A small note:
In this chapter, a duelist uses two copies of a card that, as of the last Forbidden/Limited list, is Limited.
The outline for this chapter was written before I knew about this. Anyway, in a reality where Pot of Greed and Monster Reborn are legal, it isn't much of a stretch for this card to be Semi-Limited or not Limited at all. Besides, cards come on and off the list with increasing frequency. So no one bring it up if you notice it.
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CHAPTER TWO
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The First Duel!
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Princess of Games!
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Dreams are fickle things. They come and go, and they are fleeting in our waking hours…
For the dreamers that night, everyone in Duelatopia who dreamed them dreamed of glory. Visions from their fantasies played out in their heads.
In a hotel down the street, Samantha Arachne dreamed of wandering through the dark caves of the Underworld, clothed in a dark dress and a golden crown. Vicious demons crawled from the shadows; she pointed, and they all fell on their knees before her…
In the adjoining room, Erik Matell dreamed of the French Revolution. Cannons blasted, muskets blazed… Soldiers marched to battle…
Chelsea Ramset dreamed herself in a creepy castle, dressed in an Elizabethan era dress. She held a mallet in one hand and a wooden stake in the other… A golden cross was around her neck, and a garlic chain was tied to her belt. She looked around nervously at the shadows…
Ren Marris dreamed of flying, but not via his own power. He dreamt he rode a winged dragon as a mount, soaring over the countryside. He felt the wind in his face, and the rush of air around him…
And as for Yumi…
She dreamed herself in the days of ancient Egypt, witnessing the original contests that had inspired Duel Monsters.
All seemed to be quiet…
And it was for now…
In another hotel on the strip, in the penthouse suite (available only by special request, and not for free), one man didn't dream. He couldn't, because he did not sleep. A side effect of something he had been doing to himself for years.
He hated doing it, because the unnatural insomnia made him bitter and cold. He could be friendly and courteous to others if he wanted to be, but it would always be an act. He wanted to stop doing what he did to himself, and if his plans worked, he could. Then he'd be free to sleep again… And he could freely dream…
As he looked out onto the island, two teenagers, one boy and one girl, stood behind him. They were still able to sleep, and they would shortly. But a few last-minute details had to be discussed first.
"Is everyone out there?" asked the man, turning towards them.
"Uh huh," said the boy. "Everyone's ready to start looking. It's gonna be just like a big scavenger hunt."
"Mmm…" said the man, rubbing his chin. "But to start a scavenger hunt, one needs a list… And finding one before our 'friends' do will be the first step."
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It was six-thirty AM the next day, the first day of the competition.
In the very center of Duelatopia, not far from each other, were two huge buildings. Both were off limits to guests – one would open its doors eventually, but the other was for staff only.
The one that would open was the grand Coliseum where the finals would be held. A small army of Centurions patrolled the outskirts, making sure that its secrets remained hidden for now.
But even more of these soldiers patrolled the other building, which no guest would ever enter. The enormous holographic projection tower, the power source for every duel that would take place on the island, loomed over the skyline.
Inside, amid monitors and mainframes walked a woman who looked to be in her early forties. Dr. Cassandra Chang, D.Eng (Doctor of Engineering) had been with Duelatopia from day one, and had no intention of slowing down just yet. She had been here since four AM, and was going to make certain that the Tower started transmitting at seven.
Not one second later. Come Hell or high water.
A technician came up to her.
"That was the last dry run," he said. "We're all set to go. There's no chance of an error."
"There's always some chance…" replied Chang. "A wise man once said, the only absolute in life is that there are no absolutes."
"Okay…" said the technician, nervously. "There's about a 0.01 chance of an error."
Chang looked at the clock, which read six thirty-three and forty seconds.
She typed something into the mainframe, and took a key from around her neck. She fit the key into a slot.
When the clock ticked to six thirty-four, she turned the key, and the numbers 26:00:00 appeared on the screen.
A countdown began, right down to the tenths of the seconds…
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Ren yawned.
"I know you wanted to get an early start, Yumi…" he said, as he looked over the outdoor café that was in front of the hotel, "but this is pretty early…"
Yumi sipped her orange juice.
