A/N: And here's the fourth Special Edition Gaiden exclusive!
This chapter will be about a character who has been absent from the series since Wrath of Pharaohmon.
Enjoy.
xxxxx
Lance
xxxxx
I am Lance Canebrook, and since the Shadow Tournament, my life has been on a road to recovery. I was used as Pharaohmon's vessel in his grand scheme of conquering two worlds. I recall every instance he used me to further his goals and use my body as a shield when his enemies goaded him into a battle. Once he regained his real body, he continued to use me as a puppet to duel in the Duelist section of the Shadow Tournament, which also ran alongside a Battle Royale simultaneously.
I was forced to duel Kenta Kitagawa, Seto Kaiba, Joey Wheeler, and Yugi Muto. Each time I attempted to send my defeated opponent to the shadow realm, fate intervened. In the finals, I not only lost to Yugi, but he expelled the darkness from me and ultimately freed me from Pharaohmon's control.
After Pharaohmon's ultimate defeat, my family and I went back to America. Since then, I haven't been back to Japan for nearly five years. Today, I've returned not only to see Domino City's Duelists, but to become reacquainted with them. I really want to see them again.
Shortly after walking out of a bus, I arrived at Kaibaland Theme Park. There was a big tournament being held for local and international Duelists. It's the annual Summer Duelist Championship hosted by KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusion. I figured why not make my grand return at this event and hopefully meet old faces. This would be a great way to also showcase my dueling skills! Today was actually day two of the tournament, as yesterday was a series of round-robin duels to determine the 8 finalists, which I passed easily.
I casually paced down a long hallway leading to the back corners of the area. There I found most of the tournament participants prepping their decks and hanging out talking. A few were distant and isolated themselves from the others. I gradually passed through the crowd and quickly bumped into someone in front of me.
"Oh! Pardon me," I said.
"It's okay. I wasn't looking where I was going either," the young man countered. As I got a good look at him, the first thing that caught my eye was his long, shocking green hair, tied back in a ponytail. He had round, wire-rimmed glasses that framed his equally shocking green eyes. "Larry Stonebagel," he introduced himself, offering his hand.
"Lance Canebrook," I replied, shaking his hand in return. "Stonebagel... you wouldn't happen to have any connection to Stonebagel Enterprises, would you?"
He smiled, a bit wryly. "Distantly, perhaps. It's not a very common name. Are you American?"
"Yes. My parents used to do business over here, but I haven't been back in 5 years."
As I was about to say more, the PA system made an announcement.
"Will Lance Canebrook and Weevil Underwood please report to Field 3."
"Well, that's me," I sighed. "It was nice meeting you, Larry. Good luck in the tournament."
"You, too. Maybe we'll end up facing each other."
"I think we're on opposite ends of the bracket, so if we do, it won't be until the finals."
"I'll be looking forward to that. Make sure not to lose before then."
"I won't."
Hopefully.
xxxxx
Weevil Underwood: 3500 LP
Lance Canebrook: 1000 LP
I needed to turn this duel around. I was down 2500 Life Points and unable to attack due to Weevil's combination of DNA Surgery, which changed all my monsters into Insect-types, and Insect Barrier, which prevents those Insect monsters from attacking. Besides those two cards, he had his Petit Moth equipped with Cocoon of Evolution (EARTH/Insect LVL/1 ATK/0 DEF/2000) in Defense Mode and Insect Queen (EARTH/Insect LVL/7 ATK/2800 (2200+200x3) DEF/2400) in Attack Mode, which gets an extra 200 Attack Points for every Insect-type monster on the field, as well as an Insect Monster Token (EARTH/Insect LVL/1 ATK/100 DEF/ 100), also in Attack Mode, which he received from his Insect Queen's effect.
On my field, I had a Ground Collapse Continuous Spell card, which disabled two of Weevil's Monster Card Zones, a face down Trap, and a face down Monster.
"It's my turn!" Weevil shouted. "I sacrifice my Insect Monster Token in order for my Insect Queen to attack your face down Monster!"
Insect Queen
ATK/2600 (2800-200)
The drider-like creature took a large bite out of the small grub that was the token, then charged toward my monster, which revealed itself to be a large humanoid mass of muscles with several eyes all over its body. Then, due to the effect of DNA Surgery, the monster sprouted insectoid antennae and mandibles, while all of its eyes turned compound.
Big Eye
DARK/Insect (Fiend)
LVL/4 ATK/1200 DEF/1000
Insect Queen
ATK/2800 (2600+200)
"When my Big Eye is revealed," I announced, "I get to look at the top 5 cards in my deck, then return them in any order I choose!"
I looked at the cards I drew, and compared them with the 6 I had in my hand. I could pull this off, with a little luck, I thought to myself as I rearranged them.
As I placed the 5 cards back on top of my deck, Weevil's attack commenced and my monster was shattered into data fragments.
Insect Queen
ATK/2600 (2800-200)
"Now, since my Insect Queen destroyed a monster, I get to summon another Insect Monster Token to the field!"
Another small grub materialized on the field.
Insect Monster Token
EARTH/Insect
LVL/1 ATK/100 DEF/100
Insect Queen
ATK/2800 (2600+200)
"That's just what I was waiting for!" I exclaimed. "I reveal my trap: Token Feastevil! Whenever a token is Special Summoned, I get to destroy all tokens on the field and hit you for 300 points of damage for each one!"
Weevil flinched as the token exploded in his face.
Weevil Underwood: 3200 LP (3500-300)
Insect Queen
ATK/2600 (2800-200)
"Bah! Is that all you can do?" Weevil jeered.
