well." Marcus responded equally as confused. "What gives Nicola?"
"My deck runs the Crystal Beast archtype and those monsters double as Continuous Spell Cards, you see when they are destroyed in battle I can send them to the Spell and Trap Card zone rather than my graveyard." Nicola explained. "Only downside is I still lose lifepoints."" Nicola added and Andreas nodded adjusting his glasses.
"Ah I see, I'm assuming your Field Spell Card supports this archtype?" Andreas asked interested.
"Yeah, it has numerous effects depending on how many Crystal Beasts have been played as Spell Cards." Nicola said with a smile. "For example, since I have one card in play my Field Spell card can't be destroyed."
"I see, does this persist despite how many Crystal Beast cards you play?" Andreas asked and Nicola nodded. "This could be troublesome." Andreas thought.
A: 8000
N: 6000
"Anyway, I'll end my turn for now." Andreas announced as Nicola drew her card.
"All right, I summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus in attack mode!" Nicola played the card and a beautiful looking white horse with golden wings appeared on the field, it had a horn on its head and large blue gems on the inside of its wings (4/1800/1200). "When she's summoned successfully I can take one Crystal Beast from my hand, deck or graveyard and play it as a continuous spell card, I'll chose a second Amber Mammoth from my deck." Nicola retrieved the card from her deck and placed it in the appropriate slot. "But now you're in trouble, I activate my trap card Crystal Raigeki!" Nicola said as the card flipped up. "In order to activate this trap I have to send one monster from my Spell and Trap Card zone to my graveyard as long as it has Crystal Beast in its name." Nicola retrieved the Amber Mammoth and looked at it sadly for a few minutes before sending it to the graveyard. "Now that I've done that I can target one monster you control and destroy it."
"WHAT?" Andreas blurted out as Big-Tusked Mammoth was slowly turned into crystal before shattering. "I see, you didn't want to lose the protection your field spell got hence why you waited."
"Yeah, that's it!" Nicola nodded.
"She's a lot better than I was expecting her to be, I'll give her that." Marcus admitted and Jeff nodded in agreement. "Wonder why I've never heard of her before now?"
"I've only been duelling for a short time." Nicola admitted and the boys did a double take. "Only a month to be honest."
"Only a month?" Andreas echoed clearly impressed.
"Man, I wish I was this good when I was starting out!" Marcus said and Nicola blushed clearly embarrassed by the praise that she was getting.
"I had a good teacher." Nicola said rubbing the back of her head nervously.
"That much is obvious and I still don't know about her field spells other effects, In short, I need to get rid of that Field Spell if I want to win this." Andreas thought as Nicola pointed at her Pegasus.
"Sapphire Pegasus, attack his lifepoints directly!" The Pegasus took flight and without missing a beat Andreas activated one of his traps.
"I activate my trap card Battle Instinct!" Andreas said as the trap flipped up. "This trap can only be activated if you declare a direct attack on my lifepoints and I have no means of defending myself, once those conditions are met I'm allowed to special summon a Level 4 or lower Beast monster from my hand!" Andreas looked at his hand before picking up a card. "I summon Bazoo, The Soul Eater in attack mode!" Andreas played the card and the Mandrill appeared on the field (4/1600/900) Nicola smiled when she saw the stats.
"Fine, I'll just destroy your new monster instead!" Nicola said as the Pegasus dived towards Bazoo.
"That's where my other trap card comes in, Horn of the Phantom Beast!" Andreas flipped the card and Bazoo grabbed the horn and blew into it. "This trap is treated like an equip spell card, one that can only be equipped to Beasts and Beast Warriors and when it is equipped to them the monster in question gains a powerboost of 800 points!" Andreas explained as Bazoo's attack rose to 2400.
"Fine, Sapphire Pegasus call off your attack!" The Pegasus landed back on the ground and Nicola was silent for a few minutes as her hair overshadowed her eyes.