"It's in my blood, I guess," she said. "In Battle City, grandpa's duel with that cheating Rare Hunter was the first duel of the tournament. It was quite a duel… See…"
"We saw the tape, Yumi," chuckled Chelsea. "Your grandpa was quite the duelist. I guess that whole Heart of the Cards thing wasn't just fluff…"
Yumi sighed. She took out her deck.
"I dunno, guys…" she said. "I don't share his sentiments exactly on that point… I mean, faith is a good part of it, sure…
"But there are other factors as well… Skill, strategy, smarts, good deck construction… Knowing what card to use at what time… And a little luck never hurt anyway."
She looked at Dark Magician Girl again.
"And my dad always told me to remember a key rule about dueling… It's never over until the last card is played! In other words, don't give up.
"You know, sometimes I've considered adding a second Dark Magician to this deck to increase her potential… But… It isn't her powers that make me want to keep her… It's something deeper.
"You ever get so close to a card that it stands out? Something that makes you favor it among all others?"
"Well…" said Ren, looking at his own deck, "right now, it's hard to say…"
"Howdy folks," said a voice.
They looked up, and saw that the greeting had come from a young man, about nineteen or so. He was dressed in a leather duster and jeans, and a white cowboy hat. A Duel Disk was on his arm.
"You're Yumi Mouto, right?" he asked, tipping his hat.
"I am, and you are?" she replied.
"Hector Dupree," he replied. "Call me Heck, everyone does. And ah must say, as far as your family is concerned, ah'm a big fan."
He sat down.
"Really?" said Yumi. "So the Moutos are well known even in Texas…"
"Montana, actually," said Heck. "Ah gotta tell ya, in that place, when you mind cattle for your folks, bein' a duelist is hard. Not many places to get cards, and even fewer places to compete. But look at me, ah was able to win what tournaments ah got into. Won last year in Kaibaland Seattle's West Coast Tournament."
Yumi smirked a little. She had never been to Kaibaland Seattle, but she knew about it. Until it opened five years ago, Seattle was known for two things – Starbucks and the Space Needle. The new addition was quite welcome.
"I guess you need something to do when you have to watch a group of cows," replied Yumi.
"Herd," corrected Heck.
"What?" asked Yumi.
"It's herd," said Heck. "Herd of cows."
"Well, sure I've heard of cows!" laughed Yumi. "Hasn't everyone?"
Ren and Chelsea laughed.
"Eh, ah walked right into that one…" muttered Heck.
He looked at her.
"You are feisty…" he said. "Ah gotta wonder if you're as good as your folks were…"
"Is that a challenge?" asked Yumi, with a sinister grin.
Heck sighed.
He took off his glove and then tapped Yumi on the cheek with it.
"You're on!" she said with a laugh. "Let it be known that it is now ten minutes to seven…"
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As the clock slowly inched towards seven, Yumi and Heck stood with their backs to each other, shuffling.
"So, what sort of deck does a cowboy use?" asked Ren.
"Dunno…" muttered Chelsea. "Beasts? Frankly, I have no clue…"
Yumi and Heck stared at each other…
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In the Tower, the countdown read 01:02:43.
Then 00:32:19…
Finally, it hit 00:00:00, and the zeroes turned blue.
"Holographic projection tower operational," said a computerized voice. "Now transmitting."
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Yumi and Heck loaded their decks into their Disks, and with a whir, the crescent trays extended.
"Game on!" they both said at once.
The Puzzle around Yumi neck started to glow, and in a blinding flash of light, a change started to occur… After a few seconds, she had grown about half a head, and appeared a little older, with sharper features, longer, fuller hair, and a more serious expression.
"All right…" she said, in a deeper, huskier voice. "I'll let you make the first move. I wouldn't want to hog the spotlight, after all…"
(Yumi: 8,000) -------------------- (Heck: 8,000)
"All right, little lady…" said Heck, drawing his first card. "Let's see what we have here…"
He looked over the cards in his hand.
"Think ah'll place this in Defense Mode, and that will be my turn for now."
He placed a card on his Disk, and a hidden Monster appeared.
Yumi drew one card, and looked over her own hand.
