"That last match went exactly as expected." Thomas thought as he walked down the hallways towards the arena, it was almost time for his tag team match and he had spent the time preparing his deck. "If that bitch thinks that she'll beat me again she's sorely mistaken! My deck is much more powerful than it was back then!"
"There you are." Thomas looked up and saw Rajin waiting for him with his Duel Disk in hand. "I was waiting for you and we're going to be late because of it!"
"No, we won't." Thomas said simply as he walked up to him. "If you actually paid attention to the time you'd realize that there is five minutes left on the clock, besides I've been using the time to prepare for the match that we'll inevitably win."
"You'd be foolish to underestimate our opponents." Rajin said as the two boys entered the arena and saw the two female Osiris Red Students waiting for them. Ora had long dark brown hair in a ponytail and blue eyes behind a pair of reading glasses whilst Sarah had shoulder length dark blue hair and green eyes. "After all, weren't you beaten by an Osiris Red student?"
"Rajin, if you want this partnership to work you will refrain from referring to that incident!" Thomas snapped at him as the two boys climbed onto the arena. "Now let's make this quick, I have a tournament to win!"
"You'll be lucky to make it past the first round if that's how you treat your partner." Sarah scoffed as she and Ora activated their duel disks and Thomas and Rajin did likewise. "And as much as you want to pretend that the duel never happened it did and Chloe beat you cleanly!"
"That bitch got lucky!" Thomas growled as he drew his opening hand. "You two on the other hand will be lucky to survive the first five turns!"
"Those are some bold words coming from someone who hasn't won a single duel since he lost to Chloe." Ora responded as she, Sarah and Rajin drew their opening hands. "Off course I could make a joke about you finishing any encounter with a woman early but I think your partner's a little underage for such humor."
"Shut up and decide the order already!" Thomas snapped at them and Sarah smirked.
"Fine, unless you don't believe in ladies first I'll go first followed by Rajin then Ora and finally the raging jackass over there." Sarah commented and Rajin and Ora nodded in agreement, Thomas on the other hand just shot her a death glare for the comment as she drew her first card.
"So, what do we know about Sarah and Ora?" Chloe asked as she watched the duel on Chelsea's laptop, she was at it as she felt that the crowd around Tyler's monitor was getting too cramped for her tastes.
"Joined at the same time you, Chelsea and Lance did but they've apparently been friends since before then." Theresa answered as she turned to them. "As for their decks, Ora ran an Agents deck whilst Sarah ran an Ice Barrier deck."
"Did you say Ice Barrier? Didn't Lance's opponent during the Duel Spirit Duels run one of those cards?" Chelsea asked and Theresa nodded.
"Yeah he did, as for Sarah and Ora I don't know if they are running the same deck nowadays, the Ice Barriers got hit hard when Brionic and Trishula got banned and Agents is a tricky deck to run." Theresa responded with a nod. "Sarah was lucky in the fact that she joined DA before those cards got banned but now? She would've been in big trouble if she had joined when the test duels where held two weeks ago."
"That reminds me, when are the new students joining?" Chloe asked and Theresa shrugged.
"Their arrival at the academy was delayed a bit when the Orichalcos Duelists started attacking students on the island but they should be joining this weekend." Theresa responded before turning to Andreas. "You hear that Nicola got accepted into Osiris Red?"
"I did and I'm happy for her, that's the best place for her at her current skill level." Andreas responded before frowning. "And no, I'm not happy for her because we're dating because we're not."
"Sure you're not, just like Chloe isn't dating Lance!" Chelsea teased him ignoring the glares she was getting from Lance, Andreas and Chloe. "Let's focus on the duel in any case!"
"I start my turn with a Spell Card called Moray of Greed. I shuffle two Water Type Monsters into my deck…." Sarah said as she picked up the two cards and shuffled them into her deck. "And I draw three cards." Sarah added as she drew her cards.
"What do you want, a medal?" Thomas asked as he rolled his eyes. "We all know you run ice barriers!"
"And how is that any different from you running X-Sabers?" Sarah asked and Thomas growled at her. "Anyway I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode and that ends my turn." Sarah announced and Rajin drew his card.
"I've definitely had stronger opening hands." Rajin thought as he glanced over the contents of his hand. "I set two cards facedown." Rajin announced as the two facedown cards appeared on the field. "And I end my turn at that."
"I'd normally question that but since Rajin runs Spirits any monster he summons would just return to his hand," Ora thought as she drew her card. "My move and I summon Agent of Wisdom - Mercury to the field!" Ora played the card and an angel with green skin appeared on the field, she had wide blue wings, dark blue hair and was wearing a dark blue dress (4/0/1700).
"Why summon a monster with no attack points in attack mode?" Rajin asked and Ora shook her head.
"I don't know why didn't you summon any monsters during your turn?" Ora asked and Rajin frowned once he realized that she had a point. "I end my turn with two facedown cards.
"About time, now let me show you how a REAL duelist operates." Thomas said snidely as he drew his card. "I activate the Spell Card known as Reinforcement of the Army, given how common this card is I'm sure that I don't need to explain its effect." Thomas played the card he drew and picked up his deck, once he found the cad he was looking for he added it to his hand and shuffled his deck before sending his Spell Card to the graveyard. "Now I play another popular card, Terra Forming."
"Here comes Saber Vault." Ora commented and Sarah nodded in agreement as Thomas retrieved the card from his deck and added it to his hand.
"Well my deck would be incomplete without this card." Thomas responded as he shuffled his deck. "But as you'll soon see my deck is much more powerful than it was when I was humiliated by your dorm-mate, I play the Spell Card Double Summon!" Thomas played the card and picked up two cards. "And I use its effect to summon two Level 3 Monsters from my hand so I summon XX-Saber Emersblade and XX-Saber Fulhelmknight!" Thomas played the cards and the blonde tuner monster appeared on the field (3/1300/1000) followed by the insect like warrior (3/1300/800), "Now I could go for a Level Six Synchro Summon but I have grander plans than that, such as constructing an overlay network!"
