Last time Jaden challenged Nerissa to a Shadow Game. Jaden wagered his pendant, while Nerissa put up The Heart of Candracar. 'Nuff said, on with the show!
Chapter 13: The Duel part 1
"So let me get this straight so there's no confusion," said Nerissa, "If I win this Shadow Game, you'll willingly give me your Osiris Pendant." "Yes," said Jaden, "And if I win, you'll give back to Will her crystal. Fair deal?" "Yes," said Nerissa, "A very fair deal." "Then get your game on!" exclaimed Jaden as he pulled out from his knapsack his Duel Disk, "'Cause we're Dueling!"
"Indeed," said Nerissa as a black, round Duel Disk appeared on her left arm. "That Duel Disk is of the Orichalcos design," said Cornelia, "But I thought they were all destroyed when Yugi Moto defeated Dartz." "That's what I was told," said Jaden as he attached his Duel Disk to his left arm.
"They were all destroyed with the defeat of Dartz," said Nerissa, "This device is one of my own creation, as well as my deck." In her right hand was a card deck of about 50 cards, "Just to let you know," said Nerissa, "I have the power to manifest my cards into the real world. I only need this machine to hold my cards in place and to keep track of my life points, not that I plan on losing any."
Jaden already had his deck out, "Oh you'll lose plenty of life points," he said, "I guarantee it." "I believe the custom at this time is to shuffle each other's deck," said Nerissa. "It is," said Jaden as she handed his deck to Nerissa, while she handed hers to him. "Feel free to look at my cards," said Nerissa as she shuffled Jaden's deck, "It shall give you a taste of your defeat."
"No thanks," said Jaden as he shuffled Nerissa's deck without looking at the faces of the cards, "I prefer to be surprised," he then handed the deck back to Nerissa. "I see that you are someone who enjoys a fair game," said Nerissa as she handed Jaden's deck back to him, "In that case I feel obligated to play fair as well."
"Fine with me," said Jaden as he inserted his deck into his Duel Disk, "I hope you don't mind if we use Duel Academe rules for this game." "Not at all," said Nerissa as she inserted her deck into her Duel Disk, "Then let us begin." She activated her Duel Disk, the card holding compartments extending outward like a scythe. Jaden activated his Duel Disk, the card holding compartments extending outward and unfolding in opposite directions. With that, they both exclaimed, "DUEL!"
Jaden's life points: 4000
Nerissa's life points: 4000
"Since you chose the rules of this game," said Nerissa as she drew five cards for her hand, "It is only fair that the first turn goes to me." "I'm cool with that," said Jaden as he drew his hand, "After all, 'ladies first.'" "Chivalry shall get you nowhere fast," said Nerissa as she drew a card, "Now, I'll start by playing three facedown cards," she inserted three cards into the Spell/Trap card compartments, and three holograms of facedown cards appeared on the field, "Then I'll summon a monster in attack mode, a monster the likes you have never seen before, behold!"
She placed a card face up on the center monster card zone of her Duel Disk. Indeed the image appearing on the field was of a monster he'd never seen before. It was as if someone spliced the DNA of a dog with that of a Komodo dragon. The monster had three fish-like eyes, six claws at each paw, rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth, and was covered in slimy green scales.
"Meet Samiel: The Hound of Resurrection," said Nerissa, "A creation of my own." "Can she do that?" asked Caleb, "Can she use cards of her own design?" "If the Duel Disk recognizes the card as useable," said Martin who was standing right behind Caleb, "Then it can be used in a Duel." "What brings you down here?" asked Ino.
"He wanted to watch the Duel up close," said Irma, "And he dragged me along." "What about Will?" asked Sakura, "Who's with her?" "Taranee and Nigel are still up in The Temple," said Irma, "And Matt won't leave her side."
