What Warrior with a very powerful Defense Score is shown being destroyed on two Spell Cards? If you said "Millennium Shield" (shown being destroyed on "Shield Crush" and "Kaminote Blow") you were successfully able to Name that Card!
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
In Xanadu, the past comes back to haunt us, time and time again. It seems to have done so once more.
Battle City was a milestone in dueling history. It marked the first major tournament where a new system of rules were used. It featured the debut of the first practical Duel Disk. It featured the debut of the God Cards. And it featured, more than likely, the greatest duel between my great uncle and Yumi's grandfather ever.
The opponent I'm facing hardly deserved to be in Battle City. He wasn't even invited, and he wasn't a very good duelist. But nonetheless, he was part of another milestone – he dueled in the first duel of that tournament.
I'd like to say that I could beat this guy with my eyes closed… But something tells me that I'd better keep them open. Underestimating your opponents is the same mistake he made…
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lost Parts
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
It took less than five minutes after The Sea Angel weighed anchor for the docks to disappear into foggy mist. The sky grew cloudier as the ship plodded into the dark sea. The soft, haunting, sobbing noise hung over them, making them uneasy.
The five teenagers shivered, although the captain was a bit braver. He had been across this body of water several times, after all. He looked forward at the helm of the ship with a grim look nonetheless, as if prepared in a second to react to a threat.
"Mako?" asked Erik. "Are there any dangerous creatures in these waters?"
"Not gonna lie to you," said Mako. "Yes. The Sea of Infinite Tears is full of dangerous Water Duel Spirits. Many of them get tired of eating fish, and would love to try meat once in a while.
"But, there are also a great deal many helpful ones that will aid a sailor…
"Mermaids can always be counted on. Cure Mermaids, Red Archery Girls… Mermaid Knights are powerful fighters that you always want on your side. The problem is, there's a bounty on their heads, so they have to stay hidden most of the time."
"Toon Mermaids?" asked Chelsea.
Mako smirked.
"Even Duel Spirits don't truly know if there are Spirit versions of Toon Monsters," he said. "You might talk to a Spirit who claims to know someone who knows someone who's seen one, but no solid proof. The craziest rumor is that Toon World is a pocket dimension that you can enter from certain places in the Twelve Dimensions…
"Some say that if Toon Spirits exist, their only purpose in life is to have fun. So I doubt any would come to Xanadu. They wouldn't have a very good time here."
Yumi changed the subject quickly.
"How's the fishing?" she asked.
"Let's just say it helps being a virtual construct who doesn't have to eat," said Mako.
"Ergh!" groaned Erik, holding his head.
"Another vision?" said Sam, getting up.
"Vision?" said Mako.
Everyone looked at Erik.
"Exodia!" he shouted.
"You sure?" asked Yumi.
"I saw it plainly…" said Erik.
He looked out into the water.
"We'd better be careful…" he said. "Somewhere out there is a duelist with the most powerful Monster in the game…"
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Man, I wish I had brought a magazine, thought Chelsea.
She sadly looked out into the water.
Still nothing… she thought, sadly. If Duel Spirits have any afterlife, they either can't talk to me… Or they simply don't want to…
It was depressing. She never realized how much she would miss them.
They were an hour into the trip, and all they had seen so far were a few small islands and lots of water. She was almost hoping that one of Daala's men would try to stop them so she could get some action. Mako had cautioned them against exploring the islands, saying that it was best to avoid any confrontations with any of Daala's forces unless it was necessary.
Chelsea stood up from where she was sitting…
And then she fell down, as the ship lurched.
"What the?" said Mako.
"What's the matter, captain?" asked Yumi.
Mako got up and checked the controls on the dashboard.
"We've stopped short," he said. "We aren't taking on water, so we probably didn't hit a reef…"
He rubbed his chin.
"People, this is impossible, but… For some reason, we're stuck."
"Stuck in water?" asked Ren. "How?"
Mako rubbed his chin again.
He walked over to the starboard side and looked over the edge.
"Uh, people…" he said. "Come over here… But I have to warn you, hold on tight before you look…"
They all looked over the edge of the ship, and gasped in surprise. The whole ship was caught in the grip of a huge, golden hand, that had apparently reached up from the depths.
"What in blazes?" said Ren.
"If that's a hand," said Sam, "I don't wanna see the rest of it!"
"I don't know," said Mako, going to open a box. "This has never happened before."
He lifted a spyglass and started to scan the area.
"Hmm…" he said. "There's an island about a quarter mile to the north… I can't say for sure, but there might be an answer there…
"Anyone want to come with me? The dingy can hold three men."
"Sam," said Yumi, "I doubt we'll be able to handle whatever's on that island without a fight, and the two of us are the best duelists here."
"Agreed," said Sam, nodding.
"Okay," said Yumi. "If the rest of you need us, just shout."
"How about scream?" asked Chelsea.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"Are you sure you don't want any help rowing, Mako?" asked Yumi.
