Engaion - Sword of the Flaming God
It stood 500 ft over Y Dovren Goch, the great meadows that made up most of the heart of Naralia. The ruins of magical and Dueling academies dotted the landscapes, sad reminders of Piorga En'Grath, The Great Magical Purge that brought about the destruction of magic and Dueling, in what became dubbed the Holy Kingdom after Hierarch Salvation was declared the Voice of Yeyu.
Engaion was what the Five Hierarchs called the tower of silver-steel, glass, and blue light. They named it after the legendary sword that was used by Anthos Baraclese the great dragon hunter who masterminded the night of Flames and Tears, the horrible True Dragon massacre that was so bloody and savage in nature, Safaani herself opened the gates back to her world to save the True Dragons. It was the powerful weapon firing the great beam of blue light that brought Alliance forces to their knees, halting their campaign to push the remaining Naralian troops out of their countries.
Thanks to their spies, King Forrest's military council learned that Yugi and his Princes were also preparing for a full-scale invasion of the kingdom once the alliance members freed their lands and gathered in Katina for the final push. But now that Engaion was built and unleashing its limitless fury, all troops from Eredas to Emboldor were frozen.
Engaion was another reminder of the Church's newfound obsession with technology, a branch of knowledge once deemed blasphemous by the Church of Yeyu. But now…now that they discovered its true potential, it was deemed a great blessing. And thanks to the genius of Veran Jayce, the disgraced arms dealer who was exiled from Domino, their technological marvels became greater and greater by the day. With the completion of Engaion, they were already toasting for victory.
However, there were those who deemed their arrogance problematic.
Up in the penthouse suites of the great weapon, the members of the Holy Naralian Military's high council were having a meeting on their next move.
"Until this tower is fully secure we are vulnerable gentlemen," said a general with red hair and a long bushy beard named Hugas, the Tiger Baron of Yvon Diorg, so-called for his nasty temper and hatred of mages. "The Princes and the other heroes of Yugi Muto's alliance are strong and their armies are great. They are more dangerous than we could ever imagine."
"Dangerous? Hah!" laughed a tall and skinny general sipping tea, enjoying the view of the meadow and mountains from his spot. He set the cup and saucer down, chuckling arrogantly. "Dangerous to your petty rabble of troops, perhaps, General. But not to the Engaion."
"They will become a danger to us all!" retorted Hugas. "With each day that passes, Prince Yuri's return draws ever closer. If he comes back and summons those God Cards, not even this weapon will be able to stop him. The Alliance, if you haven't noticed, has now completely garnered support from the Termnnian Senate. The territories we control have started rebellions all from East to West across the continent. We —"
"—The Termnnian Senate will no longer be a concern to us," said Donald the Vulture. He stormed into the meeting room towards his seat at the end of the table, usually reserved for King Forrest. But he was indisposed at the moment due to a party he threw to honor the success of his new weapon.
Donald fixed his robes and sat down with a smile. "Gentlemen, I am pleased to report that, as of the completion of this weapon, the honorable Hierarchs have officially liquidated all ties to the Termnnian High King's government. Ah-ah."
He pulled a tea set towards him. "The Holy Kingdom of Naralia is officially an independent nation with no ties to the Diamond Throne. And you needn't worry about rebellion, General Hugas. I have personally instructed our vassals to deal with any hint of rebellion swiftly—"
He poured the tea into his cup. "—and violently. Fear will now keep our territories in line. And soon, with the help of the Engaion, we will have all of Termnnia fearing us." He took a sip of his tea, cackling as he brought the cup to his lips. "Our…friends in the Termnnian Senate have assured us that talks of halting the little Prince's return are underway. When they come to that decision, it will give us more than enough time to regain all the territories that we've lost and restart our advances into Termnnia."
"But what of their satellites?" asked General Hugas. "The Eredians could use them to find the Engaion and exploit a weakness. Veran Jayce is a smart boy but I fear there are brighter minds in Domino."
