Authors notes: Since anyone who answered my question said 'yes', I've gone back and added commentary to all the previous "Today's Strongest Card" segments.
Important note: In a long discussion with a fan of mine, the topic of how Xiaolang's name is pronounced came up. And I realised that I had neglected to explain something. I do not pronounce the name as it would likely normally be spoken (pronouncing Chinese names is not a skill of mine). So for the record here's how I pronounce it.
Zow(think "ow")-lang. I think this would be spelt "Zaolang".
Which leads me to something I want to ask you all.
Should I spell Xiaolang's name as "Zaolang" from here on in (and edit the stuff I've already done). or continue spelling it as I have?
It's up to you, either suits me.
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The Emissary of Extinction
Chapter 5
The Spreading Curse! Extinction Armor
Judai slowly opened the door, peering in to see Xiaolang was already lying on his bed. Apparently trying to calm down, his breathing was still slightly laboured. Judai entered, closing the door behind him. He wasn't sure how to approach this, or even what exactly Xiaolang was feeling. He was clearly angry, but desperately trying to control himself. Judai slowly walked over to the beds, moving to lay in the one that was once his own. He decided to just simply wait, taking out the card Sorano had let him have. It had stopped draining energy. In fact, as it was now it looked indistinguishable from a regular card. "What exactly is it draining? And what for?" He turned the card around, seeing if there was anything out of place on the back of the card. It was just a regular card back. "So is Xiaolang's father the one who holds the Extinction deck?" He turned it around again, looking at the image with Yubel's eyes. He frowned, whatever secrets the card was holding it wasn't revealing now.
"The card you hold is one of my fathers." Judai looked up, imagining that through the beds above him Xiaolang was doing the same. Judai placed the card on the floor beside his bed. Judai waited for Xiaolang to continue. "I know that Extinction was not the deck he played in public. But the public...knew nothing." Xiaolang suddenly stopped. For almost half a minute all Judai could hear was the boy trying to control his breathing. After a deep breath he continued. "I may be his son, but I'm even more confused, I never understood why he stepped down. He was...never liked. I knew that. So did he. But he loved that. Having the power to piss people off, and making sure they couldn't do anything about it was a hobby of his. He never even told his family why he stepped down. But that card, I found out about...at least, I found out without realizing I did."
It was almost another minute before Xiaolang continued.
"You see. My father had room in our home he used as a personal room. His Study he said it was. And one day, a little after I turned five I walked in there, he'd left the door open and I was a kid..." Judai coulden't stop the quiet laugh that escaped him, something told him that Xiaolang had heard it, the boy continued, with his tone a little lighter than before. "I walked up to his desk, there was a deck on there. Which I found odd, he locked his main deck in a safe at all times. So I pulled off the top card..."
Judai nodded. "Extinction Armor."
Another rustle told him Xiaolang had nodded too. "I only caught a brief look at it, then I heard footsteps coming from the stairs, he'd always get mad when anyone went into his study, I put the card back and ran for it. I don't think he ever realized I was there. It was only after seeing Sorano play it that I even learned the cards name. I don't know why he gave the card away, but it looks like my father is working with the Emissary of Extinction."
It was then Judai understood something. "Fighting the Emissary means fighting his father. I can't ask that of him." "Xiaolang, if you don't want to work against him I under-"
"I'm still in."
Judai suddenly stopped. What was the boy thinking. "Xiaolang, I won't think less of you."
"Judai, this isn't about what you think of me. This isn't about me keeping my word. The simple fact is that I want to do this."
Judai stopped again. That left a long line of questions. Questions he felt he shouldn't ask. After a few moments Xiaolang spoke one last time. "We know who's using the deck. Now we just need to know what his plan to open the gate is."
Judai frowned. "Any ideas?"
"None. Sorry."
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The following day, in Cronos's class. Kenzan and Sorano sat side by side, the class busy enough to hold a conversation without being noticed.
"Did you find anything, Kenzan?"
He shook his head. "I got distracted, some second year wanted to challenge me, he was a Dinosaur deck user as well."
"Any good?"
"Not really-sarus. Though he may be the best once I graduate. It's a shame so very few people play Dinosaur decks-don."
"At least there's you."
"Now if everyone would kindly pay attention na-no-ne. I will now take two volunteers to show the uses of equip cards!"
Seconds later two students had been selected, a Ra yellow and Obelisk blue. The Obelisk was a tall, lanky brunette with dark blue eyes and a look on his face that said 'I'm better than you'.
No one liked him.
The Ra yellow, with hair to match that went down to the middle of her back. She had bright green eyes, an hourglass figure and a chest that an open jacket was close to revealing, hidden only by a black shirt.
