Chapter 6: A Plan in Action
The Tsuji Arena wasn't often home to area duels between residents of the Blue Mansion. Perhaps because of traditional prejudices between dorms or perhaps because of the prestige of simply being accepted into the highest level of the academy, the students in the Blue Mansion held a certain level of respect for one another to the point they rarely held official duels between them; why hurt each other's dueling records when they can use semester exams to improve their individual ranks and target the lowerclassmen in the meantime?
But Naoto Kurotsuki was new to the academy, and as a senior, he knew he needed to climb the ladder as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, he couldn't seem to reach the top rung, and the one right below it slipped just out of his grasp. For now, he'd have to settle for claiming the Number 3 spot from Lucy Mercer.
"I'll start by playing Terraforming," Lucy declared. As she placed her Spell card into her Academy Duel Disk, the holographic field showed the planet Mars in the sky; a small burst of energy ignited in one spot and began to spread, slowly turning the planet into a facsimile of Earth. "This card lets me take any Field Spell from my deck and put it into my hand."
"I know what it does," Naoto huffed.
Lucy chuckled and apologized. "Sorry. I'm used to dueling with Bryan and Matt, and they always say the effects of the cards when they play. It's a force of habit. I didn't mean to offend you."
Lucy's apology caused Naoto to blush ever so slightly, but rather than start a circle of apologies or let her know that he felt a little like a heel, he just remained quiet through the rest of her turn.
"I'll play Magical Citadel of Endymion, the same Field Spell I took from the deck." As a field spell, the holographic effect covered the field. A large, decorative castle with a mighty keep in the center and empty towers at each juncture appeared on Lucy's side of the field, but the wall that surrounded the castle extended to Naoto's side. A ring of magical energy continued to surround the castle like a bubble. "I'll also summon Alchemist of Black Spells (4/1200/1800)." Her monster was a man wearing an elaborate black outfit, carrying a book of spells in his left hand and creating spell counters by focusing energy into his right. "Once per turn, I can shift my monster from attack to defense mode and put a spell counter on my Magical Citadel." The energy from her alchemist's hand was attracted to the citadel like a magnet and filled one of the empty towers.
Naoto huffed. He knew Lucy played a spell counter deck, and that meant her turns were going to be twice as long as any of his.
"Finally, I'll set one card and play Spell Power Grasp." Her alchemist generated another spell counter in his hand and sent it to the Magical Citadel; in addition, the very activation of a Spell card filled another tower with a third spell counter. "This gives me a free spell counter and I get to search the deck for another copy of the same card, and my Magical Citadel gets a spell counter anytime a spell card is activated. That will end my turn."
"About time," Naoto said dryly. He drew his card and wasted no time making his plays. "I'll play Heart of the Underdog. Then I'll summon Gene-Warped Warwolf (4/2000/100) to attack." Lucy's Citadel drew energy from Heart of the Underdog to make another spell counter, but then a hideous creature, standing tall with four arms and a face covered by lavender hair, appeared on the field and rent the Alchemist of Black Spells (1800) asunder. "That's all."
"I thought a Warwolf was a Trebuchet, not an actual wolf," Lucy commented. Naoto had no idea what that meant. "A big catapult. A piece of Scottish weaponry used to fling projectiles into enemy fortresses."
"Can we just duel without the additional commentary? This is worse than dueling that idiotic boyfriend of yours."
"You only say that because I use bigger words," she replied. But whereas Bryan would take that as a challenge, Lucy agreed not to provoke him anymore. "I'll summon Apprentice Magician (2/400/800), and doing so lets me put another spell counter on my Citadel." A small, blond magician wearing purple robes, minus the mantle and hat, set himself up on the field and used his staff to create a spell counter. "Odd as this sounds, I'll send my monster to attack yours because when a spellcaster declares an attack, I can activate my Magician's Circle; this Trap lets us both Special Summon any spellcaster with at most 2000 AP from our decks. I choose Dark Red Enchanter (6/1700/2200)." Her magician wore burgundy robes with gold-plated leggings, bracers, shoulders, and crown, and he carried a golden staff by his side. Additionally, the Enchanter used his staff to cast two spell counters and gain 300 points for each.
