It took Chloe a few minutes, mostly due to lingering embarrassment from the crowd chanting her name, but she had made her way to where the Duel Academy students were sitting though she waited until the other members of the audience left their seats to grab snacks or merchandise, she sat down next to Kimberly who patted her on the back.
"Nice job out there kid." Kimberly said and Chloe smiled meekly. "If it weren't for Theresa's trap you would've been competing against Eddie in Theresa's place."
"Don't remind me." Chloe muttered under her breath as she pulled the hood of her jacket up until it hid her face. "If any autograph seekers ask, tell them I'm at the bathroom or something." Chloe requested only for Kimberly to pull her hood back down.
"What? Don't you want to face your fans?" Kimberly asked as Chloe pulled the hood back up just as quickly as Kimberly had pulled it down.
"Do I really have to answer that? I'm no celebrity, I'm just a duelist." Chloe protested as the crowd started pouring in. "Speaking of which, shouldn't the match between Eddie and Theresa be starting soon?"
"Yeah, it should start in a couple of minutes by my watch." Brandon answered after he checked his watch. "And honestly Chloe, like it or not, you're a Battle City Semi-Finalist not to mention the fact that you defeated Otto AKA easily the most hated duelist in the Semi-Finals, just give being a celebrity a try."
"Yeah…no, I'll leave that to the Pro-League Duelists." Chloe said as a sweat-drop rolled down her head. "Don't try to change my mind; you'll have as much luck as the Unhappy Maiden would have against all three Egyptian God Cards."
"You are aware that most people were saying the same thing about you going into your match with Theresa right?" Lance asked and Chloe shook her head. "Just give it a try, who knows maybe you'll enjoy it?"
"I doubt it." Chloe sighed before noticing a pair of familiar faces. "Hey the match is about to start!" Chloe pointed out and the other teens turned around just in time for them to see Theresa and Eddie hopping onto the duel podium, the crowd cheered but there cheers grew when Kaiba's blimp appeared above the arena complete with his face on it.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, duelists of all ages welcome to the final match of the Battle City tournament!" Kaiba announced and the crowd cheered. "Over a thousand duelists from all over the globe have participated including duelists from the extremely prestigious Duel Academy but that number has been narrowed down, first to twenty, then to ten, then to five, then to three and finally to these two duelists, the challenger Theresa Daniels and the champion Eddie Roberts!" As Kaiba said this the two duelists' names the picture on the screen turned to the two duelists. "Only one question remains, who will walk out with the title in hand? Will the reigning champion Eddie Roberts retain the title? Or will the dueling prodigy from Duel Academy Theresa Daniels take the title back to school with her? Let's find out so let the duel begin!" Kaiba closed off his speech and the blimp left the airspace, the two duelists took it as their cue and activated their duel disks before shuffling their decks and drawing their opening hands.
"Sorry to say this Theresa, but you'll be returning to Duel Academy with nothing but the knowledge that you lost to the champ!" Eddie gloated as he looked over his opening hand. "In fact I'm so confident of that fact that I will beat you in this duel that I'm going to let you go first." Eddie said and Theresa simply drew her card. "This way I can get a grasp of what deck she's using in this duel and plan for my first move accordingly." Eddie thought as he looked over his hand,
"Well in that case I start with the Spell Card called Cards from the Sky!" Theresa played the card and pocketed one of her monsters, once she did that she drew an additional two cards from her deck. "Off course as a side effect I can't Special Summon or conduct my battle phase until your turn's ended but since this is my first turn that's hardly a concern." Theresa added before looking at her new cards. "I set two cards facedown and summon Dunames Dark Witch in attack mode!" Theresa played the cards and the red headed fairy in red appeared on the field (4/1800/1050).
"She's using her fairy deck." Brandon realized as Theresa made her move. "This will make for an interesting duel."
"That ends my turn." Theresa announced and Eddie drew his card without hesitation.
"Much as I hate being a copycat I'll play my own draw card, go Cards of Consonance!" Eddie played the card and picked up one of the cards in his hand. "This card works by forcing me to discard one Dragon Type tuner from my hand with one thousand or less attack points, now that I've done that I can draw two cards from my deck." Eddie explained as he drew two cards. "Oh and there's one other thing." Eddie said as he retrieved the discarded card from his graveyard and showed it to Theresa. "Does it look familiar?" Eddie asked and Theresa's eyes widened.
"Is that White Stone of Legend (1/300/200)? But the only reason you'd even have that card is…" Theresa trailed off as it dawned on her. "You have the Blue-Eyes White Dragons in your deck."
"Three of them actually, one of the fringe benefits of winning this tournament." Eddie commented as he picked up his deck and searched through it. "As a general rule of thumb however I only use the Blue-Eyes White Dragons on Special Occasions, same goes for White Stone and it's other support monsters, and I think you'll agree that there's nothing more special for me than the championship match." Eddie added as he found the famous dragon and added it to his hand. "Before you ask, no it's not one of the dragons that Kaiba used throughout his career, like Francesca Burns I got this card as a prize for a tournament."
"Let me guess, last year's Battle City Tournament?" Theresa asked and Eddie nodded. "So that thing's one of the released cards in the upcoming booster pack, am I supposed to be scared of that thing? All it is at the end of the day is a Normal Monster with 3000 attack points made famous by Seto Kaiba."
