Chapter 5: The Cyber Showdown
Despite the name Duel Academy, no school can possibly become an accredited institution by teaching card games exclusively. In addition to duel-based classes, such as basic and advanced game play courses and card etymology courses, students were required to complete some combination of general education courses, such as the physical sciences and history. The purpose behind general education classes was to produce, upon graduation, knowledgeable, well-rounded students who could be contributing members of society. Most general education courses were grouped into clusters by similarity—humanities, social science, life science, mathematics—and students could choose from the classes within each cluster to complete course requirements. As long as students completed the requirements from each cluster and added enough elective courses to achieve the required number of credits for graduation, it didn't matter when students took each class (with few exceptions). The result was that many classes contained students of many ages and ranks.
The kinesiology class met three times a week. Darius was awfully bored by the lectures; he enjoyed reading what are often considered the great works or American literature, but he oftentimes didn't understand the big deal.
"I did not understand this question," he commented to his roommate Sean Bivins regarding a homework worksheet. "It asks what the green light at the end of the dock represents."
"What's the problem?" Sean asked. He was a fairly tall guy with some muscle on him thanks to playing basketball in high school. He had brown eyes and naturally blond hair, but his family tree was one in which it was common for the men's hair to turn silver early in life; Sean's turned silver before he even finished with puberty. The hair contrasted with his boyish facial features quite a bit, creating that odd paradox where a casual observer would have difficulty guessing his age.
Sean wasn't much of an intellectual. That's not to say he was dumb by any means—certainly he was a skilled enough duelist to attend the top-rated school in the dueling world, and doing so is not something a person can do absentmindedly—but he wasn't much of a contributor to intellectual discussions. On the other hand, the big surprise to Darius was that despite his potential density, Sean was poetic at times.
"Green means 'go,' and Daisy's house by the docks is exactly where Gatsby wants to 'go.'"
Darius still looked confused. "A green light is more visible. It is actually very common for a lighthouse to have a green light, especially on foggy nights."
"This is why nobody likes The Great Gatsby," Maikeru Stone suggested. He was another resident from Darius's floor in the Yellow Dorm. He was of average height and fair build, and he colored his hair navy blue. Why, no one was sure, and he never gave a straight answer. It was the kind of dark blue that looked black from a distance or at first glance, but it always gave off a blue sheen in the light. His hair was also noticeable next to his yellow jacket, which he wore zipped about halfway over a black T-shirt and blue jeans.
Maikeru had a tendency to be snide, though he rarely intended it maliciously. He just didn't find the same level of amusement in much of life that others did. "It's just another boring book that someone decided would go good on a list of the 'best literature of all time.' Books are like movies that way; the 'best picture' is one that is so incredibly boring you just want to pull your eyes out."
"Oedipus Rex is next semester," Ivy Roaks suggested. She was a freshman and so adorned in a white academy jacket and a red skirt, but as suggested, it was not uncommon for freshmen and sophomores to share a few general education classes. Ivy was a short, cute redhead with the kind of haircut so short in the back that her bangs were the longest part. When a guy says the first thing notices about a woman is her eyes, he's probably not exaggerating with Ivy; she had a fake, lime-green tattoo in the shape of a star next to her bluish-gray eyes, which were protected by a pair of rectangle frames for her glasses. More of an artist than a duelist, she was constantly doodling new artwork for her favorite cards in the margins of her papers.
She also had a thing for chiming in when she thought Maikeru was getting worked up. It wasn't hard to recognize, especially for an attentive ear like hers. She enjoyed calming those around her and helping to keep some semblance of peace among the student body. Sometimes, all it took was one, well timed, humorous comment.
"I heard my suitemate is going to get to duel against your old roommate," she added to Darius.
"Are you referring to Aurora Ruiter?" Darius asked. Sean chuckled to himself that Aurora is still such a funny name. Maikeru thought it was ridiculous to name your kid something so easy to make fun of.
"When is that?" Sean asked. Darius told him it was scheduled during the area duel this afternoon. Every day from 1:25 to 3:15 was an open block for area duels, a time when official duels were held in an open forum for any students to come by and watch. The location sometimes varied based on the participants, but they were always held in the dueling arenas belonging to one of the dorms.
"I can't believe Matt's going to duel a freshman," Maikeru said. "Why give such an 'honor' to a freshman when he keeps turning down duels from other people?"
Ivy smiled and said, "I heard Rory's got a good chance of winning. Apparently most of Matt's duels are really close; he almost loses a lot."
"Almost only counts in horse pies," Darius replied. This drew baffled looks from the others. "What? Did I say it wrong again?"
