The Game is Afoot
"I play a facedown and I end my turn" I yelled [300/700]. Just my luck classes started today and I get challenged to duel right before and it was making me late but what was I supposed to do? Turn down a duel? No way what am I some kind of animal? Anyway here I was with this kid Tyson in another one of those sticky little situations where I'm about to lose and need to pull a plan out of nowhere.
"My turn!" yelled Tyson "and I summon Jurrac Aeolo(200/200) in attack mode"
A monster that weak? I thought in attack mode that can only mean one thing: special effect.
"I activate Aeolo's effect" he went on
There it is I thought
"Thanks to Jurrac Aeolo I can sacrifice it and summon another Jurrac from my graveyard as long as it's level 4 or lower. So I'm summoning Jurrac Gallim(1200/0). Now I tune my level 2 Jurrac Gallim with level 4 Jurrac Guaiba (1700/400) and level 4 Jurrac Velo (1700/1000) to synchro summon the level 10 Jurrac Meteor (2800/2000).
"That doesn't look friendly" I exclaimed.
"Of course not, it's a meteor" he retorted.
Can't tell if trolling or just stupid I thought then I thought I gotta get off the internet.
"Now for Jurrac Meteor's special effect"! he continued "When its summoned I can destroy all cards on the field!"
Damn synchros I thought.
"And then once I've used the effect I can summon a tuner monster from my graveyard."
DAMN SYNCHROS
"So I summon Jurrac Dino (1700/800) and I can attack you directly and win"
"Not today" I retaliated "your Jurrac Meteor destrotyed every card on the field including my Clock Tower Prison field spell and it had four counters on it. Now I can special summon to the field Destiny Hero Dreadmaster (?/?) and when he's summoned by the effect of Clock Tower Prison I can now summon Destiny Hero Doom Lord (600/800) and Destiny Hero Captain Tenacious (800/800)and Dreadmaster's attack and defense points are equal to the total attack of the Destiny Heroes on my field" (1400/1400).
"That's a pretty nice trick but if my math is correct which it usually isn't my monster is still stronger than all of yours so ill still win if I attack any one of them" said Tyson.
This kids pretty funny I thought but he still hasn't won this one. "Sorry but your missing out on one minor detail, you see on the turn Dreadmaster is summoned with the effect of Clock Tower Prison then my monsters can't be destroyed and I don't take any battle damage."
"No" said Tyson
"Yes" I went on "and it's my turn and now I sacrifice Dreadmaster, Doom Lord and Captain Tenacious to summon my newest Destiny Hero; attack his monster and win the duel!" [300/0].
"Wow that was awesome" said Tyson.
"Yeah it was" I replied as we began walking. Tyson was slightly taller than me and a lot more muscularly built. As we got to talking I found out some things about him. He was a Ra yellow like me and apparently into paleontology and loved history, specifically duel history. That's when I realized we were running late.
"Crap!" I yelled aloud "we'd better run or we're gonna be late on the first day."
So we ran to class.
"Sorry we're late" I said to the professor out of breath.
"Ya" said Tyson "there was this meteor and a dinosaur came out of it and it breathed fire." "We feared for our lives man!"
"Ok" said the professor "your literally 45 seconds late we're not like some other high school that'll write you up for just missing the bell as for your story I give you points for creativity now go take a seat."
"I'll take it!" said Tyson triumphantly.
So we found our seats and as it turned out we weren't the only ones running late because as it turns out the giant building in the middle of the island where everything important happens was a lot harder to find than you'd think. Either that or they couldn't resist the card shop.
"That was quite a story" came a girl's voice.
"Wow she's ho…ow!"said Tyson as I elbowed him in the stomach. Though I couldn't say I disagreed with the sentence he didn't finish. She had a very inviting face to say the least.
"Um ya it's that was a long story" I said "I'm Ron this is Tyson."
"I'm Lydia" she said with a smile.
"Do you use a Cyber Dragon deck"? I asked
"Ya" she said "how did you know?"
"You have a Cyber Dragon keychain on your bag."
"Oh ya" she replied "I like doing that to people too."