"You needn't worry about them," said Donald. "Engaion's targeting systems are beyond advanced. If they do plan on invading our space with those machines, Engaion will simply shoot them out of the sky."
"It is perfect!" said another general. "This weapon's power is nothing short of beautiful. Even if they did use their satellites against us, attacking this weapon would be a useless gesture. We have photon cannons stationed in the mountains, tens of thousands of battle-hardened knights, and dozens of CUIRASS squadrons are patrolling the area around the weapon. The Engaion is now the ultimate power in the continent. Nothing will stop us now."
"Indeed," said Donald. "As for the God Cards, you needn't worry. We've got something special in store for them."
Yuri - Leon's Artificial Island
When he opened his eyes, he began gasping for air like a fish out of water, sobbing and sniffling from the aching pain in his head. His limbs felt like they weighed a ton. He could barely move. If he even tried, he would be met with unpleasantness far greater than anything he ever felt before. He had been punched in the underground fight clubs, beaten by Brett and his thugs to the point where he was a vegetable. Hell, he even felt the pain of getting attacked by Yugi's monsters. And they were nothing like this.
"Help," he sobbed. He sniffled, rolling around in the ground. When he realized he was naked, he placed his hands between his legs, causing his arms to ache. "Help," he sobbed again.
Yuri…
"Ser Norman," Yuri wept. "Help."
Easy my friend. Ser Norman in spirit form knelt beside him. What have they done to you? He waved his hand over Yuri's body. In seconds, Yuri's pain subsided. He was overcome with a warm sensation. Like he was lying on a cloud. Yuri found himself breaking into a smile as he laid his head against the dewy cool grass. He felt so relaxed that he uncovered his exposed manhood and placed his hands behind his head. He didn't even care that he was naked.
"Thanks," he said. "Man, you're good, Ser Norman."
Think nothing of it, Yuri. I know you're feeling like you're in paradise, but you're in a world where decency is strict. May I suggest you put your clothes back on before someone sees you?
Yuri sighed. "Okay," he said. He sat up to survey where he was. He was no longer at the camp. Someone brought him to a small waterfall flowing into a pond in a very secluded part of the forest. He spotted his clothes folded neatly right beside him with his deck. A golden card was flashing on top of it.
"No…" Yuri went for it as fast as he could. It was wrapped in tin foil with a note inside. A dinosaur of all things. He resembled the monster called Guardian Grarl, except he was carrying a giant sword and was clad in white and gold colossal armor with a flowing cape sparkling like the stars.
In fact, this creature's name was Grarl, Guardian of the Throne Room. He was a Normal Level 7 monster with 2500 ATK and 2100 DEF. Though the card's rarity was a hybrid of all the highest rarities in the game. It was ornamented with regal scrollwork along the edges and each word was written in prismatic foil like the name of a secret rare monster. The rest of the card flashed like a prismatic secret rare card and the art of the monster was like a ghost rare except he kept all his color.
The note behind the card. Yuri read it and was filled with a chill.
I said you had to impress me to get this card. I hate to admit it, but you really impressed me during our Duel, your highness. Use the card well. Master Yugi says your mother made it for your father. Now it belongs to you. Take care of him, for he is the key to a great and ancient power. You'll find out what it is when you come home. Good luck in the tournament. I'll be seeing you soon.
-Zane Truesdale, Steward of Eredas
Yuri sat down on the grass bewildered. "That was no dream!" he gasped.
Yuri dressed back into his clothes and ran out of the woods to the beach where his friends were. He didn't see the small village of tents that was there last time but he could make out six figures sitting by a fire. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized they were his friends. "Hey!" he called.
"Well, look who it is!" Tyson cried out.
"There he is!" Nikki said.
Arf! Arf! Max barked.
"YURI!" Natalya yelled. "Yuri's back!"
"YURI!" Crystal shouted. "Oh my God! We were so worried about you!"
"Where were you?" Patty said sternly as she stood up and placed her knuckles on her hips. "We've been looking for you for hours! I didn't think you got that wasted during the party last night. We thought you drifted out to sea or something."