"Effect or no effect it still packs a hell of a punch!" Eddie countered as he picked up one of the cards he drew. "Don't worry, you won't have to worry about him JUST yet, instead you can worry about Luster Dragon Number 1 in attack mode!" Eddie played the card and the beautiful sapphire dragon appeared on the dragon with a roar (4/1900/1600). "Luster Dragon, roast her witch!" Eddie commanded and the dragon prepared its attack.
"Not going to happen, I activate my trap card Waboku which protects my witch and my life-points!" Theresa activated the trap and the three priestesses blocked the flames, whilst they were incinerated Theresa's witch and her life-points where saved from that fate.
"Fine, you may have saved your witch from destruction but she's still weaker than my dragon!" Eddie pointed out as Theresa sent her trap to the Graveyard; Eddie looked over the rest of his hand before picking up the other card he drew with Cards of Consonance alongside another card. "I set two cards facedown and call it a turn at that." Eddie set the two cards down and Theresa drew her card.
"Good, because the card I just drew will protect my life-points as long as I have a fairy type monster on my side of the field!" Theresa announced and Eddie's eyes narrowed as she played the card. "I activate the Field Spell Card Sanctuary in the Sky!" Theresa played the card and the scenery changed to the magnificent palace in the clouds. "As long as this is on the field any damage I take from a battle involving fairies is reduced to zero but why stop there when I can activate the field spell's continuous counterpart?"
"Sanctuary in the Sky has a counterpart?" Eddie asked as he raised an eyebrow. "If your mission was the pique my curiosity than you can consider that mission successful."
"Well in that case I won't keep you waiting any longer." Theresa said as she activated another Spell Card. "I activate the Fountain in the Sky!" Theresa played the card and out of a portion of clouds emerged a huge, beautiful fountain. "And believe me, it does more than just look pretty, you see when a Light Type monster is destroyed by battle I can remove that card from play and add that monster's attack to my life-points."
"So, if I destroyed your Witch for example you'd gain 1800 life-points after removing it from play?" Eddie asked and Theresa nodded.
"Well apart from the fact that, for all intents and purposes, my Dark Witch won't be staying around." Theresa added as she picked up a card. "And to prove my point I summon the Tuner Monster Herald of Orange Light!" Theresa played the card and a small orange being appeared on the field, it had two, bird like wings, chicken legs and its face was covered by a facial mask (2/300/500). "Now I activate the Spell Card One for one, in exchange for sending a monster card from my hand to my deck I can special summon a Level 1 monster from my deck so I discard this monster…" Theresa picked up one of the last cards in her hand and sent it to the grave. "And special summon Kuribon in attack mode!" Theresa played the card and a monster that resembled Kuriboh appeared on the field, however this monster was slightly different in the fact that it had a tail with a large red bow on the end (1/300/200).
"Gee, how cute." Eddie muttered under his breath as he stared at the monster. "You have enough monsters for a Level 7 Synchro, are you going to do it?"
"As if you needed to ask, Herald it's time to give Dunames Dark Witch and Kuribon a tune up!" Theresa commanded and the three fairies leapt into the air simultaneously, Herald of Orange Light disappeared and three green rings surrounded Dunames Dark Witch and Kuribon. "I tune my Level 2 Herald of Orange Light with my Level 1 Kuribon and my Level 4 Dunames Dark Witch to Synchro Summon Ancient Sacred Wyvern in attack mode!" Theresa announced as a blight flash enveloped the field, once it faded the two duelists looked up and saw the dragon from Theresa's duel with Brandon appeared in Dunames Dark Witch's place (7/2100/2000).
"I remember that thing's effect, as soon as I lose any amount of Life-Points he'll get that damage added to his attack points!" Eddie remembered as his eyes narrowed.
"And that means that as soon as I attack my monster will be a bigger pain for you, Wyvern, attack Luster Dragon now!" Theresa commanded and the dragon opened its mouth ready to breathe fire at the much smaller dragon….
"You're not the only one who can play a trap Theresa." Eddie interrupted her as his trap card activated. "I activate my trap card Dimension Wall and since you used it to beat Chloe twenty minutes ago I doubt I'll need to explain it to you." Eddie said as the dragon's fire consumed Luster Dragon but some of the flames reflected back at Theresa.
E: 8000
T: 7800
"And now Wyvern's side effect kicks in, since your life-points are lower than mine your monster loses 200 attack points!" Eddie added and Theresa frowned as Wyvern's attack dropped to 1900. "Granted he's still pretty strong but he's a lot more manageable now."
"Don't get your hopes up." Theresa said before looking at the sole remaining card in her hand. "I'll end my turn for now." Theresa announced and Eddie drew his card.
"You may remember this card from your match against Alex, I activate my Trap Card Revival Gift and I use it to bring back White Stone of Legend!" Eddie activated the card and the white egg appeared on Eddie's side of the field, as it did two shadowy fields (3/1500/1500) appeared on Theresa's side of the field. "Now I activate my Spell Card Double Summon which lets me summon two more monsters during this turn, so I summon Hunter Dragon and One-Eyed Shield Dragon!" Eddie played the cards and two dragons appeared on the field, first up was a small black and red dragon appeared on the field (3/1700/100) and an even smaller green dragon with a bird like face (3/700/1300).
