"So, err, how long exactly have we been waiting?" Chloe asked as she shifted her weight, the student's classes for the day had ended and as promised they went to Martin's office, unfortunately for them Martin was taking a while. "I mean, we were asked to be here?"
"We've been sat here for about fifteen minutes by my clock." Chelsea answered after she checked the time on her watch, "Martin's probably busy anyway."
"Yeah but if I had known that I'd be waiting this long I would've brought my IPod." Chloe answered with a frown. "Hell, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the ending to my duel."
"And we're still trying to figure out how you got that Eye of Timaeus card." Brandon chimed in and the two girls turned to him. "Not to mention that Silent Dragon Rider card."
"Yeah, I don't even remember adding that thing to my deck but it worked well enough." Chloe commented as she glanced at her duel disk. "Makes me wonder what the other cards in my deck could create when combined with Timeaus."
"Let's think about that later, for now we just need to figure out how that thing can help us against the Orichalcos Duelists." Theresa pointed out and Chloe nodded in agreement. "Especially since the last agent they sent managed to capture a soul before we could stop him."
"Yeah, I'm still pissed off about that." Lance grunted as he glanced off to the side. "How well is Ora taking this? I know that she and Sarah where close."
"She locked herself in her dorm room for the rest of the day and hasn't come out since, not even for dinner." Chelsea answered with a frown. "I think that gives you an idea of how well she's taking it."
"Sorry for the wait students." Martin said as he stepped out of his office. "After Jeff told me what happened I wanted to see the footage for myself just to be sure."
"Yeah, that was pretty crazy." Chloe agreed as she turned to the teacher. "So what do you want to talk about?"
"Not out here, come in." Martin told them before motioning for them to come into his office, the students nodded and followed him in and saw the rest of the headmasters waiting for them. "All right, let's start from the top." Martin said as he sat down behind the desk. "Chloe, in your own words, can you tell us what happened?"
"Didn't the footage tell you everything you needed to know?" Chloe asked and Martin shook his head.
"After you played Trade-In there was a problem with the cameras, after ten minutes passed they came back on like nothing happened." Martin answered before motioning to Jeff. "According to Jeff you just stared off into space for the duration of that time so he doesn't have a clue either."
"I should've known that it wouldn't be that easy." Chloe thought as she took a seat. "Okay, as you said everything was pretty normal up until I played Trade-In, the two cards I drew were Silent Magician Level 8 and…well…this." Chloe said before digging through her deck and producing The Eye of Timaeus. "Next thing I knew I had some kind of vision, I had no idea how much time had passed during it but the long and short of it is that I obtained this card in that vision." Chloe said before returning it to her deck. "I know I'm probably sounding crazy right now….."
"It's fine, please continue." Martin reassured her and Chloe nodded.
"After the vision ended I was back at the duel and I had The Eye of Timaeus in my hand, I read through the effect and it didn't make any sense to me, especially since I don't run any fusion monsters, but at that point I was desperate enough to try it with Silent Magician Level 8." Chloe said as she shifted her weight. "The next thing I knew a card that I had never heard of, let alone added to my deck, ejected from my Extra Deck slot but the two cards I used met the requirements so I played it."
"You mean Silent Dragon Rider Level 8 right?" Tracy asked and Chloe nodded. "And from there you won the duel."
"Yeah, it was close but I was able to pull off the win." Chloe nodded as she glanced towards her deck. "I can't wait to use it in the tournament."
"That's what we wanted to discuss with you." Martin said and Chloe turned to him. "Under no circumstances are you allowed to use The Eye of Timaeus outside of an Orichalcos Duel."
"Wait, you expect her to not use an awesome card like that?!" Chelsea asked as she glanced at the teachers. "No offense but why?"
"None taken, I had anticipated such a question anyway." Martin said as he shifted his weight. "Timaeus is one of three Legendary Dragons cards, the other two are The Fang of Critias and The Claw of Hermos, and respectively they were wielded by Yugi Motuh, Seto Kaiba and Joey Wheeler when they fought against the Orichalcos."
"Not only are these cards powerful but they were never officially released by I2." Hamden chimed in and Chloe turned to him. "That was done at Yugi's request; he considered them to be too powerful for the general public to use."
"And the envoys aren't?" Chloe thought to herself before shaking her head. "Okay, you've made your point, I'll put The Eye of Timaeus in my side deck for my tournament duels, same goes for non-tournament and non Orichalcos duels."
"Good." Martin said as Chloe retrieved The Eye of Timaeus and put it in her side deck. "At some point two of you will receive the other two Legendary Dragons. I request that you do the same when the time comes." Martin added and the other students nodded.
"As for Sarah, we'll do what we can for her but we don't exactly have the best medical facilities here." Tracy added with a sigh. "Kaiba himself has promised to have her transferred to a hospital on the mainland though so that shouldn't be a problem."
"Until her soul is free, right?" Chloe asked and the teachers nodded. "At least with the duelists back in Battle City we had an idea of where to look for them but these guys? We don't even know how they are getting to the island."
"There may be a way around that." Hamden said and they turned to him. "After the tournament is over the school will close for Summer Break, you can use that time to plan an attack against the Orichalcos Duelists."
"And maybe even bring them down." Theresa responded with a nod. "It's a long shot but at the same time it's our best shot."
"Well you have a little over a month to plan it and between then and now you have your graduation duels from your respective dorms and the tournament." Maria told them and the students nodded. "Be prepared for anything."
"We will." Chloe said with a nod before turning to Martin. "Speaking of the tournament, will it be continuing over the weekend?"
"No, we'll be giving the students a two day break over the weekends starting after tomorrow's matches." Martin responded and the students nodded. "Is there anything else?"
"Can we go?" Chloe asked and Martin nodded.
