Chapter 10- A Duel between (Wo)men

Julie walked onto the platform. She looked nervous but determined. Her opponent was already waiting. Drake thought he saw a fire in Alexis Rhodes that hadn't been there before.

"Are you both ready?" said Jacobs. They nodded. "Then you may begin!"

"Duel!" they both said.

Alexis: 4000

Julie: 4000

"I'll go first!" said Julie, and drew a card. "I play Card Destruction! Now we must discard our entire hands, both of us." They both did so. "Now we draw cards equal to the number of cards that we discarded!" Julie refreshed her hand with five cards, as did Alexis. Suddenly, two monsters appeared on Julie's side of the field.

"Wait- how'd you get those?" asked Alexis, bewildered.

"Their special abilities! Meet Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World (Dark/Fiend/Effect, 2300/1400) and Sillva, Warlord of Dark World (Dark/Fiend/Effect, 2300/1400). And, another of the cards I discarded was Broww, Huntsman of Dark World, so I get another card." She drew another card.

"A Dark World deck?" said Drake. "Didn't see that one coming."

"Ah, but you must expect the unexpected." Matt said. "That is a key part of Duel Monsters."

"Good point."

"And now, I think I'll summon my Dark Blade (Dark/Warrior, 1800/1600) in attack mode, place a card face-down, and end my turn." Julie said.

"Here I go." Alexis drew a card. "I summon my Cyber Gymnast (Earth/Warrior/Effect, 800/1800) in defense mode. Now, I'll discard a card to destroy and Sillva!"

"Ouch, that sucks." Drake said.

"Now, I'll play Monster Reborn, and bring back Cyber Tutu (Earth/Warrior/Effect, 1000/800) in attack mode. Now, because all of your monsters are stronger than her, she gets to pull a pirouette on your face. Cyber Tutu, attack her directly!"

Alexis: 4000

Julie: 3000

"I'll place a face-down card and end my turn."

"Okay. Not bad. I draw…" she checked the card. "And play Mystical Space Typhoon. Now I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field. So, I'll zap your face-down…" Alexis' face-down card, Doble Passe, was destroyed. "Now, since you have so little to defend yourself with, Dark Blade, destroy that Tutu!"

Alexis: 3200

Julie: 3000

"Goldd, destroy the Gymnast! Now that that is done, I'm done as well."

"Fine!" Alexis drew a card. "First I activate Pot of Greed! Then I activate Polymerization! I'll use it to fuse Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater to form my Cyber Blader (Earth/Warrior/Fusion/Effect, 2100/800) in attack mode!"

"So? She's still weaker than my best, Goldd."

"Right now she is, but not after her effect kicks in and doubles her attack points to 4200!"

"Rats."

"Cyber Blader, destroy the Wu-Lord!"

Alexis: 3200

Julie: 1100

"Now that he's gone, I'll set a card and end my turn."

"Yes, and now that he's gone, the attack boost goes away, too." Keith said.

"Yeah, doesn't Blader's effect change depending on the number of monsters on the opponent's side of the field?" Drake asked.

"Correct." Said Flynn. "Now that Goldd has left the field, Cyber Blader's effect changes, and her attack points drop down to 2100."

"My turn!" said Julie. "I draw, then sacrifice my Dark Blade for another Sillva! Sillva, destroy the Cyber Blader!"

Alexis: 3000

Julie: 1100

"Your turn."

"I draw, and I should win with this!" said Alexis. "I activate Re-Fusion!"

"No!" said Flynn. "That brings back Blader… but to what avail?"

"Now I activate my face-down card, Fusion Weapon, which gives a level 6 or lower fusion monster an extra 1500 attack points, just enough to wipe you out! Cyber Blader, destroy Silva and end the duel!"

Alexis: 3000

Julie: 0

Cheers erupted from the crowd as the hometown duelist won. Julie, looking depressed, walked off the stage. Matt confronted her at the bottom of the stairs.

"You did fine, Julie. You have nothing to be ashamed of." He said. She looked up into his uncovered eye, seemingly shocked that he was offering her such kind words.

"Uh… thank you, I guess." She said.

"And with that, the second duel is over!" said Shepherd from the stage. "And now the schools are all tied up again! The next duel will be Keith Natran vs. Bastian Misawa!"