"I think you mean horseshoes," Sean corrected him. "It's a game. You throw horseshoes and get points based on how close to the stake you get."
"Then why not say 'almost counts in curling?" Darius wondered. It would have been a good point if anyone actually cared about curling. He decided to eschew the idioms and explained simply, "There is a big difference between almost losing and losing."
"You were his roommate for a semester. Is Matt really that good?" Sean asked.
"Not when he makes jokes during a duel with a friend," Darius said, remembering a time when Matt dueled a for-fun game on the table against Cary, and he so insisted on making plays that were funny to the point they were not strategic and he ended up losing the duel; it did not go on his record, however, because they did not use their student IDs or even electronic holograms. "But when he feels his pride is at stake, he becomes remarkably lucky."
"He sounds like a chump," Maikeru muttered.
"You say that about everyone," Ivy pointed out with a smile.
During the same class block, Bryan and Matt took a kinesiology class with several other upperclassmen. This class was only taught every two years in the fall semester—mostly because not a lot of card players want to sign up for a kinesiology class—and so to get that credit, the bros. could either take it this semester or wait for their senior year; they hoped to be done with the general education classes by senior year.
On Mondays and Wednesdays, the class met in the gym, either for specific recreation or general workouts. On Fridays, they met in the classroom for health and wellness lectures. But time in the classroom wasn't always spent discussing class material. As in a typical classroom, students liked to socialize about their own daily minutia before each lecture began while the professor was getting prepared.
"I don't have time," Matt defended himself. "Between working for Dr. West, leading Team OTK, and generally trying to keep Kasumi happy, I'm swamped." He looked to Bryan and said, "I had no idea how hard Dave worked. I'm surprised we ever even saw him."
"Maybe Dave was better at it."
Naoto glared at Matt, refusing to back down. "I just transferred here from another school. I deserve a fair chance at the Number One rank."
Naoto Kurotsuki was a new student at Duel Academy, but he wasn't a freshman. He just transferred during this school year from the Otogi School for the Gaming Arts where he pretty well mastered dueling relative to all his classmates. After he successfully claimed the title from the regional Duel Monsters tournament, he applied for a transfer to Duel Academy and scored so well he was placed directly into the Blue Mansion.
Typically Naoto was quiet and had a contemplative look on his face—the kind of guy who sits in the back of the class half asleep but able to answer all the questions the professor asks of him. Right now, however, he was slightly heated to find out that he couldn't have an early shot at the title because the current title holder was "busy." He knew he was one of the best duelists around—being in the Blue Mansion in his first year was proof of that—but he wanted the rank as a point of pride. It wasn't good enough to be in the top twenty; he wanted Number One.
As mentioned, he was generally quiet, and though he was tall, he wasn't the tallest in the class, and he was fairly lanky to boot. He dyed his hair a dark shade of Prussian blue; it didn't look all that different from black hair except that when he was in the light, his hair gave off a sort of blue glow, much like Maikeru's. His eyes were also a deep blue, almost an exact match for his hair, both of which really stood out next to his rather pale skin. He opted to wear a white jacket with blue trim instead of the more traditional blue jacket in part because it was less common. Naoto didn't really stand out much through his behavior, and so he tried to gain attention through his appearance and his gaming skills.
"And I'm telling you, I don't have time! I have to turn down nearly eighty percent of the duel requests I get. Ask Cary; I hired her as a secretary to sort through them for me."
Cary huffed silently. "Hired me? You give me cookies and PowerAde."
"He also helped you put together that new deck," Bryan pointed out.
Cary had to admit that was true, and that coupled with her friendship to make her do Matt this favor, but she still commented, "I want a raise."
"I'll start stocking string cheese," Matt replied.
Naoto was not happy that his request was constantly denied. He kept fairly quiet and calm about it, but he still wanted the opportunity to advance to the academy's top spot. "The rule for denying requests is a ridiculous one." The rule to which he referred said that any student who receives a duel request from a student of a higher rank must accept the request. Naoto's problem occurred because Matt was currently the top-ranked duelist, meaning he had free reign to accept or deny whatever duels he wanted.
"Duel me," Bryan offered, mostly to shut Naoto up.
"Yeah," Matt agreed. "Duel him. I can't beat Bryan, so if you can, you can have my spot."
Naoto huffed. "The faculty would never allow those stakes."
"But you'll get the satisfaction of knowing that you could beat Matt if you dueled him," Kenny commented. "And maybe your beating Bryan would actually inspire Matt to duel with you, too."
"Why would Matt duel me then if he thinks he can't win?"