"Yes, you may." Martin responded and the students stood up and left the office, once the door was closed Martin frowned. "The Eye of Timaeus is arguably the strongest of the three Legendary Dragons, why would they give him to a rookie like Chloe?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Hamden responded with a frown. "We'd better keep an eye on any non-tournament matches they have that involve the Orichalcos encase the other Dragons show up."
"Agreed, for now we need to prepare for tomorrow's matches." Martin responded and the others nodded in agreement.
*elsewhere*
Jack was normally a cool, calm and collected man especially when dealing with his boss, so the site of him running down the hallways as fast as his legs could carry him caught several other staff members off guard.
"This is bad! This is bad! This is really fucking bad!" Jack thought as he turned a corner that would lead him to Victor's office, Victor's secretary Juliana looked up from the magazine that she was reading when she heard Jack's frantic breathing, she was a good looking woman with shoulder length black hair and blue eyes who was wearing suitable clothing for her job.
"He's waiting for you inside and no, we're still not going on a date." Juliana commented once she recognized Jack, normally he'd try to get her to see it from his perspective but now was really not the time so he went straight in and saw Victor talking to the remaining agents via a video call.
"Damn bitch! She willingly sucks Victor's dick and does god knows what other kinky shit he's into every other Friday but she has no time for me?!" Jack thought as Victor turned around. "I…..I came here as soon as I could." Jack said once he caught his breath and Victor nodded.
"Good, needless to say the reemergence of The Eye of Timaeus is a matter of great concern!" Victor said as he motioned for Jack to come closer. "Sara's gone out to recruit more agents to our cause but in the meantime we must discuss strategies to use against Timaeus and the other Legendary Dragons to make sure that they can't be used against us again."
"No offense but it's the damn Legendary Dragons! Unless you're planning to force one of the duelists to use the Orichalcos….." Jack trailed off before grinning. "That's exactly what your planning, isn't it?"
"It worked against Yugi Motuh; it'll work against these students." One of the agents chimed in and Victor turned to him. "I volunteer myself for the job but I require a week minimum to prepare my deck."
"Use all the time you need." Victor told him and the agent nodded before hanging up. "As for the rest of you, we've claimed one student's soul and I say that we claim another, Francs, Tanner, I expect you to be at Domino City Port by 4:00pm tomorrow."
"You got it!" A female agent answered before hanging up, a male agent merely nodded before hanging up as well. "The rest of you, go out there and claim me more souls."
"Yes sir." The other agents answered before simultaneously hanging up.
"I'll go get a speedboat ready." Jack said as he went to leave the office.
"Not this time." Victor said and Jack turned around. "I'll be sending Sara to monitor the duels, as for you, you have the night off." Victor said before passing him a credit card with a piece of paper on it. "That has the card's number on it, feel free to use it at your favorite Strip Club, consider it my treat for a job well done." Victor told him and Jack grinned. "Oh and don't try to use it after tonight, I'll be cancelling that card in the morning."
"You got it boss!" Jack said before leaving the office with a confident grin on his face, once the door was closed Victor messaged his temples in annoyance.
"Losing agents is one thing; the return of the Legendary Dragons is another thing entirely." Victor thought before calling Juliana. "Juliana, I know we normally do this on a Friday but I need a good stress relief, if it's good enough you'll get a pay raise."
"Yes, right away sir." Juliana answered and Victor leaned back in his seat with a grin.
"I love my position as a boss sometimes." Victor thought as he rested his hands behind his head and waited for Juliana.
*the next day*
"Okay, so I'll just go and greet Chloe and Chelsea at their dorm and we'll go down to today's matches together!" Lance thought as he walked down the path that would lead him to the Osiris Red Dorms, he had agreed to meet up with the two girls and watch the matches with them for a couple of reasons, Evan was ill from something he ate last night and was sitting out the matches and he wanted to be with Chloe. "Ever since her match against that psycho last night I can't stop thinking about her…..am I developing a crush on my best friend?" Lance thought as he neared the Osiris Red dorms and saw Chelsea and Chloe waiting for him. "I'll figure it out later, for now let's focus on what's happening now."
"Good morning Lance." Chloe greeted him as she saw Lance approaching her, Lance grinned at the eighteen year old as he neared her. "So you ready for the matches?"
"You bet I am." Lance said with a grin before nodding to Chelsea. "Either of you know who's competing today? I can't remember if it was announced after Thomas and Rajin's match."
"Err, yeah, in the first match Tyler's sister is teaming with Socorro Stanley to take on Melody Walsh and Sallie Rodriguez and the second match is Kristopher O'Neill and Lamont Berry vs. Billie Prince and Carmelo Van Albert." Chelsea responded after checking the match schedule. "Besides Miranda I haven't heard of any of the competing duelists."
"I know Miranda's partner is in Osiris Red, I've seen her around a few times but I've never spoken to her." Chloe responded after thinking for a couple of minutes. "Their opponents…..I think Melody and Sallie are in Ra Yellow and Osiris Red respectively."
"I wouldn't know about Melody, I don't hang around the Ra Yellow girl's dorm as much as I'd like too." Lance commented before wincing as he remembered that he was talking to two girls. "I probably shouldn't have said that last part out loud." Lance commented as Chelsea and Chloe glared at him. "Why don't we focus on getting to the duel arena?"
"Yeah, lets." Chloe agreed before the trio walked to the duel arena. "Okay, I don't know what those Orichalcos Duelists are planning next but I'll be ready for it!" Chloe thought as they walked to the arena.
*meanwhile*
Despite everything that happened the previous day the tournament was still on and the eight duelists who were competing today where preparing for their matches and Miranda Kaiba was no different.