"Nicola, is something wrong?" Andreas asked and she looked up at him with what could only be described as pure joy in her eyes.
"No, it's...it's just been so long since I've had a competitive duel." Nicola said shaking her head. "Most of my opponents go easy on me because..." She trailed off and Andreas raised an eyebrow.
"Because of what?" Andreas asked but Nicola shook her head.
"I'd rather not talk about it in public." Nicola sighed before pausing. "Tell you what, since you're the only opponent to give me I good fight up until now I'll tell you anything you want to know if you beat me, preferably somewhere private"
"Sounds fair to me." Andreas shrugged. "Anyway it was still your turn last I checked."
"Oh yeah." Nicola said before looking at the rest of her hand. "I'll end my turn for now." Nicola announced and Andreas drew his card.
"Bazoo, attack Sapphire Pegasus!" The mandrill charged at the Pegasus and slammed it's body into it disintegrating it.
"Like Amber Mammoth Sapphire Pegasus can be sent to the Spell and Trap card zone rather than the graveyard." Nicola explained as she played the card. "And now that I have two Crystal Beasts in my Spell and Trap card zone any battle damage I receive is cut in half."
"Blast, if it had been sent to the graveyard I could've drawn a new card." Andreas thought annoyed.
A: 8000
N: 5400
"Very well." Andreas said looking at his drawn card. "I set this card facedown and end my turn." Andreas set the card and Nicola drew her card...and her eyes lit up.
"All right, I've drawn my strongest monster!" Nicola thought as she added it to her hand before picking up another card. "I activate a spell card called Rare Value, this allows you to chose one of my Crystal Beast cards in my Spell and Trap card zone and send it to my graveyard, in exchange for that I'm allowed to draw two cards from my deck."
"All right, I chose the Amber Mammoth you played first." Andreas announced and Nicola picked it up, she looked at it sadly for a few moments before sending it to her graveyard and drawing two cards from her deck.
"All right, I activate a Continuous Spell Card called Crystal Tree!" Nicola played the card and a tree seemingly made of crystal sprouted from the ground. "From now on every time I play a Crystal Beast card in the Spell and Trap card zone this spell card will get a Crystal Counter, as for what they will do, wait and see."
"Hmmm, that card could be troublesome." Andreas thought as Nicola played another card.
"I now summon Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise in attack mode!" Nicola played the card and a turtle with various emeralds on its shell appeared on the field (3/600/2000) Andreas blinked when he saw the stats.
"Why would you summon something so weak in attack mode?" Andreas asked.
"Let's see who's weak after I play Shield and Sword!" Nicola played the card and Andreas's eyes widened as the attack and defence stats where swapped around, Emerald Tortoise's attack shot up to 2000 and Bazoo's attack plummeted down to 900. "Emerald Tortoise attack Bazoo the Soul Eater." The turtle retreated into its shell and started spinning, without warning it charged at Bazoo destroying it.
A: 6900
N: 5400
"I can't believe I fell for the oldest trick in the book!" Andreas thought as he sent his monster and trap card to the graveyard. "At least her Shield and Sword spell card will only work during this turn." Andreas thought.
"I'll end my turn at..." Nicola started.
"Ah Nicola there you are." Nicola blinked before looking over her shoulder and saw a man with short light brown hair and blue eyes who was wearing a business suit. "Who's the lad you are duelling?"
"His name's Andreas dad." Nicola said with a small smile and Andreas blinked.
"It's nice to meet you sir." Andreas said with a respectful nod towards her dad, he smiled and returned the nod.
"Likewise, I hope your giving her a challenge." Her dad smiled and Andreas nodded.
