An hour had passed since Marcus lost to Marie and he was in Tyler's dorm room but he wasn't alone as the rest of the gang was there as well, Marcus had spent the past hour recapping the events of the duel in question and had brought over the USB Stick so that Chelsea and Tyler could have a closer look at it on their computers.
"So let me get this straight, you had Five Headed Dragon on the field, you were in the middle of attacking Marie's monster with said dragon in a move that would've won you the duel, and you still lost." Lance commented as he folded his arms and Marcus nodded with a frown on his face. "Good thing it wasn't an official school duel because I'm pretty sure that the other Obelisk Blue students would've never let you live it down if it was."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Marcus admitted with a nod. "But still, with the cards she was using and her current skill level I'm just glad that she's on our side."
"Yeah, that's if she's telling the truth." Chelsea pointed out as she turned around. "I never met this girl but from what Chloe told me she was pretty messed up in the head, right?"
"She seemed a lot better when I duelled her an hour ago but yeah, she was probably on anti-psychotic meds or something." Marcus nodded in response. "And that's not taking into account the fact that she was an Orichalcos Duellist during Battle City and the fact that she still stole from me."
"So in other words, it's up in the air whether or not she was telling the truth." Chelsea responded and Marcus nodded. "You said that she improved a lot since Battle City, what would you say her skill level was?"
"At a guess? Second year Ra Yellow student on the verge of graduating to Obelisk Blue." Marcus responded after thinking for a moment. "During Battle City I'd say she was more of a raw Osiris Red rookie who got her hands on some good cards if you want a reference point."
"So kind of like me except I graduated to Ra Yellow a few days ago." Chloe responded and Marcus nodded. "Battle City was barely a year ago, how much improvement has she seen since then because that is a serious jump in skill level?"
"One thing's for sure, she has gotten her hands on better cards and she knows how to use them." Tyler commented as he typed away at his desktop. "I looked up the new Red-Eyes support that's out in America, what new cards did she use again?"
"Err, Black Stone of Legend, Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon, Black Metal Dragon, Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning, Black Skull Archfiend Dragon, Cards of the Red, Red-Eyes Spirit, Fusion Conscription and Red-Eyes Fusion." Marcus responded and Tyler nodded. "Why?"
"Can I just take a moment to appreciate that Sophia Pegasus is releasing a monster called Black Metal Dragon?" Chelsea asked with a big grin on her face. "I don't care if it doesn't fit into my deck, I want that card just for the name alone!"
"Ahem." Tyler cleared his throat and Chelsea sweat-dropped before turning around and resuming her work on the USB Drive. "Anyway, I looked up the support coming out for the Red-Eyes Archetype and whilst she did use a decent chunk of the cards in the archetype not only did she not use them all but she never used the third Flare Metal Dragon effect if what you're telling me is true."
"Wait, there's a third effect?!" Marcus asked as his eyes widened.
"Yes and be thankful that she never used it, if she did it's highly likely that she would've been able to summon a second Flare Metal Dragon." Tyler responded and Marcus winced at that idea. "And that's just one possibility with the new Red-Eyes support coming out, hopefully they'll follow it up with some new Blue-Eyes support so you can take the fight to her the next time you duel her."
"Even without new Blue-Eyes support I had her on the verge of defeat." Marcus pointed out with a frown. "Next time I just have to be more careful of her facedown cards."
"Look, Marcus, if this school was to kick out every student who made a mistake during a duel they'd have no students left to teach, all that matters is that you bounce back from it." Chelsea pointed out and Marcus nodded in response. "Anyway, I don't know what Marie was talking about when she said that there was more on this USB Stick than just the video she made for you, all I'm seeing is the same minute long video and trust me, I've been watching the thing with my headphones on since you got back."
"There's nothing on the video itself?" Marcus asked as he walked up to Chelsea's laptop and Chelsea shook her head.
"The vid's just as you described it, Marie telling you to meet her on the north side within the hour or she fucks off with the cards." Chelsea responded with a frown as she looked over the file. "I scanned the thing with my Anti-Virus software as well on the off chance that your Anti-Virus missed something but no luck there either."
"There has to be something." Marcus commented with a frown. "Though I'm not exactly sure what it is either, when I plugged it in to my laptop it loaded up the file with the video on it."
"Yeah, same here, maybe there's a background program running on the USB as well." Chelsea wondered before hitting Control, Alt and Delete on her keyboard to bring up the Windows Options menu and opened up Task Manager. "Okay, what do we have here, Firefox, Steam, the USB file, okay that's weird?" Chelsea said as she hovered the cursor over one of the Background Programs. "I don't recognize that background program."
"You think that's what Marie was talking about?" Marcus asked and Chelsea frowned.
"That or it's a virus, and if it is a virus I need to get rid of it before it becomes a problem." Chelsea responded with a frown. "What do you think Tyler?" Chelsea asked and Tyler scooted over.
"It could be a virus like you said." Tyler commented with a frown. "Can you access that program?"
"If I were just a girl with a laptop I couldn't but since I'm a girl with a laptop whose tech skills match my awesome duelling skills…." Chelsea trailed off as she started searching for the program.
"And an ego to match." Lance muttered under his breath and Chelsea rolled her eyes.
"I heard that, besides if you've got it flaunt it!" Chelsea responded as she continued to work away. "Okay found it, not sure what I am looking at…." Chelsea trailed off before Windows Media Player loaded up. "What the hell? I never opened up Windows Media Player?"
"Maybe this was what Marie was talking about." Tyler commented as the others gathered around the laptop as a face concealed by shadows appeared on the screen.
"Greetings students, if you have found this then Marie must've made it to the island safely." The figure commented as he leaned forward, the voice was distorted but it was easy to figure out that it was a man speaking. "I do not agree with Marie's methods but it is time that we got in contact with you, you need not worry, the background program is not a virus and once you remove the USB it'll be gone from the system you are watching it on."
"Who are you? And how do we know that we can trust you?" Lance asked and the others sweat-dropped. "I forgot this wasn't a Skype Call, give me a break!"
"My name isn't important but you will learn it in due time." The figure said almost like he anticipated the question. "But what is important is that you all be on your guard and if Marie's theft was successful then it proves one thing and that's that you weren't." The figure added and Marcus frowned at that. "If someone could steal a card as common as the Red-Eyes Black Dragon from a member of your group what's to stop others from stealing something a lot more valuable, say the Legendary Dragons?"
"Just because one student was careless when it came to their cards won't mean that it'll happen again, we learn from each other's mistakes." Theresa commented before sweat-dropping. "Great, now you've got me doing it Lance!"
"Heh, sorry." Lance said as he laughed nervously.
"Tonight won't be the last you'll see of Marie or the other Redemption Seekers." The figure added as he leaned forward. "Just know that you have allies that were once enemies who are willing and able to help you watching you from the dark." The figure added before the video ended.
"Well, that was ominous." Chelsea commented with a frown. "Can I take the USB Stick out now?" Chelsea asked and Tyler nodded.
"Leave the USB stick with me, if I run the recording through Audacity maybe I can identify who the man in the video was." Tyler told her and Chelsea nodded before safely ejecting and removing the USB from her laptop. "I think you'd better get going, its past curfew and most of us have a big match tomorrow." Tyler added as Chelsea handed over the USB Stick.
"Okay but try not to stay up all night drinking Red Bull again." Chelsea responded as she packed up her laptop and standing up. "Miranda told me after the tag duel before you ask."
"Off course she did." Tyler responded as he shook his head. "Before you go Chloe, do you think you could meet up with me after the Battle Royal?"
"You realize that'll depend on whether or not I and Chelsea are the last team standing, right? Not to mention any classes I'll have once the duels end?" Chloe asked and Tyler nodded.
"In that case stop by my dorm room as soon as you can tomorrow, it's about the info you asked me to look up." Tyler explained and Chloe nodded before she and the others left Tyler's room, once the room was emptied Tyler looked at the USB Stick with a frown on his face. "Just when I though the whole situation with the Orichalcos Duellists couldn't get more convoluted these Redemption Seekers come out of the woodwork." Tyler thought before plugging in the USB to his desktop. "We already know the identity of one of the members but the others? They could be anyone but identifying the man on this video will be a logical first step."
*the next day*
Whilst the students on the island were getting ready for the day ahead of them a few hundred miles away a boat pulled up at a harbour, it was a speed boat and the sole occupant of the boat was a young woman who was currently asleep, nothing unusual since the boat had been traveling throughout the night except for the fact that she was still wearing her robe.
"Aww, isn't she cute." One of her colleagues said mockingly inadvertently waking Marie up in the process. "Almost feels like a crime to disturb her."
"Except the boss wants her at HQ ASAP." The colleague commented with a frown whilst neither man noticed Marie removing her robe's hood. "Maybe a dip in the ocean would do the trick?"
"Do that and I'll throw your severed dicks in the ocean!" Marie interrupted them and the two men sweat-dropped before turning to her as she got out of the boat. "Or better yet, you try traveling from Duel Academy island overnight and stay awake at the same time, besides I did what I was sent to the island to do and then some."
"Sorry ma'am, we didn't realize you were awake." The man who spoke first apologized before helping her out of the boat. "Do you think they got the bosses message?"
"If they are as good with computers as the reports say I have no doubt that they did." Marie responded with a yawn before leading the men away from the harbour. "So what does the big cheese want to see me about anyway?"
"He just wants to debrief you about the mission you conducted." The man responded and Marie nodded. "I can't believe that a tiny teenager with daddy issues is bossing me around." He muttered under his breath and his colleague laughed but stopped once Marie spun around.
"Okay, first off, since when has five foot nothing counted as tiny?!" Marie demanded and the man winced. "Second, I may be younger and a lot smaller than you but I can still duel circles around you two blindfolded and last but not least, make light of my mental issues again and I'll make good on my promise to throw your dicks to the sharks! They could use a light snack now that I think about it!"
"Yes ma'am, no offence intended ma'am." The man responded as he started sweating bullets, however he nearly panicked when he saw another robed figure approach. "You…." The man trailed off and Marie turned around.
"I'll take it from here gentlemen." The other robed woman commented and the two men nodded before running off, Marie walked up to the much taller woman with a grin on her face. "The USB Stick?"
"Signed, sealed and delivered to the targets." Marie said with a grin before holding up the Red-Eyes Black Dragon she had stolen. "And I took a little souvenir for myself whilst I was at it."
"So I heard." The woman said before motioning to Marie to follow her and Marie did so. "And the duel against Marcus?"
"It was close but I won it." Marie responded as she folded her arms. "If he couldn't beat me again despite being in Obelisk Blue then I don't know what else to tell you, they aren't ready for the tasks ahead of them."
"Just because you outsmarted one doesn't mean you should underestimate the others." The woman pointed out and Marie sighed in annoyance. "Will you be able to return to the island?"
"You're kidding, right? I just stole from one of their students and they know that I'm not exactly the picture of perfect mental health." Marie responded as she folded her arms. "I will be able to eventually but first I need to wait for the search for me to blow over." Marie added and the woman nodded.
"Then we'll discuss your next mission during the debriefing." The woman said as they reached an office building not far from the harbour. "As for the island, I'm sure we'll be able to send someone else next time." She added before holding the door open to let Marie in and following her in.
*back on the island*
It was now morning on Duel Academy Island and most of the students were either still in bed or getting ready for the day ahead of them, however the students who would be competing in the Battle Royal later on that day were getting ready for that match the best they could and that included the only pure Ra Yellow (and formerly Osiris Red) team left in the tournament.
"Okay, I have Mask of Restrict ready to combat Cameron's Steelswarms and hopefully the rest of my deck can counter anything he throws at me." Chloe thought as she looked over her deck, Chelsea was at her desktop PC playing Total War Atalla to pass the time before the Battle Royal since Chloe had decided to do the deck modifications on her own. "Hopefully this match won't end the same way the Battle City Battle Royal did."
"Considering that none of your opponents in this match are known to use the Orichalcos or turn off the safeties I think you should be fine." Silent Magician responded and Chloe grinned.
"Then again we didn't learn about Otto's affiliation with the Orichalcos Duellists until the Battle City semi-finals started so there's that." Chloe thought as she picked up her deck once she had returned her cards to it. "If Cameron and Thomas think for even a second that they are facing the same deck they did when I was in Osiris Red then they have another thing coming."
"You have got to be kidding me!" Chelsea yelled out as Chloe put her deck into her duel disk's deck slot making her roommate jump a bit. "I knew playing as the Western Roman Empire would be a pain in the ass but I didn't think it would be this difficult! I swear I'm going to strangle this PC at this rate!"
"I wasn't aware that it was possible to strangle computers." Chloe responded with a grin on her face and Chelsea turned to her. "Doesn't that usually require a neck?"
"Very funny." Chelsea grunted as she continued to play the game. "Basically I thought it would be fun to play as the hardest faction on the hardest difficulty, instead it's been about as fun as sitting through one of Martin's lectures." Chelsea added before turning to Chloe. "Anyway, is your deck ready for the match later?"
"Hopefully." Chloe responded with a look of uncertainty on her face as she looked at her deck. "My deck's a lot stronger than it was when I first faced Cameron and Thomas even without the addition of Mask of Restrict but even then, as much as I hate them, Cameron and Thomas aren't stupid, they are bound to have prepared their decks to counter mine."
"That's a great point but I'm sure you'll pull through." Chelsea responded as she played the game. "What's your plan as far as the match goes?"
"My main plan is to try to eliminate Cameron and Thomas early so that their teams face off first." Chloe responded with a frown as she turned around. "The others, well I'll see how it goes, best case scenario is that we end up being one of the last teams standing and beat the other team but that will be easier said than done."
