Chapter 13: Amazon Ambush: Jungle Arena
"Isn't it just astounding?" Hippolyta sighed as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "And to think, most of our idiotic race is depreciating the beautiful rainforests of the world."
"While I agree with your environmental sentiment," Izumi began, "let's start the duel, there are lives to save."
Hippolyta laughed. "Rushing headlong into your death eh?"
"If I recall, last time we dueled, I won," Izumi replied coolly.
"That was before I added some more punch to my deck," Hippolyta continued. "Anyway, I should begin to explain the rules. This is the Jungle Arena, or Jungle Stage, either name is correct and you have probably heard that before so I assume you don't care much by now, but it's a formality." Hippolyta giggled a bit before continuing her speech. "This Arena, as you can guess, has different rules than the others did. Here, because of the dense foliage, many monsters have a difficult time navigating effectively. With the exception of Warriors and Beasts, whenever an attack is declared, a coin is flipped, and if it isn't called by the duelist declaring the attack, said attack is negated."
"As your deck is full of Amazoness monsters, only I will be affected by this rule," Izumi muttered harshly. "Though considering the effects of the previous Stages, they are all rigged in our opponents' favor, but each time our group has triumphed."
Hippolyta shook her head, "Izumi, you must understand that Storm, Earth and Fire were some of the most cocky and overconfident duelists in the entire world! They were skilled, yes, but I knew your friends were more skilled, and I'm glad they were so I can have the pleasure of taking you all out."
"As I said, our record stands at one win for me, and no wins for you," Izumi replied calmly.
Hippolyta again shook her head, "You obviously weren't paying attention when I said that my deck has been modified." It was now Izumi's turn to shake her head.
"And you think my deck hasn't been? Enough talk, let's duel!" Izumi answered.
"Wait a second! I have to explain what happens to the loser!" Hippolyta answered raising her hand as if to say "stop" to Izumi. "If you notice, we are each standing inside this metal ring, and there is a divider for each half. The loser's half will recede, dropping them into a vat of acid below. The jungle is beautiful, but also very deadly. Now, time to duel!"
Hippolyta 8000/Izumi 8000
"I will start with my Amazoness Fighter in attack mode!" 1500/1300. The muscular Amazon wearing a blue bikini stood before Hippolyta in the jungle and flexed her muscles. "I set one card and end my turn there."
Izumi drew with a flourish and elegantly placed two cards on her duel disk. "First I play Harpie's Hunting Ground!" Deciduous trees grew and mingled with the already present tropical species. "Now I summon my Cyber Harpie Lady!" 1800/1300. A Harpie Lady wearing an iron breastplate swooped downward and slashed apart Hippolyta's set card. "That's the first effect of my Hunting Ground; whenever I summon a Harpie Lady, I can destroy a spell or trap card on the field. The second effect raises the attack and defense of all Winged Beast monsters by 200!" As the Cyber Harpie Lady landed on a tree branch, she began to grow larger (2000/1500). "Now attack her Amazoness Fighter!" The Harpie dived at the Amazoness, and raised her talon. As she did so, a giant virtual coin appeared above her head. "Tails!" Izumi called as the coin turned, and came up tails. The Harpie continued her assault, destroying the Amazoness.
"As you know, I don't take damage when my Amazoness Fighter is destroyed," Hippolyta smiled. "Good effort, though."
"I end my turn," Izumi said.
"My move," Hippolyta took a moment to study her hand before deciding on a move. "I summon my Amazoness Swordswoman!" 1500/1600. An Amazon dressed similarly to the first stood in the jungle, though she held a sword in her hands. "I then equip her with Shooting Star Bow-Ceal!" A large bow appeared in the hands of the Amazon as she sheathed her sword and her attack points dropped to 500. "She may lose 1000 attack points, but now she can attack you directly!" The Amazoness Swordswoman fired a shimmering arrow that pierced Izumi's chest, resulting in a cry of pain. "And with that I end my turn."