"Wait, what?" Sarah thought as the two monsters dissolved into white orbs of light. "I thought your deck was Synchro Centric."
"It was when I faced Chloe Richardson." Thomas said as he spat to the side. "But now I run both Synchros and XYZs, let me demonstrate by XYZ Summoning M-X-Saber Invoker!" Thomas played the card and a new monster appeared in Fulhelmknight's place, this one was a mechanical humanoid bull with a red cape and helmet that was wielding a large sword (Rank: 3/1600/500). "He may not look like much but then again neither does most of Osiris Red!"
"Do us a favor and save your snide comments." Ora growled as she glared at the Obelisk Blue student. "Don't forget it was an Osiris Red Student that beat you!"
"If you wish to avoid my anger then refrain from referring to that incident any further!" Thomas snapped at her before pointing to Invoker. "Next I activate Invoker's effect, I detach Fulhelmknight to Special Summon a Level 4 Earth Warrior or Beast Warrior type monster from my deck in face up defense position such as X-Saber Anu Piranha!" Thomas played the card and another female X-Saber monster appeared on the field, she had blonde hair like Fulhelmknight but her face was covered by a red mask and she was wearing red and black armor whilst wielding two swords (4/1800/1100).
"Gee, I wonder what effects she has." Sarah muttered under her breath as the female warrior crouched down in defense mode.
"She has none. Anu is the only X-Saber that happens to be a Normal Monster." Thomas said before playing another card. "But you don't need to worry about her for long. I use Monster Reborn to bring back Fulhelmknight!" Thomas played the card and the Tuner Monster returned to the field. "And this time I have every intention of using her in a Synchro Summon!"
"You're doing a XYZ and a Synchro Summon in the same turn?!" Ora asked as the two monsters leapt into the air.
"Congratulations, you have decoded my strategy too late to do anything about it!" Thomas responded as Fulhelmknight dissolved into three Synchro Rings that surrounded Anu. "In any case I use my monsters to Synchro Summon the mighty X-Saber Souza!" Thomas played the card and once the flash faded a new monster emerged on the field, this one was a tall and muscular man who wasn't wearing a shirt but was wearing a tattered cape ridiculously high pants and was wielding twin swords (7/2500/1600). "And I end my turn with a facedown card." Thomas announced and Sarah let out a sigh of relief before drawing her card.
"Man, I never thought he'd end his turn." Sarah thought before looking at her hand. "Sorry to disappoint you Thomas but that Synchro isn't staying around!" Sarah said before playing a card. "I activate Magic Triangle of the Ice Barrier, all I need to do is reveal three Ice Barrier monsters with different names in my hand….." Sarah trailed off as she revealed the three monsters, Prior, Dai-Sojo and Defender of the Ice Barrier. "And in exchange I can destroy one monster my opponent controls and Special Summon an Ice Barrier monster from my hand!" Sarah added as ice started to form on Souza's body…..
"And I chain it with Forbidden Lance!" Thomas activated his Spell Card and to Sarah's surprise Souza's attack dropped to 1900 as he broke free of the ice. "It costs him 800 attack points but it also causes him to not be affected by Spell or Trap Cards for the rest of the turn."
"Damn it!" Sarah cursed herself before glancing at her hand. "I can still Special Summon and I use its effect to Special Summon Dai-Sojo of the Ice Barrier in defense mode!" Sarah played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, it was a man who was wearing a massive hat that concealed his head, a black jumper and blue dress pants (6/1600/2200). "And as long as this guy's on the field he and the other Ice Barrier Monsters can't be destroyed by Spell or Trap Card Effects."
"That was a wasted effort." Thomas scoffed as the monster crouched down in defense mode. "His defense points may be formidable but Souza can easily destroy him."
"Yeah, I noticed." Sarah grunted as she looked at her trap cards. "Just need to hope that my traps will be enough to protect him." Sarah thought before looking over her hand. "I end my turn." Sarah announced and Rajin drew his card.
"My move and I summon Susa Soldier!" Rajin played the card and a Silver Haired warrior appeared on the field, he was wearing silver armor and was wielding a sword (4/2000/1600). "The attack damage you'll take will be cut in half by Susa Soldier's effect…" Rajin trailed off as the soldier got ready for battle. "But he's still more than enough to destroy Mercury!" Rajin added as the soldier charged towards the fairy.
"I may be in Osiris Red but I'm not stupid enough to leave a monster that has no attack points in attack mode without a backup plan!" Ora said as her trap card flipped up. "I activate Draining Shield, this negates the attack and as an added bonus Susa Soldier's attack points will be added to my life-points!" Ora announced as the sword bounced off of an invisible wall increasing Ora's life-points to ten-thousand."
"You idiot, you gave them the lead!" Thomas snapped at Rajin who ignored him.
"I move into my second main phase and I'll activate my Trap Card Spirit's Invitation!" Rajin said as his trap card flipped up. "But I'll explain its effect when the time comes, which coincidentally is now! I end my turn which means that Susa Soldier returns to my hand." Rajin said as he picked up the card and Susa Soldier vanished from the field. "And with Spirit's Invitation's effect I can return one card on the opponent's side of the field to their hand, I believe I will target Sarah's Ice Barrier Monster!" Rajin explained and Sarah reluctantly returned the monster to her hand as Ora drew her card.
"Good, I was hoping you'd target her monster." Ora commented ignoring the annoyed look from Sarah. "I summon The Agent of Mystery – Earth in attack mode!" Ora played the card and a young fairy with pale skin appeared on the field, she was wearing a green white and blue dress, had green and blue wings and was carrying a staff (2/1000/800). "And when she's summoned her effect activates which lets me add another Agent Monster from my deck to my hand as long as it's not another copy of Earth!"
