Chapter 12: Big Bad Boulders: Mountain Arena
As Jack stepped into the metal ring where Earth stood, the ground began to shake and shudder beneath their feet. In the blink of an eye the two were brought upward as pillars of stone raised them to ten feet above the floor below. Earth chuckled, seeing Jack quiver and almost fall off the pillar.
"Do be careful, I wouldn't want you dying before we even get to duel!" Earth snickered.
Jack growled back at him: "I won't be the one dying, you piece of…"
"Now calm down and let me explain the rules," Earth interrupted Jack. "As I said a minute ago this is the Mountain Stage or Mountain Arena if you'd rather call it that. The rules here, as with all the Stages, are different. As you know, in Duel Monsters a Duelist can have a maximum of five monsters out normally. In this duel, however, we are each limited to three of any attribute, or we can play an extra two so long as they are Earth attribute."
"With a name like Earth I wonder what his deck contains mostly," Shadow said sarcastically.
"Yeah, it sounds like a big advantage," Ryu-Hikari stated. "With limited monster Earth may be able to overwhelm Jack, who as a Zombie user has mostly Dark attribute monsters."
Earth ignored the conversations going on below Jack and himself as he continued to explain the rules. "Now, as you know from past duels, the loser dies. I'd like you to look downward at my pillar since you can't view your own." Jack noticed a series of explosive charges coiling around Earth's pillar. "The loser will have the explosives on his pillar detonate, blowing him sky high, or if that doesn't work causing him to fall to his death on one of the many rocks beneath us. The winner's pillar will lower to the ground. Any questions?"
Jack looked nonplussed and shook his head. "Let's duel, I'm tired of waiting."
Earth 8000/Jack 8000
Earth barely even looked over his hand. "I set one monster and end my turn."
Jack drew a card with a single swift motion and placed it onto his duel disk. "I play Call of the Mummy which allows me to Special Summon my Vampire Lord!" 2000/1800. A mighty pale skinned vampire in a black cape with red trim licked his lips as he hovered before Jack. "Now as my Normal Summon, I play Double Coston!" 1700/1650. Two small black ghosts floated around Vampire Lord, giggling all the while. "Now Double Coston, attack his set monster!" The ghosts flew forward and blew a blast of smoke onto the set card, revealing a Giant Rat (1400/1450) before it was obliterated.
"Destroying my Giant Rat lets me special summon a second one to the field in face up attack mode!" Earth said. 1400/1450. A gigantic blue rodent gnashed its teeth and Jack as it stood to protect Earth.
"Then I'll just slaughter this one too! Feast on it my creature of the night!" Jack commanded as his Vampire Lord set up the Rat, draining its blood.
Earth 7400/Jack 8000
"Now I can declare a type of card from your deck for you to discard as per my Vampire's effect," Jack grinned, "get rid of a monster." Earth sent a monster to his graveyard and then special summoned another Giant Rat to the field in attack mode. "Those rats sure are annoying, but eventually they will be crushed. I end my turn."
"My move," Earth declared strongly. "I play my Hammer Shot magic card!" A large mallet appeared and slammed Vampire Lord on the head, and ramming through him into the stone Jack stood on. The monster was destroyed, but the stone did not break, much to Jack's joy. "As you could guess, it destroys your monster with the highest attack points. Now I special summon The Rock Spirit by removing one of the Giant Rats in my graveyard from play!" 1700/1000. A mighty warrior made of stone wearing heavy iron armor stood resolutely beside the Giant Rat. "Now for my normal summon, I play my Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts!" 1500/1200. A horned lion roared and shook its long mane as it joined Earth's other monsters.
"Impressive, though he is Jack's opponent Earth has some skill," Ryu-Hikari said.
"I'm still not finished," Earth continued, "I play the second to last card in my hand, Gaia Power!" Gigantic holographic trees began to grow from the floor of the room, all the way to the ceiling. Woods now surrounded Jack and Earth, making the spectators below barely able to see what was occurring. "Now all my Earth monsters gain 500 attack points and lose 400 defense points!" Giant Rat w/ Gaia Power: 1900/1050, The Rock Spirit w/ Gaia Power: 2200/600, Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts w/ Gaia Power: 2000/800. "Now Gazelle, attack his Double Coston!" The lion lunged and slashed the small ghosts to shreds with its claws. "Now Giant Rat and The Rock Spirit, attack directly!" The Rat gnawed on Jack's leg while The Rock Spirit slammed him in the face with its granite fists. "End turn."