"Heh, just wait. Now, I draw and activate another Ground Collapse! Since you only have 1 open Monster Zone, I have to sacrifice a Monster Zone of my own, but now you can't summon any more monsters, so in order to attack with your Insect Queen, you'll have to sacrifice your Petit Moth! Now, I place one monster Face-Down, and end my turn."
"HEHEHEHEHEHE! Is that it? You fool! I don't need my Insect Queen anymore! Since it's been 6 turns since I activated my Cocoon of Evolution, I can now sacrifice my Petit Moth to summon Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth!"
As he said this, the pink cocoon on the field split open to reveal a large yellow and green moth with blue striped wings.
Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth
EARTH/Insect
LVL/8 ATK/3500 DEF/3000
"Now go, my Moth! Attack his Face Down Monster!"
As the giant winged insect swooped toward my monster, which was revealed to be a man in silver armor with a red cape.
Familiar Knight
DARK/Insect (Warrior)
LVL/3 ATK/1200 DEFL 1400
Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth easily smashed right through the dark warrior, which was just what I was hoping for.
"When my Familiar Knight is sent to the Graveyard as a result of battle, we're both able to Special Summon 1 Level 4 Monster from our hands," I declared. "Unfortunately for you, due to the effects of Ground Collapse, you're unable to summon anything, while I'm free to summon my Dark Blade in Defense Mode!"
A knight in spiky black armor with two wicked-looking swords appeared on my field, then took a knee and crossed his swords in front of him in a defensive position.
Dark Blade
DARK/Insect (Warrior)
LVL/4 ATK/1800 DEF/1500
Then, as DNA Surgery took effect, Dark Blade grew antennae and mandibles, and his swords fused with his hands into pincers.
Insect Queen
ATK/2800 (2600+200)
"Bah! Is that all? You're just using cheap stall tactics. Go ahead and make your next move."
"Gladly!" I asserted. "I activate the Spell Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw 3 cards, as long as I then discard 2 of them." I added the next three cards from my deck to my hand, then took two others and put them in the Graveyard. "Since one of the cards I discarded was Broww, Huntsman of Dark World, I'm also allowed to draw one extra card."
I took a deep breath. I've got all the cards that Big Eye showed me, but I still don't have the one card I need to finish this. It all comes down to this draw. With a quick motion, I took the top card from my deck, then cracked a smile as I saw what it was.
"I activate the Quick Spell Mystical Space Typhoon, allowing me to destroy your DNA Surgery Trap!"
As the trap card burst into fragments, my Dark Blade returned to normal.
Dark Blade
DARK/Warrior
"Now that my monsters are no longer Insects, they no longer power up your Insect Queen, AND I'm also able to attack you!"
Insect Queen
ATK/2600 (2800-200)
"It does you no good. You only have one monster to Tribute. Nothing you can summon can stand up to my Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth!"
"Which is why I'm summoning Double Coston to the field, instead!"
A black blob of a ghost appeared on the field, and then split into two, like mitochondria.
Double Coston
DARK/Zombie
LVL/4 ATK/1700 DEF/1650
"Interesting," Weevil mused. "Double Coston's effect lets it count as 2 monsters when you use it for a Tribute Summon, but you still have to wait until next turn before you can make your move!"
"Not if I activate the Spell Card Double Summon, which lets me Normal Summon one additional time this turn!"
"What?"
"Now behold, as I sacrifice Dark Blade and Double Coston to summon a monster so powerful, it needs three Tributes: The Wicked Dreadroot!"
Suddenly, a large black storm cloud appeared above the field. An imposing, demonic gargantuan resembling the Summoned Skull with a well-defined, muscular, green armored body descended from the cloud. Bony armor covers the demonic fiend's massive arms and lines down the arms. The head was concealed behind a large skull visage coupled with horns. Massive black wings, twice as wide as its body, spread behind the behemoth's back.
The Wicked Dreadroot
DARK/Fiend
LVL/10 ATK/4000 DEF/4000
"F...f... Four thousand Attack Points?" Weevil stuttered.
"That's right! And not only that, but every card on the field, aside from The Wicked Dreadroot, gets its Attack Points halved."
"WHAT?"
Insect Queen
ATK/1300 (2600/2)
Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth
ATK/1750 (3500/2)
"This... this can't be!"
"Oh, but I'm not done yet!" I looked at the last two cards in my hand. "I discard one card to activate the Equip Spell Twin Swords of Flashing Light – Tryce! Now, by decreasing Dreadroot's Attack by 500 points, he can attack both of your monsters!"
Two long blue swords with yellow 'W' shaped hilts appeared in Dreadroot's hands.
The Wicked Dreadroot
ATK/3500 (4000-500)
"Now, Dreadroot, attack his Moth!"
The demonic fiend swooped towards the giant insect and easily destroyed it with one of the swords.
Weevil Underwood: 1450 LP (3200-1750)
"Now, without your Moth, your Insect Queen is that much weaker!"
Insect Queen
ATK/1200 ((2600-200)/2)
"Now watch as The Wicked Dreadroot finishes off your Queen!"
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Dreadroot spun around and, dodging Insect Queen's pincers, impaled the drider with the other sword, shattering it to pieces.
Weevil Underwood: 0 LP (1450-2300)
xxxxx
A few minutes later, I was standing in front of the tournament board, watching the brackets get updated, when I heard a slightly British voice call out.
"Lance Canebrook! I thought that was you!"
I turned to see a familiar young man with spiky white hair. "Ryou Bakura! It's been a while! Not since the Shadow Tournament, eh? Of course, neither of us were exactly ourselves at the time..."