"Ah yes, she is the Agents archetype's searcher." Thomas said with a yawn as Ora searched through her deck, once she found the card that she was looking for she added it to her hand. "Am I supposed to be impressed?"
"Maybe this will impress you, I play my own Double Summon card and I use it to summon The Agent of Creation – Venus!" Ora played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, it was a third fairy with long blonde hair that was wearing a green and white dress and had golden wings (3/1600/0). "Now I activate her effect, I pay 500 life-points to summon one Mystical Shine Ball from my deck!" Ora played the card and once her life-points dropped to 9500 a small ball of light appeared on the field (2/500/500).
"You're throwing balls at an X-Saber player?!" Thomas said with a laugh and Ora glared at him. "This will be easy!"
"You're about to eat those words because The Agent of Mystery – Earth is also a Tuner Monster!" Ora announced and Thomas quickly stopped laughing as Earth, Venus and the Mystical Shine Ball leapt into the air. "I tune my three monsters together to Synchro Summon Ancient Sacred Wyvern!"
"Do you realize what your foolish move has done?!" Thomas yelled at Rajin once he recognized the monster name, once the bright flash faded a new monster appeared on the field, the dragon that Theresa used in her Battle City Semi-Final match against Brandon to be precise (7/2100/2000).
"Tell me Thomas, how was I supposed to know that she had that thing in her extra deck?!" Rajin countered as Wyvern's attack shot up to 3600 thanks to its effect. "I've never even seen her duel before!"
"And that will cost you two the match." Ora said before playing a card. "But just encase I'm activating my Sanctuary in the Sky Field Spell!" Ora announced as the scenery changed to the magnificent castle in the sky, Thomas merely scoffed as he stared down the field spell.
"Have you forgotten that I have Saber Vault in my hand?" Thomas asked with a grin. "All I'll need to do is play it and your strategy will go out the window!"
"Actually, no, I didn't forget." Ora responded as she played the last card in her hand. "That's why I'm playing the Field Barrier Spell Card! Now you'll have to get past this barrier if you want to play your field spell." Ora announced as the field was covered by a green barrier. "Now onto business, Wyvern, attack Rajin's life-points directly!" Ora commanded and the dragon breathed fire at Rajin bringing his life-points down to 4400. "I'll end my turn at that." Ora announced and Thomas drew his card.
"I knew I should've activated Saber Vault when I had the chance." Thomas thought before looking at the card in his hand. "Perfect!" Thomas thought before playing the card. "First I activate a Spell Card, Forbidden Magic!" Thomas played the card which depicted several well-known Spellcasters casting a Spell. "This can only be activated if I have at least one Spell Card in my hand and four cards in my hand, since my hand fulfills the requirements I merely need to return said spell card to my deck." Thomas said before shuffling Saber Vault into his deck. "And I get to draw two cards." Thomas added as he drew twice.
"I think it's pretty obvious that the card he just sent was Saber Vault." Ora thought as Thomas looked at his new cards.
"I summon XX-Saber Darksoul to the field!" Thomas played the card and the Grim Reaper like figure appeared on the field (3/100/100). "But my monster won't be staying around, I tribute it to activate Souza's effect…..or should I say one of his effects?" Thomas asked as Dark Soul disappeared from the field. "As long as I tribute another X-Saber monster on my side of the field Souza gains one of the following effects, either he's unaffected by trap cards for the rest of the turn or the effect I'm going with, at the beginning of the Battle Step if this monster battles an opponent's monster the attacked monster is destroyed and I think I'll target Wyvern!" Thomas announced as Souza charged towards the dragon…..
"You didn't think it would be that easy, would you?" Ora asked as she nodded towards Sarah.
"I activate my Trap Card Dimensional Prison!" Sarah activated the trap and Thomas's eyes widened as Souza was sucked onto a portal. "Now that your monster's removed from play we've practically punched out tickets through to the next round!"
"I have better monsters to choose from!" Thomas grunted as he looked over his hand. "First I enter my Second Main Phase and detach Invoker's last overlay unit to Special Summon Bull Blader in attack mode!" Thomas played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, to put it simply it was a Minotaur carrying a large sword (4/1600/1200). "Now I shift Invoker to defense mode and end my turn which activates Dark Soul's effect, with it I can search through my deck and add another X-Saber to my hand." Thomas picked up his deck and searched through it, once he found the card he was looking for he added it to his hand.
"That's not the only effect that activates!" Ora said as Mercury started glowing. "If my Agent of Wisdom is on the field from my standby phase to my opponent's end phase I get to draw one card." Ora said as she drew a card and added it to her hand.
"Huh, I don't remember seeing any non X-Sabers on his deck list." Brandon commented as he watched Sarah draw her card via the stream.
"Yeah but then again he said that he's updated his deck." Chloe pointed out with a frown. "Maybe he's included generic Beast Warrior and Warrior support?"
"That's the thing. Bull Blader isn't a Beast-Warrior Support card, it's not even a Beast-Warrior for that matter it's a Warrior Type Monster and it's not even a Warrior Support Card." Andreas chimed in and Chloe turned to him. "But at the same time it has a powerful effect."
"It would have to considering it's a monster with 1600 attack and 1200 defense points in today's game." Lance responded as he folded his arms. "Especially since he summoned that thing in attack mode, it's like he wants either Ora or Sarah to attack!"
"I don't like this Thomas could have all sorts of nasty moves up his sleeves now that he has that Bull Blader on the field." Sarah thought before looking at her drawn card and adding it to her hand. "What's worse is that I don't have a method of getting Dai-Sojo, but I can get rid of Rajin's trap!" Sarah thought before playing the Spell Card. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon and I use it to destroy Spirit's Invitation!" Sarah announced and Rajin shielded himself as the tornado blew towards his trap destroying it.