"What?" I asked.
" You know notice things about people so you can ask them questions you already know the answer to and appear mysterious" she said "I do it all the time."
"Really" I replied "so what can you tell about me and Tyson."
"Well" Lydia began taking a quick look at us "By the looks of your friend over there I can tell from the Duel Paleontology text book that he's into dinosaurs and when he talked to the teacher he mentioned a meteor that a dinosaur came out of so I can infer that he uses a Jurrac deck. I can guess from that that he was in a duel earlier and that's the real reason you were late. I can guess that you who judging by your friendliness puts on a face of confidence but only to make an impression on those who don't know you and that you were the one dueling him to which you came out the victor. I can tell from the scrapes on your legs that you were on the West side of the island when you dueled, probably sightseeing, because the only plant with thorns small enough to make those cuts only grow on that side of the island as well as that you cut through the forest to save time because of the mud on your shoes that only have that reddish color in the forest area near the building and as to what deck you use I would say Destiny Heroes because since you had gone up against Jurrac Meteor you would have lost all your cards leaving you wide open meaning you protected yourself during a turn in which you had no field meaning the destroyed card would've had to have protected you ergo Clock Tower Prison."
"Wow" Tyson and I said in unison. We both just looked at her in silence for a couple seconds dumbfounded. She figured all those things out by just looking at us. That's when Tyson said "You know he could've easily protected himself with a Kuriboh."
"Ya because I'm totally gonna believe a Ra yellow uses Kuriboh" said Lydia sarcastically.
"Well I tried" said Tyson defeated. Lydia and I both laughed at that one. Then Tyson whispered to me "A girl like that who can figure out a person's deck just by looking at them how is she not in Obelisk blue?"
"I think we can both deduce the answer to that one" I said I said with a laugh.
"Attention duelist's!" said the professor." I am Dr. Turner and I will be your professor and the first to welcome you all to Practical Dueling Applications." "First thing's first we're going to have a test"
As he said that the exam proctors walked in meanwhile the entire class wet themselves from shock.
"Now" said Dr. Turner "it's not for a grade it's a field test to get a grasp on the classes average skill level because there's no point in teaching things the students already know."
The whole class breathed a sigh of relief. So Dr. Turner began assigning students their proctors and as Tyson got called up I noticed that his proctor was the one I had for the entrance exam so I shot him a nod so that he knew to be careful.
"Oh it seems as though we have a rather large class this year" said Dr. Turner "alright Ron you will duel Lydia and I'll assess the two of you on your skills."
"Wait" I said "can I duel you instead?"
"I can't duel you I'm not a proctor" he replied.
"But you're a teacher!"
"I'm not certified" Dr. Turner retorted.
"Your Ph.D. is hanging on the wall behind us." I said "you can totally duel me give me one good reason why not"
"Because shut up" said Dr. Turner calmly. "besides I'm a teacher wouldn't you rather duel a fellow student."
"You don't understand" I said pleadingly "she figured out the last half hour of my life just by looking at me and we just met." "Either this girl is stalking me or she's Sherlock Holmes and either way I'm screwed."
"Oh don't be such a wuss" said Lydia grabbing my arm "it'll be fun."
As I was dragged across the room against my will a few questions arose in my head. How was a teacher allowed to tell me to shut up? Where did this girl get such great deductive skills? What's duel paleontology? What's the world gonna do without the Oprah show? That's when we got to the duel arenas in the next room and Lydia let me go and she went to her side of the arena.
"Alright" said Dr. Turner "you may start when ready."
"Game on![4000/4000]" Lydia and I said in unison.
"Do you want to go first or should I?" asked Lydia.
She uses Cyber Dragons I thought "Ladies first."
"Wow a gentleman" she said sarcastically realizing what I just did. "I'll start by placing two cards facedown and I end my turn."
"My turn" I said. "and I'll start by activating my field spell Clock Tower Prison!"
"I didn't know Kuriboh was a field spell" Lydia said with a laugh.
"Your funny" I said sarcastically "and I'm sure you've already figured out how it works."