"True, but my days of being controlled by the Millennium Ring are long over."
"So are you still in the tournament?" I asked.
"Unfortunately, no. I was defeated by Richard Grandra," Bakura explained.
"Grandra? I'm dueling a Shaina Grandra in the semifinals. They related?"
"Brother and sister, actually. There's a third sibling, George, who's the youngest, but he was just knocked out of the tournament. I'm surprised you haven't heard of them. They're pretty famous."
"So what's their deal?"
"They're all dueling prodigies from the United Kingdom. Richard has won 5 national and 4 international championships, and made Japanese headlines a few years ago when he defeated Seto Kaiba and spooked him into an early retirement."
"That's nothing. I've defeated Seto Kaiba, back in the Shadow Tournament."
"Yes, well, anyway, George is the youngest, and has made a name for himself with his Elemental Hero deck, defeating well-known duelists such as Weevil Underwood, Rex Raptor, and Mako Tsunami."
"Pfft. Weevil was a pushover, and I hear Rex isn't much better. I can't believe that they made it this far in the tournament."
"Well, to be fair, they were considered top duelists back in the day, though that was before Yugi and the others started making the scene. The mechanics of the game were also a bit... nebulous, to say the least. Remind me to tell you sometime about Yugi's Catapult Turtle Gambit. It's amazing what you could get away with back then."
"What about the one I'm dueling?"
"Shaina, the sister of the trio, has the least amount of experience, but every bit as good as her siblings. She's gained her own following and defeated a few respectable veterans over the last few years. She has a habit of clearing the field and attacking when you're wide open."
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."
"Shaina Grandra and Lance Canebrook, please report to Field 2 for your duel."
xxxxx
Shaina turned out to be a teenage girl with long brown hair wearing a short-sleeve pink shirt, blue jean shorts, and white shoes. She winked at me as we met at the center of the field to shake hands and shuffle each others' deck.
"You're cute," she said with a coy smile. "I'm gonna have fun beating you."
I didn't have anything to say to that (probably because I was blushing a bit) so I just cleared my throat and took my place at the opposite end of the field.
Lance Canebrook: 4000 LP
Shaina Grandra: 4000 LP
"Ladies first," I called out.
"My, how chivalrous, but I'll take the second turn, if you don't mind."
"If you insist!" I shouted as I drew. "I summon Vorse Raider in attack mode!"
A yellow-skinned goblin appeared, wearing a black vest and blue pants with spikes coming out of his helmet in all four directions.
Vorse Raider
DARK/Beast-Warrior
LVL/4 ATK/1900 DEF/1200
"I'll then place four cards face down and end my turn!"
"Ooh, four cards!" Shaina crooned. "You must have something big planned."
"Heh, you'll see."
"Very well, my draw! I activate the Field Spell A Legendary Ocean! I hope you don't get seasick!"
As she slid the card into the slot on the side of her Duel Disk, the field around us transformed into an endless sea of roaring waves.
"A Legendary Ocean has three effects: First, I can treat this card just like Umi for the purposes of other cards' effects. Second, it increases the Attack Points of all Water-attribute monsters on either side of the field by 200 points. Finally, It decreases the Level of all Water-attribute monsters in either of our hands by one, meaning we can summon a Level 7 monster with one Tribute, or a Level 5 monster with no Tributes!"
"And I suppose that's what you plan to do next?"
"Not quite. First I'm going to discard one card from my hand to activate the Spell Card Cost Down, which decreases the Level of all monsters in my hand by an additional 2 levels until the end of my turn, which means that a Level 7 Water-attribute monster in my hand is now effectively a Level 4!"
"So that means..."
"You guessed it. Come forth, my Levia-Dragon – Daedalus!"
As Shania slammed her card on the Duel Disk, a surge of water erupted from the waves, revealing a gigantic blue sea dragon equipped with an armored head and spine-like fins across its back.
Levia-Dragon – Daedalus
WATER/Sea Serpent
LVL/4 (7-3) ATK/2800 (2600+200) DEF/1500
"Impressive," I admitted.
"Oh, I'm not done yet!" The tone of her voice was excited. "While it's true that Daedalus can destroy every card on the field except itself by sacrificing Umi, or, in this case, A Legendary Ocean, I can also sacrifice it to Special Summon Ocean Dragon Lord – Neo-Daedalus!"
A cerulean aura covered Daedalus as it transformed the robust sea beast. Its entire body stretched out several feet wide in length. The fins across the back were larger and armed with sharper spines, and its head split into two.
Ocean Dragon Lord – Neo-Daedalus
WATER/Sea Serpent
LVL/5 (8-3) ATK/3100 (2900+200) DEF/1600
"Now, by sacrificing A Legendary Ocean, I can not only destroy all the cards on the field, aside from Neo-Daedalus, I can destroy all the cards in our hands, as well!"
Neo-Daedalus started to spin in a circle, gradually increasing speed until a water spout started to form over the ocean, drawing the sea up into the funnel cloud as it slowly expanded to cover the field.
"Not so fast!" I shouted. "I activate the Trap Card Nightmare Archfiends! Now, by sacrificing my Vorse Raider, I can summon three Nightmare Archfiend Tokens on your side of the field!"
As Vorse Raider disintegrated, three black imps with red eyes and shocking blue hair appeared on Shaina's field.
Nightmare Archfiend Token (x3)
DARK/Fiend
LVL/6 ATK/2000 DEF/2000
"What was the point of that?" Shaina wondered. "They're just going to get destroyed anyway!"
"The point," I explained, "is that whenever a Nightmare Archfiend Token is destroyed, its controller, in this case, you, takes 800 points of damage. And since Neo-Daedalus' effect is about to destroy three of them..."
