BtVS/Yu-Gi-Oh
"Dueling for Dummies Episode Two: Attack of the Scoobies"
Dislcaimer : I do not own any of the copyrighted characters featured in this fanfic. I am making no money off of this fanfic at all. I am doing this merely for the enjoyment of the readers and myself.
Note: Well your demands for at least one complete duel have reached my ears faithful readers and so I have decided at the very least to write up the Xander Vs Rafael duel. Keep in mind that should this drabble/short idea graduate to become a complete fanfic then there may be some changes in how things happened at this point in the story but I promise that those changes will only be for the better.
So without further delay IT'S TIME TO DUEL!!!
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Sunnydale, California, United States of America
Outside of "The Bronze", 4:30p.m
(An Hour and Half Before Xander's Duel and Right at the Start of the Exchange Student Costume Dance)
The sight of no less than two vans, both with what looked like satellite dishes on the top, and three eighteen wheelers pull up in front of the Bronze was definitely an eye opener to most but none more than Willow Rosenberg. She had just arrived at the Bronze in her Eskimo costume when she'd heard a loud rumbling and the sounds of many powerful engines. While that was not entirely unusual it was when she could hear them getting closer and closer to the Bronze that she began to suspect something big was going on. She could see now that she wasn't all that far from the truth and like many of the students approaching the Bronze she began to wonder what was going on. She watched as a large number of men got out of each vehicle and began to move things into the Bronze or set up what looked like vendors stands in the Bronze parking lot. Was this some kind of added attraction to the whole exchange student dance? Like maybe they were going to sell authentic clothes and stuff from various parts of the world?
Somehow I don't think so given that there are cartoon monsters on some of those shirts. She thought watching some guys from the eighteen-wheelers begin to lay out T-shirts on some of the vending tables.
"Hey Willow! What's with the mega sized set up?" asked Buffy as she blonde Slayer came up from behind the redhead with Ampata taking up the rear.
"I don't know. I got here just a little while ago and then these trucks stopped in front of the Bronze and began to set up." Willow replied as she half turned to greet her friend and her friend's exchange student, "I don't think they're here as part of the exchange student program though."
"Well let's go ask them what they're doing." Buffy stated taking the frontal approach as always.
As a group they walked up to the guy in an expensive looking suit that looked like he was the one in charge of the unexpected operation. On the surface he looked pretty much like your typical right hand guy complete with intimidating look and the belief that his job was the most important thing in his life. With brown hair that looked like he bought hair gel from the same place as Angel, shades that looked like they belonged to a secret agent and a clipboard in hand with a list of things to do he was definitely the person they wanted to talk to. Walking up carefully they all listened carefully just in case the guy let anything important slip without knowing they were there to hear it.
"Hurry it up you slackers!! Get those holo-projectors set up inside on the double!" Mr. Supervisor ordered pointing at the entrance to the Bronze, "The duel is scheduled to begin in less than two hours and Mr. Kaiba wants everything ready to go ten minutes beforehand!"
"Excuse me? What's going on here?" Buffy asked half with politeness and half with her usual bluntness, "Somehow I doubt you and your posse here are a part of the student exchange program."
For a moment the guy didn't say a word but when he looked down at his clipboard and saw something on it his expression changed. Without saying anything he reached into his coat pocket and took out three envelopes and handed one to Buffy and two to her.
"Ms. Summers, Ms. Rosenberg, I was instructed to give you these letters by my employer Mr. Kaiba the second I met you. Inside you should find the answers to your questions." Mr. Supervisor replied in a professional yet emotionless manner, "Now if you'll excuse me I have a schedule to keep."
Then without further explanations or even a polite goodbye the suited goon walked away to light a fire under his workforce's butts to set up whatever it was they were setting up quicker. Judging from the look on the blonde Slayer's face it looked like she was almost annoyed enough at the guy to go after him and give the creep a piece of her mind. The only thing that was keeping her from doing so was the envelope that he had given her and the promise that it would explain everything. A good thing in Willows mind since she doubted that her friend would be able to take much more of the jerk's impolite way of dealing with people. Moving closer to Buffy she pointed at the envelope in the Summers girl's hand indicating that she should open it so that they could find out what was going on. Opening up the envelope she took out the piece of paper inside and unfolded it to reveal a letter written in impressive looking business script.
Ms. Summers
This is to inform you that at six this evening, your time of course, your friend Alexander LaVelle Harris will be taking part in an exhibition tournament of Duel Monsters. It will be a team duel in which one member of each team will duel another until only one remains. That final survivor will then team up with the manager of their respective team to compete in one final tag team duel that will determine the overall winner.
While normally your knowing about this would mean nothing to me my younger brother Mokuba insisted that if I was going to televise the tournament that I had to make sure you could watch it. Personally I don't think your friend will make it past the first round even with the four special cards he was allowed to create for the event. Then again he might last at least to the second round if he's paid attention to anything I taught him during his lessons.
As for the vendors that are no doubt setting up around you as you read this letter they are there so I at least get to make some sort of profit to offset the expenses of allowing you to watch this tournament. Who knows? Maybe if my people turn enough of a profit I'll consider expanding Kaiba Corps territory to the United States.
Enjoy the show!
Seto Kaiba
President and C.E.O of Kaiba Corps"Why THAT JERK!!!" Buffy exclaimed looking madder than if a vamp had just told her that her ass was big, "What does yours say Willow?"
Opening up the envelope with her name on it she found that it said pretty much the same thing as Buffy's except for one surprising detail.
"Pretty much the same thing except… well… he's offering me a job with his R&D division once I graduate from University." She replied knowing that this wouldn't go over well with her best female friend.
"WHAT!?" Buffy exclaimed looking mad enough that she just might be willing to pour her entire life savings into a plane ticket to where ever this Seto Kaiba was just to kick his ass.
"There's also a letter here for Giles but seeing as how yours and mine were pretty much the same I don't really think it's worth opening." She said not wanting to add even more fuel to the fire that was Buffy's pride.
"What is this Duel Monster's tournament? I have not heard of it before." Asked Ampata who up until she spoke had been forgotten in all the commotion surrounding the letters that had been read.
"I don't know exactly. Xander only said it was some kind of card game that was a big deal over in Japan in his last letter." She responded honestly before looking towards the entrance to the Bronze, "But if I can use one of the Bronze's public computers I can probably find out more."
"Then let's get going. I want to see a picture of this jerk that thinks he can bad mouth Xander AND treat us like gum you scrape off the bottom of your shoe!" Buffy said as she started to stomp her way towards the entrance of the Bronze.
Better call Giles too since it looks like we won't be able to deal with that cursed Incan Mummy anytime soon. Willow thought as she and Ampata went after the miffed blonde Slayer.
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An Hour and a Half Later, Inside the Bronze,
Halfway Between the Public Computers and the Recently set up Holo-projectorsReally! Does Buffy have no sense of duty?! Rupert Giles thought as he tried to make his way through the throng of teenagers that were gathering closely around the perimeter of the guardrail set up around some sort of mechanical contraptions.
It had been just under an hour ago that he had received a call from Willow all but insisting that he come to the Bronze immediately. He tried to tell her that he needed to finish his work on the seal that had been broken but she had told him that that could wait. Such a statement he'd come to expect from Buffy given her insistence on having a normal life alongside her duties as the Slayer but he had believed the redhead as being more responsible. He argued with her for a time over the much greater importance of sealing a life-force devouring Incan mummy back into her stone prison than some silly event being held at the Bronze. However she had insisted that it was important and that it involved Xander who had been oddly missing the last couple of days. He recalled Willow mentioning something about the boy being shipped off somewhere as part of the student exchange program but hadn't really paid it much thought. Still he had decided that if whatever was going on here was so important that it caused the intelligent young woman to prioritize it over the latest threat spawned by the Hellmouth he would at least come take a look himself.
