A/N: This chapter took a while but it's finally done!
Things to know before reading this chapter:
Judai will be using an OCG/TCG deck. The reason for this is because I don't want to be like everyone else who just gives Judai the Evil Elemental HERO deck. It doesn't mean that Judai won't ever get them, but I don't want to start him out with that deck until his character is ready for them. Same goes for the Neo Spacians.
Regarding cards and their effects: I will be using their original Japanese names and the anime effects if it differs from the OCG/TCG effect. If the card is a manga card I will be using the OCG/TCG effect instead of the manga effect.
'Past Dialogue'
(Dueling Stats, LP – Life Points, MZ – Monster Zone, S/TZ – Spell/Trap Zone, FSZ - Field Spell Zone)
Turn 02 – Training Duel! Yubel vs. Judai!
Judai watched as the Kaiba Corp space shuttle took off on its journey into space. In that very shuttle were his own card designs that had won him the card design contest organized by Seto Kaiba himself. With expressionless eyes, Judai watched the shuttle as it went higher and higher in the air until it reached the point where it was just a small dot in the sky. A tired sigh left Judai's mouth once the whole event was over and it was time for him to leave.
Two years have passed since that day and Judai had not looked back on it ever since. Even though his life had become more precarious and sacrifices had been made, Judai never regretted his decision to keep Yubel by his side. Though there were sometimes that he wished she had never told him the truth about his past, he understood why Yubel had to tell him and he had learned to accept his fate over time. Besides there were some advantages that Judai enjoyed from learning the truth. Finding out he had powers and learning how to use them had made Judai excited as any young child would be at the idea. Even though Yubel was very strict on when he was to use them, Judai had still misused them at times and would receive an annoyed glare from Yubel in response. Of course Yubel couldn't stay upset with Judai for long because of that; especially since he was still a child, but that didn't mean she hadn't found other ways to deal with his little disobediences. One of those times was usually during Judai's training. In fact this is what the now eight year old Judai was currently doing at the moment.
Judai was panting heavily from exhaustion after barely dodging the oncoming attack from Yubel. They had been trading blow for blow and blast for blast with each other for the past thirty minutes causing Judai to become tired easily. However Yubel was still thriving with plenty of energy and looked as though she hadn't even been fighting at all which always frustrated Judai to know end. He knew that Yubel really wasn't even trying and she still bested him every time always making Judai irritable after their fight was over. Yet it was never Yubel his irritability was directed at but himself. It made him feel like he was never making any progress with his powers or skills after all of the training he had done. Yubel had told Judai plenty of times that he shouldn't expect to master his abilities right away and that she had two lifetimes of experience over him. Even though Judai knew that was true, a part of him still felt like he should be doing better than he was and because of this Judai always pushed himself too hard during his training, which Yubel had constantly told him not to do.
Yubel sighed to herself when she noticed how worn out Judai was and knew he had overdid it with his powers again. No matter how many times she told him that burning himself out like that was draining his energy faster and causing him to get weaker easier, Judai still did it anyway. Yubel wasn't really surprised by this though since in the past as a prince he had always been pressured to do his best no matter what. It had been one of the things she had never liked about his role being the prince of the kingdom. All the lessons and training he had to take so he could be prepared to take the throne had hardly left any room for fun in that life. It had actually been she who had snuck him out of the castle on occasion making him play hooky with his duties. But now it was Yubel who was now doing the things she had once tried to relieve Judai of.
"Fate must be laughing itself silly right now," Yubel thought bitterly, not liking irony more and more.
"That's enough fighting for now, we'll go to the next part of training," strictly announced Yubel causing a frown on Judai's lips.
"No, I can keep going a little longer!" Judai proclaimed strongly not wanting to give up that easily.
Yubel's eyes narrowed at the stubborn child making Judai back down knowing that that was Yubel's no tolerance glare.
"You would have been able to last longer if you paced yourself more like I told you to do," she stated calmly though the gravity in her voice was very clear.
Judai flinched slightly at this realizing Yubel was right as usual. Feeling guilty for not listening to Yubel again, Judai simply nodded his head in submissive agreement. Yubel seeing that Judai was now cooperative calmed herself a bit before speaking once more.
"Ten minute break, then use your power to summon your deck and duel disk and we'll get started," instructed Yubel as her left arm formed into her own personal duel disk with her deck already in place.