"That's 2400 points of damage!" Shaina finished.
As the winds from the water spout grew stronger, the three imps were lifted into the air and launched right into Shaina, exploding on impact.
Shaina Grandra: 1600 LP (4000-2400)
As the vortex drew all the water out of the sea, all that was left was a light mist covering the field.
Ocean Dragon Lord – Neo-Daedalus
LVL/6 (5+1) ATK/2900 (3100-200)
"Nice move, but now your field is wide open!"
"You think so? Look again!"
As the mist cleared, we could see that there were three golden serpentine statues on my field.
Wicked Token (x3)
DARK/Fiend
LVL/4 ATK/1000 DEF/1000
"What happened?" Shaina pondered.
"What happened was that the three face down cards you destroyed were three Statue of the Wicked Trap Cards, which, when destroyed, each allow me to summon a Wicked Token, in this case, in Defense Mode," I clarified, "Furthermore, the card in my hand that you destroyed was Broww, Huntsman of Dark World, which, when discarded by a card effect, allows me to draw a card, and since it was your card effect that discarded it, I get to draw an additional card."
"That's pretty nifty," Shaina remarked. "Not only did you prevent me from clearing your field of monsters, but you even managed to partly replenish your hand, while I'm left with a single card on the field."
"Thank you."
"However, that one card is still a monster with 2900 Attack Points, so Neo-Daedalus, attack one of his Wicked Tokens!"
Balls of energy formed in the sea serpent's twin heads, which, when released, spiraled around each other until they slammed into one of the golden statues, destroying it instantly.
"Alright, hot stuff, let's see what you got. I end my turn."
Ocean Dragon Lord – Neo-Daedalus
LVL/8 (6+2)
"My pleasure! I activate the Graceful Charity Spell Card, allowing me to draw three cards, as long as I then discard two, and the two cards I'm discarding are Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World, and Sillva, Warlord of Dark World, both of which I can Special Summon to the field whenever they are discarded by a card effect!"
Two monsters appeared on my field. One was a purple-skinned demon wearing bony armor and wielding a bone-handled naginata, while the other was a large, winged, grey-skinned demon in feathered silver armor wielding a long dagger.
Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World
DARK/Fiend
LVL/4 ATK/1600 DEF/1300
Sillva, Warlord of Dark World
DARK/Fiend
LVL/5 ATK/2300 DEF/1400
"Now I sacrifice Beiige and my two Wicked Tokens to summon The Wicked Eraser!"
Summoned behind a thin cloud of smoke, the Wicked Eraser was revealed as a heavily armored dragon with sharp blades for horns. The lower half of its body was long and snake-like ending with two tail-tipped blades. Its beak-like mouth was as sharp as its claws. Two glider-shaped metal wings spread behind its back.
The Wicked Eraser
DARK/Fiend
LVL/10 ATK/? DEF/?
"The Wicked Eraser gains 1000 Attack and Defense Points for each card you control. Since all you have on your field is your Neo-Daedalus, it's not very strong right now, so I'll set one card face down and end my turn."
The Wicked Eraser
ATK/1000 (1000x1) DEF/1000 (1000x1)
"All right, then, my move! I activate the Spell Card Terraforming! Now I can add one Field Spell from my deck to my hand, and I choose the Field Spell Umi!"
"Ah, I assume you plan to use that to activate Neo-Daedalus' effect, in order to destroy my Eraser, so in the interest of full disclosure, I should probably tell you that would be a bad idea."
"And why's that?"
"Because when The Wicked Eraser is destroyed, its effect would also destroy all the cards on the field, only this time, your Neo-Daedalus wouldn't be spared. For a similar reason, I wouldn't recommend attacking it, either, even though it's only got 1000 Attack Points."
"And simply activating Umi would be a waste, since the 200 point bonus Neo Daedalus would get would be nothing compared to the extra 1000 points that Eraser gets. However, you forget that you have another monster out on your field! Go, Neo-Daedalus! Attack Sillva, Warlord of Dark World!"
"Not so fast! I activate the Trap Nightmare Archfiends!"
"Another one?"
"That's right! I sacrifice Sillva to summon three Nightmare Archfiend Tokens on to your side of the field!"
The golden-armored demon dispersed into data while the three black imps returned to Shaina's field.
Nightmare Archfiend Token (x3)
DARK/Fiend
LVL/6 ATK/2000 DEF/2000
"Not these guys again! As if I needed more incentive not to destroy your monster..."
"Yes, well, besides that added incentive, each Nightmare Archfiend Token grants The Wicked Eraser another 1000 Attack and Defense Points!"
The Wicked Eraser
ATK/4000 (1000x4) DEF/4000 (1000x4)
"Alright, alright... I see I've been outmaneuvered, for now. I end my turn."
"Oh, by the way," I said off-handedly as I drew a card, "did I mention that during my Main Phase I can choose to destroy The Wicked Eraser myself?"
"No," She eyed me, coolly. "No you did not."
"Oh, well, I don't suppose you could have done anything different if I had, since all you have in your hand is the Umi card you got from Terraforming, and with three Nightmare Archfiend Tokens on your field, I can end this duel right here! Eraser, activate Self-Destruction!"
The Wicked Eraser started to glow white-hot before setting off a massive explosion, destroying Ocean Dragon Lord – Neo-Daedalus and launching the three Nightmare Archfiend Tokens into Shaina.
Shaina Grandra: 0 LP (1600-2400)
xxxxx
"Wow," Shaina commented as we were both exiting the field, "I gotta admit, I've never had my strategy shut down so completely before."