"I'm sorry," Yuri said.
"Yuri you're half-dressed," said Crystal.
Yuri examined himself. Indeed he was. His shoes were untied, he wore nothing underneath his jacket and his pants were falling down past his boxers.
"What happened to you, dude?" Nick asked. "You look like shit."
"I guess I got too hammered last night," Yuri said, trying to keep his pants from falling down.
"You knucklehead," Crystal said. She hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "At least you're not hurt." She pulled his pants up and zipped them up herself. "What were you doing out there?"
"I don't know. For the life of me, I can't remember."
"That's the last time you're drinking like that," Crystal said buckling his belt. "Ocean and her friends really know how to throw a party."
"Where are they?" Yuri asked.
"They left hours ago," said Tyson. "They went to the other side of the island to look for opponents. They wanted us to tag along but we stayed behind because we wanted to wait for you."
"Did you say hours ago?" Yuri asked. "What time is it?"
"Two o'clock," Patty answered.
Yuri gasped. "Urk! No way!"
"Way. Well, come on now. We still got a tournament for you to win. Although, I doubt we're going to find any opponents this late in the day. I imagine Ocean and Roman and other strong players would have eliminated the competition right now." She shrugged. "Well, as the saying goes. Snooze you lose."
"Got that right," said Crystal. She smacked Yuri's butt the way a mother would if she was scorning her child.
"OW!"
"Got anything to say for yourself?"
"Sorry. Damn."
"Hey, let's not panic," said Tyson. "I'm sure there are plenty of players to go up against. We're not going to find them standing around and complaining. Let's get going."
They gathered their things and hiked into the forest, following a trail that would lead them to another part of the island to find opponents to play against. They could hear people yelling and cheering but their voices were faint and far away. It seemed like most of the island's players had been eliminated by now.
"Think we'll find anyone?" Nikki asked.
"I haven't seen a Duel for the past half hour," Yuri replied.
They walked into a canyon deep in the forest and stopped when they noticed Duelists were lying on the ground or sitting on rocks, moaning and groaning in shame and agony. There seemed to be fifteen of them in all.
"What happened?" Yuri cried out. "Are you guys all right?"
"Wow!" said Nick. "Look at all these guys. It looks like a massacre took place here."
"Yo!" said Tyson. "What happened here. Y'all okay?"
"They're fine. In fact they got what they deserved," said Ocean. She was standing over them on the edge of the canyon with Rosita and Roman.
"Sup," he said.
"Did you guys do this?" Patty asked.
"Nope," said Roman. He crossed his arms. "I'm good but I'm not that good."
"Not me, Patty," said Ocean. "Although I wish it was. These guys are Duelists who got eliminated from the tournament. Now they have turned into bounty hunters. Hired by some thug named Randall Lawson to take you down and steal your Black Tyranno, Yuri."
"Randall!" Yuri and his friends cried out at once.
"I might have known," said Tyson.
"Ugh! Doesn't guy ever know when he's beat?" said Patty. She walked to a Duelist in an orange puffer vest. "All right, loser, what's the deal? Who's the one who did this?"
"I don't know, dollface," said the Duelist. He was rubbing his aching head. "This guy, Randall, promised to pay us with gold coins so we could stay in the tournament. The only catch was we had to beat Yuri and bring his Black Tyranno cards as proof. So we took his offer and went after Yuri. We received a tip that he was here in the canyon. We were gonna swarm him and use our numbers to overpower him. Only it wasn't Yuri. It was some guy with a powerful magician unlike anything we've ever seen before. Even with our numbers, we were no match for him. He took us out."
"He defeated all of you just by himself?" said Nick. "Say, Ren's been gone all day, too. Do you think it was him?"
"It can't be," said Patty. "Ren's got a deck of vampires not magicians. Plus, he's retired."
"Ren Kakihara?" said the defeated Duelist. "No way, man. If it was him who ambushed us, I wouldn't have stuck around. We know better than to tangle with him, even if he is retired. There's some new guy on the block. And he's good. Better than all of us. Heh. Maybe he's better than all of you."