Not the worst… she thought. But not the best either… But I can fix that…
She chose a card from her hand.
"I play my Graceful Charity," she said, playing the card.
In an aura of light, a lovely angel appeared above her. Her feathers fell on Yumi's deck, and she drew three cards.
Yumi looked over the eight cards in her hand. Then she discarded two of them.
"I summon my Magician's Valkyria in Attack Mode," she said.
In a flash of light, a tall, female figure appeared. She looked like Dark Magician Girl at first glance, but was brunette instead of blonde, and had a fancier dress, hat, and scepter.
She looked at Heck, and her eyes narrowed… (1,600/1,800)
"Valkyria, attack!" she shouted. "Light beam blast!"
Valkyria gave a stern look and cast an eldritch spell. She shot a blast of pure light at the facedown card…
A young man in a white toga with feathered wings appeared crouching on the card. He was blown to pixilated remains.
"Uh oh…" muttered Ren.
"Heh…" said Heck, taking his deck. "Thanks a bunch, Yumi. When Shining Angel bites the dust in a battle, ah get to bring out any Light Monster from my deck that ah want, so long as it has 1,500 Attack Points or less."
He looked through his deck.
"Now let's see… ah think Y-Dragon Head should do…"
He placed a card on his Disk, and a red, shiny Machine that looked like a dragon with large wings and a beak materialized in a flash of light. (1,500/1,600)
"Terrific…" said Ren. "I think now we know what kind of deck he's playing…"
Yumi looked at her cards.
She fit a card into her Disk, and a facedown card appeared.
"That's all I can do," she said. "It's your move…"
Heck drew a card.
"First, ah'll play a Spell Card," he said. "It's called Frontline Base…"
He played a card, showing the image of a dark knight riding a flying dragon.
"Don't you have one of those in your deck?" asked Chelsea.
"Yeah…" answered Ren. "It's a Continuous Spell that will let him Special Summon a low-level Union Monster from his hand every round. And now I'm really sure I know how his deck works…"
"Now another Spell Card," continued Heck, placing another card in his Disk. "Soul Absorption. This neat accessory gives me five Cs worth of Life Points every time a card is removed from play. And with my deck, that happens rather often.
"Next, I summon X-Head Cannon…"
He played a card, and a blue robot with a helmet-like head, clawed arms, twin lasers on its shoulders, and no legs materialized. (1,800/1,500)
"And finally, thanks to Frontline Base, I can summon Z-Metal Tank."
A third Machine materialized, this one a yellow caterpillar tank with one optic lens, thick treads, and no arms. (1,500/1,300)
"And now…" he said with a grin, "ah'll bring them all together!"
Y-Dragon Head folded its wings and fused to the top of Z-Metal Tank with a whir and a clank. Then X-Head Cannon changed shape and bonded to the top of both of them, shooting steam from where they connected.
"Forming the XYZ-Dragon Cannon," he said.
(2,800/2,600)
Yumi stepped back nervously… Magician's Valkyria looked a little nervous as well.
Then three globes of golden light flew into Heck, and he glowed.
"And since ah removed three cards from play to summon it," he said, "ah get a boost from Soul Absorption."
He held up another card. It was a Sangan.
"And its ability is pretty nifty too," he continued. "Ah just gotta ditch one card and ah can send one card on the field packing."
He discarded the Sangan, and Magician's Valkyria was blasted into bits.
"You're wide open!" he shouted. "XYZ, attack her directly! De-fission lasers!"
The Machine aimed its guns…
"Watch out Yumi!" screamed Ren and Chelsea.
With a roar, the Machine blasted its cannons. Yumi shielded herself and grit her teeth as an explosion ripped through her…
(Y: 5,200) -------------------- (H: 9,500)
"Good lord!" shouted Ren.
"She just got nailed!" shouted Chelsea.
Yumi gasped for breath and staggered a bit…
"Gee, Yumi…" said Heck, "ah'm kinda disappointed… ah'm guessing that the apple sorta fell pretty far from the tree this time, if you know what ah mean…"
"Oh, don't worry…" said Yumi, with a grin. "I think I'm just about ready to get my second wind…
"And as my grandpa used to say… When I see a powerful Monster… I get excited…"
She drew a card.