"Well, I think it was just bad luck on your part, going up against a deck like mine, though I will admit, had you attacked Vorse Raider with Neo-Daedalus instead of activating his effect, this duel might have gone in a different direction."
"True, but I couldn't be sure of what those 4 face-down cards were, so destroying them seemed the safer option, at the time," she admitted. "Still, that was a good duel."
"I'll say!" Bakura said as he walked up to us. "That was bloody brilliant!"
"Oh, thanks. Shaina, this is Ryou Bakura. Bakura, this is Shaina Grandra," I introduced the two.
"A pleasure," Bakura bowed.
"Ah, you're the one my brother trounced in the quarterfinals," Shaina commented.
"Well, now, I wouldn't say trounced," Bakura defended. "I was only one turn away from completing my Destiny Board combo when he used his Armed Dragon LV10 to destroy my monsters and attack me directly."
"Fair enough. Speaking of Richard, I wonder how he's doing in his duel?" Shaina wondered.
"Why don't we head over to the other field and find out? Our duel was over so quickly that we might be able to catch the end of theirs," I suggested.
"Who's he dueling, anyway?" Bakura wondered.
"Some guy named Larry Stonebagel," Shaina answered. "He's the one who defeated my brother George in the last round."
"Ah, I met him earlier today," I mentioned. "He seems like a nice enough guy."
"Well, nice or not, he's gonna have a difficult time dealing with Richard's deck."
xxxxx
Larry Stonebagel: 1500 LP
Richard Grandra: 2200 LP
As Bakura, Shaina, and I reached the other dueling field, we were relieved to see that the duel was still in progress, and Shaina especially so, as her brother was ahead. However, Larry had a Gemini Elf armed with an Axe of Despair (EARTH/Spellcaster LVL/4 ATK/2900 (1900+1000) DEF/900) and a single face-down card on the field, while Richard only had an Armed Dragon LV7 (WIND/Dragon LVL/7 ATK/2800 DEF/1000). Apparently, though, it was Richard's turn.
"My draw!" the British teen shouted. "I sacrifice my Armed Dragon LV7 in order to summon Armed Dragon LV10!"
Richard's red dragon grew slightly more massive as it stood up on its hind legs and more silver armor appeared on it.
Armed Dragon LV10
WIND/Dragon
LVL/10 ATK/3000 DEF/2000
"Now, by discarding one card, I can activate Armed Dragon's special effect and destroy all of your face-up monsters!"
As Richard placed one card from his hand into his graveyard, his dragon let out a mighty roar which shattered Larry's twin elves and their axe.
"Now, Armed Dragon, attack him directly!"
"Not so fast!" Larry countered. "I activate the Quick Spell card Scapegoat, which lets me summon 4 Sheep Tokens in Defense Mode!"
As Richard's dragon prepared to fire an energy blast at Larry, four balls of fur with curved horns appeared on Larry's field.
Sheep Token (x4)
EARTH/Beast
LVL/1 ATK/0 DEF/0
Armed Dragon let loose his energy beam, but one of the sheep intercepted it, sacrificing itself, but saving Larry's Life Points.
"Bah!" Richard shouted. "You may have saved yourself this time, but next turn you won't be so lucky!"
"Unfortunately for you, there won't be a next turn!" Larry smirked. "My draw! I summon Maha Vailo!"
Larry's new monster was a sorceress in blue robes with large blue blade-like wings and a gold and blue headdress.
Maha Vailo
LIGHT/Spellcaster
LVL/4 ATK/1550 DEF/1400
"Now, as you may or may not know," Larry explained, "Maha Vailo gets an extra 500 Attack Points for each Equip Spell card she's equipped with, so when I activate the Equip Spell card United We Stand, she not only gains the 500 Attack and Defense Points due to her effect, she also gains 800 Attack Points for each Face-Up Monster I control. Counting Maha Vailo herself, that's 4 monsters for an additional 3200 Attack Points!"
The three remaining Sheep Tokens began to hover around Maha Vailo as the four of them began to pulse with a white aura.
Maha Vailo
ATK/5250 (1550+500+800x4) DEF/4600 (1400+800x4)
"What?" Richard exclaimed. "It's Attack Points... they're OVER FIVE THOUSAND!"
"Not only that, but it's enough to destroy your monster AND wipe out the rest of your Life Points! Go, Maha Vailo! Attack his Armed Dragon!"
Maha Vailo, still pulsing with energy, began chanting a spell as a ball of energy formed in front of her, then quickly launched into Armed Dragon, shattering it to pieces.
Richard Grandra: 0 LP (2200-2250)
xxxxx
"Richard!" Shaina ran up to meet her brother as he exited the dueling field.
"Ah, Shaina, dear," Richard replied. "It's a pity I didn't win, but I trust you'll prevail against Larry in the finals."
"Actually..." the British girl trailed off.
"What? Don't tell me you actually lost as well!" A third voice called out. The two siblings turned to see a younger teenage boy walking up to them, whom I inferred to be their younger brother, George.
"Well," Richard mused, "a tournament final without a Grandra in it is a rare thing indeed."
"Yes, it isn't often when the three of us get defeated in the same day," Shaina commented. "At least the two finalists are the ones who defeated us. Speaking of which, Richard, George, this is Lance Canebrook. He's the one who defeated me."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Richard said as we shook hands. "You must be quite skilled if you were able to beat Shaina."
"Thank you," I replied. "It's nice to hear that from a duelist of your caliber."
"Attention, please. The final match between Larry Stonebagel and Lance Canebrook will be on the main dueling field in 15 minutes."