Samiel: The Hound of Resurrection
Attribute: Darkness
Type: Beast/Effect
Level: 4
Attack: 2000
Defense: 100
"That's all for now," said Nerissa, "So take your turn, if you dare." "Oh I dare alright," said Jaden as he drew his card, "Sweet monster by the way. I'll start my turn by throwing down a facedown," he placed a card in a spell/trap card holder and a holographic image of a facedown card appeared on his side of the field, "Then, I'll use the spell card Polymerization to fuse Elemental Hero Avian with Elemental Hero Burstinatrix that are in my hand, to form Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"
The image of Jaden's two fusion monsters briefly appeared on the field before being replaced by his new monster a green and red warrior with one white wing. Its right arm was in the shape of a red dragon, and it also had a long serpentine tail.
Elemental Hero Flame Wingman
Attribute: Wind
Type Warrior/Fusion/Effect
Level: 6
Attack: 2100
Defense: 1200
"Since we're using Duel Academe rules," said Jaden, "Fusion monsters can attack on the same turn they're summoned. Okay Flame Wingman, attack Nerissa's Hound of Resurrection!" The dragon like arm of Flame Wingman opened its mouth and shot a large blast of fire at Nerissa's monster, reducing it to a pile of ashes. Nerissa winced from the force of the attack while her Life Points decreased.
Nerissa's Life Points: 3900
"Here's where Flame Wingman's special effect kicks in," said Jaden, "Whenever Flame Wingman destroys a monster in battle, my opponent loses Life Points equal to the destroyed monster's attack points!" "Oh damn!" exclaimed Nerissa as her Life Points decreased again.
Nerissa's Life Points: 1900
"Awesome!" said Martin, "The Duel just got started, and already Nerissa had lost over half her Life Points. Jaden should have this wrapped up in no time!" "As much as I'd like to agree with you on that," said Irma, "You shouldn't underestimate Nerissa. It'll take more that that to stop her." "I have to agree with you on that," said Cornelia, "Nerissa has something planned, but I don't know what."
"Not bad," said Nerissa, "You're not as weak as I assumed you to be. Now I believe it is my turn. Because my Hound was sent to the card Graveyard due to battle," she said as she drew her card, "I can activate its special effect. All I need to do is send once card from my hand to the Graveyard," she sent a random card to the discard compartment on her Duel Disk, "And Samiel returns from the Graveyard to the field," she removed her card from the Graveyard and placed it back on her Duel Disk, and the image of Nerissa's monster returned to the field.
"But wait," said Nerissa, "There's more. Because I brought my monster back from the Graveyard, I can activate this Continuous Trap card," she pressed a button on her Duel Disk which activated her trap, "Behold; Gift of Resurrection!" The image of her activated Trap card showed several figures placing flowers on a gravestone.
"What does that do?" asked Luffy. "I don't know," said Cornelia, "I've never seen or heard of that card before." "Confused?" asked Nerissa, "Let me explain how my trap works: Whenever I bring back from the Graveyard a monster card that has the word Resurrection in its name, said monster gains 500 attack points when it returns to the field in attack mode. And since my Hound of Resurrection has returned from the grave in attack mode, its attack points increase!"
Samiel: The Hound of Resurrection
Attack: 2500
"Now my pet!" exclaimed Nerissa, "Destroy Jaden's Flame Wingman!" Nerissa's monster charged across the field and slashed at Flame Wingman, destroying it with one swipe of its claws. Jaden winced from the force of the attack while his Life Points decreased.
Jaden's Life Points: 3600
"Now that you've lost a monster," said Nerissa, "I can activate my second Continuous Trap card," she activated her second trap, "Behold, Curse of Resurrection!" The card image showed a cracked gravestone with a black rose thrust into it.
"Another one that I've never heard of," said Cornelia, "And I have over 4,500 in my closet back home." "That many huh?" asked Martin, "I've got about 4,200 in my room. Tell me, do you happen to have Dark Magician?" "I have four Dark Magician cards," said Cornelia, "Two regular, one holofoil and one that has the picture printed backwards by mistake." "Oh I'll trade you for that one when we get home!" exclaimed Martin. "I wouldn't trade that card even if you had all four Blue Eyes White Dragon cards!" said Cornelia, "And that's saying something."
