Starlight Dreamers
Inside an old building, near the bottom floor, Alex pushed a rusty key into a door's keyhole and unlocked it. Opening it, he stepped into a medium sized room. A long couch stood along one of the walls, facing a rectangular table surrounded by 5 chairs. A large screen TV was hoisted on the wall opposite the couch, ready to be turned on. Directly to the entrance's left was a small kitchen area, complete with a sink. Alex, Ray, Dan, Elise, and Emma all walked in.
"Eugh…" Ray covered her face, "Way too dusty."
Emma walked up to the curtains of the windows, revealing a sharp ray of sunlight. Dan turned on the light, bathing the room in a white light. The light also illuminated a small hallway leading to a bathroom.
"This place… kind of sucks." Dan complained as he closed and locked the door behind him.
"It's not all too bad. I mean… It's quaint. Sort of." Emma tried to look at the bright side.
"It needs a thorough clean-up." Elise whispered and walked to the bathroom.
"The TV here is so much bigger than the one I have in my room." Ray looked up at the black screen.
"You have a TV? I thought you lived in the hospital." Dan asked her.
"We have a really small one. It's usually for all the younger kids to watch stuff on. We don't get too many kids though, so I end up watching movies and stuff by myself." Ray explained as she struggled to find the remote.
Emma approached Alex, who looked a little distant. He didn't notice her until she said something.
"Hey, Alex." she got his attention, "Everything alright?"
"Yeah." Alex replied, "I'm good. Everything's fine."
"Is everything you learnt from Rana yesterday still bothering you?"
"How do you know about that?"
"Well, when your supposed team leader loses, the rest of the team finds out one way or another." she pointed back at the group.
"They told you, huh?" Alex sighed, "I guess right now isn't the time to be thinking about other things."
Alex walked towards the center of the room, standing directly in front of the dusty old table.
"There's no remote for the TV, Ray." he explained, "If you want to watch something, you'll have to do it using your disk. Before that, we really should clean this place up. If our team performs well, they'll transfer us to a bigger room on the higher floors."
"Then let's get started." Elise spoke out as she returned to the room, cleaning supplies in hand.
"Wow Dan, you suck at this." Ray annoyed him, pointing out his terrible cleaning skills.
Dan struggled with cleaning windows, "My specialty lies in customer service and stocking. Besides, aren't you the worst out of everyone here? You made a bigger mess that Elise had to clean for you."
"I-I can clean if I want to!" Ray's face flushed, "These clothes are just… they don't fit me. I can't grab anything without spilling it."
"I did want to ask actually." Emma wiped the sweat off her forehead as she was cleaning the kitchen, "What's up with your oversized clothes?"
"Well… I do have other clothes but I grew out of them. The hospital usually has me in a gown and in order to leave I have to wear clothes in the Lost and Found."
"Hospital's have a Lost and Found?!" Dan exclaimed.
"Sort of. Security keeps anything for a few months before it gets donated but no one ever comes back for clothes."
"In any case, we really should get you some proper clothes. I don't think any of my old clothes would fit you… Elise, do you have anything?"
Elise turned around, mop in hand, "Hm. I do, but I don't think any of them would fit your style."
"Why does that matter?" Dan asked before throwing away a dirty tissue paper in the bin.
Ignoring him, Emma came up with an idea, "I know! Why don't we go shopping for our first team… uh… exercise!"
"Shopping as a team exercise?" Alex raised an eyebrow.
"It'll be great! Besides, Ray needs the clothes."
"Err… Thank you for your consideration but you don't really have to go that far for me. I'll be fine with what I have." Ray gave everyone a small bow of respect.
Elise leaned her mop against the wall and walked up to Ray, towering above her.
"Based on the mess you made by dropping glass cleaner detergent on the floor, you have no reason to reject any of our demands." she stared down at Ray.
Intimidated, Ray could only say, "Yes, ma'am."
"Alright, then let's go, go, go!" Emma yelled out.
Everyone in the room got ready to leave, except Dan who moaned, "Man, I don't wanna go to the mall…"
"That's why you're in charge of cleaning the rest of the place! See you later, Dan!" Emma waved at him from outside the door frame.
