Wild cards
Chapter 26
…
Harry was morose as he stepped into the ring with his next opponent. He nimbly shuffled his cards from hand to hand with little visible effort even though he looked like a dirty old beggar.
"Well there lad, you look like someone just kicked yer puppy" he observed.
Harry shook his head, "No I, I just lost a friend."
The man nodded knowingly, "Seen it many times. Some folk just can't stand to lose."
Then there were people like him, Harry thought, who'd spent all their lives losing, even when they won.
"Nothing for it now lad, best get yur head in the game less you just wanna hand me the win now?"
Harry scowled. He knew the man was just teasing but it reminded him why he had to win.
"Can't do that sir" he said, "I've come too far now to quit."
The man chuckled, "That's good to hear but please, no need to call me sir. Mundungus Fletcher, most folks just call me Dung."
"That's unfortunate" Harry said.
"Eh, at my age it takes more than a little name calling to get to me."
Sage advice, "I'm Harry."
"Pleased to meet you Harry. Shall we?" he said, presenting his duel board.
Harry nodded, "Let's."
"Game, start!"
Harry 2000 Dung 2000
Dung was first and made a point of visibly considering his cards. He opened with a magic card.
"Mandatory draft! This card lets me search my deck for a level 4 or lower warrior and add them to my deck."
Must not have had any monsters in his hand, Harry thought as Dung went through his deck.
"Ah, that'll do. Now that I've got im, I'll summon Mountain trapper."
The trapper was a grizzled looking man layered in furs. He carried an old pump action rifle in his hands and on his belt hung several nasty looking traps with sharp metal teeth.
A 900 D 800
"And thanks to his effect I'll go to my deck again for two trap cards."
Now that is how you do a first turn, Harry thought, watching Dung take his two traps and setting them on the field before ending his turn.
Harry had some catching up to do. He drew his card and came out strong.
"I summon Eagle Rider, and I'll attack Mountain trapper!"
The elven warrior on the giant eagle swooped own at the grizzled man, talons flashing. He should have known it wouldn't be that easy.
"Flying bear trap!"
The traps flew off the trapper's belt, latching onto the eagle's legs. The bird screamed and dropped to the ground, simultaneously throwing its rider.
"Flying bear trap halts your attack, lowers it by 300 and prevents you from attacking again."
With those metal manglers clamped on it was easy to see why you wouldn't attack again. The elf angrily dragged herself to her wounded mount and collapsed next to it.
Not such a good first turn, Harry thought, "I'll lay one card face down, and that'll be all."
Harry watched Dung draw his next card and ponder his move. Or so it would appear. Harry didn't believe it was actually taking him so long to decide what to do. He was trying to goad Harry, test his patience, and why not. Young boys were not known for their vast reserves of patience.
"I'll summon my Pod popper in defense mode."
The strange plant sprouted up from the floor like the world's fastest weed. It was huge, with massive fern like leaves and a fat head at the end of a single thick stalk.
A 0 D 2000
"Pod popper?" what an odd name.
"The pods are actually quite good boiled with some pepper" said Dung, "here they serve a different purpose. I garner one seed pod token each turn Pod popper is on the field."
Bollocks, Harry thought. He needed to destroy that thing, or this was all going to end badly for him. It certainly had the last time.
Harry drew his card and ground his teeth. Nothing. Nothing with the offensive strength he needed.
"I play Dwarven shield in defense mode and end my turn."
If he couldn't attack at least he could shore up his defenses.
Dung drew then grinned. Without pause he went straight to the play.
"I summon The Gambler in attack mode."
The Gambler had style, that was Harrys first impression. His cloths were custom made. The shirt was snow white and topped by a vest of midnight black with matching trousers. He wore a few highlight pieces, a ring, an old fashion pocket watch made of silver, all very subtle. The way he handled his deck of cards was anything but subtle.
A 700 D 400
"My gambler has an effect too."
"Of course he does" Harry groaned.
Chuckling, "The Gambler allows me to search my deck for any one magic card and add it to my hand."
And thus, his opponents style became clear. Hunt your deck for what you want. It was a brilliant strategy. Harry just hoped he could find a weak point before he was overcome by it.
"I activate the magic card Reload. This allows one of my monsters with a onetime use effect to use it again, and I think I'll use it on my Mountain Trapper."
Yep, search for what you want, Harry thought. Two traps joined his hand then two traps hit the field along with another seed pod token. All that done, he decided to let Harry have a turn.
Harry drew one card.
"I summon Nimble Rodentia #2."
A 1000 D 0
It wouldn't be of any use on the Pod popper, but it still beat out the other two.
"Nimble Rodentia #2, attack The Gambler."
The flying squirrel launched itself at the well-dressed man. Its battle cry was fearsome, ferocious, and too high pitched to really take seriously.
"Substitute!"
The Mountain Trapper stepped in to take the hit at the last second.
"Substitute lets me sacrifice another of my monsters and keep the one that would have been destroyed. I still take the damage but keep my monster."
But why, Harry wondered? The trapper was the stronger of the two. It didn't make sense to save him, unless he had cards that needed The Gambler to use.
Harry 2000 Dung 1700
"My move" said Dung, "and I activate the spell, One armed bandit."
A fancy golden slot machine appeared, and The Gambler stepped up and grabbed the arm.
"By sacrificing one token I get a chance on the machine. Each cherry is a multiplier, one cherry and my monster's attack remains the same. Two and his attack doubles. Three and it triples."
"What if you don't get any?"
"What's any number times zero?" Dung asked rhetorically, "Now, I sacrifice one seed pod token and let it ride."
One of the seed pods turned into a game token that flew into the machine. The Gambler gave the lever a pull and the machine lit up like a Christmas tree. The three wheels spun and spun and both competitors watched with baited breath.