Matt laughed. "They obviously have a very different work ethic at your other school. I enjoy challenges. And seeing new cards, which is why I'm not interested in dueling against your Exodia deck. I dueled against Dave seven times last year. I know how to handle Exodia."
"But my deck is different," Naoto assured him. "I am much stronger."
"Dave's in a whole other league," Kenny said. "Literally. He's part of the International One-Turn-Kill team. They're like the Harlem Globetrotters of dueling. Just ask Cary; she's his cousin."
Cary looked from Kenny to Naoto to Matt and asked, "Is this a bad time to bring up the duel request you accepted from that freshman?"
Naoto's eyes were suddenly filled with hatred and Matt's were filled with curious fear. "Why?"
Cary shrugged. "Busting your chops for that 'secretary comment."
Matt cracked a grin against his will and uttered, "Fair enough."
Hayley Ann Wilson decided to voice an opinion at that moment. She wandered into the classroom and sat near enough to overhear the conversation. "You denied dueling a Blue to duel with a freshman instead?" Hayley donned a yellow academy jacket; not everyone in this class was a blue resident. Under her jacket, Hayley wore a royal blue shirt with an iron-on image of the Water Dragon, one of the most powerful water-type duel monsters, and white pants one might wear in a karate class. Her black hair reached just past her shoulders, and the ends were dyed blondish-gold and gelled together like spikes. One of the reasons she sat separately from the others was that she was quite attractive, and upon first meeting Bryan, he overwhelmed her with his flirting.
"That's different," Matt insisted. "I've already dueled against a successful Exodia deck. I've not dueled against another cyber deck."
"Don't you and Bryan trade decks and duel one another that way?" Cary asked. Matt shot her a look of exasperation. She simply shrugged and said, "Busting chops."
Matt sighed and explained, "It's different when I'm using a cyber deck against a second cyber deck. I'm good with this deck; I'm decent with the Elemental Heroes."
"Good enough to beat Maya," Kenny reminded him. Matt stressed that again, that was different; he has more of a knack for a Neos deck than a more general Elemental Hero deck. Bryan used both, but the Neos deck was the one that defeated the former female Yellow Dorm advisor—the one Dr. Houtz replaced.
"Off topic," Matt admitted with a nod, "but by dueling Rory, I get use my own deck against a similar one." He finally huffed and asked, "Why am I defending a position I'm perfectly justified in making, anyway?"
Bryan was quick to answer with, "Because we fixed you too well in high school and now you hate upsetting people you don't know well." Matt muttered an acceptance of that explanation. "It sucks for those of you do know well, though, because you have no problem screwing us over. Right, Cary?"
"No argument here."
Matt stared at her for a moment before saying lightly and with a sarcastic tone, "You're a good friend." As the professor got everyone ready to start the lecture, Matt finally promised Naoto, "Seriously, dude. If you can beat Bryan in a duel, I'll give you your duel."
His expression shifted from a scowl to his usual Tony Dungy grin. "That's all I ask."
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After class, Bryan and Matt figuratively bumped into Rory in the hallway; she had a class in the same building and knew that she might be able to find Matt if she stopped by. Her appearance was slightly different by this point in the semester. She replaced her academy jacket with a crimson, knee-length, woman's duster; it was similar to a thin-layered, unfitted, sleeveless robe that was pulled tight around her chest to show off her figure. Underneath, she wore a black camisole and a skirt that matched her jacket. Maybe Matt had the self-control not to stare, but Bryan had no such reservation.
"Hey, cutie," Bryan said when he saw her. He gave her a small hug. "You here to psych out the competition?"
"No," she said with a giggle. "I just thought I'd say I'm really looking forward to our duel."
"So am I," Matt said. At that moment, his phone began to ring. He took a quick look at it and saw Kasumi's name, so he eagerly answered it, holding up a finger to let Rory know it would be a quick call. "Hey, baby." Rory shifted noticeably when she realized who was on the other end. "Yeah, we just got out. Rory stopped by, I guess to wish me luck on our duel. She says I'm overrated and a pushover."
Rory's expression became indignant. "I did not!" Matt just smiled back at her.
"No, she has a class down the hall and just thought she'd say 'hi.'" Matt paused while Kasumi spoke, an action that became noticeably louder to Bryan and Rory. He sighed through her words, then covered the receiver while he spoke to Rory. "I'm sorry, but this is going to take longer than I thought. She's got some stuff to work through. I'll see you at our duel, though."
"Bye," Rory said with a soft wave as Matt walked away.
Bryan put his arm around her small frame and said, "Cheer up, Borealis. Some women get jealous for no reason." Naoto, who had taken a few extra minutes to speak with a classmate before leaving the room, stepped into the hallway at that moment. Bryan quickly pulled Rory off to the side and said, "Whoa. Better you wait until later to meet that guy."