He was beginning to regret his decision already if for no other reason than it was proving to be quite the bother trying to navigate the throng of youth to where Willow said she and Buffy would be. After several close calls and a few instances in which he had to hop in a most undignified manner to see over the head of someone in front of him he eventually managed to locate Willow. She was sitting in front of a computer and was busily working away at it apparently trying to fulfill the requests of a few of the teenagers grouped around her and Buffy. He was too far away to see what was on the screen but whatever it was that Willow had brought up was rather colorful and unusual. With a flicker of curiosity fading into existence within his own mind he decided to give the most intelligent of his charges a bit more leeway. Perhaps he might even consider permitting a slight delay in dealing with the cursed mummy so long as this 'event' did not endure for too long.
"Giles! Glad you could make it." Buffy said once she spotted him exiting the crowd of people into the little area of vacancy around the front of the computer.
"Yes, well, Willow was quite insistent on the phone." Giles replied trying to impress upon his Slayer the great reluctance he had in coming here rather than working on the current supernatural threat, "Now what is so important that you felt our current… dilemma could wait."
"Well you know how I told you a few days ago that Xander's dad had signed him up for the student exchange program?" Willow asked only sparing a moment to look away from the computer in front of her.
"Yes I seem to recall you mentioning that. He was sent to someplace in Japan I believe you said." He replied hoping that his high I.Q. charge wouldn't draw this out too much.
"Well it turns out that the person he wound up staying with was Seto Kaiba, head of Kaiba Corperation, who is one of the top duelists in the entire Duel Monsters League." Willow said in a manner usually reserved for reporters, "In about five minutes Xander's going to be taking part in a televised Duel Monsters tournament that's going to be shown worldwide!"
"While I have a feeling I will regret asking this: What is Duel Monsters?" Giles asked hoping that the answer would actually enlighten him rather than make him question the level of responsibility present in his two present charges.
"Well it's basically a card game but much more complex that you might think looking at it for the first time. It's been a big thing in Japan for years but has really taken off in Europe and South America since Kaiba Corps started promoting it alongside Industrial Illusions." Willow replied turning to him after apparently having some time to spare from her work on the computer, "Mostly that's because of the holographic technology that Kaiba Corps developed for the game. That's what those guys just finished setting up over there a few minutes ago."
I hate it when I am right! He thought before saying, "While I am sure that watching Xander compete on international television would be amusing do you not think that our present… unusual concern takes precedence?"
"C'mon Giles! I know there's this big generation gap between us but this is a big thing for me!" Willow pleaded in a manner similar to Buffy begging off research duty, "Look I'll make you a deal. We watch one duel and if at the end you still aren't interested in sticking around for the rest of the tournament we'll go solve our… special problem."
"Very well. I will hold you to those terms once this first match is over with I hope you know." He said making it clear that no amount of begging or pleading would save her from dealing with the cursed Incan mummy.
With that he began the painful process of trying to gain some basic understanding of the rules of the game he was about to witness as well as how it was played.
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Kaiba Land, Main Duelling Arena,
One Second After the Start of the Duel of Xander versus RafaelXander – LP 4000
Rafael – LP 4000
"As determined in a coin toss before the duel the member of Team Kaiba will start the match off," declared the announcer before retreating to a safe distance from the dueling platform.
Here goes nothing! Xander thought as he drew his first five cards from his dueling deck.
After sliding five cards out from his deck he spread them out like normal playing cards in his left hand and took a look to see what he had to work with. One of his specially made cards, a magic card, two trap cards and Breaker the Magical Warrior ATK 1600/Defense 1000 were the cards that he drew. Then he drew one more card to finish draw phase of the game and he was done. All in all not a bad draw if his duels with Seto were anything to go by and hopefully helpful against the more experienced duelist Rafael. However, choosing the right combination for this first move would be crucial and he had to admit he was unsure if he was good enough to do this and not make a fool of himself. As the seconds ticked by he knew he had to make a move or look like a coward in front of everyone, so he decided to keep things simple.
"First I play Breaker the Magical Warrior in attack mode!" he declared as he placed the monster card in the correct slot on his duel disk.
With a shimmer of holographic special effects his monster took form on the field and despite his sessions with both Seto and Mokuba, he was still amazed at the realism of the projection in front of him. He knew that there really wasn't anything in front of him except maybe a convergence of light, but to his eyes it looked like there really was a sword-wielding warrior in front of him. Clad in red and gold armor with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other was his first monster of the game, looking as real as Xander himself. Unfortunately, it also looked like the 'behave like your user' feature that Seto had incorporated into his first duel disk model was working perfectly since Breaker was looking less than confident at the moment.
Stop thinking about it! Just play the game! Just like Mai said! He thought before taking two more cards from his hand and saying, "Then I place one card face down and end my turn."
He knew that it probably would have been smarter to play defensive this first turn to save life-points but he wanted to get a better feel for Rafael's deck, the brief retelling of the man's duel with Yugi not being particularly helpful, mostly because both duels were obviously touchy subjects with the King of Games and it wasn't worth the headache of trying to force the guy into spilling details. Once he got a better idea of what to expect with the man he could begin forming a plan for beating him but for now he would need bide his time until he knew more.
"Not a bad monster kid." Rafael commented as he drew a card from his deck. "But you really should have defended yourself if you want to last and that monster is useless for attacking on the first turn. A rookie mistake. I play the magic card Guardian Treasure! It allows me to draw two new cards so long as I discard my entire hand and as long as it remains on the field I can continue to draw two cards every turn from here on out!"
With those words the Xan-man watched as the professional duelist deposited his entire hand into the slot set aside for his Graveyard. Getting a sinking feeling about what this meant he hoped that this move actually blew up in the guy's face rather than give him a serious advantage. Seeing the blonde muscle guy draw two fresh cards from his deck he waited to see if there'd be any reaction on the blonde's face to indicate what had been drawn.
"I place one monster on the field face down in defense mode and then place another card face down before ending my turn." Rafael declared as his two cards appeared on his side of the dueling platform in their stated positions, "Well there you go kid. I just played everything in my hand and that means I can't do anything else except wait for my next turn. SO what've you got to say to that?"
Xander drew a card and added it to his hand before responding "I say that you should have followed my lead and gone on the offensive first! Breaker, attack his face down monster, swift sword smash!" he ordered trying to sound a lot more confident than he felt, not difficult since he was feeling about as confident as a school kid facing a pro-wrestler.
With speed to rival a Slayer his monster charged Rafael's face down monster card and with a powerful overhead slash struck downwards at the card. However, just as Breaker's weapon was about to make contact the face down card emitted a bright shining light that faded to reveal a blue skinned monster with horns and wild dark red hair. Not only did it not shatter like all the monsters he defeated while practicing with Mokuba but it actually had caught Breaker's sword between its hands. He could see his monster's arms shaking as it tried to complete the command it had been given but the blade did not move even an inch.
"Sorry kid but it looks like your Magical Warrior doesn't have what it takes to destroy my Backup Guardna. Also since your monster is six hundred attack points weaker than mine you take that much damage to your life points." Rafael said casually, apparently not impressed with the Harris kid's first move.