"Well," George interrupted. "Come on, you two, I'm sure Lance here needs a few moments to prepare his deck."
"Good luck, Lance. I'll be rooting for you," Shaina offered me her hand, and I shook it, feeling something being pressed into my palm. As I looked to see what it was, I found a piece of paper with a phone number on it. "Call me," she winked.
Rendered speechless for a second time, I could do nothing but stare as she walked away.
xxxxx
Maximillion Pegasus, CEO of Industrial Illusions and creator of Duel Monsters, stood at the edge of his balcony in the grandstands. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen," he said, "to the final match of this year's Summer Duelist Tournament. We started this tournament with a field of 32 competitors, and now we are left with the final 2! May I present, Lance Canebrook..." At the mention of my name, a spotlight lit the field where I was standing. "...and Larry Stonebagel!" A similar spotlight lit up my opponent, the guy I met at the start of today's duels.
"Well, I'm glad to see that it's you I'm facing," Larry said to me. "Although I will admit I was kind of hoping to face Shaina Grandra. It would have been nice to be able to defeat all three of the Grandra siblings in the same tournament."
"I know what you mean," I replied. "I've only beaten Shaina, but when I defeat you, it'll be like I defeated both of her brothers, as well!"
"Well, when you put it that way, I only need to defeat you to complete my trifecta!" He laughed.
"You can try, but I'm not gonna make it easy for you!" I warned.
"LET'S DUEL!" We shouted.
Lance Canebrook: 4000 LP
Larry Stonebagel: 4000 LP
"I'll take the first move!" Larry announced. "I'll set one monster in Defense Mode and another card face-down. Your turn."
"That's it?" I scoffed. "You call that a first move? Watch this! I summon Double Coston to the field!"
Once again, the black ghost appeared on the field and split into two.
Double Coston
DARK/Zombie
LVL/4 ATK/1700 DEF/1650
"Then I activate the Spell Card Double Summon, which allows me to Normal Summon once more this turn, and since my Double Coston can count as two tributes, I sacrifice it to summon Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World!"
Reign-Beaux was a large skull-faced demonic fiend, armed with folded horns and a golden twin-tipped spear, with heavy armor over its chest. Its massive black wings were lined with blades.
Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World
DARK/Fiend
LVL/7 ATK/2500 DEF/1800
"Pfft..." Larry sputtered. "Reign-Beaux? As in 'Rainbow'?"
"Hey, I didn't name the card," I shot a glance towards Pegasus. "Besides, you won't be laughing when he destroys your face-down monster! Reign-Beaux, attack!"
The demon launched its spear at Larry's face-down monster, which revealed itself to be a purple-haired woman in black robes.
Witch of the Black Forest
DARK/Spellcaster
LVL/4 ATK/1100 DEF/1200
Larry laughed as his monster was destroyed. "I hate to prove you wrong so early, but that's exactly what I wanted you to do! When Witch of the Black Forest is destroyed, I can take one monster from my deck and add it to my hand, as long as it has 1500 Defense Points or less, and the card I'm choosing is my ace-in-the-hole, Maha Vailo! Furthermore, I activate my face-down Quick-Spell, Scapegoat, which summons 4 Sheep Tokens to the field.
As Reign-Beaux's spear flew back to its hand, four goat-horned puffballs appeared on Larry's field.
Sheep Token (x4)
EARTH/Beast
LVL/1 ATK/0 DEF/0
"Well played, my friend," I commented. "Scapegoat's effect prevents you from summoning on the turn you activate it, but since you activated it during my turn, that doesn't really apply to you, does it? So I'll place one card face down and end my turn."
"I suppose you can guess what's coming," Larry said as he drew his next card, "so it should come as no surprise when I summon Maha Vailo!"
The blue-robbed sorceress appeared on the field in front of Larry.
Maha Vailo
LIGHT/Spellcaster
LVL/4 ATK/1550 DEF/1400
"And since you took the time to activate Scapegoat," I interjected, "I assume you'll be activating United We Stand, as well."
"You assume correctly!" Larry shouted excitedly, as he placed the card in the Spell/Trap slot on his Duel Disk. The Sheep Tokens once again swarmed around Maha Vailo as they all began to pulse with a white aura.
Maha Vailo
ATK/6050 (1550+500+800x5) DEF/5400 (1400+800x5)
"Now go Maha Vailo! Attack his Reign-Beaux!"
This is gonna be close... I thought.
The sorceress channeled a white-hot ball of energy from her aura and launched it at my monster, destroying it instantly.
Lance Canebrook: 450 LP (4000-3550)
"I activate the Trap Card Sinister Seeds!" I announced. "Now, for every 500 points of Battle Damage I just took, I can summon a Sinister Seed Token. Since I can't actually summon seven tokens, I guess I'll just have to settle for the maximum five."
An exotic-looking plant appeared on the field and shot out five large, brown seeds.
Sinister Seed Token (x5)
DARK/Plant
LVL/1 ATK/100 DEF/100
"Nice move," Larry complimented. "I'll place one card Face Down and end my turn here. Let's see what you got, Lance."
"My pleasure! I sacrifice three of my Sinister Seed Tokens to summon The Wicked Avatar!"
The lights in the auditorium seemed to dim as a large black sphere materialized and began to radiate a white aura.
The Wicked Avatar
DARK/Fiend
LVL/10 ATK/? DEF/?
"What is that?" Larry wondered, awe-struck.
"That," I answered, "is arguably the strongest of my trio of Wicked Monsters. The Wicked Avatar's Attack and Defense Points are always 100 points higher than the highest Attack on the field, except for itself or another Wicked Avatar."