"Why?"
Bryan's response was a cryptic, "Let's just say he's a kitten who found the catnip sealed inside a childproof bottle."
Rory laughed. "That has got to be the strangest metaphor I've ever heard."
"I got a million of 'em."
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Because Matt was a Blue duelist and Dr. Lankford approved it, the area duel between Matt and Rory took place in the Blue Mansion's duel arena, colloquially known as the Tsuji Arena. It was the most elaborate of the area arenas and the only one with an original Industrial Illusions duel stadium underneath the retractable floor. It also had seats that were softer than the rocks the freshmen arena had to sit on.
The area duels weren't as formal as the freshman placement exams. After the supervising faculty member—Dr. Lankford in this case—approved the setup of the duelists and the holographic machinery and gave a very brief introduction to the duel, the worker from the tech center turned everything on and got the duel underway. Fortunately, Rory owned her own Academy Duel Disk already, and so the duel station didn't need to be set up. Matt received his own Next Generation Duel Disk during last year's Limitations Tournament in Gathas.
A Duel Disk is, with few differences between models, a dueling prosthesis that holds five monster plates and six spaces for Spells and Traps—including a Field Spell—as a portable dueling field similar to one found on a bigger station. Two small hologram generators creates holographic illusions of the duel cards during game play. In general the portable holograms were of lower quality than inside the hologram boxes at the electronic duel terminals, but the portable feature made Duel Disks very popular accessories.
The reason some freshmen didn't own personal Duel Disks already is they tend to be fairly expensive. Not prohibitively so, but most commonly, students wait until the second year to purchase one because many reputable retailers give discounts based on dormitory rank; freshmen are strictly limited in the rank they can achieve, and so the price is always highest for them. Matt would have waited until his sophomore year began, too, if his Duel Disk were not a gift from the organizer of the Limitation tournament; that is the same reason his and Bryan's were not Academy Duel Disks.
With everything set, the duelists shuffled one another decks and prepared themselves. Rory beat Matt in a game of rock-paper-scissors with rock over scissors.
"I think I'll take the first turn," Rory decided. "I'll play Hunter Dragon (3/1700/100) and end my turn." Rory's dragon emerged on the field. It was fairly small, but its sleek, gray-scaled body resembled one giant razor blade; its claws were sharp, its tail ended in a scythe-like blade, and even its chin protruded like a bayonet. "Go ahead and make your move."
Matt smiled at her. She was smarter than to summon a monster and leave him unprotected unless she had a specific plan. They each ran the Cyber Dragon in their decks; according to its special ability, the Cyber Dragon could be Special Summoned if the opponent has a monster and the player does not. Rory knew well that Matt was likely to summon a Cyber Dragon on her turn, but if he destroyed her monster, then she could summon one of her own, perhaps. He considered this possibility as he readied his own move.
"I'll use its effect to Special Summon the Cyber Dragon (5/2100/1600) to my field." A metallic serpent slithered onto the field. It was a fairly rotund serpent with yellow eyes and a small horn on its snout. "I know you planned for this move."
Rory smiled as she feigned surprise. "No. I had no idea you used cards like mine."
"You'd be a terrible poker player," Matt commented. "I'll also summon Cyber Phoenix (4/1200/1600)." The new monster resembled a metallic bird with four, sleek, jet-like wings and bladed feathers around its head and tail. As the Cyber Phoenix burst into flame, the flames also engulfed the Cyber Dragon, thereby protecting it from the targeting effects of Spells and Trap cards. "I'll attack your Hunter Dragon (1700) with Cyber Dragon (2100), then attack directly with Cyber Phoenix (1200)." The Cyber Dragon reared back and released a blast of energy that consumed Rory's dragon. The Cyber Phoenix followed by swarming Rory's field with a stream of flame. "I'll set one card and end my turn." Matt 8000: Rory 8000 – 400 – 1200 = 6400.
"Now the field is set for me to summon my own Cyber Dragon (5/2100/1600)," Rory announced. On her field appeared a nearly identical serpent, but whereas Matt's monster had a silver glean to its body, Rory's had a charcoal shade and emitted a deep purple aura around its body.
"That's…" Matt started without certainty as to how he should finish the sentence. "…rather ominous. It's like an evil Cyber Dragon."
Rory giggled. "It does look that way a bit, doesn't it? But it's just a different artwork. I promise I don't have any ulterior motives for this duel." Not everyone believed that, but Matt wasn't the kind to be superstitious about an evil-looking monster card. He was still looking forward to seeing what Rory was going to play.