"Hold on, what?!" Dan yelled before the door shut, leaving him inside.
"How about this one?" Emma pointed out a cute dress.
"Maybe this would make you look nice." Elise looked at a black, shredded jacket.
"This was a terrible idea." Ray wailed silently to Alex, "I've only been here for an hour, but it's so crowded and they made me put on unbearable amounts of clothes."
"To be fair, some of the things they picked out did look good." Alex spoke back to her.
"Almost all of them made me look lame."
"You looked nice."
"As if."
Ray stared off in the other direction, looking dejected.
"I guess since they're clothes you're going to wear, you should be the one to pick them out." Alex offered her a deal, "How about we sneak out and you can find a store you're comfortable with?"
"Aren't they gonna get mad?" Ray asked, turning her head to face Alex.
"As long as you wear it as soon as you buy it. Emma wouldn't particularly care and Elise… I doubt she'd get mad at anything you do."
Grabbing onto Alex's jacket, she half-joking pleaded, "Get me out of here, man"
Alex and Ray snuck their way outside of the store, making sure to avoid the other girls' sight. They both roamed around the mall, talking about trivial things until a shop caught Ray's eye.
"Woah!" Ray awed at the clothes and dressed lined up behind the window, "Let's shop here!"
Ray and Alex entered the store. Inside, it was rather empty, with a single cashier loafing around. Alex looked around at the clothes, which all seemed to be mostly dresses. He noticed that they were all a bit strange, as if they were stylized a few decades or so ago. However, Ray looked around with glee. Thinking nothing of it, Alex decided to let Ray have her fun. Ray picked out a few different dresses and headed to the fitting room, leaving Alex to wait for her. A few minutes passed before Ray came out, revealing herself. She nervously stepped towards Alex, asking, "What do you think?"
She wore a white skirt with two black stripes near the bottom, a white-collared black shirt with puffy laced-frilled sleeves with a orange coloured undershirt and knee high boots.
"You know, out of all these dresses, I think you picked out the most normal looking things." Alex answered, "It suits you. Let's buy it."
"Y-Yeah! Wait, buy? I don't have the money to buy this!"
"That's why I'm buying it for you."
"Huh? No way! I can't expect you to buy something like this for me!" Ray panicked.
"Relax. You should really learn to accept gifts, you know. You'll never know when you get your next one, so try to accept as many as you can." Alex smiled.
Ray nodded, unable to speak her gratitude. A few tears welled up in her eyes which she wiped away when Alex wasn't looking. Alex approached the cashier, asking to buy the clothes on Ray. Ringing up the total, Alex was shown the price.
"Wait, this is kind of really expensive." Alex thought in his head. He glanced at Ray who was beaming with happiness, "They are her first clothes in a long time. I shouldn't worry about it too much. Besides, I've got enough money."
Leaving the bizarre clothing store, Ray happily marched out in her new clothes followed by an equally happy Alex. They walked around in search of the girls but were unable to locate them.
"I thought they'd be around where they were before…" Alex murmured.
"You should give them a call." Ray suggested, " Oh, but let me speak! I've never used a phone before."
"Sure. Tell them to meet at the cafeteria so we can grab a bite to eat."
"And get my new clothes dirty? No way! I'm making sure to keep these clean at all times since I'll be wearing them forever."
"Won't you grow out of them though?" As soon as those words left Alex's mouth, a troubled expression appeared on Ray's face, signaling that he had said something wrong.
In a flash, she erased it and instead smiled, "Yeah. That's not going to happen for a while though, so I'll be taking care of this gift until then."
Alex decided to pretend he didn't see Ray's face and instead pulled out his phone. He dialed Emma's phone number and tossed it towards Ray, "Here."
"Woah!" Ray stumbled as she barely managed to catch the cell phone.
"Tell her to meet us by the entrance. We'll head back to our team's headquarters." Alex instructed.
"Wait, wait, wait! Is this ringing?! I'm not mentally prepared for this; I told you I've never used a phone before! Ah! H-Hello?" Ray followed behind Alex.
Outside, by the entrance, Alex spotted Emma and Elise approaching them. Upon noticing both Alex and Ray, Emma ran towards them.
"Ray! You look adorable!" Emma grabbed Ray and squeezed her in a hug, "Everything looks so good!"
