Wild cards
Chapter 03
…
The great eagle screamed under a gout of dragon fire. Its body exploded in a burst of phantasmal feathers. The dragon roared its victory and the crowd replied in kind.
Harry stared as the spectral dragon faded. It was, without question, the most awesome thing ever.
"Looks like we caught the tail end" remarked Stanley.
"And that's the game" a loud voice boomed around the room, "Winner and reigning king of the hill, John, the destroyer."
The crowd roared again, some booed. Harry thought he understood when he caught a glimpse of the man in question. He was stout and gruff looking, not the sort you'd want to start a fight with but not the sort to make a lot of friends.
Stanley got his attention and motioned to an open spot in the stands.
The announcer carried on as they found their seats, "Who will climb the hill to try and unseat the king?"
"I will!" someone from the audience shouted.
The cheer went up as the brave soul marched down to the platform. A small bag floating in the air blocked his path till he dropped a sickle in and it hovered out of his way.
"Place your board and insert your deck" the announcer directed.
The challenger placed his board on the dais and then placed his deck in the slot next to it.
"Shuffle decks!"
The decks were magically shuffled at the announcer's command.
"This is a 1000-point game, challenger starts. Both players draw five."
Five cards were smoothly plucked from each deck.
"Let the game begin."
A barely visible sheen appeared around the stage and the large board hanging from the ceiling lit up and filled with images. Harry recognized some of them as duel cards, others empty spaces for them. It was the column of words on either end he couldn't make sense of, though they did sound oddly familiar.
"Those are the different duel phases" Stanley explained, "certain cards have effects that activate during certain phases ya see."
"Oh" said Harry, he remembered Andrew explaining about that, "What's that gray film that popped up when they started?"
"Silencing ward" he said, "keeps the audience from helping, since we can see what's in both hands.
"That makes sense" Harry thought aloud.
He went silent as the challenger drew his first card and the duel began.
Shuffling the cards in his hand as he considered his first move, "I summon, Furious Falcon in attack position."
There was a flash of light and a giant falcon with silvery gray wings and a vicious look in its eye appeared on the field.
A 800 D 400
Harry stared in wonder, his eyes glued to the field ignoring Stanley who was looking his mark up and down, oblivious to the duel.
"I lay one card face down and end my turn."
A card appeared on the field behind the summon and the lights indicated it was the champions turn.
John the Destroyer appeared perfectly calm, smiling while he looked over his cards.
"I summon Limestone Smasher!"
The creature summoned was a vaguely man shaped statue of white stone. It had a blocky geometric build and fists like massive mauls. Harry had a pretty good idea what they were for.
A 900 D 1200
"Limestone Smasher, attack Furious Falcon."
The behemoth stone brute moved to crush the oversized avian.
"I activate Chain trap" the challenger bellowed.
The face down card exploded into coils of thick heavy chains, shooting out like serpents, wrapping around the stone warrior till it was fully encased.
"Chain trap halts an attacking monster and binds it for two turns" the announcer explained.
John the Destroyer was unperturbed, "I set one card face down and end my turn."
The crowd jeered at the boring play but Harry just watched intently. Now that he had an active example he was beginning to understand some of the things Andrew had told him the previous day.
"I summon Raging Golden Eagle!"
This bird was bigger than the last one with brown wings, a golden-brown head and eyes that burned a furious red. Harry was vibrating in his seat.
A 1000 D 500
"Raging Golden Eagle, attack Limestone Smasher."
The angry raptor screamed and launched itself at the trapped stone man.
"I activate Reinforcements have arrived."
The card activated and the 'Limestone Smasher' was suddenly surrounded by armed warriors. Harry saw the Smashers attack go from 900 to 1400, and given the eagle only had 1000 attack.
"No!"
The eagle struck the reinforced Smasher and bounced off hard. The reinforcing soldiers rushed forward to finish it off. A dozen spears pierced the grounded eagle and it shattered into motes of light.
At the monsters death, the challengers life point total dropped from 1000 to 600.
The challenger grumbled, "I end my turn" he muttered after a quick look at his hand.
With this declaration, the reinforcements vanished and the Smasher's attack returned to normal.
The champion gave his cards an appraising look, followed by an appraising look at his opponent.
"I lay one card face down and end my turn."
Harry ignored the booing crowd in favor of staring at the face down card. He'd seen what it was, but unlike the rest of the audience he didn't understand the game well enough to know what it did.
The challenger drew then gave a wicked smile, "I summon Angry Elemental of Wind."
There was a burst of air, a powerful breeze blew through the room and thus arrived a small tornado with eyes.
A 800 D 700
"I also activate Updraft."
Another wind, this one rising from below, raised the attack of both monsters by 300.
"Angry Elemental of Wind, attack Limestone Smasher."
The elemental with its 1100 attack dropped on the Smasher with gale force. The audience waited for the counter. The Smasher was blown to bits, the champion lost 200 life points, then it came.
"I activate Repurposed Rubble."
The broken stone assembled itself into two piles. The board marked them as Rubble Token.
"For every 400 attack of a destroyed rock type monster, summon one Rubble Token in defense position" the announcer stated.
The challenger destroyed one of the Rubble Token with his Furious Falcon then ended his turn.
The champion wasted no time, "I sacrifice my Rubble Token to summon my Rock Troll."
Harry didn't know what a troll was but one look at the brute and he was thinking, yeah, that seems about right. It was sex feet tall with a huge hunched back and forearms as large as its head. Out of its back jutted several jagged stones and in its hand, a vicious looking club.
A 1600 D 1800
"I will also equip my Rock Troll with my Manic Mallet and attack the Furious Falcon."
Taking up the stone mallet the Rock Troll smashed the falcon who exploded like an angry pillow.
"And, thanks to the effect of Manic Mallet, attack Angry Elemental of Wind."
It was somewhat humorous seeing a tornado squashed with a mallet. The miserable fart sound it made upon its demise was funny too.
"And that is the game!" the announcer exclaimed as the battling phantom's faded and vanished.
The crowd had much less energy now than the last time Harry observed.
"That means we're down to our last challenger. Who wants to take the chance for a shot at the pot?"
The crowd murmured but without much enthusiasm. No one seemed willing to make the challenge, until…
"I will!" Harry shouted.