Chloe woke up a yawn and, to her relief, found that the pain in her neck from Andreas's duel against Otto had long since passed; still she couldn't shake the bad memories from that match and tried to think of something different as she started getting dressed.
"Man, I hadn't felt that close to death in a long time." Chloe thought with a shudder as she picked out her outfit for the day. "Not since dad killed mom…." Chloe thought sadly as she started getting dressed. "Still, there's one thing I can't shake from last night, besides the pain I was in, Lance grabbed my hand for support and I did the same but…..oh god, am I actually developing feelings for him?"
"I'd say so!" Silent Magician's voice rang out making Chloe jump, unfortunately for Chloe she was in the middle of putting on her jeans which caused her to fall out of bed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
"Silent Magician, what have I said about listening in on my thoughts?!" Chloe thought with an annoyed puff. "Well, it can't get any worse I guess."
"Good morning Chloe…." Chelsea's clearly amused voice rang out and Chloe looked up to see her roommate with her laptop under her arm. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"
"Very funny, could you at least close the door?" Chloe asked as she got to her feet and finished putting her jeans on, Chelsea did just that and sat down at the coffee table whilst Chloe put on her stomach exposing tanktop. "What's up? I thought you had IT Class?"
"That just ended, as for where I was last night, I was at Beth's dorm room for sex remember?" Chelsea asked and Chloe nodded. "How are you feeling after last night?"
"I'm just glad that the pain's passed." Chloe answered and Chelsea nodded in response. "What about you?"
"Well I was sleeping off my make-out session with Beth when I was sucked into Andreas's dream…..and that sounded strangely kinky but fuck it, when I woke up I told Beth that it was just a cramp in my neck and Beth recommended going to the nurse's office in the morning just encase, I did just to shut her up and I was given a clean bill of health." Chelsea answered with a small grin which quickly faded. "We're going to have to do something about those bastards."
"I know, and I hate the fact that I have to wait until after the tournament to do so." Chloe answered and Chelsea nodded. "So when's the tournament starting?"
"About half one according to the schedule, and we were wrong about when the second round's starting, it's starting on Day Eight as the second duel of the day." Chelsea added and Chloe nodded. "As for today's duels, Amelia Gray from Obelisk Blue is teaming with Caitlin Acosta from Osiris Red to take on Chong Harrison and Clement Clark, both from Obelisk Blue."
"Sounds like an interesting match." Chloe commented and Chelsea nodded. "What's the other match?"
"Another all Obelisk Blue team, namely Delia Garrett and Esther Benjamin, are taking on Keri Harmon and Lacey Morse from Osiris Red." Chelsea answered with a frown. "As much as I want to root for the home team in that match I'll be surprised if the Osiris Red Girls win that match."
"I hope they do, it would suck to be the only Osiris Red Student in a tournament again, well, in this case it would be Osiris Red Team but you get the idea." Chloe answered and Chelsea nodded in agreement. "What time is it anyway?" Chloe asked as she put her blazer on, open as always.
"Just gone half eleven, the tournament matches should be starting in an hour." Chelsea responded as she checked her computer clock. "Huh, I just realized something about Andreas's duel against Otto last night."
"What's that?" Chloe asked with a curious look on her face.
"The cards in the Geargia deck that he used were all legal cards, including that XYZ monster he summoned." Chelsea responded as she turned to her roommate. "Unlike the other Orichalcos Duelists we've faced recently he didn't have a broken card in his deck."
"Well, in the case of that Mermail deck that is debatable." Chloe responded and Chelsea shook her head.
"Not what I meant, that Mermail deck was powerful but it was still beatable." Chelsea responded and Chloe nodded. "Granted that XYZ monster's revival effect was pretty much a Level 3 Machine Specific Monster Reborn but still."
"Yeah and I can just tell that my deck will be missing Monster Reborn once the second round starts." Chloe grunted as she ran a hand through her hair. "Besides you may be wrong about Otto's deck, Andreas ended the duel just after he took that massive hit so I think that Otto has a broken card in his deck but never got a chance to use it." Chloe added and Chelsea nodded in agreement before Chloe got an idea. "You said that the duels should be starting in a half hour, right?"
"Yeah I did, why?" Chelsea asked as she glanced at her roommate before seeing the grin on her face. "Oh, you want to get there early and grab the best seats available, don't you?"
"Considering the last time we went there we were in the third row with Lance, yeah I do." Chloe responded with a nod and Chelsea grinned before grabbing her laptop. "Any idea if Lance will attend the duels?"
"I don't think it's likely, he still has that cold from yesterday from what I've heard and Duel Academy has been streaming the duels from its YouTube channel." Chelsea responded before grinning. "Why? So you can hold his hand again?"
"NO!" Chloe responded whilst blushing like a madwoman. "I was just wondering that's all!"
"Sure you were." Chelsea responded with a grin whilst ignoring Chloe's death glare. "Come on, if we sit here arguing all day we'll never get to the duel field." Chelsea said as she unplugged her laptop and carried it with her, Chloe followed her roommate out of the room and closed the door behind her.
*meanwhile at the Ra Yellow Boys Dorm*
"FUCK THIS COLD!" Lance yelled out as he sneezed for what felt like the hundredth time that morning, being unable to attend the classes or the duels had left him with little to do besides sneeze and listen to "At the Edge of the World" by Kataklysym and as much as he liked the song he was finding it hard to enjoy it with his cold. "I could've gotten dressed before chasing after that bastard but noooo, I had to go duel in my fucking swim trunks! At least Chloe and Chelsea had the common sense to get changed out of their swim suits before coming to support me!"
"Talking to yourself again?" Lance looked up and saw Jeff by the door. "How are you feeling?"
"I have a cold and I can't attend today's duels, how do you think?" Lance asked and Jeff shook his head in response, Lance shook his head before he paused the music and turned his attention to Jeff. "Have you figured out how those Orichalcos assholes are getting to the island?"
"We're working on that, in the meantime we'll have to rely on you, Chloe and Theresa to make sure that no more souls get captured, no student's souls anyway." Jeff responded and Lance frowned.
"Encase you haven't noticed the Legendary Dragon trio is down one member because of my cold, until I get better Chloe and Theresa will have to fight those bastards alone." Lance pointed out and Jeff nodded. "All though, granted they have the others to back them up as well so it won't be too bad."
"Well, if you say so." Jeff said as he turned to leave. "The next round's tournament duels won't be starting until day eight of the tournament, until then you can watch the rest of the matches via Duel Academy's stream."
"Yeah, I was going to do that after I listened to Kataklysym." Lance answered and he got no answer from Jeff, only the sound of the door closing. "I thought he'd never leave." Lance thought as he went over to his laptop and loaded up the stream. "Chloe and Chelsea should be at the duel field by now if they want to get good seats." Lance thought before frowning. "I can't get that moment when I and Chloe held hands last night out of my head, sure it was for support since Otto's chains where choking us but maybe Chloe feels the same way I do about her about me?" Lance thought as he loaded up the stream. "Unfortunately I'll be cooped up in this room until Wednesday due to my cold so I can't ask her until then."
*at the duel field*
The duel field's audience was filling up fast, both with the new students who had joined over the weekend and the students who had been at the academy for longer.
"It's so good to have a good seat for one." Chloe commented with a small grin as she made herself comfortable, Chelsea nodded in agreement as she watched the seats get filled up.
"Tell me about it, we should definitely make getting here early a priority from now on…..well besides on the days when we're dueling or the days when Cameron, Jessica or Thomas are dueling." Chelsea agreed as she folded her arms. "It will get pretty lonely up here without Lance though."