Little did the guy know that Xander had a few tricks up his sleeve to help him turn things around.
"Ya know you got a point there. Normally I would be taking six hundred points of damage but you forget my Breaker's special effect. When he is summoned he gets a Magic Counter which boosts his Attack by three hundred points." Xander said unable to keep himself from smiling in anticipation at what was going to happen.
"It's still not enough to destroy my Backup Guardna! All you've done is decrease the amount of life points you'll lose." Rafael stated as though talking to a particularly dense child.
Xander's grin widened as he reached for his face down card.
"That's what you think! I activate my face down Trap card, Blast with Chain!"
With those words the first of the two cards he'd placed face down on his side of the field flipped up to reveal a trap equip card called Blast with Chain. With a picture of three sticks of dynamite wrapped around a fireworks rocket and connected to a long metal chain it looking cool and was pretty useful, especially in this sort of situation.
"Thanks to this special Trap card equipped to my Magical Warrior, Breaker receives an additional five hundred attack points bring my monster up to twenty-four hundred." Xander explained watching as a digital box popped up on the jumbo-tron overhead showing the increase in power.
With this sudden attack boost Breaker the Magical Warrior became twenty-four hundred attack points strong and finished his attack on Backup Guardna destroying it completely.
Xander LP – 4000
Rafael LP – 4000
"Looks like first blood goes to me after all biker boy." He said with confidence clearly in his voice. He might not have damaged Rafael's Life Points since Guardna was in defence mode, but the first exchange had still come out in his favor, boosting his confidence substantially.
"Don't get too full of yourself kid. You go lucky that's all." Rafael said sternly wanting to make it clear that it was far too early to be planning a victory dance, "I thought that since you were the rookie of Kaiba's team that you'd be easy pickings. Looks like you have some talent after all. From here on out, I get serious! I activate my facedown Magic card, Self Sacrifice!" Rafael said defiantly after triggering the command that would reveal his sole remaining face down card, "By sacrificing one thousand of my life points I can bring any monster I want back from the graveyard and I choose the very monster you just destroyed!"
Xander LP – 4000
Rafael LP – 3000
You mean he wasn't taking this seriously BEFORE!? Xander thought with some alarm as he wondered just how bad things were going to get now that his opponent had decided to take the kid gloves off.
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Kaiba Land, Main Duelling Arena, The Stands, Same Time"Xander's doing pretty good so far." Téa comments looking up at the big screen TV positioned above the main duelling platform before looking back to the platform itself.
"Definitely. Still he'd better not underestimate Rafael too much." Yugi Muto said with some concern in his voice, "While he might not be under the influence of the Seal of Orichalcos anymore I hear he's still a pretty ruthless duelist."
"Don't worry Yugi! I took every free minute I had to show Xander how to duel right." Joey Wheeler said reassuring his friend while grinning with pride, "Between my lessons and the skill he's got Rafael is goin' down!"
"Got that right! With my brother teaching there's no way Xander can lose!" Serenity Wheeler said with excitement and confidence, "I watched Joey and Xander duel yesterday and he was totally better than he was in their first match."
"Well that's not saying much considering that Rafael once dueled Yugi and won." Tristan said offhand pointing out the flaw in logic, "Joey might be pretty good but he's never been able to beat Yugi in a duel, so even if Xander's picked up a few things from your brother it doesn't necessarily mean he'll win."
It took a moment of his brain actually catching up with his mouth and a worried look on Serenity's face to let young Mr. Taylor know he'd made a mistake. It was a fact that the youngest Wheeler sibling had shown up in Domino City about the same time as Xander. During the times the American had spent hanging with the gang the two of them had gotten along really well. A little too well if you asked Tristan, Joey or Duke Devlin what their opinions were on the situation. From Téa's perspective she could easily see the signs of Serenity's first real schoolgirl crush beginning to form and knew that it would be hopeless to try and put a stop to it. The first crushes were always the strongest and even though the youngest Wheeler likely knew that Xander would be going back to America at the end of the exchange program, it wouldn't stop the cute kid from enjoying it. To that end she decided to save Tristan-baka from himself before he dug himself any deeper.
"Maybe but Xander's got surprise on his side. This is his first official duel ever so Rafael doesn't know what's in his deck at all." She pointed out trying to make the American's chances of winning look better, "Plus he's also been getting lessons from Seto Kaiba and Mokuba so he's pretty much been taught by the best. Well next to Yugi of course."
This had the desired effect and instantly cheered up the worried Serenity who immediately looked back to the dueling platform since it seemed like things would be getting interesting soon.
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Dueling Platform, One Second Later"Since we're getting serious, I'll start things off this round! Looks like you and everyone else here are going to see one of my one of kind cards earlier than I expected Rafael." He said trying to sound like an annoyed nobleman that had been bothered by a servant, "I play the Scarlet Wicca in defense mode ATK 300/Defense 1500."
With a shower of sparkles a figure appeared on his side of the field crouched down in a defensive stance, one that was even more breathtaking than his original design for the guys at Kaiba Corps. Clad in clothes that could best be described as a combination of Amazon armor from Xena: Warrior Princess and something you might find in that Dungeons and Dragons game, was the first of four cards he had created. With a staff that looked like it had been made from a single giant ruby held at the ready in front of her, the Scarlet Wicca was definitely an impressive sight. He had used Willow's basic appearance as a base and then added a few things here and there to make it look more impressive when compared to other duel monster cards. Physically, it was Willow about ten to fifteen years down the road with long red hair, braided up intricately with two stray locks framing her face. All in all a card that was both beautiful and fierce which most would assume misleading based on its attack points.
"That is one of the cards you made for this tournament?" Rafael asked almost in disbelief at the weakness of the Scarlett Wicca, "Looks like your card designing skills are even worse than your dueling skills kid!"
"We'll see." He stated smugly with a smile that he usually reserved when he was being annoyingly polite to Snyder, "I set one card and end my turn."
"Hope you didn't get too attached to your card there 'cause it's not going to be sticking around very long." Rafael advised before drawing two cards from his deck.
As ready as I ever am biker boy! Xander thought silently to himself as he waited to see just what an all out move from his opponent was like.
"First I play the equip card Gravity Axe and equip it to Backup Guardna, which allows me to summon one of the strongest monsters in my deck!" Rafael declared as a card appeared on his side of field with a picture of a fancy double-headed axe on it, "Guardian Grarl!"
With that a muscled dinosaur man appeared on the field that looked like it ate Slayers for breakfast and had the twenty-five hundred attacks points to prove it. Now this monster he did know about from his talks with Yugi and the others so he knew with great worry what was coming up next.
"With twenty-five hundred attack points he'd be more than enough to crush your Magical Warrior but first I think I'll use Backup Guardna's effect to equip my Guardian Grarl with Gravity Axe, thus increasing his attack points to an impressive three thousand! Now, Guardian Grarl, destroy the Scarlet Wicca with decisive chop!"
With a fierce groar Grarl leapt across the battlefield and attempted to make Wicca half the card she used to be.
It looked like the Scarlet Wicca's big debut would be a flop but when the Xan-man had designed her card he had done so with the assumption that his opponent would be underestimate such a weak monster. Waiting for the right moment for maximum dramatic effect he watched Grarl get closer and closer until it was a second away from destroying his monster.
"I activate the first of the Scarlet Wicca's special abilities: Force Seal!" he cried and watched with satisfaction as the special effect of his monster went into action.