"Trust, me," said Mako, as he rowed the small craft. "We'll get there sooner if I do this alone…"
After about ten minutes, the dingy came ashore of the cold, rocky beach of the small island. The three duelists got out, and then dragged the small craft ashore.
The first thing they noticed on the sandy and rather desolate island were a collection of odd rock formations. They appeared to be standing stones, but broken and in disrepair.
"Odd," said Yumi. "This might be this Realm's equivalent of the place where Tara challenged Chelsea."
"A wonderful day, isn't it?" said a voice.
They turned around, and saw a figure reclining in a beach chair, seemingly unaware that it was clearly not the right weather to be sunning himself.
The figure was tall and thin, almost gaunt. He was dressed in a plain shirt and trousers, and a long, indigo cloak. His face was just as gaunt as the rest of him, with sallow skin and sunken cheeks, and dirty, white hair. His eyes had a white film over them that made him look even more ghastly. His appearance suggested more a living ghoul than a human.
He was drinking from a china teacup, and next to him were a teapot and a Duel Disk.
"Oh, lovely," said Sam, with a look of disgust. "Looks like Erik's vision was a big, fat, false alarm."
"Who is this guy?" asked Yumi.
"I recognize him," said Sam, with her eyes narrowing. "He's that loser Rare Hunter that your grandfather pummeled in the first round of Battle City."
"That's impossible," said Yumi. "Even if Marik had released him from that spell, he'd have died of old age by now… Or of something else… I doubt he took very good care of himself."
The Rare Hunter chuckled and put the teacup down.
"Remember Weevil?" asked Sam. "Daala can create virtual constructs just like Joan can. Although why she did so with this screwball, I have no idea."
"Tsk, tsk," said the Rare Hunter, standing up. "You should know better to insult me when I have the power to crush your ship into kindling and leave you all stranded here.
"But, I'll release the ship in exchange for one duel."
"You gotta be kidding me!" said Sam. "Yumi and I are both Duelatopia finalists! You were Marik's weakest minion. Your Exodia Deck was both illegal and poorly made."
"I assure you it's tournament legal now," said the Rare Hunter. "Like Weevil, I've matured a lot since then."
"Sam, do you want me to duel him?" asked Mako.
"No," said Sam. "Something easy might be a nice change of pace.
"So fellah, do you even have a name?"
"Yes I do!" said the Rare Hunter, angrily. "And if I told you what it was, you'd know why I never used it!"
"Oh, I get it," said Sam with a chuckle. "It got you beaten up a lot as a kid, right? And I'm guessing your looks didn't help much either. Okay, just give me a minute…"
She opened the pack on her belt that contained her side deck, and looked though the fifteen cards. She carefully chose two – Confiscation and Trap Dustshoot.
These should help immensely against an Exodia Deck, she thought.
She took her own deck out of her Disk, and looked though the cards. She thought for a minute before removing Hellfire Flame and Shrink.
As she shuffled, the Rare Hunter smirked.
Prepare all you like, he thought. My deck may be tournament legal, but I assure you, it has something in it that you won't expect…
"All right, ugly," said Sam, as her Deck activated. "Let's see what you're made of, other than skin and bones."
"Then prepare to witness terror unlike you've ever seen before!" said the Rare Hunter.
He whipped off his cloak, and tossed it aside, where it blew right into Mako's face.
"Dear God, man!" he said in disgust, throwing it away. "When was the last time you washed that thing?"
"Game on!" they both shouted.
(Sam: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (Rare Hunter: 8,000)
The Rare Hunter chuckled as he made his first draw.
"I summon…" he said, "Melchid the Four-Face Beast in Attack Mode."
As he played the card, a strange creature appeared in front of him. It was little more than a big head, with four fiendish faces, one on each side of the circumference. (1,500/1,200)
"Huh?" said Yumi. "Attack Mode?"
"And I'll leave it at that," said the Hunter.
"You call that a Fiend?" said Sam, drawing a card. "Let me show you a real Fiend…
"I summon Gil Garth."
In a flux of shadowy energy, the robotic, sword-wielding Fiend appeared. (1,800/1,200)
"Gil Garth, wipe the grin off of its face," she said. "All of them."
Gil Garth charged, and with one slash of its scimitar, sliced the Four-Face Beast in half. The Rare Hunter cringed a little.
"That's all for me," said Sam. "I hope you have more than some third-rate Normal Monsters in that deck."
(S: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (RH: 7,700)
The Rare Hunter drew a card.
"I activate Pot of Greed," he said, playing it.
The jar appeared, and he quickly drew two cards.
"Then, I summon Grand Tiki Elder in Attack Mode."
The ground burst open, and a ghostly Fiend wearing a tiki mask and a cloak covered with jewelry appeared. A spooky laughter echoed over the beach. (1,500/800)
"Is that supposed to scare me?" asked Sam. "It's no better than your last one."
"He has his uses," said the Rare Hunter. "I set one card facedown, and end my turn."