"I hear ya, the other teams aren't exactly slouches." Chelsea nodded in agreement before exiting the game and turning around. "Real question is, what if the other team ends up being Lance's team?"
"I didn't think of that." Chloe admitted before sighing. "I was hoping for a rematch with him anyway, so far my record against him is two losses and one draw and I need to get some wins over him to balance things out."
"Just be glad that your record against him isn't as bad as my record against Beth." Chelsea responded with a grin which Chloe returned. "Anyway we'd better get going, I think we're getting on a bit for time." Chelsea added and Chloe checked the time on her desktop before nodding.
"Yeah, let's go." Chloe responded before the two girls left.
*meanwhile at the Obelisk Blue Boy's Dorm*
Since Lance, Cameron and Thomas were the only male Obelisk Blue students competing in the match (and the only males in the match period) most of the students in the dorm were planning to meet up with friends in order to hang out with them during the match, or in one case meeting up with a potential girlfriend.
"Okay, so I meet up with Andreas and Marcus, head over to the Duel Field with them and hopefully get Andreas alone." Nicola thought as she walked down the hallway of the Obelisk Blue Boy's Dorm with her hands in her Blazer Pockets, the plans had been made for the Autistic girl to meet up with her friends after last night's meeting and she was in the dorm to meet up with them. "Should be a piece of cake, as long as I don't run into any assholes whilst I'm here."
"What's wrong reject? Lost?" Cameron's taunting voice rang out from behind Nicola and she sighed to herself.
"Just ignore him, he's not worth the trouble." Nicola thought as she quickened her pace in an attempt to get away from Cameron, unfortunately for her Cameron was faster and stepped in front of her with a shit eating grin on his face. "What do you want Cameron?"
"A bigger dorm room for starters, the eradication of your inferior dorm will come later." Cameron retorted and Nicola rolled her eyes. "Why don't you get lost? You don't belong here."
"Encase you've forgotten students are allowed to visit their friends in other dorms and that's exactly what I'm doing." Nicola retorted as she folded her arms. "Besides I'm not here to see you, I'm here to see Andreas and Marcus."
"You do realize that the likelihood of you ever dating him is about the same as the Baby Dragon Rulers coming back, right?" Cameron scoffed and Nicola's eyes narrowed. "Face it Hastings, Andreas is on the up and up and an excellent duellist to boot but you? You're the school's resident charity case and everyone knows it, I'll be surprised if a re…."
"You even think about using that word and I'll have Martin disqualify your team from the tournament." Tyler interrupted him as he marched up to the two shorter students and Cameron winced when he heard his voice. "And trust me Matthews, he will listen to Seto Kaiba's stepson on such a matter."
"Taking their side again Tyler?" Cameron asked as he turned around. "Fine, I'm gone but don't you worry Hastings." Cameron said as he marched up to her. "I'll be making an example out of your friends in the Battle Royal." Cameron added before marching off.
"Thanks Tyler but I could've handled it myself." Nicola thanked him as she turned to Tyler. "Granted my method of dealing with him would've been a knee to the nuts but still."
"Yes but this is better because you don't get in trouble for it." Tyler pointed out and Nicola winced. "Anyway I'm assuming that you're here to meet up with Andreas and Marcus?"
"Yeah, but that asshole distracted me." Nicola responded as she glared over her shoulder at Cameron who was long gone by now. "See you at the arena?"
"Will do." Tyler nodded in response and Nicola stood aside to let him pass, once he was gone Nicola continued on her way and was able to avoid any further distractions before reaching Andreas's room.
"Okay, I made it no thanks to Cameron." Nicola thought with a sigh of relief before she went to knock on the door not noticing that the door was already ajar until it opened up a bit. "Andreas must've forgotten to close his door properly, oh well, what's the worst that can…." Nicola's train of thought was promptly derailed when she saw Andreas in the nude with his back turned to her and a towel around his waist, Nicola gasped in shock before promptly closing the door and leaning against the wall. "Oh my god, I'm so embarrassed, hopefully he didn't see me." Nicola thought as she blushed like a madwoman.
"Nicola?" Andreas's voice rang out and Nicola winced. "Have you ever heard of knocking?"
"I did knock but the door was already open and well, you know the rest." Nicola responded with a wince. "If it helps I didn't see anything below the waist."
"And I should've made sure that the door was closed." Andreas admitted though that did little to help Nicola's embarrassment. "Just wait for me outside, I'll be dressed in a couple of seconds."
"Err, yeah, sure." Nicola responded whilst rubbing the back of her head nervously. "Oh god, if my brother was here he'd never let me hear the end of it." Nicola thought as her embarrassment started to wear off. "Though I have to admit, he is in good shape, wonder what he's like downstairs…..oh god, I just thought that, at least I didn't say it out loud."
"True but I'll never let you hear the end of this." Sapphire Pegasus's clearly amused voice rang out and Nicola sighed in annoyance. "What's the problem? We both know about your feelings for him!"
"Well yeah but I didn't expect to see him naked this morning!" Nicola responded as she ran a hand down her face. "As for you never letting me live this down, would you at least be willing to let up once I finally get the courage to ask him out?"
"Deal, I'm not unreasonable." Sapphire Pegasus responded and Nicola sighed in relief. "As long as you don't mind me mentioning this incident the next time Silent Magician calls a meeting."
"Err, yeah I do mind! If you tell the other duel spirits then what's to stop them from telling the others?" Nicola pointed out as the door opened and a fully clothed Andreas emerged from the dorm room. "Thank god, a distraction!" Nicola thought before turning to Andreas. "Sorry for walking in on you getting dressed." Nicola said sheepishly and Andreas smiled.
"Apology accepted." Andreas responded and Nicola grinned.
"Good, now can we please act like that never happened?" Nicola asked and Andreas nodded without hesitation. "Where's Marcus anyway?"
"He went on ahead to secure some good seats for us." Andreas responded and Nicola grinned. "Shall we go?"
"Let's!" Nicola responded before she walked off alongside Andreas. "I don't know what's worse, the fact that I saw him naked or the fact that he'll probably consider this to be a good story to tell the grandkids!" Nicola thought as they walked off.
*at the duel arena*
The students were pouring into the arena as quickly as they could so that they wouldn't miss a minute of the action in the upcoming Battle Royal, off course the students who were competing in the Battle Royal had gotten there ahead of time to avoid any delays with the match and they were pretty much ready to go.
"How long do we have to wait exactly?" Chloe wondered out loud as she paced around the hallway that the two girls usually took to get into the Duel Arena, they had been told to wait there by the security guards and after no one else showed up after a few minutes they assumed that they were waiting elsewhere since there was several entrances into the main duel arena. "And what's the point anyway?"
"If I had to guess Martin decided to do this to avoid confrontations between us and the three stooges of Obelisk Blue." Chelsea responded as she folded her arms. "Besides I can see from here that the other students are still filling in the seats so maybe he wants us to give them a chance to sit down first?"
"They never did that in the previous rounds though." Chloe pointed out with an annoyed sigh. "I guess I'm just anxious about duelling Thomas and Cameron at the same time and that reminds me, are you prepared for the possibility that I'll win the Battle Royal?"
"Ready and willing to kick some ass!" Chelsea responded with a massive grin on her face as she held up her Duel Disk arm. "As for those idiots, don't worry about them, you had Cameron beat when you last faced him and you beat Thomas without using Silent Magician Level 8." Chelsea said as she kicked off the wall and placed a reassuring hand on her roommates shoulder. "And that was when you were still in Osiris Red for fuck's sake! You're a Ra Yellow student nowadays and you should be able to mop the floor with them!"
"Hopefully you're right but thanks for the vote of confidence." Chloe responded with a grin as Chelsea removed her hand. "But as we both know all it could take is one bad hand for our plans to go down the toilet."
"Don't I know it, the worst hand I ever got was during my first match against Beth, back before I knew that she was also a lesbian." Chelsea said as she shook her head. "The only monster I had in my hand was Wattaildragon, the rest were Spell Cards that were completely useless to me."
"Ouch." Chloe responded with a wince. "What did you do?"
"Here's a hint, Card Destruction was still legal at the time and I had a copy in my deck." Chelsea responded and Chloe nodded once she got the idea. "I traded it for Beckoning Light the moment I found out about that Trap Card and it was well timed too, I traded it right before Card Destruction got banned."
"If that's not perfect timing I don't know what is." Chloe responded with a grin. "I'd tell you about mine but you saw my match against my dad at Battle City."
"Yeah it would take a really shitty opening hand to top that." Chelsea nodded in agreement before noticing a guard approaching them.
"Sorry for the wait Chloe but they are ready for you." The guard commented and the two girls grinned broadly before stepping out into the arena, they took a look around and noticed that the other competing students had also stepped out though Lance seemed unhappy about something.
"Chelsea, is it just me or is something bugging Lance?" Chloe whispered to her roommate who turned to Lance and nodded.
"Yeah and I think I know why." Chelsea responded with a frown. "Long story short, Sophia Pegasus finally got around to banning Lavalal Chain and I'm guessing that Lance just found out about it." Chelsea explained and her thought process was confirmed when Lance swapped out a card in his side deck for a card in his extra deck. "Want to bet that that's why they had us wait?"
"I'm not a betting person but yeah, I think that's a safe bet." Chloe responded with a nod before grinning. "But on the other hand that gives me the advantage going into this match."
"Agreed, now go out there and kick some ass!" Chelsea said and Chloe grinned before they exchanged a fist bump and she got up onto the arena ready for the match.
"Welcome to the first match of the third round!" Martin's voice rang out over the PA system and the crowd cheered whilst the competing duellists shuffled their decks. "Rest assured that, whilst this round will be the shortest yet the action will be fierce! That said the competitors have been chosen and I am happy to announce that I didn't have to make any choices for the teams!"
"As if that wasn't obvious enough." Chloe thought as she finished shuffling her deck.
"First, representing the Ra Yellow team of Chloe Richardson and Chelsea Cunningham Chloe!" Martin announced and the crowd cheered, however three students had very different grins on their faces and two of them were the students she was facing. "Representing Obelisk Blue's Cameron Matthews and Jessica Stevens is Cameron!" Martin added and the crowd's cheers quickly turned to boos aside from a few scattered cheers from the Obelisk Blue section.
"I'm still pissed that they forced me to duel without Lavalal Chain." Lance thought as he was announced followed by Thomas. "Seriously, does Sophia Pegasus have it out for me? This is the tenth time this month that my deck has been hit!"
"Next! Representing Obelisk Blue is Theresa Daniels." Martin added and Theresa grinned when she heard her name announced, however she kept her focus on Chloe, Cameron and Thomas for the most part as Latoya, Amelia and Kimberly were announced. "Those are the duellists and that is the order that they will go in!"
"Typical, not only am I going first but Cameron turn is right after mine!" Chloe thought with an annoyed sigh before the duellists drew their opening hands. "At least it can't get any worse, what's my opening hand?" Chloe thought before looking at it. "Mask of Restrict, Silent Magician Level 8, Level Up….." Chloe trailed off as her eyes widened when she saw the rest of her hand. "Shit!"
"Something wrong Chloe?" Chelsea asked when she saw the look on her teammates face and Chloe turned around and knelt down.
"The only monster I have is Silent Magician Level Eight, I have no drawing cards and my only trap is Mask of Restrict." Chloe whispered to Chelsea and she winced in response. "In short, this may be my worst opening hand since my first match in the Battle City semi-finals!"
"And it's even worse because Card Destruction was banned." Chelsea realized and Chloe nodded grimly. "Just relax and hope that you draw a monster that you can summon."
"Hopefully." Chloe responded before standing up and turning to the others.
"Keep in mind however that no one will be able to attack before Chloe's second turn." Martin added and Chloe grinned when she heard that. "Now let the duel begin!" Martin called out and Chloe took a deep breath before drawing her card.
"Okay, it's not totally unsalvageable." Chloe thought with a sigh of relief as she looked at her drawn card. "Apprentice Magician will not only give me some form of defence but when she's destroyed my deck will be shuffled allowing me to, hopefully, draw a good card, not to mention the fact that I can still set Mask of Restrict." Chloe thought before picking up two of her cards. "I set one card facedown and a monster in defence mode." Chloe set the two cards and the two facedown cards appeared on the field. "And end my turn."
"Is that it? Pathetic!" Cameron scoffed before drawing his card. "I summon Steelswarm Caller in attack mode!" Cameron played the card and the black humanoid insect appeared on the field (4/1700/0). "Next I activate Double Summon! Using this card I am allowed an additional normal summon….."
"If your plan is a tribute summon then I've got some bad news for you Cameron!" Chloe interrupted him as her trap card flipped up. "Here's a blast from the past just for you! I activate Mask of Restrict!"
"Drat, I don't have my countermeasure to that card in my hand yet!" Cameron cussed mentally as his eyes narrowed. "Have it your way Richardson! I'll just use my additional summon to bring out a second Steelswarm Caller!" Cameron responded as he played the card and another Steelswarm Caller appeared on the field. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Cameron announced and Lance drew his card.
"On one hand we don't have to put up with Cameron's usual bullshit, on the other hand I can't bring out Thestalos like I originally planned." Lance thought before looking at his drawn card. "At least I can set up a defence." Lance thought before playing the card. "I activate Heaven's Lost Property! Now we all draw three cards and toss two!" Lance announced and they all drew three cards.
"Finally a useful spell!" Chloe thought as she discarded two of her other Spell Cards. "No monsters but this will at least help me out."
"That fool just secured his girlfriend's demise and he doesn't realize it!" Cameron thought as he discarded two cards. "I was planning to save this card for when I face Chloe and Chelsea, but what better way to show how helpless she is in the face of my ultimate monster!"