"Okay, my deck's all set." Miranda thought as she fit the deck into her deck slot. "If Chelsea thinks the deck she faced a while back is powerful then she hasn't seen anything yet, then again I didn't add these cards encase I faced her again." Miranda thought before looking around for her tag team partner. "Chelsea and Chloe are good duelists, no doubt about that, but I added these cards for when I face my fellow Obelisk Blue Students in the Tournament even if that means going up against my brother's team."
"There you are." Miranda looked up and saw her tag team partner Socorro Stanley waiting for her, she was one of the youngest female Osiris Red Students at the age of sixteen and she had elbow length black hair and blue eyes. "I've been waiting for you."
"Sorry Socorro, I was busy making some last minute preparations for our match." Miranda apologized and Socorro nodded. "Don't worry, with the improvements I've made to my deck we're bound to win the match and the whole tournament!"
"I hope so." Socorro sighed as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Still I can't help but feel pressure since I'm teaming up with the sister of the best student in the school."
"Don't worry about it, you'll do fine, now let's go out there and kick some ass!" Miranda reassured her and Socorro nodded before they made their way to the duel arena where their opponents where waiting.
"I was beginning to think that you had given up." Melody commented as she and Sallie drew their opening hands, Melody looked like a typical Goth, make-up and all, with shoulder length black hair and blue eyes, pretty much the only item of clothing with any color to it that she was wearing was her Ra Yellow blazer but besides that she was wearing all black. "Too bad, guess we'll have to earn our victory the hard way."
"You're pretty confident considering who my brother is." Miranda commented as she and Socorro drew their opening hands, Melody scoffed but it was Sallie that spoke up next.
"Tyler Kaiba may be your brother and he may be the best student in the school." Sallie commented as she looked over her hand, she was pretty much the opposite of Melody as she was a Latin student with short black hair, brown eyes and was wearing plenty of color including her blazer. "But I think we all know that he's the better duelist out of the two of you."
"Besides, you're basically running a copy of your dad's deck! At least Tyler has enough self-respect to run his own decks." Melody added and Miranda's eyes narrowed at her comment. "Oh, we're sorry, did we touch a nerve?"
"How about you stop making incorrect assumptions and decide the order already?" Miranda asked with a grunt and the two girls looked over their hands. "In fact I'll do it for you, Sallie goes first followed by Socorro followed by Melody and finally followed by me."
"That's fine by me, I was about to suggest that anyway." Sallie commented as she drew her first card.
"Melody and Sallie definitely hit a nerve there." Chloe commented as she watched the duel with Lance and Chelsea. "You have any idea why?"
"You remember your match against Tyler?" Chelsea asked and Chloe nodded. "Well as you know I had a chat with Miranda during the course of the match, she told me that she's always worried about living in her dad's shadow and that it's a bit of a berserk button for her."
"So why run a blatant copy of his deck?" Lance asked and Chelsea shrugged.
"Didn't get a chance to ask as it came up just as the match was wrapping up and we all know what happened afterworlds." Chelsea responded and the other two students nodded. "Between my match against her and that chat with Tracy, not to mention the duel monster attack, I didn't really get a chance to ask her."
"Maybe Tyler knows but for now we'll just have to focus on the match." Lance commented as Sallie looked over her hand.
"I activate a Spell Card called Toon Table of Contents; with this I can add one Toon card from my deck to my hand." Sallie played the card and picked up her deck before searching through it, once she found the card that she was looking for she added it to her hand. "But I'm gonna cut to the chase, I activate Toon World!"
"Well, this is unexpected!" Miranda commented as a comically large green book appeared on the field, it turned on its side and opened up revealing a dark castle. "Paying a thousand life-points this early in the match?"
"If it keeps my Toons on my side of the field then I'm not complaining." Sallie answered as her life-points dropped to 7000. "Besides, wasn't your dad beaten by the Toons?"
"Okay, first off, my dad was only beaten by that damn Millennium Eye, not by the Toons!" Miranda said as her eyes narrowed. "Second, I thought the Toons where considered too powerful for the general public?" Miranda pointed out and Sallie shrugged.
"I2 must've finally realized that the cards they were releasing where a lot more powerful than the Toons and made them available." Sallie answered before picking up two more cards. "I set a card facedown and I summon Toon Piper!" Sallie played the cards and a cartoonish figure leapt from the book, he seemed to be modeled after the famous pied piper but was clearly cartoonier than Mystic Piper (3/600/1000).
"And apparently that extends to releasing new Toon monsters." Socorro commented as the Piper pulled out a pipe from nowhere and started playing a tune…..incredibly out of tune but still a tune. "And he needs music lessons."
"Very funny but when Toon Piper is Normal Summoned and I have Toon World on my side of the field his effect activates." Sallie said before picking up her deck again. "And much like the fabled pied piper Toon Piper can lead people to do his bidding, in game terms his effect acts much like Tour Guide from the Underworld's effect but it only applies to other Toons and the monster goes to my hand." Sallie explained before finding the card she was looking for and adding it to her hand. "I end my turn at that." Sallie announced once she shuffled her deck and Socorro drew her card.
"I have to agree with Miranda here." Lance commented as he scratched his head. "The Toon monsters weren't exactly something that I was expecting."
"I did here something about I2 finally releasing the Toon Monsters alongside new support cards but this is the first time I've seen them in action." Chloe admitted as she scratched her head. "Is there any truth to what they are saying?"
"Yes and no, there's a rumor going around that Pegasus and Kaiba had a match just before the Duelist Kingdom Semi-Finals started though the rumors don't say what the reason was." Chelsea commented with a shrug. "All I really heard was that Kaiba was defeated by Pegasus convincingly after he used Kaiba's Crush Card Virus against him."
"Ugh, Crush Card Virus, that's one card that will cause me to quit the game if it ever comes back." Lance commented as they watched the duel.