"Crap, knowing him he's about to bring out Exploder Dragonwing!" Theresa thought with a frown as Eddie pointed to his three dragons.
"White Stone of Legend, it's time to give your fellow dragons a tune up!" Eddie commanded and the egg leapt into the air, the two dragons followed it into the air and the egg broke up surrounding the two dragons with a green ring. "I tune White Stone of Legend, One-Eyed Shield Dragon and Hunter Dragon together so I can Synchro Summon Exploder Dragonwing!" Eddie announced as a bright flash washed over the field, when the flash faded the mighty dragon from Eddie's previous duels appeared on the field (7/2400/1600).
"This is bad, that thing did a number on my life-points in the Battle Royal." Theresa thought before looking at her three monsters. "Even worse, his Revival Gift trap gave him a total of three targets to choose from."
"Let's not forget White Stone's Special Effect!" Eddie added as he picked up his deck again and searched through it. "Exploder Dragonwing, attack the Gift Token on the right!" Eddie commanded and the dragon prepared its attack….
"Sorry but I came prepared, I activate Half or Nothing!" Theresa activated the card and Exploder Dragonwing hesitated. "Now you get two choices, end your battle phase or continue the attack with Exploder's attack points cut in half."
"That's an easy choice to make; I chose to end my Battle Phase and my turn." Eddie announced as Exploder Dragonwing stopped its attack and Theresa drew her card once she sent her trap to the graveyard.
"Okay, my trap brought me some time but as it stands there's no way I can beat Exploder Dragonwing unless I draw another tuner then tune it with Wyvern to bring out Avenging Knight." Theresa thought with a frown before looking at her drawn card. "But this might help." Theresa thought before playing the card. "I'm taking a page out of Chloe's playbook but what the hell? I activate Swords of Revealing Light!" Theresa played the card and Eddie shielded himself as three golden swords rained down from the sky pinning Exploder Dragonwing down. "This buys me another three turns to think of a way to deal with that Exploder Dragonwing."
"You're assuming I won't draw Breaker the Magic Warrior, Mystical Space Typhoon or Heavy Storm on my next draw." Eddie pointed out and Theresa frowned upon realizing that he was right.
"Well I'll just hope that my luck holds out in the meantime." Theresa said before motioning for Eddie to take his turn, Eddie drew a card and looked at It, Theresa took a deep breath knowing that if it was one of the cards Eddie mentioned he would be free to attack one of her tokens and that Sanctuary in the Sky wouldn't protect her life-points since they were fiends.
"Seems your lucks holding out, I'll pass for now." Eddie announced and Theresa breathed a sigh of relief as the first sword disappeared, once it did she drew her card.
"Man, I've never seen Theresa so nervous." Marcus commented as he folded his arms, Brandon nodded in agreement as Theresa looked over her hand.
"That dragon's power level is very high; on top of having a really good attack point stat its effect means it can steamroll over anything Theresa uses against it that's weaker than he is." Brandon pointed out and Lance frowned.
"Yeah, that's something I learned the hard way." Lance commented and Brandon laughed nervously. "Well it's weakness is obvious, summon something stronger than it and it's toast, unfortunately Wyvern's Theresa's best bet at that and his side effect is kicking his ass."
"That's probably why she played her fountain card; with it she can increase her life-points and Wyvern's attack points." Hamden theorized as he stroked his chin, whilst that was going on Theresa was considering her move.
"As pointless as it is I'm switching my three monsters to defense mode." Theresa announced as Wyvern and the two tokens crouched down, she set the card she drew facedown and motioned for Eddie to take his turn, seeing his cue Eddie drew his card.
"I'll save this encase she somehow gets past Dragonwing." Eddie thought before adding the card to his hand. "I'll call it a turn for now." Eddie announced and, after letting out another sigh of relief as the second sword disappeared, Theresa drew her card.
"Okay, since I don't have any intentions of attacking any time soon I activate a second copy of Cards from the Sky!" Theresa played the card and after pocketing one of her monsters she drew two cards, she took one look at them and set both cards facedown. "That ends my turn." Theresa announced and Eddie drew his card. "I activate Solemn Wishes, now each time I draw I'll gain five hundred life-points." Theresa activated her trap and grinned. "And that also means that my Wyvern will gain five hundred attack points each time I draw."
"That's assuming I don't wipe out one of your Gift Fiend Tokens first." Eddie pointed out before looking at his newly drawn card. "Unfortunately that won't be happening for another turn so I set a card facedown and end my turn, oh yeah that reminds me, your Swords' time is up!" Eddie added and once the final sword disappeared from the field Theresa sent her spell to the graveyard and drew her card at the same time causing her life points to increase to 8300 and causing Wyvern's attack to increase to 2200.
"Okay, Wyvern's stronger thanks to my trap but he still isn't powerful enough to defeat Exploder Dragonwing." Theresa thought before looking at her drawn card, "I activate Card of Sanctity to refresh our hands, increase my life-points and give Wyvern enough power to take Exploder Dragonwing down!" Theresa played the card and both duelists drew until they had six cards in their hands and once that was done Theresa's life points increased to 8800 causing Wyvern's attack to increase to 3000, as the attack rose Theresa switched her Synchro Monster to attack mode and the mighty dragon stood up. "Ancient Sacred Wyvern, attack Exploder Dragonwing!" Theresa commanded and the massive dragon prepared its attack….