"Moving on, Chloe's trap may have prevented me from making the move I wanted to make but I can still do this!" Lance said as he retrieved the monster he had discarded. "I remove a monster in my graveyard from play to summon Inferno in defence mode!" Lance played the card and the small flame with the angry face appeared on the field (4/1100/1900). "I set one card facedown and end my turn." Lance announced and Thomas drew his card.
"Mystical Space Typhoon, I could use this to destroy Mask of Restrict but that card benefits me as much as it does Chloe." Thomas thought with a frown as he looked towards the Trap Card. "We may be allies but Cameron is my opponent in this match and I'll take any advantage I can take! Fortunately Lance's last move gave me a chance to put it to good use!" Thomas thought before playing the card. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!"
"Excellent! That must mean that you are targeting Chloe's trap." Cameron said with a grin and Thomas shook his head.
"Why would I target a trap card that effectively cripples an opponent's deck?" Thomas asked and the grin on Cameron's face disappeared in an instant. "Instead my target is Lance's newly set card!" Thomas added and Lance braced himself as the typhoon targeted his trap card destroying it.
"Thomas, you are going to regret that!" Cameron scowled and Lance grinned.
"I bet he will but allow me to contribute to his regret!" Lance said as he held up his trap revealing it to be Dormant Volcano. "Since Thomas destroyed my Trap Card whilst it was facedown on my side of the field you each take three hundred points of damage!" Lance said as each of his opponents' life-points dropped to seventy seven hundred. "It has another effect but that won't come into effect until my next stand-by phase."
"Yes, yes, I know, we all saw your expulsion duel." Thomas responded with a frown as Lance sent his trap card to the graveyard. "Moving on, I summon XX-Saber Boggart Knight!" Thomas played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, he was a tall musclebound warrior in silver armour with a helmet that covered his entire head and a red cape and was wielding a sword (4/1900/1000). "Boggart Knight's effect activates! When he is summoned I can Special Summon another X-Saber from my hand as long as it isn't above level four!"
"Obvious set-up for a Synchro Summon is obvious." Lance muttered under his breath and Thomas frowned.
"No comment." Thomas responded before picking up a card. "Off course if I had a Tuner Monster in my hand I'd do that in an instant but I'll make do." Thomas thought as he played the card. "I summon XX-Saber Emmersblade!" Thomas played the card and a humanoid insect monster appeared on the field (3/1300/800). "And before you ask, no it's not a tuner monster." Thomas added before picking up two of his cards. "I end my turn by setting two cards facedown." Thomas announced as the set cards appeared on the field and Theresa drew her card.
"Chloe made a mistake by keeping Mask of Restrict in her deck." Theresa thought as she glanced over at Chloe's field. "Sure it cripples Cameron's deck but Cameron's not the kind of duellist to let the same trick work twice. In fact I get the feeling that the only reason it's lasted this long is because Cameron hasn't drawn anything that he can use to destroy it." Theresa thought before looking at her hand. "I kick things off with my Allure of Darkness Spell Card!"
"Still using the blatant copy of your boyfriend's deck, are we Theresa?" Cameron mocked her as she drew two cards and banished one that was already in her hand. "I think we're beginning to see you for the one trick pony you are."
"And that is coming from the guy who's used the same deck virtually unchanged since he joined Duel Academy." Theresa responded and Cameron quickly shut up. "Anyway, I set two cards facedown and end my turn, but not before my banished monster returns." Theresa set the two cards and sure enough D.D. Scout Plane appeared on the field (2/800/1200) appeared on the field before Latoya drew her card.
"Luckily for me my deck doesn't rely on tribute summons, otherwise I'd be up shit creek without a paddle thanks to Chloe's trap card." Latoya thought before looking at her drawn card. "Dark Valkyria, great, I can use her effect to destroy one card on the field, problem is which card." Latoya thought before looking over the field. "Thomas has the strongest monster at the moment but I'm not too familiar with X-Sabers so his weaker monster could have a nasty effect, at least I'm familiar with Lance, Theresa and Cameron's monsters. "Chloe's facedown monster in the only wild card, pun intended, it could be anything from Apprentice Magician too Old Vindictive Magician knowing her deck."
"I know Martin removed the time limits for this and the following rounds but are you going to make a move sometime this century?" Cameron interrupted her train of thought and Latoya glanced at his monsters.
"And he just made my choice for me, I won't be able to take out both Steelswarm Callers but I can at least get rid of one." Latoya decided before playing her card. "I summon Dark Valkyria!" Latoya played the card and the dark version of Dunames Dark Witch appeared on the field (4/1800/1050). "Next I activate the Spell Card Supervise which I equip to Dark Valkyria!" Latoya added as Dark Valkyria started glowing. "This card….."
"Can only be equipped to a Gemini monster and said Gemini monster is treated as an effect monster and gains its effects." Cameron responded with a yawn as Dark Valkyria gained her Spell Counter and her attack increased to 2100. "Besides, I thought your partner ran the Gemini deck."
"She does but I just happened to have this Gemini Monster in my deck, she gave me the copy of Supervise." Latoya explained as the Spell Counter was removed from Dark Valkyria. "Anyway I activate the other half of Valkyria's effect to destroy one of your Steelswarm Callers." Latoya announced as Dark Valkyria's attack returned to normal and one of the Steelswarm Callers were destroyed. "I set a card facedown and end my turn." Latoya announced and Amelia drew her card.
"Let's see, Cameron's deck is crippled and the only thing he has to protect him is Steelswarm Caller, unfortunately for him I can think of several of my level four monsters that can destroy that thing." Amelia thought before looking at her drawn card and grinning. "I summon Barbarian Hero – Thuddal the Ruthless!" Amelia played the card and the tall musclebound barbarian appeared on the field (4/2000/1000). "And now that I've summoned him his effect activates."
"Yes, yes, we all saw your match." Cameron said with a mock yawn as Amelia started inputting commands into her Duel Disk. "If you think some lowly barbarians scare me then I have bad news, they may be barbarians but my deck is the Roman Empire."
"Without the ability to tribute monsters you must be talking about the Roman Empire towards the end of its life-span." Amelia retorted as she retrieved her Field Spell from her deck.
"Touché." Cameron admitted as Amelia's deck shuffled and Thuddal's attack dropped to a thousand "Off course that will no longer be the case when my turn begins."
"And whilst we're on the subject, I activate the Field Spell Card Barbarian Village!" Amelia played the card and the scenery changed to the rustic barbarian village. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Amelia announced and Kimberly drew her card.
"Aside from Chloe everyone's going for some pretty big plays, probably means that her opening hand is crap." Kimberly thought as she drew her card. She looked over her hand and smirked. "I set one card facedown and a monster in defence mode." Kimberly announced as the two facedown monsters appeared on the field. "Over to you Chloe!" Kimberly announced and Chloe gulped before drawing her card.
"Please be a monster that I can attack with." Chloe pleaded mentally before looking at it, when she saw it she sighed. "Not what I was hoping for but I can at least use it." Chloe thought before playing the card. "I activate Trade-In! I discard one Level 8 monster from my hand and draw two cards." Chloe added before discarding Silent Magician Level 8 and drawing two cards. "Again, not what I was hoping for but I can at least use it in combination with Apprentice Magician." Chloe thought before playing the card. "To end my turn I activate the Continuous Spell Card Arcane Barrier!" Chloe announced as the Spell Card appeared on the field and Cameron chuckled before drawing his card.
"If you're ending your turn like that then you must be desperate." Cameron commented as he drew his card. "Especially since Mask of Restrict won't survive my turn."
"What do you mean?" Chloe asked and Cameron smirked as his trap card flipped up.
"I'll show you, first I activate my Call of the Haunted Trap Card to bring back the Steelswarm Caller that Latoya destroyed." Cameron played the card and Steelswarm Caller returned to the field. "Now to deal with one pest! I destroy Mask of Restrict to Special Summon Trap Eater!"
"Oh shit!" Chloe cussed mentally as the long tongue sped towards her trap card and pulled it towards Trap Eater who swallowed it in one bite (4/1900/1600).
"But who said I was done? First I activate a second Double Summon!" Cameron played the card and his grin only grew wider. "Prepare to meet my ultimate monster Richardson! First I summon Rescue Rabbit!" Cameron played the card and the small rabbit in the yellow worker's helmet appeared on the field (4/300/100). "Even a rank ammeter like you should know its effect by now! I banish Rescue Rabbit to special summon two copies of Evilswarm Heliotrope!"
"Evilswarm?" Chloe echoed as the rabbit disappeared from the field and in its place appeared two tall green humanoids in black, midriff bearing armour that were carrying black swords (4/1950/650).
"What are you? A parrot? Moving on, I use the Heliotropes to open up the Overlay Network!" Cameron announced as the portal opened up behind the two normal type monsters who promptly jumped in. "I XYZ Summon your deck's demise! Evilswarm Ophion!"
"Wait, WHAT?!" Thomas yelled out as the monster emerged from the portal, it was a massive dragon on all four of its legs that was jet black in colour and downright frightening (Rank: 4/2550/1650). "Cameron, what the hell are you doing?!"
"Excuse me?!" Cameron demanded as he turned to Thomas.
"You heard me! Yes, that monster cripples Chloe's deck but it also cripples mine!" Thomas continued earning confused looks from the other duellists.
"Okay, as much as I hate the prick Thomas is usually a lot calmer during a duel." Chloe thought with a frown on her face. "Something's gotta be up." Chloe thought before she spoke up. "What are you talking about?! I can think of at least four of my monsters including my best monster that could defeat that thing easily!"
"You don't get it, do you Richardson?" Thomas asked as he turned to her. "Let me spell it out for you, as long as Ophion has XYZ Material no monsters that are level five or higher can be Special Summoned!"
"Please tell me you're kidding?" Chloe asked as her eyes widened and Thomas shook his head.
"Thank you Thomas for saving me the trouble of explaining the effect and besides, this is a Battle Royal to determine who faces who in the following rounds." Cameron commented as he turned to Chloe. "So if I pair of you and Richardson I'll have at least one less pest to deal with."
"You son of a bitch!" Thomas growled as his eyes narrowed. "What happened to our alliance?"
"Shattered the moment Richardson humiliated you in front of the whole school yesterday." Cameron said as he looked at his fingers mockingly. "If you can't think up a correct response for a juvenile penis joke than you aren't worth my time."
"Can't believe I'm thinking this but I'm beginning to side with Thomas." Chloe thought with a frown before turning to Cameron. "Just so we're clear, anything bellow level five is fair game?"
"Precisely." Cameron nodded before picking up a card. "And now back to my move, I tribute my two Steelswarm Callers to Tribute Summon Steelswarm Caucastag in attack mode!" Cameron played the card and the two Callers disappeared from the field, in their place stood a gigantic humanoid insect with mostly human features (8/2800/0). "This activates two effects, first since I tribute summoned Caucastag using two of my Callers I can special summon two Steelswarm monsters from my deck, I choose two Steelswarm Stings!" Cameron played the cards and two huge jet black bees appeared on the field (4/1850/0).
"You really think that a couple of overgrown bugs are going to scare me?" Chloe asked whilst trying to hide her nervousness and Cameron scoffed.
"Perhaps not but my Caucastag will give you more reason to worry!" Cameron responded as he pointed to his strongest monster. "You see since I tribute summoned Caucastag using two Steelswarm monsters I get to activate one of two effects, either I destroy all monsters on the field or all Spell/Trap Cards on the field."
"I really wish I had one of my copies of Effect Veiler in my hand right now." Chloe thought with a nervous gulp as she stared at the massive monster.
"My choice is Spell and Trap Cards so say good-bye to your pathetic Arcane Barrier!" Cameron announced as Caucastag took flight…..
"Nice try Cameron but I think you've forgotten that Chloe isn't your only opponent in this duel!" Amelia interrupted him as her trap card flipped up depicting several mythical figures, mostly from Celtic Mythology, descending upon Barbarian Village. "I activate Protection of the Gods! Since Caucastag's effect would've destroyed more than one card including Barbarian Village my Counter Trap negates the effect for the rest of the turn!"
"Fine but it clearly doesn't prevent my monster from going on the attack!" Cameron responded as Caucastag landed on the field. "Steelswarm Sting, attack Chloe's defence monster!" Cameron commanded and the monster flew towards Chloe's defence monster, revealed to be Apprentice Magician, who was subsequently destroyed.
"Not only does my Arcane Barrier get its first counter." Chloe commented as her Spell Card glowed. "But I can now activate Apprentice Magician's effect!" Chloe added as she started searching through her deck.
"Yes, yes, I know, just get it over with." Cameron said dismissively as Chloe inputted commands into her duel disk, once she found the card that she was looking for she quickly set it. "Steelswarm Sting, attack her second monster!" Cameron commanded and the insect flew towards Chloe's set monster, revealed to be another Apprentice Magician, which was subsequently destroyed.
"Oh god I hope I get some decent cards out of this!" Chloe thought as her Arcane Barrier gained another counter and she started inputting commands again, once she set another monster Cameron smirked.
"You keep setting them up, I'll keep knocking them down! Trap Eater, attack her defence monster!" Cameron commanded and the tuner monster let lose its tongue at the monster, revealed to be Chloe's last Apprentice Magician, which he subsequently swallowed whole.
"Okay, I'm never looking at Trap Eater the same way again." Chloe thought with a shudder as Arcane Barrier gained its third counter and Chloe inputted more commands. "Okay, I just need to set Old Vindictive Magician and use his effect to destroy one of Cameron's heavy hitters, preferably Ophion." Chloe thought before setting the monster.