"Indeed, and she's giving me a challenge as well." Andreas said as he drew his card, Nicola's dad smiled as he watched the duel. "Anyway, I summon Enraged Battle Ox in attack mode!" Andreas played the card and the Minotaur appeared on the field with rage in its eyes (4/1700/1000). "And since your monster's stats are back to normal my Battle Ox can destroy it, AXE SLAM ATTACK!" The Battle Ox charged forward...but to the surprise of everyone except Nicola and her dad she switched the monster to defence mode and the tortoise retreated into its shell, as a result the Ox's axe bounced off of the Tortoise's shell.
A: 6600
N: 5400
"What the...it was my turn you shouldn't of been able to change your monster's position." Andreas stammered in surprise as the Battle Ox returned to his side of the field.
"That's the effect of Emerald Tortoise, once per turn I can switch the battle position of a monster that's been targeted for an attack." Nicola explained,
"I see." Andreas said looking at his hand. "I'll end my turn for now." Andreas said, Nicola nodded and drew her card.
"I summon Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger in attack mode!" Nicola played the card and a white Sabre Tooth Tiger appeared on the field, it had horns on its head and legs and it growled at the Battle Ox (4/1600/1000).
"Why did she summon that? It's weaker than my Battle Ox." Andreas thought but too his surprise Nicola pointed towards Battle Ox.
"Topaz Tiger attack Enraged Battle Ox!" The tiger charged at the Battle Ox who got ready to fight back...but to Andreas's surprise the tiger's attack rose to 2000 and it ripped out the Battle Ox's throat.
A: 6300
N: 5400
"Don't tell me, that's Topaz Tiger's effect right?" Andreas asked as he sent Enraged Battle Ox to the graveyard and Nicola nodded.
"Yeah, when it attacks an opponent's monster it gains 400 attack points during the damage step." Nicola explained as Topaz Tiger returned to her side of the field as it's stats returned to normal. "That ends my turn." She announced and Andreas drew his card.
"Drat, I have nothing that can beat her monsters, better play it safe." Andreas thought picking up a card. "I set this in defence mode and end my turn." Andreas announced and Nicola drew her card.
"I summon Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat in attack mode!" Nicola played the card and a pink cat appeared on the field, it had a blue gem with a gold wing design surrounding it around its neck and a similar design was attached to its feet (3/1200/400).
"Another weakling, but if it's anything like her other monsters it'll be a mistake to underestimate it." Andreas thought as Nicola pointed to her cat.
"Amethyst Cat attack his lifepoints directly!" Nicola commanded.
"ATTACK MY WHAT?" Andreas shouted in surprise as the cat charged forward past his facedown monster and scratched him.
A: 5700
N: 5400
"Okay, what the hell just happened?" Andreas demanded.
"My cat can attack your lifepoints directly even if you have a monster on your side of the field, only downside is that the damage is cut in half." Nicola explained. "Topaz Tiger, attack his defence." The tiger charged forward as it's attack rose to 2000 again...only to be bounced back to Nicola's side of the field. "What?"
"The monster you attacked was Prevent Rat!" Andreas announced as a small blue rat with a tough outer shell appeared on the field (4/500/2000). "Since the attack of your tiger and the defence of my rat was equal neither of us take damage."
"Okay...err, I'll set a card facedown and end my turn." Nicola announced and Andreas drew his card.
"I need to get rid of that cat of hers before it does anymore damage." Andreas thought before looking at his new card. "Excellent." Andreas thought before playing the card. "I sacrifice Prevent Rat to summon Manticore of Darkness in attack mode!" Prevent Rat vanished from the field and in its place stood the manticore which roared at Nicola (6/2300/1000). "Manticore of Darkness attack Amethyst Cat!" The manticore took flight and divebombed at Amethyst Cat.
"I activate Emerald Tortoise's effect, allowing me to switch Amethyst Cat to defence mode!" Nicola announced as the cat knelt down just before the manticore's claws ripped it to shreds. "And like the other Crystal Beasts my cat can be placed in the Spell and Trap Card zone instead of being sent to the graveyard." Nicola played the card and the hologram of the monster card appeared behind Emerald Tortoise.