"I agree. If this is how your sense of fashion is, then perhaps you should pick out clothes for me." Elise agreed.
"T-Thank you. Sorry for ditching you guys earlier." Ray thanked them both before apologizing.
"You're fine! I bet it was Alex's idea anyway." Emma laughed, "I got to learn a bit about Elise because of it too."
"I learnt too much." Elise took a few steps away from her and spoke to Alex, "Please never leave me with such a gregarious woman."
"Wha-! I'm not egregious!"
"You heard me incorrectly. I said gregarious."
"That's a word you use for animals!"
"It is a compliment."
"What do you mean that's a compliment?! You're calling me an animal!"
"No… I'm calling you sociable."
Alex and Ray mindlessly watched their argument unfold. Ray tugged on Alex's arm, gesturing to him to lend his ear.
Leaning his head down, Ray whispered into his ear, "What does gregarious mean?"
Alex whispered back, "I wish I knew. I don't even know if the egregious is a real word."
"Wanna ditch them again?" Ray smirked.
"Heh. Let's do it." Alex gave her a faint smile.
Slamming open the door, Emma exclaimed, "You guys suck!"
Ray refused to acknowledge her existence as she was busy watching TV. Alex and Dan jumped, startled by her entrance, as they were sorting out each other's deck.
"I can't believe you left us there for a second time!" Emma walked in with a drained Elise behind her.
"Uh… if it makes you feel any better, this one was Ray's idea." Alex chuckled.
Emma shook her head, "Whatever."
Elise sat next to Dan on the table and immediately slumped in her chair.
"Looks like her social battery died." Dan noticed as he shuffled a deck, "That used to happen to me a lot until I learnt how to circumvent it."
Elise turned her head to face Dan and asked, "How?"
"A need for money, deadlines, and a whole lot of customer service."
Elise leaned forward and rested her head on the table, groaning, "Ughh…."
"Now that we're all here, we should talk about how our mini-guild is going to work." Alex announced, "Mainly, we need a name."
Ray immediately snapped out of her TV trance, "Naming! I'm in!"
"Can we call ourselves the Eternal Quintet and be done with it? I want to go home and sleep for the rest of eternity." Elise's muffled voice spoke out.
"That's really leaning heavily into your Eternity monsters, isn't it?" Emma pointed out, "If anything, we should go with Alex's HERO monster and name ourselves something like… HERO… uh… hm."
"You mean like the Fatal Five?" Ray asked.
"Isn't that the complete opposite? Besides, if we are naming ourselves after Alex's monsters, it should be his ace." Dan pulled out Super HERO Starlight Striker from Alex's deck, "Starlight Strikers is pretty good."
"Having it be the entire card's name is kind of embarrassing though." Alex interjected, "Let's stick with Starlight. We just need a second word."
"Eternal Starlight." Elise groggily suggested, her voice still muffled.
"That's actually not bad."
"How about Starlight Solaris! You know, to fit in with the whole space and sun thing." Dan suggested.
"That feels a bit off." Alex said.
"Could just go all in and go with Starlight Crusaders." Ray giggled.
"Don't push it." Alex jeered, "Any suggestions, Emma?"
"Err…" Emma struggled to think of a name, "Starlight… umm… Ah, forget it. I'm no good at names."
"Starlight…" Alex pulled out Super HERO Starlight Striker and looked down at him, "The reason I created this card was for the sole purpose of becoming my own hero. I wanted to experience true fun while making sure my opponent was having as much fun as I am. That's my dream."
Putting his ace monster away into his deck, he continued, "I know each and everyone of us here has a dream too, even if you haven't shared it or aren't comfortable sharing it. We're all in this together and I want us to soar right to the top. That's why I'm going to go with the name…"
Klein didn't expect to see Alex and his group come into the beginner's lounge. He waited for them to approach him.
"Hey Klein, I figured we'd find you here." Alex greeted him.
"Of course you would. I'm the one who got stuck with this job." Klein grumbled, "So what do you want? I thought you had gone down the path of making a small guild."
"Just as grumpy as always, huh, Klein?" Emma spoke up behind Alex.
Klein sighed, "Why are all of you here? You're no longer beginners."