"If anyone is finding this tiresome then don't worry, this bitch will be eliminated soon." Cameron commented earning nasty glares from Lance, Chelsea and Chloe. "Ophion, attack her last line of defence!" Cameron commanded and the dragon breathed black fire at Chloe's Old Vindictive Magician destroying it.
"Joke's on you! Since Old Vindictive Magician was flipped up when he was attacked I can target one monster you control and destroy it!" Chloe announced before pointing at Caucastag. "And that big guy is my target!"
"Nice try but you won't be rid of one of my best monsters that easily! I activate my Quick Play Spell Card First Step towards Infestation!" Cameron played the card and Caucastag disappeared from the field causing Old Vindictive Magician's Spell to miss. "This not only returns Caucastag to my hand but it also allows me to draw one card." Cameron explained before drawing one card.
"Not only that but he can easily use his Steelswarm Stingers to bring it back next turn." Chloe thought as Cameron detached one of Ophion's Overlay Units, "This is bad!"
"Next I activate Ophion's second effect, by detaching an overlay unit from it I can add another Infestation Spell/Trap card to my hand." Cameron explained as he added the card to his hand. "Next I activate Magic Planter which I use to destroy my now useless Call of the Haunted and draw an additional two cards!" Cameron played the card and his inert trap card shattered as he drew two cards. "I set three cards facedown and end my turn." Cameron set the three cards and Lance drew his card.
"Okay, that Ophion monster is going to be a pain in the ass, I just know it." Lance thought with a frown. "Okay, since it's been a turn since Dormant Volcano was destroyed we can all add a Fire Type monster to our hands, provided that you have any off course." Lance said before he, Amelia and Thomas added monsters to their hands whilst the others did nothing. "Oh and Cameron? It's kinda funny how you mentioned Thomas regretting destroying Dormant Volcano last turn."
"I fail to see the humour in it Alvers." Cameron scowled and Lance smirked.
"Oh trust me, you'll get the joke! I tribute Inferno to summon Thestalos, The Firestorm Monarch!" Lance played the card and Inferno vanished from the field to be replaced with the monarch of fire (6/2400/1200). "Okay, first his effect activates, for Chloe I target the kind on the far right." Lance explained and Chloe breathed a sigh of relief before revealing it to be the Spell Card Star Light, Star Bright which she sent to the graveyard. "As for you Cameron I target the card in the middle.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Cameron grunted as his life-points dropped to 6900 before he revealed it to be Caucastag. "That was a lucky shot and nothing more!" Cameron added before discarding the card.
"Maybe but I just took out one of your heavy hitters! Anyway Thomas you are tossing the card in the middle, Theresa is losing the card on the far left, Amelia is losing the card on the far right, Latoya is losing the card in the middle and Kimberly is losing the card on the far right." Lance decided and the other duellists discarded their cards without taking damage. "I was hoping to force Amelia to discard one of her monsters so that she'd have to destroy her Field Spell but I'll make do." Lance thought before discarding a monster. "And now that I've forced you to get rid of one your heavy hitters I'll take care of the other one! I discard Flamvell Baby from my hand to give Thesetalos an extra four hundred attack points!"
"Let me guess, Flamvell Baby was the monster you retrieved with Dormant Volcano?" Cameron asked and Lance nodded as Thestalos's attack increased to 2800.
"And as much as I'd love to follow it up with Rekindling that damn monster prevents me from getting my Synchros on the field." Lance thought before pointing to Ophion. "Thestalos, incinerate that overgrown Komodo Dragon!"
"Ophion doesn't even LOOK like a Komodo Dragon!" Cameron protested as Thestalos threw a fireball at Ophion. "Not that it matters, I activate my Negate Attack trap card!" Cameron activated the trap and the fireball bounced off the portal harmlessly. "Your monarch will be dethroned as soon as I am done with your girlfriend."
"You assume that we won't beat you off first." Lance retorted only to sweat-drop when he saw the looks on the others faces. "Not what I meant! I set one card facedown and end my turn!" Lance announced as the facedown card appeared on the field and Thomas drew his card.
"Cameron is going to regret backstabbing me!" Thomas thought before looking at his drawn card and grinning. "But on the other hand there's more than one way to use X-Sabres." Thomas thought before looking at Cameron. "The strength of my deck may lie in my Synchro Monsters but there's more than one way to play this game."
"What are you talking about?" Cameron demanded and Thomas's grin grew wider.
"I'll show you in a second but first I have a certain eyesore to deal with." Thomas responded before playing the card. "I activate Saber Slash! With this Spell Card I can destroy a number of face-up cards on the field equal to the number of X-Saber monsters that I control, off course I only control two but that is more than enough! My targets are Ophion and Trap Eater!" Thomas announced and Boggart Knight jumped into the air ready to slam his sword into the ground…..
"Nice try but I can't allow that! I activate my Quick Play Spell Card Infestation Pandemic!" Cameron announced as his facedown card flipped up and Boggart Knight stopped in mid-air. "Now that I've activated this all of my face-up Lswarm monsters are unaffected by Spell and Trap Cards for the rest of the turn."
"Fine, I'll still destroy Trap Eater but I'll instead destroy Lance's monarch!" Thomas announced and Boggart Knight slammed his sword into the ground destroying Trap Eater and Thestalos. "Now I need to make a choice, Richardson and Alvers' fields are wide open but the only monster in my hand is one that I can only Special Summon and a level six monster at that." Thomas thought before deciding on a move. "Boggart Knight, attack Steelswarm Stinger! Emmersblade, attack Chloe's life-points directly!"
"Perfect!" Cameron thought with a smirk as Boggart Knight cut one of his Steelswarm Stingers in two bringing his life-points down to 7650 whilst Emmersblade slashed at Chloe bringing her life-points down to 6400. "You really should've attacked Chloe with both of your monsters because now that Stinger has been sent from the field to the graveyard I can activate its effect!"
"If you're trying to bluff then I have some bad news." Thomas responded as he folded his arms. "I know that Steelswarm Sting's effect only works on Ritual, Fusion or Synchro Monsters."
"I knew it was a mistake to let you look through my deck." Cameron scowled before looking over his hand. "Don't you have a turn to finish?"
"Yes, my turn is over." Thomas announced and Theresa drew her card.
"Fortunately for the rest of us I know Ophion's weaknesses, I just have to draw a card that can remove it from the field without targeting it." Theresa thought before looking at her drawn card and frowning. "Not my best monster but it can help." Theresa thought before playing the card. "I summon Armageddon Knight!" Theresa played the card and a tall warrior in jet black armour appeared on the field wearing a red scarf and wielding a sword (4/1400/1200). "Now that I've normal summoned him his effect activates letting me send a Dark Type Monster from my deck to the graveyard." Theresa added before picking out a card from her deck and sending it to the graveyard.
"Knowing her that card is likely something that can protect her later." Thomas thought with a frown as Theresa shuffled her deck. "Not a problem, even if she attacks Emmersblade I can use it to my advantage."
"Now it's time I went on the attack! Armageddon Knight, attack Lance's life-points directly!" Theresa commanded and the knight charged towards Lance…..
"Not going to happen! I activate my Trap Card Shift which I use to change Armageddon Knight's target to XX-Sabre Emmersblade!" Lance activated the trap and Armageddon Knight changed his target to the humanoid insect which was quickly cut in two bringing Thomas's life-points down to 7600.
"Thank you Lance, you've played right into my hand! Since Theresa's Armageddon Knight destroyed Emmersblade I can Special Summon one Level 4 or Lower X-Saber monster from my deck." Thomas announced before he started inputting commands into his duel disk. "I summon XX-Saber Ragigura!" Thomas played the card and a humanoid frog in what looked like a monk's robe appeared on the field wielding a dagger (1/200/1000). "Since he was summoned I can return Emmersblade to my hand."
"Is that the best you can do Newborne?" Cameron asked mockingly and Thomas glared at him. "I expected better, oh wait, I've crippled your deck haven't I? My mistake."
"Go to hell Matthews." Thomas spat at him as he retrieved Emmersblade from his graveyard.
"I was going to shift D.D. Scout Plane to defence mode but I can inflict more damage to Thomas this way." Theresa thought before pointing to Ragigura. "D.D. Scout Plane, attack XX-Saber Ragigura!" Theresa commanded and the plane fired missiles at the weak Beast-Warrior destroying it and bringing Thomas's life-points down to 7000. "And I end my turn." Theresa announced and Latoya drew her card.
"Can't say I feel sorry for Thomas, with the way he's acted since the tournament began I think he's had this coming." Latoya thought before looking at her drawn card. "On the other hand though he didn't really jump off the slippery slope until Chloe beat him during that Duel Theory class so I don't know who to blame thee." Latoya thought before sighing. "There's not a lot I can do so I'll move Dark Valkyria to defence mode and end my turn." Latoya announced as the fairy crouched down and Amelia drew her card.
"Luckily for me my deck relies on XYZ Monsters which will let me bypass Cameron's monster, at least as far as effects go." Amelia thought before looking at her drawn card. "This card won't help me with that but I can use it combination with my facedown card." Amelia thought before playing the card. "First I reveal a monster in my hand to keep my field spell active." Amelia said as she turned the card around and once she was sure that everyone saw it she shuffled it back into her hand. "Next I activate my Continuous Spell Card War Council!" Amelia announced as the card appeared on the field depicting several of the Barbarian Heroes that Amelia used in her last duel meeting in a hut.
"If you're going to explain the history behind that card, don't." Cameron said as he rolled his eyes. "I could barely stay awake during your last duel because of that!"
"Fine, I'll get to the point! Since I have Barbarian Village and at least one monster on my side of the field this Spell Card allows me to search through my deck for a Barbarian Hero monster with 1500 attack points or less and it has to be at least one level lower than the monster already on the field." Amelia said as she started searching though her deck.
"You do realize that Reinforcement of the Army would've served the same purpose right?" Cameron asked with a scoff as Amelia found the card she was looking for, added it to her deck and shuffled it. "Hell you could've done an XYZ Summon if you had used that."
"I have my reasons." Amelia responded as she glanced at the card in her hand. "Unfortunately I can't summon the turn I use War Council's effect so I set a card facedown and I equip Thuddal with the Spell Card Ruthless Sword!" Amelia played the card and Thuddal's axe was replaced with a long, scary looking sword. "Thuddal's effect may require that his attack points be cut in half but with Ruthless Sword equipped he gains back those attack points!" Amelia added as Thuddal's attack rose back up to 2000. "The Spell Card will be destroyed three turns from now taking Thuddal with it but in the meantime I attack Cameron's last Stinger!" Amelia commanded and Thuddal charged towards the remaining humanoid insect cutting it in half with a single swing of his sword and bringing Cameron's life-points down to 7400. "And I end my turn." Amelia announced and Kimberly drew her card.
"Well, there goes my plan for this turn." Kimberly thought with a frown as she drew her card and added it to her hand. "Still I'm familiar with Ophion and its weaknesses, I just need to draw a card that doesn't target." Kimberly thought before looking at her drawn card and frowning. "And this isn't it! May be helpful though." Kimberly thought before playing the card. "I start by activating Allure of Darkness! I banish one dark type monster from my hand and draw two cards." Kimberly explained as she played the card and pocketed one of her monsters before drawing two cards. "Next I summon Trance Archfiend in attack mode!" Kimberly played the card and a blue, ugly bat like fiend appeared on the field (4/1500/500).
"That monster's pathetic!" Cameron scoffed as he stared at the monster. "Ophion will crush it within a second!"
"We'll see about that." Kimberly responded before looking over the field. "Chloe's field is wide open but she still has those face-down cards, same goes for Lance and if I attack Thomas's weaker monster he'll just use his effect again." Kimberly thought before making a decision. "Sorry about this Lance, Trance Archfiend, attack Lance's life-points directly!" Kimberly commanded and the fiend flew towards Lance before slashing him with its claws bringing Lance's life-points down to 6200. "I end my turn."
"Considering how crappy my hand has been I'll take anything good right now!" Chloe thought as she drew her card and looked at it, once she saw it she couldn't help but sigh in annoyance. "Silent Magician Level Four, just my luck that I drew her after Cameron played Ophion." Chloe thought before remembering about Arcane Barrier. "Hate to do this but it may be my best shot, sorry Silent Magician Level Four."
"She understands Chloe." Silent Magician reassured her and Chloe nodded.
"I summon Silent Magician Level Four!" Chloe played the card and the younger version of her signature monster appeared on the field (4/1000/1000). "And before you say anything Cameron, yeah, I know that there's no way that I can hope to get her at least as strong as Silent Magician Level Eight."
"Then why did you….." Cameron trailed off before he remembered about Arcane Barrier. "You're that desperate."
"It's better than nothing!" Chloe responded before pointing to her Spell Card. "I activate Arcane Barrier's effect, sacrificing it alongside Silent Magician Level Four so that I can draw four cards." Chloe announced with a heavy heart as Silent Magician disappeared alongside her Spell Card and drawing four cards. "Okay, what do I have? Magic Balloon Jester, Blade Knight….." Chloe trailed off as she looked over the cards. "If this combo works I can get rid of Ophion!"
"I know Martin removed the time limit but could Chloe be any slower?" Theresa thought with a frown as she watched her friend go over her hand. "I hope she knows what she's doing."
"Next I activate the Spell Card Double Summon! With this I get an extra normal summon this turn and I use it to summon Blade Knight!" Chloe played the cards and the warrior in light blue armour appeared on the field (4/1600/1000). "He's not exactly my best monster but he's nothing to sneeze at either! Blade Knight, attack Armageddon Knight!" Chloe commanded and the knight charged into battle before cutting down the knight and bringing Theresa's life-points down to 7500. "I end my turn by setting one card facedown." Chloe announced and Cameron chuckled before drawing his card.
