Last time Jaden challenged Nerissa to a Duel; he wagering his Osiris Pendant, she wagering The Heart of Candracar. The Duel began, and at first Jaden seemed to have the advantage. Then Nerissa revealed her strategy. Now Jaden is on the ropes. Meanwhile Will finally snapped out of her trance. After telling of her experience to Matt, Nigel and Taranee, then having learned of what transpired while she was out of it, Will headed outside for the Duel. On with the show!
Chapter 14: The Duel part 2
The Duel statistics so far:
Jaden's Life Points: 2600
Nerissa's Life Points: 1900
Jaden currently has no monsters on the field and one facedown Spell or Trap card. Meanwhile Nerissa has one monster on the field:
Samiel: The Hound of Resurrection
Attribute: Darkness
Type: Beast/Effect
Level: 4
Attack: 3000
Defense: 100
She also has three face up continuous Trap cards in play, they are:
Gift of Resurrection, Curse of Resurrection and Resurrection Upheaval.
"That's a sweet combination you have," said Jaden, "I said it before and I'll say it again, you'd be a great Duelist if you weren't always trying to take over the world." "That may be true," said Nerissa, "But I've got better things to do than play a silly children's game all the time. Now take your turn so I can destroy you already."
"Well since you put it that way," said Jaden as he drew a card form his deck, "My move!" I'd better play it safe for now, thought Jaden, until I can figure out how to get around her Traps. "I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in Defense mode!" exclaimed Jaden as he placed his card on his Duel Disk. The image of his monster appeared on the field in a defensive position.
Elemental Hero Clayman
Attribute: Earth
Type: Warrior
Level: 4
Attack: 800
Defense: 2000
"That's all for now," said Jaden, "Your turn!" "I can't believe that's all he can do now," said Cornelia, "I mean, he's got to have a Spell or a Trap card that he can use." "Don't underestimate Jaden," said Martin, "From what I've heard about him, he's been in more tight spots than you girls have." "That's a bold statement," said Irma.
Just then Will came running out from The Temple, shortly followed by Matt, Taranee and Nigel. "Sorry I'm late," said Will as she stopped on the sidelines of the battle area, "I've been busy 'facing myself.'"
"Ah there you are Will!" exclaimed Nerissa, "You're just in time to watch me destroy your beloved cousin!" "You're not destroying anyone Nerissa!" exclaimed Will, "Jaden's gonna wipe the floor with you!" "Glad you're feeling better cousin," said Jaden.
"Oh cut the crap already!" exclaimed Pai-Mey, "Stop fooling around and kill her!" "All in good time Pai-Mey," said Nerissa, "All in good time. Will shall die, and her pathetic friends sacrificed to The God Hand, but first, I intend to win a lovely new pendant."
"That doesn't make much sense," said Taranee, "Why sacrifice only four of us? Why kill only Will?" "You'll know why after you've been branded for sacrifice," said Pai-Mey, "And then devoured by demons." "If you don't mind," said Nerissa as she drew her card, "It's my turn. Samiel! Destroy Jaden's Clayman now!"
Nerissa's monster charged across the field and destroyed Clayman with one slash of its claws. "Good thing I had Clayman in defense mode," said Jaden, "My Life Points are safe." "Not likely," said Nerissa, "Did you forget the effects of Curse of Resurrection and Resurrection Upheaval? Every time my monster sends one of yours to the Graveyard, it gains 500 attack points, and you lose 1000 Life Points.
"Oh man," said Jaden as his Life Points decreased, "I forgot."
Jaden's Life Points: 1600
Samiel: The Hound of Resurrection
Attack: 3500
"This is just nuts," said Irma, "Nerissa's monster just keeps getting stronger." "And now Jaden has fewer Life Points than she does," said Caleb, "This may be over before too long." "Don't count Jaden out yet," said Will, "He maybe in trouble, but he always pulls through when he's on the ropes." "He can win," said Naruto, "I can tell that Jaden has what it takes to beat Nerissa, believe it!"
"I'm not finished yet Nerissa," said Jaden, "Because I believe in something that you'll never have." "Oh," said Nerissa, "What's that?" "I'll tell you," said Jaden, "You may have The Heart of Candracar, but I've got The Heart of the Cards on my side, and it's something you can't just possesses."