A facedown card appeared behind Grand Tiki Elder.
Sam quickly drew a card.
Has his uses? thought Sam. It's neither weak enough for Crush Card Virus, or strong enough for Deck Devastation Virus! Other than summoning Des Gardius, what can it do except look stupid?
"I summon Opticlops," she said.
The sand shifted, and the horned, cyclopsed ogre burst out of the ground. (1,800/1,700)
"Gil Garth, destroy that freaky tiki!"
Gil Garth slashed at the weaker Fiend with its blade. Grand Tiki Elder let out a spooky groan, and then shattered into pixels.
"Opticlops, attack him directly! Screwball in the corner pocket."
Opticlops charged at the Rare Hunter, and rammed him in the chest, knocking him over.
"Ow! My hip!" he groaned.
"Care to give up before this gets worse?" asked Sam.
"Never!" he shouted, getting up. "It may have been awhile… but I haven't lost my touch yet…"
"Hey, you can't lose something you never had," said Sam.
(S: 8,000) - - - - - - - - - - (RH: 5,600)
I don't like this, thought Yumi. Turn after turn, all he's doing is putting weak Monsters in Attack Mode, hardly putting up any resistance at all. If he has improved, where are all the standards of an Exodia Deck? The search cards, stall Monsters, deck thinners, and the defensive Trap Cards? He doesn't seem to have any at all…
"I end my turn," said Sam.
The Rare Hunter drew a card, and looked at it. He smirked slightly.
"I set a Monster in Defense Mode, and one card facedown," he said.
A facedown card appeared next to his other one, and a facedown Monster appeared.
"Decided to defend now, huh?" asked Sam.
"I end my turn," said the Rare Hunter.
"Then I draw!" shouted Sam.
She drew a card and looked at it. It was Confiscation.
Just what I needed, she thought. This might help a great deal…
"I pay 1,000 Life Points to play Confiscation!" she shouted, throwing a card into her Disk.
"Oh no!" laughed the Rare Hunter, sarcastically. "Whatever will I do?"
"I'm not fooling around," said Sam. "Let's see them!"
In a flash of light, four cards appeared in front of Sam.
As she expected, one piece of Exodia was there, the Right Leg…
But she did NOT expect the three other cards.
One was Inferno Reckless Summon. What purpose did that serve in an Exodia Deck? Foolish Burial? Why did he need that?
What really confused her was Exile of the Wicked. Had he been expecting her? But it didn't make sense even if he had… He had played two Fiends of his own.
I have to delay him getting all the pieces of Exodia… she thought.
She pointed to Right Leg of the Forbidden One, and it vanished, along with the card in the Hunter's hand.
"Gil Garth… Attack his facedown Monster!"
Gil Garth charged at the facedown card. Morphing Jar appeared on the card, and laughed before it was slashed to bits.
"NO!" shouted Sam. "My hand…"
The Rare Hunter chuckled, as he discarded his hand.
"Don't worry, Sam," he said. "You'll get them all back in a second."
"What do you mean?" she asked, as she discarded her four cards.
They both drew five cards.
"This is what I mean," said the Rare Hunter, as one of his facedown cards flipped up. "Activate… Disgraceful Charity!"
With a loud cry, a man-sized form flew out of the card. It was Marie the Fallen One. She gestured, and beams of light hit both duelists' Disks.
"Now," said the Rare Hunter, "we each get back all the cards we had to discard this round due to card effects. So we both get back what we discarded from Morphing Jar…
"And as a bonus, I get back the card you made me discard with Confiscation."
"No!" shouted Yumi.
"Seems that 1,000 Life Points was for nothing," said Mako. "This guy is more clever."
Four cards slipped out of each discard slot.
Yumi sighed.
"You know, I often wondered about that Trap Card," she wondered. "It's the opposite of Graceful Charity. Does that mean that angel on Graceful Charity was Marie the Fallen One before she… fell?"
"Dunno," said Mako. "Joan will readily admit that she used to be Marie, but she's closemouthed about exactly what she was before that."
"My battle phase isn't over, Rare Hunter," shouted Sam, "and you're defenseless! Opticlops, attack directly!"
Opticlops charged again.
"I activate my other Trap Card!" shouted the Rare Hunter.
His facedown card lifted, and a strange object lifted out of the ground in front of him. It looked like a mannequin made of rusty iron pots, tools, and other junk, mounted on two crowbars that had been welded into a cross.
Opticlops crashed into it headfirst. He held his head and whined in pain.
"Your Fiend just ran into my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow," said the Rare Hunter. "It's a Trap Card that lets me negate one attack.
"Even better, once I activate it, it doesn't go to the Graveyard, it's set back on the field."
The Scarecrow vanished, and a facedown card reappeared on his side of the field.
"That means I can avoid one attack per turn. I told you I had gotten smarter."
"Figures…" muttered Sam. "A guy who looks like a scarecrow uses one in his deck.
"It's still my move!"
She looked at the nine cards in her hand.