"You sacrificed one of your best monsters for what? To summon one of Kaiba's least memorable Battle City era monsters?" Cameron scoffed as he drew his card. "I may as well put him out of his misery! Ophion, attack Blade Knight!" Cameron commanded and the dragon breathed fire at the knight destroying him and bringing Chloe's life-points down to 5250. "How did you get into Ra Yellow again? Honestly that dorm's already low standards must be slipping!"
"I did it by outsmarting a male student and I just repeated history!" Chloe retorted as her trap card flipped up and Cameron turned to her with a look of confusion on his face. "I activate Rope of Life!"
"WHAT?!" Cameron yelled out as Chloe discarded the rest of the cards in her hand causing Blade Knight to return to the field. "But that means….."
"That not only does Blade Knight gains four hundred attack from his own effect but also gains eight hundred attack points from my trap card!" Chloe interrupted him as Blade Knight's attack increased to 2800. "And as an added bonus I got rid of a dead hand and with Blade Knight on the field Ophion's history as soon as my turn begins!" Chloe taunted him as she folded her arms. "Not bad for one of Kaiba's least memorable Battle City era cards, huh?"
"Yes but that's assuming that my drawn card isn't a card that will force you to draw more cards!" Cameron retorted before looking at his drawn card. "Not quite what I wanted but it'll buy time." Cameron thought before setting the card alongside another. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Cameron announced and Lance drew his card.
"Man, I wish I could take control of Chloe's knight, then we wouldn't have to wait until her turn for Ophion to be destroyed." Lance thought before realizing something. "My hand has too many cards for Blade Knight to receive its effect, still I can help Chloe along the way." Lance thought before picking up two cards. "I set one monster in defence mode and a card facedown to end my turn." Lance announced as he set the cards and Thomas drew his card.
"Richardson has managed to pull a fast one over Cameron, but that's assuming that she can keep Blade Knight on the field for the next few turns." Thomas thought before looking at the card he had drawn. "Any other time I'd use Spellbook inside the Pot to weaken Blade Knight but Cameron betrayed me when he summoned Ophion so I'll keep this in my hand for now." Cameron thought before adding the card to his hand. "First I set a monster in defence mode and I attack D.D. Scout Plane with my knight!" Thomas announced as the facedown monster appeared on the field and the knight charged towards the plane before cutting it in half and bringing Theresa's life-points down to 6600. "That ends my turn." Thomas announced and Theresa drew her card.
"Chloe may have a way to defeat Ophion now but Cameron's not stupid, he won't let her destroy his best monster that easily." Theresa thought before looking at her drawn card. "I set a card facedown and I set one monster in defence mode!" Theresa set the cards and the two cards appeared on the field. "And end my turn."
"Martin may have scrapped the time limit but that hasn't stopped some of the students from ending their turns quickly." Latoya thought as she drew her card, however when she saw it she couldn't help but grin. "Well, well, Chloe won't need her knight after all." Latoya thought before playing the card. "I sacrifice Dark Valkyria to summon Caius, the Shadow Monarch!" Latoya played the card and Dark Valkyria vanished from the field only to be replaced by the menacing monarch of darkness (6/2400/1000). "This triggers two effects, first Supervise lets me bring back Dark Valkyria!" Latoya announced as Dark Valkyria returned to the field. "But more importantly Caius lets me banish one monster on the field and if it's a Dark Type monster….."
"The controller loses one thousand life-points." Cameron interrupted her with a yawn and Latoya's eyes narrowed.
"I wouldn't be so casual if I were you, I may not know a lot about Evilswarms but if that big ugly thing over there isn't a dark type monster then I'm the queen of France!" Latoya retorted as Caius got ready to throw its dark energy at Ophion….
"The people of France can breathe a sigh of relief that someone as stupid as you isn't ruling them!" Cameron retorted as his trap card flipped up. "Yes, Ophion is a Dark Type monster but that won't matter with my Counter Trap Card Dark Illusion! With this Trap Card I can negate the effect of a Spell, Trap or Effect Monster that targets one face-up Dark Type monster I control and destroy it!" Cameron continued and Latoya's eyes widened as her monarch was consumed by a dark light before vanishing from the field. "Nice try but you won't be rid of Ophion that easily."
"Guess we will have to rely on Chloe's knight after all." Latoya thought with a sigh as she sent Caius to the graveyard. "At least I can still attack with Valkyria, now I just need to decide who to attack!" Latoya thought before looking over the field. "Dark Valkyria, attack Lance's defence monster!" Latoya commanded and the fiend flew towards the defence position monster, revealed to be UFO Turtle (4/1400/1200) which was subsequently destroyed.
"I use UFO Turtle's effect to summon another one!" Lance announced as a second UFO Turtle appeared on the field.
"In that case I end my turn." Latoya announced as Lance shuffled his deck and Amelia drew her card.
"First I reveal a monster in my hand to keep Barbarian Village on the field." Amelia announced as she revealed the monster. "Now that I've revealed her I'll go ahead and bring her out! I summon Barbarian Hero – Zuma the Wise!" Amelia played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, she was a young, pretty brunette woman with shoulder length hair in barbarian garb that exposed her midriff and was carrying a sword and shield (3/1500/1200). "She's not that strong but as her name states she makes up for it in the smarts department. I activate her effect!" Amelia announced as Zuma held her sword up high. "All I have to do is destroy one Continuous Spell Card I control and in return I can destroy one set Spell/Trap card on the field!"
"Crap, I almost forgot about the facedown cards I set earlier!" Chloe thought as she looked down at her cards. "Luckily for me I have something to protect them." Chloe thought as War Council shattered.
"My target is Chloe's facedown card on the left!" Amelia announced as Zuma slammed her sword down on the ground causing a shockwave to race towards Chloe's card…..
"I don't think so! I activate the effect of Magic Balloon Jester from my graveyard!" Chloe announced as she retrieved the monster from her graveyard. "If I have more than one set card on the field and one of them would be destroyed I can remove my jester from play to negate Zuma's effect!" Chloe added as she pocketed the monster and a jester carrying several multi-coloured balloons appeared on the field (1/0/0) before jumping into the path of the shockwave and taking the hit for Chloe's set card.
"Magic Balloon Jester?!" Cameron asked with a raised eyebrow as a large sweat-drop rolled down his head. "I've never heard of that monster so it must be a recently released monster and that can only mean one thing, Sophia Pegasus has lost her mind already."
"Don't look at me, I added the card because I thought that it would come in handy." Chloe admitted and Cameron shook his head.
"That's beside the point." Cameron responded with a frown on his face. "Honestly what interest could anyone over the age of ten have in balloons aside from it being part of their job or for their kid?!"
"Actually I have watched a video once that could only be described as a balloon popping fetish." Lance interrupted him and the other students just stared at him. "Yeah, I know, I was shocked that there was such a kink as well, basically there was this old guy and….."
"ALVERS, IF YOU FINISH THAT SENTENCE YOU ARE GETTING DETENTION FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR!" Martin interrupted Lance who face-faulted in response, Martin could be heard clearing his throat as Lance got back to his feet. "Continue."
"My boyfriend ladies and gentlemen." Chloe said with an annoyed sigh as she face-palmed and shook her head simultaneously. "I am so glad that dad isn't in the audience right now." Chloe thought before turning to Amelia. "Where were we again?"
"I activated Zuma's effect, you negated it with one of the weirdest monsters I've ever seen and Lance mentioned that video…." Amelia trailed off before shuddering. "Knowing my boyfriend he'll probably look it up later for curiosity's sake, anyway, Thuddal attack Boggart Knight! Zuma, attack UFO Turtle!" Amelia commanded and her two warriors charged towards their targets, Thuddal cut down Boggart Knight bringing Thomas's life-points down to 6900 and Zuma ran UFO Turtle through bringing Lance's life-points down to 6100.
"Do I even need to say that I'm activating UFO Turtle's effect again?" Lance asked before he searched through his deck, once he found the card he was looking for he summoned it revealing it to be his last UFO Turtle.
"Fine, I'll move to my second main phase and I'll activate War Council's second effect from my graveyard." Amelia continued before retrieving the Spell Card from her graveyard and holding it up. "Like Magic Balloon Jester it needs to be removed from play from the graveyard but in return I can special summon another copy of the monster I added to my hand last turn from my deck or graveyard." Amelia added before the monster ejected from her deck and she summoned it before pocketing the Spell Card. "Both copies of Zuma will be destroyed once I end my turn but I don't plan on leaving them on the field long enough for that to happen."
"And that can only mean one thing." Cameron realized as the overlay network opened up and the two Zumas jumped in. "An XYZ Summon!"
"That's right!" Amelia responded as she retrieved a monster from her extra deck. "Now using my two monsters I XYZ Summon Barbarian Warlord – Kravas the Brave!" Amelia played the card and the scarred, bald barbarian warlord appeared on the field (Rank: 3/2100/1800).
"I recognize that monster from your last duel, pity that Jothal the Bloodthirsty isn't around to weaken our monsters." Cameron scoffed as Kravas stared at him.
"Even if he was Kravas' effect would force me to attack Chloe's knight and even without the power boost it'd still beat Kravas." Amelia responded before picking up a card. "Doesn't really matter anyway, I've already conducted my battle phase so I set one card facedown and end my turn." Amelia announced as the facedown card appeared on the field and Kimberly drew her card.
"Well, it didn't take Chloe long to turn things around, and quite frankly the sooner that she can destroy Ophion the better as far as I'm concerned." Kimberly thought before looking at her drawn card. "A tuner monster, pity I can't use it, well, not in the traditional sense anyway." Kimberly thought before discarding the card. "I activate Trance Archfiend's effect, by discarding a fiend type monster from my hand I can give him a power boost of five hundred points until the end phase." Kimberly explained as Trance Archfiend's attack shot up to 2000. "And now it's decision time! If Thuddal hadn't destroyed Bogart Knight I would've gone after him and Thomas's facedown monster might have too strong a defence for me to crack."
"If she attacks my monster I'll literally have nothing to defend with when my turn begins!" Thomas thought with a frown. "And I don't have any intention of being defenceless!"
"On the other hand Latoya hasn't had her life-points touched since Lance used Dormant Volcano, time to change that!" Kimberly decided before pointing to Dark Valkyria. "Trance Archfiend, attack Dark Valkyria!" Kimberly commanded and the fiend charged towards Dark Valkyria before biting it on the neck and bringing Latoya's life-points down to 7500. "And that ends my turn." Kimberly announced as Trance Archfiend's attack returned to its original score and Chloe drew her card.
"Gilford the Lightning, he could come in handy encase Ophion survives Blade Knight." Chloe thought before adding the monster to her hand. "Blade Knight, attack Ophion!" Chloe commanded and Blade Knight charged towards the dragon…..
"Impulsive as ever, aren't we? Activate Trap Card Fiendish Chain!" Cameron activated the trap and Chloe's eyes widened as chains ensnared her knight stopping him in his tracks. "Now your monster loses its boost from his effect, not to mention its effect full-stop and the ability to attack!" Cameron explained as Bade Knight's attack dropped to 2400. "Shame, you almost had me."
"Just take your turn!" Chloe grunted and Cameron smirked before drawing his card. "This is bad, the only monster I have in my hand is Gilford and I don't have enough cards to summon him!"
"Well, well, would you look at that?" Cameron chuckled before adding the drawn card to his hand and playing another. "I start my turn with my second copy of Magic Planter!"
"Wait, what?!" Chloe asked as Fiendish Chain shattered freeing her knight and bringing his attack back up to 2800. "But why? You could've beaten him with that card!"
"I have my reasons." Cameron commented as he sent his cards to the graveyard. "Next I activate Spellbook inside the Pot, now we all draw three cards but more importantly you lose your boost again!" Cameron announced as he played the card and Chloe frowned before she drew three cards as did the others, as Cameron sent his Spell Card to the graveyard Chloe gave her new cards a look.
"Familiar Knight and Gemini Elf, these cards would be pretty useful under normal circumstances but not now!" Chloe thought before looking at her other card and her facedown cards.
"Next I activate XYZ Unit! As the name suggests this Spell Card can only be equipped to an XYZ Monster such as Ophion and with it Ophion gains attack points equal to its rank times two hundred." Cameron explained as Ophion's attack increased to 3250. "But it won't stay that strong for much longer, you see XYZ Unit can double as an Overlay Unit when I am about to detach a unit for an effect so I detach XYZ Unit to activate Ophion's second effect."
"Now's my chance!" Chloe thought as Cameron sent his Spell Card to the graveyard and once Ophion's attack was back at 2550 Cameron added a card to his hand. "Thanks for that Cameron! Now I can activate my Spell Card Thirst for Compensation!" Chloe activated her Spell Card and grabbed two of her cards. "Since you just added a card from your deck to your hand this Spell Card lets me summon up to two level four or lower monsters in defence mode so I summon Familiar Knight and Gemini Elf!" Chloe played the cards and the knight in silver armour appeared alongside the twin elves crouching down (3/1200/1400) and (4/1900/900).
"Clever but not good enough! You may have reduced the number of cards in your hand but Blade Knight is still too weak!" Cameron taunted her as he pointed to Blade Knight. "Ophion, attack her knight and crush her pathetic comeback!" Cameron commanded and Ophion prepared his attack…..