"You girls mind if we join you?" Chloe and Chelsea looked up and saw Marcus with Tyler standing next to him, Chloe nodded and they took a seat each followed by the other duelists with duel spirit partners (besides Lance for obvious reasons) and Nicola. "You guys know anything about who's competing today?"
"I don't know any off the competitors in the first match, the second match though…." Theresa trailed off before frowning. "The two Obelisk Blue Girls are friends with Jessica."
"Great, we needed another reason to root for the home team." Chloe grunted as she rolled her eyes. "How close are they to Jessica?"
"There is a rumor that they once had a three-way with Jessica when Cameron was pulled from school." Theresa answered earning a confused look from Chloe. "That was when Nathan's soul was captured; Jessica got to stay because she convinced her parents that she could look after herself."
"Is there any truth to that rumor?" Chelsea asked and Theresa shrugged.
"The only ones who know for sure are the three girls who allegedly took part in it and asking them about it is a good way to get a complaint filed against you." Theresa answered as she shook her head. "I'm curious but I don't want a complaint filed against me, especially since I have one expulsion duel on my record already."
"Knowing how many people she's slept with it was likely a one off thing." Chelsea responded with a shrug. "If she did swing both ways you'd think we'd hear about it."
"That or she threatens to file a complaint against the girls she does sleep with." Brandon responded as the first two teams entered the arena. "The girls in Jessica's posse usually don't have the best records so they'd do anything to avoid a complaint."
"Yeah, let's change the subject before any of her other friends overhear us." Chelsea suggested once she noticed that a large number of female Obelisk Blue students were seated right behind Theresa, Brandon and Tyler, not to unusual since they were from the same dorm but they didn't exactly look like the friendly type, Theresa glanced over at them and they seemed to be caught up in their own little conversation but nodded regardless.
"Sounds like a plan, how about we just watch the matches for now?" Theresa suggested and the others nodded in agreement before turning their attention to the duel.
"Man that was a long weekend." Caitlin thought as she shuffled her deck, she was around Chloe's height and had shoulder length strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes though her uniform identified her as a second year student. "Still I can't let Chloe and Chelsea hog all the spotlight in the next round by being the only Osiris Red team and that means that my team has to win."
"Are you ready Caitlin?" Caitlin looked up and saw her partner for the tournament Amelia Gray, a tall (for a woman) Obelisk Blue student with short black hair and blue eyes, Caitlin nodded as she finished shuffling her deck and activated her duel disk as the two girls turned to their opponents. "Sorry boys but we're about to book our place in the second round!"
"I highly doubt that." Clement commented with a yawn, he was tall and handsome with shoulder length blonde hair tied into a ponytail and blue eyes. "What can you honestly do with an Osiris Red Reject on your team? Oh, that's right, nothing!"
"Clement, you are so insufferable sometimes you know that?" Chong grunted as he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, he was an Asian teenager with short black hair and brown eyes which were behind a pair of reading glasses, both boys where clearly second year students based on their uniforms. "Don't forget that one of those so called rejects came in third at Battle City."
"Yes and we both know that if she hadn't drawn Spellbinding Circle when she did Otto would've taken her place." Clement responded as he rolled his eyes. "Enough talk, let's get this over with."
"Attention all students competing in this match, I have an announcement regarding the winners of this match." Martin's voice rang out and the students turned their attention to him. "Due to the low amount of available opponents in the next round the decision has been made to offer a pass to the third round to the winners of this match."
"Wow, I haven't even met Clement and I hate him already." Chloe commented as a large sweat-drop rolled down her head. "Let me guess, he's friends with Cameron and Jessica?"
"Yeah, he is." Theresa responded with a nod. "He only got into Obelisk Blue because of his wealthy parents so it's only natural that he views Osiris Red and Ra Yellow that way." Theresa added and Brandon cleared his throat. "All though I will add that Brandon is the exception to that rule." Theresa added and Brandon nodded in agreement.
"Relax Chloe, that'll just give us more reason to cheer for the girls to win." Chelsea responded with a grin. "Besides for all we know Clement could be all bark and no bite, and with Martin's announcement they have extra incentive to win this match."
"Okay, I'll go first followed by Chong, then Amelia, then the pompous asshole and then back to me?" Caitlin suggested and the others nodded whilst Clement ignored her comment as they drew their opening hands, Caitlin made an additional draw and looked over her hand. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode." Caitlin set the three cards and they appeared on the field. "And I end my turn at that."
"If Heavy Storm wasn't banned over the weekend I'd use it to destroy her facedown cards." Chong thought as he drew his card. "But I'll make do and besides I won't be able to attack until Amelia ends her turn even if I wanted too." Chong thought before looking at his drawn card. "I'll start my turn with a Continuous Spell Card known as Black Whirlwind!" Chong played the card and it appeared on the field.
"Didn't that card get unlimited by that emergency banlist?" Caitlin asked and Chong nodded.
"Yes it was, but I'll get to its effect in a minute, first off since you have a monster and I don't I can Special Summon Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn!" Chong played the card and a large humanoid crow appeared on the field, it had large black wings and purple feathers down its neck (5/2000/900). "Now I'll use my normal summon to bring out another Blackwing, Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite!"
"That's a fitting name for a card that belongs to an Obelisk Blue Student." Clement commented with a smirk as the monster appeared on the field, it was a tall, slender humanoid crow with a large, white pointed beak, wild blue hair and red and black armor (4/1600/1000).
"Now that I've normal summoned my Spell Card's effect activates letting me search through my deck for another Blackwing monster and add it to my hand." Chong explained before picking up his deck and searching through it, once he found the card he was looking for he added it to his hand and shuffled the deck. "But the monster I added to my hand isn't any old monster, when this one is added to my hand by the effect of a Spell, Trap or Monster I can Special summon it straight to the field so please welcome Blackwing – Breeze the Zephyr!"
"Yet another summon?" Caitlin asked as she looked at her watch. "Is this turn ever going to end?" Caitlin asked as the monster appeared on the field, it was smaller and more birdlike than the other Blackwings and was red in color (3/1100/300). "Yes, even if it is kind of cute."
"You're not the only one to call this one cute but that's beside the point, Breeze the Zephyr is a Tuner Monster that can only be used to Synchro Summon a Blackwing Synchro Monster so I'll go ahead and do just that by tuning it with Zephyros the Elite!" Chong announced as the two monsters leapt into the air, Breeze dissolved into three Synchro Rings that quickly surrounded Zephyros the Elite. "Please welcome to the field Blackwing Armor Master!" Chong played the card and an even larger humanoid crow appeared on the field, as its name suggested it was covered head to toe in armor but unlike the others its beak appeared to be a helmet (7/2500/1500). "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Chong set the cards down and Amelia drew her card.
"So he runs Blackwings huh? No wonder he's been trying to get his hands on my copy of Dark Armed Dragon." Brandon commented with a frown. "Blackwings is an all dark Archetype so I can see why he wanted it."
"What I don't get is why didn't he tune Breeze with Sirocco? He would've been able to go for a Level Eight Synchro Summon if he did." Chloe pointed out with a confused look on her face. "Sure, Armor Master's strong but there's gotta be stronger Level Eight Synchros."
"There are but I think he wanted to Synchro Summon Armor Master to set up another move later on." Theresa commented with a frown. "Besides Armor Master has a damn good effect of his own, it just needs a monster to be face-up on their side of the field."
"Chong started off strong but I have a trick or two up my sleeve." Amelia thought with a smirk as she looked over her hand. "I activate a Spell Card called Reinforcement of the Army, considering how popular this Spell Card is I don't think an explanation is necessary." Amelia 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. "And now I summon that monster, Barbarian Warrior - Thuddal the Ruthless!" Amelia played the card and a tall muscular but unshaven man appeared on the field, he had long black hair, a matching beard and brown piercing eyes, as the name suggested he was wearing barbarian garb (4/2000/1000).