"Ya ya every one of my Standby Phases you get to add a counter and when you have four you don't take battle damage." She replied.
She knows my deck so I'll have to use my newer heroes. I thought. "I summon Destiny Hero Dread Servant (400/700) and he has a special ability." "You see when he's summoned with Clock Tower Prison on the field I can add a counter to it automatically." "Now I attack you directly with Dread Servant."
"That was a smart move going second with my Cyber Dragons but a good duelist always covers their weaknesses" said Lydia "I activate my trap cards Cyber Summon Blaster and A Hero Emerges!"
Crap I thought realizing what she was doing.
"Here's what happens" she explained "before your attack goes through you have to pick a card in my hand and if the card you picked happens to be a monster then I get to special summon it to the field."
"Far left" I said.
"Great" Lydia said with a smile. "you picked my Cyber Dragon(2100/1600) so now I can summon it to the field in attack mode."
"Dammit" I said aloud.
"Plus" said Lydia "since it was a special summon I can activate the effect of Cyber Summon Blaster." "Whenever a machine type monster is special summoned with this on the field I can deal 300 points of damage to you."[3700/4000]
"Very well done" said Dr. Turner clapping "you made up for the disadvantage of going first and exploited that the Cyber Dragon archetype involves a lot of special summoning."
Well done is right. I thought. She's as smart as she is quick. She won't be easy to beat so I'm going to have to play this smart. "I play two cards facedown and end my turn."
"My turn" said Lydia "and I'll have Cyber Dragon attack Dread Servant!"
"I activate my traps!" I yelled "Eternal Dread and Destiny Signal!" "When I activate Eternal Dread I can add two more counters to my clock tower and giving it a total of four: two from my trap one from Dread Servant and the last from your last Standby Phase and when I have four counters on my Clock Tower Prison I no longer take battle damage." "Plus I have my second trap: Destiny Signal! This card activates when one of my monsters is destroyed so I can summon a Destiny Hero from my deck or hand so come out Destiny Hero Captain Tenacious (800/800).
"Speeding up time on your clock tower yourself to get its effects quicker and then summoning a monster to bring back the one you lost all in your opponents turn" said Dr. Turner "Also very well done."
"I end my turn" said Lydia
"My turn" I said "and with the effect of Captain Tenacious I can summon a Destiny Hero that was destroyed as long as Tenacious was on the field the turn that it was destroyed so come back Dread Servant in defense mode." "Next I summon Destiny Hero Diamond Dude (1400/1600) in defense mode." "Next I activate Diamond Dude's special ability; with it I can flip the top card on my deck and if that card turns out to be a normal spell card I can send it to my grave and use it next turn."
I smiled at the card I flipped.
"Now I play one card facedown and end my turn." I said.
"Great my turn" said Lydia "I activate the spell card Polymerization so I fuse the Cyber Dragon on my field with the one in my hand to summon Cyber Twin Dragon!" (2800/2100) and since that was a special summon my Cyber Summon Blaster takes effect and you lose another three hundred life points" [3400/4000].
I've got to watch out for that. I thought I can't destroy it now so I'll have to beat her before that thing gets me but at least my life points safe from her monsters for now.
"Now Cyber Twin Dragon attacks!" yelled Lydia "and with its special ability it can attack twice so attack Diamond Dude and Dread Servant."
"My monsters!" I said as they were destroyed.
"And don't think I haven't forgotten about your Captain Tenacious ability to bring them beck" she went on. "I'll be taking care of him by activating De-Fusion!" "This card takes my fusion monster and splits him back into the two Cyber Dragons I had before and since those are two special summons my Cyber Summon Blaster takes out another six hundred points of damage [2800/4000]. "Now my Cyber Dragon attacks Captain Tenacious!"
"Not so fast" I yelled "I activate my trap D-Shield!" "This card activates when a Destiny Hero in attack mode gets attacked and I can switch him to defense mode plus this card becomes an equip card that makes the equipped monster destroyed in battle."
"Wow" said Dr. Turner "you made your monster that brings back other monsters invincible in battle and you took advantage of your Cyber Summon Blaster when you couldn't do battle damage." "Both of you are measuring up very well."