"We're just here to watch." Dan interjected, "Alex is the one who has business with you."
Klein folded his arms and looked at Alex.
"I wanted to ask for a duel. A proper one. No holding back." Alex requested.
"You're out of your mind." Klein scoffed, "You think just because you tied with the 4th strongest, you can beat the 5th? Get out."
"No, of course not. That duel… it was all for show, wasn't it? Micheal didn't give it his all."
Klein continued to be silent, glaring at Alex.
"I want to test my strength. I need to know if what I am now can handle stronger duels ahead. Every single strong duelist that I've come across hasn't given me a proper chance." Alex pleaded.
"No." Klein turned his back to them and started walking away, "Now leave."
Suddenly, Emma took a few steps ahead of Alex and called out, "You're just scared because Alex has beaten you before!"
"Hey, Emma…" Alex grabbed her shoulder to pull her back.
"Your title belongs to him now! You're no longer part of the 'strongest duelist' clubs!"
Klein turned around and angrily said, "That duel doesn't count for anything! I wasn't even using my full deck!"
"Yeah, and neither was Alex! I was there for the whole thing, so I can attest to you losing!"
"Shut it!" Klein seemed clearly affected by Emma's words, "Fine! I'll crush him right now and when I do, you'll never bother me again!"
Emma turned her face to Alex and gave him a thumbs up and a smile. Klein marched deeper inside the building, towards the dueling rings.
"It really doesn't take much to get him riled up." Ray commented.
"He is very good at being angry…" Elise added, "Although, Emma is equally good at making others angry."
"You just have to be confident about what you think makes people tick." Emma revealed, taking a seat behind the windows overlooking the dueling rings.
"You might be a little too confident for your own good." Alex sighed, "Thanks though."
"We'll be cheering you on from up here." Dan said, "So give us a good show."
Taking his place across from Klein, Alex readied his duel disk.
"Ready to do this?" he asked Klein.
"Honestly, I want to leave, but if I do, I know Emma will just make me angry enough to come back down." Klein raised his duel disk, "You said you wanted to know if you were truly strong enough to stand up to the strongest duelists, but dueling me and winning would ascend your guild's ranking greatly. Isn't that your real goal?"
"No. What I said was my real goal, but the ranking thing is just a bonus. On top of that, I made some new cards I wanted to test out."
"Xyz monsters, I'll bet. Very well. You face Klein Klaus, the current 5th strongest duelist among every duelist here. Let's see how many turns you survive." Klein stated his title.
"I'm Alex from the soon-to-be best guild, the Starlight Dreamers! Bring it on!" Alex declared.
DUEL START
ALEX: 4000
KLIEN: 4000
TURN 1
"My turn!" Alex started his turn, "I'm going to set a monster face-down, then set two other cards and end my turn."
"Your first turn and this is all you can muster?" Klein sounded disappointed, "Don't waste my time."
ALEX: 4000
KLIEN: 4000
TURN 2
"I'm activating the spell, Ruins of the Empowered City!" Klein started his turn with a field spell, sprouting out a broken down ancient city filled with crumbling structures, "My field spell gains different effects based on the levels of Empowered monsters on my field."
"You don't have any though." Alex pointed out.
Deciding to ignore him, Klein called out, "Empowered Attack Force (ATK: 2300)! Since I have a level 4 Empowered monster out on my field, my field spell now raises every Empowered monster's attack by 500. Now I'll equip my monster with the spell. Empowering Aura! This will increase my monster's attack by 100 for each of its levels."
A mighty force of warriors gathered, fully readied with swords and maces. An indigo aura surrounded them as their ATK raised to 3200.
"Now I'll attack your face-down monster!"
The army rushed at the card, revealing it to be Super HERO Saviour (DEF: 2000). The army slashed and bashed the golden HERO, but he did not fall.
"Each turn, the first time Super HERO Saviour would be destroyed, he stays on the field." Alex relayed his monster's effect.
"Fine by me. I end my battle phase, which is when Empowered Attack Force (DEF: 0) is switched to defense position due to its effect. I'll set a single card face-down and end my turn here." Klein finished up.