"That's where my other facedown card comes in! Go Desperate Tag!" Chloe activated the trap and whilst Blade Knight was destroyed she took no damage. "This not only reduces the damage I just took to zero but I can also Special Summon another warrior in his place like Torapart!" Chloe played the card and the strange warrior appeared on the field (2/600/600).
"What are you playing at Richardson? We both know that Torapart is a Tuner Monster and as long as Ophion is on the field you can't use him!" Cameron taunted her before picking up three cards. "I set three cards facedown and end my turn." Cameron announced and Lance drew his card.
"Well, so much for Blade Knight." Lance thought with a frown as he looked at the three monsters on Chloe's side of the field. "She could use those monsters as a tribute to summon Gilford the Lightning but there's just one problem with that, Thirst for Compensation's side effect states that the monsters summoned with that card can't be sacrificed to summon another." Lance thought before looking at his drawn card. "I remove one of my UFO Turtles from play to summon a second Inferno in defence mode." Lance played the card and a second small flame with a demonic face appeared on the field.
"Hoping to buy time again?" Cameron asked and Lance shook his head.
"No buying time this time around! I sacrifice UFO Turtle and Inferno to summon Infernal Flame Emperor!" Lance played the card and his two monsters disappeared from the field, in UFO Turtle's place stood a humongous monster with the head of a lion and lower body of a horse seemingly made of fire (9/2700/1600). "If you ask me this guy is perfect for dealing with Ophion because he can't be Special Summoned."
"We'll see about that." Cameron responded as his eyes narrowed. "Besides I have Mirror Force facedown and as soon as Lance attacks I'll activate it, once it resolves the only monsters left on the field will be Ophion, Chloe's pathetic monsters, Thomas's facedown monster and Kimberly's defence monster!"
"I activate Infernal Flame Emperor's effect." Lance continued before retrieving his two Infernos and Flamvell Baby from the graveyard. "With this effect I can remove from play up to five fire type monsters from the Graveyard and destroy one Spell/Trap Card for each removed from play monster." Lance explained as he pocketed the monsters and Infernal Flame Emperor prepared his effect. "I hope your hungry Cameron because I'm about to BBQ your facedown cards, do you like them medium rare or well done?"
"WHAT?!" Cameron yelled out before his three facedown cards were consumed by fire. "Mirror Force, Infestation Pandemic and First Step towards Infestation….."
"Oh too bad, they are well done!" Lance said with a grin. "But they were just the appetizer and I'll give you one guess as to what monster is the main course!" Lance added before pointing to Ophion. "Infernal Flame Emperor. I'd like an Ophion steak medium rare!" Lance commanded and Infernal Flame Emperor launched several fireballs at Ophion destroying the XYZ Monster and bringing Cameron's life-points down to 7150. "And I may not like him but I think Thomas will be more than happy to attack you on his next turn!"
"You are absolutely correct Alvers!" Thomas nodded with a shit eating grin on his face as he turned to Cameron who was sweating bullets at the moment. "In fact the end of your turn can't come soon enough!"
"Give him hell! I set one card facedown and end my turn!" Lance announced as the facedown card appeared on the field and Thomas quickly drew his card.
"First I flip summon Emmersblade!" Thomas announced as the humanoid insect appeared on the field. "Next I activate my own Spellbook inside the Pot!" Thomas added before each duellist drew three cards but whilst it went unnoticed by everyone else Chloe was eyeing her deck cautiously.
"I don't exactly have a lot of cards left, at least ten." Chloe realized with a frown. "First I used Apprentice Magician's effect three times, then I used Arcane Barrier's effect, then Cameron forced me to draw three cards and now Thomas, this duel's been going on for a while so there's bound to be some I forgot and that's not even counting my normal draws." Chloe thought as Thomas sent his Spell Card to the graveyard. "Wait a minute, what did I just draw again?" Chloe thought before looking at the cards in her hand. "Well, may as well go out with a bang!"
"Now I summon Boggart Knight!" Thomas played the card and his knight returned to the field. "And I use his effect to Special Summon the Tuner Monster X-Saber Parshull!" Thomas played the card and the tuner monster that Chloe remembered all too well from her first duel with Thomas appeared on the field (2/100/0). "Now I could go for a Synchro Summon using either of my stronger monsters with Parshull but I have bigger plans!" Thomas said as he held up a card. "You see since I control more than one face-up X-Saber monster I can summon XX-Saber Faultroll from my hand!"
"Off course you have that card in your deck." Cameron grunted as the monster appeared on the field, he was a tall, muscular warrior decked out in red armour with shoulder length platinum hair and brown eyes that was carrying a massive sword (6/2400/1800).
"Now I activate Faultroll's effect! One per turn I can Special Summon one Level Four or lower X-Saber monster from my graveyard but I won't keep you in suspense! I summon my first Boggart Knight!" Thomas played the card and the knight returned to the field. "Now to business! First I use my knights to construct the Overlay Network!" Thomas announced as the portal opened up and both monsters jumped in. "I XYZ Summon Kachi Kochi Dragon in attack mode!" Thomas played the card and the silver armoured dragon emerged from the portal with a roar (Rank: 4/2100/1300). "And I'm still not done! Next I tune Parshull and Emmersblade together!"
"What's the point of going all out? We both know I'll survive this attack!" Cameron scoffed as the two monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon.
"Actually you won't! I Synchro Summon X-Saber Wayne!" Thomas played the card and once the flash faded a new monster appeared on the field, unlike the other X-Sabers this one closely resembled a Wild West gunslinger, the kind of character that John Wayne would've played back in his heyday and he was carrying twin swords (5/2100/400). "And believe it or not I'm still not done! When X-Saber Wayne is Synchro Summoned I can Special Summon one Level Four or lower Warrior from my hand."
"Note to self, add that card to my deck later." Chloe thought as Thomas played the card and another familiar face appeared on the field, namely X-Saber Galahad (4/1800/800).
"Now my plan can go into effect, first I'll eliminate Cameron from this Duel and then I'll just have to wait for Richardson to deck out which won't take long!" Thomas thought as he looked at Chloe's duel disk. "I don't know the exact number of cards in her deck but she has gone through it very quickly and when she does deck out her team will face off against Cameron and Jessica tomorrow, that way no matter who wins that duel at least one of my main rivals in the tournament will be eliminated!" Thomas thought before pointing to Cameron. "Faultroll, attack his life-points directly!" Thomas commanded and the warrior charged into battle…..
"When I said that I'll survive this attack I meant it! I negate the attack by summoning Battle Fader from my hand!" Cameron played the card and the weak fiend type monster appeared on the field stopping Faultroll in his tracks. "When my next turn begins I'll be back in this duel!"
"We'll see about that! I set one card facedown and end my turn." Thomas set the card and Theresa drew her card.
"Didn't think I'd be so happy to see Thomas swarm the field like that." Theresa thought as she drew her card. "At least I can make more moves now, question is what next?" Theresa thought before making a decision. "I set a card facedown and end my turn." Theresa announced and Latoya drew her card.
"It wasn't effecting my deck that much but thank god Lance got rid of Ophion!" Latoya thought with a smirk as she looked over at Cameron's side of the field. "Literally the only thing he has to protect himself is Battle Fader and that card has no defence points, as soon as I draw a monster with piercing damage he's in trouble." Latoya thought before looking at the drawn card. "And he's in trouble!" Latoya thought before playing the card. "I summon Twin-Sword Marauder!"
"Oh, that is just perfect!" Cameron muttered sarcastically as the masked twin sword wielding swordsman appeared on the field (4/1600/1000).
"Judging by your reaction I shouldn't need to explain my marauder's effect!" Latoya responded before pointing to Battle Fader. "Twin-Sword Marauder, attack Battle Fader!" Latoya commanded and the swordsman charged into battle before cutting down the small fiend bringing Cameron's life-points down to 5500. "And through Twin-Sword Marauder's effect he can attack again!" Latoya added before Twin-Sword Marauder slashed at Cameron bringing his life-points down to 3900. "Thomas won't need all his monsters to eliminate you now! I set one card facedown and end my turn." Latoya announced and Amelia drew her card.
"On one hand I could eliminate Cameron right now, on the other hand Twin-Sword Marauder and Trance Archfiend could be a problem later and I had better finish them now." Amelia thought before looking at her drawn card. "It's been three turns since I activated Ruthless Sword so both it and Thuddal go to the graveyard." Amelia said as her two cards disappeared from the field and she sent the cards to the graveyard. "Next I reveal one monster in my hand to keep Barbarian Village on the field." Amelia added before turning her newly drawn card around.
"Yes, yes, we know the routine by now!" Cameron scoffed as Amelia turned her card around. "Now why don't you just go ahead and attack me directly? We all know that's your plan!"
"Not exactly!" Amelia shook her head before pointing to Familiar Knight. "Kravas, attack Familiar Knight!" Amelia commanded and the barbarian charged towards the knight before slashing him in half. "This off course triggers your knight's effect, feel free to make the first summon."
"Gladly, I use my knight's effect to Special Summon Rookie Knight in defence mode!" Chloe played the card and a young knight in weak looking armour appeared on the field in defence mode (4/0/0).
"Very well, I use that effect to Special Summon Barbarian Hero - Haot the Storm!" Amelia played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, this one was a mountain of a man with long red hair, a matching beard and piercing red eyes who was clad in battle armour (4/2400/0). "I realize that he's pretty strong for a level four monster but his effect counteracts it, he can only be special summoned if I have Barbarian Village on the field and if it isn't active when he's summoned he's automatically destroyed."
"Sounds like a generic Level Four curse to me." Cameron scoffed and Amelia shook her head.
"There's more to him than that but I'll let you guys summon your monsters first." Amelia responded and the others nodded before they played their cards, Cameron summoned his third Steelswarm Caller, Lance summoned Great Angus (4/1800/800), Thomas summoned another Galahad, Theresa summoned her own Twin-Sword Marauder, Latoya summoned Armageddon Knight and Kimberly summoned Archfiend Cavalry, once Latoya resolved her knight's effect Amelia continued. "And since I summoned Haot when a Barbarian Warlord is on the field he can attack twice this turn!"
"Well I guess this is the end for me." Cameron said with a sigh. "See you idiots in the next round."
"You didn't let me finish, then again you never let anyone finish unless it's your girlfriend." Amelia responded earning a glare from Jessica. "And whilst I could make a joke about you finishing first that would be immature, so instead I'll leave it to Lance."
"I mention one weird porn vid and everyone thinks I'm a pervert?!" Lance protested before sweat-dropping. "Never mind, answered my own question."
"Anyway, the side effect to that is that Haot can't attack directly full stop so I couldn't finish you off if I wanted too." Amelia explained as Haot drew a massive sword. "Haot, attack Latoya's Twin Sword Marauder!" Haot commanded and Haot charged towards the masked swordsman.
"I don't think so! I remove Necro Guardna from play from my graveyard to negate the attack!" Latoya announced as the ghostly form of the monster intercepted Haot's attack. "I can thank both you and Chloe for that because I wouldn't have that card in my graveyard if you hadn't attacked Familiar Knight."
"Fine but I'm sticking to my plan! Haot, attack Trance Archfiend!" Amelia commanded and the warrior changed direction before dissecting the small fiend with a single swing of his sword and bringing Kimberly's life-points down to 6800.
"You would've been better off attacking Twin Sword Marauder again Amelia! When Trance Archfiend in destroyed I can targeted one of my banished dark type monsters and return that card to the top of my deck." Kimberly explained before retrieving the card from her pocket and placing it atop her deck.
"Maybe, maybe not but I can't turn back time." Amelia responded before looking over her hand. "I don't have another monster to reveal in order to keep Barbarian Village on the field, unless I get a lucky draw next turn I'll lose my Field Spell." Amelia thought before turning to Kimberly. "I end my turn." Amelia announced and Kimberly drew her card.
"Chloe's monsters are the obvious choice for an attack but those Twin Sword Marauders are bound to give me trouble later and thankfully Latoya has already used her Necro Guardna's effect." Kimberly thought before looking at her drawn card. "I summon Terrorking Archfiend!" Kimberly played the card and the dreadful king of the archfiends appeared on the field (4/2000/1500). "And I'm not going to waste any time here, Terrorking, Archfiend Cavalry, attack Latoya and Theresa's Twin-Sword Marauders!" Kimberly commanded and her two fiends charged into battle with Terrorking cutting Theresa's Marauder in two and Archfiend Cavalry impaling Latoya's Twin-Sword Marauder bringing their life-points down to 6400 and Latoya's life-points down to 6800. "And I end my turn." Kimberly announced and Chloe drew her card.
"I hope this works." Chloe thought before picking up her card. "First I activate Rookie Knight's effect, by discarding another Warrior Type Monster from my hand I can target another monster I control and change my knight's level until it matches that monster's level, I'm choosing my Level 2 Torrapart!" Chloe explained as Rookie Knight's level dropped to two. "Unfortunately this comes with a downside, Rookie Knight can only be used in the Synchro Summon of a Warrior Type Synchro Monster." Chloe added before her grin broadened. "And that's exactly what I plan to do! Ready for a trip down memory lane Thomas?"
"No, not really." Thomas said with a nervous gulp once he realized what she meant.
"Too bad! I tune Torrapart with Rookie Knight and Gemini Elf!" Chloe announced as her three monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon and Torrapart dissolved into the two Synchro Rings that surrounded Rookie Knight and Gemini Elf. "I Synchro Summon Colossal Fighter!" Chloe played the card and her strongest warrior monster appeared on the field (8/2800/1000). "Let's do some quick math, shall we?" Chloe asked before checking her graveyard. "On top of Blade Knight, Familiar Knight and Rookie Knight I have two other warriors in my graveyard, both monsters I discarded for Rope of Life earlier, I know Amelia has Thuddal in her graveyard and Theresa and Latoya have their Twin-Sword Marauders, any I'm missing?"