"Why not?" asked Nerissa, "Why can't I have this Heart of the Cards?" "Because The Heart of the Cards isn't a physical object like the crystal," said Will, "It's the spirit of the game; it's having faith in your skills and your self. Most of all, it's having faith in your friends. You might have a better chance of understanding it if you had friends instead of murdering and/or brainwashing them."
"Well, I, um," said Nerissa, not really sure of what to say next, "Well, f#ck you! What's done is done! Now draw your next pathetic card so we can continue this stupid game of yours!"
"My deck has no pathetic cards," said Jaden as he drew his card, "My cards are like friends to me, you got to treat them with respect and kindness." "And Duel Monsters isn't stupid you ugly old hag!" exclaimed Martin. "I'll deal with you later, poindexter," said Nerissa, "Now take your turn already!" she yelled at Jaden.
"For crying out loud," said Jaden, "You're blow a gasket or something, you need to relax, take a chill pill. Anyway, my move! First, I play the Spell card: The Warrior Returning Alive!" The image of Jaden's card appeared on the field, "With this, I can take one Warrior-type monster card from my graveyard and place it in my hand."
A card popped out of Jaden's Graveyard compartment and he placed it in his hand. "Now that Elemental Hero Avian in back in my hand" said Jaden, "I can use another Polymerization card to fuse Avian with the cards Elemental Hero Bubbleman and Elemental Hero Sparkman that are in my hand to form an awesome monster. Say hello to Elemental Hero Tempest!"
The image of Jaden's monster, a tall figure in green and blue with white wings, appeared on the field.
Elemental Hero Tempest
Attribute: Wind
Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect
Level: 8
Attack: 2800
Defense: 2800
"Cool monster," said Cornelia, "But it's still weaker than Nerissa's." "I don't think Jaden's done yet," said Matt.
"Next up," said Jaden, "I'll play the Field Spell: Skyscraper!" He then inserted his card into the Field cardholder. Immediately the field was filled with the holograms of several tall buildings that seemed to rise out of the ground. "So you've changed the appearance of the field," said Nerissa, "What good will that do you?"
"It does me plenty of good," said Jaden, "Skyscraper increases the attack points of every monster on my side of the field with the words Elemental Hero in its name. Now the attack points Elemental Hero Tempest go up by 1000!"
Elemental Hero Tempest
Attack: 3800
"Alright Tempest!" exclaimed Jaden, "Destroy Nerissa's Hound of Resurrection!" With that Elemental Hero Tempest flew across the field and destroyed Nerissa's monster with one blow.
Nerissa's Life Points: 1600
"We're even now," said Jaden, "I'll throw down a facedown and end my turn." "We may be even now," said Nerissa as the image of another facedown card appeared in front to Jaden, "But it won't last for long," she discarded one card from her hand, "Have you forgotten the effect of my Hound, all I have to do to bring it back from the Graveyard is to send one card from my hand to the Graveyard, and thanks to my Gift of Resurrection, my pet gains 500 attack points!" With that, Nerissa's monster reappeared on the field.
Samiel: The Hound of Resurrection
Attack: 4000
"Oh crap!" exclaimed Nigel, "It keeps getting stronger." "And it'll be even stronger when it destroys Jaden's monster," said Irma, "Hey, you know what, I think I'm getting the hang of this game." "I can introduce you to some of my Dueling friends back home my little pork chop," said Martin. "If you call me one more of your retarded pet names," spat Irma, "I'll carve my name into your ass with an ice pick!"
"Moving on," said Nerissa as she drew her card, "Samiel! Destroy Tempest!" Nerissa's monster charged across the field and slashed at Elemental Hero Tempest. Yet it wasn't destroyed. "Impossible!" exclaimed Nerissa, "My monster is stronger than yours, and it should have been destroyed!"
"It should have," said Jaden as he removed his Skyscraper card from the Field card holder, with that the holograms of the buildings disappeared back into the ground, "But that was before I activated Tempest's special effect: By sending one card from my side of the field to the Graveyard, Tempest can't be destroyed as a result of battle. Of course by discarding Skyscraper, Tempest's attack goes back to normal, and I still lose Life Points, but a good try."
Jaden's Life Points: 1400
Elemental Hero Tempest
Attack: 2800
"Impressive," said Nerissa, "You're a lot stronger than I thought you to be. But no matter, this ends now." She then placed a card from her hand into a Spell/Trap slot on her Duel Disk and activated the card, "Behold, my Do Over Spell card! With this I can have a monster on my side of the field attack twice in the same turn." The image of Nerissa's card appeared on the field, "All I have to do is skip my next Draw Phase, but I won't need a next Draw Phase, for I can wipe out your life points right now"!