With a speed usually reserved for Supergirl the Scarlet Wicca removed one of her hands from her ruby staff and placed it in front of her with the open handed palm facing the oncoming Grarl. Then what looked like three pizza slice shaped pieces of a magical circle appeared out of nowhere to come together about an inch out from the palm to become one with a pulse of crimson energy. Less than a second later the purpose of the now complete crimson mystic circle became apparent when Guardian Grarl's axe collided with it and did not go so much as an inch further. With a second pulse of energy the attacking monster was forced back to Rafael's side of the field leaving many wanting an explanation of how a weaker monster repelled an attack from a much stronger one, when it wasn't even the original target for the attack.
"Force Seal is one of two abilities that the Scarlet Wicca has at her disposal. With it she can instantly put up a barrier that can absorb the attack of any opposing monster and seal it away keeping her in one piece and my life points safe." He explained keeping the fact that he could only use it once per turn to himself since he didn't want his opponent getting any ideas about using Backup Guardna.
Unfortunately his plan failed.
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Sunnydale, California, The Bronze, 6:30p.m"Take that Leatherboy!" Willow exclaimed after watching the duel monster that Xander had obviously modeled after her stop the attacking dino-man in its tracks.
"Easy Willow! Calm Down." Buffy said trying to keep her friend from jumping up and down like a rabbit after thirty cups of coffee.
Still she had to admit herself that this Duel Monsters stuff was pretty exciting to watch and a lot better than she had expected. Despite the enthusiastic explanation of how the game worked by Willow hadn't really shaked the image she had in her mind of a bunch of geeks sitting around an ordinary table but after the first few minutes of Xander's duel she was beginning to like it. It was kind of like a videogame but more real than anything she'd seen before and definitely more high tech. She had almost thought that something Hellmouthy was going on when the holo-thingies Willow had pointed out to Giles had been turned on but after the fifth time by the redheaded genius she finally believed the young woman when she said it was technologic rather than demonic. From there she had watched as the intro to the tournament was displayed in full 3D and she got her first look at the guy named Seto Kaiba who had sent those condescending letters to her and Willow.
Somehow arrogant jackass doesn't quite cover him! She thought angrily before her enjoyment of the duel being projected in front of her swept such feelings away for good.
Sure he looked like one of those rich fairytale princes but the look in his eyes and the perpetual 'lord of all he surveys' look on his face pretty much made it impossible to think of him as anything other than a jerk. From there came the quick rundown of the members of both Team Ishida and team Kaiba followed by a summary of the rules and what the big prize was for the winner. The picture they had taken of Xander had obviously been done without the teen's knowledge because nowhere was the nervous look that she knew her best male friend usually had when finding out he was the center of attention. Xander actually looked pretty cool in the pic, like a professional, like he belonged up there with the other big name duelists that Willow had pointed out. It wasn't the thought that her friend couldn't be a top-notch duelist some day, but according to Willow he'd only been in Japan since about a week before the trip to the museum. No way could Xander learn how to duel like a pro in so short a period of time.
Still he's managing to keep things pretty much neck in neck with this Rafael guy so that's pretty good. She thought as she watched an instant replay of Xander's last move play on the holo-thingies.
Still she didn't think his chances of making it all the way to the last match were very good and figured that he'd probably beat this guy and maybe one more before someone eliminated him. Xander might be her friend but he was also a newbie duelist and just like newbie vamps she figured he'd only last longer if his opponents were very, very careless. It would definitely be a memorable event in his life, something to tell the kids one day, but he'd definitely omit a few things to make him seem more heroic and less goofy than he really was during the whole thing.
Of course that will make it all the more fun teasing him with spilling the beans to the kids. She thought as her mind imagined how panicky he'd become and how far he'd go to to keep her quiet.
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Kaiba Land, Main Duelling Arena, Thirty Seconds After the Last Play"I use the effect of Gravity Axe to change the position of one monster on your side of the field. Since I have to change one of my own monsters as well, Guardian Grarl goes to defense mode and the Scarlet Wicca switches to attack mode." Rafael declared not wanting to give up on his Grarl just yet
A dark glow surrounded the Axe before Grarl slammed his weapon into the ground. A ripple seemed to spread out from the point of impact, then moments later the monster itself was forced to the ground even as the Scarlet Wicca was forced into attack mode.
"Guardna! Destroy that annoying Wicca!"
With a sound like shattering glass, the Scarlet Wicca was destroyed by a tremendous punch from Backup Guardna.
Xander LP – 2100
Rafael LP – 3000
"Hahahahaha! Just like I figured. I knew there had to be some kind of weakness in the Scarlet Wicca, some weakness to exploit, and it looks like I just found it." Rafael said with satisfaction at getting rid of a troublesome card, "Force Seal can only be used once per turn. Isn't that right?"
Damn, I didn't think it was that obvious! He's figured it out! MAN this guy's good! Xander thought forlornly.
"I end my turn." Rafael said looking pretty satisfied with himself.
Xander drew his next card slowly, hoping it would be something he could use to even the playing field.
D.D Warrior Lady ATK 1500/Defense 1600 was the card drawn and while powerful wasn't going to be nearly enough to beat Rafael's Guardian Grarl. Even if he used his reinforcements trap card at the right moment and increased her attack points by five hundred she still wouldn't be strong enough to bring down Grarl.
D.D. Warrior Lady. Damn, I can't use this yet, but maybe... he thought as he considered his options.
A stroke of inspiration struck as he looked at the field, remembering one of the first lessons Yugi's grandpa had drilled into his skull. Sometimes the distance to your goal is too large to cross in one step. So you need to take more than one. That meant he had only one option if he wanted to last until next turn when he might get something a little better.
"I activate Breaker the Magical Warrior's special effect!" he declared with confidence.
Rafael looked surprised.
"What effect? You already used its attack increase." Biker boy asked sounding puzzled.
"By removing Breaker's magic counter I can destroy one Magic or Trap card on the field." He replied explaining the reason for his confidence.
Rafael's surprise turned into a sneer, "Even if you destroy Gravity Axe you won't be able to damage my lifepoints. You're wasting your time."
Xander's grin just got wider. "I'm not going to destroy Gravity Axe. Breaker! Destroy Blast with Chain!"
With that Breaker raised its sword and struck down at the base of the large fireworks tube at its feet, severing the chain and sending sparks flying. A sudden whoosh occurred as the sparks ignited the fireworks wrapped in dynamite, sending them spiraling into the air.
And directly into Guardian Grarl.
A massive explosion covered the field in a cloud of dust, obscuring the monsters from view. When it cleared all that was left in the spot formerly occupied by Grarl was a large black scorch mark.
Rafael was growling furiously, "What the hell just happened?!"
Xander felt a little intimidated, but still grinned in satisfaction.
"Blast with Chain's second effect. When it is destroyed by another card's effect I can choose any card on the field to destroy." He said glad that he had the foresight to have cards in his deck with more than one trick attached to them, "And the card I chose to destroy is your Guardian Grarl!"
Rafael was still growling slightly at the destruction of one of his most powerful monsters. "Make no mistake kid, you're gonna pay for that!"
Xander gulped nervously before setting one monster face down and ending his turn, after placing his Breaker ready in attack mode.
Rafael drew two cards for his turn. He seemed to think for a moment before smiling thinly.
"I activate Monster Reborn and bring my Guardian Grarl back from the graveyard!" declared his adversary before activating the card.