"Barbarians, I'd expect that from a lowly Osiris Red student not an Obelisk Blue Student." Clement commented with a scoff and Amelia frowned. "Besides that monster's a little strong for a Level 4 isn't he?"
"He is but his effect makes up for it." Amelia said as the warrior glared at the two students. "You see when Thuddal is summoned when I have no monsters on my side of the field I can search through my deck for a certain field spell as long as I permanently cut his attack points in half." Amelia announced as she picked up her deck again and searched through it, once she found the card she was looking for she added it to her hand as Thuddal's attack dropped to one thousand.
"You call yourself an Obelisk Blue student? Terra-Forming would've worked just as well and you wouldn't have had to waste your normal summon." Clement pointed out and Amelia shook her head.
"Here's the thing about that field spell." Amelia said as she shuffled her deck. "There's only one way to search for it and that's by way off a monster with Barbarian Warrior in its name." Amelia said as she played the card. "It may seem a bit harsh but it'll make sense soon, I activate my Field Spell Card Barbarian Village!" Amelia played the card and the scenery changed to a rural looking village, the kind the Ancient Romans would pass through back in the day complete with wooden huts.
"Okay, so what does this Field Spell do exactly?" Chong asked and Amelia smirked.
"Not yet." Amelia said before picking up two cards and setting them. "To keep you boys guessing I'll set these cards facedown and end my turn." Amelia announced and Clement drew his card.
"Blackwings, Barbarians, what else do we have to expect from this duel?" Chelsea asked with a shrug. "I'm half expecting Clement to start playing Roman based cards."
"Well, they have made god knows how many cards based on Ancient Egypt so I wouldn't put it past I2." Marcus commented as they watched the duels. "Hey Tyler, you heard of these Barbarian Warrior monsters?"
"I only know very little about those things." Tyler answered with a frown. "They are apparently being released in an upcoming booster pack, not the same ones that those Ghostrick and Vampire monsters are being released in but the one after that, no idea how Amelia got her hands on them."
"Well, apparently her folks work for I2 so maybe they got her a gig as a play tester on the side?" Marcus suggested and the others turned to him. "That's according to a female Obelisk Blue Student who I've been trying to hit it off with as of late….and no, you can't know her name." Marcus said as he started blushing like a mad man.
"Barbarians and a concealed monster, this should be a piece of cake!" Clement thought as he looked at his drawn card. "I activate a Spell Card called Blaze Accelerator!" Clement played the card before discarded a card from his hand and as that happened a small cannon on what looked like a tri-pod appeared on the field. "Now that I've discarded a weak pyro type monster I can target one monster my opponent controls and destroy it, I think I'll chose that filthy barbarian!" Clement announced as the cannon got ready to fire….
"I'm afraid that this "Filthy Barbarian" won't be defeated that easily, I activate my trap card Warcry!" Amelia activated the trap depicting Barbarian Village being invaded and several barbarians fighting off the invasion, including Thuddal, Thuddal let out a fearsome roar before drawing out an axe and chopping the Spell Card in half. "Since I have Barbarian Village on my side of the field this counter trap lets me negate the effect of a Spell Card that would've destroyed a Barbarian Warrior and destroy it, only downside is that Thuddal will have to attack if it's still on the field during my next turn."
"Well, that's a nuisance." Clement grunted before looking over his hand. "The monster I discarded for Accelerator was Volcanic Shell, and at the cost of five hundred life-points…." Clement added before wincing as his life-points dropped to 7500. "I can add another one to my hand." Clement said before picking up and searching through his deck.
"Funny how you call my dorm pathetic when you're blatantly copying Axel Brodie's deck." Caitlin mocked Clement and Clement scoffed.
"Making your own deck is all well and good but if this deck worked for one duelist then it will work for me." Clement retorted before adding the card to his hand and shuffling his deck. "The downside to Blaze Accelerator is that I can't attack the same turn I use it, but since I wouldn't have been able to attack in the first place I'll set these….." Clement announced as two set cards, a monster and a Spell/Trap Card, appeared on the field. "And end my turn." Clement announced and Caitlin drew her card.
"Okay, I don't know a lot about Amelia's monsters but from what I've seen their pretty good, hopefully I can keep up!" Caitlin thought as she looked over her hand. "Not too good a draw but I do have Reckless Greed facedown, using it this early would be a risk though…."
"I activate Dust Tornado!" Clement announced as his facedown card flipped up. "And I target the facedown card on the right!" Clement announced as a large storm washed over the field….
"In that case I'll chain it! Go Reckless Greed!" Caitlin activated the trap before drawing twice. "It may cost me my next two draw phases but I get two cards in exchange." Caitlin explained as the trap card shattered.
"Fine, I'll use Dust Tornado's effect to set a card facedown." Clement announced as another facedown card appeared on the field. "You were saying?"
"Err, right…." Caitlin trailed off before looking at her two new cards. "Can't really use either of them and as much as I'd like to go on the attack my facedown monster wouldn't be enough." Caitlin thought before setting the card she drew first face down on the field. "I end my turn."
"She isn't attacking just defending; she likely lacks any powerful monsters at the moment." Chong thought before turning his attention to Amelia. "And whilst I still don't know what kind of secrets her deck hides if I want to draw first blood for our team I'll have to destroy that barbarian!" Chong thought before adding the card he had drawn to his hand. "Sirocco the Dawn, attack Thuddal the Ruthless!" Chong commanded and the winged beast took flight….
"In that case I'll activate my other trap card, Sacred Grove!" Amelia flipped her trap up which depicted a beautiful looking grove with a barbarian praying. "For many Barbarian tribes their gods resided in the trees and the rivers, and those gods protected them as often as they could, in game terms this trap lets Thuddal survive up to two attacks per turn." Amelia announced as Thuddal fought of Sirocco with his axe.
"Yes, but clearly you still take damage." Clement commented as Amelia's life-points dropped to seven-thousand. "You know what to do Chong!"
"Actually I would advise against that." Amelia announced and the two boys turned to Amelia and saw that Thuddal's attack points where back at two thousand. "Because they held their lands so close to their hearts Barbarians would fiercely fight off invaders in order to protect, in game terms as long as Barbarian Village is on the field any battle damage I take is added to a monster with Barbarian Warrior in their name."
"In that case I won't risk a second attack." Chong said as he looked over his hand. "I can use Armor Master's effect to render that effect useless but I'd rather use it on a stronger monster, historically Barbarians where weak against more advanced civilizations like the Romans with a few exceptions and if I2 did create a Barbarian archetype then her deck might contain bigger fish." Chong thought before looking over his hand and setting his drawn card. "I end my turn at that." Chong announced and Amelia drew her card.
"Yeah, I came here for a duel not a history lesson." Chelsea commented as a large sweat-drop rolled down her head. "Can't Amelia just cut to the point and explain her card's effects like she did with that Warcry trap?"
"I've known Amelia for a while and she's quite the history buff." Theresa responded as she watched the duel. "And she won't hesitate to show off her knowledge of history like she's doing at the moment."
"If that's the case why isn't she running a Heroic Deck like Ricardo did?" Chelsea asked as she scratched her head. "Those monsters seem like they would fit her deck more."
"I can think of a couple of reasons based on my conversations with her, one she likes to keep her opponents guessing, two her main area of interest is the various Barbarian Tribes the have existed throughout history, Celts, the Germanic Tribes, the Gauls, even the Mongols." Theresa responded after thinking for a few minutes. "Not sure if there's a card based on any of the most famous Barbarians like Boudicca or Genghis Khan but if they are any she'll know."