ALEX: 4000
KLIEN: 4000
TURN 3
"Alright, here comes Super HERO Blaze Falcon (ATK: 1800)!" Alex summoned a warrior with large wings made of fire arching across his back, "Blaze Falcon's effect activates when he's summoned, allowing him to burn you equal to half the attack of one of your level 4 or blow monsters!"
The burning warrior shot out feathers of flame that flew through the Empowered Attack Force catching weapons on fire which would be hurled at Klein.
KLIEN: 4000-1600= 2400
Swatting away the flames, Klein stood tall and unwavering.
"I'm going to switch Super HERO Saviour (ATK: 1000) to attack position." Alex announced, "You're probably not going to like this, Klein. As long as I control another Super HERO monster, my Blaze Falcon can attack twice! Now Saviour, attack his defending monster!"
The golden HERO flashed forward at the army and brought down its giant oval bracers to demolish the small army.
"Naive. When Empowered Attack Force is attacked while in defense position, it switches to attack position!" Klein revealed as his attack force started to slash and bash the HERO once more.
"Ergh! Even still, Saviour won't be destroyed."
"But you still take the damage!"
ALEX: 4000-2200= 1800
"There goes the easy win plan…" Alex mumbled.
"You're an even worse duelist than I thought if you think that was going to work." Klein heard him, "End your turn so I can put this travesty behind me."
"Not before I tune my Tuner monster (LV 4) Super HERO Saviour and my non-tuner (LV 4) Super HERO Blaze Falcon! I Synchro Summon! Onto the field, (LV 8) Super HERO Rain Rejuvenator (DEF: 2800)."
ALEX: 1800
KLIEN: 2400
TURN 4
"I draw. Since it's my Standby phase, my Empowered Attack Force's effect activates. Like every Empowered monster in my deck, it destroys itself. When it does, its other effect activates, allowing me to special summon it back to my field in attack position but banishing it when it next leaves the field." Klein explained, "My equip spell, Empowering Aura has a similar effect. When it's sent to the graveyard through the destruction of the equipped monster, I can draw a card and reveal it."
Klein drew an additional card and revealed Empowered Gear Golem.
"I drew the monster card, Empowered Gear Golem (ATK: 3000), how perfect. I get to special summon it and equip it with Empowering Aura now."
"That is just unfair." Alex complained as a giant golem equipped with magically imbued armour made up of multiple pieces of metal plating was summoned to the field. An indigo aura surrounded it, raising its attack to 3800 before the field spell raised it by another 500.
"Now that I have a level 8 monster, my field spell gains another effect. I no longer take any battle damage." Klein smirked as his victory was assured, "Attack, Golem. When it does, you can't activate spells or traps and you get dealt piercing damage. Destroy that defending HERO!"
The Golem raised its fist and slammed it into Super HERO Rain Rejuvenator, crushing it into the ground and destroying it.
ALEX: 1800-1500= 300
"Whenever Golem deals battle damage, it destroys all spells and traps you control, so no more backrow for you. Now finish it, Empowered Attack Force!" Klein ordered.
"Not so fast!" Alex grunted, "Rain Rejuvinator's effect activated when it got destroyed, which means I can special summon Super HERO Saviour from my graveyard and give you life points equal to its attack."
KLIEN: 2400+1000= 3400
Super HERO Saviour (DEF: 2000) once again appeared on the field, protecting Alex.
"I end my turn." Klein finished.
ALEX: 300
KLIEN: 2400
TURN 5
"I draw!" Alex began.
"Do you still think you can win against the strongest duelists?" Klein coldly asked him, "You've barely survived and all you have is a single monster whose sole ability is to protect itself. Compared to us, you're not worth dueling."
"As long as I have life points, I can still win! My monster may be alone on the field now, but it's only when HEROes are together that they can call out power beyond themselves. To prove it, I'm normal summoning Elemental HERO Solid Soldier (ATK: 1300)! Solid Soldier's effect lets me special summon another HERO monster in my hand, so come on out, Super HERO Thunder Wing (ATK: 1900)!"
A monster covered in shiny scale armour arrived on the field, bringing with it a hero covered in blue armour crashed onto the field, spreading out wings made of crackling lightning.