But the effect worked for both players. Naoto opted to summon Gemini Elf (4/1900/900), a pair of female elves who, despite the name, were far from twins. One was blonde, white, and wore a sky blue dress while the second was redheaded, dark-skinned, and wore a purple dress. The closest similarity between them was their body shape identical markings tattooed on their faces.
The number of monsters on Naoto's field changed, and that triggered a replay; specifically, Lucy was no longer forced to attack with her small Apprentice Magician (400), but she was still in her Battle Phase and had the option to declare an attack if she wanted to. "I'll have Dark Red Enchanter (+2300) attack your Warwolf (2000)." Her spellcaster whipped his staff forward and blasted Naoto's monster with a burst of energy. "That ends my Battle Phase, and so now I'll play Spell Power Grasp." Her Dark Red Enchanter repeated the motions made by her Alchemist, creating a spell counter, but this time arming himself with it. The activation of a Spell card gave an additional spell counter to both the Magical Citadel (6 counters) and her Dark Red Enchanter (+2900). "I'll take one more Spell Power Grasp from my deck, and then I'll set one more card." Lucy 8000: Naoto 8000 – 300 = 7700.
"That was hardly a scratch," Naoto said. "Now the effect of Heart of the Underdog activates." His side of the holographic field began to emit a golden aura. "I drew Soul Tiger, so I get to draw again." What Naoto didn't need to explain for Lucy was that as long as he drew a Normal monster during his Draw Phase, Heart of the Underdog let him show Lucy the card in order to draw again. He could continue the effect indefinitely until he drew a card that was not a Normal monster.
And so, the longest of Naoto's turns began. "Sabersaurus. Battle Footballer. Left Arm of the Forbidden One. Charcoal Inpachi. Battle Footballer. Gene-Warped Warwolf. Left Leg of the Forbidden One. Insect Knight. Insect Knight." Finally, he drew a card that was not a Normal monster and ended the soft glow of the Heart of the Underdog. "I'll attack your Apprentice Magician (400) with Gemini Elf (1900)." The "twin" elves attacked the small magician with synchronized dance movements.
"I'll play Magical Dimension," Lucy countered. A sarcophagus entombed her Apprentice Magician, but then it opened to reveal Magical Marionette (6/2000/1000), a puppet-like spellcaster clad in black armor and a red cloak. Strings from the monster's fingers attached to a small, wooden puppet carrying a dagger in each hand. As an additional effect, the energy released when Magical Dimension's sarcophagus opened infected the Gemini Elf and destroyed Naoto's monster.
"I expected that. Now I will return the Gene-Warped Warwolf from my Graveyard to my deck to Special Summon a monster called Exodius, the Ultimate Forbidden Lord (10/?/0)!" The being that emerged on Naoto's field was as big as two monsters. Every muscle on its body was accented as if there were no skin covering. He wore an enormous, black, iron breastplate that matched the shackles around his wrists and ankles. He wore an elaborate, Egyptian headdress.
"This is the form of Exodia before he was sealed," Lucy remembered from her studies with Yul Tan, former Guardian Dueler and expert on Duel Monsters mythology. "He seems weak at first, but he'll get stronger quickly."
"Yes, he will. I'll set two cards and end my turn. Of course, now I need to discard until I have only six cards in my hand." As he discard seven cards from his hand, Exodius (+7000) grew powerful; he gains 1000 attack points for every Normal monster in the owner's Graveyard.
"That's a lot of points," Lucy said. "Luckily, Exodius doesn't have protection against Monster effects. I'll play Spell Power Grasp and give its spell counter to Magical Marionette (+2200)." When Spell Power Grasp was activated, Magical Citadel (8 counters), Dark Red Enchanter (+3500), and Magical Marionette (+2400) all gained an additional spell counter. (Lucy was glad the computer added them up for her.) "When I remove two spell counters from Magical Marionette, I can destroy any monster on the field."
"Not when I play Divine Wrath. I discard one card to negate your monster's effect." A bolt of lightning struck Lucy's monster and turned it to ash before its effect could activate. "And discarding Soul Tiger increased Exodius's (+8000) points by another 1000."