Hippolyta 8000/Izumi 7500
"You call that damage?" Izumi giggled somewhat before adopting a stern face and drawing a card. "I know I take damage depending on how much damage I deal your Swordswoman, so luckily I have a backup plan. Firstly, I summon my Harpie Lady 1!" 1300/1400. An unarmored Harpie Lady flew down to the field, but not before slashing the Shooting Star Bow-Ceal to ribbons. She then landed beside the Cyber Harpie Lady. "Not only do I get to destroy your equip card and increase the attack of your Amazoness Swordswoman back to 1500, but also the attack of all my Wind monsters increases by 300 as a result of my Harpie Lady 1!" Harpie Lady 1 w/ her effect and Harpie Hunting Ground: 1800/1600, Cyber Harpie Lady w/ the effect of Harpie Lady 1 and Harpie Hunting Ground: 2300/1500. "Now Harpie Lady 1, attack her Swordswoman!" The winged beast did as she was bid, with the coin flipping and again Izumi calling it correctly as tails, and clawed the Amazoness Swordswoman, who at the last minute threw her sword dealing 300 points of damage to Izumi. "Now attack directly my Cyber Harpie Lady!" Hippolyta was slashed by the Cyber Harpie Lady after another correct coin call, this time of heads, by Izumi, and screamed as her life points dropped.
Hippolyta 5700/Izumi 7200
"Excellent work, Izumi!" Raijouta cheered.
"That Hippolyta seems like she is all talk," Jack pointed out. "Her strategies seem rather trite and ineffective, losing her many life points. Unless she has an ulterior strategy like an Exodia or Destiny Board deck, which judging by its composition so far is unlikely."
"Remember, never be too sure of anything," Ryu-Hikari reminded the others as he had during past duels.
"He has a point," Shadow talked to the surprise of the others. "There is a 50 chance each of Izumi's attacks will fail, and she has called every single attack correctly so far. Statistically, that can't last forever."
Hippolyta ignored the talk of the others and started her own turn. "I summon my Amazon Archer!" 1400/1200. A younger Amazon with a vest, skirt, and a bow kneeled and notched an arrow as she was summoned. "Next I play my Scapegoat magic card!" Four small (0/0) Goat Tokens hovered wearily alongside the Amazon Archer. "Now I sacrifice all four to deal 2400 points of damage to you!" The Goats all floated into the Amazon Archer's quiver and turned into arrows. She fired two brightly colored arrows which his Izumi. "Now, before my turn ends, I play my Amazoness Spellcaster spell card!" An Amazon mystic appeared and began chanting in an ancient language as she switched the attack points of Amazon Archer and Cyber Harpie Lady. "Now my Amazon Archer has 2300 attack points while your Cyber Harpie Lady only has 1400! Attack Amazon Archer!" The Amazon fired an arrow which hit the Cyber Harpie Lady in the skull, slaying her instantly. "I set one card. With that I end my turn." As she did so, the Amazon Archer's attack points returned to 1400.
Hippolyta 5700/Izumi 3900
"That's a hard hit," Izumi said, "you have gotten better, but it won't be enough to beat me again! I play my Elegant Egotist to Special Summon my Harpie Lady Sisters!" 1950/2100 (2450/2300 w/ Harpie's Hunting Ground and effect of Harpie Lady 1). Three Harpie Ladies wearing metal breastplates flew through the jungle. "Now I normal summon my Harpie Lady!" 1300/1400 (1800/1600 w/ the effect of Harpie's Hunting Ground and Harpie Lady 1). A normal Harpie Lady stood beside her sisters on a tree branch and glared at Hippolyta. "Attack her Amazon Archer my Harpie Lady!" The Harpie flew down as the coin flipped, with Izumi calling "heads" only for the coin to land on tails! The Harpie Lady was blocked by dense foliage and was unable to hit the Amazon. "Oh well, it had to happen eventually, Harpie Lady 1 attack instead!" This time, Izumi called the coin correctly as "heads" and the Amazon Archer was destroyed. "Now attack directly my Sisters!" The three sisters flew at Hippolyta, but again Izumi guessed incorrectly as a wall of leaves blocked them. "I guess I end my turn."