Even though Judai didn't want to admit it, he needed those minutes to give his body time to recuperate before he could continue on. When the beak was over, Judai was ready to summon his duel disk. Judai closed his eyes and concentrated on the image of the duel disk in his mind before tapping into his powers to summon it. In a few seconds wisps of darkness began surrounding Judai's left arm and form into a unique shape. The wisps soon became solid forming a black duel disk with five sharp pointed spikes sticking out the sides of the circular center which contained an eerie yellow eye in the middle of the duel disk. Feeling that the duel disk was now on his arm, Judai opened his eyes and looked at it and was glad to see his deck was already in the slot as well. He remembered a time when he could only conjure his duel disk and deck one after the other which had annoyed him at the inconvenience of having to summon them separately. Judai then activated his duel disk as the five spikes started spinning before joining together to create the platform for him to use his cards. Now that both players were ready it was time to for them to begin.
"Duel!" they both declared as they drew their five cards and their life points were set to eight thousand.
Judai had almost groaned when he saw their life points were at eight thousand instead of the usual four thousand. Whenever Yubel and he would duel they would never have a definite standard number for life points. Sometimes it was the regular four thousand; others had been at six thousand while a few at two thousand and even one-thousand. Eight thousand and beyond usually meant that Yubel wanted to teach him something or it was payback for disobeying her when he had known better. Remembering only a few seconds ago that he had pushed himself too hard with his powers during their sparring; Judai had a feeling that it was the latter reason.
"I'll go first," announced Yubel while drawing a card from her deck and placing it in her hand.
She only needed to take a quick scan of her cards before a plan already formed in her head.
"I'll place a monster in face down defense position and then set one card. Turn end," stated Yubel with a smirk while placing the two unknown cards on their proper places on her duel disk. (Yubel: 4 cards in hand, 2 on field [1-MZ, 1-S/TZ])
Judai could already tell that Yubel had a plan up her sleeve and knew that he had better act fast before she unleashed it on him.
"Draw!" declared Judai as he drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand.
Judai scanned the cards he held and was pleased that he had a good hand to start with. Finally deciding on what to do, he took a card from his hand and showed it to his opponent.
"I summon E-HERO Airman (Warrior/Effect/Wind/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 300) in attack mode!" stated Judai as he played the said card on the field with the image of the monster appearing right afterwards.
Elemental HERO Airman had the appearance of a fit male human body though his skin was a sky blue color. His entire face was concealed under a helmet that perfectly matched his blue and white outfit. And with the metal like wings attached to his costume he certainly had the look of a hero embracing his given name's element.
"When this card is normal or special summoned I can add one HERO monster from my deck to my hand. So I'll choose E HERO Prisma!" he said as he took the said card from his deck and placed it in his hand.
"Now Airman, attack Yubel's face down monster!" commanded Judai and the said hero did as he was told swiftly destroying the monster.
Before the monster was destroyed, Judai was able to catch a glimpse of it and was surprised to find that it had been Sacrifice Lotus. Judai knew that if Yubel already wanted that monster in her graveyard this early in the duel then that meant she was getting ready to summon herself very soon. This was further proven when Yubel revealed her set card.
"I activate Blazes of Demise. This lets me special summon two Black Flame Tokens (Fiend/Dark/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0) in face up defense mode," stated Yubel with a smirk as two small black flaming monsters appeared on her side of the field.
Judai almost groaned when he saw the tokens realizing that Yubel already had what she needed in place for her to summon her card. Judai scanned the remaining cards in his hand and saw that the best he could probably do was protect himself until he got the cards he would need.
"I place two cards face down and end my turn," replied Judai as he took two more cards from his hand and placed them in the Spell and Trap Zones. (Judai: 3 cards on field [1-MZ, 2-S/TZ], 4 in hand)
"Getting worried now are we?" teased Yubel with a knowing smirk to which Judai did his best not to comment back to.
Even though Judai didn't respond, Yubel could see through him easily. Yubel was heavily amused as she drew a card from her deck and her smirk only grew more when she saw the card she just drew.
"I play the Magic Card Raging Storm from my hand, destroying all magic and trap cards currently on the field," said Yubel in delight.
When Yubel activated the spell it immediately destroyed Judai's face down cards on the field, which had been revealed to be Book of Moon and Emissaries of Reconciliation. Judai held back a grumble at the loss of his defenses and how easily Yubel removed them. Yubel let a momentary frown cross her face for a second after seeing the cards that were destroyed, yet it only lasted a moment before she continued with her turn.