"I don't usually like using this card but in this case I'll make an exception!" Eddie announced as his facedown card flipped up. "I activate my Trap Card Overworked, it's a pretty situational card but in the right circumstances it can work to your advantage and its effect is simple, when it's activated I can destroy any monsters on the field whose attack points are higher than its base attack, in other words bye-bye Ancient Sacred Wyvern!" Eddie explained as Ancient Scared Wyvern self-destructed. "Nice try but you won't get rid of Exploder Dragonwing that easily." Eddie added as he sent Overworked to the graveyard and Theresa sent Wyvern to the graveyard.
"There are still some moves I can make." Theresa said as she picked up two cards. "I set a monster in defense and a card facedown, it's your move!" Theresa announced and Eddie drew his card.
"Remind me to thank you for making this move possible, first I discard a card from my hand to Special Summon The Tricky in attack mode!" Eddie played the card after discarding a card from his hand and the mysterious Spellcaster appeared on the field (5/2000/1200). "Now for my Normal Summon I'm bringing out the tuner monster Effect Veiler in attack mode!" Eddie played the card and a woman with long green hair in ridiculously long pigtails appeared on the field, she was dressed in a grey and red jumpsuit and seemed intimidated by Theresa's tokens (1/0/0).
"And I thought my hair was long." Chloe muttered under her breath as she watched the duel, Eddie retrieved a card from his extra deck as he prepared his next move.
"I think it's time I gave Exploder Dragonwing some back up, Effect Veiler, do me a favor and give The Tricky a tune up!" Eddie commanded and the two spellcasters leapt into the air, Effect Veiler vanished and a gold ring surrounded The Tricky. "I tune Effect Veiler and The Tricky together to Synchro Summon Explosive Magician!" Eddie played the card and a bright flash enveloped the field, once it faded the magician that Eddie used to win the Battle Royal stood in The Tricky's place (6/2500/1800) and Theresa frowned as she thought back to the Battle Royal's closing moments.
"Yeah, I remember him." Theresa muttered under her breath as the monster appeared on the field. "You never did explain what his effect is."
"Worry about that later." Eddie said as he set two cards facedown and played another. "And worry about what I'm going to do now, first I activate Mystical Space Typhoon and use it to destroy Solemn Wishes!" Eddie played the card and Theresa braced herself as a tornado ripped through the field before destroying her trap. "And worry about your tokens now, Exploder Dragonwing, Explosive Magician, destroy her tokens!" Eddie commanded and the two Synchro Monsters launched their attacks at the tokens, the first token was blown out of the arena by a blast from Exploder Dragonwing's wings and the second one was destroyed by a spell from Explosive Magician, since it was in defense mode Theresa didn't suffer any damage from the first attack but the one from Dragonwing was a completely different story due to the dragon's effect.
T: 7300
E: 8000
"Chloe, do you know Explosive Magician's effect? I seem to remember Brandon mentioning that it was one of the added Synchro Monsters." Kimberly asked and Chloe shook her head.
"Have you forgotten the fact that I'm new to Synchro Monsters? I may have that card in my deck but I never got a good look at it." Chloe admitted as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "But now Theresa has two times the trouble to deal with."
"She'll find a way out of this, believe me." Brandon reassured her as Eddie motioned for Theresa to draw her card and Theresa drew her card.
"You're going to regret not attacking my facedown monster." Theresa said earning herself a confused look from Eddie, he shook his head though and activated his trap.
"Maybe I will, maybe not but here's something for you to worry about on my next turn, my Trap Card Pitch Black Power Stone!" Eddie activated the card and the black stone appeared on the field, it soon glowed with three white lights. "It's effect…"
"I know what it does, basically it gains three Spell Counters after activation and as soon as all three of them are gone the trap card goes with it." Theresa interrupted him with a smile. "Chloe used it against me in my first duel against her."
"I see as for why I'm using it well you'll find out on my next turn." Eddie said with a nod before motioning for Theresa to continue her move.
"As I was saying you are going to regret not attacking my monster and here's why!" Theresa said as she flipped up the monster and Warrior of Zera appeared on the field (4/1600/1600). "Now I sacrifice my Warrior so I can special summon Archlord Zerato in attack mode!" Theresa played the card and the Warrior turned towards the heavenly palace and walked towards it, seconds later it disappeared and in its place stood the mighty fairy (8/2800/2300).
"I know what thing does and quite frankly I'm not letting you use its effect." Eddie said as he discarded a card from his hand. "The card I just discarded? It's another Effect Veiler, why did I discard it? On top of being a tuner monster her ability is very useful, you see during my opponent's Main Phase I can discard her from my hand and target one card on my opponent's side of the field, since you only have one monster my choice should be obvious."
"And you did that why?" Theresa asked and Eddie grinned.
"Simple, now that I've targeted Zerato using Veiler's effect his own effect is negated for the rest of your turn." Eddie explained and Theresa's eyes narrowed.
"Yeah but that won't stop me from attacking, Zerato I command you to attack Exploder Dragonwing!" Theresa commanded and the fairy spread out his arms, a large bright beam flew towards Exploder Dragonwing destroying it.
E: 7600
T: 7300
"If I had known that it was that easy to defeat your best monster I would've done it in the Battle Royal!" Theresa said confidently but her confidence soon turned to confusion when she saw the grin on Eddie's face. "You're oddly happy about losing your best monster."