She looked over the ones in her hand.
This might work… she thought, but it's going to take a lot of luck and perfect timing…
And I think I might know what he'll likely do next…
She took Blast Magician from her hand.
"I set one Monster in Defense Mode, and toss one card facedown," she said.
The facedown Monster appeared, and a facedown cards appeared next to the first.
"End turn…" she said.
Heck drew a card. He looked at it.
"Ah play… Pot of Greed…" he said.
He played the card, and the jar appeared in front of him.
He drew two cards.
"Next, ah play D.D. Treasure."
He played a Spell Card, bearing the image of D.D. Warrior Lady opening a chest with a golden glow illuminating her face.
"And what does that do?" asked Yumi.
"Ah gotta play this during my Standby Phase," he answered. "But at my End Phase, ah get to draw one card for each of my cards that ah removed from play this turn. So long as they were on the field when they were removed.
"Ready for more? Well, ah got more. Ah summon V-Tiger Jet."
He played the card, and a Machine that looked like a cross between a jet plane and a robotic tiger appeared in a flash. (1,600/1,800)
"And now, thanks to Frontline Base, ah can summon W-Wing Catapult!"
He played his last card, and a blue, double-engine jet plane appeared. (1,300/1,500)
"He has the whole set!" exclaimed Ren.
"And now…" said Heck, "ah bring them together…"
V-Tiger Jet and W-Wing Catapult soared into the sky and combined in a flash of light, fusing into a larger Machine that was a combination of both.
"Meet my VW-Tiger Catapult," he continued. (2,000/2,100)
"And now… Let's take it even higher… The sky's the limit!"
The two Machines in front of him burst into their component pieces…
Slowly, they all started to fuse together into a new shape…
…taking form into a giant, thirty-foot-tall robot that looked like a combination of all five Machines. It had weapons all over its thick, multicolored armor, and a grim expression on its face.
"It's the VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon! The V-through-Z!"
(3,000/2,800)
"Impressed?"
"Frankly, no…" replied Yumi. "Where I come from, you really can't turn on the TV or go to the movies without seeing a giant robot mecha every now and then… We pretty much invented the concept."
Four more orbs of energy flew into Heck.
"Funny…" he said. "Don't forget, I removed four more cards from play to create it, so I get two more Gs from Soul Absorption."
(Yumi: 5,200) -------------------- (Heck: 11,500)
"Good grief!" shouted Chelsea. "As if he needed any more Life Points?"
"I think Yumi's got bigger problems," said Ren, nervously.
"Ah'm about to get 500 more," said Heck. "Because now, due to one of V-to-Z's effects, it can remove one of your cards from play."
Yumi's facedown Monster vanished.
"And now…" commanded Heck, "attack Yumi directly!"
VWXYZ's weapons glowed.
"Hold it right there!" shouted Yumi.
One of her facedown cards lifted. It showed the image of a dark hero with a demonic mask flying out of a portal.
"Huh? A Trap?" said Heck, startled. "What is it?"
"It's called A Hero Emerges," said Yumi. "Now you have to choose a card from my hand. If it's a Spell or Trap, it goes to the Graveyard. But if it's a Monster, I get to Special Summon it right now."
She held up her hand of cards, which currently consisted of three cards.
"All right, all right…" muttered Heck. "Far left…"
"Well…" said Yumi, taking the card. "You chose the main man himself!"
She placed the card on her Disk, and Dark Magician appeared, kneeling in Defense Mode. (2,500/2,100)
"Heh, heh…" chuckled Heck. "Your family's signature Monster, huh? Well, you saved yourself some Life Points, but not all… Because my Cannon can switch the battle position of the Monster it attacks. So ah'll switch your Magician to Attack Mode."
Dark Magician stood up…
A grin appeared on his face, and Yumi grinned wickedly.
The Cannon prepared to fire…
"That's just what I wanted you to do, Heck," she said, as her other facedown card lifted. "Activate… Rush Recklessly!
"It gives 700 Attack Points to one Monster on the field, and I think I'll give them to Dark Magician!"