The first one slowed, then stopped. Cherry. The second slowed, stopped, another cherry. The third took its sweet time, finally stopping on a cherry as well.
"Hoowaa!" shouted Dung, "That's a triple for me, bringing my monsters attack up to 2100. And I'll use that to attack your Eagle Rider."
The wounded duo barely noticed when they were about to be rent to tiny bits by a hail of razor sharp cards.
Harry did, "I activate Enhanced Reflection!"
"Which fails thanks to Poor Construction" Dung countered.
His trap shattered, his monster was destroyed, and almost half his life points with it.
Harry 1100 Dung 1700
"I think that'll do it for this turn" said Dung.
His turn ended, and The Gambler's attack returned to normal but the One armed bandit remained. Must have to do it every turn, Harry thought, better get rid of him now then.
"I'll sacrifice Nimble Rodentia #2, and summon my Black Rock Troll!"
One of the trolls he'd battled near the end of his dimension hopping journey now served him. Its stony hide was pitch black, the only dash of color being in the eyes, its glowing yellow eyes.
A 1600 D 1700
"Black Rock Troll, attack The Gambler!"
The stone brute raised its club to crush the well-dressed human.
"Pick a card!"
"What?" Harry screamed when The Gambler vanished behind a giant playing card and out of harm's way.
Three others appeared, shuffled, then arrayed themselves standing before the troll, "You get 2 chances. Choose right, you can attack my monster. Choose wrong and I'm safe" Dung explained.
It was like his Hat trick, just without the twist, Harry thought.
"The jack" Harry picked.
His troll slapped the card which spun around, revealing nothing. It toppled over and vanished, leaving Harry one more chance.
"The ten."
The troll was less gentle with this one, smashing it with his club. Too bad there was nothing there. The queen flipped, revealing The Gambler with a cheeky smirk on his face.
"Lady luck is smiling on me" Dung crowed.
Luck always seems to run out at the worst possible time. Harry remembered Tom's warning, he wasn't riding on luck. He'd planned his strategy's as best he could with room to improvise. But what about Dung.
Harry had seen what he thought was a well-planned and, for the opponent, infuriating strategy in Dung's playing. But what if that strategy was just luck? What if his strategy relied purely on luck?
Harry shook his head, he was overthinking it. It didn't matter if Dung's strategy was entirely based on luck. He couldn't affect luck. All he could do was focus on his own strategy, and he was close. He just needed something that would keep Dung from blocking him again.
"I end my turn."
Dung drew and placed 2 cards face down. Then it was time for a go on the One armed bandit. To Harry's delight, only two cherries.
Dung shook his head, but he wasn't done, "I activate the magic card Obnoxious aura, attaching it to my Pod Popper. Pod Popper loses 300 attack and defense but, until it is destroyed it is the only one of my monsters you can attack."
Which wouldn't do Harry any good with his current setup, so…
"My turn, and I'll sacrifice my Dwarven shield, to summon Red Rock Troll!"
Red rock may have been a misnomer. The troll was more a dusty orange with a very layered look. Its eyes, glowing gold, were almost buried in its craggy face.
A 1700 D 1600
"And, since their both on the field, the attack and defense of my two trolls go up 200."
A small boost that made all the difference.
"Black Rock Troll, attack Pod popper!"
The plant never saw its end coming, lacking eyes and all. The stone troll smashed the token factory into a leafy pulp, leaving The Gambler as Dung's only monster.
"Red Rock Troll, attack The Gambler!"
"Invisible Wall!"
The charging cliffside came to an abrupt halt, toppling over backwards and causing his fellow troll to chuckle in response.
"Invisible Wall halts one attack."
"Of course" Harry sighed, "I lay one card face down and end my turn."
Predictably, Dung's card went face down onto the field then it was on to the One armed bandit. Dung's luck was running low when he came up with only one cherry.
"Activate Loaded Dice, which allows me another try."
Harry cringed when the machine spun up three cherries.
"Whoo! Money in the bank! Now, attack Red Rock Troll."
The barrage of cards flew at the stone beast, but the black troll stepped up next to his companion, "Rock together!"
Together the two trolls withstood the barrage little worse for the wear. Harry had to chuckle a little at Dung's expression.
"Rock together can only be played when my two trolls are on the field together. Blocks any attacks against either for one turn."
Dung was stunned, but he recovered quickly, "Spose it was bound to happen" he said, "games not over yet though."
Harry made his draw then grinned, "I have to disagree with you on that Mr. Fletcher. I activate Storm of the Century!"
The powerful wind assaulted the field, shattering Dung's One armed bandit and his two face down cards. 600 points departed along with the winds, leaving the field barren.
The two trolls looked down at the well-dressed man and his summoner. Both of which looked appropriately concerned.
"This duel is over" Said Harry, "Black Rock Troll, attack The Gambler!"
Seeing Dung's eyes bug out as his troll towered over the two made the frustrations of the match all worth it. The club came down and Dung had to shield himself from the back draft while his life points dropped to zero.
Harry 1100 Dung 0
The duel over Harry approached his opponent and extended his hand, "Good game Mr. Fletcher."
Dung looked at the small boy, gave a chuckle, then took the offered hand, "Aye, that it was" he agreed, "Probably for the best" he added, "I wasn't really looking forward to dueling any of them."
Harry turned his attention to the three duels just wrapping up. He spotted his old 'friend', John the Destroyer. A sharply dressed man with a well-manicured moustache stood victorious in another. The last one nearly gave him a heart attack.
Seven-foot-tall and solid as any oak tree. Of all the thugs to have gotten this far in the tournament it had to be this one. And Harry had a sneaking suspicion who his next opponent would be.
"Oh bloody hell!"