"I activate Thunder Wing's effect! By discarding Super HERO Grave Guardian, it can reduce Empowered Gear Golem's attack by Grave Guardian's attack. In other words, it loses 1800 attack!" Alex exclaimed as a thunder shook the air, stunning the giant Golem and reducing its ATK to 2500, "Now I'm activating Integration Fusion! I tune and fuse my Tuner monster (LV 4) Super HERO Saviour with the non-tuner monsters (LV 4) Elemental HERO Solid Soldier and (LV 4) Super HERO Thunder Wing! I Integration Summon! Bring hope and fight! (LV 12) Super HERO Hope Harbinger (ATK: 3000)!"
A majestic body touched the earth, wearing golden armour and a cape made of glittering white feathers that waved in the wind along with her long azure HERO was equipped with a golden sphere tipped with a magical metal that glowed a bright light.
"Hope Harbinger's effect! She allows me to draw cards equal to the number of non-tuner "HERO" monsters used for her summon!" Alex drew 2 cards, "She's got another one too! I can target one HERO monster on the field and until the end of your next turn, that monster gains 1000 attack and can't be destroyed. The monster I chose is Super HERO Hope Harbinger herself! Now destroy that Golem!"
The HERO blasted magical energy from its sphere, eviscerating the Empowered Gear Golem.
"Ruins of the Empowered City negates the battle damage." Klein raised his arms in front of his face to block the air blown his way by Hope Harbinger's attack, "Any other effect you want to throw at me?"
"As a matter of fact, yeah! Since Hope Harbinger destroyed your monster, you take 500 effect damage!" Alex remembered.
KLIEN: 3400-500= 2900
"Annoying…" Klein murmured.
"I'll set a card face-down and end my turn now." Alex ended his turn.
ALEX: 300
KLIEN: 2900
TURN 6
"Then it's my turn!" Klein angrily drew a card, "Integration monsters. What was the point of mixing two types of Extra Deck summoning methods anyway? Everything was fine as it was before. The monsters we hold now are already powerful, so why did you bother making Integration Summoning?"
"The answer isn't as grand as you might think it is." Alex answered, "HERO monsters are generally seen as a fusion archetype with the amount of fusion you can do with it. So while I was making Super HERO monsters, I thought fusing summoning methods would make it… well… super."
"Pointless creations. I'll show you just how pathetic they are! First off, since it's my standby phase, Empowered Attack Force destroys itself, banishing it from the game. With that, I can activate Empowered Fallen Angel (ATK:2900)! Since I have at least 1 Empowered monster that is banished and is in the graveyard, I can special summon this card from my hand!"
Klein called out a monster white a completely white body, only wearing white cloth to cover itself. Green vines curled across its and two wings spread from its back, one of black and one of blue. They seemed to be made out of flower petals but on closer inspection each petal was a single piece of magical metal.
"Empowered Fallen Angel's effect activates. Once per turn: I can negate all other face-up cards currently on the field, until the end of this turn!" Klein stated, "And because it's a level 8 monster, my field spell, Ruins of the Empowered City, negates battle damage dealt to me."
"You're kidding!" Alex gasped.
Metal petals stuck across the field, each of them connected to another by a blue magical rope that dragged down all face-up cards on the field to their knees. Super HERO Hope Harbinger fell to her knees as well, with her ATK falling back to 3000.
"Now, Fallen Angel! Attack Hope Harbinger!" Klein commanded.
"What? Why? It's not strong enough!" Alex questioned him.
The monster twisted its wings and shot out sharp metal projectiles at the Super HERO. Hope Harbinger countered with her magical sphere, blasting them all away, along with Empowered Fallen Angel.
"Fallen Angel's effect. When it's destroyed, I can special summon any Empowered Fusion monster from my Extra Deck onto the field with its effects negated. I summon Empowered Titan (ATK: 4000)!" Klein shouted out.
A flutter of metal petals stormed in the air, gathering together to create an unbelievably large robot that loomed over the field. Its foot was the size of the entire dueling ring. Gears and metal rained from the sky as it creaked downwards to kneel onto the field, looking around with its purple glowing eyes that could be compared to moons.
"Now finish this duel, Titan." Klein attacked.
A giant fist struck down towards Hope Harbinger, ready to get rid of the last of Alex's life points.