"Unfortunately my Field Spell comes with a drawback, to keep it in play I have to reveal one monster in my hand." Amelia said as she turned the card around, once she was sure that both Chong and Clement had seen it she turned it around and played it. "And since there's no point in leaving her in my hand I'll summon Barbarian Warrior - Kanasisha the Cunning!" Amelia played the card and the monster appeared on the field, it was a tall and muscular woman with long red hair tied into a ponytail who was wearing Barbarian garb that exposed her midriff (3/900/1200). "Despite their appearance Barbarian women where often just as fierce as the men in battle and that applies to Kanasisha herself!"
"Oh for the love off, enough with the damn history lessons already! Just get on with it and explain her damn effect!" Clement commented with a yawn and Amelia grinned.
"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you! In exchange for giving up her attack this turn Kanasisha can target one facedown Spell or Trap Card and destroy it, and just for that little comment I'll target your facedown card!" Amelia announced as Kanasisha drew a small knife and charged at Clement's facedown card before destroying it.
"I was anticipating a Mystical Space Typhoon but I think this will do nicely, the trap card you just destroyed was Dormant Volcano!" Clement said as he held it up. "When this is destroyed by a card effect my opponent takes three hundred points of damage." Clement commented and the two women winced as their life-points dropped to 7700 and 6700. "It has another effect but that will wait until my next Stand-By Phase."
"Give us a break; we saw Lance Alver's expulsion duel as well." Amelia answered before pointing to Clement's facedown monster. "Thuddal, attack the facedown monster!" Amelia commanded and the barbarian charged towards the monster, revealed to be UFO Turtle, which was quickly destroyed.
"I use UFO Turtle's effect to Special Summon Solar Flare Dragon!" Clement announced as the large dragon made out of fire appeared on the field (4/1500/1000). "I'm sorry, where you planning a direct attack?"
"That's going to be a problem; Barbarian Village's effect only applies to battle damage." Amelia thought before picking up and setting a card. "I end my turn with this facedown card!" Amelia announced and Clement drew his card.
"Her strongest monster is that Thuddal card but even then it's not that strong." Clement thought before picking up his deck. "Now Dormant Volcano's effect activates, with it we can add one FIRE monster from our decks to our hands, it's pretty obvious that I have quite the selection but I doubt either of you do."
"Actually I do." Amelia responded before picking up her deck and searching through it, once she found the card that she was looking for she added it to her hand and Clement did likewise with his deck.
"Okay, anyone else?" Clement asked and Chong and Caitlin shook their heads as their partners shuffled their decks. "Good, now I can continue, I remove the first Volcanic Counter from play in order to special summon Inferno in attack mode!" Clement played the card and the small flame with a face appeared on the field (4/1100/1900). "His attack score may not be much but he's still stronger than that female barbarian, Inferno, burn her alive!" Clement commanded and the small flame flew towards the female barbarian before burning her alive. "And let's not forget that when Inferno inflicts battle damage you take fifteen hundred life-points on top of that!" Clement added and Amelia winced as her life-points dropped to 5100.
"That may be but now I can activate my trap card Rite of Passage!" Amelia activated the trap which depicted a Barbarian being buried whilst his family watched on. "Since my barbarian was just destroyed I can add another one to my hand as long as its level doesn't exceed the other barbarian's level." Amelia explained 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.
"Very well, I'll set a card facedown and end my turn." Clement announced and once the set card appeared on the field Caitlin didn't draw due to Reckless Greed.
"I can't be left in the dust by these guys, I need to go on the offensive and soon!" Caitlin thought before looking over her hand. "Unfortunately Reckless Greed didn't leave me with a lot of options and I won't be able to draw again for another turn." Caitlin thought before sighing. "I'll pass my turn." Caitlin said begrudgingly and Chong drew his card.
"If I destroy Amelia's Barbarian I can set up a direct attack from Sirocco and since Clement has already destroyed that female barbarian it'll be a snatch!" Chong thought as he added his drawn card to his hand. "Armor Master, destroy Thuddal the Ruthless!" Chong commanded and the winged humanoid flew towards Amelia before destroying her barbarian bringing Amelia's life-points down to 4600. "Sirocco, attack her life-points directly!" Chong commanded and the monster flew towards Amelia…..
"I don't think so! I activate my trap card Staunch Defender and I use it to force Sirocco to attack my monster instead!" Caitlin activated the trap and the humanoid changed course targeting the facedown monster. "You've been targeting my partner so much that I was being left out!"
"Yes, well, it's not like your dorm is worth remembering." Clement muttered under his breath as the facedown monster revealed itself to be a massive humanoid made out of clay (4/800/2000). "Wait a minute, is that what I think it is?"
"That's right, it's Elemental Hero Clayman!" Caitlin said with a grin as Sirocco's attack was deflected by Clayman's skin. "And he's just got enough defenses to block your attack!"
"Elemental Heroes, I haven't seen that archetype at this academy since Jaden Yuki graduated." Chong thought as Sirocco returned to his side of the field. "Still that deck took a hit when Stratos was banned so I doubt she'll be that much of a problem." Chong thought before picking up a card and setting it. "I end my turn with this facedown card." Chong announced and Amelia drew her card.
"Blackwings, Barbarians, a Fire Deck and Elemental Heroes, yep, this duel has everything all right." Chelsea commented as they watched the duel. "All though I'm surprised that Caitlin's even willing to still use those things since they got a big hit on that banlist."
"They did take a big hit when Stratos was banned but they still have E – Emergency Call which served as their main searcher until Stratos got released." Tyler responded with a nod. "Whether or not she can draw it is another matter."
"Good, now I can put my plan into motion!" Amelia thought before playing a card. "I reveal one Barbarian Warrior in my hand to keep Barbarian Tribe in play." Amelia announced as she showed the card. "My next card may be a generic Warrior support card but he still works well with this deck! I summon Marauding Captain!" Amelia played the card and the brown haired, twin sword wielding warrior appeared on the field (3/1200/400). "Now I'll activate his effect allowing me to summon Barbarian Warrior – Jothal the Blood-Thirsty!" Amelia played the card and a new warrior appeared on the field, it was a short but muscular barbarian with a long black beard, matching hair and piercing brown eyes (2/500/1000).
"With a name like that I was expecting something a little stronger." Chong commented and Clement nodded in agreement.
"You want something stronger? I'll give it to you! First when Jothal is Special Summoned by the effect of another warrior his level goes up by one." Amelia commented as the Barbarian's Level increased. "Now I use Jothal and Marauding Captain to construct an overlay network!" Amelia announced as the two warriors turned into swirling orbs of energy. "And I use these monsters to Special Summon the XYZ Monster Barbarian Warlord – Kravas the Brave!" Amelia played the card and a new monster emerged on the field, it was a tall barbarian who somehow looked more dignified than the others, he was bald with a scar down his right eye and was carrying a large sword (Rank: 3/2100/1800).
"All that buildup for a warrior who's barely stronger than Sirocco the Dawn, I expected better from an Obelisk Blue Student." Clement commented and Amelia scowled.
"What's the first rule of Duel Monsters again? Oh yeah, don't underestimate the opponent's monsters based on their attack strength." Amelia said as she sent Jothal to the graveyard. "And by detaching an overlay unit from Kravas I can activate his effect forcing him to attack the strongest monster on your side of the field."
"Hold on, let me get this straight, you have a monster who's effect revolved around being forced to attack a potentially stronger monster than he is and not only do you run it but you summon it." Clement commented as he shook his head. "Did I miss something?"