"Sallie's lucky that none of us can attack yet, otherwise she'd lose even more life-points." Socorro thought as she added the drawn card to her hand. "I activate Cards from the Sky! I banish one Light-Type Monster from my hand…." Socorro said as she pocketed the monster. "And I draw two cards, this may cost me the ability to conduct my Battle Phase but since it's my first turn it's not like it matters." Socorro added before drawing two cards. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode! That ends my turn." Socorro set the cards down and Melody drew her card.
"About time, I play Allure of Darkness!" Melody played the card and quickly drew two cards before banishing another card. "Now I activate Fortune's Future! I simply return the card I banished to my graveyard….." Melody announced as she retrieved her pocketed card and sent it to the graveyard. "And I get to draw two more cards!" Melody added before drawing twice more.
"Four cards in the same turn? Unless you got some good cards you just thinned your deck for nothing." Miranda pointed out and Melody scoffed before playing another card.
"Well I'm about to do some more thinning, I activate One for One! I discard one monster from my hand to Special Summon my Fortune Lady Light!" Melody played the card and once she discarded the card a new monster appeared on the field, it was a young woman with long flowing curly blonde hair who was wearing a gold, white and blue dress (1/?/?). "You're probably wondering where she gets her power from; well I'll tell you right now, her level! You see she gains two-hundred attack points depending on her level with the maximum level being twelve off course." Melody explained as her monster's attack and defense increased to two hundred.
"She's still the weakest monster on the field." Miranda pointed out and Melody grinned.
"Let me worry about that, in the meantime I'll set these cards facedown….." Melody announced as she set two of the drawn cards. "And end my turn." Melody announced and Miranda drew her card.
"So the Goth's running Fortune Ladies huh?" Lance said as he scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I was half-expecting a fiend deck of sorts."
"I don't mind, I think enough students here run those anyway." Chloe pointed out and Lance nodded in agreement. "So what's up with these Fortune Ladies anyway?"
"I faced off against them at the school I was in before this one. They're not very strong but make up for it with strength and consistency." Chelsea answered before frowning. "I just contradicted myself, didn't I?"
"I wasn't going to say anything for fear of getting my ass kicked but yeah, you did." Lance commented and Chelsea rolled her eyes.
"Just watch the duel and you'll see what I mean." Chelsea responded with an annoyed grunt as they watched Miranda make her move. "She didn't take this long when I faced her; did she draw a bad opening hand?" Chelsea thought as Miranda picked up three cards.
"I set two cards facedown." Miranda announced as the two facedown cards appeared on the field. "And I summon Vorse Raider!" Miranda played the card and hideous halberd wielding beast-warrior appeared on the field (4/1900/1200). "That ends my turn." Miranda announced and Sallie drew her card.
"Took you long enough, I almost got one of my comic books out!" Sallie said with a smirk before looking at the card she had drawn and the monster she had added to her hand via Toon Piper's effect last turn. "Hmmm, with this combo I could bring out my best monster right away but I'd need another card to do it and without another copy of Toon Table of Contents in my hand I can't do that just yet." Sallie thought before grinning. "But I can do this!" Sallie thought before playing a card. "First I play Shadow Toon!" Sallie announced as a dark cloud appeared above Toon World's castle. "Since I have Toon World on my side of the field this Spell Card lets me inflict damage equal to an opponent's monster's attack points and since Vorse Raider's the only monster on your side of the field….." Sallie trailed off as the cloud rammed into Vorse Raider and Miranda bringing her team's life-points down to 6100.
"I didn't think such innocent looking Toons could pack such a punch!" Miranda grunted as Sallie sent her Spell Card to the graveyard.
"Please, it's not like cartoons lack for violence, it's just animated." Sallie said as she picked up a card. "Unless your target audience is kindergarten age but that's beside the point! To follow that up I summon the monster I retrieved from my deck last turn, Toon Cat!" Sallie played the card and another monster appeared on the field from within the castle, this one seemed to be based on the titular character from the famous Tom & Jerry Cartoons but had a more cartoonish appearance, looking more Anime inspired (3/500/200). "I know this cat isn't very strong but his effect makes up for it!"
"And what effect is that exactly?" Miranda asked and Sallie grinned.
"I'll show you! If I summon Toon Cat when there's Toon World on my side of the field I can shift him to defense mode to Special Summon another Toon monster from my deck!" Sallie explained as the cat, for lack of a better term, fell asleep. "So I use his effect special summon Toon Dog to the field in attack mode!" Sallie played the card and another monster emerged from Toon World's castle, this one was, well, a dog with comically large eyes that resembled a pit-bull (3/1000/1200). "And this little puppy's ability is a doozy…."
"Err, Sallie…" Miranda trailed off and Sallie blinked before looking at her side of the field, Toon Dog was growling at Toon Cat who was hiding up a tree that wasn't there five seconds ago, a large sweat-drop rolled down Sallie's head before she shook her head.
"Personally I hate the Cats vs. Dogs stereotype, I grew up with both animals and they never fought once!" Sallie said as she put a hand on her hip. "Granted one of my dogs was a Labrador who wouldn't hurt a fly but…."
"Err, Sallie, can you please continue with your move?" Socorro interrupted her and Sallie blushed.
"Oh right, as I was saying, when Toon Dog is Special Summoned via the effect of another Toon Monster I can increase the levels of all Toon Monsters on my side of the field by one!" Sallie explained as her three monster's levels increased to four. "And now you're really in trouble! I use my Toons to construct an Overlay Network!"
"I saw that coming." Miranda grunted as Toon Piper, Toon Cat and Toon Dog vanished into white orbs of light, taking the tree with it in the process.