I gotta defend myself in case he decides to actually use that Exile of the Wicked card, she thought.
She placed three cards in her Disk, and a facedown Monster and two facedown cards appeared.
"All right…" she said. "It's your move…"
(S: 7,000) - - - - - - - - - - (RH: 5,600)
The Rare Hunter drew a card.
"Yumi…" said Mako.
He seemed to have just received a shock of some sort, as if something new had happened.
"What?" asked Yumi.
"When he made his draw right then, I felt something…" said Mako. "Sort of like a feeling of great power…
"I think that he might be about to bring out something bad…"
"Exodia?" asked Yumi.
"No…" said Mako. "Something… different…"
"More than you know…" said the Rare Hunter, with an evil smile. "I'm about to summon a beast that you couldn't have envisioned even in your worst nightmares!"
"If it's Exodia Necross, I'm way ahead of you," said Sam.
"That has-been?" asked the Rare Hunter. "No, I couldn't have summoned that thing even if I wanted to. Daala has forbidden its use in Xanadu since it was the key to Gozaburo's strategy. On the off-chance that he might be alive somewhere, Daala doesn't want to take the risk that he might take notice and try to come here.
"Not that she's afraid of him, I might add! She just doesn't want any problems…"
He chuckled.
"Anyway, the Monster on the card I now hold in my hand was first created by a very powerful Duel Spirit to give to a minion. The card was incredibly broken… Virtually indestructible and unbeatable. He needed the blessing of the Spirit of the true Exodia to awaken it, and to do that, he had to sacrifice his girlfriend."
Sam, Yumi, and Mako gasped in horror.
"It's true, and he actually did it," said the Rare Hunter. "The card was so powerful, that the minion got drunk with power, and tried to double-cross the Duel Spirit who had given it to him. He was a fool. He should have known that the one who made the card knew of a way to destroy it. Never create something you can't destroy, that's a philosophy that differentiates a creator who's smart, and one who's dead.
"The minion was defeated, and to this day, no-one knows what his ultimate fate was.
"But anyway, I2 recently created a prototype of the card, based on notes from a journal written by someone who saw the original card used in a duel. Its power is watered down from the original incredibly to make it playable, but it's still quite powerful, if used right.
"The card hasn't been released to the public yet… But Daala was able to hack onto the I2 files and download the information, creating a virtual duplicate, which she entrusted to me…
"Still think I'm some screwball?"
Lightning flashed.
"To summon this Monster, I have to send every Monster in my Graveyard back to my deck and reshuffle…"
Melchid the Four-Face Beast, Grand Tiki Elder, and Morphing Jar slipped out of his discard slot. He set his ample hand of cards aside, and shuffled his deck.
"Now I can summon the ultimate beast…" he said, as a dark shadow started to rise behind him. "Meet the last Monster you'll ever see…"
The dark form started to take shape… Lightning flashed again…
"Exodius, the Ultimate Forbidden Lord!"
At first, Sam had thought she had lost. The giant form in front of her looked just like the fully assembled Exodia. It wasn't apparently undead, like Necross was, but alive and healthy. The only difference she could see was, its wrists and ankles were not bound by chains. (0/0)
"Zero Attack Points and zero Defense Points?" said Sam, narrowing her eyes. "Something tells me that there's more to this thing."
"It starts at zero," said the Hunter, fitting a card into his Disk. "But that's easily fixed.
"I play Foolish Burial. I'll send one Grand Tiki Elder from my deck to my Graveyard."
He took the card out of his deck, and discarded it. Sam was surprised to see that Exodius's Attack Score rose to 1,000.
"Next, up, Monster Reborn."
He played the card, and Grand Tiki Elder reappeared. Exodius fell down to zero Attack Points again.
"Next, I play Inferno Reckless Summon to summon two more Tikis."
He played a new card, and two more of the Fiends appeared. (1,500/800 x3)
"I'll summon my second Gil Garth," said Sam.
In a burst of shadow, another armored Fiend appeared on her side. (1,800/1,200)
"Too bad," said the Hunter, playing another card. "I play… Exile of the Wicked! This destroys all Fiends on the field. Fortunately, Exodios is a Spellcaster."
He played a new card, and dark tendrils snaked out from it. All three Grand Tiki Elders were dissolved into sludge. Then, to Sam's horror, so were her two Gil Garths and Opticlops.
Then she was even more horrified as Exodius rose to an Attack Score of 3,000.
"Let me explain how Exodius works," said the Rare Hunter. "His Attack Score is 1,000 for every Normal Monster that's in my Graveyard.
"In addition, each time I order him to attack, I have to discard a Monster from my hand or deck.
"And, once I've discarded all five pieces of Exodia this way… Well, it's the same as collecting all five in my hand!"
"No… way…" muttered Sam. "This was your plan all along, wasn't it?"
"Of course…" chuckled the Rare Hunter, taking a card from his hand.
"Well, I'm gonna stop it before it starts!" shouted Sam. "Go, Shadow Spell!"