"That may be but I have another trick!" Rajin said as he played the card. "If I card with "Spirit" in its name is destroyed by a card effect I can Special Summon Spirit Shaman in defense mode!" Rajin played the card and an old, Asian man appeared on the field, he had a long flowing white beard and wore clothes that suggested that he belonged to a tribe of some sorts (1/0/2000). "Before you ask he isn't a Sprit Monster and he has another effect but I'll get to that later."
"Probably has something to do with keeping Spirit Monsters on the field." Sarah thought to herself before picking up a card. "I set a monster in defense mode and two cards facedown to end my turn." Sarah announced and once the set monster appeared on the field Rajin drew his card.
"Anyone heard of that Sprit Shaman card?" Chelsea asked as she scratched her head in confusion. "I've never heard of it."
"Well I've heard rumors that I2 where releasing new Spirits support cards and Spirit Shaman was among the names listed." Tyler responded as he watched the duel. "I've heard nothing about them actually being released but I may look into it after the duel is done."
"I'm going to take a guess and say that the rumors didn't say what the effects where?" Chloe asked and Tyler nodded. "Well if it was released then I guess we know what one of the effects is."
"Chelsea, you mind if I use your laptop?" Brandon asked and Chelsea turned to him with a frown on her face. "Don't worry, I'm not going to access any files, I just want to look up the Spirit Shaman card for myself."
"Fine but I want to keep an eye on you just encase." Chelsea sighed in resignation before standing up and letting Brandon take her seat. "Okay, shouldn't take me too long to get to I2's official website."
"I hope so, this is a fast laptop." Chelsea responded as Brandon accessed the Firefox window. "You mind using a new tab to access it?"
"I was going to anyway." Brandon responded as he opened up a new tab on the browser. "I'm guessing I2's website is in your browsing history?" Brandon asked and Chelsea nodded.
"It's my move and I tribute Spirit Shaman in order to summon the mighty Great Long Nose in to the field attack mode!" Rajin played the card and Spirit Shaman disappeared from the field, in his place stood a tall, red humanoid beast with a long flowing white beard and matching hair that was wearing a long grey robe and, as the name suggested, he had a long nose (5/1900/1700). "I realize that this monster doesn't look like much."
"That's the understatement of the century!" Ora chimed in as she folded her arms. "A Level Five Spirit Monster with 1900 attack points? It had better have a damn good effect."
"Oh, it does, when Great Long Nose inflicts Battle Damage you have to skip your next draw phase." Rajin said before playing another card. "So I equip him with Big Bang Shot!"
"Wait, what!?" Sarah and Ora yelled out simultaneously as Great Long Nose's attack shot up to 2400.
"Why run that in a Spirit deck?" Sarah asked as she stared at the Beast Warrior. "Sure, he'll be able to inflict piercing damage but he'll also return to your hand as soon as you end your turn."
"And that will destroy Big Bang Shot and remove Great Long Nose from play." Ora added as she folded her arms. "In other words, you're wasting a perfectly good card!"
"Let me be the judge of that, Great Long Nose, attack Sarah's defense monster!" Rajin commanded and the spirit monster charged towards the facedown monster, revealed to be Blizzed, Defender of the Ice Barrier (1/300/500) who was quickly cut in half by Long Nose's claws. "You may get to draw a card thanks to that monster's effect but you also lose 1900 life-points and your next battle phase."
"Sorry but no, I activated my Defense Draw trap card which negated the Battle Damage and let me draw one more card and Broken Blocker which lets me Special Summon two more copies off Blizzed!" Sarah said as she added her two new cards to her hand and two more Blizzeds appeared on the field. "And as soon as you end your turn Great Long Nose will be gone for good."
"If I can chime in for a second you'd realize how wrong you are." Thomas responded and Sarah turned to him. "As long as Spirit Shaman is in the graveyard none of Rajin's monsters will be returned to his hand."
"So in other words it's a monster version of Spiritual Energy Settle Machine that activates from the Graveyard." Ora responded and Thomas nodded. "That has to have some kind of drawback."
"It does, I'm only allowed to have one Spirit Shaman in my graveyard at a time, it has another drawback but I'll cross that bridge when the time comes" Rajin responded as he looked over his hand. "I end my turn with a facedown card." Rajin announced and Ora drew her card.
"That Sprit Shaman's going to be a problem but as long as I have Ancient Sacred Wyvern on the field I can keep his Spirit Monsters off the field the old fashioned way." Ora thought before looking at her drawn card. "I'll play a spell card called Diane Keto the Cure Master, this boosts my life-points by a thousand….." Ora said as her life-points increased to 10,500. "And more importantly Ancient Sacred Wyvern gets even stronger!" Ora added as her dragon's attack increased to 4600. "Wyvern put Great Long Nose out to pasture!" Ora commanded and the dragon breathed fire at the Spirit Monster…..
"I activate my Trap Card, Spirit's Salvation!" Rajin activated the trap which depicted Marauding Captain taking a blast for Inaba White Rabbit. "Since you just targeted my Spirit Monster for an attack this trap will redirect the attack towards a non-spirit monster and since we're sharing the field I'll redirect it towards Bull Blader!"
"Fine by me, he'll be destroyed anyway." Ora said as the blast was redirected it towards the Minotaur which was quickly roasted. "Not to mention the fact that he has lower attack points than Great Long Nose means my Wyvern's even stronger!"
"And once again the Osiris Red Students prove their inferiority!" Thomas said and the two students blinked before realizing that his life-points hadn't dropped by a single point. "Bull Blader's effect activates when an attack is declared involving him and an opponent's monster, for starters neither of us take any damage from the battle." Thomas said before grinning broadly. "And the attacking monster gets destroyed!" Thomas added and Ora's eyes widened as Ancient Sacred Wyvern shattered into a million pieces. "Like it or not your only defense right now is that pathetic agent!"