"She's right," said Taranee, "With her monster at 4000 attack points, and Jaden's at 2800, he'll be down to 200 Life Points." "And with that Curse of Resurrection Trap," said Sakura, "He'll lose another 1000 Life Points, he'll be at –800." "I can't watch!" exclaimed Hay Lin as she buried her face in Rock Lee's arms.
"Now my beast!" exclaimed Nerissa, "Destroy Jaden's pathetic hero and win me that Pendent!" With that Nerissa's monster charged at Tempest. "I don't think so!" exclaimed Jaden as she pushed the activation button on his Duel Disk, "Activate facedown: Flute of Summoning Kuribo!"
One of Jaden's facedown cards flipped up, disappeared, and was replaced by Winged Kuribo, who took Samiel's attack and was destroyed, but Jaden's Life Points stayed the same. "What just happened here?" asked Luffy, "I thought Jaden was about to lose the Duel."
"I'll tell you what happened," said Jaden, "I played Flute of Summoning Kuribo, which of course, summons a Kuribo. My friend Winged Kuribo took the attack of your monster, and when Winged Kuribo is destroyed as a result of battle, all damage to my Life Points is reduced to 0." Just then the transparent image of Winged Kuribo appeared above Jaden's shoulder. "Thanks little buddy," said Jaden to Winged Kuribo, "I owe you one." "Oh that disgusting little fuzz ball!" exclaimed Nerissa; "I ought to rip it to shreds!"
"Hey now," said Jaden, "This isn't that much of a big deal." "This is a big deal!" raged Nerissa, "It's a very big deal!" She panted for breath for a few seconds before regaining her composure, "Sorry for that little outburst. You were lucky that time, but your luck won't last forever. On my next turn I'll destroy you and take your Pendant as my own. Face it; you don't have anything in your hand our your deck that can stop my Hound of Resurrection. I can only imagine the level of fear and desperation you're feeling right now."
"Actually," said Jaden with a huge smile on his face, "I'm having a blast! This is my kind of Duel; the pressure, the rush of adrenaline, the all-or-nothing stakes, it really gets your blood pumping." "You are a very strange person," said Nerissa. "I get that a lot," said Jaden."
"That's my cousin Jaden for you," said Will, "Even when he's backed against the wall with little or no hope, he always has a smile on his face." "But Nerissa is right on one thing," said Cornelia, "Jaden doesn't have anything that can defeat her combination. I doubt there's any card in the whole game that can stop her." "That my not be true," said Martin, "There are certain cards that can defeat what Nerissa has, but I doubt Jaden has one of them."
Nerissa does have a point somewhat, thought Jaden, I don't have anything right now that can stop her monster. All I've got in my hand is Card of Sanctity, and I've got De-Fusion on the field facedown. This next draw could make or break this Duel. Come on Heart of the Cards; he drew, show me the love! He looked at the card he drew, Sweet! He thought.
"Alright Nerissa," said Jaden, "Time to turn the tables. I'll start off by playing this, Card of Sanctity! Now we each draw until there are six cards in our hands." They both did so. "Now," said Jaden, "I'll activate my facedown Spell card De-Fusion. This splits my Tempest back into Elemental Heroes Avian, Bubbleman and Sparkman."
The image of Tempest faded and was replaced by the holograms of his three monsters. "What is he doing?" asked Saske, "Now he has three weaker monsters for that abomination to destroy. Is he trying to lose on purpose or something?" "I can only think of one reason why Jaden would do such a thing," said Martin, "But it's not possible. He can't have one of them."
"I think the rush of adrenaline had confounded your brain," said Nerissa, "No matter how many monsters you have on the field, you can't destroy my beast. Face it, you've lost!" "It ain't over until the last card is thrown down!" exclaimed Jaden, "Next up, I'll sacrifice my three Elemental Heroes in order to summon a monster stronger than Exodia!"
"You lie!" shouted Nerissa, "Nothing's more powerful than Exodia!" "What are they talking about?" asked Nami. "They're talking about Exodia the Forbidden One," said Cornelia, "It's a five monster card combination. If you can assemble all five pieces of Exodia in your hand, you automatically win the Duel. It's an extremely rare and dangerous combination to achieve, but it's been done."