One of her facedown cards lifted, and a mass of chains shot out of the sand, looping around Exodius's arms. It roared in anger and its Attack Score fell to 2,300.
"Oh, now you did it, Sam…" chuckled the Rare Hunter, taking another card. "You made it mad…
"I play a Spell Card…
"Wrath of the Forbidden One! When Exodius is on the field, this Spell undoes the effects of all cards, continuous and lingering, that were activated this round and are still in effect."
Exodius roared in rage, and broke free of the chains like they were dental floss. Sam stepped back in fear.
The Rare Hunter shook his head.
"Shouldn't have made him angry…" he said. "Anyway, as I was saying… I'll discard the Right Leg of the Forbidden One that I have right here, so that Exodius can attack your facedown Monster!
"Oh, and by the way… As any Exodia duelist knows, all the pieces of Exodia except the head are Normal Monsters."
He discarded the card in his hand, and Exodius grew to an Attack Score of 4,000. It blasted a beam of pure energy at the facedown Monster.
"Activate… Draining Shield!" shouted Sam.
Her other Trap Card flipped up, and the blast was deflected. Energy flowed into Sam.
"Now your Monster's Attack Score is added to my Life Points," she said.
"A million Life Points won't help you!" laughed the Rare Hunter. "Just in case, since I haven't Normal Summoned yet, I'll set a new Monster in Defense Mode."
He played a card, and a facedown Monster appeared.
"And I end my turn…"
(S: 11,000) - - - - - - - - - - (RH: 5,600)
Sam nervously drew a card.
Ha! she thought, looking at it. What was I worried about? That big lug is nothing compared to my Night Assailant!
"I set a new Monster in Defense Mode," she said.
A defensive Monster appeared next to her other one.
"And I end my turn…"
The Rare Hunter drew a card.
"Perfect!" he said with a laugh. "I'll pay 1,000 Life Points to play Diffusion-Wave Motion."
"Diffusion-Wave Motion?" said Mako. "Never heard of that one…"
"It can only be used with Spellcasters that are Level Seven or greater," said Yumi, as she started to sweat. "It lets them attack every Monster on the opponent's side of the field, and negates their effects."
"But…" said Mako. "Does that count as two attacks?"
"I'm afraid it does…" said Yumi.
The Rare Hunter discarded Left Leg of the Forbidden One, and Exodius grew to an Attack of 5,000. It blasted its bolt, and Night Assailant was incinerated.
Then he discarded Right Arm of the Forbidden One, and Exodius grew to 6,000. It fired its wave of energy, eradicating Sam's Winged Minion.
"Your move…" he chuckled.
(S: 11,000) - - - - - - - - - - (RH: 4,600)
Sam started to sweat heavily as she drew a card.
She set a card on her Disk, and a facedown Monster appeared.
Then she played a Spell Card, and Monster Reborn appeared in front of her. Opticlops appeared, crouching in Defense Mode. (1,800/1,700)
She gave her opponent a dirty look.
"That's all you can do, huh?" asked the Rare Hunter, drawing a card. "This is like target practice…
"Exodius, obliterate!" he shouted.
He discarded Left Arm of the Forbidden One, and Exodius grew to an Attack of 7,000. It blasted its bolt at the facedown Monster, and Sam's Bistro Butcher was atomized.
"One more attack…" said the Rare Hunter. "One more attack, and this duel is over.
"But just to be on the safe side…"
He played a card, and a ghostly mist surrounded Exodius.
"I play the Equip Spell, Mist Body. Now it can't be destroyed in battle."
Sam bowed her head. She slowly drew a card.
She looked at it.
Her eyes opened wide. She looked at another card in her hand.
She took the card she had just drawn.
"I play Enemy Controller!" she shouted. "You're moving to Defense Mode!"
She played the card, and a huge video game pad appeared in mid-air. Exodius struggled and strained as it was forced to kneel and shield itself.
"What good will that do you?" asked the Rare Hunter with a laugh. "That's exactly why I played Mist Body. With that Equip, it can't be destroyed in battle.
"And even if it could, I still have my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow. Unless you can attack with two Monsters AND destroy Mist Body this turn, I can move it right back to Attack Mode next turn."
"Life is full of wonders," said Sam taking the other card she was looking at from her hand. "I set one more card facedown…"
Another facedown card appeared.
"And now it's time for a Kaiba classic! I summon La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp!"
She played the card, and a cloud of green smoke formed in front of her. The cloud took shape, turning into the impressive form of La Jinn. He crossed his arms and let out a low chuckle. (1,800/1,000)
"And that ends my turn…"
"And this duel is over!" said the Rare Hunter, drawing a card.
"Not so fast!" shouted Sam. "Trap Card, activate! Buster Thousand!"
"Huh?" said the Rare Hunter, as her Trap Card flipped up. "Buster Thousand?"