"I will now tribute my two Black Flame Tokens to summon Yubel onto the field in attack mode," announced Yubel as she summoned her very own card onto the field.
"I believe you know what happens next," hinted Yubel with mirth making Judai grimace slightly at what was to come.
"Airman, come and attack me," commanded the Yubel that was on the field as her eyes glowed orange.
Airman's eyes and body glowed the same orange color signaling he was under Yubel's control and he immediately attacked Yubel head on. Of course when the hit made contact with the Yubel on the field, several vines soon emerged and headed straight for Judai. A scream of pain came from Judai when the vines pierced him in his stomach causing a wound to form and blood to spill as his life points went from eight thousand to sixty-two hundred. Judai instinctively placed his right hand over the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding even though he knew it was pointless as the blood continued to seep through his hand.
"I'll then set two cards face down and because it is now the beginning of my End Phase I will special summon Sacrifice Lotus from the graveyard to my side of the field via its effect. Next I'll tribute Sacrifice Lotus to keep myself on the field," stated Yubel as the pink flower monster appeared on the field just as quickly as it left.
"Turn end," Yubel finished while folding her arms and waiting to see what Judai would do to try and counter her strategy. (Yubel: 2 cards in hand, 3 on field [1-MZ, 2-S/TZ], 3 in graveyard) (LP: Judai 6200/Yubel 8000)
Even though Judai knew that it was now his turn, he still had to take a moment to pull himself together to ignore the wound in his chest. This was definitely one of the things that came out of his training that Judai didn't like at all. Not only did the sparing matches between him and Yubel leave him beaten and bruised but every time when he and Yubel would duel real damage was always inflicted as well. Judai would usually end up with a lot of injures from both of these and then he would have to use his powers to heal all of his wounds afterward.
The first time Judai had felt real damage from a duel with Yubel he had been shocked and questioned Yubel on why she would bring pain to him like that. Yet the moment he had questioned Yubel about it he had regretted doing it immediately.
'Do you think the Light of Ruin will go easy on you? It will do anything to destroy you Judai. You must understand that,' were the words Yubel had said with a harsh and severe tone.
That was the second time Judai felt bad for doubting Yubel only to once again find out that her intentions had been nothing but reasonable. He could still remember the hard determined but pained look on Yubel's face when she had said that. After that moment Judai had no longer questioned Yubel and started trusting her a lot more from then on. Judai had accepted Yubel's training methods without inquiry and now their duels continued the way they were without complaint. Admittedly it had taken a while for Judai to get used to the fact that he was no longer dueling with holograms but the actual real thing. With the monsters no longer being holograms, they became real along with the pain that came from their attacks. However having a real damage duel was becoming more common to Judai than a normal one, though it didn't mean he enjoyed getting hurt in them any less.
Taking a deep breath, Judai finally began his turn and drew a card from his deck. Judai was now ignoring the pain and putting all his focus on the cards in his hand. He briefly scanned his hand and the field before deciding what to do.
"First I'll summon Gladial Beast Hoplomus (Rock/Effect/Earth/Level 4/ATK 700/DEF 2100) in defense mode," stated Judai as the monster appeared on the field
Hoplomus had the face and the bulk of a rhino yet maintained a human like stature as well. He was clothed in think gold plated armor from head to toe though the most interesting thing about it was that there were medium sized brown diamond shaped plates floating around his body in a circular pattern. Hoplomus took a kneeling position since he was placed in defense mode before he slightly turned his head in Judai's direction.
"I am ready to fight for you Haou-sama!" Hoplomus affirmed with a strong powerful voice filled with nothing but absolute loyalty.
Judai wanted to sigh at Hoplomus' formality toward him. At first Judai could admit that he had liked being called a king because he thought it was cool and the idea seemed fun too him. Nonetheless when Yubel had explained to him more about why he had that title and the responsibilities that came with it, Judai became less thrilled about it. Despite that Judai had learned to accept the kingly title given to him with more conscientiousness though that didn't mean he wanted to be addressed as Haou-sama all the time and had insisted that he still be called regular Judai. Of course that was easier said than done.
Yubel wasn't an issue as she would only use his title when she was teasing him or being very serious with him. It was the Gladial Beasts that were the trouble. No matter how many times he would tell them it was ok to address him as Judai they would refuse and claimed that it would be disrespectful of them to call him anything else other than Haou-sama. When he had asked why it was Yubel who enlightened Judai on the truth behind the Gladial Beasts.