"And your tree gets its first counter." Andreas pointed out as one of the gems on the tree started glowing. "At least I don't have to worry about direct attacks." Andreas thought. "I activate a spell card called Dian Keto The Cure Master to restore a thousand of my lifepoints and end my turn." Andreas announced as his lifepoints shot up to 6800 and Nicola drew her card.
"I activate the Spell Card Crystal Beacon, this lets me special summon a Crystal Beast Monster from my deck." Nicola announced as she searched through her deck. "I chose to summon Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle in attack mode!" Nicola played the card and a small black cat with a ruby at the end of its tail appeared on the field (3/300/300).
"That's supposed to scare me?" Andreas asked as a massive sweatdrop rolled down his head, Nicola finished shuffling her deck and smiled.
"There's a reason I summoned him in this manner, when Ruby Carbuncle is Special Summoned I can bring out as many Crystal Beast monsters from my Spell and Trap card zone to the field as possible, obviously I only have room for one more monster so I summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!" Nicola played the card and the Pegasus returned to the field. "I'm sure you remember her effect?"
"Yes I do." Andreas nodded as she retrieved Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle (4/1400/800) from her deck and played it. "I don't see the point though, none of those monsters come close to Manticore's power!" Andreas pointed out as the tree got another counter.
"You'll see, first I activate the effect of Crystal Tree's Crystal Counters." She said as Crystal Tree vanished from the field. "Now that it's gone I can add a number of Crystal Beast card to my Spell and Trap card zone equal to the number of counters it had from my deck." Nicola explained as she played another Topaz Tiger and Amber Mammoth. "Sorry Andreas but this duel will be over soon, first I activate the trap I set last turn, Ojama Trio!"
"Ojama what?" Andreas asked as three strange beasts appeared on his side of the field, one yellow, one black and one green, they shared one common trait though, they were wearing red thongs (2/0/1000).
"I think I speak for everyone when I ask WHAT IN THE HOLY NAME OF FUCK ARE THOSE!" Marcus said upon seeing the monsters.
"Those are the Ojama Tokens, you can't tribute them and when they are destroyed you lose 300 lifepoints which is where my next card comes in, I activate a Spell Card called Crystal Abundance!" Nicola played the card and Andreas blinked.
"What does that do?" Andreas asked raising an eyebrow.
"For starters I have to send the four Crystal Beast cards in my Spell and Trap Card zone to my graveyard, in exchange it destroys all monsters on the field!" Nicola sent the cards to the graveyard and Andreas's eyes widened as all the monsters on the field shattered. "But that's not all, now I can special summon the same number of monsters from my graveyard with Crystal Beast in its name as you had and I chose Sapphire Pegasus, Emerald Tortoise, Cobalt Eagle and Amethyst Cat." She announced as the monsters returned to the field alongside a brown eagle with a gem in its wing, she dug through her deck again and played a second Sapphire Pegasus. "Sapphire Pegasus, Emerald Tortoise, Amethyst Cat, Cobalt Eagle attack his lifepoints directly!" The monsters charged forward and attacked Andreas one by one sending him to the ground.
A: 900
N: 5400
"I set a card facedown and end my turn." Nicola announced and Andreas got up and drew his card.
"Damn, I don't have anything to discard to bring back Manticore of Darkness." Andreas thought as he looked at his hand. "I activate Card of Sanctity, this allows us both to draw until we have 6 cards in our hands." Andreas announced and both duellists drew. "I activate Lightning Vortex, by discarding a card from my hand I can destroy all monsters on your side of the field." Nicola's eyes widened as lightning struck her monsters destroying them and she sent them to the graveyard. "I set a monster in defence mode and end my turn." Andreas set the monster and Nicola drew her card.