"Now I'm going to play Future Fusion. By sending monsters from my deck to the Graveyard, I can summon a Fusion monster in two turns." A green-and-white swirl of energy appeared on the field, drawing in two Hunter Dragons, two Twin-Headed Behemoths, and an Exploder Dragon.
"Five dragons?" Matt noted. "What can you fuse with that?"
"You don't know?"
He shook his head. "I'm rather limited in knowing all the cards out there. We only have so much space for memory, and I have to save mine for important stuff." Like prank ideas and lyrics to Weird Al songs.
"Well, you'll find out in two turns, then. For now, I'll attack your Cyber Phoenix (1200)." Rory's Cyber Dragon, coiled like a snake, pounced on Matt's metallic phoenix, but instead of hitting its target, it collided with a scarecrow assembled from scrap metals.
"I'll activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow," Matt countered. "It not only negates your attack, but I get to set my Trap back on the field to use again later."
Rory simply nodded and smiled to herself. "I'll also set a card facedown." Matt 8000: Rory 6400.
"For my turn, I'll summon Cyber Larva (1/400/600)," a short, metallic worm with a hard shell and a stinger on its tail, "and send all four monsters on the field to the Graveyard."
"Four?" Rory repeated. "But you've only got two. For you to take my Cyber Dragon means you've got a Chimeratech monster."
"Exactly," Matt said, impressed though not surprised by Rory's knowledge of Cyber Dragons. "By sending all machines on the field to the Graveyard, I can summon Chimeratech Fortress Dragon (8/+4000/0)." Matt's new machine was a series of pods large enough to house a Cyber Dragon, all connected like a segmented serpent with a razor-sharp tail at one end and a bird-like beak at the other. Four pods opened and absorbed the two Cyber Dragons, the Cyber Phoenix, and the Cyber Larva; when the pods closed, the Fortress Dragon began to draw energy from the smaller machines. "As I'm sure you know, my new monster gains 1000 points for each machine used in its fusion."
"I do," Rory replied.
"Good. Then let's see you stop its attack." Chimeratech Fortress Dragon opened its beak-like mouth and released a blast of blue plasma energy.
"Gladly. I'll play Call of the Haunted." A series of tombstones appeared at the back of Rory's field, representative of her Graveyard. A small mist rose from the graves and brought Exploder Dragon (3/1000/0) to the field; it was a fairly small, blue dragon carrying a spike-covered egg. "I think I'll revive Exploder Dragon."
"What does that do?"
Rory happily explained, "When it's destroyed in battle, not only does Exploder Dragon self-destruct and destroy your Chimeratech Fortress, but I won't even take any battle damage from the effort. What do you think?"
"I think I should have just dueled Naoto." The fact that Rory's field changed triggered a replay, and Matt's monster was no longer forced to attack. Matt could re-declare the attack, but he opted not to in order to keep his monster on the field. He checked out his hand and said, "Nah. I'm done for now."
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Of all the spectators for this particular area duel, Naoto was the least impressed with Matt's performance so far, and Rory wasn't doing much to impress him, either.
"Why should she tell him her card's effects? She should have let him attack and lose his monster."
"This is more interesting," spoke Mitsuro Itachu. Adorned in her blue coat and wearing a green rag around her forehead to keep her short black hair out of her face, Mitsuro was the junior resident advisor for the Blue Mansion. She was a tall, rather strong young woman whose talent on the dueling field earned her the right to be advisor to the other Blue duelists. As a strong-willed young woman, she opted to wear pants instead of a skirt; she didn't really appreciate the way the traditional women's uniform seemed to make every Duel Academy woman a sex symbol. She had a strong sense of honor that brought her to attend as many area duels involving her residents as her schedule would allow. "By helping raise Matt's awareness of the duel, the freshman is making sure she faces the best duelist she can. Why face a half-assed duelist?"
"That's ridiculous. He is a half-assed duelist. Why does a boy who can't remember the effects of half the cards his opponents play get to be highly ranked? If he can't win these duels on his own knowledge and skill, he should lose them all."
Mitsuro looked sideways at Naoto, trying to figure out the source of his anger. "I thought people from Asian cultures were supposed to prioritize harmony over individual achievement."
Naoto huffed. "Chalk it up to this Western influence."
She smiled. "You know the real reason Matt doesn't bother to memorize all those card effects, yet during a duel he tends to strategize pretty effectively?" She motioned with her arm as if she were wearing a Duel Disk. "During a duel, he can read the cards."
Naoto harrumphed. "Waste of time."
"Just shut up and watch the duel."