"Aren't you forgetting something? I drew a card with this "pathetic agent's" effect last turn." Ora pointed out as she picked up the card. "And I'm setting it face-down before I end my turn." Ora announced and once the card appeared on the field Thomas drew his card.
"I'll start with my trap card Sound the Retreat! With this I return Invoker and any other monsters I control to my hand but since Invoker is my only monster at the moment….." Thomas trailed off as Invoker vanished from the field and he returned the monster to his extra deck.
"So you'll be able to recycle Invoker the next time you get a pair of Level 3 monsters on the field?" Ora said as she folded her arms. "Unless you have a monster that you can summon right now that was a stupid move."
"I don't just have one monster I can summon, I have five." Thomas responded as he played a card. "And here's the first one, Goblindergh in attack mode!" Thomas played the card and a small red plane being piloted by a goblin appeared on the field (4/1400/0).
"That's gotta be one of the goofiest card designs I've ever seen." Sarah muttered under her breath and Ora nodded in agreement.
"Maybe but with his effect I can special summon my second monster and all I have to do is shift him to defense mode to do it!" Thomas announced as the plane landed on the field. "As for the monster itself, I'll show you, Rescue Rabbit in attack mode!" Thomas played the card and the cute small rabbit in the worker's helmet appeared on the field (4/300/100). "Now I banish Rescue Rabbit to Special Summon two copies of X-Saber Anu Piranha!" Thomas announced as the small rabbit vanished from the field and two copies of the female X-Saber appeared on the field. "Now I use all three of my monsters to construct an Overlay Network!"
"A three monster overlay? This is bad." Sarah gulped as the three monsters dissolved into orbs of white light that started spinning around.
"You have no idea! I use my three monsters to XYZ Summon One-Eyed Skill Gainer in attack mode!" Thomas played the card and in the place of one of his X-Sabers stood a new monster, he was a tall one-eyed warrior with green skin, blue, anime like hair and he was wearing blue and gold armor with red scarfs around his neck and waist (Rank: 4/2500/2600). "Now he does have a very lethal effect but I won't get into that just yet." Thomas said before pointing to Mercury. "But what I will do is attack Ora's agent!" Thomas announced as the warrior drew his sword before charging towards the monster…..
"I activate my trap card Shift and I use it force you to attack one of Sarah's Blizzeds instead!" Ora activated the trap and One-Eyed Skill Gained shifted his attention to one of the weak Winged Beasts who was quickly cut in half.
"And thanks to its effect I get to draw a card!" Sarah added before drawing a card.
"And you'll get to draw another card as soon as my turn ends." Thomas grunted as his eyes narrowed. "I'd pretend to be impressed but a move that basic doesn't even deserve that! So instead I set a card facedown and end my turn." Thomas announced and once Ora drew her card Sarah drew her card.
"You guys heard of that One-Eyed Skill Gainer card?" Chloe wondered as she watched the duel and Chelsea shook her head.
"No but I'm willing to bet that Mr. Know It All over there does." Chelsea answered as she and Brandon looked up Spirit Shaman. "Wait, am I reading that right?"
"Yes, you are, and that makes Spirit Shaman incredibly broken." Brandon responded with a nod as he read the effect.
"I'm not sure if I should take "Mr. Know It All" as a compliment or not." Tyler grunted as he watched the duel. "It's a powerful XYZ monster and the reason that Thomas didn't activate its effect is simple, it requires the opponent to have an XYZ monster on their side of the field."
"Okay, so why summon it now?" Chloe asked as she watched the duel. "Hell he could've used Rescue Rabbit's effect to get Invoker back on the field instead!"
"That's a good question." Tyler admitted as his eyes narrowed. "It has strong attack and defense stats but until Sarah or Ora summon an XYZ monster it may as well be a beatstick."
"Okay, that card I drew after Thomas destroyed Blizzed will help a lot." Sarah thought before frowning and turning her attention to Rajin. "And as strong as One-Eyed Skill Gainer is eliminating Great Long Nose takes priority and whilst Ora's attempt may have failed I can pick up where she left off." Sarah thought before playing a card. "I sacrifice my last remaining Blizzed to summon an old friend back to the field!" Sarah played the card and the last winged beast shattered, in its place stood Dai-Salgo of the Ice Barrier ready for battle (6/1600/2200).
"Humph, you're relying on that old tactic?" Thomas scoffed as he stared down the monster. "Not only is his defense weaker than either of our monsters attack points but it's obvious that you summoned it in attack mode!" Thomas pointed out with a grin. "How on Earth did you make it through the entrance exam in the first place with moves like that?"
"I made it into this school because of combos like this!" Sarah responded before playing another card. "I activate my Shield and Sword Spell Card to switch the attack and defense scores of all monsters on the field for the rest of my turn!" Thomas's eyes widened as the four monster's stats got switched around, Dai-Salgo's; Mercury's and One-Eyed Skill Gainer's attacks went up to 2200, 1800 and 2600 respectively whilst Great Long Nose's attack dropped to 1700. "It may not be enough to take care of that Skill Gainer but I'll take taking out Great Long Nose instead!" Sarah announced as Dai-Salgo casted a spell at Great Long Nose causing it to be slowly encased in ice before finally shattering bringing Rajin's life-points down to 7500. "That ends my turn." Sarah announced and Rajin drew his card once the stats of the remaining monsters on the field returned to normal.
"She may have destroyed Great Long Nose but I have more cards like that in my deck." Rajin thought before looking at his drawn card. "I activate a Spell Card Offerings from Beyond!" Rajin played the card which depicted a grave stone with a statue of the infamous Spirit Monster Yata-Garasu on top of it, on top of the grave it's self where six duel monster cards.