"I activate the trap card, HERO Assist!" Alex revealed his set card, "Whenever one of my HERO monster's is targeted for an attack, I can special summon a Super HERO from my hand and negate the attack! Help her out, Super HERO Emerald Claw (ATK: 1400)!"
A warrior appeared, wearing a black bodysuit and a mask to hide her face, along with having energy-based claws of green colour that looked to be able to tear through metal. A green tail made of energy wrapped around her waist as she readied herself to fight, signaled by her cat ears made of the same green energy constructs.
"In exchange for negating the attack, I have to return a monster I control to my hand, other than the one I just summoned." Alex called back his monster, "I return Super HERO Hope Harbinger to my hand, though, it'll end up in my Extra Deck since it's an Integration Monster."
"Somehow, you keep surviving." Klein stated, "Now that I control a level 12 monster, my field spell gains another effect. I can special summon any monster in my graveyard. Come back to the field, Empowered Fallen Angel (ATK: 2900). Once more, my field spell gains the effect to prevent any battle damage done to me. I'll end my turn with a face-down."
ALEX: 300
KLIEN: 2900
TURN 7
"My turn. I draw!" Alex drew a card to start his turn, "I did say I wanted to test out some new cards, so let's see how it goes. I activate the effect of Super HERO Emerald Claw! Once per turn: She can absorb half your monster's attack! I'll be taking away your titan's power!"
Uncurling her green energy tail, the HERO raised her claws and zapped out green lightning which absorbed the power from the enormous titan's purple eye above her. The titan's eye slowly faded to darkness while Emerald Claw's energy constructed claws grew to a massive size.
"Your monster's attack is now 2000, while mine's is 2000 higher! Now Emerald Claw, attack Empowered Titan!"
The now 3400 ATK cat-like hero ran across the Empowered Titan's leg on all fours with blistering speed, slicing her energy claws through its magically empowered skin, destroying it.
"Even still, I don't take damage." Klein reminded him,"Since Empowered Titan is in the graveyard, its effects are no longer negated. So now that it was destroyed, its effect activates, returning it to the graveyard."
"Battle damage? My monster has another effect." Alex grinned, "When it destroys the monster it stole attack points from, you take 300 effect damage for every 500 attack points stolen! That's 1200!"
KLIEN: 2900-1200= 1700
"Of course it's effect damage. It doesn't matter. You failed to finish me off, so now I'll win this on my next turn."
"We'll see about that. I'll set my last card and end my turn."
ALEX: 300
KLIEN: 1700
TURN 8
"I draw!" Klein drew a card, "I activate Polymerization! To that, I'll chain one of my traps, Chain Material to that! Chain Material effect allows me to use monsters in my deck, hand, or graveyard to fusion summon this turn, provided I banish the materials. I'll banish from my deck Empowered Bear, Empowered Lightflare Dragon and Empowered Commander to fusion summon Empowered Zero Ice Dragon!"
Three monsters swirled into the sky, turning into a flash of purple before revealing a three headed white dragon. Its wings shone a krimson glow as they creaked with the reinforcements from the machinery and wires twisted around its body. Each head was fixed with armour plating and its claws made of cold steel. Blue power pulsed across its body from the blue gem in the middle of its body.
"Zero Ice Dragon lets me check the top 3 cards from my deck, and if they're all Empowered cards, I can draw them all." Klein drew the top 3 cards from his deck and revealed each one, "Empowered Rose, Empowered Sacred Soldier, and Empowered Destructive Fusion, all in my hand! Now for my last set trap, Fusion Reproduction! By banishing the Polymerization I just used, I can apply its effect now! I fuse together Empowered Sacred Soldier and Empowered Rose in my hand to fusion summon Empowered Beast of Magic (ATK: 2900)!"
A flash of bright light appeared, creating a giant beast covered in metal embedded with plants with mechanical parts substituting for its front legs. The plant beast had an oval shaped blue core that surrounded itself with a magic barrier.
"Now I activate the spell card, Tribute to the Doomed! By discarding a card, I can destroy a monster on the field. I'm choosing Empowered Fallen Angel!" Klein activated.