"Yes, Jothal's other effect; when he's detached for the effect of a Barbarian Warlord monster all monsters on your side of the field lose five hundred attack points until the end of the turn." Amelia added and the two male student's eyes widened as Inferno, Armor Master and Sirocco's attack points dropped to six hundred, two thousand and fifteen hundred respectively.
"Well if there was ever a good time for me to use Sirocco's effect it's now!" Chong announced as his two Blackwings started glowing. "Once per turn I can target another Blackwing monster and give it the total sum of all Blackwing monsters beside itself."
"Err, just to be clear, we're still on the Main Phase right?" Caitlin asked and the other students nodded in response. "Good, then you won't mind me chaining Effect Veiler's effect to Sirocco's!"
"Actually I do…." Chong trailed off as Sirocco doubled over in pain.
"That's too bad, good save Caitlin." Amelia responded with a nod of approval…..before noticing the grin on Chong's face. "Okay, now what?"
"Go ahead, attack Armor Master, it'll be a wasted effort." Chong explained as his grin grew wider. "Armor Master can't be destroyed by battle and I take no damage from a battle involving him, your partner would've been better off using Veiler to negate Armor Master's effect!"
"Actually Caitlin did the right thing." Amelia responded as Kravas charged towards Armor Master. "Kravas won't be able to attack the next turn but in exchange any monsters he battles get their effects negated during the damage step." Amelia added as the warlord decapitated Armor Master with his sword bringing Chong's life-points down to 7900. "Are you really that surprised? Warlords where often the leaders of the various Barbarian tribes and they often went into battle against larger tribes and empires…."
"Oh for the love of crap enough with the damn history lessons already!" Clement yelled out interrupting Amelia. "I get it, you are really well read when it comes to your chosen deck and barbarians but I came here for a damn duel!"
"That's too bad because when you duel me you get both!" Amelia responded as her XYZ monster returned to her side of the field. "I set one card facedown and end my turn…."
"And I activate Miracle's Wake!" Chong announced as Blackwing Armor Master returned to the field with his original attack points. "I had a feeling you'd try something like that and Armor Master is back on the field, not only that but I noticed that you said "when he attacks" not when he is attacked so I'll be free to attack him next turn." Chong added as Clement drew his card.
"Anyone else lose count of the amount of effects that where just activated?" Chelsea commented as a large sweat-drop rolled down her head. "Seriously, this has to be one of the best duels of the first round so far."
"Maybe but the first round won't end until Wednesday." Tyler pointed out as he turned to her. "For all we know there might be a better match than this before then."
"Even if that is the case whoever wins this match will be a team to watch out for in the next few rounds." Chloe chimed in and the others nodded in response.
"As much as I'd hate to help my opponents this is necessary, I activate Spellbook Inside the Pot." Clement played the card and the four duelists drew three cards, Caitlin did so enthusiastically clearly relieved to be able to draw again. "Ah perfect, this Spell Card is quite the deadly one and my monster fits the bill perfectly, I activate Raging Inferno!" Clement played the card and Inferno increased in size until it towered over Caitlin and Amelia's monsters. "Inferno will be destroyed once my Battle Phase ends but in exchange it can attack directly!"
"Oh shit!" Caitlin gulped as Amelia braced herself.
"Why would I waste my time attack you when I could attack your tag team partner instead? Her life-points have been practically untouched!" Clement chuckled as Caitlin's eyes widened as Inferno slammed into her bringing her life-points down to forty-four hundred. "Now my battle phase ends!" Clement announced as Inferno's hologram shattered. "But Inferno is gone but not forgotten, I simply remove my first Inferno from play to Special Summon a second one in defense mode!" Clement announced as the small flame returned to the field. "I shall end my turn at that." Clement announced and Caitlin didn't draw because of Reckless Greed's effect.
"Okay, I've sat on the sidelines for long enough and thanks to your Spell Card I can now take the initiative! I activate Polymerization!" Caitlin played the card and sent a monster from her hand alongside Clayman to her graveyard. "I fuse Clayman on the field with Elemental Hero Avian (3/1000/1000) in my hand to fusion summon Elemental Hero Great Tornado!" Caitlin played the card and the two heroes where fused together in a vortex and from it emerged a tall Elemental Hero in green and yellow spandex wearing a ragged robe over the left side of his body (8/2800/2200). "And when he's fusion summoned his effect kicks in cutting the attack scores of all my opponents' monsters by half!" Caitlin added as Inferno, Armor Master and Sirocco's attack strength dropped to five hundred and fifty, twelve hundred and fifty and one thousand respectively. "Now as tempting as it is to get some revenge on Clement his monster is in defense mode…..but on the other hand why should I stop at one fusion? I activate Fusion Recovery! I use this Spell Card to return Polymerization and Clayman to my hand!"
"She's obviously planning something big, I'm glad I set Dimensional Prison last turn." Chong thought as Caitlin retrieved her cards from the graveyard and added them to her hand.
"Now I activate Polymerization again! This time I'm fusing Clayman with Burstinatrix in my hand to fusion summon Elemental Hero Nova Master!" Caitlin played the card and Clayman appeared again alongside the lone female Elemental Hero (3/1200/800) before they were both sucked into a portal, from the portal emerged a tall Elemental Hero in fire red and yellow armor who's eyes could barely be seen behind it's helmet (8/2600/2100). "Just one last thing really….."
"If you want to borrow my Warlord go ahead." Amelia cut her off before activating her trap. "But first give me a chance to make sure that Chong can't try anything! I activate my Trap Card Rebellion!" Amelia announced as her trap flipped up depicting any army of Barbarians charging an army from a clearly more sophisticated civilization, presumably the Romans. "I shouldn't have to explain what rebellion means but I will explain my card's effect, for this turn only you guys can't activate any traps!"
"I don't remember you saying that it negates monster effects so I'll go ahead and use Sirocco's effect on Armor Master." Chong announced as the two Blackwings started glowing as Armor Master's attack shot up to twenty-two hundred and fifty. "He may not be as strong as he used to be but he is stronger than your warlord and let's face it, your warlord is the only monster on the field that can attack Armor Master and destroy him." Chong added and Caitlin hesitated.
"Go ahead and attack with Kravas, I have other monsters I can summon." Amelia instructed Caitlin who looked at her funny.
"But Kravas is weaker!" Caitlin pointed out and Amelia gave her a reassuring look. "Err, okay, Kravas, attack Armor Master!" Caitlin commanded and the warlord charged into battle as did Armor Master.
"If you wanted to lose that badly why didn't you just surrender?" Clement scoffed before noticing that Amelia had played a Quick Play Spell. "Sacrifice before the Battle?"
"The Romans weren't the only ones doing this, they just used animals." Amelia responded as the card's hologram appeared on the field depicting a Barbarian getting ready to kill a chained man. "Many barbarian tribes used humans and this Quick Play Spell reflects that, in game terms all I need to do is discard two Level Three or lower Barbarian Warrior monsters from my hand…." Amelia said as she discarded the two cards. "And Kravas gains a thousand attack points until the end of the turn." Amelia added as Kravas's attack increased to thirty one hundred and Kravas, once again, decapitated Armor Master bringing Chong's life-points down to 7050.
"He'll pay for that on my next turn." Chong said as his eyes narrowed.
"Err, hello, I still have two more monsters to attack with." Caitlin chimed in before pointing to Nova Master. "Nova Master, attack Sirocco the Dawn!" Caitlin commanded and the fiery Elemental Hero flew towards Chong's only remaining monster.