"Exploder Dragonwing may be strong Theresa but he isn't my best monster, in fact I'm holding my best monsters in my hand as we speak." Eddie said and Theresa's eyes narrowed as she remembered the two cards he had added to his hand earlier.
"His Blue-Eyes White Dragons, I almost forgot about them because of Dragonwing." Theresa thought before glancing at Eddie's facedown. "Since he didn't activate that thing when I attacked Dragonwing I'm guessing it has another purpose, maybe its Magician's Circle or something similar." Theresa thought before looking at her hand. "I'll set this facedown and end my turn." Theresa announced as she set the card and Eddie drew his card.
"I activate Pot of Avarice!" Eddie played the card and returned White Stone of Legend, his two Effect Veilers, Exploder Dragonwing and The Tricky to his deck, or extra deck in Exploder's case, before shuffling the deck and drawing two cards. "Now I activate Exploder Magician's effect." Eddie announced as two of the lights on Pitch Black Power Stone disappeared. "By removing two Spell Counters on my side of the field from any card I want Exploder Magician allows me to destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field and quite frankly I'm getting pretty sick of your field spell." Theresa's eyes widened as Explosive Magician cast a spell causing the palace to crumble; unbeknownst to them Chloe's eyes widened as well as she realized something.
"I…I could've won." Chloe realized as it dawn on her. "I could've beat Theresa and I'd be facing Eddie in her place….."
"Yeah if not for Theresa's Dimension Wall." Marcus agreed and Chloe shook her head. "Wait, that wasn't what you meant?"
"No, you remember when I mentioned that Explosive Magician's in my Extra Deck?" Chloe asked and the other students nodded. "If I had used Rose Warrior of Revenge and Apprentice Magician to Synchro Summon Explosive Magician instead of Gaia I could've used the same strategy Eddie just used and won the duel." Chloe said with a face palm. "How could I be so dumb?"
"Chloe it was a simple mistake, besides you said it yourself that you hadn't had a good chance to read up on Explosive Magician's effect." Brandon reassured her but Chloe remained unconvinced. "Then again you could've read up on its effect whilst you summoned it so that probably doesn't help matters." Brandon added only to get head locked by Lance.
"She really doesn't need to be reminded of her dumb mistake Brandon…..and that didn't help either come to think of it." Lance realized as he let go of Brandon's head. "Ah well, you'll know better the next time you duel her." Lance said and Chloe smiled meekly.
"And since I no longer have a need for Pitch Black Power Stone I'm transferring its last counter to Explosive Magician." Eddie announced as the final light on the stone, not to mention the stone itself, disappeared and the light reappeared on Explosive Magician's armor. "All that leaves is your Fountain in the Sky Spell Card but that's easy enough to take care off without destroying it, I activate my face down card Imperial Iron Wall!" Eddie activated the card and much to Theresa's surprise the arena was surrounded by an Iron Wall, just small enough so that the crowd could still see the action but large enough to prevent escape. "Its effect is simple, as long as this trap card remains on the field neither of us can remove any cards from play."
"In other words it renders my Spell Card useless." Theresa commented and Eddie nodded to confirm it, without missing a beat Theresa activated the card she set last turn. "In the case I chain Imperial Iron Wall with Emergency Provisions, by sending Fountain in the Sky to the graveyard this Spell Card will allow me to replenish my life-points by a total of one thousand." Theresa explained as the fountain disappeared from the field and her life-points increased to 8300.
"Good thinking, all you need to worry about now is Archlord Zerato." Eddie complemented her and Theresa grinned.
"Considering he's stronger than Explosive Magician I don't think I'll have to worry about him too much." Theresa pointed out and Eddie grinned.
"Not for long, first I summon Magician's Valkyrie in attack mode!" Eddie played the card and the brunette spell caster appeared on the field (4/1600/1800). "Now I activate a Spell Card called Magician's Unite, how this Spell Card works is simple you see first it requires that I have two Spellcasters on my side of the field in attack mode, now that I've fulfilled that requirement all I need to do is target Explosive Magician and his attack increases to 3000." Eddie announced as his two magicians started glowing and Explosive Magician's attack increased to 3000. "However as a side effect of this card Magician's Valkyrie can't attack for the rest of the turn but that doesn't concern me, Explosive Magician I command you to attack Archlord Zerato now!" Eddie commanded and the magician cast a Spell at the fairy, the fairy screamed in pain before shattering.
E: 7600
T: 8100
"Like I said Magicians Unite's side effect means that Valkyrie can't follow up the attack so I end my turn." Eddie announced and Theresa drew her card.
"You seem to have forgotten the fact that Valkyria's effect means I can't target any other Spellcasters on the field for an attack." Theresa pointed out as she played a card. "And since she only has an above average attack she's a perfect target for my next monster, I summon Dark Valkyria in attack mode!" Theresa played the card and a woman appeared on the field, however unlike Theresa's other monsters this one was dressed in black and had black wings, her skin was purple and she had blonde hair (4/1800/1050).
"A Gemini monster, am I supposed to be impressed? You won't be able to use her effect for another turn and by then she'll already be destroyed." Eddie pointed out and Theresa frowned before looking at her facedown card.