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"If you're going to summon one of the rarest Cyber Monsters," Rory decided, "then I will, too. I'll summon Cyberdark Edge (4/800/800)!" The steely gray monster that appeared on Rory's side of the field resembled a metallic, winged insect with a few buds for feet and several lightweight blades for wings. It dropped to the ground near Rory's Call of the Haunted card and took flight again with the Hunter Dragon attached to its belly.
"That's pretty cool," Matt said. "What else does it do?"
Rory giggled. "For starters, Cyberdark Edge (+2500) gains the attack points of the dragon I equipped to it. And next, I can cut its power in half to attack you directly." Cyberdark Edge folded its body into a sleeker shape, then slid right past the Fortress Dragon and struck Matt.
"That was pretty cool," Matt admitted. Noting the blades on the end of Rory's monster, he added, "Good thing these are holograms."
Rory looked surprised. "Why didn't you use your Trap card to stop me?"
"Are you nuts? And leave my Fortress Dragon open for an attack from that ridiculous Exploder Dragon? No, thanks." See? Matt's forte was strategy, even if his piano was memorized card effects.
"Good move, I suppose," Rory admitted. "I'll place a card facedown and end my turn."
Matt drew and immediately formed a plan. "Here we go. I'll summon Jade Knight (4/1000/1800) to my field." Despite the name, Jade Knight was actually a white jet-plane straight out of the Gradius Gaiden video game. Its weaponry was colored jade, however. "I think I'll have my Jade Knight (1000) attack your Exploder Dragon (1000)." The cannons on top of the Jade Knight fired four beams of energy in a spray; the blasts all changed direction and converged on Exploder Dragon simultaneously. Exploder Dragon dropped the egg it was carrying, which caused a secondary explosion. Jade Knight's weapons cracked, and the entire plane fell apart, leaving behind a card in its wreckage.
"You got rid of my big defense monster," Rory said, pretending to be hurt. Her gravesite disappeared as well when Call of the Haunted went to the Graveyard.
"I did," Matt agreed. "And because our monsters had the same attack power, they were both destroyed by battle and not by your monster's effect. That means I get to take a Level 4 light-attribute machine from my deck and put it in my hand."
Rory noted. "That effect is awfully specific."
"Yeah, maybe," Matt agreed, "but at least this deck has a few. I pick Cyber Dragon Zwei." He put the card in his hand and looked back to the field. "Now I'll have Chimeratech Fortress Dragon (4000) attack your Cyberdark Edge (2500)." The Fortress Dragon charged and released a blue beam of electricity that collided with the Cyberdark Edge and dislodged the Hunter Dragon, destroying it a second time. But the Cyberdark machine remained… "Hey, why didn't your monster get destroyed?"
"That's the beauty of equipping a dragon," Rory told him. "When my Cyberdark Edge (-800) would be destroyed, I destroy the equipped dragon instead and keep my machine. Of course, its points go lower again, but I'm okay with that for now."
Matt laughed. "That doesn't sound good. And next turn your Future Fusion takes effect. I guess I'd better get ready for it." Matt 8000: Rory 6400 – 1500 = 4900.
Right after Rory drew her card, her field filled nearly completely with the body of a golden dragon. As if its massive torso wasn't impressive enough, five heads sprouted from its neck, each of a different element from fire, water, wind, earth, and dark. "This is my Five-Headed Dragon (12/5000/5000)."
"I see that," Matt replied. "That's an impressive monster. Does it have any abilities, or is having godly attack power all it needs?"
"You can't destroy it with fire, water, wind, earth, or dark monsters."
Matt smiled. "Thanks. I guess I'll need my Cyber End Dragon."
"That might do it," Rory agreed with a nod. "Of course, I'm not going to make it easy for you. I'll activate my facedown Crush Card Virus." After Rory's Trap resolved, her Cyberdark Edge corroded and exploded, spreading a light mist of pathogens over Matt's monsters. Chimeratech Fortress Dragon corroded identically and fell apart. "I can Tribute a monster with fewer than 1000 attack points to destroy every one of your monsters with 1500 points or more."
"Wow," Matt uttered. "And nice use of fewer."
Rory approached Matt's position on the field, giving him a seductive look the whole way. She stopped in front of him and just smiled for a moment while Matt wondered if he had something stuck in his teeth. Finally, Rory held out one of her hands as if taking something.
"The effect applies to your hand, too. Show me."
Matt turned his hand around and asked, "You get to take monsters from my hand, too?"
"I already know about Cyber Dragon Zwei," Rory said as she pulled the card from Matt's hand and he inserted it in the Graveyard. "One of the bonuses to my Trap is I get to see what kind of strategy you might be planning." Matt also held Dandylion, Cyber Laser Dragon, Megamorph, and Winged Kuriboh. "What a gyp," Rory complained. "You only lose two cards from my Trap's effect.