Now Lucy looked a lot less eager to continue. "I'll summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (4/+1900/1000)." Wearing deep red armor with a matching cape and equipped with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, Breaker gained a blue spell counter on his armor, and 300 points because of it. "By removing that spell counter, I can destroy your Heart of the Underdog." The spell counter on Breaker's armor disconnected and fell into the void; the resulting shockwaves destroyed Naoto's Spell. But then a spell counter disconnected from the towers of the Magical Citadel and returned to Breaker. The effect of her Citadel allowed her to use spell counters from the towers instead of from her other monsters. "Breaker will destroy your other card, too." Breaker's effect repeated and destroyed Naoto's facedown card.
"Still doesn't help you destroy Exodius (8000)."
"Not yet," Lucy admitted, "but I'll figure it out. At least you can't go on another drawing spree. I'll place a card face down and end my turn."
"How simple," Naoto commented as he drew. "I'll play another Heart of the Underdog. And now let's see if that facedown card is a legitimate Trap or just a bluff." He activated his Duel Disk for Exodius (+9000) to attack Breaker the Magical Warrior (1900); as the attack started, Naoto sent another Normal monster from his deck to the Graveyard, increasing Exodius's points by another 1000. The massive Egyptian god slammed his cinderblock-sized fist onto Lucy's spellcaster. "That will end my turn." Lucy 8000 – 7100 = 900: Naoto 7700.
"It wasn't a bluff," Lucy said, "but it wasn't meant to protect my monsters. Pitch-Black Power Stone is a Trap that creates three spell counters on the field." A black crystal ball appeared on the field and began generating a spell counter… Big stretch from description to depiction, huh? "When you destroyed Breaker, his spell counter went to my Magical Citadel (8 counters). Between my Citadel and my Power Stone (3 counters), I have 10 spell counters; that's perfect to activate the Mega Ton Magical Cannon." A giant stone cannon appeared on her field, and spell counters were fed into the back as power sources. By feeding it ten counters, Lucy's cannon fired, and the explosive blast obliterated Exodius and the Heart of the Underdog; specifically, the effect destroyed every card on Naoto's field.
"And without a defense, I'll summon Magician's Valkyria (4/1600/1800)." Like a young Dark Magician Girl, Lucy's monster was a beautiful woman with strawberry blonde hair and blue magician's robes that were at least a size too small for a woman of her stature. The biggest difference between the two female magicians was Valkyria's staff was larger and had a notable hook at the top. Dark Red Enchanter (+3800) and Magician's Valkyria (1600) both released magical energy from their staves and blasted Naoto directly. Lucy 900: Naoto 7700 – 3500 – 1600 = 2600.
Naoto kept his lips pursed to avoid showing any emotion, but he was a little frustrated by letting a second duelist come so close to beating him. It's bad enough Bryan was able to take down Exodius and prevent summoning Exodia; letting Lucy get away with it, too, was unacceptable.
"I'll place a monster face down and set one card."
Lucy was low on cards to play, but she had one good card that would make sure she got to see a few more turns. "I'll play Swords of Revealing Light." A bright light shone at the top of the holographic field, and from it rained five shining lights in the shape of swords. They landed on Naoto's monster zones, and the one that hit his facedown monster forced it to reveal itself as Battle Footballer (4/1000/2100), a cyborg wearing old-fashioned football pads. "For three turns, you can't attack my field."
"I know how an old card like that works," Naoto huffed.
"Right. Sorry. Anyway, Dark Red Enchanter (3800) will destroy your monster, and then Valkyria (1600) can attack directly." Dark Red Enchanter's spell destroyed the Battle Footballer, and then Magician's Valkyria struck Naoto again. Lucy 900: Naoto 2900 – 1600 = 700.
"Finally," Naoto muttered when Lucy ended her turn. "I'll summon Gene-Warped Warwolf (4/2000/100), and I'll activate my facedown Cry Havoc! Trap. Now by removing a monster in my Graveyard from play, I get to have an extra Normal summon this turn; I'll summon Tune Warrior (3/1600/200)." This new monster was a lanky warrior that resembled a red splitter, with electronic jacks for hands and antennae on his head. "By tuning my two monsters together, I can summon Dark Strike Fighter (7/2600/1800)." Tune Warrior plugged his arms into Warwolf's back, and the two monsters turned white as electrical currents surrounded them; when the energy subsided, their bodies had merged. Dark Strike Fighter was a giant red-and-steel machine, and was difficult to distinguish from any Transformer that turns into a jet plane.