"This Trap is all about thousands," said Sam. "First, I have to pay 1,000 Life Points. Then, all Monsters in Attack Mode that have 1,000 Attack Points or less, and all Monsters in Defense Mode that have 1,000 Defense Points or less, are destroyed."
"But…" said the Rare Hunter, with an aghast look.
"That's right," said Sam. "It doesn't hurt my two Monsters, because La Jinn has more than 1,000 Attack Points, and Opticlops has more than that many Defense Points. But Exodius is in Defense Mode, and its Defense Score is zero."
The Rare Hunter shielded himself as the Ultimate Forbidden Lord exploded into fiery debris.
"Ergh…" he shouted. "You'll pay for that…"
"Buster Thousand has another effect," said Sam. "Now we both lose 1,000 Life Points."
The Rare Hunter groaned as a flaming aura surrounded both him and Sam. Fortunately for Sam, she was prepared for it.
The Rare Hunter nervously looked at the three cards in his hand…
"Fine!" he shouted. "I'll end with this!"
A facedown card appeared behind his facedown Monster.
(S: 7,100) - - - - - - - - - - (RH: 3,600)
Sam quickly drew a card.
"I summon Malice Doll of Demise!" she shouted.
A cackling laugh echoed over the beach, and an evil-looking puppet holding a sharp axe appeared. (1,600/1,700)
"Now, Opticlops, move to Attack Mode!"
Opticlops stood up.
"I have three Monsters, Rare Hunter!" she said. "Your Scarecrow can't stop all of them! Malice Doll of Demise, attack his facedown Monster! Cleaver heaver!"
The Doll hurled its axe at the facedown card. A small creature that looked like a dollop of whipped cream with eyes and an upside-down smile above the eyes appeared on the card. (300/500)
"Ho boy…" muttered Yumi.
The axe merely bounced off the little creampuff. Sam clutched her chest in pain.
Marshmallon? she thought. Smarter than I thought…
"I… have to end my turn…" she muttered.
(S: 6,100) - - - - - - - - - - (RH: 3,600)
The Rare Hunter drew a card.
"Well, what do you know?" he said, turning it forward. "It's my favorite… Graceful Charity!"
He quickly played it.
"So I draw three cards…"
He drew three times. He frowned as he looked at them.
"Damn…" he said, under his breath. "Where is it? Gonna have to do this the hard way…"
He took two cards from his hand, and discarded them.
"I play… The Beginning of the End," he said. "Since I have at least seven Dark Monsters in my Graveyard… In fact, I have exactly seven… I can remove five of them from play to make three draws."
All three Grand Tiki Elders, Right Arm of the Forbidden One, and Left Arm of the Forbidden One fell out of his discard slot. He drew three times.
Crud, he thought, looking at them. Still not there… It must have hit the bottom of the deck when I reshuffled last time...
"Giving up on Exodia?" asked Sam.
"Not by a long shot," said the Hunter, playing another Spell Card. "My Burial From a Different Dimension sends those two limbs right back to my Graveyard."
He slipped the two cards back into his discard slot.
"Now I summon… Deep Diver!"
He played a card, and a new Monster appeared. It was a man dressed like a deep sea diver, holding a sledgehammer in his hand. (1,000/1,100)
"Eh?" said Sam.
"Deep Diver, attack her Malice Doll of Demise!"
"HUH?" shouted Sam.
Deep Diver flew at the Fiend. Malice Doll of Demise slashed with its axe, and the Aqua was blown to pieces. The Rare Hunter cringed.
"Why did I do it?" he asked. "Because, when Deep Diver is deep-sixed in battle, I get to take any Monster from my deck and place it on top."
A card slipped out of his deck, and he slipped it on the top of his deck.
"Next," he said, "I play Monster Reincarnation. I'll toss one card…"
He discarded one of his last two cards, a copy of Dark Factory of Mass Production.
"…and I get the Right Leg back."
A card slipped out of his discard slot.
"No…" said Yumi. "Exodius may be gone, but he's still trying to summon Exodia! The Monster he put on the top of his deck with Deep Diver must be the one piece he hasn't drawn or discarded yet…"
"And my other facedown card is the final piece towards that solution," said the Rare Hunter. "It's a card that no Exodia Deck should be without…"
His facedown card lifted.
"Activate Backup Soldier! Now, I get back the Left Leg, Right Arm, and Left Arm."
Three cards slipped out of his discard slot, and he took them.
"That's all for my turn," he said. "And all I'll have to do on my next turn is draw, and this duel will be mine…"
(S: 6,100) - - - - - - - - - - (RH: 3,000)
Sam started to sweat heavily again…
She drew a card.
She looked at it.
"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh," she chuckled.
"What's so funny?" demanded the Rare Hunter.
"You know…" said Sam. "I guess it's true what Yumi said… In this game, one draw changes everything!
"I sacrifice my Doll…"
Malice Doll of Demise vanished into grains of light.
"To summon Gaap the Divine Soldier!"