"It won't be enough to save my monster." Chong admitted as he discarded a card from his hand. "But by discarding Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow from my hand I can increase Sirocco's attack points by fourteen hundred allowing me to soften the blow!" Chong announced as Sirocco's attack increased to twenty four hundred, despite the increase though the humanoid was quickly incinerated bringing Chong's life-points down to 6850.
"And why did you not save Armor Master with that card?" Clement asked with an annoyed look on his face. "Your misplay just cost us the best monster on our side of the field!"
"I have my reasons." Chong responded before turning to Caitlin again. "Now I believe you have one more attack?"
"I do but not yet, when Nova Master destroys a monster by battle I get to draw a card." Caitlin responded before drawing a card. "Now Great Tornado, attack Chong's life-points directly!" Caitlin commanded and the monster let lose a tornado at Chong bringing his life-points down to 4050.
"Are you done yet?" Clement asked with a bored yawn and Caitlin shook her head.
"Not yet, now I enter my second main phase and activate the card I drew with Nova Master's effect, E - Emergency Call! Now I can add another Elemental Hero to my hand!" Caitlin played the card and picked up her deck; once she found the card she was looking for she added it to her hand and shuffled her deck. "And now I end my turn at that!" Caitlin announced and once Kravas returned to Amelia's side of the field Chong drew his card.
"I activate a Spell Card called Cards for Black Feathers! With this I remove from play one Blackwing monster in my hand….." Chong said as he pocketed the monster. "And I draw twice." Chong added before drawing two cards. "Because of its side effect I can't Special Summon this turn so instead I'll set two cards facedown and end my turn." Chong set the two cards down and Amelia drew her card.
"It looks like Chong is going to be the first to be eliminated." Chelsea commented with a frown. "Unless those two facedown cards are stall cards then I don't see him surviving the round."
"I'll have to agree but Chong is a good duelist." Tyler responded with a nod. "If anyone can find a way out of this it's him."
"I no longer need Barbarian Village so it's destroyed." Amelia announced as the field spell's hologram shattered. "I'm afraid your time in this match is up Chong." Amelia said as she played a card. "I summon Barbarian Warrior – Kudda the Relentless!" Amelia played the card and a short male barbarian appeared on the field, his hair was black and scruffy and he had a small axe in his hand. (4/1900/1100). "I'll get to Kudda's effect once I weaken up Chong….." Amelia trailed off as a loud roar cut off her order sending the four warriors cowering. "Let me guess, Threatening Roar?"
"You may have enough power to knock me out of the match but that doesn't mean I'm not in this." Chong responded as he sent his trap to the graveyard. "You'll get a chance on Caitlin's next turn so just hope that she can finish the job."
"Oh, she will." Amelia responded before looking over her hand. "Since I can't attack I'll pass my turn." Amelia announced and Clement smirked before drawing his card.
"Excellent, I'm about to prove how short sited Caitlin's decision to not destroy Inferno was." Clement announced as Inferno disappeared from the field. "I sacrifice Inferno so that I can summon the mighty Thestalos, The Firestorm Monarch to the field in attack mode!" Clement played the card and the monarch of fire used several times by Lance appeared on the field (6/2400/1000). "Now as I'm sure anyone who's familiar with the Monarchs is also familiar with their effects I won't bother explaining it."
"Err, just one question, how is this effect going to work? You have two opponents." Caitlin chimed in and Clement hesitated.
"As it's a tag team duel both of Clement's opponents will be targeted for Thestalos's effect." Martin chimed in over the PA system and the four duelists nodded. "Please continue."
"Very well, for Amelia I target the card on the far right." Clement announced and Thestalos threw his fireball at the card, revealed to be another Thuddal, destroying it and bringing Amelia's life-points down to forty-four hundred. "Now I'll target the same card for Caitlin!" Clement announced and the monarch threw a fireball at the card in her hand.
"Crap, not my Bubbleman!" Caitlin groaned as she sent the card to the graveyard bringing her life-points down to four thousand.
"I'm afraid that your pathetic Elemental Hero is the least of your worries." Clement responded as he played another card. "I activate March of the Monarchs, now as long as I don't mind losing the ability to Special Summon any monsters Thestalos here can't be targeted or destroyed by card effects."
"Err, newsflash, my heroes are stronger than him!" Caitlin pointed out with a grin. "Unless you want to lose your monster next turn you'd better play something else!"
"An excellent idea, you're smart for an Osiris Red Student!" Clement mocked her as he played another card. "I activate a fairly old card that still has its uses, Salamandra! With this I equip it to Thestalos and give his attack score a boost of seven hundred!" Clement announced as the flaming sword appeared in Thestalos's hands increasing his attack to thirty one hundred. "And whilst Kravas may be weaker I have no intention of letting you go plus one with another attack from Nova!" Clement commanded and Thestalos charged towards the hero before cutting him down the middle and bringing Caitlin's life-points down to thirty five hundred. "I shall end my turn at that!" Clement announced and Caitlin drew her card.
"Man, what I wouldn't give to have Stratos right now!" Caitlin thought with a groan before spotting her drawn card and grinning. "On the other hand I may not need Stratos!" Caitlin thought before discarding the card she had drawn. "The card I just discarded was Elemental Hero – Captain Gold (4/2100/800) and with his effect I can now search out the home of the Elemental Heroes!"
"Ugh, I know where this is going!" Clement grunted as she searched through her deck. "Chong, please tell me that facedown card is either Mystical Space Typhoon or Dust Tornado."
"No such luck Clement." Chong sighed in annoyance as Caitlin found the card that she had been looking for and added it to her hand.
"And that's too bad for you! I play the Field Spell Card Skyscraper!" Caitlin played the card and once again the scenery changed this time to a large city filled with skyscrapers set at night. "I'll let its effect speak for itself, Great Tornado, attack Thestalos!" Caitlin commanded and the hero flew towards the monarch. "And since he's weaker than Thestalos he instantly gains one thousand attack points." Caitlin added as Great Tornado's attack points shot up to thirty eight hundred, his fist connected with the monarch destroying it and bringing Clement's life-points down to 7300. "About time you took some damage!"
"Yes but I still have far more life-points than either of you and besides, if you had borrowed Amelia's warriors you could've finished off Chong instead of dealing a merely seven hundred points of damage to me." Clement pointed out and Caitlin frowned.
"Don't worry Caitlin. I'll finish him off myself." Amelia responded and Caitlin nodded.
"I end my turn at that." Caitlin announced and Chong drew his card.
"In that case I activate my other trap card Escape from the Dark Dimension and I use it to Special Summon the monster I banished last turn." Chong announced as he retrieved the monster and played it. "Please welcome Blackwing – Calima the Haze!" Chong played the card and a new winged beast appeared on the field, unlike the other Blackwings though this one was pink in color and was very thin (4/600/1800). "This card does have an effect but it needs to be in the graveyard first!" Chong added before playing another card. "So I'll use my Normal Summon to bring out the Tuner Monster Blackwing – Kochi the Daybreak!" Chong played the card and another small Blackwing appeared on the field, this one was black and was a lot more crow-like than the others (4/700/1500).
"If you intended to do another Synchro Summon why didn't you use Cards for Black Feathers on Kochi?" Clement asked as Chong searched out a monster via the effect of Black Whirlwind.
"It's because if I had then I wouldn't have been able to do a Synchro Summon." Chong responded as he turned to Clement. "If Kochi is Special Summoned I can't use him in a Synchro Summon and since I don't run any XYZ monsters that would've left me with two very weak monsters and nothing to defend with!" Chong explained before playing another card. "Next I use my own Equip Spell Demotion to reduce Calima's level by two." Chong explained as Calima's level dropped to two.
"Why on earth would you do that? You can't do a Level Eight Synchro Summon anymore." Clement pointed out and Chong sighed.