"That's a fitting place for such a broken card." Ora commented as she recognized the monster's statue.
"Congratulations, that's the first smart thing you've said in this duel." Thomas said with a scoff before turning to Rajin. "Now I believe you were going to explain that Spell Card's effect."
"Indeed, since I have a Spirit Monster in my graveyard this Spell Card will allow me to draw until I have six cards but if I draw any copies of a monster already in my graveyard then I have to skip my Battle Phase." Rajin explained before drawing until he had six cards in his hand, once he saw the contents of his new hand he nodded in approval. "Excellent, there's not a single copy of Great Long Nose or Spirit Shaman."
"Like that'll help you, don't forget that we have a powerful wall blocking your way." Sarah pointed out as she motioned to Dai-Salgo and Mercury.
"Yes but the monster I'm about to summon will leap over your wall!" Rajin said before playing a card. "I summon Inaba White Rabbit in attack mode!" Rajin played the card and Sarah and Ora's eyes widened as the small white rabbit on the strange pogo stick appeared on the field (3/700/500).
"You just made a mistake Rajin." Ora realized with a smirk. "In order to attack our life-points directly Inaba has to be summoned or flipped."
"She's right! And as long as Spirit Shaman is in your graveyard you'll only get one shot at it!" Sarah added and Rajin smirked.
"Well, why not make the most of it? I equip my Rabbit with Unstable Evolution!" Rajin played the card and his rabbit started glowing. "This card is fairly situational as it depends on how high or low my life-points are, if I have lower life-points than my opponent then the equipped monster's attack increased to 2400." Rajin explained as White Rabbit's attack increased to 2400. "However if my life-points are higher than my opponent's life-points then its attack will drop to 1000."
"I can see why it's so unstable." Ora grunted as she stared at the monster. "And if, for any reason, we have the same amount of life-points?"
"Honestly I don't know." Rajin commented with a shrug before pointing to Ora. "And I'm afraid that Sanctuary's effect won't save you from this attack!" Rajin announced as the rabbit leaped towards Sarah before hitting her with his pogo stick bringing her life-points down to 8100. "And that ends my turn." Rajin announced and Sarah drew her card.
"For starters I activate Spellbook inside the Pot!" Ora played the card and all four duelists drew until they had three more cards in their hand. "Now I activate Monster Reborn and I use it to bring back Mystical Shine Ball!" Ora played the card and the small ball of light appeared on the field. "Why bring that back and not Wyvern? Let me show you, I activate my Quick Play Spell Card Inferno Reckless Summon from my hand to bring back the other Shine Balls!" Ora played the card and the other two Shine Balls appeared on the field. "You'll be able to summon copies of your own monsters if you can."
"I can't." Rajin admitted and Thomas and Sarah nodded in agreement.
"Good, now onto business, I use two of my Shine Balls to construct an Overlay Network!" Ora announced as the two balls vanished into slightly larger balls of light. "So I can summon Gachi Gachi Gantetsu in defense mode!" Ora played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, it was a small rock golem that was crouching down in defense mode who was wearing red pants (Rank: 2/500/1800). "This guy may not look like much but for each XYZ Material monster attached to this monster all monsters on our side of the field….."
"Gain two hundred attack and defense points and it can detach an overlay unit to survive an attack or destruction effect." Thomas interrupted her as he folded his arms whilst Gachi and Mercury's attack and defense points increased to 900/2200 and 400/2100 respectively. "I said that my deck is an XYZ/Synchro Hybrid and I meant it and that includes being well versed when it comes to the effects of XYZ monsters."
"Well, let's see how you handle that." Ora said before picking up the last card in her hand. "I set a card facedown and end my turn." Ora announced and Thomas grinned before drawing his card. "I don't know what he's grinning about but my facedown card is another Draining Shield so if he attacks with One-Eyed Skill Gainer I can get the life-points I lost from Rajin's attack and then some."
"Well you've waited long enough so I guess it's only fair that I demonstrate the effect of One-Eyed Skill Gainer and I'll detach Goblindergh in order to do it." Thomas announced as he sent the monster to the graveyard. "And I target Gaichi!"
"That won't do you any good, don't forget that Gaichi can survive being destroyed by detaching an Overlay Unit!" Ora pointed out and Thomas just grinned. "What are you…?" Ora trailed off when One-Eyed Skill Gainer's and Inabba White Rabbit's attack points shot up to 2900 and 2800 respectively. "What did you just do?!"
"I took Gaichi's effect and made it my own! One-Eyed Skill Gainer has a very powerful effect." Thomas replied with a wide grin. "You see by detaching an overlay unit from Skill Gainer I can target an XYZ monster that you control and he'll gain his name and effect." Thomas explained with a grin. "Downside is that I can only use it once whilst Skill Gainer is Face-Up on the field but I don't need to worry about that." Thomas said as he played another card. "I activate XYZ Energy, now by detaching another Overlay Unit from One-Eyed Skill Gainer I can target one monster you control and destroy it and I choose Gaichi!"
"And I detach a unit from Gaichi to save him!" Ora said as she quickly sent one of the Shine Balls to the graveyard and Gaichi survived the blast. "All you've done is weakened him and your own monster!"
"I don't think so! I activate my Trap Card Sin Key Law!" Thomas announced as his Trap Card flipped up. "For this effect I shall target my One-Eyed Skill Gainer and with this trap I can Special Summon two Umbrallis Mirage Tokens!" Thomas announced as two Egyptian Statue heads appeared on the field (1/?/0). "And thanks to my trap card's effect their attack becomes the same as Skill Gainer's including the boost he got from his effect!" Thomas added as the token's attack increased to 2700. "Now what they can't do is initiate a direct attack but you have enough target practice on your side of the field as it is!"
"Huh?" Ora blinked in confusion before it hit her. "I left my remaining Shine Ball in attack mode!"