"Well let's see if you can see this coming…you know what I meant!" Sallie said as she shook her head before retrieving a card from her extra deck. "I use my three monsters to XYZ Summon Toon Minotaur!" Sallie played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, as the name suggested it was the Minotaur from Greek Mythology but it was a lot more cartoony looking complete with a comically oversized axe (Rank: 4/2000/1500).
"I don't know if I should find that thing amusing or horrifying." Socorro commented with a gulp and Miranda nodded in agreement.
"Honestly that's not the first time I've heard that." Sallie admitted as Toon Minotaur snorted causing smoke to come out of its nostrils. "Anyway it's time I activated his effect, by detaching an XYZ material from him I can search for another Toon Monster and add it to my hand." Sallie explained before sending Toon Dog to the graveyard and picking up her deck, once she found the card she was looking for she added it to her hand and shuffled her deck.
"I'm sorry but a Monster version of Toon Table of Contents?" Miranda asked with a raised eyebrow. "Using such an effect of a Triple Monster XYZ seems a bit wasteful if you ask me."
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot, Toon Minotaur has another effect!" Sallie said with a grin as Toon Minotaur got ready for battle. "As long as he has an XYZ Material monster attached to him my Toons don't have to wait a turn before attacking, even the ones that can attack directly."
"I just had to go and open my big mouth." Miranda sighed and Sallie grinned before pointing to Miranda.
"And guess what? Toon Minotaur can attack directly!" Sallie added as the Minotaur charged towards Miranda…..only to be stopped in its tracks due to being ensnared by chains. "What the….."
"Sorry Sallie but I activated my Shadow Spell Trap Card!" Miranda said as she pointed it out. "Now your monster can't attack and loses seven hundred attack points!" Miranda added as Toon Minotaur's attack dropped to 1300.
"I set a card facedown and end my turn." Sallie grunted as she set the card and Socorro drew her card.
"I activate my Spell Card Celestial Transformation! With this I can Special Summon one Fairy Type monster from my hand with its attack cut in half! I'll use its effect to summon Dunames Dark Witch!" Socorro played the card and the witch that Theresa used in her Battle City Duels appeared on the field (4/1800/1050) and her attack dropped to 900 due to Celestial Transformation's effect. "She'll be destroyed during the end phase but she won't be around long enough for that."
"Why? Do you plan to use her for a tribute or Synchro Summon?" Melody asked and Socorro shook her head before playing another card.
"Just watch! For my normal summon I bring out Nova Summoner!" Socorro played the card and the strange fairy appeared on the field (4/1400/800). "And I'm not going to waste any time here! I use my two monsters to construct an Overlay Network!" Socorro announced as the two monsters vanished into white orbs of light, Socorro retrieved a monster from her extra deck and played it. "Come on out Fairy Cheer Girl!"
"Excuse me, what?!" Melody asked as the new monster appeared on the field, it could best be described as a fairy cheerleader with blue hair, a blue and green dress, blue wings and yellow bom-boms (Rank: 4/1900/1500).
"Now I activate her effect, I detach Nova Summoner and I draw a card in exchange." Socorro added as she sent Nova Summoner to the graveyard and quickly drew a card. "I know she doesn't seem like much but my deck's full of surprises." Socorro added before grinning. "Oh yeah, she can destroy Toon Minotaur whilst I'm at it!" Socorro commanded as the cheerleader did a high kick…..
"Don't count on it! I activate my Trap Card known as Toon Reinforcement!" Sallie activated the trap which depicted Toon Goblin Attack Force charging onto a field already populated by Toon Dark Magician Girl and Toon Gemini Elf. "This trap can only be activated if a Toon Monster I control is targeted for an attack, since you were so kind as to try to attack my Minotaur all I need to do is banish one Toon Monster from my graveyard….." Sallie said as she pocketed Toon Dog. "And the attack is negated."
"Seems like a lot of work just for a Toon specific version of Negate Attack." Socorro pointed out as Toon Minotaur blocked the attack with his axe sending the cheerleader flying back.
"Well then, I guess it'll be a good time to mention its other effect." Sallie added before picking up her deck. "If Toon World's active when I activate Toon Reinforcements I can Special Summon another Toon Monster from my deck in defense mode." Sallie added before playing the card and Toon Gemini Elf appeared on the field (4/1900/900). "I know that effect seems pretty broken but it comes with a drawback, namely the summoned monster can't attack."
"Fine, I'll set a card facedown and end my turn." Socorro grunted in annoyance and Melody drew her card.
"Seems that my partner is setting up another XYZ summon, that suits me just fine, I have my own move to make." Melody thought as Fortune Lady Light's attack and defense increased to six hundred thanks to her effect. "My Fortune Lady is stronger but she isn't sticking around, I activate my Trap Card Dimension Switch!" Melody announced as her facedown card flipped up and Fortune Lady Light disappeared from the field. "As long as this trap's on the field my Fortune Lady's removed from play."
"Why would you banish your own monster?" Miranda asked with a raised eyebrow and Melody grinned.
"Because when Fortune Lady Light is removed from play via a card effect her second effect activates!" Melody responded before picking up her deck. "This effect lets me Special Summon another Fortune Lady from my deck like Fortune Lady Fire!" Melody played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, it was a young woman with short red hair who was wearing a strange red and blue outfit and had a pair of bats wings coming out of her hair (2/?/?). "Not only does Fortune Lady Fire share Fortune Lady Light's effect….." Melody trailed off as Fire's attack and defense increased to 400. "But when she's Special Summoned via the effect of another Fortune Lady her own effect activates which lets me target one face-up monster my opponent, or in this case opponents, controls and destroy it!"
"Oh crap!" Socorro gulped as Fortune Lady Fire pointed her staff at her Fairy Cheer Girl destroying her.