A ball of light was the first to form but eventually it expanded, took shape and formed Guardian Grarl with Gravity Axe in hand and looking just as healthy as it had before having an explosive encounter with three holographic sticks of TNT. Definitely not a good thing because with it having three thousand attack points at its disposal and the Xan-man not having anything in his hand that came close he was definitely in a tight spot.
Xander groaned internally, what's it take to kill that thing?
He didn't get any time to ponder his question however.
"Guardian Grarl returns with Gravity Axe increasing his appoints to an impressive three thousand once more! Now, Guardian Grarl, destroy Breaker the Magical Warrior with decisive chop!" declared Rafael sounding eager to get some payback.
With a fierce roar Grarl leapt across the battlefield and made Breaker half the warrior he used to be before the crimson clad knight shattered like so much broken glass. Fortunately the Xan-man didn't lose as many life points as one might expect.
"What!? What's going on?" Rafael exclaimed in shock as he watched Xander's life points drop to just fifteen hundred instead of the one thousand he'd expected.
"Looks like you overlooked my face down card Rafael. Reveal face down card." He said and watched as his insurance revealed itself, "Thanks to the effects of my Reinforcements trap card my Breaker the Magical Warrior got a five hundred attack point boost just before your monster struck its blow. True I still lose six hundred life points and my monster but every little bit helps ya know."
Xander LP – 1500
Rafael LP – 3000
Rafael just smiled slightly before setting a card face down. "I end my turn."
"My turn again. Let's see what I draw this time." He said as he pulled a card from his deck.
Pot of Greed! Yes! He thought before slipping the card into the correct slot and saying, "I play Pot of Greed allowing me to draw two new cards from my deck."
Drawing said two cards he hoped that he managed to land something good in order to turn the duel in his favor. He was not disappointed as he found he had drawn Penumbral Solider Lady ATK 2100/Defense 1400 and the second of his special cards. While neither would be able to destroy Guardian Grarl outright they'd at least be able to limit the damage done to his life points.
"First I summon D.D Warrior Lady but she won't be hanging around long, since I immediately sacrifice her in order to summon Penumbral Solider Lady to the field." He declared as he carried out the sacrifice to bring the stronger monster to the field, "Then I end my turn."
"Not a very impressive move considering she can't destroy any of my monsters or withstand their attacks but then what else can I expect from a rookie!" Rafael said as the card he had placed face down flipped up.
"Perhaps Rafael but monsters are good for more than just attacking ones opponent. I end my turn." He said after putting one card face down.
"It's about all you can do with your strongest monster stopped cold." Rafael said as he drew two cards from his deck, "It's a shame you can't say the same about my monsters! Now I play the card Rod of Silence and when equipped with my Backup Gardna it increases his attack and defense points by five hundred." Rafael declared as a staff of some blue colored stone grew from the ground within a cocoon of crystal before exploding free and being picked up by Gardna, "But that's not the only thing it'll do for me! Using its special effect I can summon Guardian Castor to the field!"
With a beam of light shot from Rod of Silence a mermaid like creature appeared on the field but to the Xan-man's surprise she only had one thousand attack points. Not exactly the heavy hitter he'd expected biker boy to bring out, not that it made much difference with the way things were going.
"Guardian Grarl attack his helpless Penumbral Solider Lady! Decisive Chop!"
Bound as she was in the Nightmare Binding, Penumbral soldier lady could not even hope to mount a defense. Xander winced as his life-points took a sudden dive.
Xander LP – 600
Rafael LP – 3000
But it wasn't over 'til the fat lady sang.
"Go Guardian Castor! Attack!" Rafael ordered pointing out his desired target, "Pure Waterspout!"
"Nice try! I activate my face down card, Magic Shield Arm!" He said as he watched a large shield appear in front of him. Then a pair of extendable arms reached out from the shield, grabbing hold of Guardian Grarl and placing it in front of the attack. With a roar of rage the massive monster charged straight through the Waterspout and cleaved Guardian Castor in half before returning to its previous position beside Backup Guardna.
Xander heaved a sigh of relief as the Magic shield arm dissipated, catching sight of the new life-point totals.
Xander LP – 600
Rafael LP – 1000
That card really saved my skin. I might even have a chance of winning.
"I knew you'd stop my Castor's attack but you also left yourself wide open to a second attack from my Backup Gardna!" Rafael declared with a grin, seemingly unaffected by the loss to his life-points "Go Backup Gardna! Attack his life-points!"
"Not so fast Rafael! I play the second of my four special cards, the Watchful Mage, and activate his special ability: Noble Sacrifice!" he declared quickly putting the card into the right slot, "Go my Mage! Intercept his attack!"
Now with this card he gave some real thought as to how the monster should look and actually did a search on the internet to find just the right combination of clothes and choose what the physical characteristics would be. The first obvious physical feature would be the long white or gray hair along with a decent beard since it was practically an unwritten rule that there was no such thing as a young power mage. Everyone from Merlin to Gandalf had gray or white beards and let their hair grow to hippy length with only the risk of tripping over it keeping them from growing their hair longer. Next he added a leather headband with a sapphire in the center resting right in the middle of the Mage's forehead. He knew he could have gone for the stereotypical pointy hat but he figured the headband had more intimidation qualities to it than the hat. The face was all Giles since he was able to show the people who actually made the card picture of the gang from back home and they were able to paste the face in. Next came the clothes which he used a combination of Gandalf's usual attire as illustrated by a certain artist and some impressive looking armor that looked like it came from Camelot with magic symbols carved into each piece. Then to top it all off he gave The Watchful Mage a staff that while made of wood for the most part had branch like fingers at the top wrapped around a crystal ball that seemed to glow lightly with its own inner light. All in all he figured G-Man would be almost touched by this representation of him which meant it was a good thing that the Watcher didn't watch TV or 'annoy the Brit' season would end earlier than it should.
"You can't do that! A monster that powerful needs a sacrifice before it can be summoned to the field! Never mind that it is still my turn!" Rafael said objecting to the act that had kept him from winning the duel.
"Perhaps but the Watchful Mage's special ability can be used at any time so long as he is either on the field on in my hand." He explained as he watched the smoke clear from the destruction of his Mage, "The only catch is that in using Noble Sacrifice I must now remove my monster from play for the remainder of the duel."
With those words he removed the card from his duel disk and slipped it into his pocket. It was truthfully a painful move since not only did it take useful monster from him but it also made it impossible for him to pull out his trump card later. Without three of the four special cards he'd made available, of which the Scarlet Wicca and the Watchful Mage made up two of the three, the strongest monster in his deck could not be summoned to the field. Given where his paranoia told him this duel was going he could seriously have used his big gun but now he would have to hope that another solution would present itself.
Xander LP – 600
Rafael LP – 1000
"You're as good a duelist as Yugi says you are Rafael but I wouldn't get too full of yourself just yet. I've heard enough from the King of Games and his friends to know that it ain't over 'til my life points hit zero." He said trying to sound like it was just a minor set back when in fact it was a MAJOR one.
"Whatever kid. I finish my turn and hold onto this one card I have left." Rafael said letting the 'words of wisdom' bounce off of him, "That should give you something of a chance right?"
Not even bothering to dignify that question with a response he drew another card from his deck hoping that it was something he could use. Looking at the card he knew it wasn't exactly the kick ass monster he was hoping for but it just might provide him with one if his luck took a turn for the better.
"I play the magic card Treasure of God! Thanks to this card we can both keep drawing from our hands until we each hold a total of six cards in our hands." He said and immediately drew the four cards he was lacking.