"Exactly and to make sure that trap card doesn't get in the way….." Thomas trailed off as he played a card. "I activate the ever popular Heavy Storm to blow it and the other cards on the field away!" Thomas announced and Ora braced herself as her three Spell and trap cards were destroyed. "Rajin, I require Inabba White Rabbit's assistance."
"Say no more." Rajin said as the rabbit hopped over to Thomas's side of the field.
"No Sanctuary in the Sky, no Field Barrier, no escape, now my tokens, finish off Gaichi!" Thomas commanded and the two tokens charged towards the XYZ monster, it survived the first attack but not the second returning the scores on their side of the field to normal. "Skill Gainer, destroy Shine Ball!"
"Oh this is going to hurt!" Ora gulped as Skill Gainer charged towards Shine Ball before cutting it in half and bringing her life-points down to 5900.
"Inabba White Rabbit, destroy her last line of defense!" Thomas commanded and the rabbit hopped towards Mercury finally destroying her. "Off course you had one to many cards in your hand to use her effect but I was getting sick of you drawing cards during my end phase." Thomas commented before looking at his hand. "I set a card facedown." Thomas announced as the facedown card appeared on the field. "And that ends my turn."
"Damn, in one move he crushed Ora's forces!" Chelsea said after letting out an impressed whistle.
"Chloe may have beaten him last month but it's obvious that he's a much stronger duelist now." Brandon agreed with her as he watched the duel. "Even if she draws something that can get back Wyvern she'll be at a disadvantage due to her lower life-points."
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about Wyvern's side effect." Marcus commented with a nod. "Can you think of anything that Sarah can do to get them back in this?"
"If she draws another copy of Shield and Sword she can do some major damage by attacking Thomas's tokens since their defense points are non-existent." Tyler answered with a frown. "Besides that nothing comes to mind, the best Ice Barrier monsters are on the Banned List after all."
"Well there is one Ice Barrier Synchro that isn't banned, Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier, though that monster's effect is easily the weakest out of the three." Theresa responded after thinking for a few minutes. "That may explain why it hasn't been banned."
"Think they got a shot if they can get it out?" Chelsea asked and Theresa shrugged.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Theresa responded with a frown as Sarah drew her card.
"This is my only chance; if we want to win I'll have to for a Synchro." Sarah thought once she looked over her hand. "I activate the Spell Card Demotion! With this I lower Dai-Salgo's level by two!" Sarah announced as her monster's level dropped to four. "Now I summon Cyromancer of the Ice Barrier in attack mode!" Sarah played the card and a bald man wearing a toga appeared on the field (2/1300/0000). "His effect states that as long as he's on the field Level Four or higher monsters can't attack but that's not why I summoned him." Sarah said as Cyromancer and Dai-Salgo leapt into the air. "I summoned him because he's a Tuner Monster."
"If Brionic wasn't banned I'd be worried right now." Thomas said with a yawn as Cyromancer dissolved into two green Synchro Rings that quickly surrounded Dai-Salgo.
"I wouldn't run a card that broken even if he was legal!" Sarah answered as she retrieved a monster from her extra deck. "I tune my monsters together to Synchro Summon Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier!" Sarah played the card and once the bright flash faded a new monster appeared on the field in Dai-Salgo's place, it was a large, ice colored tiger that was wearing gold armor (6/2000/1400).
"Ah yes, here he is the black sheep of the Ice Barrier Synchros." Thomas said with a yawn. "You seriously consider that weakling to be better than Brionic or Trishula?"
"No but as far as legal Level 6 Synchros go he's among the best!" Sarah answered with a grin. "But for starters I activate the Continuous Spell Card Water Hazard!" Sarah said as she played the card. "But I won't bother to explain the effect because I'm using it as fodder for my Tiger King's effect, once per turn I can return one card I control to my hand to give his attack power a boost of five hundred points!" Sarah announced and once the card was back in her hand Dewloren's attack increased to 2500.
"Encase you haven't noticed our monsters are stronger than him even with the extra attack power!" Thomas quickly pointed out and Rajin cleared his throat. "What now?"
"Unstable Evolution's side effect, that's what!" Rajin said as he pointed to Inabba whose attack had dropped to 1000. "I don't know why that didn't resolve during your turn but because of your attacks my Rabbit is vulnerable."
"I never thought I'd hear that sentence." Sarah muttered under her breath before pointing to Inabba White Rabbit. "Dewloren, attack Inabba White Rabbit with Ice Claw Slash!" Sarah commanded and the tiger leapt towards the rabbit before cutting it in two with his claw and bringing Rajin's life-points down to 3400. "And I'll end my turn at that."
"Enjoy your victory whilst it lasts!" Thomas sneered as Rajin drew his card.
"Hmmm, another Spirit Support card that Thomas gave me….." Rajin thought to himself as he looked at the card in his hand. "I could use this but…."
"If you drew a good card then use it!" Thomas said impatiently and Rajin hesitated before playing it.
"I activate my Spiritual Rebirth Spell Card!" Rajin played the card which depicted Dark Dust Spirit bursting out from a grave. "With this spell card I can bring back one Spirit monster or monster with the word Spirit in its name and in the case of Spirit Monsters the summoning restrictions are ignored, however the monster in question will be removed from play at the end of my turn if it's still on the field."
"It sounds like he's going to use that monster for Tribute or even Synchro Fodder." Sarah thought to herself as Rajin retrieved the cards from his graveyard and looked through them. "Not like it matters, the big Spirit Monsters are Yamata Dragon and that warrior whose name I can't pronounce; unless he has another copy of Spiritual Rebirth we should be safe."
"And I use it to bring back Spirit Shaman!" Rajin played the card and to everyone's (except Thomas's) surprise Spirit Shaman returned to the field.