"Yugi Moto made history by being the first to assemble Exodia," said Martin, "But there are three cards that are immune to the instant victory effect of Exodia, and Yugi has all three of them. Is it possible that Jaden has one of them?" "What is them?" asked Irma. "I think we're about to find out," said Will.
"Now," said Jaden as the images of his three monsters faded, "I sacrifice Avian, Bubbleman and Sparkman, to summon Slifer The Sky Dragon!" The very air began to crackle with energy as Jaden placed his card on the monster card area of his Duel Disk. The battle area was cast into a sudden shadow as a huge hologram began to appear above the two Duelists.
The image stabilized into a gigantic red serpentine dragon, Will guessed that its boy was well over 500 feet long. The creature had glowing yellow eyes and two mouths filled with razor sharp teeth. The dragon let out a deafening roar from its lower mouth as it finished solidifying.
Slifer The Sky Dragon
Attribute: Light
Type: Devine-Beast
Level: 10
Attack: 5000
Defense: 5000
"This is incredible," said an awed Cornelia to an equally awed Will, "Your cousin has one of the three Egyptian God cards." "How did he get it?" asked Martin, "It's not like someone's just giving away Egyptian God cards." "Check out those attack points," said Naruto, "It's more than a match for Nerissa's monster, believe it!"
"How is this possible?" asked Nerissa, "How can any card in the game be that strong without a Spell or Trap to boost it?" "That's Slifer's special effect," said Jaden, "His attack power depends on how many cards are in my hand, 1000 attack points per card. I have five cards in my hand, so that's five thousand points, assuming my math is correct. Okay Slifer, destroy Nerissa's Hound of Resurrection!"
A white beam of energy shot from Slifer's mouth and impacted on Nerissa's monster, destroying it instantly. Nerissa winced from the force of the attack as her Life Points decreased.
Nerissa's Life Points: 600
"So what?" asked Nerissa as she took a card from her hand and placed it in the Graveyard, "I'll just Discard and bring back my Hound of Resurrection again." Once again the image of her monster reappeared on the field.
Samiel: The Hound of Resurrection
Attack: 4500
"You've done it now," said Jaden, "For whenever my opponent summons a monster while I have Slifer on my side of the field, his second special effect activates; his second mouth." With that, Slifer's lower mouth closed and it's upper mouth opened. This time a yellow beam of energy shot out and struck Nerissa's monster. Yet when the energy beam dissipated, her monster still stood.
"Some special effect," sneered Nerissa, "My Hound still stands." "I know it does," said Jaden, "But check out its attack points, you'll see a difference."
Samiel: The Hound of Resurrection
Attack: 2500
"What happened?" asked a shocked Nerissa, "How did my beast's power decrease?" "That is Slifer's second special effect," said Jaden, "If my opponent summons a monster who's attack points are less than 2000, it's instantly destroyed. But if said monster's attack points are 2000 or greater, it survives, but with 2000 less attack points. And now I'm gonna win this duel."
"How?" asked Nerissa, "You used up your creature's attack, it can't attack until your next turn." "You're wrong," said Jaden as he placed a card into a Spell/Trap slot and activated it, "I play the Spell card Copycat! Of course by using a card from my hand, Slifer's attack points decrease, but it's worth it."
Slifer The Sky Dragon
Attack: 4000
"By playing Copycat," said Jaden, "I can copy the effect of one Spell or Trap card you used in a previous turn, and I chose your Do Over card!" "No!" exclaimed Nerissa, "That means you can attack again!" "Exactly!" exclaimed Jaden.
"Pai-Mey!" shouted Nerissa, "Help me! Kill him!" "I can't do anything while I'm tied up!" shouted Pai-Mey, "And even if I weren't, I wouldn't help you. You brought this on yourself!" "This isn't happening!" cried Nerissa, "There must be something I can do to stop this!"
"I can safely say what I'm about to say for everyone you've ever hurt, Nerissa," said Will, "You lose!" "No!" shouted Nerissa, "This cannot be!" "Slifer The Sky Dragon!" exclaimed Jaden, "Obliterate!" Once again the white energy beam shot from Slifer's first mouth and destroyed Nerissa's monster for the last time.
Nerissa's Life Points: 0
"That's game!" exclaimed Jaden.
The end of chapter 14. Next chapter, Nerissa finally faces the consequences of her actions. See you next time!