"Maybe he's got gold coins to ante up," Tyson said balling his fist. "A new challenger for Yuri."
"Whoa, you serious, Tyson?" Yuri exclaimed. "We don't even know who this guy is or what he's capable of. What if he's not a friendly person."
"He's got a point," said Crystal. "If anything, we should steer clear from this person. I know holograms are realistic but they shouldn't cause people pain, you know."
"Sounds like he was no ordinary Duelist," said Ocean.
"No kidding," Roman agreed. "He sounds like a pro."
"He was," said the Duelist. "He had a shiny hi-tech Duel Disk and his holograms were top of the line. I swear I could actually feel his magician kicking my ass. To make matters worse, the guy not only beat the crap out of us, but he took our decks, too. He said we weren't worthy enough to keep them."
"Sounds like an overly self-righteous guy," said Nikki. "But he's got a point. If you morons can stoop so low that you'd take a bounty on a fellow Duelist just to cheat and remain on the island, then you shouldn't be Duelists in the first place."
The Duelist groaned; for he knew Nikki was right. He slumped his shoulders, sighed heavily, and said: "Aw, great. The Tournament Enforcers are here."
Yuri and his friends turned around in time to see Duelists in gray outfits and cloaks that covered their whole bodies.
"Who are you guys?" Nick asked.
"We're island security," said a girl leading the Duelists. "I personally would have preferred to be called that but Leon wanted us running around with goofy names and called us Enforcers. Oh, well. At least the pay's good."
"I guess," said Yuri. "What are you guys here for?"
"We expel cheaters and other kinds of troublemakers from the island. We got word from a Duelist that there was a group of ex-participants who skipped the ferry off the island and stuck around. Apparently that Pro League reject, Randall Lawson, is paying them to take on your friend there."
She pointed at Yuri then looked over his shoulders at the throng of hurt and defeated Duelists. "Yup. That's them alright. Okay, boys, round them up and take them to the ferry. Their time here on the island is over."
"Hey, give us a second chance?" whined a young Duelist.
"You guys lost!" shouted the female Enforcer. "You're losers! You no longer have the right to be on this island. And you soiled your names as Duelists by turning into hired thugs for a disgraced one like Randall Lawson. You'd have to be the scummiest piece of rat filth in the world to work for a guy who was trained by a piece of crap like Brett Martinetti."
As the Enforcers picked up the fallen players, the leader smiled at Crystal, eyes sparkling with joy. "Crystal Anderson. I saw your interview on the news. You were so strong to have handled his abuse for so long. Thank goodness he's gone now, huh?"
Crystal cooed and gave a nod. "Yes, and he's being chased by every alphabet group in the United States for what he was about to do in Aquarius. And for murdering the son of a high-ranking government senator."
"Well, I'm glad you're surrounded by such loving friends now. And hey, hey, hey, I heard Jacob Montgomery offered you a position in Phobos Corp. Pardon me for being so nosey — I'm just a really huge fan, hee hee — but would you mind telling me what it is?"
"That's a secret best kept until the tournament finals," said Crystal.
"I can't wait for its reveal," said the female Enforcer. "Well, I've got work to do. Good luck in the tournament, Yuri. I'm rooting for you."
"Thanks," Yuri said as she walked off.
"Man, you get support everywhere you go," said Nick. "I feel like the underdog here."
Yuri looked at his friend and laughed. "Well, if you are the underdog, I guess that'll make beating me all the sweeter won't it?"
Nick smiled and laughed too. "Ha, ha! Yeah. You're right. All right, guys, I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood for some Duels."
"That's the spirit," Ocean said. "Nothing like a Duel to cheer you up."
"Sure thing," said Natalya. "But we should keep an eye out for this mystery Duelist. We don't know what his intentions are."
"We'll worry about him when we find him," said Yuri. "Do you know a place where we can Duel, Ocean?"
"No, but Roman does," she said.