'Didn't you ever wonder why I suggested the Gladial Beasts deck to you in the first place?' Yubel had questioned with hilarity hidden in her eyes.
'In the past the Gladial Beasts were the guardians of the royal family. Basically they were the royal family's secret service. Though only the royal members and those closest to them were aware that the Gladial Beasts were the secret protectors of the royal family. To the rest of the kingdom they were just like any of the regular citizens in the kingdom.'
Yubel had gone on to explain that because of the sworn oath the Gladial Beasts had made to serve as the royal family's secret guard for the rest of their lives, that when she had called for their assistance in protecting him, they had eagerly agreed to be a part of his deck. Yubel had told him that the Gladial Beasts carried themselves with a morality of nobility and fidelity that surpassed most duel monsters which is why they had been chosen as protectors in the first place. As a bonus they had strong resistance to magic and/or any corruption making them even more suited for the job. After that little history lesson Judai had understood the Gladial Beasts more and had soon realized that he had to accept that they were never going to call him by his name.
Judai shook himself out of his thoughts as he remembered it was still his turn. He quickly sent a smile of appreciation to Hoplomus before focusing back on the duel.
"Next I play the Field Magic Dungeon of the Gladial Beast – Colosseum!" he announced as he took another card from his hand and slipped it into the proper slot of his duel disk.
The moment the card was activated, the area around them immediately changed into what looked to be the inside of an ancient coliseum; however, this coliseum was a little bit different than the usual ones. It had many strange markings engraved on its surface with a bluish color that made them seem as though the markings themselves were glowing. There was also more color to the scheme with the stones being a bold gray and the supposed semicircle designs along the walls of the coliseum were bathed in purple. In the center of the coliseum was a small arc shaped fountain that all the blue markings seemed to be connected to most liking being that the fountain was its source. The fountain also had a golden statue of an unusual symbol that only those who were meant to recognize it would know what it truly was. The only other change in scenery that took place and probably the most interesting was that there was a beautiful glistering bluish purple sky where several rays of light peeked out form it and shined down on the field below.
Nonetheless Yubel and Judai were used to the site of the coliseum and so once the field had been completely transformed, Judai continued on with his turn.
"Now each time when either of us special summons a monster from out decks I can place a counter on this card. Then all Gladial Beast monsters will gain an extra one hundred attack and defense points for each counter on this card!" Judai explained before taking two more cards from his hand.
"Lastly I'll place three cards face down. Turn end," finished Judai. (Judai: 1 card in hand, 6 on field [2-MZ, 3-S/TZ, 1-FSZ], 2 in graveyard)
"My turn then," replied Yubel with a grin before drawing a card from her deck.
Yubel glanced at the card she drew and then studied the field. At that moment Yubel's grin grew across her face and when Judai saw that grin he knew he was in trouble.
"I think I'll start by playing this," announced Yubel as she took the card from her hand and showed it to Judai.
Judai cringed when he saw the card that Yubel was about to play and mentally prepared himself for the worst.
"I summon The Calculator (Thunder/Effect/Light/Level 2/ATK ?/DEF 0) in attack mode and of course you know what that means Judai," gleefully stated Yubel with the grin still plastered on her lips causing Judai to slightly twitch in response.
True to its name, The Calculator was a machine looking monster. Its body was coated red, its face was in the form of a calculator screen with x300 displayed on it in green color, and on its chest was the standard number pad found on a calculator.
"When The Calculator is on the field its attack is the combined levels of all face up monsters I control times three hundred. And with Yubel on my field the combined level is twelve so The Calculator gains thirty-six hundred attack points," elaborated Yubel as the number displayed on The Calculator's screen changed to thirty-six hundred.
"But of course I'm just getting started. Since I'm pretty sure one or more of those face down cards have to deal with having a Gladial Beast on the field, I'll just have to get rid of that Gladial Beast won't I?" she rhetorically asked already reading through Judai's strategy.
Judai didn't like the sound of that and was definitely getting worried now.
"With the nervousness I'm sensing from you, my assumption must be correct. In that case," paused Yubel while taking another card from her hand and showing it to Judai.
"I'll use the lovely effect of Lava Devil - Lava Golem in my hand here and special summon it to your field by tributing two of your own monsters. So say goodbye to Airman and Hoplomus," mocked Yubel but then Judai quickly reacted.