Dark Magician glowed, and his Attack Score rose to 3,200…
The Cannon fired, and Dark Magician swatted the beam aside with his staff. The VWYZ Dragon Catapult Cannon sparked and explosions erupted all over its hull. Finally, it collapsed, and exploded into a burst of hot debris.
Heck shielded himself from the fiery scrap…
"Well, dagnabbit…" he said.
(Y: 5,200) -------------------- (H: 11,800)
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Among the spectators who had gathered to watch, a figure was taking notes.
So… thought the figure, the apple hasn't fallen too far after all…
I was wondering when Dark Magician would show up…
The figure looked at the two names that were already written on the notebook:
Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and Beta the Magnet Warrior.
The figure smirked as Dark Magician was written under then. That guy was pretty obvious…
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Dark Magician glared at Heck…
"Well, ain't that a fine how'd you do…" muttered Heck. "Anyway, my D.D. Treasure activates now… Since ah removed four cards from play that round, ah get four draws…"
He drew four cards.
"Which means your turn is over," said Yumi, "so it's my move…"
She drew a card.
"First, I summon Skilled Dark Magician," she said, playing a card.
In a shadowy aura, a Spellcaster in a bulky black robe and a flat-topped skullcap, with three disks on his collar, holding a staff appeared. (1,900/1,700)
"Next…" she continued, "I play the Spell Card, Dedication Through Light And Darkness."
She played the card, and dark tendrils emerged from it, enveloping Dark Magician.
"It lets me sacrifice my Dark Magician for someone better… the Dark Magician of Chaos!"
In a flash, the powerful chaos mage stepped out of the shadows. (2,800/2,600)
"And just by summoning him," she continued, "I get to reclaim one Spell Card from my Graveyard."
A card slipped out of her discard slot. She looked at it for a minute.
"And then…" she said, taking her last card, "I'll play Monster Reborn, to bring back an old friend…"
She played the card, and the glowing ankh appeared. Dark Magician appeared on it. (2,500/2,100)
Heck gulped.
Yumi grinned.
"Skilled Dark Magician…" she said, "you're up first. Attack directly!"
Skilled Dark Magician cast a powerful spell, and Heck staggered back as it hit him.
"Dark Magician of Chaos, scepter strike!"
The stronger mage spun his staff, and fired a more lethal spell, and Heck howled.
"Dark Magician… dark… magic… attack!"
Dark Magician cast his powerful incantation, and Heck fell on one knee. His hat fell off his head.
(Y: 5,200) -------------------- (H: 4,600)
"Whoa, that was intense!" shouted Chelsea.
"After an assault like that," said Ren, "I'd wager his ten-gallon hat is feeling five gallons flat."
"The apple fell far from the tree, huh?" asked Yumi.
Heck panted for breath.
He chuckled, and picked up his hat.
"Okay…" he muttered, putting it back on. "Guess you are pretty good… Well, ah like a challenge ah can sink my teeth into. No pain, no gain, ah always say…"
"Well, I'll place this facedown, and end my turn," said Yumi, fitting her card into her Disk.
Heck drew a card.
"That's Rush Recklessly again, right?" he asked. "Ah ain't dumb, Yumi…"
Yumi just glared at him.
He looked at what he had drawn.
"Okey-dokey…" he said. "Ah play this… Dimension Fusion. It might cost me two Gs, but now ah can bring back a bunch of Monsters that were removed from play."
He played the card, and in five bursts of light, X-Head Cannon (1,800/1,500), Y-Dragon Head (1,500/1,600), Z-Metal Tank (1500/1,300), V-Tiger Jet (1,600/1,800), and W-Wing Catapult (1,300/1,500) reappeared.
"You're forgetting," said Yumi, "I also get to summon anything of mine that's been removed from play. So I summon Blast Magician in Defense Mode."
A mage in fiery red robes holding a scythe-like staff appeared. He crouched in defense. (1,400/1,700)
"Fine," said Heck. "Now I'll remove them from play to summon the bigger Machines again…"
The Machines combined, forming a second XYZ-Dragon Cannon (2,800/2,600) and a second VW-Tiger Catapult (2,000/2,100).
"Now I'll combine the bigger ones into my biggest one again!"