"Yeah. I think there was talk about someplace by a lagoon where high-ranked players are duking it out. If you don't waste any more time, you can probably get there before all the action dies down."
"Can you come with us?" Nikki asked.
"I can't," said Ocean. "I've got a Duel scheduled for later against Mandy. I can't wait to take her down."
"We'd love to go with you," said Rosita. "But Roman and I also have some affairs to take care of. If you guys follow this path out of the canyon and make a left by a giant boulder, you'll get to the lagoon. Take care, guys. And be safe."
"Sounds good," said Yuri. "Thanks.."
The groups said their goodbyes. Yuri and his friends followed the path Rosita showed them and trekked deeper into the forest around the roots of the mountain looming over them. An hour later, they come by a river with a trio of waterfalls pouring down the side of the mountain into a large pond from which the river flowed. Crystal rushed to the edge of the pond and took off her boots to soak her exhausted feet.
"I think my blisters have blisters," she said dipping her feet into the water. "How much farther, Yuri?"
"I don't know," Yuri said. "We're going the right way but according to the map we've only gone about four inches."
"Man, this is just great!" Nikki said. "Admit it, Magellan, we're lost aren't we?"
"No, we're not," Yuri protested. "We're going the right way. It's not my fault this island's so damn huge."
"Well, at least we're together," said Patty.
"That's good news for us."
Out of nowhere, three Duelists jumped down from the trees and surrounded them. Three more sprang from the bushes next to the spot where Crystal sat down to cool her feet. She yelped, grabbed her boots, and ran back to join her friends. They were encircled by the Duelists, each of them grinning with greedy looks on their faces.
"I didn't think there were this many of them," said Tyson. "How many of you losers did Randall hire anyway?"
"We're all that's left," said a boy with a backward cap. "The other half got taken away. Well, the weaker half anyway. Just as we planned."
"You mean you guys tricked those guys into getting ambushed?" Natalya shouted.
"No. Not really," sneered a girl with purple hair. "We didn't anticipate some lone wolf hotshot would be the one who intercepted them. The plan was that Yuri would deal with them and leave them for the Enforcers. Then, as they carried the rejects away, we would pop up and take you on."
Damn," said Tyson. "They sacrificed their buddies just to distract those Enforcers. Man, that's really low even for these guys."
"Cry us a river!" said a bully with a varsity football jacket. "It's time to Duel. And we want Yuri!"
"You want Yuri, then you have to get through us!" said Crystal. She took off her backpack to pull out her Duel Disk. Yuri's friends did the same and equipped theirs.
"You didn't think Yuri was the only one packin' a Duel Disk, huh?" Tyson said. "You mess with one of us, then you mess with ALL of us!"
"Fine!" said the boy with the backward cap. "That just means we'll take all your rarest cards, too."
"Heh! I call dibs on Crystal's Chaos Emperor Dragon!" said the purple-haired girl.
Yuri's friends formed a circle to which the bounty hunters formed a circle around them.
"I'll start first!" said Crystal. "I activate Graceful Charity and draw three cards. And the two cards I discard are Black Dragon Collapserpent and White Dragon Wyverburster! And just so you know, they're Light and Darkness monsters, so now I banish them to summon my baby, Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End! I'll set three cards face-down and end my turn."
"No way! She summoned him already!" the boy with the backward cap cried out.
Crystal's dragon emerged from a beautiful and complex-looking arcane circle. It spread its wings and roared at its master's opponents.
"Now it's my turn!" said Tyson. "I activate a Graceful Charity of my own and draw three cards and send two to the GY. Next, I use Monster Reborn to bring back my boy, Behemoth, King of All Animals!"
Tyson's ace joined the fray alongside Crystal's dragon. He snarled and stomped his way over Yuri until he stood over him as though he were protecting him.
"There you go, Yuri! Now, I'll bolster our defenses with these two face-down cards. Nick, take it from here, bud!"