"Theresa's Armageddon Knight, X-Saber Parshull, Torrapart and that monster you discarded for Rookie Knight off course…." Lance trailed off as he thought back on the duel. "Not sure why I'm helping because your monsters a lot stronger than mine but yeah, there's a lot of warriors in our respective graveyards." Lance added as Colossal Fighter's attack increased to 3900.
"Yeah, but who said I was done summoning?" Chloe commented before turning to Cameron. "Thomas has had his trip down memory lane, now it's your turn."
"Please tell me that that means your ending your turn?" Cameron asked with a gulp and Chloe shook her head before playing her card.
"Far from it! I activate Level Modulation!" Chloe announced and Cameron's eyes widened as Chloe started searching through her graveyard again. "And I use its effect to summon my best monster, Silent Magician Level 8!" Chloe played her card and sure enough her best monster appeared on the field ready for battle (8/3500/1000). "You guys get to draw two cards but as far as I'm concerned it's a small price to pay in order to bring her out at last!" Chloe added and the others drew two cards.
"Yes but what you seem to forget is that Level Modulation forbids her from attacking." Cameron commented as his eyes narrowed. "And if it weren't for Martin's watchful eye up there I'd use the same trick I used during our first duel!"
"True but the same effect doesn't apply to Colossal Fighter." Chloe responded before looking over the field. "Amelia's barbarians are the obvious choice but for all I know she could have Warcry waiting in the wings, still an extra warrior in the graveyard wouldn't exactly hurt and Latoya still has her Armageddon Knight out." Chloe thought before pointing to Armageddon Knight. "Colossal Fighter, attack Latoya's knight."
"This is gonna hurt in the morning." Latoya commented with a nervous gulp as Colossal Fighter charged towards Armageddon Knight before destroying him with a single punch and bringing Latoya's life-points down to 4300.
"And since Armageddon Knight is a warrior type monster my Colossal Fighter just gets stronger!" Chloe added as her warrior's attack increased to 4000. "And I end my turn." Chloe announced and Cameron drew his card.
"Well, that's going to be a problem." Cameron thought before looking at his drawn card. "I set three cards facedown, switch my Caller to defence mode and set another monster in defence mode." Cameron announced as Steelswarm Caller crouched down into defence mode and his two facedown cards appeared on the field. "And I end my turn."
"Not so hot without Ophion are you?" Lance asked with a grin as he drew his card. "Well if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen! Or in this case, surrender!"
"First off, your fire puns are terrible, second Richardson will be in Obelisk Blue before I surrender a duel that involves her!" Cameron added and Chloe glared at him. "And third, just make your move already!"
"Don't say I didn't warn you, Infernal Flame Emperor, Great Angus, attack his monsters!" Lance commanded and his monsters launched their attacks, Steelswarm Caller was impaled by Great Angus's tusk whilst Cameron's facedown monster, Steelswarm Cell, was incinerated by Infernal Flame Emperor. "All it'll take now is a couple of direct attacks from the guy you backstabbed earlier, if I where you I'd start begging for mercy! Well, that or resort to the same kind of tricks you used in your duel against Chloe."
"During an official school duel with Martin on commentary? You may as well ask me to take off my Obelisk Blue Blazer and hand it over to Martin!" Cameron responded as he rolled his eyes. "Just end your god damn turn already!"
"If you say so! I end my turn!" Lance announced and Thomas drew his card.
"And I'm not going to waste any time here! I look forward to seeing you and your whore face off against Richardson and Cunningham tomorrow!" Thomas said whilst ignoring the nasty glare his comment got from Jessica.
"Encase you haven't noticed none of your monsters can compete with Silent Magician and Colossal Fighter." Chloe responded with a confident grin as she folded her arms. "So yeah, good luck with that!"
"I don't need luck when your deck is down to nine cards!" Thomas responded and Chloe frowned when she realized that he had a point. "Besides, Spellbook inside the Pot maybe a limited card but let's face it, pretty much everyone competing in this duel has a copy in their decks! You'll deck out eventually! But first things first, Faultrol attack Cameron's life-points directly!" Thomas commanded and the warrior charged into battle…..
"Did you really think I'd go down that easily? And don't even THINK about making a joke at my girlfriend's expense, I activate XYZ Reborn!" Cameron activated the trap and Thomas's eyes widened when it hit him. "Granted the original reason I added this monster to my deck may be obsolete but 2550 attack points is still more than enough to keep your monsters at bay!" Cameron added as Evilswarm Ophion returned to the field.
"Fine but since a replay has occurred I can change my target!" Thomas said as Faultrol returned to his side of the field, he gave the field a quick once over and nodded. "Faultrol, attack Archfiend Cavalry!" Thomas commanded and the warrior charged into battle before destroying the horseman and bringing Kimberly's life-points down to 6400. "Kachi Kochi Dragon, attack Terrorking Archfiend!" Thomas commanded and the dragon launched its attack at Terrorking Archfiend destroying him and bringing Kimberly's life-points down to 6300. "And now I activate my dragon's effect, when he destroys a monster by battle I can detach an overlay unit and let him attack again!"
"In other words, I'm the first to be eliminated." Kimberly said with an annoyed tone of voice as the dragon attacked her again bringing her life-points down to 2300 whilst Colossal Fighter's attack increased to 4100 with the extra warrior in the graveyard. "Not exactly the way I wanted to end this duel but I guess I'll have to fight my way to the top."
"Exactly! Granted this wasn't exactly my original plan but I may as well eliminate someone with this firepower! Galahads, finish her off!" Thomas commanded and the two warriors launched their attacks at Kimberly bringing her life-points down to zero.
"Kimberly Troy has been eliminated, therefore her team will compete in the first duel of the fourth round!" Martin announced and Kimberly frowned before deactivating her duel disk and hopping off the arena, she walked off with Nathan and the duel continued.
"Now that she's been eliminated that leaves Wayne without a target." Thomas commented before looking over the field again. "Wayne, attack Latoya's life-points directly!" Thomas commanded and the gunslinger launched his attack at Latoya bringing her life-points down to 2200. "And I end my turn." Thomas announced and Theresa drew her card.
"Thomas just cleared the field, bad news is that we're back to square one since Cameron's summoned his best monster, fortunately Chloe has summoned hers but once Cameron is eliminated her monsters will become a problem, same goes for Lance's Infernal Flame Emperor." Theresa thought before looking at her drawn card. "Spellbook, this will speed up the decking out of Chloe's deck, let's just hope that she understands." Theresa thought before playing the card. "I activate Spellbook inside the Pot."
"Typical." Chloe said with an annoyed sigh as she drew her three cards bringing her deck down to six cards. "The moment that Thomas mentions how popular Spellbook is you draw it Theresa."
"Just be glad that Card of Sanctity was erratered." Theresa responded as she and the others drew three cards. "Next I set two cards facedown and a card in defence mode to end my turn." Theresa announced and Latoya drew her card.
"This is bad, really bad, unless someone else gets eliminated first they'll likely target me next since I have the lowest amount of life-points." Latoya thought before looking at the cards she drew with Level Modulation and Spellbook inside the Pot. "I set three cards facedown and a card in defence mode to end my turn." Latoya announced as her four facedown cards appeared on the field and Amelia drew her card.
"One down, four to go." Amelia thought as she looked at the empty space where Kimberly was standing a few minutes ago. "Latoya's the obvious choice for my next attack as her life-points are down and she only has one monster protecting her alongside three facedown cards that could be bluffs." Amelia thought before looking at Thomas's field. "Thomas on the other hand? He has three monsters that could be a problem later and as for Lance? I'll deal with him later."
"Will you make your move already?!" Cameron demanded and Amelia frowned.
"It's called strategy, maybe you should try it sometime." Amelia responded before looking at her hand. "First I reveal a monster in my hand to keep my Field Spell in play." Amelia announced as she turned the monster around and once she confirmed that everyone had seen it she turned it back around and played it. "Now I summon him! Barbarian Hero – Kitaris the Fire!" Amelia played the card and a young barbarian with red hair and green eyes appeared on the field with a sword and shield in hand (3/1100/1400).
"That monster doesn't look that heroic." Thomas scoffed as he rolled his eyes. "Then again it's really a stretch to call any barbarian a hero."
"Considering how bad your attitude is I'm really tempted to make a pot calling the kettle black joke." Amelia responded before grinning. "But that would be insulting Kitaris, you see with Barbarian Village active he gains five hundred attack points for each monster with "Barbarian" in their name excluding himself." Amelia added as Kitaris's attack increased to 2100. "And you're my target Thomas! Haot, attack his dragon, Kitaris, Kravas, attack his Galahads!" Amelia commanded and her three monsters charged into battle, Haot decapitated the dragon first bringing Thomas's life-points down to 6600 whilst Kitaris and Kravas cut down the Galahads who had lost five hundred attack points thanks to their effects bringing his life-points down to five thousand. "And we both know that Haot can attack twice so he'll go after Wayne next!"
"Why me?" Thomas gulped as the massive barbarian cut the gunslinger in half bringing Thomas's life-points down to 4700.
"I can think of a few reasons but that's beside the point." Chloe commented with a grin on her face. "You realize that your attacks have only made my Colossal Fighter stronger right?" Chloe asked and indeed Colossal Fighter's attack had increased to 4500.
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall Chloe." Amelia responded as her barbarians returned to her side of the field. "Just look at The Roman Empire! Anyway I end my turn." Amelia announced and since Kimberly was just eliminated Chloe drew her card.
"Okay, so my move won't do as much damage to Thomas as I hoped since Amelia wiped out his monsters for me, still this will end things on a high note for me if I don't survive this round." Chloe thought before playing her card. "I pay a thousand life-points to activate Diffusion Wave Motion!"
"Please tell me she didn't just say that?" Lance asked with a gulp as Chloe's life-points dropped to 4550 and Silent Magician prepared her attack. "Oh this is gonna hurt!"
"You have no idea! Do your stuff Silent Magician!" Chloe commanded and the Magician stuck her staff up high releasing a wave of light that destroyed the opponents' monsters in one fell swoop bringing Cameron's life-points down to 2900, Amelia's life-points down to 2600 and Lance's life-points down to 3700. "You guys should be glad that I discarded Megamorph for Rope of Life earlier but more importantly Colossal Fighter is now even stronger with Amelia's warriors in the graveyard." Chloe added as Colossal Fighter's attack increased to five thousand.
"Yeah, I'm not exactly in a hurry to take five thousand points of direct damage if you don't mind." Lance said with a nervous gulp before remembering something. "Except you can't, Diffusion Wave Motion states that only the targeted monster can attack."
"I know how my own card's effect works Lance." Chloe responded with a sigh. "Besides I'm down to five cards in my deck and there's a really good chance that at least two of you will draw Spellbook inside the Pot or something similar, that move was my way of making sure that I went down fighting." Chloe explained before looking at her cards. "I end my turn." Chloe announced and Cameron drew his card.
"As much as I hate her, I will admit that I see where she's coming from." Cameron admitted before shaking his head. "Problem is that that move left me extremely vulnerable and if I'm not eliminated after Richardson I'll be surprised." Cameron thought before looking at his card. "First I activate Call of the Haunted to bring back Caller!" Cameron played the card and his monster returned to the field. "Now whilst I have added XYZ Monsters to my deck it doesn't mean that I can't resort to my old tricks, I tribute Caller to summon Steelswarm Moth!"
"Ugh, I hate moths!" Chloe groaned as Caller disappeared from the field and in its place stood a gigantic black humanoid moth (6/2400/0).
"If you hated them before then you will detest them after this duel!" Cameron said before his life-points dropped to 1900. "When Moth is tribute summoned using a Steelswarm monster his effect lets me return up to two monsters my opponent controls to their hands, this costs me a thousand life-points off course but since they are the only other monsters on the field right now you've made my choice easy for me!" Cameron explained and Chloe's eyes widened as the moth took flight and with a gust of wind blew Chloe's monsters away.
"You'll pay for that!" Chloe grunted as she returned Colossal Fighter to her extra deck.
"I already have! Oh, you meant getting rid of your monsters? Well I don't make a habit of collecting debts so I won't let that happen! Moth, attack her life-points directly!" Cameron commanded and the moth flew towards Chloe…..
"I still have some tricks up my sleeve! I remove A/D Changer from my graveyard from play to change Moth to defence mode!" Chloe announced as she pocketed the monster and the moth crouched down. "And before you ask, A/D Changer was the monster I discarded for Rookie Knight's effect."
"You'll run out of second chances eventually Richardson, well that or cards." Cameron responded before turning to Lance. "I end my turn." Cameron announced and Lance drew his card.
"Well, Chloe just did a ton of damage to our life-points, hell if Thomas still had his monsters on the field he would've been hit the hardest." Lance thought before looking at his drawn card. "Sorry Chloe but I'm about to speed up your decking out, I activate Heaven's Lost Property!" Lance played the card and Chloe let out an annoyed sigh before she drew three cards bringing her total down to three before discarding two as did the others. "Next I summon Elemental Dragon!" Lance played the card and the small red dragon appeared on the field with a roar (4/1500/1200). "Let's cut to the chase! Attack Steelswarm Moth!" Lance commanded and the dragon breathed fire at the moth incinerating it. "I end my turn with a facedown card."