Looking at what he drew he knew that Lady Luck had to be feeling sorry for him right now because he had just drawn exactly what he needed to turn this duel around. The monster card Judge Man ATK 2200/Defense 1500, the magic card Dian Keto the Cure Master, The Warrior Returning Alive spell card and the spell card Hammer Shot were the four that had been drawn. With this set of cards not only could he turn the duel around but he could also bring another of his best cards onto the field. With a smile he usually reserved for when Deadboy was going to get into trouble he looked up and gave Rafael a face full of it.
"Get Ready Rafael because now is the time for the end game to start! First I play the magic card Dian Keto the Cure Master to increase my life points by one thousand." He declared after sliding the card into the correct slot and watched his life points climb, "Then I play the magic card Monster Reborn to summon The Scarlet Wicca, activating her second effect at the cost of 1000 life-points to retrieve monster reborn and put it in my hand, but she's only here to introduce an even bigger star. So I tribute her and summon to the field the master of the courtroom Judge Man ATK 2200/ Defense 1500!"
"However I'm not done by a long shot. While I know that this card isn't enough to crush your Guardian Grarl I having something else to send that overgrown iguana to the graveyard." He said before sliding his next card into the appropriate slot and activating it, "I activate the spell card Hammer Shot and using its effect I destroy your mighty Grarl! Next I use the magic card The Warrior Returning Alive to bring back my Penumbral Warrior Lady to the field."
"Looks like things they are a changin' Rafael. You're now one monster down and in terms of life points we're nearly even. Add to that the fact that the only monster you do have on the field is barely strong enough to destroy one of my monsters and it is hardly worth mentioning." He said admiring his defense while it lasted since he knew that a duelist of Rafael's caliber would be able to find a way around it, "Since I have no other cards to play I guess I'll end my turn."
Rafael didn't have a whole lot to say about that and just went about drawing his two cards to add to the six he had in his hand. The look on biker boy's made it clear that he intended to retake the lead in this duel but also teach the Xan-man a lesson in the process. Probably didn't like the idea of a nobody who didn't even know what Duel Monsters was until a week or so ago managing to hold his own against the mighty Rafael. After all from the way that he'd heard it from Mokuba his brother had become obsessed after that first defeat at the hands of Yugi with defeating the King of Games and reclaiming his championship title. While biker boy might not be a champion in name he was definitely a high-ranking duelist with a fair bit of pride in his skills. Pride that was taking some serious hits at the hands of one Alexander LaVelle Harris and Rafael did not look happy about that.
"Don't expect your monsters to last Harris because while things do change every once and awhile they also tend to stay the same more often than not." Rafael said a smile that was definitely predatory, "Now it's my turn to show you how it's done!"
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Seto Kaiba's Point of View, One Second LaterNot bad for an amateur. Seto thought as he watched the duel unfold before him, Hard to believe he's any relation of Tony Harris.
Then again that had been his position from the first moment he laid eyes on the young man but he'd made sure that no one even considered that he might actually see the boy as anything other than a bothersome burden. If someone had told him a month ago that he'd be playing host to some American kid for two weeks he'd have given them his best glare and then told them precisely how long they had before he ruined them completely. However thanks to his connection with Anthony Harris he had been forced to consider doing something that would have been beneath him otherwise. Still it was a good move now that he had time to think about it and had the potential to benefit him greatly assuming those fools he had sent to Sunnydale did their jobs properly. To think that it had all started with a similar risky business venture in the form of his hostile take over of Kaiba Corp from his step-father Gozaburo.
While it had been true that he had done most of the work concerning the acquisition of controlling interest in the company it had been Anthony Harris that had provided him with the occasional key piece of information he needed to get it. Tony had never been an important employee at Kaiba Corps but had been a fall guy that his step-father kept close just in case. The other members of the big five also used Harris as a scapegoat when it suited their purposes and while it never led to Tony's dismissal from the company it did cost him in terms of money as well as his professional reputation. It had been that fact that he'd used to manipulate the man into eavesdropping on Gozaburo and the Big Five to learn ahead of time what their plans would be. While a smart C.E.O would have the sense to tell Tony to leave the room anytime something important was being discussed. Fortunately Anthony's reputation for being a spineless coward and lackey made it inconceivable to those fools that he would ever do anything as risky as spy for the enemy.
From there it had been simple to use the information I'd gained on the Big Five to trick them into siding with me against Gozaburo. He thought with a slight smile at that memorable day when the tyrant was voted out of his position, While I had no choice but to strip those five fools of their power in order to keep them from turning on me later Tony was another matter. He had information that the Big Five could use to ruin me before I even got started taking the company in a completely different direction.
So as soon as he could he managed to convince Tony that he needed to go into hiding for a year or so until things settled down. He'd even gone so far as to promise the man a high-ranking position upon his return. A promise he of course never intended to keep and aside from a small stipend at the end of every month he'd let the year become two, then three, and eventually forgot about the man altogether. It had only been a few months ago that he'd received a letter in the mail from Tony that some concern began to show itself. Apparently Tony hadn't been as stupid as he'd looked and eventually caught onto the fact that his 'deal' wasn't as concrete as it had once been. So Anthony had tried to make a deal: in exchange for being the point man on a monopolization of Duel Monsters business in the United States (with him being the real power and Xander being a figurehead) he'd keep his mouth shut about all the secrets he'd been privy to during his time as a spy. While most of what he suspected the elder Harris knew was useless there was a chance that there were a few kernels of information that could potentially harm him financially. So in the end he had agreed on the condition that he got to inspect Xander himself in person before he agreed to anything. The reason he gave was that he wanted to see how hard it would be to control the younger Harris and how believable he'd be as Kaiba Corps U.S commander in chief. The real reason though was that he needed time to plug any holes and destroy any evidence that could damage him should Tony carry thought on his threat.
Imagine his surprise when his limo pulled up to the front door of his mansion and revealed a teenager so different from Tony that only a thorough background check had convinced him of their relation. As the days past, though he never let anyone know, he actually began to see the teenager as Xander Harris rather than just Tony's brat. It was then that he had come up with a new plan that if it worked would not only provide him with a means of eliminating Tony's threat for good but also provide him with a dueling ally. True he was plenty strong enough to beat anyone in a duel nine times out of ten but past experience had taught him that unfortunately even he could be defeated with the right application of that 'magic' nonsense. That was why he hadn't thrown up much of a fuss when Ishida had named Xander as the rookie member of Team Kaiba. While he certainly hadn't been happy with not having enough time to scout potential candidates that Ishida might have chosen he was willing to give the younger Harris a chance to prove himself.
In the days that followed, both with the card designs and the progress during Alexander's dueling lessons, he found himself revising his opinion of the young man again and again. While he regrettably seemed to share the 'fair play' and 'sportsmanship' that seemed to be the theme of Yugi and his geek squad there was also a candle-sized flame of ruthlessness inside of him. There was the potential there to become a serious competitor in the Duel Monsters League second only to perhaps himself and that interested him greatly. While he had a moment of doubt when he had learned that Harris' first opponent would be Rafael Xander was managing to stay neck in neck with someone possessing a great deal more experience.
The question now is: can he actually win this duel? He thought to himself as he tried to deduce where the duel would go from here.
Somehow he figured he'd have the answer to his question soon enough.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Main Duelling Platform, One Second Later"My turn Harris." Rafael said as he drew two cards from his deck.