"And now it gets fun, you see when Fortune Lady Fire destroys an opponent's monster via her effect that monster's attack comes out of your life-points!" Melody added and Socorro and Miranda winced as their life-points dropped to 4200. "Now I activate the second part of Dimension Switch's effect, be removing it from the field I can Special Summon Fortune Lady Light back to the field." Melody added as her trap card disappeared and Fortune Lady Light returned to the field. "And to complete my combo I activate my other Trap Card Give And Take!"
"What the….you don't have any monsters in your graveyard!" Socorro protested and Melody grinned.
"She does." Miranda corrected her and Socorro turned to her. "She sent a monster there via her Allure of Darkness/Fortune Future combo."
"She's right and now I'm going to summon her to Socorro's side of the field, so please welcome Fortune Lady Dark!" Melody announced as she tossed the card at Socorro and she reluctantly played it, the monster that was summoned seemed to be closer to Melody's appearance then any of her other monsters as it was a pale woman with long purple hair who was wearing a black dress (5/?/?). "And like the other Fortune Ladies her attack depends on her level only this time it's times four hundred, since she's a Level 5 monster….." Melody trailed off as Fortune Lady Dark's attack increased to 1500.
"Well, thanks for the monster, not saying it fits in with my deck but she's still stronger than your monsters." Socorro responded and Melody shook her head.
"First off Fortune Lady Dark's level gets added to Fortune Lady Light's increasing her level to six." Melody responded as Fortune Lady Light's attack increased to 1200. "Second, Fortune Lady Dark won't be yours for long; I activate my Spell Card Owner's Seal to return her to me!" Melody played the card and Socorro's eyes widened as Fortune Lady Dark returned to Melody's side of the field. "Do the math, I have three monsters and you have one, Miranda's beast warrior may be stronger but what about your defense monster?" Melody asked before pointing to it. "Fortune Lady Dark, attack Socorro's defense monster!" Melody commanded as her monster pointed her staff at the facedown monster.
"Thanks for that." Socorro thanked her and Melody blinked before realizing that she had destroying Shining Angel (4/1400/800) which was quickly destroyed. "Now I can use Shining Angel's effect to Special Summon another one!" Socorro added as a second Shining Angel appeared on the field.
"Fine, you've saved yourself for now." Melody said before frowning. "Damn it! I should've waited a bit before using this combo because otherwise I would've been able to summon another Fortune Lady." Melody thought before picking up a card. "I set a card facedown and end my turn." Melody announced and Miranda drew her card.
"You weren't kidding about the Fortune Ladies." Lance commented with an impressed whistle. "That was an impressive combo!"
"Yeah, my opponent didn't use that combo but they are still pretty nasty to deal with." Chelsea responded as Miranda looked over her hand. "Still for Melody's sake I hope her facedown card is something that can protect her Fortune Ladies because otherwise they'll be nothing but bloodstains on Vorse Raider's halberd."
"And Miranda would be stupid to not attack them." Chloe agreed with a frown. "Next turn Fortune Lady Dark will be strong enough to destroy Vorse Raider and by that time their life-points will be in big trouble."
"Okay, Sallie has that Toon XYZ monster and Melody has an army of Fortune Ladies at her disposal." Miranda thought as she looked over the field. "Fortunately my Vorse Raider's all I need to destroy her monsters but that facedown card has me concerned, unfortunately I have nothing in hand or on my field that can destroy Spells and Traps." Miranda thought as she added her drawn card to her hand. "Okay, I have one half of my combo already in my hand, I just need to draw the other card and I'll be all set! But in the meantime….." Miranda trailed off before playing a card. "I activate Card of Demise, with this I draw until I have five cards in my hand but only if I'm okay with discarding them after five turns."
"Yeah, we know, your dad used that card a lot." Melody responded as Miranda drew her cards. "Hell, didn't you use it in your duel against Chelsea Cunningham last month?"
"Maybe, maybe not, but as for whether or not I'm going for the same combo well I won't reveal that just yet." Miranda responded before picking up another card. "But here's what I will do! I summon Spear Dragon!" Miranda played the card and the blue and orange dragon with the ridiculously long nose appeared on the field (4/1900/0000). "Now I could use my monsters to wipe out Sallie's but I don't know if she has any tricks up her sleeve, you on the other hand, well I'm sure that facedown's a bluff."
"Then why don't you go ahead and try attacking my Fortune Ladies?" Melody asked as she folded her arms, Miranda frowned as she looked over Melody's field.
"If that facedown's a trap then why is she calling my bluff?" Miranda thought with a frown. "Even with Card of Demise I didn't draw anything like Mystical Space Typhoon so who knows what she has in store." Miranda thought before deciding on her plan of action. "Next turn Fortune Lady Dark will be strong enough to destroy my two monsters and I have no intention of letting that happen!"
"Are you going to make a move sometime this year?" Melody asked as she tapped her foot impatiently.
"Don't say I didn't warn you, Vorse Raider, attack Fortune Lady Dark!" Miranda commanded and the Beast-Warrior charged forward…..
"I activate my Trap Card Interdimensional Matter Transporter! With this I banish Fortune Lady Light!" Melody responded as her Fortune Lady vanished from the field. "Not only does this force a replay but now I can use Fortune Lady Light's effect again!"
"Let me guess, Fortune Lady Fire?" Miranda asked and Melody shook her head before playing another card.
"As fun as she is to use I have different plans and they involve Fortune Lady Water!" Melody played the card and a new monster appeared in Fortune Lady Light's place, it was another woman with light blue skin, ocean blue hair and was wearing a strange blue dress (4/?/?). "Like the other Fortune Ladies Fortune Lady Water gains her power from her level this time times three hundred." Melody added as Fortune Lady Water's attack and defense increased to twelve hundred. "That's not all! When she is Special Summoned whilst I have another Fortune Lady out, well, she basically turns into a monster version of Pot of Greed!" Melody added before drawing twice.