"Oh, no," Lucy uttered as she realized what was about to happen.
"When I Tribute a monster, Dark Strike Fighter hits you for 200 points times the level of that monster. I'll Tribute Dark Strike Fighter (7) himself." The mighty machine transformed into a jet and launched itself at Lucy's field. Through an effect, Naoto's monster could bypass the Swords of Revealing Light and strike Lucy directly. Lucy 900 – 1400 = 0: Naoto 700.
"Aw, man," Lucy moaned. "So close."
Naoto suddenly became very gentlemanly. He collected his cards and approached Lucy with smooth movements and a softer visage. He extended his hand and gently shook that of his fallen opponent.
"You were a worthy opponent," he told her.
She blushed and said simply, "Thank you. Enjoy being Number 3."
Fortunately, Lucy wasn't one to take losing too hard. Naoto really was quite good, and generally the better duelist wins the duel. Not always, but generally.
"That was such a good effort," Hillary told Lucy. "I thought you were going to win for a minute there."
"So did I," Lucy said.
"What was your next card?" Bryan wondered.
Lucy shrugged. "I don't know. I just put my Graveyard on top of my deck when I put it in my deck box."
Bryan unabashedly reached for the deck box Lucy carried on the waist of her pants and opened it, taking the cards and shuffling through them. Lucy just let him go because most of the time, she wasn't sure what he was thinking. The duel ended and she didn't win; what difference did it make what she would have drawn?
"Are you okay with losing rank?" Hillary asked.
"It's not that big a deal," Lucy admitted. "I can live with being Number 4. I'm not a competitive dueling major; I'm a duel theory major. My proficiency for practical application is less important than my knowledge of the game and creativity for using that knowledge. The fact that I'm in the Blue Mansion and a former Guardian Dueler is more important than my specific rank."
"Here," Bryan said. He held out Lucy's deck on his palm. "Naoto got lucky. If you had waited to destroy Exodius until you drew this card…"
Lucy stared at the deck for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't want to know. It won't change anything, and knowing that I lack the 'luck' factor that makes you unbeatable won't make me feel better."
Hillary wasn't so reserved. "Well, I would like to know." She reached up and Bryan lowered the deck for her to reach the top card. She flipped it over to reveal Effect Veiler. It was a level-one tuner monster, but more importantly, when discarded during the opponent's turn, it negates the effect of a monster on the opponent's field. Essentially, it would have returned Exodius's points to 0 and caused the premature god to commit suicide when it attacked.
"I guess luck plays a bigger role than the professors would like to have us believe," Hillary suggested.
"Yeah, but they know how important luck is," Bryan said. He took another look at Hillary and asked, "Why are you here again? Isn't there an area duel in the Red Dorm?"
"Yes," she admitted, "but the other prefects are there, and I thought I might be able to learn more from watching two Blue students duel one another. Maybe I can pick up some tips for my residents."
Between her duties as a prefect and her ambition to watch as many duels as she could to improve her own skills, Hillary kept herself pretty busy. But she saw Lucy as a bit of a role model—someone she looked up to for her skill and attitude—and so she tried to be present for all of Lucy's area duels.
"Well, there are few better equipped to teach you yungins a thing or two than my baby," Bryan said as he put his arm around Lucy's waist and replaced her deck in her deck box. "She may have lost today by a hair, but she's still one of the best duelists on this island."
"Thanks, honey," she replied and gave him a short kiss, drawing an "Aww" from Hillary.
Jason Maxim approached at that point, blushing quite a bit and generally looking at the floor, only sheepishly looking up at Lucy as he spoke. His voice wavered and he seemed genuinely scared of talking to her.
"Hi, Lucy," he said softly. "That was an awesome duel."
"Thank you, Jason," she replied with a gentle smile. "I appreciate your saying that."
"It's true," he insisted. "Yours was a more skillful strategy. It doesn't take much strategy to build a deck full of Normal monsters with high points. Spell counters are so much more challenging and impressive to use."
"That's sweet of you to say. Maybe I'll get lucky next time."
"I know you will," Jason replied. He took a hesitant step away, then turned back to her again and gave a short, pathetic little wave. "I should go to class. But I enjoyed see your duel."