"I have a lot of low-power monsters," Matt replied.
The fact that Rory remained on Matt's side of the field a little longer than she needed to did not go unnoticed. Kasumi was silently fuming in the stands. She was thinking of items she might be able to throw from her current position when Rory finally walked back to her side of the field and continued the duel.
"For the next three turns," Rory added, "any monsters you draw with 1500 points or more will also be destroyed." Matt sarcastically told her how excited he was to hear that. "Now I'll summon Magna Drago (2/1400/600)." Her new dragon had red scales, bulky and pointed like rocks. Its wings looked torn like the worn tails on a coat that's too big for the wearer, and its empty eyes gave an especially ominous stare. "Now my Five-Headed Dragon (5000) will attack you directly."
All five heads of the mammoth beast released a blast of energy corresponding to the element of the specific head. Just before the five beams collided with Matt, a bare-bones scarecrow constructed from pieces of scrap metal popped up and intercepted the attack.
"Luckily, I still have my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow to protect me," Matt commented. When the energy blasts faded, his scarecrow reset itself on the field.
"But you can only use it once per turn," Rory added, "and I've got a second monster to attack with." Magna Drago flew forward and bit directly into Matt's Life Points. After it did, it grew slightly in size and gained 200 attack points per its special ability. "I'll set a card and end my turn." Matt 8000 – 1400 = 6600: Rory 4900.
Matt showed a smile of amusement when he drew and sent his card straight to the Graveyard. "Rotten time to draw a Cyber Dragon," he commented dryly. "I guess I'll set a monster and end my turn."
"Aw. You can't handle the Five-Headed Dragon?"
"Give me a minute," he requested. "I was unprepared for that Crush Card."
"I see. Well, prepare for this; Mystical Space Typhoon will destroy your facedown Scrap-Iron Scarecrow." A swirling typhoon encompassed Matt's Trap card, and a bolt of lightning struck and destroyed it. "Now I'll attack with Magna Drago (+1600)." The red dragon flew forward again and bit into Matt's facedown Dandylion (3/300/300), a small monster who resembled its namesake with petals around the neck like a mane, fronds for arms, and roots for feet. When the monster disappeared, it left behind two seeds with expanded parachutes (like from a full parachute ball, or a dried dandelion).
"Now I have two Fluff Tokens (1/0/0) to defend me," Matt reminded her.
She knew, but she sent her Five-Headed Dragon (5000) to wipe out one of the Tokens, commenting that a monster that powerful ought to be able to destroy them both with one attack. Matt was just glad it couldn't.
Matt crossed his fingers as he drew, then said, "Ooo! I know Pot of Greed isn't affected by the Crush Card."
"The cards you draw might be," Rory gently reminded him.
Luckily, Matt's cards were not high-powered monsters. "Nope. We're good. I'll set another card and summon Winged Kuriboh (1/300/200)." As its name suggests, Matt's monster was a small, brown puffball with wings sprouting from its back.
"I wonder what strategy you could possibly have ready," she said sarcastically. "When Winged Kuriboh goes to the Graveyard, you take no damage this turn. I can still destroy your monster, though."
"Not this time. I'll activate Transcendent Wings." An angelic spirit appeared behind Matt's monster, and Winged Kuriboh's wings grew bigger and brighter. Following a bright flash of light, Winged Kuriboh was now coated with golden armor shaped like a dragon, complete with a tail of gold, two tails of skin, and a tail of feathers and wings large enough to support the extra weight. "This evolves Winged Kuriboh into Winged Kuriboh LV 10 (10/300/200). And during your attack, when I Tribute Winged Kuriboh LV10, all your monsters are destroyed and you take damage equal to their combined attack power." The armored fur ball focused all its energy and then exploded; the shockwaves destroyed both of Rory's monsters.
"You honestly think I didn't know that was coming?" Rory asked. "I did see the Winged Kuriboh in your hand, you know. That's why I set Nature's Reflection." A giant, gray monolith straight out of 2001: A Space Odyssey appeared on the field. It began to absorb the energy from the shockwaves, but the monolith was cracked and the absorption process was corrupted. "Instead of my taking the damage, this Trap causes you to take the damage instead." The monolith opened up one more crack, and all the energy it absorbed came pouring out onto Matt's side of the field.
Matt was so taken aback by this move that he forgot himself and used a word that, for the sake of the reader, we will replace with the word, "Shampoo."