"Not so fast Yubel! I activate the counter trap Gladial Beasts Chariot! When an effect monster's effect is activated and I control a face up Gladial Beast monster, I can negate that effect monster's activation and destroy it! So I'll be saying goodbye to Lava Devil - Lava Golem instead!" countered Judai successfully preventing Lava Golem's summon and destroying it.
To Judai's surprise, Yubel started applauding his move with an actual sincere expression on her face. Noticing the confused look Judai was now giving her, Yubel chuckled.
"One of the problems you've been making when you've dueling was to know when you could activate certain cards before they were destroyed or rendered useless. In fact you made that same mistake earlier with Emissaries of Reconciliation. You could have activated that card before it was destroyed and you would have protected your life points that turn. But now I believe that you're starting to get it," commented Yubel earnestly bringing a light smile to Judai's face.
Truthfully Judai had realized after the fact the mistake he had made with Emissaries of Reconciliation. In fact it was at that point when he realized the reason he kept having that problem was because every time he got caught off guard by his opponents' moves, his brain would momentary freeze up in shock. And then by the time his brain began working again it was always too late to activate the card. However with Judai understanding this now, when the brain freeze had threatened to roar its ugly head with the thought of Lava Golem's summon he immediately got himself back together and was able to prevent a major disaster.
"Yeah, I finally realized that I kept letting the actions of my opponent get the best of me, but you can be sure Yubel that that's not going to happen anymore," clarified Judai with confidence burning in his eyes.
"Then let's test that new confidence and see if you can use it properly," said Yubel before declaring the beginning of her battle phase. "Now Airman, come and attack me."
Once again the eyes of the Yubel on the field started glowing with Airman following, yet this time Judai was ready.
"I reveal my second card, Instant Magic Gladial Taming! If a face up Gladial Beast monster is on the field, I can select one face up monster you control and change its battle position. So I'll choose Yubel to be switched to defense mode!"
Unfortunately Yubel was prepared as well as one of her cards flipped face up.
"Activate Trap Phantom of Darkness. With this I can negate the activation of a magic card, trap card, or effect monster's effect that targets a face up dark monster, and destroy that card," replied Yubel causing the battle between Airman and herself to continue.
Judai clenched his teeth as he watched a reluctant Airman attack Yubel. A cry of pain came from Judai as the vines pieced his body once again and his life points took more damage. (LP: Judai 4400/Yubel 8000)
"Haou-sama, are you alright?!" Hoplomus asked in concern gazing in Judai's direction.
Nevertheless before Judai could answer, Yubel was not done yet.
"Activate Permanent Trap Zero Sprite," proclaimed Yubel as the other face down card on her field had been flipped up.
"I equip Zero Sprite to Yubel which when equipped to a monster reduces their attack to zero and allows the monster to attack twice in a single battle phase," she continued with a gleam in her eyes.
"Now Airman, attack me again," Yubel commanded as the said hero had no choice but to obey.
Another scream of pain escaped Judai's mouth with another wound created on his body from the damage inflicted to him and his life points. (LP: Judai 2600/Yubel 8000)
"Haou-sama!" exclaimed Hoplomus in worry at seeing Judai being injured.
Even Airman sent a worried glance at Judai to see if the boy was somewhat alright. Despite the pain he was in, Judai gave both monsters a reassuring smile to let them know that he was ok. Both monsters didn't really believe that smile for a second but they knew Judai was more focused on the duel and so they too put their attention where it needed to be.
Although Yubel didn't show it, she didn't like the fact that she was hurting Judai this way but she understood that this was necessary for Judai to get used to this kind of dueling. Yubel knew the Light of Ruin wouldn't hesitate to find any kind of way to torture Judai and she would make sure that Judai would be prepared for it. With that in mind, Yubel kept her focus on the duel field. Yubel still had The Calculator on the field but there was still one face down card left on Judai's field. So Yubel decided that she didn't need to risk losing The Calculator when she didn't really need to at this point.
"With the end of my turn Sacrifice Lotus appears on the field and I will sacrifice it to keep myself on the field. Turn end," finished Yubel. (Yubel: 1 card in hand, 3 on field [2-MZ, 1-S/TZ], 5 in graveyard)
"D-Draw," Judai announced with a little shakiness still feeling the pain from all his injuries.
When Judai saw the card he drew he was a bit disappointed because it wouldn't help him right at the moment, however Judai was still not deterred.