"I end my turn" said Lydia.
"My turn" I started "and now I can activate the effect of the card I sent to the graveyard last turn and that card was Destiny Draw." "Usually I would have to discard a Destiny Hero to use it but since I'm using Diamond Dude's effect to activate it I don't have to discard a thing." "So now I draw two cards." "Now the effect of Captain Tenacious comes into play so those monsters you destroyed come back to the field so come back Dread Servant and Diamond Dude!" "Next I sacrifice Dread Servant to summon Destiny Hero Dasher (2100/1000)." "Next I activate Dasher's special ability; you see if I sacrifice a face up monster on the field my Dashers attack goes up by one thousand points for the turn so I sacrifice Diamond Dude to raise Dasher's attack strength (3100/1000). Now Dasher attack her Cyber Dragon!" [2800/3000]. Next Dasher switches to defense mode after every attack so I'll end it there."
"My turn!" yelled Lydia "and I summon Armored Cybern (0/2000).
Zero attack and in attack mode? What's she planning? I wondered to myself.
"Armored Cybern has a special effect" Lydia went on. "When it's on the field I can equip it to my Cyber Dragon to give my Cyber Dragon a new effect so by cutting its attack points by one thousand (1100/1600) it can destroy a monster on the field so your Captain Tenacious goes bye bye now."
"No not him!" I yelled.
"Plus my Cyber Dragon can attack your Destiny Hero Dasher and with that I end my turn" she said.
"My go" I began "and I summon Destiny Hero Celestial in attack mode (1600/1400) and when Celestial attacks I can destroy an equip card and the owner of that card takes five hundred points of damage on top of the battle damage so Celestial attack Cyber Dragon" [2800/2000]. "Now I play a facedown and leave things at that." Taken the lead I thought. Making progress.
"My turn" said Lydia "and I activate Polymerization. Now as you know I need fusion material monsters to fuse but I can activate this; the spell Cybernetic Fusion Support." "With this card I can activate Polymerization without the necessary cards to fuse so now I can summon my most powerful monster the Cyber End Dragon! (4000/2800). "With another special summon that's another three hundred points of damage thanks to Cyber Summon Blaster. [2500/2000]. "Now Cyber End Dragon attack Celestial!"
"You forget" I retorted "when Clock Tower Prison has four counters I can't take battle damage."
That thing is strong. I thought. Not to mention the fact that it can do damage even if the monster is in defense mode. It's a good thing I still have my clock tower.
"Now I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!"
ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!
"Now I can destroy a spell or trap on the field so say goodbye to your clock tower!" yelled Lydia.
"You forget" I yelled "when my Clock Tower Prison is destroyed I can summon Destiny Hero Dreadmaster from my deck and his attack points are equal to the combined attack of my Destiny Heroes."
"Except you have no other Destiny Heroes on your field." said Lydia.
"Good one Sherlock" I said with sarcasm "I don't think I could've pieced that one together on my own; I'm going somewhere with this! When Destiny Hero Dreadmaster is summoned with the effects of Clock Tower Prison I'm allowed to summon two more Destiny Heroes from my graveyard so I choose Dasher and Captain Tenacious giving my Dreadmaster a total of twenty nine hundred attack (2900/2900)."
"I end my turn now" Lydia said.
"My turn" I yelled "and I tribute all three of my Destiny Heroes on the field to summon Destiny Hero Dogma!"(3400/2400).
"That's still not going to be enough" Lydia said trying to get on my nerves.
And it's working I thought. "I realize that that's why I'm activating my second field spell Dark City!"
"Oooh! Interesting." said Lydia.
"Next I activate my trap D-Chain" I continued. "With this Dogma gains five hundred attack (3900/2400)."
"Still not enough" said Lydia.
"No it's not I get it my monsters weaker than yours but I don't care I'm attacking anyway." I said trying to confuse her.
"Oh wow really" said Lydia "then I'm guessing your field spell is like a Destiny Hero version of Skyscraper or something right?"