All the boys liked her, most of the girls did. The rest had boyfriends. Cronos handed them both a deck, shouting out an order so the class could hear. "Remember Duellists, you may add any cards in your deck that you think will help emphasize the lesson I am trying to part."
A minute, and several cards each later, both duellists had their decks shuffled and the duel was set to start.
"This outta be good-saurs."
"Damn right. Wonder if solid visions can cut her shirt open?"
Kenzan turned to face his friend, slowly. After a few seconds Sorano noticed. "What?" Sorano had a feeling that Kenzan's opinion of him just changed. "What?" Kenzan turned away.
"What?"
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Xiaolang didn't pay any attention as the waves crashed around the rock he sat on. He was not in the mood to attend class. Truth be told, he didn't feel much like being on the island any more. As long as he was here then the island would have a dark aura around it as far as he was concerned. But he couldn't leave, not because he gave Judai his word. Not because he had anything to prove.
"I guess it's out of spite then. Heh. To think I'd sink so low."
The boy chuckled to himself. "Oh the irony." His chuckle grew into laughter. To anyone who was watching him, he may have seemed happy.
But the sun on his face hid his tears well.
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From atop the small cliff, Xiaolang's father watched as his son stared out to the sea. "So you grew up, my son." He turned away. "Good."
He'd seen what he came to see.
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Judai was on his way to his favourite fishing spot. He couldn't do much until another duellist was seen using a copy of Extinction Armor. He wanted to meet whoever was handing the card out.
It seemed today that fate felt like working with him.
As he walked to the cliffs, the man himself was coming his way.
He was a very tall man, easily over 6 and a half feet tall, and extremely well built, reminding him of another villain he had faced a year ago. The suit he wore could have gotten him mistaken for a business man, but upon closer inspection he was wearing a black shirt under it, no tie to speak of. Judai looked to his face. He was smiling, but his smile could not look more sinister if he'd tried. The man's eyes were pools of darkness, pools one could easily fall into, and drown in. He had surprisingly long hair, heading down to the back of his neck. Let Judai could noticed that the man had somehow formed two braids, coming down each side of his face, formed in the shape of an upside down cross. The fact that the man's hair was like spun gold only added unfitting beauty to the man.
They both walked forward, nothing happening to suggest that they had even noticed one another, they passed each other, each getting several steps before...
"You do know your son is here, don't you?" Both stopped.
"Yes. I do."
"Do you plan on seeing him?"
The man laughed. "Eventually, though I don't think he wants to see me."
"And why is that?" By now both had turned their heads, they were looking right into the eyes of the other.
Orbs of Darkness met Orange and Green. Judai was not taking any chances with him.
"You're his friend. Shouldn't you know?" He turned and walked away.
Judai grabbed the box on his waist. Pulling out: "Neos!" The spirit appeared, throwing out a glowing hand. Firing a blast of light. "I'll deal with you before he has to see you!"
The man turned around, throwing out a darkness covered fist at the blast. The blast exploded on contact. Judai was forced to take a step back from the blast. He looked on his opponent with Yubel's eyes.
He was skidding back across the ground, the sheer strength of the attack was too much for him to nullify. He slowed to a stop. "You're not the one I want."
"Then who do you want?"
The man lowered his hand. "I think you know." His darkness covered hand slammed into the ground, creating a wall of black energy that remained for a second before vanishing. When it did, so had he.
Judai turned away to continue walking. "What are you not telling me, Xiaolang?"
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(Obelisk blue LP/600)
(Ra Yellow LP/400)
Field:
Obelisk: Monsters, 1. Obnoxious Celtic Guard. (Attack mode. ATK/1400 DEF/1200). Spell/Traps. 3, Mist Body. (Equipped monster, Obnoxious Celtic Guard) 2 set cards. Cards in hand, 1.
Ra: Monsters, 1. Mataza the Zapper. (attack mode. ATK/1300 DEF/800) Spell&Traps/3. Three set cards. Cards in hand, 0.
It was the Obelisks turn. "I activate Fusion Sword Murasame Blade. This gives my Guard 800 attack points and this spell cant be destroyed by other spells." (Celtic Guard ATK/2200) "Attack!" The Guard rushed forward.