"You would destroy your own monster?" Alex questioned him with a serious face.
"I'll do anything I can do. My deck was made with perfection in mind, so every card counts to an absolute victory! Now for Empowered Fallen Angel's effect! When it's destroyed, I can special summon a fusion monster from my Extra Deck with its effects negated. Return to the field, Empowered Titan (ATK: 4000)!"
Once again, the titan stood tall, its creaks and cranks reverberating.
"That's a lot of powerful fusions…" Alex gulped as he stood against Empowered Titan, Empowered Zero Ice Dragon and Empowered Beast of Magic.
"You're lucky, as Chain Material prevents me from attacking at all whenever it is used, and the monster summoned using it is destroyed during the end phase, which is why I think I'll activate Empowered Destructive Fusion. Its effect destroys all cards on the field and the ones in my hands, unless they're fusion monsters! It also negates every non-fusion monster's effect until it resolves!"
"No way!" Alex cried as Super HERO Emerald Claw was destroyed, "But then what was the point of attaching Empowered Rose if it's effect can't be activated?"
"Because then I get to fuse together the three fusion monsters, Empowered Titan, Empowered Zero Ice Dragon and Empowered Beast of Magic to call out the strongest monster in my deck. Let me show you, perfection's price! I fusion summon, Empowered Overlord (ATK: 4500)!"
A glaring purple light swirled together the 3 monsters on the field, creating a huge burst of energy. A single ball of purple light floated down, its presence blowing air around the room. A figure could be seen inside it, wearing a long black vest with a red and black undershirt. Tubes were strewn across its back, carrying a blue liquid. The being smiled at Alex, to which he realized that evil smiles existed.
"Empowered Overlord requires me to fuse 3 Empowered fusion monsters." Klein explained, "All worth it, because of its effects. You cannot target it with card effects. It cannot be destroyed by card effects. Every time an effect that would destroy this card would activate, its attack increases by 300."
"You know, for the ultimate monster in your 'perfect' deck, I expected it to just… not be able to leave the field." Alex mused, "But I can still attack over it with Starlight Striker!"
"That's where you're wrong. Empowered Destructive Fusion's effect raises the fusion summoned monster by 500 for every monster destroyed that was destroyed by its effect.. Your Emerald Claw on the field was destroyed along with my 3 Empowered monsters in my hand, raising its attack from 4500 to 6500."
"I can still beat that."
"You can't. The rest of Overlord's effects will apply. For starters, it counts as level 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 which enables every effect of my field spell, so its attack increases by 500 and decreases all your monsters' attack by 500. And just like every Empowered monster, it will try to destroy itself during each Standby Phase and each End Phase, except it can't be destroyed by card effects."
"...and gains 300 attack for every time an effect would try to destroy this card." Alex stared at the evil fiend lording over him with its 7000 ATK.
"Exactly." Klein reminded him, "I'll end my turn now, since I can't enter the battle phase, which in turn raises Empowered Overlord's attack by 300. Take your last turn, Alex."
FIELD SPELL
Ruins of the Empowered City
This card gains effects based on the levels of the "Empowered" monsters on your field:
• 3 or lower: Once per turn: Draw a card.
•4: All "Empowered" monsters gain 500 ATK.
•6: This card cannot be destroyed.
•8: You take no battle damage.
•10: Your opponent's monsters ATK is reduced by 500
•12 or higher: Once per turn: Special Summon a monster in your GY.
DARK LV 12 ATK: 4500 DEF: 4000
3 "Empowered" Fusion monsters
Empowered Overlord
(This card's level is always treated as 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12.)
This Fusion Summoned card cannot be used as material for another monster's summon. This card cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects, including its own. This card gains 300 ATK every time an effect would destroy this card. During each Standby Phase and End Phase, destroy this card.
DARK LV 4 ATK: 1400 DEF: 1700
Super HERO Emerald Claw
Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls. This card gains ATK equal to half the targeted monster's ATK until the end of this turn. If this card destroys the targeted monster after using this effect, inflict 300 damage to your opponent for every 500 attack points this card gained this turn.
A "HERO" Xyz Monster that was Summoned using this card as Xyz Material gains this effect.
• If it is Xyz Summoned: It gains 1000 ATK.