Rory pretended to be offended by this word. She gave him a coy, dirty look and said, "I'll set a monster and end my turn." Matt 6600 – 6400 = 200: Rory 4900. (If you're curious why Matt still has Life Points when the attack power of Rory's monsters summed to 6600, remember that Winged Kuriboh's effect deals damage equal to the original points of each monster, and Magna Drago's points started at 1400, not 1600.)
Matt drew and scoffed at his hand. "I'll summon Cyber Valley (1/0/0)." Cyber Valley was a metal serpent, much smaller than the Cyber Dragon; it had many spikes along its body and no obvious eyes in its head. "Using its second effect, I'll remove it and my other Fluff Token from play to draw two more cards."
"Are you actually going to let me beat you?" Rory asked. When Matt didn't reply, she realized Matt must have underestimated her by a long shot.
"I'll set a card and end my turn."
Rory was a little disappointed; she actually expected to lose this duel. "I'll summon Cyberdark Keel (3/800/800), and I'll equip it with a Hunter Dragon from my Graveyard." Rory's new machine was a pitch-black, serpentine machine that wrapped itself around the bladed body of the Hunter Dragon to increase its own power. "I'll attack directly with the Cyberdark Keel (+2500)."
"I'll play Return from the Different Dimension." The air over Matt's field ripped open as if reaching into another realm of existence. "I pay half my LP and get to Special Summon my Cyber Valley (0) back to the field."
Rory smiled. "All I have to do is scratch your Life Points to end the duel." She sent her monster to attack.
"I know, but by removing Cyber Valley from play again, I get to draw another card and end your Battle Phase without an attack."
Rory smirked. "I admire your tenacity, that's for sure. I guess you just earned yourself a free turn." Matt 200 – 100 = 100: Rory 4900.
"Yippy skippy," Matt replied sarcastically. More important to him was the fact that now he had three cards, and he thought he might finally have figured out something to do with them. "I'll play Overload Fusion, and by removing all my machines in the Graveyard from play, I get to fuse them together." Seven machine monsters in his Graveyard were caught in an explosion, and the heat of the explosion caused them to fuse. The result was a serpentine body that had a body like a splitter, with seven holes for Cyber Dragon-like heads to emerge. "Now you get to deal with my Chimeratech Overdragon (9/+5600/+5600)."
"Two Chimeratech dragons in one duel," Rory said. "I'm honored."
"Well, this one only gets 800 points per fusion material monster instead of 1000, but it also gets to attack as many times as the number of monsters used to summon it." Quietly and quickly he added, "Except he… can't attack directly if he destroys a monster first." He cleared his throat quickly and said, purposefully sounding pathetic and making his voice crack, "Attack!" His monster snapped forward with one head and rent the Hunter Dragon from Cyberdark Keel's (2500) grasp. "And now, it gets to attack again!" Hunter Dragon took the initial hit for Cyberdark Keel (-800), but the dark machine remained on the field, unprotected from the next attack as Chimeratech Overdragon (5600) bit into Cyberdark Keel again. Matt 100: Rory 4900 – 3100 – 4800 = 0.
Rory said she expected to lose this duel, but she still looked surprised when her Life Point counter hit zero first. "Aw, man. I can't believe I lost."
After the holograms faded, Matt stepped up to shake Rory's hand. "What do you mean?"
"At first I thought you'd win, but when I hit you so hard with that Trap, I thought I'd pull it off. I honestly forgot about the possibility of Overload Fusion."
Matt shrugged. "That's part of my strategy. It's a way to psych you out."
"Is it really?" Rory asked with doe-eyed naïveté.
"No!" Matt laughed. "That was pure luck. There's no such thing as an unbeatable duelist."
Good grief, that was longer than I intended. I know it seems like I could shorten everything by implementing the 4000-LP Rule, but the problem I have with that is that it requires so much more "specific card drawing" in order to make sure the right character wins. Having the extra 4000 LP leaves more room for realism and big hits.
I think I've introduced all the characters now. I expect a few chapters in the future will skip the duel just to have enough room for growth among the many characters--or maybe have a few shorter duels. I think the next chapter will focus on Bryan and Lucy. I won't swear to it, though, because things change sometimes.
Credits:
Darius Mantzios....tiramisu19
Jason Maxim....Maxim and Knight
Nathan Zislaw....Mavrik Zero
Hillary Delaney....Nodqfan144
Lili Von....Happy2BMe
Carter Jade....Jaden2010
Mitsuro Itachu....Titanic X
Sean Bivins....DarkVestroia2
Naoto Kurotsuki....Kurotsuki Haru
Hayley Wilson....TeamRocketDiva
Maikeru Stone....onyxshade7
Everyone else so far....YamiRuss