"That's all well and good but using it on Fire would've been a better choice." Miranda responded with a frown. "Besides that you've used up your only trap card! Unless you have another trick up your sleeve your monsters are sitting ducks for mine!"
"That's the beauty about Fortune Ladies; they always have a trick up their sleeve." Melody responded with a grin. "So go ahead, try it!"
"Famous last words, Vorse Raider, Spear Dragon, attack Fortune Lady Dark and Fortune Lady Fire!" Miranda commanded as her two monsters charged forward…..only for Vorse Raider to be stopped by a horrible high pitched sound. "What the….."
"I activated a Quick Play Spell from my hand, one that your dad should be familiar with." Melody announced as she turned it around. "It's called Command Silencer! Since you declared an attack this negates it and lets me draw one more card." Melody announced as she drew her card.
"That still negated only one attack." Miranda said as Spear Dragon pierced through Fortune Lady Fire's chest destroying it and bringing her life-points down to 6500. "And with that I've drawn first blood for my team."
"Don't get used to it!" Melody retorted as Spear Dragon crouched down in defense mode. "And like it or not my strongest Fortune Lady is still on the field."
"She's right, better prepare my defenses!" Miranda thought before picking up two cards and setting them. "I end my turn with two facedown cards." Miranda announced as Fortune Lady Light returned to the field.
"Good, I was starting to get bored." Sallie responded before drawing a card. "Toon Briefcase, if I had drawn this last turn I could've prevented Spear Dragon's summon and our life-points would still be untouched, doesn't mean I can't use it though." Sallie thought before setting it. "I set this card facedown and end my turn." Sallie announced and Socorro raised an eyebrow before drawing her card.
"She didn't use Toon Gemini Elf in an XYZ Summon, either she has something else in mind or she didn't draw a suitable monster." Socorro thought before looking at her drawn card. "Perfect!" Socorro thought before playing the card. "I activate Terra-Forming and I use its effect to add a Field Spell to my hand." Socorro announced before picking up and searching through her deck, once she found the card she was looking for she added it to her hand and shuffled her deck. "Now I activate it! Go Sanctuary in the Sky!"
"I saw that coming." Melody commented as she rolled her eyes, once the scenery changed to the magnificent palace among the clouds Melody scoffed. "Is that all you can do?"
"Not quite, I activate my trap card, Beckoning Light!" Socorro announced as her trap card flipped up. "First I ditch my entire hand….." Socorro said as she discarded her cards. "And for each card discarded I get to add one Light Type Monster to my hand from the graveyard!" Socorro added before adding two monsters and returning the other to the extra deck. "I set one monster in defense mode, shift Shining Angel to defense mode and end my turn."
"Discarding her entire hand just to recycle some cards? She must be getting desperate." Melody thought before looking at her hand. "Can't do a move as elaborate as my last one but with these cards on the field I won't need too!" Melody thought as her monster's levels increased raising their attacks to 2400, 1500 and 400 respectively. "Well I don't need her anymore so I tribute Fortune Lady Water to summon Fortune Lady Earth!" Melody played the card and Fortune Lady Water vanished from the field, in her place stood a woman with short brown hair who's eyes where hidden behind a thick pair of glasses, like her counterparts she was wearing a strange brown dress (6/?/?). "And before you ask, the total number of attack points she gains from her level is four hundred." Melody added as her attack increased to 2400.
"I'm not worried about Fortune Lady Earth!" Miranda said confidently and Melody smirked.
"Then let me give you a reason to be worried, Fortune Lady Dark, attack Vorse Raider!" Melody commanded and the dark Fortune Lady pointed her staff at the beat warrior destroying him and bringing her life-points down to 3700, "Did you ever wonder why I let you destroy Fortune Lady Fire and not Dark? Well now you're about to know! When Fortune Lady Dark destroys a monster by battle she allows me to Special Summon another Fortune Lady from my graveyard!"
"Oh no….." Miranda's eyes widened as Fortune Lady Fire reappeared on the field, almost immediately she pointed her staff at Spear Dragon bringing Miranda's life-points down to 1800 whilst Socorro's life-points dropped to 2300.
"Never thought it would be this easy to beat an Obelisk Blue Student, let alone Seto Kaiba's daughter, but I guess that shows how out of date your deck strategy is! Fortune Lady Earth, finish her off!" Melody commanded and Fortune Lady Earth pointed her staff at Miranda…only to be stopped by a familiar screech.
"Like you said Melody, my dad used Command Silencer a lot." Miranda said as she drew a card. "In fact he used it so much that it came with this deck!"
"So you're still in this? Big deal! Light, Fire, attack her life-points!" Melody commanded and the two Fortune Ladies prepared their staffs…
"And I summon Battle Fader to negate the attack!" Miranda played the card and the small clock like fiend appeared on the field (1/0/0). "Surprised? I may have inherited this deck but dad never said that I couldn't improve it!"
"Fine, I end my turn! I'll just finish you off next turn instead!" Melody responded and Miranda drew her card.
"That was close, but unless I get what I need we're finished!" Miranda thought before her eyes lay upon her drawn card. "Yes!" Miranda thought before playing the card. "I summon the monster that will win me this duel, Azure-Eyed Maiden!" Miranda played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, she was a young woman with long white hair and blue eyes who was wearing clothes from the Ancient Era (1/0/0).
"You're kidding right?" Melody asked as she stared at the new monster. "How is she supposed to win the duel for you?"
"I'll show you, I activate Wonder Wand and I equip it to my maiden!" Miranda played the card and a small wand appeared in her hands. "Which lets me activate her effect but I'll let it speak for itself." Miranda announced as she searched through her deck, once she found the card she was looking for she played it and a loud, familiar roar rang out.