"I activate another Rare Value card." Nicola said playing the card, Andreas wordlessly pointed at the hologram of Sapphire Pegasus and she sent it to the graveyard before drawing two cards from her deck. "First I activate Soul Release which allows me to remove cards from either of our graveyards, I chose to remove all extra copies of monsters already in my graveyard." She removed the cards from her graveyard and pocketed them.
"Why did you do that?" Andreas asked raising an eyebrow.
"You'll see soon, first I activate the other card I drew with Rare Value's effect, Reload which lets me send my hand back to my deck and draw a new one." She did so and once she shuffled her deck and drew a new hand she grinned. "I activate my trap card Rainbow Gravity!"
"Rainbow what?" Andreas and Marcus asked simultaneously.
"In order to activate this trap I needed seven Crystal Beast monsters in my graveyard with different names, hence why I removed several of them." Nicola explained as she started searching her deck. "Once that condition is met I can Special Summon my strongest from my deck or graveyard whilst ignoring the summoning conditions so come forth Rainbow Dragon!" She played the card and Andreas and Marcus had to shield their eyes when a bright light enveloped the field.
"TOO BRIGHT!" Andreas shouted, once the light died down he looked up...and his jaw dropped. "Holy shit."
"Whoa." Marcus said in awe of what he saw, it was a majestic silver dragon that was floating above the battle field (10/4000/0).
"Holy mother of God." Jeff blurted out when he saw the monster.
"This is my strongest monster Rainbow Dragon, he's led me to victory before and now won't be any different." Nicola explained. "And now I summon my final Sapphire Pegasus." Nicola said as another Pegasus appeared on the field and she pointed to it. "Sapphire Pegasus attack his defence monster!" The Pegasus took flight and divebombed at the facedown monster, revealed to be Alligator's Sword (4/1500/1200) which was destroyed, tears started rolling down Nicola's eyes as she started saying the next part. "Andreas...thanks for giving me a good match..."
"The pleasure's all mine." Andreas smiled as he looked up at the dragon. "Anytime now."
"Rainbow Dragon, finish him off." The dragon breathed fire at Andreas...
"But the match isn't over yet, I activate my trap card Nutrient Z!" Andreas activated the card and smiled. "This trap can only be activated if I'm about to lose 2000 or more lifepoints, it gives my lifepoints a boost of 4000 points before the attack hits!" Andreas said as his lifepoints shot up to 4900 and was brought back down to 900 by the attack.
A: 900
N: 5400
"Thanks for the heart attack dude!" Marcus called out from the sidelines and Andreas smiled.
"Anytime." Andreas said cheekily before turning to Nicola. "Are you done?"
"Yeah, I'm done." Nicola nodded.
"Though you may as well give up son, her Rainbow Dragon has more than enough power to finish you off." Nicola's dad chimed in and Andreas smiled closing his eyes as he said the next part.
"You know your daughter reminds me of a friend of mine, she's a rookie as well and like your daughter she has a powerful monster in her deck." Andreas said looking at them directly. "What I'm getting at is that she has a motto that I've come to live by whenever I duel."
"And what is this motto?" Nicola asked.
"I won't give up as long as I have lifepoints left and last I checked I have just under one thousand points left." Andreas said before reaching for his deck. "And now, I DRAW!" Andreas declared as he drew his card. Andreas closed his eyes. "Heart of the Cards, help me!" Andreas thought before opening his eyes.
"So, did you get a good card?" Nicola's dad asked and Andreas smiled.
"Why don't you judge for yourself, I activate Polmerization which allows me to fuse Des Kangaroo and Big Koala to form my strongest beast yet, THE MASTER OF OZ!" Andreas played the card and the two monsters fused together to form the massive green koala in the purple jacket and boxing gloves (9/4200/3700).
"Whoa." Nicola gulped at the site of the monster.
"Relax dear, you have enough lifepoints to survive the attack." Nicola's dad reassured her and Andreas shook his head.