In a burst of darkness, the Fiend with the armored exoskeleton and huge second set of claws appeared on the field. (2,200/2,000)
"Summon all the big, scary Monsters you want!" laughed the Rare Hunter. "My Marshmallon can't be destroyed!"
"Who needs to destroy it?" asked Sam. "When Gaap is on the field, it moves all Monsters to Attack Mode."
"It does?" shouted the Rare Hunter.
It was true. Marshmallon bounced forward, and started bouncing up and down.
"Gaap," said Sam, "attack his Marshmallon!"
The Divine Soldier slashed at the little Fairy with its huge claw. The Scrap-Iron Scarecrow appeared, and Gaap's claw struck it with a clang.
"Now that you've used it," said Sam, "Opticlops, you attack!"
Opticlops charged at Marshmallon, ramming into the small cream puff. The Rare Hunter screamed.
"La Jinn," she ordered, "you attack too, and finish this!"
La Jinn took a deep breath, and blew a stream of flames at the little Fairy. The Rare Hunter screamed again.
(S: 6,100) - - - - - - - - - - (RH: 0)
"Well, just like before," said Sam, as the Monsters vanished, "your big Monster didn't make you anything but a big loser…"
The Rare Hunter fell to his knees, and started chuckling.
"What's so funny?" asked Sam.
"Oh, I'm a loser, huh?" he asked. "Well… Since Daala's attention seems to have slipped, I think I'll show you how big a loser I am…
"I think I'll crush your ship anyway!"
He lifted his hand.
"NO!" shouted Sam.
She pointed at the Rare Hunter, and a blast of frost shot from her hand. The Rare Hunter hollered.
In another second, he was frozen solid in a block of ice.
Sam started shivering. She looked at her right hand.
"Did… Did I do that?" she said, starting to shake.
"Sam, calm down…" said Yumi. "It seems… It seems you really lucked out."
"Devil's Fruit…" muttered Sam.
"Power to control ice…" said Yumi.
They looked at the Rare Hunter, who was slowly vanishing into nothing.
Mako looked at them.
"You folks are something else…" he muttered. "And he did prove what sort of a loser he was… He was a very sore loser…"
He looked out to the ship.
"Let's hope that his grip on the ship has gone away," he said. "Otherwise, we're gonna be here a long time…"
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Meanwhile, Daala actually had been watching, with Skull Knight standing by. She shook her head.
"Seems that no matter how much you improve someone's deck," she said, "if he's a poor duelist, he'll never be able to use it right…
"And it appears Sam failed to become the Queen of Games, only to become the Ice Queen… Fitting…"
She got up, and went up to a console. She started to input some codes, and a screen came up on the monitor. Some invigorating music started to play.
"Taking up video games, milady?" said Skull Knight.
"I've never been more than just a dabbler," said Daala, "but they give me inspiration at times. I was working on this little…experiment, and I think it's time to test it…
"I can create virtual constructs using fictitious people as the models as well as real ones. If all goes right, my newest duelist will be taken straight from this game…"
Skull Knight's eyes widened in fear.
"You aren't going to bring out Onaga, are you?" he asked.
Daala chuckled.
"I want someone who will give our guests a challenge, not burn all of Xanadu to the ground!" she laughed. "No… It's someone with a bit more common sense… Someone whom I believe will be an adequate challenge… So long as he's programmed right…"
Skull Knight looked at the screen.
"That's one of the hero characters," he said. "What makes you think he'll listen to you?"
Daala chuckled.
"My first choice was Lara Croft," she said, "but I decided against it… She may top the charts every year for hottest video game vixen, but you can't hide the fact that she's just Indiana Jones crossed with a Playmate.
"And as for this guy, I don't intend to tell him what to do… But given the character's background, motivations, general plotlines of the game series, along with some guidelines on how this construct is able see his surroundings, and how he perceives the current situation…
"I believe I can program him to oppose our friends, rather than help them, at least for a while."
She chuckled.
"And a little unintended help from Yumi and her friends won't hurt the situation either!"
She hit the Run command.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
In Domino, it was now half past noon.
Ironically, Daala's attack had only helped Nicholas and Olga. Their boarding school had cancelled classes for the time being, out of concern for safety. Thus, they were free to do their investigating for now.
Right now, they were in the upscale part of town, where several restaurants and theaters normally enjoyed good business. Nicholas pointed to their destination: a restaurant called The Setting Sun.
"We're going to find information at a steakhouse?" asked Olga.
"This is a… special steakhouse," said Nicholas. "It's a popular hangout for members of Yakuza, as well as being a neutral meeting ground for the underworld. You know the stories of how mobsters in America and Europe always frequented fancy restaurants and discussed things there? Well, it tends to be true everywhere, not to fuel a stereotype.
"Mobsters like to eat. They eat while planning crimes, and they eat after successfully committing crimes. If you need proof, just take a look at them when they appear on the news after they're apprehended.
"Anyway, the owner of this place has been known to sell underworld secrets, for the right price. I've spoken to him myself a few times since we moved here."