"I activate the trap. Weapon Reforge. I can activate it when a monster I control is attacked, I can select and activate an Equip spell card from my graveyard. I choose Megamorph. Because my life points are lower than yours, my Mataza has his attack doubled." (ATK/2600)
"I'll chain my face down card, Blast with Chain! It will give my Guard 500 attack points." (ATK/2700)
The class watched in awe at the battle, a lot of strategic thought was being used here. It was almost like watching pros trying to one up each other
The Ra yellow took a turn at winning this competition. "I activate my second face down. Armory Plunder! I must send cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard until I find an Equip Spell card. Once I do I activate it and equip it to a monster I control, but it will be destroyed during the end of the turn." She began sending cards, not finding an equip Spell until her seventh card. "I activate my Axe of Despair." (Mataza ATK/3600)
"I play my last face down card! Equip Mimic, It mimics the effect of one of my Equip card until the turns end. I'll pick my Blast with chain." (Celtic Guard ATK/3200) "I won't win the battle, but I'll make it through the turn."
"Guess again! I open my last face down card, Extinction Armor!" Ribs burst forth my the Zappers chest, moving to form a ribcage. The monster screamed as a skull formed around it's head. The spine that formed grew a tail that reached just above it's feet. The now armoured monster vanished, appearing before the guard.
It delivered a powerful slash, too fast for anyone to see, but the dissipating mist that was the guard revealed the creature had been bifurcated.
(Obelisk LP/0) "What?"
The Ra yellow laughed, making the entire male population of the class look at a section of her body just below her neck. "A monster equipped with Extinction doubles any battle damage it gives or takes to either player."
Up in the stands two students were not in awe.
"This isn't good, Sorano."
"We better tell Judai as soon as possible. Looks like I wasn't the only student he gave that card to after all."
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In the card shop, Tome was standing behind the counter, making sure all the pre-made decks for sale were properly arranged. "There we are, I have a feeling this new deck will sell out before the day is out. They all do sooner or later." She turned around to see a man walking up to the counter. He looked intimidating, but as a staff member she had to serve all customers equally. "Can I help you?"
He smiled, "Why yes, I had heard a new structure deck was released today. I thought coming in before the students came in would be a good idea." She nodded.
"Just a second." She turned around, giving him the time to find what he was looking for. He found a large box, filled with random cards. He smiled, he knew what it was, however, he had to keep up appearances.
"I couldn't help notice the box, can I ask why it's full of cards?" He handed over the money for the deck, he didn't want it of course, but acting was necessary.
"It's a commons box, we get a number of booster packs and decks we end up not selling, so we sell the leftover commons cheaply, the rarer cards are on available on request."
"Now that's a good idea. I think I'll take a look." He placed the new bought deck in a pocket, moving to take a look at the box.
He dipped a hand in, knowing there were no security cameras, and that the woman had gone back to checking the inventory was in the proper place.
His hand was dyed black, the energy spreading into the box of random cards. He watched as more cards suddenly appeared, first a few, then dozens, in seconds it became hundreds, in a box of what might have been hundreds another few hundred would go unnoticed. He pulled out his hand after a minute, satisfied with his work. He picked a few random cards.
"I'll take these." He placed some more money on the counter. "Have a nice day."
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"Judai!" Judai turned around as Kenzan and Sorano showed up, holding up a hand, attempting to signal for quiet. Kenzen reached him first. "What's wrong, Judai?" He turned, signalling to Xiaolang.
"He hasn't moved in almost an hour. And that's for how long I've known he's been there. He's just stared out at the sea. This whole matter has a lot to do with him, come on. I'll explain."
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"So the guy working with the Emissary, is his father-ssarus?"
Judai nodded. "And there's more to the story, but I'm not going to ask him, and neither should you. What he wants to say, he'll say. So what brings you here guys?"
Kenzan didn't waste a second. "Someone else was using that card-sarus."
"Another? Who?"
Sorano took over from here, out of the two he was more skilled at explaining a story. "A third year Ra student. Rin Sasaki. She used it in a class demonstration about equip cards, Cronos gave both duellists decks to fight with, and they were each allowed to equip cards or support for them to their decks, she ended up adding the armor. She won."
Judai nodded. It was as he thought. "So he's distributing Extinction Armor among the students. But it wont be long before the demand for such a powerful card grows. People will want it, and he'll find a way to give it to them. Now we just need to figure out what he wants to use them for."
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"Hey!"
The senior Kentai turned around, cursing his luck. Someone had noticed him. And recognized him.
"You're Ritan Kentai, the former champ!"
Ritan nodded. "Yes. I am." "Looks like a fan. Might be of use to me."
"I was a big fan back when you duelled, mind giving me some pointers?"
Ritan smile, hiding the frown behind it. "I don't feel like wasting time, but I can't seem rude. Wait, he has a duel disk with him. I can't waste the Extinction deck on him, and I don't feel like using my cards on someone so weak. But do I have the ones I bought..."