The two of them shattered into pieces, and combined into the VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon again. (3,000/2,800)
"This is getting out of hand…" said Chelsea.
"And don't forget…" said Heck, "Ah just removed seven cards from play again, and Soul Absorption is still there, so ah get back what I lost, plus 1,500 more…"
(Y: 5,200) -------------------- (H: 6,600)
"Now, I'll Normal Summon a second X-Head Cannon…"
He played the card, and another of the tier-one Machines appeared. (1,800/1,500)
"Now ah'll use my big gun's effect to remove Dark Magician of Chaos from play…"
Dark Magician of Chaos vanished.
"You can activate Rush Recklessly if you want," said Heck, "my Cannon can shift him into Defense Mode when you try it.
"Attack Dark Magician!"
The guns fired, and Dark Magician was blown to bits.
"Eh?" he asked. "No Rush Recklessly?"
"Nope," said Yumi.
Heck shrugged.
"Now, X-Head Cannon, attack Blast Magician!"
X-Head Cannon fired, and Blast Magician was blown away.
"That's all for me for now, so ah'll turn it over ta you," he said.
(Y: 4,700) -------------------- (H: 7,100)
"I don't get it," said Chelsea. "He should have removed Dark Magician from play."
"Maybe he was planning to use another Dimension Fusion," said Ren. "He realized that Dark Magician of Chaos would be removed from play either way by his own effect, so he didn't want to give Yumi any more to summon."
"True," said Chelsea, "but he forgot all about Skilled Dark Magician…"
Ren looked, and saw that all three of the disks on Skilled Dark Magician's collar were glowing.
"Oh yeah…" said Ren.
Yumi drew a card.
"I play my own Pot of Greed…" she said.
She played the card, and the evil-looking jar appeared in front of her. She drew two cards and it shattered.
She looked at the two cards.
"Now, since more than enough Spell Cards have been played, I'll sacrifice Skilled Dark Magician to revive Dark Magician from my Graveyard."
Skilled Dark Magician vanished in a burst of darkness, and Dark Magician appeared again. (2,500/2,100)
"Next I'll summon… Injection Fairy Lily!"
She played the card, and a cute-looking nurse with wings holding a huge syringe appeared. (400/1,500)
"Hell-ooo!" she said with a big smile and a wave.
"Now, by paying 2,000 Life Points," said Yumi, "I can raise her Attack Points by 3,000!"
Lily laughed, and rose to 3,400 Attack.
"Lily, take down that oversized scrap heap! Stabbing syringe strike!"
"Say ah!" laughed Lily.
The Spellcaster flew forward and hurled her syringe. The giant robot exploded in a second fiery blast.
"Dark Magician!" shouted Yumi. "Attack X-Head Cannon! Dark magic attack!"
Dark Magician fired a blast, and the Machine exploded.
"I end my turn," she finally said.
(Y: 2,700) -------------------- (H: 6,400)
She looked at her last card. Then she looked at her facedown card.
Next round, I'll have the best ending to my first duel that I could hope for, she thought.
Heck nervously drew.
He looked at his cards.
"First, ah'll place a card facedown…" he said.
He fit a card into his Disk and a facedown card appeared.
"Now ah play a powerful Spell Card. It's called Dimensional Destruction Cannon – STU…"
He fit the card into his Disk.
"Uhm, that stands for Super Thunder Unit, by the way."
"I never heard of that card…" said Ren.
"It's simple…" said Heck. "It lets me ignore the Special Summoning requirements for V-through-Z and Special Summon it from the Graveyard, so long as I Equip it with this card…"
In a flash of light, the VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon reappeared, and a HUGE cannon appeared on its left arm. (3,000/2,800)
"Of course…" continued Heck, "it loses it regular effects. But it gains a good new one – a trampling effect.
"So Yumi… I know that Lily can destroy it again, but if she does, it's gonna cost you 2,000 more Life Points, and only cost me 400.
"V-through-Z…"
The giant cannon started to glow and take in energy…
"…attack Dark Magician!"
"Not so fast!" shouted Yumi.
Her facedown card lifted.
"I activate… Magical Dimension. Now since I have at least one Spellcaster on the field, I can sacrifice a Monster, such as Lily…"
Lily vanished.