"I'm going to tribute E-HERO Airman to summon E-HERO Prisma (Warrior/Effect/Light/Level 5/ATK 1700/DEF 1100) in attack mode," stated Judai who was beginning to gain a burst of energy as Prisma took Airman's place on the field.
Prisma had a human like figure as well yet his entire body seemed to be made out of blue and purple crystal. Prisma definitely earned his name as all he was made of were prisms as parts of his body, even his face was just a prism with no definite features.
"I activate E-HERO Prisma's effect! Once per turn, I can send one monster card from my deck to the graveyard and I choose Gladial Beast Bestrouli," proclaimed Judai as he took said monster card from his deck and sent it to his graveyard.
"And then I can select one monster card in my graveyard and treat Prisma as the selected card. And I choose Gladial Beast Bestrouli!"
Prisma immediately changed its form into that of Bestrouli which made Judai grin.
"Alright guys it's time to use Contact Fusion!" Judai told his monsters with excitement.
The two monsters nodded as they jumped up into the air and came together in a swirl before both monsters disappeared and a new monster took its place. Watching the Contact Fusion brought joy to Judai as he was reminded of the Neo Spacians that he had created and sent to space that could also perform the very same thing. When Judai had first discovered that the Gladial Beasts could also use Contact Fusion he had at first been disappointed to discover that he really didn't create a new type of fusion after all. Yet to his surprise the Gladial Beasts told him that his past-self had in fact given them the power and ability to contact fuse. Learning this had lifted Judai's spirits up with discovering that he really did create Contact Fusion and that he had just subconsciously given it to another group of duel monsters in this life. Truly no one could blame the child for getting excited when he used Contact Fusion as it was his own creation that he had a right to be proud of.
"Contact Fusion, Gladial Beast Gaizares (Winged Beast/Fusion/Effect/Dark/Level 6/ATK 2400/DEF 1500)!" summoned Judai as the new Gladial Beast arrived on Judai's side of the field in attack position.
Gaizares was the image of a warrior. He was covered from head to toe in think black armor with red gems encrusted in certain areas of it. His wings were green with the edges covered in silver giving off a shine to them. His stance was firm and anyone could tell that he was ready for battle. Gaizares then turned to face Judai before kneeling in front of him with his arm crossed over his chest in humble respect.
"I am honored you summoned me Haou-sama. I will fight for you with all my strength," declared Gaizares with a strong and reputable voice.
Gaizares' chivalry toward him made Judai feel a little uncomfortable and embarrassed as a bit of red came to his cheeks. This was actually the first time Judai summoned Gaizares in a duel and so he had no idea what to expect. As Judai found out even though all the Gladial Beasts gave him the highest respect some were more resolved about it than others. Apparently Gaizares was one of the extreme ones. Judai not knowing how to respond to this turned his gaze to Yubel for help only to find Yubel laughing at his obvious embarrassment. Realizing he was going to get no help from Yubel, Judai did his best to look as regal as possible to address Gaizares.
"I'm sure you'll do your best," was all Judai was able to come up with hoping it was good enough anyway.
"Of course, I will not let you down Haou-sama," he replied with his head lowered bringing a small smile to Judai's lips.
"Then let's do this!" proudly stated Judai to which Gaizares nodded his head before standing up once again and facing their opponent.
"When Gladial Beast Gaizares is special summoned I can destroy two cards on the field and I choose The Calculator and Zero Sprite!" he happily said as Gaizares shot a beam from his hands destroying both cards and removing them from the field.
"Also since I special summoned a monster, a counter is added to Dungeon of the Gladial Beast - Colosseum and because of this Gaizares' attack and defense gains a hundred points!" Judai added as Gaizares' attack increased to twenty-five hundred and his defense to sixteen-hundred.
Seeing that it would be futile to have Gaizares battle Yubel, Judai simply ended his turn with that. (Judai: 1 card in hand, 3 on field [1-FSZ, 1-MZ, 1-S/TZ], 6 in graveyard)
By now Yubel had gotten over her laughter and was thinking about the state her side of the field was currently in. To be honest she was glad that Judai was finally making a comeback and was slowly but surely starting to improve his skills as a duelist.
"My turn," began Yubel as she drew her next card and added it to her hand.