His armed snaked behind his back, hiding the darkness that was created in his hand, forming a duel disk. He pulled it out. "Better yet, how about a quick duel? You look like a strong guy." "Clearly a senior, he might be useful."
Ritan placed the duel disk on his arm, it was identical to the Academia model, expect it had replaced the Gray with Black, the hologram projectors having been dyed red. His hand slept into his pocket, all the card were still there, his power instantly ripped through the packaging of the deck, pulling all the cards in his pocket to into his hand, and creating one. He pulled them out and shuffled. "Take your position." The senior moved an appropriate distance.
With their decks shuffled..."Duel!" (Ritan LP/4000 Osiris Senior/4000)
Ritan drew first. "I'll start." "Pre-made decks. I never knew they were so inferior. Well thanks to the others I added, and the Extinction Armor, I should be able to pull this off."
"I summon Giant Rat." (Attack mode. ATK/1400 DEF/1450) The ugly beast appeared and growled. "Next I'll set three cards face down and end my turn."
"I draw. I summon Masked Dragon!" (Attack mode. ATK/1400 DEF/1100) The dragon's mouth was already smoking "And I'll have him attack your Rat!"
The Rat ran forward, barging it's way right through the fire, reaching it's opponent completely ablaze. It sank it's fangs into the dragons neck, causing both to explode.
Ritan grabbed his deck, pulling it out. "My Rat lets me select an Earth attribute monsters from my deck with 1500 or below attack points and special summon it." "Clearly this deck's only commercial value is the cover card. Well if I wanted to duel with a strong deck I'd have used one of my own. Hmm, that might be useful." "I choose and summon, Masked Chopper." (attack mode. ATK/100 DEF/100) The masked fiend, armed with two cleavers appeared. It blinked once, giving it's opponent a blank look.
The opponent made his move. "Now my Dragon lets me summon a monster as well. I dragon with 1500 or fewer points. I choose and summon Soul Dragon." (Attack mode. ATK/1500 DEF/0) It was a silver dragon, holding an orb in both of it's claws. The orb was gold and Ritan could see what he assumed from the cards name, were souls of other dragons. He got a quick look at the beasts eyes, they were completely white.
"When he's summoned, I can discard any number of cards from my hand. For each I send it gains 500 attack points until the turn ends. I'll send all five." (ATK/4000) The orb began to glow, five souls moaned as they left, being absorbed into the dragon. "Attack!"
Ritan looked on, bored as the dragon gathered it's power. "How predictable." "I'll activate a face down card, the Quick-play spell Soul Gathering. For every card I choose to discard, a monster I choose gains 500 attack and defence points until the end phase. I'll discard both. I choose my Masked Chopper." (ATK/1100 DEF/1100) "Next I play, Extinction Armor!" In seconds the beast was dressed in the armor of fear. The skull covering the mask. The Dragon launched it's attacked, a ball of golden fire.
But Ritan was ready for this. "I activate the trap, Bark of Dark Ruler. I must pay any multiple of 100 points, then your monster loses attack points equal to the amount I paid. I'll pay 3900 life points." (LP/100) "Now your monster is weakened." (Soul Dragon ATK/100) "Masked Chopper, counter attack!"
The blast had faded to embers, weak enough for the cleaver laden monster to pass through. It Thrust out one of it's weapons of choice, stabbing the dragon through the skull. It forced it's head up, exposing it's neck. "Keep in mind all battle damage involving the armor to either player is doubled." The Chopper waved it's second cleaver, decapitating the dragon. It shattered. (Osiris Senior LP/2000) However, the Chopper wasen't done yet. It looked down at it's opponent.
Ritan continued to speak. "Any time Masked Chopper destroys a monster, the controller of it takes 2000 damage." The Masked monster flew down, slashing at the Seniors chest with all it's might. The student was knocked down by the sheer force. (LP/0)
As he looked on his fallen opponent, Ritan thought to himself. "Yes. I can use him." "Nice duel kid. Here." He pulled out his copy of Extinction Armor, throwing it to his opponent as he sat up. "Just keep practising."
Ritan turned around and walked. Satisfied with his work. "He'll serve his purpose later."
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As the tide began to come in, Xiaolang stood up. "No more sitting down."
Xiaolang made his way back to his room.
"I never thought I would see you again. I never wanted to. But now I'm forced to. I know I'm not strong enough to defeat you, or the Emissary. But I refuse to sit down and do nothing."
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End of Chapter
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Today's Strongest Card
Masked Chopper
Monster
Earth
1
Fiend/Effect
ATK/100 DEF/100
If this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, inflict 2000 damage to your opponent.
Commentary: Ritan
"Combined with anything that will increase it's attack power, it is a force to be feared."