"Dealing with underworld stool pigeons?" shouted Olga. "Nicholas, if our probation officers found out…"
"Don't worry," said Nicholas. "Kato is very discreet. And it's not like he knows my real name."
"He's a stoolie, Nicholas," sighed Olga. "He can find out these things…"
They walked into the restaurant, which wasn't very crowded – which made sense, seeing as restaurants like this had most of their business in the evening. A man who looked about fifty was speaking to two younger men about something that Nicholas tried to make out, but he stopped short when he saw Nicholas.
"Hey, Joshua," said the older man, walking up to greet him. "Who's the lovely lady? Girlfriend?"
"Sister," said Nicholas. "Look, Kato… I need some info… I wondered if you knew anything about some funny money… Counterfeit yen."
Kato's cheerful expression quickly turned into a sour frown.
"I figured it was fake," he said, angrily.
"What?" said Nicholas.
Kato went over to the cash register and hit the "No Sale" key.
"About a week ago," he said, "a group of guys come in here to throw a get-out-of-jail party for one of them. Naturally, the guy wants the biggest steak we have.
"By the way, here's a tip in case you ever want to start your own gang: If a guy comes to you and says he just got out of jail and wants to join your gang, take him out to dinner. If he orders anything except steak or lobster, he's lying, and he's probably with the cops.
"Anyway, I was a little suspicious about whether these guys could pay a tab that big, so I asked to see money up front. And they showed me these 10,000 yen bills."
He held up a small stack of bills.
"I figured they were probably fake, but I couldn't prove it, so…"
"Let me see…" said Nicholas.
He took one of the bills.
"If I'm wrong, I'll have my employer reimburse you for this…"
Then he took a cigarette lighter out of his pocket and set fire to it.
It burned with a red flame.
"Yep, they're fake all right…"
He placed the burning bill in an ashtray.
"That's the last time they eat in here," growled Kato.
"Kato, did these guys mention the Usagi family?" asked Nicholas.
"Come to think of it, they did once or twice," said Kato. "In fact…
"Well, you didn't hear this from me, but they said they were going to meet up with a major player from Usagi at the Mermaid's Cups."
"Mermaid's Cups?" asked Nicholas.
"It's a bathhouse," said Kato. "I think you'll find it on the other side of town."
"Can you tell me anything else about Usagi?" asked Nicholas.
"Ahem…" said Kato, holding out his hand.
Nicholas frowned, and took out his wallet. He took out a 2,000 yen bill, and handed it to him.
"Word is it that the head of Usagi is someone named Katsu Hideo," said Kato. "He's not a very nice guy. Apparently, anyone who wants to join his group has to survive some incredibly painful initiation.
"Normally, I'd assume it had something to do with ritual scarring or tattooing, that being the standard tradition for the Yakuza. But with the Usagi, knowing how to duel is a prerequisite to joining the family. Apparently, it's how they handle inter-family issues. Clearly, Katsu himself must be a powerful duelist, but whatever strategy he uses, no-one knows…"
Nicholas made a long sigh.
"Thank you…" he said.
He and Olga walked out of the restaurant.
"So…" said Olga. "Should we check out The Mermaid's Cups?"
"Seems our only lead right now…" said Nicholas.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DISGRACEFUL CHARITY (Trap Card)
Normal Trap
Image: Marie the Fallen One's visage, with a glowing card between her claws.
Card Description: Both players add to their hands all cards that they discarded to the Graveyard this round due to card effects.
Note: "Disgraceful Charity" was first used by Yugi in the original anime episode "Clash in the Coliseum (Part Three)". Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.
0
0
0
WRATH OF THE FORBIDDEN ONE (Spell Card)
Normal Spell
Image: Exodia glowing with pure energy, with a card in the foreground being torn to shreds.
Card Description: You may activate this card when you have an "Exodius, the Ultimate Forbidden Lord" face-up on your side of the field. If the effects of any cards activated this turn remain in effect, you may negate all such effects of those cards.
Note: "Wrath of the Forbidden One" was first used by Adrian in a third season episode of "Yu-Gi-Oh GX" Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.
0
0
0
SCRAP-IRON SCARECROW (Trap Card)
Normal Trap
Image: A crude scarecrow made of scrap metal.
Card Description: Activate when your opponent declares an attack. Negate the attack of the opposing Monster. After activation, this card is not sent to the Graveyard, and is set back on the field.
Note: "Scrap-Iron Scarecrow" is a Japanese card that has not yet been released in the United States.
0
0
0
What is Daala's experiment? Well, if you recognize the name Onaga, you might be in the right neck of the woods. Coming up next, Erik puts his toy army to the test against this strange new minion, as the team plods deeper into the Sea of Infinite Tears.
It's a chapter called "Forces of Nature", coming soon…
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Name that Card!
This Fairy-Type Monster that's only available for the OCG – and which looks nothing like a Fairy – was inspired by the story of Barney and Betty Clark. Can you name it?