"If this works than Dark Valkyria will be the least of his worries." Theresa thought before pointing to her monster. "Valkyria, attack Magician's Valkyrie!" Theresa commanded and the female angel took flight before raising her hand, a ball of dark energy appeared in her hands which she launched at Magician's Valkyrie destroying her.
E: 7400
T: 8100
"That ends my turn." Theresa announced and Eddie drew his card, without missing a beat Theresa activated her trap card and the hologram flipped up revealing it to be Thunder of Ruler. "Looks like I'll be using Valkyria's effect after all." Theresa said as she sent her trap to the graveyard, Eddie frowned at this but shook his head.
"Well in that case I'll do one thing, namely activate my own Card of Sanctity!" Eddie played the drawn card and both duelists drew until they had six cards in their hands. "Actually make that three things, first I'll use my own Emergency Provisions on Imperial Iron Wall since I don't need it anymore." Eddie played the card and the trap card vanished as his life-points increased to 8400. "Now I'm throwing down a couple of facedowns and ending my turn."
"Who says "Throwing down a facedown" nowadays?" Marcus wondered as he scratched his head, Theresa meanwhile drew her card and pointed at Dark Valkyria.
"Now I activate Dark Valkyria's Gemini mode and effect, for starters I can add a Spell Counter to her and in exchange she gains 300 attack points." Theresa said and Dark Valkyria glowed as her attack points rose to 2100. "However in exchange for removing that Spell Counter from Valkyria I can destroy one monster on the field!" Theresa said and once Valkyria's attack dropped back down to 1800 she took to the air again…
"I chain Dark Valkyria's effect with my trap card Interdimensional Matter Transport!" Eddie interrupted the effect and Explosive Magician vanished from the field, seconds later the dark ball of energy from Dark Valkyria impacted the ground beneath Explosive Magician's previous spot. "Sure, my life-points will take damage but I'll get Explosive Magician back at the end of the turn!" Eddie said and as Dark Valkyria returned to her spot and Theresa frowned.
"Like you said though, I can still attack." Theresa said as she pointed towards Valkyria. "Dark Valkyria, attack his life-points directly!" Theresa commanded and the fairy took flight again…
"And this is where my other facedown card comes in, GO DIMENSION WALL!" Eddie activated the card and the ball of energy from Dark Valkyria bounced off an invisible forcefield and collided with Theresa who grunted in pain as the attack hit.
E: 8400
T: 6300
"Are you done?" Eddie asked and Theresa looked at the rest of her hand as Dark Valkyria landed in front of her, she set a three cards facedown and motioned for Eddie to take his turn, Eddie nodded and drew his card as Explosive Magician returned to the field. "Explosive Magician, attack Dark Valkyria now!" Eddie commanded and the magician prepared his spell…..
"Sorry but no, I counter your attack with Negate Attack!" One of Theresa's facedown cards flipped up as she interrupted him and the spell was blocked by a forcefield. "Nice try though."
"Thanks, well since there's nothing else I can do I'll end my turn." Eddie announced as Theresa sent her trap to the graveyard, once Theresa did so she drew her card.
"I play the Equip Spell Scroll of Bewitchment; this allows me to change Dark Valkyria's attribute to a Light Type." Theresa announced and Eddie raised an eyebrow at that move. "I'll call it a turn at that." Theresa announced and Eddie drew his card.
"Explosive Magician, attack Dark Valkyria!" Eddie commanded and Theresa grinned before discarding a card from her hand, Eddie didn't notice and Explosive Magician launched his attack.
"You're going to regret that." Theresa said and Eddie blinked in confusion just before the transparent image of a golden haired fairy flew into Dark Valkyria, the fairy glowed briefly and, much to Eddie's shock, her attack skyrocketed to 4300, before he could do anything however Dark Valkyria evaded the attack by flying high in the sky, she quickly followed it up with a ball of dark energy that effortlessly destroyed Explosive Magician.
E: 6600
T: 6300
"What the hell just happened, where the hell did those extra attack points come from?" Eddie demanded and Theresa grinned.
"You know that card I discarded just before the attack hit? It's a monster called Honest (4/1100/1900) and his effect can only be activated when a Light Type monster I control engages in battle, by discarding him from my hand I can add the opponent's monster's attack points to the attack points of the opponent's monster." Theresa explained before folding her arms. "That's why I played Scroll of Bewitchment last turn, you see under normal circumstances Dark Valkyria is a Dark Type monster and if it weren't for my spell she wouldn't have been eligible for Honest's effect." Theresa added and Eddie's eyes narrowed.
"I'll give you credit, that was a smart move." Eddie complemented her before sending Explosive Magician to the graveyard and quickly setting the monster he had drawn. "That's all for me." Eddie announced and Theresa drew her card.
"Well, at least she's gotten rid of Explosive Magician and narrowed the gap between her's and Eddie's life-points." Marcus commented and Brandon nodded in agreement.
"Yeah but we all know that Eddie's got nastier monsters waiting in the wings." Brandon pointed out with a frown. "At least she doesn't have to worry about Exploder Dragonwing anymore." Brandon added.
"I sacrifice Dark Valkyria so I can summon something stronger, namely Airknight Parshaff in attack mode!" Theresa swapped out the cards and Dark Valkyria disappeared from the field, in her place stood the mighty angel from her previous duels with this deck (5/1900/1400). "But why stop there?"