"AND, I get to summon a Spellcaster from my hand… Come on out, Dark Magician Girl!"
In a flash of light, the young, nubile apprentice of Dark Magician appeared. She turned towards Dark Magician and they nodded to each other. (2,000/1,700)
"That's what it was?" exclaimed Heck.
"Yep," replied Yumi. "I put this in my Graveyard when I used Graceful Charity, and was able to get it back with my chaos mage's effect.
"And as another effect of Magical Dimension, now I get to destroy one Monster," she continued. "So say goodbye to your Cannon!"
The huge Cannon exploded again, reduced to shards of metal.
Heck grunted. He placed another card on his Disk, and a facedown Monster appeared.
Yumi drew a card.
Hmm… she thought, looking at the Trap Card.
"Ah activate this," said Heck, as his Trap lifted. "It's called Greed Pact. Now we both draw once."
Yumi looked at him funny. She drew another card, and he drew one.
He grinned as he looked at the card.
Limiter Remover. All he needed was the right card to go with this…
"Ah always say, you can never have too much draw power in your deck," he said.
Yumi placed the Trap Card in her Disk, and it appeared in front of her.
"Dark Magician…" she commanded, "attack the facedown Monster! Dark magic attack!"
Dark Magician cast his spell. Z-Metal Tank appeared on the card, and exploded.
"Dark Magician Girl, dark burning attack!"
Dark Magician Girl flew up to Heck. He cringed as she cast her own spell, striking him with black magic.
(Y: 2,700) -------------------- (H: 4,400)
"Yumi's ahead on Monsters…" said Ren. "But Heck's ahead on points. Anything could happen…"
"All right Yumi…" he muttered. "Ah guess it all comes down to one draw…"
He drew a card.
"Yes!" he laughed. "Ah knew my luck wouldn't desert me!"
He played a card.
"Ah play my second Dimension Fusion! Now…"
Then, he was startled when the card shattered.
"What?" he said.
Then he noticed that Yumi had activated a Trap Card…
Spell Shield Type-8.
"Want to know how I was able to do that?" asked Yumi. "Well, I hate to say this, but… well… it was your fault. Your Greed Pact let me draw my Polymerization card, a Spell Card that I could discard to activate this, leaving you with nothing. And 2,000 Life Points less."
Heck bowed his head.
"Then finish it…" he said.
"Right!" said Yumi, drawing a card. "Dark Magician, finish him off!"
Dark Magician cast his powerful spell, and Heck tumbled backwards…
(Y: 2,700) -------------------- (H: 0)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
In the main nerve center of Duelatopia (the "bridge"), Sheena Arachne watched the myriad of screens where duels were in progress.
"Close-up on screen two," she said. "And five…"
"Miss Arachne?" said a worker manning a screen. "We have confirmation of the first victory… A duel won by Miss Yumi Mouto."
Sheena smirked.
"Doesn't surprise me," she said. "She has a lot of her father in her."
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Yumi grinned as she looked at her badge.
It slowly changed hue, from Orange, to Yellow.
The Pharaoh appeared next to her.
"We're off to a good beginning, Yumi," he said. "And so far, nothing sinister has loomed in front of us."
"Indeed," she said. "Hi five."
They raised their hands, and exchanged a slap, which was rather hard, seeing as he was immaterial.
Yumi walked up to Ren and Chelsea.
"Well guys," she said, "I'm going to take a break for a while. I'll leave the next ones we come across to you two… but we'll try to get a good lead in for the first day."
As they left, the shadowy figure looked at the cards written in the notebook.
They were cards that you would assume a Mouto would use, but most of them, she hadn't. The figure grinned, and then turned and walked away.
As the three friends wandered towards the heart of Duelatopia, Heck got up…
"Hey, pardners!" he shouted. "Wait up!"
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
In a dimly lit room, a young woman sat at a table.
She was a dark beauty, with flowing raven hair, dressed in garments that suggested the old gypsies of East Europe.
She spread a deck of cards on a table, and then shuffled them. These weren't Duel Monster cards, but the cards of the Tarot… older than Duel Monsters by many centuries. Some folks believed that Pegasus was inspired as much by the Tarot as he was by the Egyptians when creating Duel Monsters, but that could neither be confirmed or denied.