"Wait, what? That was your best monster and your risking it bring removed from play?!" Ora yelled out in surprise and Thomas chuckled.
"Rajin, I believe it's time you told them Spirit Shaman's other drawback!" Thomas told him and Rajin took a deep breath.
"Spirit Shaman can only be used in the Synchro Summon of a Spirit Synchro Monster." Rajin explained and Ora and Sarah, alongside everyone else in the arena, did double takes.
"Wait, what? There aren't any Spirit Synchro Monsters…and are you telling me that thing's a TUNER?!" Sarah yelled out once it hit her and Rajin nodded before playing another card.
"That is exactly what I am saying, for my Normal Summon I bring out Izanami!" Rajin played the card and a young Asian Woman with her hair tied up in a bow appeared on the field, she was wearing a white and green gui and bowed respectively to the opponents (4/1100/1800). "Now her effect activates, I discard one card from my hand to add another Spirit Monster from my deck to my hand." Rajin said before picking up and searching through his deck, once he found the card he was looking for he added it to his hand and shuffled the deck. "Now I tune Izanami with Spirit Shaman!" Rajin announced as the two monsters leapt into the air.
"If there are Spirit Synchros then we're in trouble." Ora thought as Spirit Shaman dissolved into one Synchro Ring that quickly surrounded Izanami.
"Please welcome to the field the first ever Spirit Synchro Monster, Baku Consumer of Nightmares!" Rajin played the card and once the flash faded a new monster appeared on the field, it was a strange furry creature that was approximately the size of a large dog and had the head to match, and it growled at the two women as it got ready to pounce (5/1700/2400).
"That's the Spirit Synchro Monster?!" Ora asked with a raised eyebrow. "What good will that thing do you besides attacking my life-points directly?"
"I'm glad you asked because Baku gains one of three effects depending on the number of non-tuner Spirit Monsters used in its summon." Rajin responded as he pointed to Dewloren. "For example since I used one such monster in its Synchro Summon I can destroy one monster on the field and inflict damage equal to its attack points." Rajin explained as Baku leapt towards Dewloren and slashed it with its claws bringing Ora and Sarah's life-points down to 3900 and 6000 respectively. "Thomas, if you will let me borrow One Eyed Skill Gainer I can finish off Ora."
"Very well, the sooner we can end this nonsense the better." Thomas grunted as One-Eyed Skill Gainer walked over to Rajin's side of the field.
"Then this duel is over for Ora! Baku, One-Eyed Skill Gainer, attack her life-points!" Rajin commanded and the two monsters charged towards Ora before attacking her and bringing her life-points down to zero. "That ends my turn and since Ora's out of the duel this means that it's over for you Sarah!"
"Indeed." Thomas said as he drew his card. "Let's not waste any time here, I summon the Tuner Monster X-Saber Airbellum!" Thomas played the card and a humanoid armadillo with wolverine like claws appeared on the field (3/1600/200). "Now I tune him with my tokens to Synchro Summon X-Saber Wayne!" Thomas announced as the three monsters leapt into the air, Aiebellum dissolved into three Synchro Rings that surrounded the two tokens and once the flash faded a man in typical cowboy gear appeared on the field (5/2100/400). "And when Wayne is Synchro Summoned Successfully I can Special Summon another Warrior type monster from my hand such as XX-Saber Boggart Knight!"
"Wait I surr…." Sarah never got a chance to surrender as Thomas's new monster appeared on the field, it was an extremely muscular knight who was wearing a red cape and silver armor (4/1900/1000) and with a simple neck slice motion Thomas commanded the three monsters to attack without mercy bringing Sarah's life-points down to zero.
"Here are the winners of the match, Thomas Newborne and Rajin Kanda!" Martin announced as the two boys hopped off the arena but rather than cheer them the audience booed them for ignoring Sarah's surrender.
"Did you see that bullshit?!" Chelsea yelled out in shock and disgust. "Ignoring a surrender?! That's not just disrespectful, it's against the rules!"
"Actually it's not." Tyler responded and Chelsea turned to him. "I don't like it either but there's nothing in the rule book about honoring the surrender, normally it's just common courtesy."
"And I know from personal experience that that's one thing Thomas definitely lacks." Chloe commented with a frown on her face. "What about that Spirit Synchro?"
"Well it's a real card, requires Spirit Shaman to summon it, and like the Non-Synchro counterparts it returns to the extra deck during the end phase." Tyler said as he looked up the card. "What Rajin said about the effects is true as well. Two or more monsters will allow Baku to wipe out the opponent's spells and traps." Tyler said as he read up on the card. "If I2 are smart they'd limit Spirit Shaman or Spiritual Rebirth in the next ban list."
"That's not for another couple of months though." Chelsea commented with a frown before packing up her laptop. "Well I'm going back to Osiris Red, see you guys in a bit."
"I'm coming as well." Chloe said and Chelsea nodded before leaving the room with her roommate.
*elsewhere*
"I can't believe that asshole ignored my surrender!" Sarah grunted in annoyance as she leaned against the tree, Ora and Sarah where currently chatting in a clearing about the duel. "They had the damn thing won! Why go the extra mile to rub it in!"
"Because I think Thomas is calling the shots." Ora commented with a frown. "Rajin's a good duelist but he's just a kid, hell he was barely old enough to apply here when he joined."
"Something troubling you, miss?" The cloaked figure asked as he approached the girls and Sarah jumped into action when she saw the Orichalcos Duel Disk.
"Great, another Orichalcos Duelist." Sarah said before grinning. "Actually why don't we duel right now?" Sarah offered and the cloaked figure grinned under his hood.
"Sarah, are you sure?" Ora asked as Sarah and the figure activated their duel disks.
"I'm sure; I want to take my anger out on something anyway!" Sarah responded as they drew their opening hands. "Besides, what's the worst that can happen?"