"I thought we went over our decks when the teams were announced?" Chong asked and Clement said nothing in response. "I couldn't have done a Level Eight Synchro Summon regardless; the monster I intend to summon requires two non-tuner monsters."
"You've already used up your normal summon so you can't summon a monster regardless!" Caitlin pointed out and Chong shook his head.
"That is technically true but I still have some cards in my hand like this one, the Spell Card Double Summon!" Chong played the card and picked up another card. "Now I can have a second normal summon and I'll use it to summon Blackwing – Fane the Steel Chain!" Chong played the card another winged humanoid appeared on the field, this one's face couldn't be soon but it's feathers where black and it had a long green ponytail (2/500/800).
"I don't like the look of him." Caitlin gulped as Chong searched out another monster with Black Whirlwind.
"You can relax because this monster doesn't have an effect that you should worry about it's basically a Blackwing version of one of Chelsea Cunningham's Watt Monsters." Chong explained as the three monsters took flight. "What you should worry about is the monster I'm about to Synchro Summon." Chong added as the green Synchro Rings surrounded Calima and Fade. "I tune my three monsters together to summon my best monster, Blackwing – Silverwind the Ascendant!"
"I definitely don't like the sound of that!" Caitlin gulped as the new monster appeared on the field, it was a large Blackwing monster with a very long beak and red eyes, its wings where multi-colored with shades of black, grey and gold in them and it was carrying a large sword (8/2800/2000).
"And this card's effect is something you should worry about, when it's Synchro Summoned I can select and destroy two face-up monsters whose defenses are lower than Silverwind's attack and I target Great Tornado and Kravas!" Chong announced and two girls braced themselves as their monsters where cut through by Silverwind's sword. "Fortunately for you I can't conduct my battle phase the same turn I use this cards' effect so I'll set this card facedown." Chong announced as the facedown card appeared on the field. "And end my turn." Chong announced and Amelia drew her card.
"So Chong just went from the guy who was likely to be the first one eliminated from the match to the guy with the best monster on the field in the space of a turn, yeah I'm not looking forward to facing his team if they win." Chloe commented with a gulp and the others nodded in agreement. "If anything I now have more reason to root for Amelia and Caitlin."
"Yeah, except for the fact that they will be that much harder to beat since they beat this powerhouse team." Chelsea pointed out with a frown. "The fact that they are getting a free ticket to the third round doesn't help."
"Yeah, you'd think DA would be better prepared for something like that." Marcus agreed with a nod. "Couldn't they enter two of the new students and announce that they will compete against the winners of this match?"
"I think they're not doing that because it's a last minute decision." Theresa responded with a frown. "This tournament's had enough trouble getting off the ground as it is, they had to delay it due to our expulsion duels and the Duel Monster attack a couple of months back, based on that evidence I think they just wanted to get this thing started and deal with any issues as they come."
"That would be unusually short sited for Duel Academy but I guess that makes sense." Brandon agreed with a nod as Amelia looked over her hand.
"Okay, Chong's Synchro Monster is powerful and I can definitely see why it needed two non-tuner monsters to be summoned in the first place." Amelia thought as she added her drawn card to her hand. "But unfortunately Great Tornado was our best shot at defeating that monster and Chong destroyed it in short order, I know Caitlin has another copy in her extra deck but whether or not she can summon it is another matter entirely." Amelia thought before switching Kudda to defense mode and setting her drawn card. "That's all I can do for this turn." Amelia announced and Clement drew his card.
"Well, this is just perfect!" Clement said as he played his drawn card. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon and I use it to destroy Skyscraper!" Clement announced and a large storm washed over the field destroying Skyscraper and once again returning the field to normal. "Now that we don't have to worry about Skyscraper's effect being used to destroy Silverwind…." Clement trailed off as he turned to Chong.
"If you want to use Silverwind for a direct attack I won't stop you." Chong announced as his Blackwing flew over to Clement's side of the field. "Unless she summons something I should be able to finish her off on my turn." Chong added and Clement nodded. "And even if she does my deck has one more surprise for her."
"Then I will be more than happy to lay down the ground work, Silverwind, attack Caitlin's life-points directly!" Clement commanded and the humanoid charged towards Caitlin before slashing her with his sword bringing her life-points down to seven hundred. "And I'm not foolish enough to leave my field unprotected so I'll set a monster in defense mode….." Clement said as the facedown monster appeared on the field. "And end my turn." Clement announced and Caitlin drew her card.
"This is bad; I'm one attack away from elimination!" Caitlin thought as she started sweating bullets, she looked at her drawn card and blinked before playing it. "I activate Card of Variation, I draw two cards but unless I can discard a card at the end of my turn I'll take three thousand points of damage." Caitlin added before drawing her two cards. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Caitlin set the two cards down and once she discarded a card Chong drew his card.
"Well, I guess it's time I knocked you out of the tournament." Chong said as he added his drawn card to his hand. "Silverwind, finish the job you started!" Chong commanded and the monster took flight again…..
"I activate my Trap Card Draining Shield!" Caitlin announced as the attack was deflected by an invisible field bringing her life-points back up to 3500. "Nice try Chong but I'm still in this match!"
"Fine, you've brought yourself some time but we'll see how long it lasts." Chong said before looking at his drawn card. "I set this facedown and end my turn." Chong announced and Amelia drew her card.
"Caitlin's still in the match but for how long is another matter; I'll have to do everything I can to make sure she survives until the next round." Amelia thought before looking at her drawn card. "They are bound to try again as soon as Clement begins his turn, fortunately this Quick Play Spell Card can help." Amelia thought before setting it. "I end my turn with a facedown card." Amelia announced and Clement drew his card.
"I activate Hand Destruction! Now we all discard two cards and draw two more!" Clement played the Spell Card and the four duelists drew and discarded their cards. "Excellent, I've used one card used by Lance Alvers and now I'll use another, I summon Royal Firestorm Guards!" Clement played the card and the strange demon used numerous times by Lance appeared on the field (4/1700/1200). "Now I activate his effect, I return Thestalos, Inferno and the two monsters I discarded for Hand Destruction to my deck and draw two more cards." Clement added before retrieving the monsters in question, returning them to his deck and drawing twice. "This monster is quite useful but I've already used my normal summon on Firestorm Guards." Clement thought before adding his cards to his hand and looking up in time to see Caitlin and Amelia chatting. "This is hardly the time for idle chatter!"
"Relax Clement; she just made a request to me." Amelia responded and Clement frowned. "And it's nothing that'll give us an unfair advantage either." Amelia added and Clement nodded. "In fact, it'll do the exact opposite." Amelia thought as Clement looked over his hand.
"I'll just take your word for it, now Chong I require Silverwind's assistance again." Clement informed him and Chong nodded as the winged beast flew over to Clement's side of the field. "Whatever request she made to you won't matter now because I'm about to finish her off, Silverwind, attack her life-points directly!" Clement commanded and the winged beast flew towards Caitlin again before slashing her with his sword bringing her life-points down to seven hundred. "And now to bring my team one step closer to victory, Royal Firestorm Guards finish her off!" Clement commanded and the demon prepared its attack.
"Not this time Clement!" Amelia said as her facedown card flipped up depicting a Barbarian defending his family from invaders. "Hold the Line's effect is quite simple, when a direct attack is declared and I have a Barbarian Warrior or Warlord on my side of the field the attack is negated." Amelia added as Kudda leapt into the path of Royal Firestorm Guards' charge blocking it with his axe. "Encase you're wondering her request was to save any protection cards for Royal Firestorm Guards."
"A rather foolish mistake as she's back to where she started." Clement scoffed as his monster returned to his side of the field. "I end my turn."