Dammit I thought "Nothing gets by you does it?"
"Nothing" she replied "Not even subliminal messages in Disney movies."
"Well your right" I continued "and now because of my Dark City my Destiny Hero gains a thousand attack points when it battles a monster weaker than it (4900/2400)." [2500/1100]
"Wow you're the first to take down my End Dragon." She said stunned.
"It gets better" I went on "when a Destiny Hero destroys a monster while equipped with D-Chain you take an extra five hundred points of damage [2500/600]."
"This just keeps getting better" Lydia said.
"I'll end my turn with that" I ended.
"Ok my turn" yelled Lydia "and I'll activate Card of Sanctity. With this a I remove from play the cards in my hand and field and then I can draw two cards and since I have no cards in my hand and only one card on my field it's not a huge loss."
Great no more Cyber Summon Blaster I thought "Don't forget now that Dogma's on the field your life points are halved [2500/300]."
"Wow" she went on "well I'll activate the spell card Foolish Burial." "With this card I can move one card from my deck to the graveyard." "Next I'm activating Pot of Avarice so since I have five monsters in my graveyard I can add them to my deck and draw two cards."
Psh what could she possibly draw I thought.
"Now I special summon Cyber Dragon."
Ok not so bad.
"Now I summon Armored Cybern."
Kill me now.
"Now" said Lydia " I equip Armored Cybern to Cyber Dragon and use its effect so by cutting Cyber Dragons attack by one thousand I can destroy your monster"
Dammit I thought.
"Now Cyber Dragon attacks your life points directly!" [1600/300]
Great I thought now I have to come up with a plan again. Ok I've got no monsters nothing in my hand and the only spell I have is a field spell that doesn't help me unless I have a monster. This is a problem. What would Ike do?
That's when I remembered Ike's voice 'heart of the cards, heart of the cards, heart of the cards, heart of the cards; dammit kuriboh!' and it was then I knew exactly what to do.
"What's he doing?" asked Dr. Turner.
"If I had to guess" said Lydia "He's either pondering the meaning of life or having a flashback."
"My turn" I yelled hoping for a miracle. "I draw."
Awesome I thought. "I activate Monster Reborn so now I can, you know reborn a monster so I'll reborn Dasher and attack you directly" [1600/0].
"Very good" said Dr. Turner clapping "you two put on quite a show and I must say that you both showed above average skills." "I'm giving you both A pluses for the duel you put on."
"Wait" I said. "you said you weren't grading us just testing our skills."
"Oh ya" he said. "I lied."
"Why would you lie to an entire classroom of students?" I asked.
"Because shut up" he replied and walked away.
"Great duel" said Lydia "you're good."
"Thanks" I said "you're not too bad yourself."
"Well" she said "I'll see you later I look forward to being in class with you this year."
"Wait" I said. "Before you go you said earlier that I won the duel with Tyson but you didn't say why so how did you figure that out?"
"I didn't" she said with a smile "I just kind of knew"
As she walked away I wondered what she meant by that either way at the time it didn't seem important because that was when I remembered Tyson's duel. I noticed he was done and ran over too him as fast as I could.
"Did you win?" I asked frantically
"Ya" he said "it wasn't easy though he was using a tournament level deck on new academy students. Stupid Volcanics I mean who does that?"
"I warned you" I said.
"No you didn't all you did was shoot me a glance I thought that was like a 'good luck' or something" Tyson retorted.
"Oh well then at least you won that's what matters." I said.
So we walked down the hall to go the next class and I thought about the class. If everyone there are anything like Lydia I'm in for some real competition. I still don't get how Dr. Turner was allowed to tell me to shut up and for some reason I really wanted to hear him sing and I didn't know why. Then I looked at Tyson and thought I'd make sure he knew something.
"You know you're on fire right?" I asked.
"Ya water doesn't put out holograms." He said.
"You would think it'd go away when the duel disk turned off" I said.
"Ya you would." Tyson replied.
And that was the first class of our first official day of classes, I had a good duel, made a few friends and am now content with knowing Tyson won't burn to death. Today was successful.