Hippolyta 5300/Izumi 3900
"Finally you start making wrong calls!" Hippolyta cheered. "Now's the time for me to strike back! I flip my set Ultimate Offering and pay 2000 life points to special summon four monsters! So go Amazoness Paladin (1700/300, gives +100 attack points to all other Amazoness Monsters), Amazoness Fighter (1600/1300), Amazoness Swordswoman (1600/1600), and Amazoness Chain Master (1600/1300)!" Four Amazons, one with a veil and sword, one with clenched fists ready to strike, one with a long sword, and one with a long chain appeared. "Now as my Normal Summon I call on my Amazoness Tiger!" 1100/1500. A gigantic reddish-orange tiger stalked the jungle beside the Amazons and let out a growl. As he passed each, they began to pet him and he grew larger, increasing his attack points to 2800 (1100+100+4(400)). "My Tiger gains 400 attack points for each of my other Amazoness Monsters, plus 100 for the effect of Amazoness Paladin. Now I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Harpie's Hunting Ground and weaken all of your monsters by 200 points!" The deciduous trees began to fall as lightning struck them. "Now Amazoness Paladin, kill Harpie Lady 1!" The Amazoness began to pray before swinging her sword and slashing off the Harpie's wings and weakening the others. "Now my Tiger, attack her Sisters!" The Tiger pounced on the three Harpies and ripped them to shreds. "Now my Fighter, defeat her Harpie Lady!" The final Harpie was pummeled to the ground by the muscular Amazoness. "Now Swordswoman and Chain Master, attack directly!" As the two monsters sped towards her, Izumi flipped a set card.
"Go Nutrient Z!" A gigantic pill emerged and gave Izumi 4000 life points before she took the hit.
"Lucky move," Hippolyta muttered. "Without that card, you would be swimming in acid. I end my turn."
Hippolyta 3300/Izumi 3450
"It's over," was all Izumi needed to say upon seeing what she had drawn. "Hippolyta, I respect you, your skills are superb, your dueling strategy is nearly flawless. I wish we could have been friends, and I didn't have to end your life." Izumi let out one, long sigh. "I play Lightning Vortex and discard a Harpie Lady to destroy all your monsters." A blast of lightning engulfed the Amazons, turning them to heaps of charred flesh on the jungle floor.
"So what if I am wide open?" Hippolyta laughed. "You only have two cards left in your hand!"
"It's enough; I play Hayabusa Knight and equip him with Malevolent Nuzzler!" 1000/700 (1700/700 with Malevolent Nuzzler). A knight with the head of a falcon and holding a rapier stood facing Hippolyta. He elegantly swung his sword as a woman with green skin appeared and began to massage his shoulders. "His ability lets him attack twice, which will deal 3400 points of damage! So attack!"
Hippolyta again laughed. "Remember, you still need to guess both coin flips correctly."
"Tails, then heads." Is all Izumi said, as her predictions came true, and Hippolyta felt the slashes of the Hayabusa Knight before plunging into the acid below.
Hippolyta 0/Izumi 3450
Izumi walked toward her friends, sobbing as he she did after the holograms disappeared and Hippolyta's screams of pain died away. She threw her head on Raijouta's shoulder and continued to wail, as he and the others tried to reassure her things would be all right and that it was necessary.
Shadow, only wanting to continue his mission, was already standing at the elevator and motioned for the others to come. After several minutes, they joined him and headed to the next floor.
Upon entering the next room, the group looked around at strange ways of lighting, with lamps illuminating some areas while others were left in pure darkness. Strange symbols were painted on illuminated parts of the walls, and odd runes glowed on different parts of the floor. In the center of the room, only half illuminated, was a metal ring as with the other Arenas. Their opponent, however, was standing in the darkened half of the ring.
"Who dares challenge me in this Shifting Arena?" A voice cut through the darkness.
The group looked around. "Tell us your name first," Shadow demanded.
"Zho Deseir."
HES: Hippolyta has been defeated, and the enigmatic Zho is the next opponent. The story is almost at its climax! Thanks to all my readers! I'm not going to answer reviews for two reasons: A. It is depressing to answer only one. B. This chapter is already behind schedule for being released and I don't want to delay it any more! Thanks for reading, though!
Next time on The Shadow Falls: Zho, once hailed as the world's best duelist, with a deck full of powerful cards that no one in this generation has seen before, takes the field. What secret cards does he hold? And who will be brave, or foolhardy, enough to answer his challenge? Find out next time on The Shadow Falls!