The smile that appeared on his face was NOT what the Xan-man wanted to see because he remembered what happened afterwards when he was smiling like that.
"Looks like fate has decided to end this duel right now Harris! Thanks to my Guardian Treasure and your Treasure of God card I now have what I need to crush all your monsters at once!" Rafael declared before slipping one card into his duel disk, "First I play Soul Revival which frees all of the monsters currently residing in my graveyard returning them to the top of my deck. Then I play Celestial Sword!"
NOT GOOD! Xander thought as he recalled what both Joey and Yugi had said about this card, Definitely NOT GOOD!
"To use that sword I summon my Guardian Eatos ATK 2500/2000 to the field and use Backup Guardna's effect to transfer Celestial Sword and equip it to Guardian Eatos." Rafael said with growing confidence, "Now I know from Mr. Ishida that you've been hanging out with Yugi and his friends so I'm sure you know what comes next. Guardian Eatos! Activate Spirit of Celestial Sword!"
With an almost visible ripple through the air he suddenly felt as though some sort of unknown force was causing the arm with his duel disk on it to be held up in the air whether he wanted it to or not.
"As I'm sure you know thanks to the Eatos' special ability all the attack points from the monsters in your graveyard are now added to her attack points." Rafael said as images of The Scarlet Wicca, D.D. Warrior Lady and Breaker the Magical Warrior appeared above the platform before becoming one with Celestial Sword, "By my count that makes her fifty-nine hundred attack points strong! More than enough to bring this duel to an explosive end."
No shit asshole! Xander thought with frustration since he knew that neither his Watchful Mage nor his Penumbral Lady Warrior were strong enough to survive such an assault.
"However I think I'll let you squirm a little first. It might be fun to see you go into meltdown trying to figure out a way to defeat my Guardian Eatos!" Rafael commanded and refrained from attacking this once, "I end my turn."
Looking down at his deck he tried to figure out what card could save his bacon this time, what card could possibly topple Guardian Eatos and what card could win him the duel. It was truly his most desperate hour and in that moment he remembered a little bit of philosophical info that Yugi had once given him during one of their mini-duels at the school. He said that every duelist, knowingly or unknowingly, put their heart and soul into creating their own dueling deck. As long as the duelist put their faith in the heart of the cards they would always find a way to come through in the end. To tell the truth he hadn't been sure about whether or not Yugi had been speaking literally or metaphorically or even metaphysically but at the moment he'd take it any way he could that might get him out of this mess.
I don't know if there really is a heart of the cards in my deck or if what Yugi said was just meant to be inspirational. He thought almost directing his thoughts to his deck, But if you can hear me please give me the card I need to have a fighting chance at winning this duel.
With that thought he slipped a card out from his deck and in an abrupt jerk he held it out in front of him in order to see if his prayers had been answered. When he saw what card he'd drawn he didn't know whether to start laughing or try and figure out if something paranormal had just lent him a helping hand. Whatever the case it was enough to give him some time to figure out how to defeat Eatos and maybe even win this duel.
"Just remember Rafael that you asked for this. I play the magic card Swords of Revealing Light!" he declared before slipping the card into the right slot and activating it, "Thanks to this card your Guardian Eatos cannot attack for a whole three turns and that buys me just enough time to lay out the groundwork for your defeat."
With the activation of the card swords composed of the element mentioned in the name of the card dropped down from above and surrounded his opponent's side of the field. However this card would only buy him three turns and he would probably need every single one of them if he hoped to bring down his Guardian Eatos.
"Time, that's all you've bought for yourself Harris, and that'll run out soon enough." Rafael said as he drew two cards from his deck, "Looks like you luck out this time. I end my turn."
"Smart move." He responded putting more confidence than he felt into his voice.
If I don't take him down in one attack, he'll destroy me. He thought with his mind beginning to wear down from all the stress it was under.
Drawing a card he looked at it to see if it could be any help in making his monster stronger or weakening Eatos. It was definitely a good start and might buy him some time if he didn't have what he needed by the time the Swords of Revealing light wore off. However to keep Rafael from figuring out his plan too early he'd keep the card in his hand until just before the Swords faded away and then play it. Until then he would act as though he had nothing of value and just move things along.
"I end my turn." He said sounding discouraged and frustrated.
"No luck huh? Guess you used it all up and now all you have is what little skill you were born with." Rafael said as he drew a card from his hand, "I summon Guardian Eruma to the field. Using her special ability I can take a magic equip card from the graveyard and equip her with it so I choose Butterfly Dagger, increasing her attack points by three hundred. That'll do it for now Harris so I end my turn." So saying he discarded one card from his hand, bringing it back to the six card limit.
"My draw then." He said as he pulled his new card from the deck.
Looking at the card he saw that it was another magic card that while useful was no good to him at the moment. So again he decided to keep the card he had drawn in his hand and not put it on the field for fear of Rafel destroying it too early.
"Shit." He said in anger before turning an impressive glare at his adversary, "I end my turn."
"Guess Lady Luck really did wise up and side with me. Don't worry though Harris because once the effects of your swords of revealing light wear off I'll end it all in one turn." Rafael said as he drew two cards from his deck, " I play Defence Shield and equip it to my Guardian Eruma increasing her Defence points by three hundred. Then I summon my Guardian Castor back to the field. I will leave everything but Eatos in defence mode. One more turn Harris and then you get wiped out both in this duel and the tournament. I end my turn."
"Don't bet on it Rafael." He stated as he drew the last free card he'd be able to even as the Swords of Revealing Light faded.
JACKPOT! He though to himself as he saw the card he'd drawn, Looks like Lady Luck just wanted a taste of something different before remembering just how much I love her!
"Looks like God decided to cut me a break Rafael because now I sacrifice my Judge Man along with my Penumbral Soldier Lady in order to summon a monster with attack points that are pretty damn high." He said as he removed the Ladies from their slots and put the card he'd drawn in its place, "Say hello to the Dark Magician of Chaos ATK 2800/Defense 2600!"
With that a dark cloud that crackled with purple lightning appeared over his side of the dueling platform and then with one thunderous bolt of lightning coming down from on high there was a flash of light that when gone revealed a leather clad, staff wielding Magician with (in Xander's opinion) a serious mascara problem.
I can win! Eat that biker-boy. Time to teach you a lesson. He thought with a grin.
Practically trembling in excitement, Xander began what would be his final move, one way or another.
"I activate Big Bang Shot and equip it to my Dark Magician of Chaos, increasing his attack to thirty two hundred! Next I will activate Soul Release, removing all monsters in my graveyard from play!" A pang of regret pierced his heart as he did this, placing his monsters in his pocket safely alongside the Watchful Mage.
"And what was the point of that? Other than wasting my time?"
Xander's head snapped up to look Rafael in the eyes, a shadow awakening within his own. Rafael shivered slightly as he felt like someone had just done a river dance on his grave.
"With no monsters left in my Graveyard, your Eatos loses the power granted by the Spirit of Celestial Sword, leaving her with the original attack of twenty-five hundred!"
Rafael could do nothing more than watch in numb shock as the Guardian Eatos who had protected him since he was a child was sapped of her power.
"Now go my Magician! Destroy his Guardian Eatos with Chaos Staff Blast!" he ordered and watched as his monster let loose a blast of purple energy that obliterated the Guardian monster and took seven hundred life points from Rafael.