"If you're quite finished talking," said Nerissa, "I'll explain how my second Trap works: If I have a monster on my side of the field with the word Resurrection in its name, and said monster destroys an opponent's monster, my opponent takes 1000 damage points to his or her Life Points, how do you like that!"
"I don't like it at all," said Jaden as his Life points decreased again.
Jaden's Life Points: 2600
"But still," said Jaden, "That's some combination you've got going here. You'd be a great Duelist if you weren't always trying to take over the world." "Flattery still won't get you anywhere fast," said Nerissa, "And before I end my turn, I activate my third Continuous Trap card," she pressed the button to activate her card, "Behold, Resurrection Upheaval!" The image of her Trap card showed a gravestone being lifted up with a pulley system.
"Here's how it works," said Nerissa, "Whenever a monster on my side of the field with the word Resurrection in its name destroys an opponent's monster, my monster gains 500 attack points.
Samiel: The Hound of Resurrection
Attack: 3000
"That's three Continuous traps in one turn," said Martin, "She's got to be cheating somehow!" "I didn't see her pull anything out from up her sleeves," said Saske, "And we all saw Jaden shuffle her deck." "Maybe she switched decks when we weren't looking," said Nami, "It's what I would do."
"Well wither or not Nerissa is using a stacked deck," said Cornelia, "Or if its just plain dumb luck, one thing's certain, Jaden is in a lot of trouble." "What can we do?" asked Eric. "I don't think there's anything we can do," said Hay Lin, "This is a Shadow Game. And from what my Grandma told about Shadow Games, we can't interfere once one has started. The only thing we can do is watch and hope that Jaden can turn the tables around, and hope that Will snaps out of her funk in time."
"I can't see much from up here," said Nigel, "But it doesn't look good for Jaden." "You're right," said Taranee, "I don't know much about Duel Monsters, but Jaden looks to be in a bind."
"Jaden," said Will softly, "What's that about Jaden?" "Will!" exclaimed Matt, "You spoke!" "Not so loud," said Will as she winced from Matt's yelling in her ear, "I'm not deaf." She slowly stood up, blinked and shook her head as if to clear it. "Are you alright?" asked Taranee, "You had us worried."
"I feel fine," said Will in a calm and collected tone, "How long was I out?" "Almost 45 minutes," said Matt, "Or at least 45 minutes if we were back on Earth, I don't think my watch works here."
"Your assumption was correct Matt," said The Oracle, "Will, you were in a trance for almost thee quarters of an hour." "It seemed longer," said Will, "Much longer." "Well don't keep us in suspense," said Taranee anxiously, "What did you see when you looked into the mirror?"
"I saw what The Oracle said I'd see," said Will, "I saw every negative action I've ever done in my life, every lie, every time I acted in anger, every rudeness. I admit I can be a real jerk sometimes, especially to my mom when I found out she was dating Mr. Collins. But more importantly, I know what The Stranger meant by 'facing myself.' I had to face my dark side."
"What did your dark side look like?" asked Nigel. "Like me somewhat," said Will, "She had the same face as I do, only with pitch black eyes." "Did she say anything?" asked Matt, "Not really," said Will, "The whole thing was more like seeing me, then seeing the exact opposite of everything I am. I'm not making much sense, am I?"
"No you're not," said Matt, "But what's important is that you're back." He bent down and kissed her, then she kissed him back, "If this is the welcome I can expect," said Will, "I ought to go away more often. So, what did I miss while I was out?" "Oh nothing much," said Nigel in a sarcastic tone, "Just that Naruto, Luffy and their respective teams fought and were nearly killed by Pai-Mey. They managed to tie her up, so now Jaden's Dueling Nerissa to keep her from killing you and destroying Candracar."
"Jaden's Dueling Nerissa?" said Will, "And I'm missing it? Come on!" With that, Will grabbed the mirror, ran back inside form the balcony and headed for the stairs to outside The Temple.
To be continued. Next chapter the Duel between Jaden and Nerissa heats up, leading to where Jaden reveals his secret weapon. See you next time!