"Take care," Lucy said and waved as Jason walked away.
Bryan gave Jason a confused look. "Isn't he a prefect, too?"
"Yes," Hillary replied. "Why does that concern you?"
Bryan shook his head, not quite able to figure out what it was just now that bugged him so much… aside from Jason's flirting with Lucy; that was obvious. "He just doesn't seem to fit the role. Never mind. What's next?"
Waiting for Jason by the exit was his roommate Clint Ealey, leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. He stared at his roommate with an expression of even greater confusion than the one Bryan had.
"That was awfully uncharacteristic of you to be so coy," he said.
Jason chuckled. "Just planting seeds."
"With Lucy? Why? I thought you hated fat chicks."
"I don't think she's fat at all," Jason surmised. "I think she's just trying to hide her big magumbos."
"Magumbos? How often do you watch The Simpsons?"
Jason ignored that comment and pulled his notebook from his back pocket. "I have a plan."
"A plan for what?"
"Tomorrow I ask her to help me out with spell counters because—" his voice changed to a whiny tone, "—I just don't get it! After two sessions, I'll reveal an embarrassing secret… you know, to build trust. That Friday, I'll sneak a kiss and then quickly apologize. Then two days later, I'll bashfully ask her out. Then it's crying, make-out session, she discovers a love letter in my back pocket, heavier make-out session, all culminating in November 8: D-Day. Actually, I bet it's more like G-Day." He put on a pensive look as he stared off into space. "I wonder how big they really are."
Clint was amused, but his shook his head to show overt disapproval. "Aren't you even the least bit worried about Bryan? The guy's a mountain."
Jason looked excited. "Actually, that's part of the plan." He turned the page and pointed. "See? Bryan gets so jealous that he hits me. It will probably break my shoulder, but then Lucy will feel so bad about it that she'll help me recuperate."
"You are a wonder," Clint admitted. "All I can do is wish you luck. I think I'll try for someone who's currently single."
"Who?"
"I don't know. Lili is pretty cute."
Jason groaned. "She's like the exact opposite of Lucy. So not what I'd be looking for. Plus, she's mean. She doesn't seem likely to date anyone who can't take a boatload of daily abuse."
"Good point. What about her roommate? Rory's cute, too."
"Yeah, but you said were interested in someone who's single." Clint needed clarification. "Oh, come on. Everyone knows she's latched onto Matt."
"But they're not dating. Matt's got a girlfriend already."
Jason shook his head and looked at his roommate the same way a mother watches an infant trying to get milk from an empty bottle. "You just don't understand women. Rory is already interested in Matt. She won't go out with anyone else." Then his look of pity turned to a devious grin. "Unless you convince her that going out with you will make Matt jealous!"
Clint sighed heavily. "Now what are you planning?"
Jason chuckled devilishly. "You could get her to go out with you under the guise of getting Matt jealous enough to dump his girlfriend. Then while she's toying with Matt, you woo her affections and show her that Matt's just a chump. I can work up a detailed plan for you if you want."
"I'm not really into game-playing," Clint replied. "If she doesn't want to go out, that's pretty definitive."
"No way," Jason argued. "I'm telling you; keep after her and she'll forget about him. It'll work for me. Just watch and learn."
Clint was surprised to find out that Jason, with his bold attitude and sometimes negligent attitude, was capable of planning social interactions so far in advance. No wonder Jason was such a powerful duelist. If his plan actually worked, it was going to be the most impressive thing Clint ever saw.
"You're like an evil genius," Clint suggested.
Jason smiled and said, "I know. And they put me in a position of authority! How awesome is that?!"
I was going to make this one longer, but I need time to do other things. Maybe all my chapters won't be super long, but any time I have to stop short means there will be at least one more chapter until I can include everything I want to say. On that note, I will still accept more OCs; I just won't promise that they will all get included the instant I receive them (e.g., I already had this chapter planned and half written when I got two more characters this past week; they might appear in the next chapter).
My preliminary plans for the next chapter include showing how big a flirt Bryan is, Matt's telling Rory that he can't see a student socially, and rumors floating around about a "ghost duelist." I won't show you said duelist just yet, but I'll introduce the rumors of his/her existence.
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