"Yeah, let's see what I can do!" boasted Nick. "I use the spell, Ancient Rules! With this card, I'm allowed to Normal Summon a high-ranking Normal monster from my hand. And I chose my Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
The bounty hunters cried out in shock at the sight of Nick's dragon.
"He's got it!" one of them said. "He's got the rare Red-Eyes Black Dragon! I call dibs on that one!"
"No way, man! That dragon is mine!" shouted another.
Nick laughed and set two cards face-down. "You want him? Come and take him. Patty, you're up, baby!"
"Yeah! I want in on this party! I activate the Zera Ritual card. I'll sacrifice these two monsters and summon Zera the Mant!"
Zera the Mant rose out of a portal of darkness that formed behind Patty.
"And I'm not through yet. I activate Dark Flames of Hades! This rare card allows me to summon Diabolos, King of the Abyss from my graveyard, ignoring his summoning conditions! Rise up, baby!"
The dark dragon flew out of the same portal Zera crawled out from and flew above her, raising his wings and displaying his 2800 ATK points.
"Now I set two cards face-down and end my turn!"
"That leaves me!" said Natalya. "I'm glad I was smart enough to bring my own Duel Disk to this party!"
Natalya pulled off her strategy beautifully and summoned two of her mightiest monsters. An evolved form of her grandmother's card called Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry along with her regular Simorgh, Bird of Divinity. She had one last card left in her hand, a trap card that would defend her and her friends. She set it down with a smile and ended her turn.
"You think you can scare us with those oversized chickens!" teased one of the opponents. "You've gotta be kidding."
"We'll see on my next turn," said Natalya. "Nikki! You're up!"
"Hell yeah!" Nikki drew and made a face of disgust. "Ugh, this hand will never do. I activate Card Destruction, bitches! Now we discard our hands and draw the same amount of cards we had before. Next, I activate Water of Life! This card lets me revive a monster from my Graveyard. Say hello to Levia-Dragon Daedalus!"
Her friends cheered as ocean waves sprung out from behind her and revealed her signature sea serpent. "But he won't stick around," Nikki said and flipped a card to show them a new form. "In present form! I tribute him to Special Summon the mighty Ocean Dragon Lord - Neo Daedalus!"
Daedalus started growing taller and wider, bulkier. He started growing large red sails from his back. A second head was growing out of his neck and his tail split into two. At 2900 ATK, Nikki's monster was the second most dominant monster on the field.
"And now, I set three face-down cards and end my turn. Yuri! You're up!"
"Hey, I was beginning to feel left out," he said. "I summon Gagagigo and use the spell Ultra-Evolution Pill, which sacrifices a reptile-type monster so I can Special Summon a Dinosaur from my hand. And it's the card you all want. Black Tyranno! Help us get rid of these guys!"
Gagagio took the magical pill and transformed him into Yuri's ace. As his body grew and underwent drastic changes, Yuri's friends cheered and whistled until Black Tyranno took full form. He stomped forward and roared in their faces.
The opponents stepped back, watching the impressive line of monsters they summoned.
"With our monsters and our wall of face-down cards, there's nothing you guys can do to stop us!" Crystal boasted.
"I beg to differ," said the kid with a backward cap. "Your face-down cards are going to prove worthless with this card I play. I activate the spell, Anti-Magic Arrows! (Anime Effect)"
"Oh no!" cried Crystal. "Now our face-down cards can't be activated for this whole turn!"
"I've got Magic Jammer!" said Nikki. "It will —"
"—it's no use, girl," said Tyson. "Once the Anti-Magic Arrows card is played, there's nothing we can do because we can't activate our cards in response to its activation."
A rain of glowing gold arrows shot out of the boy's card and stuck their face-down cards to the ground.
"No! No!" said Nick. "We lost our line of defense. Man, that's one powerful card."
The boy laughed. "We prepared our decks specifically to take you guys out. We knew you guys couldn't resist playing hero. We knew you'd join in and try to protect Yuri."
"They set us up!" Patty gasped.
Arf! Arf! Grrrrr! Went Max.