The Wicked Avatar
ATK/6150 (100+6050) DEF/6150 (100+6050)
"Furthermore," I continued, "you cannot activate any Spell or Trap cards until the end of your second turn after I Normal Summon this card, and that includes the one you just set."
"WHAT?"
"Let's see you counter this! Go, my Avatar, demolish his Maha Vailo!"
A small, circular section of the sphere opened up and released a beam of pure white light which pierced and destroyed Maha Vailo.
Larry Stonebagel: 3900 LP (4000-100)
The Wicked Avatar
ATK/100 DEF/100
"Alright, you defeated my Maha Vailo, but now that there's no other monster on the field, The Wicked Avatar's Attack and Defense drop down to 100, and its very nature means that it can only chip away at my Life Points 100 points at a time. Besides, I still have my Sheep Tokens in Defense Mode, and you only have 450 Life Points!"
"Larry, my boy, you are wrong on so many counts! Before I end my turn, I activate the Spell Card Token Thanksgiving! This destroys all tokens on the field, and I gain 800 Life Points for each one. Between your four Sheep Tokens and my two remaining Sinister Seed Tokens, that's six tokens for 4800 Life Points!"
Lance Canebrook: 5250 LP (450+4800)
"Well, then, I stand corrected. Even so, your monster still has one glaring weakness. Since I can't activate any Spells or Traps, I'll simply summon Black Stego in Attack Mode and end my turn."
A large black stegosaurus with red spines and razor sharp teeth appeared on the field.
Black Stego
EARTH/Dinosaur
LVL/4 ATK/1200 DEF/2000
The Wicked Avatar
ATK/1300 (100+1200) DEF/1300 (100+1200)
"I see what you're doing there," I said as I began my turn. "By leaving Black Stego in Attack Mode, you're trying to goad me into attacking it. However, I am well aware of Black Stego's effect, which switches it to Defense Mode whenever it is declared the target of an attack. And since its Defense Points are significantly higher than its Attack Points, and, therefore, Avatar's Attack Points, I would take 700 points of damage. This is the weakness of which you speak, correct? I know of two ways to counteract this. The first is to simply not attack. The nature of The Wicked Avatar's effect is such that it cannot be defeated in direct battle. No matter how much you raise your monster's Attack Points, Avatar's Attack Points would rise just as much. However, this tactic isn't very productive. To that effect, I activate the Spell Card Dark World Dealings. Now we each draw one card, and then discard one card, and the card I'm discarding just so happens to be Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World, which, like Sillva and Beiige, can be Special Summoned to the field whenever it is discarded by a card effect.
Summoned to the field was an imposing blue demon with a skull-like visage and a golden horned helmet. Golden feathered armor adorned its massive shoulders. The golden-armored tips of its massive gargoyle-like wings loomed over its shoulders and it wielded a large black and gold axe.
Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World
DARK/Fiend
LVL/5 ATK/2300 DEF/1400
The Wicked Avatar
ATK/2400 (100+2300) DEF/2400 (100+2300)
"As you can see, the other way to counteract Avatar's weakness is to not let my opponent dictate my monster's Attack Points." I announced triumphantly. "Now watch as Goldd obliterates your Black Stego!"
"I activate Black Stego's effect to switch it to Defense Mode!" Larry countered.
The stegosaurus curled itself into a ball as Goldd's axe cleaved right through it.
"Now, Avatar, attack him directly!"
The opening appeared on the sphere and shot a beam of light at Larry.
Larry Stonebagel: 1500 LP (3900-2400)
"So much for 100 points at a time, eh? And with that, I'll end my turn."
"Very well," Larry stated. "I'll draw and end my turn, as well."
"Giving up already? Fine, then. Avatar, attack him directly and end this!"
"It's not that I'm giving up, it's just that I had nothing I could play last turn, thanks to your Avatar's special effect, but now that I've completed two turns since it was summoned, I can now activate my Face Down Trap, Negate Attack, which halts your attack and ends your battle phase."
The Wicked Avatar let loose another shot, but it was absorbed by an invisible barrier around Larry.
"Impressive," I admitted. "You've managed to survive this long, so let's see what else you've got. I end my turn."
"You asked for it. My draw! Since I'm no longer barred from activating Spell or Trap Cards, I'll activate the Spell Card Premature Burial! Now, by paying 800 Life Points, I can bring back a monster from my Graveyard, and the monster I choose is Maha Vailo!"
Maha Vailo rose from a pool of light in the ground.
Maha Vailo
LIGHT/Spellcaster
LVL/4 ATK/1550 DEF/1400
"Furthermore, Premature Burial is now equipped to Maha Vailo, which means she gains 500 Attack Points, thanks to her effect."
Maha Vailo
ATK/2050 (1550+500)
"Next, I'll equip her with Axe of Despair, which, between its effect and Maha Vailo's, raises her Attack an additional 1500 points!"
A giant axe appeared in the sorceress' hand.
Maha Vailo
ATK/3550 (1550+1000+500x2)
The Wicked Avatar
ATK/3650 (100+3550) DEF/3650 (100+3550)
"Then I equip her with Mage Power, which raises her Attack and Defense by 500 points for each Spell or Trap Card I control."
An orange aura appeared around Maha Vailo, and The Wicked Avatar's own aura seemed to grow brighter, as well.
Maha Vailo
ATK/5550 (1550+1000+500x3+500x3) DEF/2900 (1400+500x3)
The Wicked Avatar
ATK/5650 (100+5550) DEF/5650 (100+5550)
"It's useless!" I exclaimed. "No matter how much you power up your Maha Vailo, you cannot defeat The Wicked Avatar!"