Yubel then stared at Gaizares deciding what she should do. She knew the effectiveness of her powers on the duel field varied when it came to the Gladial Beasts. Some of them she had no problem controlling them to attack her but there were others that were harder to coax into attacking her. It all depended on the Gladial Beast themselves although Yubel had to admit even the easier ones to control still put up a good fight as long as they could. Nonetheless, looking at Gaizares and how he behaved towards Judai, Yubel could guess that this one might be a lot harder to control especially if the high power she was sensing from him was any indication to go by. Now in a normal duel these kinds of issues wouldn't matter and Yubel could just use her effect without a care in the world. Still this was not a normal duel and so the will and strength of the duelist and the duel monster mattered greatly in these battles.
"I'll special summon Sacrifice Lotus and once again tribute it to keep myself on the field. I end my turn," simply stated Yubel. (Yubel: 2 cards in hand, 1 on field [1-MZ], 7 in graveyard)
Judai was a little surprised that Yubel didn't do more but decided not to throw a gift horse in the mouth when he had one.
"My turn," replied Judai while drawing his next card.
"Yes just what I needed! I play the Magic Pot of Greed and draw two cards!" exclaimed Judai, playing said card before drawing two more in his hand.
"I'll set a monster in face down defense position and then one card face down. And that ends my turn," Judai finished after placing the cards down on his duel disk. (Judai: 1 card in hand, 5 on field [2-MZ, 2-S/TZ, 1-FSZ], 7 in graveyard)
Yubel drew a card from her deck without a word before analyzing the duel field.
"I'll tribute Sacrifice Lotus to keep myself on the field. That's all for now," Yubel concluded in a casual way that made Judai wonder what Yubel was up to. (Yubel: 3 cards in hand, 1 on field [1-MZ], 7 in graveyard)
Judai also decided not to say anything as he drew his next card since his mind was trying to figure out what Yubel had in store for him.
"I pass this turn," stated Judai when he saw that there was really nothing he could do. (Judai: 2 cards in hand, 5 on field [2-MZ, 2-S/TZ, 1-FSZ], 7 in graveyard)
Yubel didn't respond and simply began her turn. When Yubel saw the card she just drew a huge smirk broke out on her face.
"Oh boy this can't be good," thought Judai knowing the meaning of that smirk all too well.
"First I'll activate another Raging Storm from my hand to destroy all magic and trap cards on the field," Yubel said as the card took immediate effect destroying Judai's face down cards which had been revealed to be My Body As a Shield and Defensive Tactics, yet Judai reacted quickly before his field spell would be destroyed.
"I activate the effect of Dungeon of the Gladial Beast – Colosseum! If this card would be destroyed by a card effect I can discard 1 "Dungeon of the Gladial Beast - Colosseum" to prevent this card from being destroyed!" Judai declared as he took the card from his hand, which was another copy of Dungeon of the Gladial Beast – Colosseum and sent it to his graveyard saving his field spell from destruction.
Despite Judai's last minute save, Yubel was still radiating with confidence as she continued her turn.
"Next I'll play the Magic Black Hole to destroy all monsters on the field," she continued with a growing smirk stretched across her face.
Judai bit his lip in both aggravation and worry. If Yubel hadn't of gotten rid of My Body as a Shield he could of used it to prevent Black Hole. However what was worse for Judai was not only was his field wide open but now Yubel could summon her second form and she did just that.
"Now that Yubel has been destroyed I can activate my effect to summon my second form, Yubel-The Detestable Knight (Fiend/Effect/Dark/Level 11/ATK 0/DEF 0)," announced Yubel as her body evolved into a huge purple two headed dragon.
Yubel, now standing on top of her second form was grinning with triumph as she played the last card from her hand.
"Lastly I'll use the Magic Resurrection of the Dead to bring back The Calculator to my side of the field in attack mode," declared Yubel as she activated the card and The Calculator returned to her side of the field.
"As you know The Calculator's attack is based on the combined level of all monsters on my side of the field and with my second form the combined level is thirteen. This makes The Calculator's attack thirty-nine hundred," Yubel said with growing confidence as her victory was assured.
Judai too realized his defeat was at hand but one thing dueling with Yubel had taught him was to accept defeat with grace and dignity. With his head held up and a straight expression on his face, Judai prepared himself for the finishing move.
"Now The Calculator direct attack," commanded Yubel and the monster immediately did as told.