"Yeah, why should you stop there, oh wait, maybe you should because you've used up your Normal Summon for this turn?" Eddie pointed out and Theresa grinned.
"True but what I've got in mind is a Special Summon, you see my next monster requires that I tribute Airknight Parshaff in order to summon him so bye-bye Parshaff." Theresa played the card and Airknight Parshaff vanished from the field, in his place stood a much taller, blue version of him with two huge wings and he was wielding wielding a sword and shield. "Hello Neo-Parshaff, the Sky Paladin (7/2300/2000)."
"Let me guess, he shares regular Parshaff's abilities?" Eddie asked and Theresa nodded. "He seems to be a lot of work just for a slightly stronger version of your previous monster."
"Well he does have another effect but that requires the presence of Sanctuary in the Sky on the field." Theresa explained and Eddie nodded in understanding. "Basically if I had Sanctuary in the Sky on the field you could think of him as a stronger version of Ancient Sacred Wyvern." Theresa added before pointing at Parshaff. "Parshaff, attack his defense!" Theresa commanded and the fairy charged towards the facedown monster and slashed it down the middle, the monster was revealed to be Troop Dragon (2/700/800) which was quickly destroyed.
E: 5100
T: 6300
"That move may have put you in the lead Theresa but now I can use Troop Dragon's effect." Eddie said as he picked up his deck and searched through it, he found the card he was looking for and played it, as soon as he played it another Troop Dragon appeared on the field in defense mode.
"Fine by me, you set them up and I'll knock them down just as quickly." Theresa pointed out with a grin before looking at the rest of her hand. "However before I end my turn I'll use Parshaff's ability that allows me to draw a new card now that I've inflicted damage using him." Theresa added as she drew a card from her deck. "You're turn." Theresa informed him and Eddie drew his card,
"I summon the Tuner Monster Delta Flyer in attack mode!" Eddie played the card and the dinosaur like dragon appeared on the field ready for battle (3/1500/800). "Now I use his effect to increase Troop Dragon's Level by 1." Eddie added and just like he said Troop Dragon's level went up to 3. "Now I think it's time I gave Troop Dragon a tune up!" Eddie announced and the two dragons took flight, Delta Flyer vanished and three light green rings surrounded Troop Dragon. "I tune Delta Flyer with Troop Dragon to Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier in attack mode!" Eddie played the card and in Delta Flyer's place stood a new dragon, this one however was ice blue and actually seemed to be made of ice (6/2300/1400).
"Nice try but if that thing attacks Parshaff they'll both be destroyed." Theresa pointed out with a grin and Eddie shook his head.
"Not my concern, you see Brionac has a very useful effect." Eddie said before discarding a card from his hand. "Basically all I need to do is discard one card from my hand and I can force Parshaff to return to your hand." Eddie announced and Theresa's eyes widened as Brionac's wings flapped at Parshaff causing an icy wind to fly towards him, Parshaff slowly froze over before shattering. "Best part is? I can discard any number of cards from my hand and send the same number of cards from your side of the field to your hand."
"How is that card even legal? That's one of the most broken effects I've seen." Theresa protested and Eddie frowned.
"Well if it's any consolation Brionac's on the limited list though several of my past opponents have been campaigning for its status to be upgraded to Forbidden." Eddie added before picking up another card. "Mostly because of combos like this, I activate the Spell Card De-Synchro!" Eddie played the card and Brionac disappeared, soon afterwards Delta Flyer and Troop Dragon returned to the field. "Its effect is pretty much the same as De-Fusion only it only works on Synchro Monsters."
"In that case why not wait a turn before activating it? You could've sacrificed them to bring out one of your Blue-Eyes White Dragons that way?" Theresa asked and Eddie grinned.
"Why? Because there's more than one way to bring out a Level 8 monster, I activate the Spell Card Dragonic Tactics!" Eddie played the card and Delta Flyer and Troop Dragon disappeared from the field. "In exchange for sacrificing two dragon type monsters I control I can special summon one Level 8 Dragon type monster from my deck, I think you can guess which one I'm going with." Eddie said and Theresa's eyes widened as it dawned on her.
"You're summoning the Blue-Eyes White Dragon." Theresa realized and Eddie nodded before picking up his deck and searching through it, he found the card he was looking for and once he played it the mighty dragon appeared on the field with a roar (8/3000/2500).
"Huh, maybe I should look into getting that card." Marcus said as he rubbed his chin in thought; however it wasn't long before he was also rubbing his head in pain courtesy of a punch from Brandon.
"This is hardly the time to be thinking of ways to improve your deck Marcus." Brandon said as Marcus groaned.
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack her life-points directly with White Lightning!" Eddie commanded and the dragon opened its mouth to prepare its attack, the attack hit and Theresa groaned.
E: 5100
T: 3300
"All I'll need is one more turn and I'll retain the championship." Eddie said confidently before setting a card facedown and motioning for her to take her turn, Theresa drew her card and played it as soon as she was able too.
"I activate Pot of Avarice!" Theresa said before retrieving Airknight Parshaff, Dark Valkyria, Herald of Orange Light, Dunames Dark Witch and Ancient Sacred Wyvern and returned them to her deck, or extra deck in Wyvern's case, before drawing two cards and sending Avarice to the graveyard, her eyes widened when she saw the cards she had drawn with Avarice's effect.