Xander LP – 500
Rafael LP – 300
The duel wasn't over yet but it might as well have been because with the Dark Magician of Chaos on his side and Rafael now only had three monsters on the field and none of them were strong enough to challenge his monster. In fact he only had to destroy one of them in order to end the duel since even biker boy's strongest monster would cost him seven hundred points once it was destroyed. So unless a miracle happened in the next turn this duel was all his!
"Bad move kid! By destroying my Guardian Eatos and sending her to the graveyard you've allowed me to summon a creature with more than enough attack points to squash your Dark Magician of Chaos." Rafael said as a dark mist began to appear on his side of the field, "Say hello to my Guardian Deathscythe 2500/2100! Also now that she is on the field she is automatically equipped with the card Axe of the God of Death which raises her attack points by five hundred for every monster card in the graveyard."
"What still doesn't make her strong enough to defeat my Magician Rafael!" he said with his mind saying he'd win but his heart beginning to worry.
"True if I just stopped there that would be the case but that's not the way it's going to be. I sacrifice Backup Guardna, Guardian Eruma and Guardian Castor in order to boost by monster's attack points by an additional fifteen hundred!" Rafael declared before each of the named monsters shattered their way to the card graveyard, "Bringing her attack points to a grand total of forty-five hundred! You may have gotten lucky last time Harris but there's no way you can summon a monster strong enough to beat Deathscythe. At least not before I deliver the final blow to your Dark Magician of Chaos and rob you of the life points you have left. In fact I'm going to cut you some slack and not attack this turn! So go ahead and draw your last pathetic card! I end my turn."
How can I win this!? He thought with fear gripping his soul, There are only a select few monsters in the entire game capable of reaching forty-five hundred attack points or higher! Even if I have one of them in my deck those kind of monsters take more than one turn to summon to the field or even empower to reach that level!
Reaching for his deck to draw his next card he was startled to find that his hand was frozen in place mere inches from it. No matter how hard he tried to pick a card his hand would not move forward. It was almost as though something sentient was keeping him away from his deck. Almost like a pet that no longer entirely trusted its master and so kept its distance save in moments when it had no choice but to get closer. It was then that he flashed back to Yugi's retelling of his first duel with Seto Kaiba and how he had felt in the final moments of the duel. Apparently even the King of Games could feel unsure of himself and doubt the ability of his deck to see him through to victory. Yugi had said that it felt as though the cards had sensed his doubt and refused to be played by someone that didn't have complete faith in them. Could something like that be happening now? He wanted to say that it was nonsense, that he'd left the supernatural back on the Hellmouth, but something in his soul told him that there was more to Duel Monsters than what he was seeing. Reaching deep within himself he forced his doubts to the side and gathered up the confidence and trust he had for the gang back home before attaching those same feelings to his cards.
I'm sorry I doubted you guys. I know that each one of your is an important part of my being as a duelist and that all I have to do is have faith in your if I want to win. He thought at his cards trying to convince them that he no longer lacked trust in them, So let's give this last turn everything we got and end this!
With those words the force that had been keeping his hand from drawing a card from the deck vanished into nothingness as though it had never been there in the first place. With a smile he drew a card and once he saw it with his eyes his smile only grew as whatever remaining doubt within him was obliterated.
This duel was over.
"You really should have attacked me last turn Rafael because now there'll be no 'next turn' for you! I sacrifice my Dark Magician of Chaos to summon to the field the third special card I had made for this tournament." He declared before slapping the just drawn card onto his duel disk, "Say hello to The Golden Slayer ATK 1800/Defense 1500!"
"HA! You must have finally snapped under the pressure! Why would you sacrifice a strong monster for one with over one thousand less attack points?" Rafael asked as he struggled to keep his laughing under control.
"Perhaps because like the hero she is it is possible for her to get stronger than anything under the right circumstances. For example by activating the first of her special abilities called 'Raiding the Armory' which allows her to redirect any equip magic card being used by my opponent to her!" he replied as he watched the Scythe of the Death God vanish from Deathscythe's hands and reappear (albeit smaller to better fit her size) in the hands of the Golden Slayer, "Without the scythe your monster's attack points decrease back to their original twenty-five hundred. In the case of the Golden Slayer though her attack points increase by five hundred bringing her to a total of twenty-three hundred!"
"It's still not enough! My Guardian Deathscythe can still destroy your weak monster!" Rafael said furiously as he watched the beginnings of a repeat taking form.
"True but it opens the door for the next of my monster's special abilities called 'Courageous Strength' which allows my monster to temporarily increase its attack points by six hundred so long as the target isn't more than six hundred greater attack points stronger than her." He explained before whipping out his left arm and pointing at Deathscythe, "Now go my Slayer! Attack Guardian Deathscythe! GOLDEN SLASH!"
With a distorted warrior cry the Golden Slayer leapt into the air and with three complete spins to build up momentum cut through Deathscythe from shoulder to hip. Like shattered glass the best monster in Rafael's deck lost to the second strongest monster in his deck and thanks to 'Courageous Strength' increasing Slayer's strength to twenty-nine hundred it also cost biker boy four hundred life points. Given that the man had possessed only three hundred of them prior to arrival of the Golden Slayer it didn't take a genius to know what that meant.
"That's game Rafael." He said while giving a respectful salute to an opponent he'd almost been unable to defeat.
As Rafael looked up at him he was for a brief moment worried that the man might actually attack him or something. That fear was rendered even more likely when biker boy began to walk across the now deactivated dueling platform towards him with steady strong steps. When it became such that there was less than two feet between the two of them he wondered how he would fare now that he actually had to fight the guy himself rather than monster to monster.
As it turns out he was worried for nothing because in a move that surprised just about everyone in the arena Rafael extended his hand for a handshake and had a grudging smile on his face.
"I gotta say kid that it's not often that I duel someone that can pull this many surprises out of his hat in one match but you did it." Rafael said with respect in his voice to match the smile on his face.
He hesitated only for a moment before taking Rafael's hand and shaking it firmly with a respectful smile of his own present on his face.
"You were pretty full of surprises yourself biker boy. You kept me on my toes the entire duel and showed me what it takes to be a real duelist." He stated honestly and without his usual American sense of humor, "I hope you'll do me a favor one day and agree to a rematch because quite frankly this was a BLAST!"
That last sentence pretty much shattered the serious handshake between fellow duelists he figured Rafael was shooting for but he just couldn't help himself. Hearing the crowd roaring around him, the excitement that came from coming out on top, and most of all just plain managing to not look like a complete newbie had him seriously stoked. He could now understand why there was a Duel Monsters League and why the game itself was so popular.
"You got yourself a deal kid." Rafael said before turning around and heading back to the Team Ishida locker room, "Just remember that next time it'll take more than luck and a few good cards to beat me next time."
"Sure thing!" he said before shutting down his duel disk and following his honorable adversary's example by heading back to the Team Kaiba locker room.
"There you have it folks! The first duel of the tournament is done putting a win in Team Kaiba's column giving them the early lead!" Declared the announcer with all the fanfare and excitement the crowd was filling the arena with, "However this tournament is far from over and only time will tell who will be the final winner when all is said and done!"
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Note: To all you dueling fans out there I apologize in advance if you see anything here that goes against the rules of the real life game or perhaps a fact shown in the Anime series. While I had some help from a good beta in ironing out most of the problems and conflicts there might be a few lying around. I can only ask that you tolerate half of them by writing it off as artistic license and let the rest slide because of the quality work I've done in the past. If this idea makes it to becoming a full blown fanfic I will do my best to reduce the number of flaws even further if not eliminate them outright.
Thank you!