"And now I reveal the reason I made that request, go Shock Draw!" Caitlin activated her trap and drew two cards before drawing a third to start her turn. "Yes! I can turn this around maybe even eliminate Chong!" Caitlin thought before playing a card. "I activate Miracle Fusion, with this I remove from play Elemental Hero Sparkman and Clayman from my graveyard to fusion summon my best monster."
"Based on your previous monsters it can't be that impressive." Clement scoffed as the two Elemental Heroes appeared on the field briefly before being sucked into a dark portal.
"You're going to regret those words." Caitlin responded as she played the card and a new Elemental Hero appeared on the field, its armor was white, gold and red in color and it had a giant golden ring on its back. "Say hello to Elemental Hero – The Shining!" (8/2600/2100).
"That's your best monster? Great Tornado was stronger!" Clement pointed out but any further comments by him where cut off by The Shining's attack points increasing to 3200. "How did it get so strong?"
"By his effect, that's how!" Caitlin responded with a grin. "Elemental Hero – The Shining gains three hundred attack points for each of my banished Elemental Heroes and thanks to Miracle Fusion I have two powering him up."
"If you wanted to finish me off I'm not impressed." Chong said as his eyes narrowed. "Your monster's strong but it's hardly strong enough to finish me off."
"Who said I was done? I activate another Miracle Fusion fusing Burstimatrix and Captain Gold this time around!" Caitlin played the card and the two heroes appeared on the field briefly before being sucked into a dark portal, seconds later another copy of Elemental Hero – The Shining appeared on the field (8/2600/2100). "And now that I have four banished Elemental Heroes my two monsters attack points go up by two hundred more points." Caitlin added as the two monsters' attack points increased to 3400. "And finally I equip one of my heroes with Megamorph!" Caitlin played the card and the first Shining doubled in size as its attack points shot up to 6800. "And I'll use my strongest Elemental Hero to attack Silverwind!" Caitlin announced as the hero flew towards the monster before punching him through the chest and bringing Chong's life-points down to a messily fifty life-points. "And now to finish you off….."
"I'm not done, not by a long shot!" Chong interrupted her as he pocketed a monster. "Remember Calima the Haze? Well if she's in my graveyard and I have no monsters to protect me I can remove her from play to special summon a Blackwing Synchro Monster from my graveyard." Chong played the card and Blackwing Armor Master returned to the field. "Unfortunately it will be removed from play as soon as you end your turn but since it doesn't lose its effect I'll take no damage if you decide to attack."
"Fine, I'll end my turn instead." Caitlin announced and once Armor Master vanished from the field for the last time Chong drew his card.
"Come now Chong, you may only have fifty life-points left but your still in the game." Clement pointed out as he turned to his partner. "Surely you have something you can do."
"There's only one thing I can do that doesn't involve surrendering." Chong answered as he picked up Black Whirlwind. "Remember Zephyros the Elite? By returning one card I control to my hand I can Special Summon him from the graveyard." Chong added as the monster returned to the field. "I can only use this effect once per duel so I'll set another monster in defense mode." Chong announced as another monster appeared on the field. "And end my turn." Cong announced and Amelia drew her card.
"Excellent, Caitlin's had a chance to show off her best monster and now it's my turn, I start my turn by activating Kudda's effect, once per duel he can destroy one face-up monster on the field." Amelia announced and the axe wielding barbarian charged towards Zephyros before decapitating him with his axe. "An additional side effect states that Kudda will be destroyed during the end phase if I use this effect but he won't be around for that."
"Let me guess, you're about to do another XYZ Summon?" Clement asked and Amelia shook her head.
"No actually, my best monster is a Synchro Monster!" Amelia responded before playing a card. "One that requires the tuner and non-tuner monsters to be Barbarian Warrior monsters and it just so happens that the card I just drew is a Tuner monster; I summon Barbarian Warrior – Klamul the Elder!" Amelia played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, it was another barbarian but this one was a lot older than the others with a long bushy white beard, matching hair and blue eyes (4/0/2000). "Klamul, it's time you gave Kudda a tune up!" Amelia told him and the two Barbarians nodded at each other before leaping into the air, Klamul faded into the four familiar Synchro Rings that quickly surrounded Kudda. "I summon Barbarian Warlord - G'nothir the Wise!" Amelia played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, this barbarian was taller than the others and had blonde hair, a long scar going down his right eye and blue piercing eyes (8/2500/2000).
"You had me worried there but that monster's no stronger than the others." Clement scoffed and Amelia grinned.
"I wouldn't be so dismissive if I were you, if Klamul the Elder is used in a Synchro Summon the monster that he helped in summoning gets the ability to inflict piercing damage!" Amelia announced and Chong's eyes widened. "Caitlin, can I use your monsters to punch our ticket for the third round?"
"You didn't even need to ask." Caitlin responded with a grin as the two monsters walked over to Amelia's side of the field.
"G'nothir, attack Chong's facedown monster!" Amelia commanded and the monster charged towards the set monster, revealed to be another Calima the Haze, which was quickly destroyed bringing Chong's life-points down to zero. "Were you hoping to use its effect to summon Silverwind again?"
"I guess you could say that." Chong sighed as he deactivated his duel disk and retrieved the rest of his cards from his graveyard and pockets; whilst he shuffled his deck together Amelia turned her attention to Clement.
"You may have defeated Chong but encase you haven't noticed I still have a monster on my side of the field and plenty of life-points left!" Clement said cockily as he stared down the two Elemental Heroes. "Unless you have something that allows you to attack again I'll still survive."
"I do and it's G'nothir." Amelia responded as she retrieved a monster from her graveyard. "After G'nothir destroys an opponent's monster by battle all I have to do is banish another Barbarian Warrior from my graveyard and he can attack again!" Amelia added and the barbarian charged towards Clement's facedown monster, revealed to be Solar Flare Dragon, destroying it and bringing Clement's life-points down to 5800. "And I'll use the stronger Shining to defeat you!" Amelia announced and the Elemental Hero flew towards Royal Firestorm Guards before punching it through the chest destroying it, the second Shining charged towards Clement before punching him in the chest and bringing Clement's life-points down to zero.
"Here are your winners, Amelia Gray and Caitlin Acosta; as a result they get a bye to the third round." Martin announced over the cheering crowd. "In just five minutes time the next match between Esther Benjamin and Delia Garret of Obelisk Blue take on Lacey Morse and Keri Harmon of Osiris Red so don't go anywhere….unless you have a class of course." Martin added and the crowd quieted down as two of the Obelisk Blue students behind the duelists with Duel Spirit partners got up and left for the duel field.
"The next participants definitely have a tough act to follow." Brandon commented as he watched Esther and Delia leave. "You guys have any thoughts on who you want to win?"
"As unlikely as it is I do want Keri and Lacey to win so that me and Chloe aren't the only all Osiris Red team in the next round." Chelsea commented and Brandon nodded in response. "Besides if they're friends with Jessica then they are bound to be bad news."
"Agreed, though after the promotion duels on Saturday we may be the only all Ra Yellow students in the tournament." Chloe commented with a frown as they watched the duel, unknown to them someone else was watching the duels and he wasn't supposed to be there.
"Victor, I see my target, she's watching the duels with her friends." McLeod said into his earpiece as he leaned on the railing. "Do you have any advice on how to proceed?"
"Wait until tonight's matches are finished then lure her out." Victor responded and McLeod nodded. "Be prepared for anything and remember she has a Legendary Dragon in her deck."
"Understood Victor and don't worry, her Legendary Dragon won't be a problem after today!" McLeod said as he waited for the next duel to start.