"You draw something good?" Eddie asked when he saw the look on Theresa's face, Theresa looked up and nodded.
"No, I drew the card that will win me the duel and the tournament!" Theresa said before playing the card. "This is for you Andreas." Theresa thought as the hologram of the card flipped up. "I activate the Ritual Spell Card Shinato's Ark."
"Oh crap!" Eddie shouted as he realized what was about to happen, the giant ark appeared on the field alongside Neo Parshaff and a second Honest, the two monsters where absorbed into the ark which started to break apart revealing the mighty fairy in all his glory (8/3300/3000). "You've had Shinato, King of a Higher Plane in your fairy deck all this time?
"That's right, but I haven't had a chance to use it since I got it earlier in the tournament." Theresa said as she looked up at her monster proudly. "But that's not all I'm doing." Theresa said as she played one of the last cards in her hand. "I activate Block Attack to force Blue-Eyes White Dragon into defense mode!" Theresa played the card and the mighty dragon reluctantly knelt down in front of the fairy.
"But that means that Blue-Eyes White Dragon's attack will come out of my life-points as soon as Shinato attacks!" Eddie realized as his eyes widened.
"That's right." Theresa said before pointing at Shinato. "Shinato, attack Blue-Eyes White Dragon now!" Theresa commanded and the fairy put his hands together, a large ball of white light formed in between his hands which he launched at Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the dragon roared in pain before it was vaporized.
E: 2100
T: 3300
"It's down to wire Bob; Theresa has a monster on her side of the field that can wipe out either of their life-points depending on what happens next!" Bill said over the cheering crowd and Bob nodded in agreement.
"This has been a very exciting duel so far Bill, no matter who wins they'd definitely would have earned it!" Bob added as Theresa motioned for Eddie to take his turn, he responded to this by drawing his card quickly.
"I'll set two cards facedown." Eddie set the card down and the facedown card appeared on the field. "That ends my turn."
"And that also ends the duel, and your reign as champion!" Theresa said as she drew a card. "Shinato, end the duel and win me the championship now!" Theresa commanded and the mighty fairy prepared its attack….
"My title isn't going anywhere; I activate my trap card Magic Cylinder!" Eddie activated the trap and the two cylinders appeared on the field…..
"Yeah, sorry but you're wrong, I chain Magic Cylinder with my Trap Card Dark Bribe!" Theresa activated the trap and grinned. "This negates and destroys Magic Cylinder whilst allowing you to draw an extra card in exchange, not that it matters…."
"You're right, it's doesn't matter!" Eddie interrupted her as he activated his other trap. "I chain Dark Bribe with Trap Jammer, since I activated this during your battle phase Dark Bribe's effect is negated and the trap is destroyed." Eddie said and Theresa's eyes widened as Dark Bribe's hologram shattered and the energy ball from Shinato entered one of the jars. "Theresa, for what's its worth, thanks for the great match."
"I'm saying the same to you." Theresa said with a somewhat disappointed nod as the blast came out of the other jar and hit her in the chest.
E: 2100
T: 0000
"There you have it folks, the Battle City Championship has been retained by Eddie Roberts!" Bill announced and the crowd went wild, Theresa gathered up her cards and returned them to her deck as did Eddie, as soon as he was done with that Eddie approached Theresa before offering her a handshake.
"Like I said, thanks for the great match." Eddie said as he extended his hand out, Theresa hesitated before accepting the handshake. "Why didn't you use your other facedown card though?" Eddie asked upon seeing that the card was still in her duel disk, she retrieved the card and held it up revealing it to be Magic Jammer.
"That wouldn't really help me, would it?" Theresa pointed out before returning the card to her deck, Eddie nodded in agreement before hopping off the stage and offering to help her down, Theresa responded by simply hopping off the stage.
"Man, we won't be going home with any titles." Marcus said with a groan, Brandon sighed in resignation as he leaned back in his chair.
"Yeah, we got a tough break." Brandon agreed as he folded his arms, he turned to Martin who was rubbing his chin. "So are we going straight back to Duel Academy?"
"No, we'll be heading back Monday morning; we figured we may as well give you kids a chance to relax." Jeff answered for Martin before smiling. "But guys, seriously if I where you I wouldn't worry about the lack of titles you guys have won, you all did a fantastic job of representing Duel Academy and you should be proud of that fact."
"Yeah, I guess." Brandon said before realization hit him. "Besides we can use the extra two days in New York to wrap up one more lose end."
"Finishing off the guys who revived the Orichalcos?" Lance asked and Brandon nodded. "Man, all they've got left is the creepy guy in a robe, this will be a piece of cake."
"Or he's easily the best duelist off the lot." Brandon pointed out with a frown. "Let's not worry about it just yet; we still have to locate their hideout."
"At the very least we should retrieve Andreas's soul card from Otto, not like he'll need it." Lance added and the other duelists nodded in agreement.
"We'll pick it up on the way back to the hotel." Jeff said and the other teachers nodded in confirmation, unbeknownst to them one of Michael's minions, disguised as a security guard, was listening in and reporting it to Michael.
"Yes sir, they should be making their move soon." The minion said as he walked down the halls. "Do you want me to follow them?"
"No, one of my other minions will do that." Michael said sternly. "As for you, return to base, we'll need all the men we can get for the next part of the plan." Michael added before hanging up.