The Calculator launched speedily into the air and flew itself at Judai. It delivered a strong forceful punch on Judai's face that successfully sent him flying backwards as his life points dropped to zero. An agonizing cry came from Judai when his body had landed painfully on the hard stone ground thanks to the field spell that was still on the field being real. (LP: Judai 0/Yubel 8000, Winner: Yubel)
"Looks like I win again," acknowledged Yubel with the duel now over and the scenery returning back to normal.
Judai wanted to say something but instead a groan come out of his mouth while he tried to get himself up yet he was having difficulty as pain still ranked his body. Yubel shook her head as she watched Judai struggling to try and stand before she went over to Judai to help him up. Judai gave Yubel a grateful smile when she finally got him back on his feet.
"You're going to have to heal yourself before we leave here you know," Yubel reminded Judai causing a tired sigh to come from his lips.
"I know," was all Judai said in reply before leaning himself more on Yubel for support before he soon fainted from exhaustion.
The moment Judai entered his bedroom he quickly found the bed and threw himself on it in a tired heap. After an early morning training session with Yubel along with a full day of school, Judai was all drained out. All Judai wanted to do now was sleep but sadly that was not going to be granted as Yubel appeared in spiritual form beside Judai with a playful look on her face.
"Don't you have homework to do?" she asked teasingly both of them knowing the answer to that.
Hearing the question made Judai sink his head further into the pillow with a muffled moan of displeasure which made Yubel smirk.
"I guess I might as well get it over with huh?" replied Judai lifting his head to turn to face Yubel.
"That's up to you, of course you don't have the same liberty with training," she remarked with mirth making Judai burry his head in the pillow again at the thought of today's earlier training.
However thinking back on that duel, a question that Judai had wanted to ask Yubel about it had come back to his mind. He would have asked Yubel earlier but he was still tired from training and then he had to eventually prepare for school so he had been too occupied at the time, but now he wasn't. With that in mind Judai turned to Yubel with a more curious and thoughtful expression on his face.
"Yubel how come you always get the cards you want? At first I thought it was just a coincidence but it happens too much in every duel for it to be just that," he wondered to which Yubel became stern in answering that question.
"It's all about how much you want to win and how much you put into the duel. When your will to win is strong enough the cards respond to it. And if your will is truly great you yourself can make the cards you want come to you," explained Yubel making Judai a little confused.
"But I did want to win and I was trying my best in those duels," Judai told Yubel with a frown.
"Yes but only near the end of the duel, that's why you did start getting the cards you needed around that time. But your will is still not strong enough for the cards to fully respond to you throughout the entire duel itself. You must learn to dig deeper to strengthen that will and not only that but you must get to know your deck inside and out for this to be more effective as well."
"So in other words I need to grow stronger," Judai deadpanned with a hard look on his face.
Yubel didn't answer but she really didn't need too since Judai got the message very clearly. Judai then took out his deck from his back pocket and stared at it with a contemplating look. Judai thought about how much all the monsters in his deck respected him and cared for him. All of what Yubel told him about the Light of Ruin and how it planned on destroying everything in existence and that he was the only one that could stop it. He thought back on all the training he had with Yubel so far and realized that with all their battles and duels he could never even touch her or scratch any of her life points. Judai's hand gripped the deck tighter in his palm with determination growing more on his features by the second.
"I won't let anyone down. I will become stronger!" thought Judai making a solemn vow that he intended on keeping.
"Yubel?" called Judai with a firm voice while keeping his eyes on his deck.
"Yes?" Yubel asked with a raised brow wondering what Judai would say when she heard the unexpected seriousness in his voice.
Judai put his deck back into his pocket before removing himself from the bed and going over to pick up his backpack from the floor. Judai began taking books out of it before turning back to face Yubel.
"After I finish my homework…I want to train some more," Judai told Yubel with all seriousness in his tone.
Yubel stared at the determination in Judai's eyes and understood what had just happened. A part of Yubel felt guilty for causing this to happen to Judai so soon but she quickly squashed that down knowing that this was all for the best in the end.
"Very well, but if we are doing more training I expect better results," Yubel stated strictly with her arms crossed.
Judai's face became hard as stone, gazing at Yubel intently.
"I will get stronger Yubel, I promise," Judai proclaimed with such strength and passion that had greatly moved Yubel.
For it was clear to her that Judai had meant every word, especially when for the first time in centuries she saw those intense dark golden eyes of the Supreme King flash for a moment in Judai's own eyes when he made that promise.
A/N: Well that's it for this chapter. Until next time!