"That's right, baby girl. And just to add salt to the wound" The boy special summoned monsters until he had what he needed to summon a giant dragon with 2500 ATK called Burning Dragon.
"When my dragon is summoned all spells and traps on the field are destroyed!" said the boy.
Yuri and his friends screamed as the dragon's flames swirled around them like a fierce wind and shredded their cards to pieces.
"Now it's time to lay down some hurt," said the boy. "I activate the spell, Dragon's Collar! And I chose this Equip-spell card specially for you, Crystal! I can equip it to a dragon you have on the field and now I gain control of it."
"NO!"
A metal collar with spikes formed over Chaos Emperor Dragon's neck. Then a chain magically appeared, leading to a metal obelisk-like structure. It dragged the dragon to his side of the field. The boy laughed as Crystal's mightiest dragon resisted. It fell down and was dragged through the dirt until it was on his side of the field.
"Now for a little dragon summoning of my own!" The boy replenished his hand with some horribly OP spells and finished his combos until he summoned a powerful mutant dragon called Archnemesis Eschatos. He used the dragon's effect to destroy Patty's Zera the Mant. And then he activated Monster Reborn to bring him back to his side of the field.
"ZERA!" Patty cried.
"That's right, Yuri! I took control of your girls' strongest monsters. I deserve to be in this tournament. Not you band of misfits! I'll attack Crystal with my monsters!"
The monsters assaulted her, dropping their Life Points to 0.
"CRYSTAL!" Yuri and the others shouted.
"Yes! Did you see that, guys!? I just beat the Queen of Dragons!"
Crystal tried her best to sit up, but she was just too ashamed. She let some bratty little boy overpower her and beat her ass with her own dragon.
"This can't be…" she said. "What's happening to me?" She looked her hands. "Am I just not good anymore?"
"Your time is over, bitch!" said the boy. "Now it's our time to shine and your dragon is with a much worthier master. Me!" He jerked his thumb at himself. "That's enough damage for now. I end my turn!"
The girl with purple hair was next. She activated a card called Tragedy, summoning a guillotine that cut off Red-Eyes Black Dragon's head. Then she activated her own monster reborn and brought it back to her side of the field, to the chagrin of the loudmouth who boasted that the dragon was his.
And she wasn't finished. Being an insect Duelist, she performed a combo with a spell called Cocoon of Ultra Evolution, which allowed her to quickly summon the 3500 ATK monstrosity known as Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth without having to wait for five turns with the Cocoon of Evolution. She then used Tribute to the Doomed to destroy Patty's Diabolos and attacked her directly, finishing her off.
"NO!" Yuri shouted.
One by one, his opponents summoned powerful monsters and his friends got taken down until he was all by himself, staring down a line of powerful monsters who were brought out quickly with special summons. Sengenjin, WattailDragon, Masked Beast Des Gardius, and Supersonic Skull Flame, combined with the boy's Burning Dragon, Archnemesis Eschatos, Chaos Emperor and Zera and the girl with her Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth and the Red-Eyes she took from Nick, there wasn't much hope he had to win.
The moment his turn began, the bounty hunters at once activated their face-down cards, Shadow Spell.
Chains erupted from the ground, entangling Black Tyranno. He bit at the chains savagely, ripping them apart as best he could to keep from getting tied down until a chain wrapped around his snout, closing it shut. He fell forward on the ground, unable to move as his ATK was reduced 0.
"HEY!" someone shouted.
The other players stopped jeering as a young man ran towards them. He was clad in a black high collar polo shirt, dark gray cargo pants and a black single sling backpack. He had a little companion run towards him with a black duffle bag. He took out his Duel Disk and gave it to the young man so he could join Yuri.
"I've got your back, Yuri!" he said.
"Andre?" Yuri said. "Is that you?"
"Da hell?" said Tyson. "Andre's here? Wow, Patty, you were right."
"Yeah, I told you guys I saw him."
"Hey! Butt out of this!" said the boy.