"Maybe not, but I can still defeat you! I activate the Equip Spell Shooting Star Bow – Ceal! Normally, I'd have to sacrifice 1000 Attack Points, but between Mage Power and Maha Vailo's own effect, that penalty is pretty much negated, and she gains another 500 Defense Points on top of that!"
The axe held by Maha Vailo morphed into a red and white celestial bow.
Maha Vailo
ATK/5550 (1550-1000+1000+500x4+500x4) DEF/3400 (1400+500x4)
"What was the point of that?" I wondered aloud.
"The point, is that Shooting Star Bow – Ceal allows my monster to attack you directly! Now, Maha Vailo, end this!"
Maha Vailo drew back the string on her celestial bow and a magical bolt of energy formed. She took aim directly at me and fired. I know that the KaibaCorp Solid Vision system doesn't cause any real damage, but it still felt like it should have.
Lance Canebrook: 0 LP (5250-5550)
xxxxx
"Congratulations," I said as I offered my hand to Larry after the duel. No one can say that I'm not a gracious loser.
"Hey, you weren't so bad out there yourself, man," Larry commented. "If I hadn't drawn that Shooting Star Bow – Ceal, I don't think I could have lasted another turn."
"Hey! Larry! Lance!" We heard a voice cry out. "Great duel!"
I turned around to see a teen with shaggy dark blue hair in an orange zip-up hoodie approaching us. It had been several years since I last saw him, but I still recognized him.
"Kenta? Kenta Kitagawa?" I was surprised at how easily Kenta was able to approach me, after all, I had tried to send him to the Shadow Realm, but his friendly smile showed that he bore me no ill will for what happened.
"Hey, Lance," Kenta greeted me. "Long time no see, huh? What's it been, five years?"
"Something like that..."
"Wait, you two know each other?" Larry wondered.
"It's a long story," Kenta said. "But you know, you two have more in common than you think. For one, you were both brainwashed by an evil mastermind and force to duel against your will. For another, you both know me!"
I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. "Kenta, my friend, you sure have a funny way of putting things."
"Hey, why don't we go grab some dinner, and we can swap war stories," Larry suggested.
"Oh, hey, that's a great idea!" Kenta added. "I've picked up a new trick since we last saw each other, and Larry here has a few tricks of his own!"
"Alright, let's go," I said. "Larry, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
xxxxx
My Commentary: Yes, it's the official return of Lance Canebrook, former vessel of Pharaohmon. It's been a long time since I've utilized this character in any of my stories (not counting the recent Wrath of Pharaohmon Redux fic). In storyline time up to this point, it's all been five years since he last seen anyone from the YYGDM cast. He's become a better duelist (though, apparently, not as good as Larry) and has become more free-minded after having Pharaohmon's control expelled out of him. This was also a good excuse to use other underused characters like Kenta and Bakura. Bakura, too, hasn't been seen in the YYGDM series for a long time (not since the original Pharaohmon story!). Kenta, while not as underutilized as these two, gets a spot in this Summer Diaries segment since he didn't get much of one in the Kazu chapter.
This chapter also marked the return of the Grandra siblings, who appeared in the Invasion of the Rajita. There was a chapter where the Grandras had three duels. George dueled Rex and Weevil, Shaina dueled Joey, and Richard dueled Seto. As you might remember (or recall after reading this chapter), Seto forced himself into retirement after losing to Richard Grandra. Since then, Seto has decided to duel again, but only sparingly. So, who knows? Richard and Kaiba might have their long-awaited rematch. By the way, the Grandra siblings belong to collaborator and good friend Ninetalesuk. He usually provides the duels, but LazerWulf, my beta-reader and another collaborator, wanted to take a crack at it for this chapter.
It was also Lazer's idea to include Larry and have him strike up a friendship with Lance, which becomes an even stronger bond after their duel. There's a reason for me making these two friends, and that shall be revealed in the far future (very far future since I still have Dawn of Chaos to finish, which won't be done until 2013 at the rate I'm going).
I was originally going for lengthy duels, but decided against it since I intended for shorter chapters. I'm not good with outlining good duel scenes. Well, Lazer went out of his way to help add more depth to the duels I wanted to focus on.
That about does it. This chapter marked the return of a few select characters and established new friendships amongst a circle of guys. Hope you enjoyed.
Send a review and see you in the next update!
LazerWulf's Commentary: I'd like to apologize for the length of time it's taken to get this chapter out. This chapter was originally going to be posted as the 11th chapter, and "Tea" as the 15th, however, as K mentioned, I wanted to take a shot at writing the duels, which proved to be considerably more time-consuming than I had thought, since I had multiple duels to figure out for this one chapter, so the two chapters were switched.
Originally, I had planned to just show the end of the duels, and obviously, that's what I did for Lance VS Weevil, Since Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth takes at least 5 turns to summon, I didn't want to figure out what all happened in that time, since it would make the story drag.
Lance VS Shaina and Lance VS Larry were also supposed to show just the endings, but once I figured out the endings to those duels, backtracking to the beginning showed that the duels weren't very long at all. The duel against Shaina was over so quickly I figured they'd have time to catch the end of Larry VS Richard, and it wasn't very hard to figure out the last two turns for that duel, so they were added in as well. The final duel between Lance and Larry went through several revisions before it became the duel you read here. Admittedly, this was what caused the most delay. Again, I'm sorry for that.
As for creating the duels themselves, I can only say that a combination of the Yu-Gi-Oh Wikia and the Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual Dueling program were instrumental in finding the right card combinations and making sure the mechanics all worked.
Peace out!