Earth 7400/Jack 3600
Jack looked unaffected despite his large life point loss. "Is that all? Then I suppose this duel will be easier for me than expected." Jack drew. "Firstly, since my Vampire Lord was destroyed by a card effect, he comes right back!" 2000/1500. A coffin now stood before Jack in the forest, and opened to reveal Vampire Lord who stepped out casually. "Sadly, my Vampire Lord arrived during the Standby Phase, too early for me to use Call of the Mummy. I still can, however, normal summon my Dark Dust Spirit by sacrificing my Vampire Lord!" 2200/1800. A tall zombie with red skin, white hair, and black horns took the place of the Vampire Lord. As it was summoned, Dark Dust Spirit opened its mouth and fired a wave of dust which destroyed all of Earth's monsters. "My Dark Dust Spirit destroys all other monsters when it is summoned, so it's quite useful when I have no monsters and you have several. Also, since your Giant Rat was destroyed by an effect rather than battle, you can't use its effect. Now Dark Dust Spirit, attack directly!" The zombie shambled over towards Earth, passing the trees from Gaia Power, and blew out a stream of dust, choking Earth's life points.
Earth 5200/Jack 3600
"Now I set one card. Sadly, my monster is a Spirit as well as a Zombie so it must return to my hand," Jack said, now with no monsters in play. "Your turn."
"My move now," Earth drew and considered for a moment before summoning his monster. "I set one monster in defense mode and turn it over to you."
Jack snorted, "Is that the best you can do? Call of the Mummy lets me Special Summon my Regenerating Mummy!" 1800/1600. Many small bandages, many of them mere shreds, begin to hover in front of Jack. They quickly began to form together into a mummy who stared blankly at the set card. "Now for my Normal Summon, I play Vampire Lady!" 1550/1550. A female vampire stood beside the mummy, licking her elegant lips as he hungered for mortal blood. "Now attack the set monster my Mummy!" The zombie lumbered forward and punched the set card with his right fist, revealing a small flying marsupial. The monster was quickly dispatched, and two more appeared to take its place.
Earth 6200/Jack 3600
"Like my Nimble Momonga (1000/100)?" Earth asked. "When one is destroyed, I gain 1000 life points and can summon more from my deck."
"Your pitiful sugar gliders are no match for my creatures of the night! Slay one my Vampire Lady!" The female vampire jumped onto the beast and began to drain its blood, but Earth ignored this as his life points climbed ever higher.
Earth 7200/Jack 3600
"Wow, Earth has double Jack's life points again," Raijouta said. "This could be difficult to overcome, even for a duelist of Jack's caliber."
"I set one card. By the way, your turn," Jack said in a disgruntled fashion to Earth, not hearing Raijouta's comment.
Earth cracked a smile upon seeing what he had drawn. "You're in for it now! I sacrifice my final Nimble Momonga in order to summon Granmarg the Rock Monarch!" 2400/1000. A gigantic monarch made of stone with brown armor dominated the field. As he landed, he smashed his mighty fist into the set card on Jack's field and destroyed it.
Earth 8200/Jack 3600
"Now, my new Monarch will show you the power of the earth and all the creatures and minerals of it! Attack his Vampire Lady!" The mighty monarch smashed the vampire asunder, tearing into Jack's life points in the process. "I end my turn with a set card."
Earth 8200/Jack 2750
Jack growled as he switched his monster into defense mode and set another monster without saying a word. He nodded at Earth as if to say, "Your turn."
"Why didn't Earth summon his Dark Dust Spirit and destroy that Monarch?" Izumi asked.
"He probably has a better card that he set, or he is saving his Dark Dust Spirit for later, just in case," Ryu-Hikari pointed out.
Earth gleefully drew a card, but played nothing. "Attack his Mummy my Monarch!" The great creature of stone rammed the zombie and destroyed it. "You can go now."