"You mess with Yuri, you mess with me!" said Andre. "Can't beat him yourselves so you had to corner him like this. Man, you guys are utterly pathetic. Guess I'll have to teach you guys a lesson."
"As if!" said the purple-haired girl. "You can't possibly take on all of us."
"I can and I will. I'm in this Duel now and it's time to end it."
Andre summoned a tall and powerful magician with golden armor and a cape that looked like it was made of flames named Divine Magician - Grand Phoenix.
Grand Phoenix was a very special card given to Andre by Yugi back in Termnnia as a reward for his strong spirit and determination to keep Yuri safe.
He could be summoned at the cost of two high-level 'Magician' monsters, both of whom were summoned by him easily. When he came to the field, the opponents laughed at him, for the Spellcaster only had 100 ATK points.
"Laugh all you want," Andre said. "I activate my magician's special ability. By banishing two spell cards from my hand, my magician can absorb the ATK of all Special Summoned monsters on the field."
The magician held up his golden greatsword studded with round red orbs. He held the blade close to his face and orange runes started circling around the length of the sword, which was then cloaked in flames. The energy of all the monsters his opponents had on the field was sucked out and absorbed into the sword.
ATK/28750
The boy in the cap gulped. "I…I don't believe it! Twenty-eight thousand seven hundred and fifty!"
And with one mighty slash of his blade, Divine Magician - Grand Phoenix wiped out all of their monsters. Little did they know, the monster he summoned was no hologram. His power was indeed real and it knocked them all out after he punished them with a tremendous explosion.
The smoke cleared, the rustling trees calmed, and the echo of the explosion slowly faded. The six Duelists were on the ground, groaning in defeat.
Andre snapped his fingers. His companions grabbed his backpack and scurried to the fallen Duelists to take their decks as trophies.
"Andre, is that really you?" Patty asked. "I almost didn't recognize you with your new duds."
Andre turned around. He looked down at Yuri and helped him back up on his feet. "Yeah, good to see you guys, too. It's been a long time."
"Months," said Natalya. "You missed graduation. Now that I think about it, were you even a student at our school?"
"I was," said Andre. "But something happened that required me to take it easy for a while. I had my hands full with some problems in another place."
"Did you go to Europe or something?"
"Not really. Oh, by the way, guys, this is my friend Gai — er — ahem. I mean this is my friend Gaz."
"Nice to meet ya!" said the little boy, saluting them. "That's all of them, Andre. We'll see that these cards get proper owners once we get back home."
"Good work, Gaz. I think that's the last of them. Call those Enforcer weirdos and let them know we've got more over here."
"Last of who?" Patty asked.
"Randall Lawson is on the island. He's been scouting anyone who lost to join his crew. Naturally, they've been looking to take Yuri down. Thanks to my Magician, we won't have to worry about them anymore. All that's left is that loser, Randall."
"Good!" Tyson said, punching his palm. "That bastard has gotten on our nerves for the last time. Do you know where he is?"
"No. But there should be some smaller groups of bounty hunters still around."
"I thought you said this was the last of them," said Nikki.
"Well, the stronger ones anyway. I have no doubt some stragglers are still out there. If we find them, maybe we can ask them where Randall is."
"And why not just ask the guys you beat just now?" Crystal asked.
Andre laughed. "Honey, after what my magician did to them, I don't think they're going to be waking up anytime soon."
"Eeesh," said Nick. "This guy is a damn clown."
"Nick!" Patty snapped.
"Come on! It's obvious he was waiting around until the last minute just so he could jump in and be a hero."
"Nick, seriously, I'm not in the mood. I've already dealt with one asshole and I don't need to deal with another. You can always teach me a lesson in a Duel if you want."
"Huh?"
Andre chuckled, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and headed into the forest, following a path that led to the mountain.
Gaz laughed at Nick and followed Andre. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Don't talk tough if you can't back it up. Come on, guys. I'm sure you're itching to get this Randall guy out of your lives, right?"
They couldn't argue with that. The group grabbed their belongings and trailed after Andre into the mountains.