She rubbed her chin. She slowly lifted the top card off the deck and turned it over.
Its image depicted a young woman on a golden throne, dressed in a white toga and wearing a laurel crown. She held a scepter in one hand, and an orb in the other.
"The High Priestess…" she said. "The divine feminine. A holder of secrets and potential deep inside.
"Certainly, this is Yumi, but more remains to be revealed. Her potential is there, but it remains to be unlocked. And if what my ally says is true, that will happen soon."
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Not far away, Sam was facing her own opponent.
She only had two facedown cards on her side, and her opponent had two Monsters that the first generation of her rival's family liked to use – Alpha the Magnet Warrior and Beta the Magnet Warrior.
She stared him down as he drew a card.
"I've got you now, Samantha!" he shouted. "I summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior…"
The third Magnet Warrior appeared.
"…and then I sacrifice all three of them to summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!"
The three robots broke into pieces, and then fused into one giant Monster.
"Go ahead…" dared Sam. "Knock yourself out…"
"Attack directly!" shouted her opponent.
Valkyrion flew towards Sam, its sword held high…
Both of Sam's facedown cards lifted, revealing a Ring of Destruction and a Ring of Defense.
The explosion blew Sam's opponent off his feet, knocking him senseless.
"Uhm, you know…" said Sam with a grin, "to most people, that's usually a figure of speech…"
Erik ran up and kissed her.
"You won, you won, you won!" he cheered.
"Yep," she said, looking at her badge. "One down, five to go…
"You take the next one… I can't hog all the fun…"
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"So why are you following us, Heck?" asked Chelsea.
"Hey, ah'm at Red now," said Heck. "One more loss and ah'm history. So ah don't want to get back on the saddle so quick…
"Maybe ah'll just watch you guys for a while before trying again… Take a little break…
"After all, ah don't want to get bumped out on the first day."
Chelsea felt a strange chill in the air… She assumed one of her "fan club" was near…
She didn't notice the small group of punk duelists watching her from behind the building down the block.
Having won her first victory, Yumi advances to Yellow status. Unbeknownst to her, Sam is also at Yellow, but their paths have yet to cross again. Likely, it's only a matter of time.
0
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D.D. TREASURE (Spell Card)
Normal Spell
Image: D.D. Warrior Lady opening a treasure chest, with golden light from it illuminating her face.
Card Description: You may only play this card during your Standby Phase. During the End Phase of the same turn, draw one card for every card on your side of the field that was removed from play during this turn.
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DIMENSIONAL DESTRUCTION CANNON – STU (Spell Card)
Equip Spell
Image: The VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon with a huge, glowing cannon on its arm.
Card Description: Select one "VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon" in your Graveyard. Special Summon it to your side of the field, disregarding its summoning requirements, and Equip it with this card. If this card leaves the field, the Equipped Monster is destroyed. The Equipped Monster's effects are negated. When the Equipped Monster attacks with an ATK higher than the DEF of your opponent's Defense Position Monster, inflict the difference as battle damage to your opponent's Life Points.
Note: "Dimensional Destruction Cannon – STU" was first used by Chazz in a third-season episode of "Yu-Gi-Oh GX". All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.
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0
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GREED PACT (Trap Card)
Normal Trap
Image: Two hands in front of the Pot of Greed, handing cards towards each other.
Card Description: Both players draw one card from their respective decks.
Note: "Greed Pact" was first used by Aster in the "Yu-Gi-Oh GX" episode "Ultimate Destiny". Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.
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0
0
Ren: Watching that got my blood flowing! Now I'm ready to take this place by storm!
Chelsea: Hey guys, there's a duel over there… And that duelist looks… pretty tough.
Ren: I'm not afraid of tough! Let me at 'em! My cards are just waiting to burst out and fight!
Chelsea: Take it easy. We'll see. Coming next: "Shadow Warriors; A Curious Duel".
Yumi: As Ren's destiny starts to begin where his father's left off.
Chelsea: And who was that weird fortuneteller anyway?
Yumi: Somehow, I feel she's the least of our worries…