"Perfect," Jack said, looking at his card immediately after drawing. "I play Book of Life to revive my Double Coston!" 1700/1650. The two small black ghosts began to hover around Jack again, as he continued his turn. "My Book of Life also lets me remove a Nimble Momonga from the graveyard, just for the heck of it. Now, normally I would need to sacrifice two monsters for what I am about to play, but Double Coston counts as two tributes for summoning a Dark monster! So I sacrifice my Double Coston to play Despair from the Dark!" 2800/3000. A gigantic ghost engulfed the field, and took the place where Double Coston had been. This new monster dominated this scene, and cackled manically as it flexed it claws. "Now I sacrifice my other set monster to summon my second Vampire Lord!" 2000/1800. The mighty vampire again stood beside the large ghost as Jack continued his move. "I then remove him from play to special summon my Vampire Genesis!" 3000/2100. A gigantic vampire with purple skin and bat wings flapped down to the field beside Despair from the Dark. These two mighty monsters stared down at Granmarg and Earth began to shiver a bit. "Attack his Monarch my Despair from the Dark!" The giant ghost engulfed the rock monster with its body, taking it from the mortal plane to the afterlife. "Now attack directly my Vampire Genesis!" The mighty zombie flew over and rammed its fists into Earth's chest, causing him to teeter and almost fall off the pillar. "I end my turn."
Earth 4800/Jack 2750.
Earth shivered, but his fear dissipated as he drew his card. "I set one monster and end my turn."
Jack cracked a smile. "A last ditch defense? Worthless. I play my Pot of Greed to draw two new cards. Next, I summon my Master Kyonshee!" 1750/1000. A blue skinned zombie marshal-artist did a somersault in mid-air and landed beside Jack's other two monsters. "Now I discard my Dark Dust Spirit using Vampire Genesis's ability in order to resurrect my Regenerating Mummy!"
"You can't! It's a Dark monster!" Earth said while shuddering. "You are limited!"
"Wrong, you forget my Master Kyonshee, he is an Earth zombie!" Jack replied, as Regenerating Mummy (1800/1000) revived. "Now my Mummy, attack his set monster!" The Mummy ran over and punched the set monster, revealing a small rat before it was destroyed. Instantly, another monster was set on the field.
"That's my Bubonic Vermin (900/600)." Earth said. "Whenever one is flipped, I can summon another in face down defense mode."
"No matter how many times your worthless rats multiply I will crush them into the dirt!" Jack roared. "Attack my Master Kyonshee!" The zombie did a flip and delivered a kick to the next rat, destroying it, and having another take its place. "Finish off the final rat my Despair from the Dark!" The mighty zombie engulfed the rodent, and this time no new one took the field. "Direct attack my Vampire Genesis!" The Vampire again slammed his fists in Earth, and again Earth almost toppled to his death, but retained his footing.
Earth 1800/Jack 2750
"I…won't…lose…" Earth said, voice wavering, as he looked at his card. "Not what I was looking for…"
"Then DIE!" Jack's response was quick as he pointed for his zombies to finish off Earth, as they all hit him with one mighty attack.
Earth 0/Jack 2750
The explosives detonated, and Earth screamed as his pillar toppled he fell to his death, crushed by many of the broken stones that resulted. Jack's pillar lowered and he immediately headed toward the next elevator, ignoring compliments from the others.
As the elevator let them off at the next floor, the group found themselves in a room with many exotic plants growing from dirt plots in the floor. Vines hung from the ceiling, and a metal ring was present in the center. A beautiful female duelist stood in it, and quickly taking the initiative, Izumi walked into the circle.
"Nice to see you again, Hippolyta," Izumi said.
"The feeling's mutual, Izumi," Hippolyta answered. "Welcome to the spectacular Jungle Stage! And now, it's time for me to explain the rules so we can duel!"
HES: Jack was victorious, and seemed to enjoy killing Earth. If anyone finds that weird, well, Jack's just a bit sadistic to tell the truth (at least he isn't a villain, though). Now time to answer my reviews:
Tsabo-Tvoc Phyrexian-General: Thanks for the review since you are the only one who does now! I hope you enjoyed Jack's duel!
HES: Well, again I am disappointed that I only got one review. Please people, if you read, review, it takes only a minute. It makes me motivated because I write for you, the fans!
Next time on The Shadow Falls: Izumi and Hippolyta are now having a long awaited rematch! Hippolyta's strategy has gotten better, but Izumi isn't without new cards and tactics either! Which one will reign victorious? Find out next time on The Shadow Falls!