"What the….." Melody trailed off as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared on the field with a roar (8/3000/2500). "Okay, it's not to…SHIT! I left Fortune Lady Light in attack mode!"
"That's the least of your worries! First I activate Wonder Wand's effect; I send it and Maiden to the graveyard and draw two cards." Miranda announced as she sent the two cards to the graveyard and once Azure-Eyed Maiden vanished from the field she drew twice. "Now I activate Monster Reborn to bring her back!" Miranda played the card and the maiden returned to the field. "Blue-Eyes, attack Fortune Lady Light with White Lightning!" Miranda commanded and the dragon fired its famous attack at the weak Spellcaster destroying her and bringing Melody's life-points down to 3700.
"I'm still in this!" Melody said defiantly and Miranda simply activated her trap. "Is that Urgent Tuning? Since when did you have a Tuner on the field?!"
"You're looking at her!" Miranda said as she pointed to Azure-Eyed Maiden as she leapt into the air alongside Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "Consider yourselves honored! You're the first duelists that I get to use my new toy on! I tune Azure Eyed Maiden with Blue-Eyes White Dragon to summon Azure-Eyed Silver Dragon!"
"That doesn't sound good!" Melody gulped as Azure-Eyed Maiden dissolved into one giant Synchro ring that surrounded Blue-Eyes White Dragon and once the flash faded a new monster appeared on the field, it was a bigger and more beautiful version of the Blue Eyes White Dragon and it let out a mighty roar as it hit the field (9/2500/3000).
"Damn it! If I had used Toon Briefcase we wouldn't be in this much trouble right now!" Sallie thought as she stared down the monster. "That thing's weaker than the original Blue-Eyes! What would your dad say about that….."
"My dad was the one that introduced me to these cards!" Miranda interrupted her and Sallie gulped once she saw the frown on her face. "Guess what he told me? He told me that he would've loved to have these cards back in the day and here's why, until the end of the next turn dragons can't be targeted or destroyed by card effects!" Miranda added before pointing to Fortune Lady Earth. "And yeah, I know all about Fortune Lady Earth's burn effect so she's my dragon's first victim! Attack with Silver Lightning Crash!" Miranda commanded and the dragon let loose with a mighty attack that destroyed Fortune Lady Earth and brought Melody's life-points down to 3600. "And I end my turn with a facedown card!"
"This is bad, this is bad, and this is really fucking bad!" Sallie thought as she shakily drew her card. "Melody can't destroy her dragon with Fortune Lady Fire's effect and due to my fuck up we'll lose!" Sallie thought before sighing. "I…..I have to pass!"
"That's all? That's too bad!" Socorro commented as she drew her card. "Miranda, can I use your dragon?"
"We're partners, aren't we?" Miranda asked as her dragon flew over to Miranda's side of the field. "But let me make your choice a bit easier, I activate Dragon's Rage!"
"Nice!" Socorro said with a grin before pointing to Toon Gemini Elf. "Azure-Eyed Silver Dragon, attack Toon Gemini Elf with Azure Lightning Crash!" Socorro commanded and the dragon let loose with the attack again bringing Sallie's life-points down to 6400 as Toon Gemini Elf was vaporized. "I end my turn."
"Great! I never got to do that XYZ summon!" Sallie thought as Melody drew her card once Miranda's dragon was back on her side of the field.
"Threating Roar, this can help us at least!" Melody thought before setting it and switching her remaining monsters to defense mode. "That ends my turn." Melody announced and Miranda drew her card…..and the other duelists where caught off guard by another roar. "What the…."
"I almost forgot about this effect! You see once per turn during my stand-by phase my Silver Dragon lets me bring back a Normal Dragon Monster! I'll give you two guesses as to what monster I'm bringing back and the second doesn't count!" Miranda announced as the Blue Eyes White Dragon returned to the field. "And that was perfect timing! I activate my Spell Card Burst Stream of Destruction!" Miranda announced and Melody and Sallie's eyes widened as the Blue Eyes fired its attack wiping out their monsters.
"I chain Threating Roar!" Melody activated the trap and the two dragons cowered when a roar echoed through the field. "Sorry but we are still in this!"
"You would be, if not for this Spell Card!" Miranda said as she played it. "The dreaded Mischief of the Time Goddess, sorry Melody but I'm about to wipe you out."
"Fine, just…..just attack already!" Melody sighed and Miranda gave the order, the two dragons fired their attacks bringing her life-points down to zero. "Sallie, I think it'll be best if you just surrender at this point."
"I….I….." Sallie trailed off as she searched desperately for a way out. "Your right, I surrender!" Sallie said as she surrendered.
"Here are the winners of the match, Socorro Stanley and Miranda Kaiba!" Martin announced and the crowd cheered as the two teams dispersed.
"Err, yeah, I think Miranda's team just got updated to "Team to Beat" status." Chelsea gulped as the two teams dispersed. "Seriously, that new dragon is nasty!"
"No card's unbeatable though, the trick is figuring out how to beat it." Lance pointed out and the two girls nodded in agreement.
*elsewhere*
"Just so we're clear, whatever you do DON'T go after Chloe Richardson!" Sara told the agent as he hopped off the speedboat. "I want her for myself and even if I didn't the Legendary Dragon in her deck makes her way too difficult to confront."
"I thought the boss was building decks to counteract that card?" The agent asked and Sara shook her head.
"That will take time, time we don't have." Sara responded and the agent nodded. "Besides Chloe you are free to target whoever you want, got it?"
"I got it!" The agent nodded and the speedboat sped off. "Stephan may have earned us a soul but he didn't go far enough! I'll soon correct his mistakes." The agent thought as he entered the island.