"Decisions, decisions." Thomas thought as he drew his card. "I could wipe out Richardson or Matthews this turn and send either of them to take on the Troy siblings but on the other hand I want my revenge against Thomas to be complete." Thomas thought before activating one of his facedown cards. "I activate my own Call of the Haunted and I use it to bring back X-Saber Wayne!" Thomas announced as the gunslinger appeared on the field. "Next I summon my last Galahad!" Thomas played the card and his third Galahad appeared on the field. "And since I have two X-Sabers I can bring out another Faultroll."
"Still resorting to your old bag of tricks?" Cameron asked as the warrior appeared on the field.
"What was it that Amelia said? Ah yes, pot calling the kettle black." Thomas responded and Cameron frowned. "Faultroll, attack Richardson's life-points!" Thomas commanded and Faultroll charged into battle…..
"Sorry Thomas but Latoya isn't the only one with Necro Guardna in her deck!" Chloe announced as the ghostly form of the monster intercepted the attack. "And don't bother attacking me with Wayne, I discarded two Guardnas when Lance used Heaven's Lost Property."
"Fine! You're just delaying the inevitable." Thomas responded before turning to Cameron. "Galahad, Wayne, attack!" Thomas commanded and the warriors charged towards Cameron.
"Once again you rush into battle without a care for the consequences!" Cameron responded as his last facedown card flipped up. "I activate Rainbow Life! I discard one card and all the damage I'll take gets added to my life-points." Cameron added as the two warriors' attacks hit raising Cameron's life-points up to 4900.
"Damn it, now we're back to square one with him!" Thomas thought as Cameron sent his two cards to the graveyard. "You'll run out of traps eventually! For now I end my turn." Thomas announced and Theresa drew her card.
"Cameron may have rid the field of Chloe's best monsters but the real question is can we deck her out before she can summon them again?" Theresa thought as she looked over at Chloe. "I've already used my copy of Spellbook and I don't have any cards in my hand that can recycle cards so she's safe, for now." Theresa thought before playing a card. "I summon Dark Crusader!" Theresa played the card and the skeleton crusader appeared on the field (4/1600/200). "Now I use Dark Crusader's effect! I send one Dark Type monster from my hand to the graveyard to boost his attack points." Theresa added as Dark Crusader's attack increased to 2000.
"You and your boyfriend still use that outdated card?" Cameron asked with a scoff. "That card isn't even good in Dark Armed Dragon decks!"
"Maybe but those two thousand attack points are aimed at you and I don't see another facedown card to protect you!" Theresa said before pointing to Cameron. "Dark Crusader, attack directly!" Theresa commanded and the crusader charged towards Cameron before slashing him with his sword and bringing his life-points down to 2900. "That ends my turn."
"There's no way I can let Chloe summon either of her best monsters again if I want to stay in this duel." Latoya thought before looking at her drawn card and grinning. "Sorry Chloe but you and Chelsea are facing Kimberly and Nathan tomorrow!"
"You don't mean?" Chloe asked and Latoya nodded before playing Spellbook inside the Pot. "Great, this is the second school duel in a row that'll end with me decking out!" Chloe added with an annoyed sigh.
"I'm guessing you mean as far as your participation goes?" Latoya asked and Chloe nodded before she and the others drew three cards leaving Chloe with an empty deck slot. "I could just end my turn but that would leave me wide open so I set one card facedown and a card in defence mode to end my turn." Latoya announced and Amelia drew her card.
"Funny how things change in the space of a turn." Amelia thought as she looked over the field. "I could just end my turn and eliminate Chloe but I'd need some kind of protection." Amelia thought before looking at her drawn card. "Time I summoned an old face from the first duel! First I reveal him to keep my village in play!" Amelia said as she turned the card around. "And now I summon him! Barbarian Hero – Kudda the Relentless!" Amelia played the card and the short axe wielding barbarian appeared on the field (4/1900/1100). "Attack Cameron's life-points directly!" Amelia commanded and the barbarian charged towards Cameron before slashing him with his axe and bringing his life-points down to a thousand. "I end my turn and you know what that means Chloe."
"Yep, I do." Chloe sighed as she went to draw a card though she knew that it was only due to a technicality due to her being out of cards. "I need to reduce the number of drawing cards ASAP, I won't deck out like that again!"
"Chloe Richardson has been eliminated via deck out, therefore the first duel of the fourth round will be between Chloe and Chelsea and the Troy Siblings." Martin announced as Chloe hopped off the arena and headed backstage.
"Chloe, wait up!" Chelsea's voice rang out and Chloe looked up seeing her roommate. "Despite your shitty start you did great out there."
"Thanks." Chloe said with a grin. "Even so, we need something that can get rid of Ophion permanently for when we do face off against Cameron's team."
"I'm on it! I was looking up potential counter cards when Thomas explained that thing's effect." Chelsea responded with a grin and Chloe's grin widened. "It's just a matter of availability really, anyway, you want to watch the rest of the duel?"
"Sure, may as well see how the rest of the round pans out." Chloe responded with a grin as the two girls turned their attention back to the duel.
"Since Chloe was just eliminated during her turn the turn automatically passes to Cameron." Martin announced and Cameron drew his card. "Please continue."
"The last monster I could tribute summon was Steelswarm Moth and that card is in my graveyard, worse yet I have no way to return that card to my hand." Cameron thought before picking up a card. "But that doesn't mean that I can't summon a monster and deal with Lance's pathetic dragon!" Cameron decided before playing a card. "I summon my third and final Steelswarm Sting!" Cameron played the card and the humanoid insect returned to the field. "Attack Element Dragon!" Cameron commanded and Sting flew into battle…
"Sorry Cameron but you'll be joining Chloe and Kimberly in the fourth round!" Lance said with a grin as his trap card flipped up. "I activate Compulsory Evacuation Device to bounce Sting back to your hand!"
"Damn it!" Cameron cussed as Sting was bounced off the field and into the roof of the main building. "Though I will say that that is the highest I've seen that trap card bounce a monster, Kaibacorp must've improved the hologram technology."
"You can admire the tech or you can end your turn and let me finish you off." Lance responded with a frown. "I have classes later so I don't exactly have all day." Lance added and Cameron looked over his hand.
"If I had Steelswarm Ripples I'd be able to survive this turn but that would let Thomas finish me off easily." Cameron thought before sighing. "Just take your turn." Cameron announced and Lance drew his card.
"And now my deck's running low, typical." Lance thought when he noticed how low his deck was getting. "Better end this quickly." Lance thought before pointing to Cameron. "Element Dragon, finish him!" Lance commanded and the dragon breathed fire at Cameron bringing his life-points down to zero. "So much for your undefeated streak."
"Axel Loather said during the Battle City tournament that Battle Royals don't count against your undefeated record." Cameron responded as he gathered up his cards and hopped off the arena. "Especially when they are to determine the following round's matches, I remain undefeated and I will remain so for the rest of the tournament!"
"Cameron Matthews has been eliminated, therefore his team will compete in the second match of the fourth round!" Martin announced and the crowd cheered as Cameron and Jessica stormed off.
"Chloe, keep quiet." Chelsea said with a grin and Chloe turned to her. "If you listen closely you can hear them arguing already!" Chelsea added and Chloe laughed.
"As long as I don't hear them having make-up sex I won't complain!" Chloe responded and Chelsea nodded in agreement. "Let's just hope that they'll at least save that for Cameron's room."
"Please continue." Martin added and Lance looked over his hand.
"That's all for me." Lance announced and Thomas drew his card with a grin on his face. "I don't know what he's thinking but it can't be good."
"Perfect, all I need to do is have my monsters eliminate Amelia and I won't have to worry about at least one of my main rivals in the tournament, well, two if Richardson's team gets eliminated by the Troys." Thomas thought as he looked at his card. "Tell me Amelia, is that facedown card Warcry?"
"You really think I'm stupid enough to reveal my facedown card without activating it just because you asked?" Amelia asked as she folded her arms. "I don't think so."
"Well, you'll have too! I activate the Spell Card Night Beam!" Thomas activated the trap and Amelia's eyes widened as a single beam of light struck Amelia's facedown card destroying it. "Now am I right or wrong?"
"You were right." Amelia nodded as she turned the card around revealing it to be Warcry. "And it looks like I'm facing Cameron in the next round."
"That's the idea, Galahad, attack Kudda, Faultrol finish her!" Thomas commanded and his three monsters charged into battle, Galahad, once he gained three hundred attack points through his effect, impaled Kudda with his spear bringing Amelia's life-points down to 2400 whilst Faultroll delivered the finishing blow bringing her life-points down to zero.
"Amelia Grey has been eliminated, therefore the second match of the fourth round will be contested between Amelia Grey and Caitlin Acosta and Cameron Matthews and Jessica Stevens!" Martin announced and the crowd cheered as Amelia hopped off the arena and left with Caitlin. "Just as a reminder, the next elimination will determine who will compete in the third match in two days' time, the team eliminated after that will go straight to the fifth round whilst the remaining two teams will compete to determine who goes straight to the finals and who else will compete in the third match!"
"And I've already booked my ticket to the finials, once I eliminate Lance and Theresa that is." Thomas thought with a grin as he looked over his hand.
"Ever get the feeling that they made the rules for this Battle Royal complicated just for the hell of it?" Lance asked and the others sweat-dropped.
"Now that you mention it that is very plausible." Thomas admitted before shaking his head. "X-Saber Wayne, attack Element Dragon!" Thomas commanded and the gunslinger launched his attack at the dragon bringing Lance's life-points down to 3200. "Be thankful that these are the only monsters I have access to right now, then again with these powerful monsters and Cameron, Chloe and Amelia eliminated I control all the marbles!"
"That's what he thinks." Theresa thought as she looked at her facedown cards.
"I end my turn." Thomas announced and Theresa drew her card.
"I use Dark Crusader's effect again." Theresa announced as she discarded a card and Dark Crusader's attack increased to 2000. "And I attack Galahad!" Theresa announced and the crusader charged towards Galahad before cutting him in two with his sword bringing Thomas's life-points down to 4000.
"As soon as I'm done with Alvers your Crusader will go the way of the People's Crusade!" Thomas taunted her only to get confused looks from the other duellists aside from Amelia and Theresa. "Read a book people!"
"Anyway, I end my turn by setting a monster in defence mode." Theresa announced and Latoya drew her card.
"Good news is that most of the heavy hitters have been eliminated, bad news is that just leaves Lance, Thomas and Theresa though unless he can draw something on his next turn he'll be eliminated soon." Latoya thought before looking at her drawn card. "Or I won't give him a chance!" Latoya thought before activating one of her traps. "First I activate Call of the Haunted to bring back Caius." Latoya announced as her monarch returned to the field. "Next I summon Opticlops!" Latoya added before a cyclops appeared on the field (4/1800/1700).
"And it looks like I'm the next to be eliminated!" Lance commented with a grunt once he did the math in his head.
"That's the idea, Opticlops, Caius, finish him!" Latoya commanded and her two monsters launched their attacks at Lance bringing his life-points down to zero.
"Lance Alvers has been eliminated, therefore the team of Lance Alvers and Evan Grant will compete in the third match of the fourth round!" Martin announced and Lance grunted before hopping off the arena. "Just a reminder, the next elimination will end the Battle Royal."
"And then there were three." Latoya said before turning to Thomas. "And your next to be eliminated, I end my turn." Latoya announced and Thomas drew his card.
"Perfect! I activate my second copy of Saber Slash!" Thomas announced and the two girls' eyes widened when they heard that. "And I use it to destroy Dark Crusader, Caius and Opticlops!" Thomas added as Faultrol slammed his sword down sending a shockwave that destroyed the three monsters. "Now to secure my place in the finals! Faultroll, attack Latoya's life-points directly!" Thomas commanded and the warrior charged towards her….
"Sorry Thomas but you'll have to earn your place in the finals like everyone else! I activate Mirror Force!" Latoya activated the trap and Thomas's eyes widened as the attack hit an invisible barrier reflecting it back at Faultroll and Wayne destroying them both. "And unless you have a monster you can summon Theresa and I can finish you off!"
"If I had one I would've summoned it before attacking!" Thomas responded before looking over the rest of his hand. "I end my turn." Thomas announced and Theresa drew her card.
"In that case I won't waste any time! I sacrifice my facedown monster to summon Dark General Freed!" Theresa played the card and her monster disappeared from the field, in its place stood a corrupted version of Freed the Matchless General (5/2300/1700). "Next I activate Call of the Haunted which I use to bring back a monster I discarded for Dark Crusader's effect, Dark Grepher!" Theresa activated the trap and another corrupted monster appeared on the field, this time it was Warrior Dai Grepher that was twisted (4/1700/1600). "Ready to face my team Latoya?"
"It wasn't exactly my plan to face the favourites to win the tournament." Latoya commented with a nervous grin. "But I'll take it!"
"And I'll take that as a yes, Dark General, Grepher, finish him!" Theresa commanded and the two warriors charged towards Thomas before slashing him with their swords and bringing his life-points down to zero.
"Thomas Newborne has been eliminated, therefore the team of Thomas Newborne and Rajin Kanda will compete in the fifth round." Martin announced as the holograms disappeared and Thomas left the arena with Rajin in tow. "That concludes the Battle Royal, there will be a five minute recess before the match between Theresa and Brandon and Latoya and Louella and the eliminated teams are free to join the audience in order to watch the duel."
"What do you think?" Chelsea asked as she turned to her roommate. "Wanna stick around?"
"I don't think Cameron, Jessica and Thomas will be sticking around so yeah, lets." Chloe nodded in agreement as the two girls walked off. "I'm honestly kinda hoping that Thomas tries to claim that Theresa cheated somehow."
"Just to see it blow up in his face?" Chelsea asked with a grin and Chloe nodded. "If that does happen I'll bring the popcorn!" Chelsea added with a grin as the two girls made their way into the stands.