"Sorry to say but I have another card to play and it's the card that'll lead to your daughter's defeat." Andreas said picking up another card. "I activate Megamorph, as long as my lifepoints are lower than yours my Master of Oz's attack will be doubled." Nicola's eyes widened when the Master of Oz doubled in size and attack power increasing its attack all the way to 8400. "For what it's worth Nicola, this has been a fun duel."
"The feeling's mutual." Nicola nodded with a smile as Andreas pointed to his monster.
"Master of Oz, attack Sapphire Pegasus and end this duel!" The monster pulled back it's fist and slammed it into the Pegasus squashing it like a bug.
A: 900
N: 0000
Nicola stood there with her hair overshadowing her eyes and her arms by her side as the holograms disappeared, some of the people who had stopped to watch the duel cheered for Andreas who smiled as he deactivated his duel disk before approaching Nicola and offering a handshake. "That was a close one."
"Yeah, it was." Nicola said looking up with a smile on her face before accepting the handshake. "Dad, I'm sorry I ran off but I wanted to look for a duel."
"It's fine dear, you had a good duel that's all that matters." Her dad said as she dug into her pocket and handed over her locater cards to Andreas alongside Rainbow Dragon. "Here, you earned them." Nicola said and Andreas took the locater cards but declined the monster.
"Your monster's strong but I don't have any Crystal Beasts, it would be useless in my deck." Andreas said, she smiled and returned the monster to her deck. "Didn't you say that you wanted to tell us something if I beat you?" Andreas asked as Marcus and Jeff walked over, her dad blinked before catching on.
"Nicola, are you sure about this?" Her dad asked and she nodded.
"He was my first real challenge in a while dad, I think it's only fair." Nicola said before turning to the boys. "Can we go somewhere private?"
"Sure." Andreas nodded and they followed Nicola to a more secluded area. "So what did you want to tell us?"
"You know how I mentioned earlier that people tend to go easy on my when I'm duelling them? It's because...well it was because I made the mistake of revealing that I'm...different to them." Nicola explained and Andreas blinked.
"I'm afraid I don't follow." Andreas said and Marcus nodded in agreement.
"My fault for trying to be subtle about it." Nicola sighed before leaning against a wall. "How familiar are you boys with Autism?"
"My dad's a social worker, he occasionally works with people with Autism." Marcus said before realization dawned on him. "Are you saying you have it?"
"Yeah, I have high functioning autism." Nicola said looking at her deck. "My dad got me into the game so that I can work on my social skills."
"He brought you the deck?" Andreas asked and she nodded. "That's rather powerful deck to give to a rookie."
"He got it for me because it reflects how unique I am, I'm actually hoping to apply for duel academy next year." Nicola said and Andreas smiled.
"With those skills you'll get in easily, we should know we're duel academy students." Andreas said and Nicola smiled.
"You don't think my Autism will get in the way off that?" Nicola asked and Andreas shook his head. "Thanks." She said with a smile.
"Aw, how sickeningly sweet." The three teens looked up and saw a man with shoulder length black hair and brown eyes leaning against a nearby wall, he was dressed smartly but the boys' eyes narrowed when they saw the Black, Scythe like duel disk on his arm. "Sorry to break up the chit chat kids but I want to be your next opponent."
"You got it!" Marcus said stepping forward. "Nicola, I strongly suggest that you get away from here." Marcus said turning to her.
"Why? Because he has an ugly duel disk?" Nicola blinked.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you little lady." The man smirked pointing to a nearby rooftop where a man was standing armed with a sniper rifle. "Guess who he has in his sites, here's a hint, he's your daddy."
"Dad..." Nicola's eyes widened and Marcus clenched his fist.
"You bastard, leave him out of this!" Marcus snapped at him. "Why do you even care if she sticks around?"
"I like having a captive audience." The man grinned sadistically. "My name is Presario The Great, master magician and Orichalcos duellist!" Presario grinned before activating his duel disk. "Allow me to show you you a trick that'll make your soul...disapear!"