Chapter 17: Wrapping Up the 3T
"I can't believe I lost to him again," Lili muttered. As she complained to her roommate that she and Romulus lost to Nathan and Hillary, Rory tried to be reassuring by pointing out that Lili and Romulus made it farther than any other free agent pair.
"It's easy for you to shrug it off," Lili countered. "You were teamed up with a townie and lost to Alister and Jessica. Everyone expected you to lose that one."
Rory laughed. "Yeah, that's true." Then she craned her head to get a better look at Synthia. "I'm just glad we got to beat you."
Synthia looked defensive. "What did I do?"
"Nothing. I just didn't want you or Clint to make it farther than I did." Plus she was a little smug when she got Clint to team up with her, but Rory wasn't willing to admit out loud that it bothered her.
For now, a fairly large crowd of people who could deal with the falling temperature gathered around the quad on campus to witness what was touted as the best duel of the tournament: Alister Kazama and Jessica Parks versus Nathan Zislaw and Hillary Delaney—junior tag team champs versus freshman prefects. Alister and Jessica knocked out the powerhouse duo of Mitsuro and Kenny, and after Nathan and Hillary took out Lili and Romulus, the odds on this duel almost evened out. Alister and Jessica were still favored, but only by a small margin.
The duel was reaching its climax as the teams entered the home stretch with Alister and Jessica at 2300 Life Points and Nathan and Hillary at 2400.
Nathan had a tendency to overthink his moves during this duel. That's not necessarily a bad thing; some people think too long and hard about a play and end up missing something, but Nathan, so far, was playing the team duel very close to Alister's level. It just meant he got on the judge's nerves because he always took his full allotted time before playing a card.
Alister had Guardian Grarl (5/+3000/1000) equipped with Gravity Axe – Grarl and Spirit Burner; basically it looked like a muscular, bipedal dinosaur carrying an axe. Jessica's field had Cyber Phoenix (4/1200/1600), a metallic, four-winged bird machine. In addition, she had two facedown cards with DNA Surgery active to turn all face-up monsters into machines and Bad Reaction to Simochi, a card she placed in her deck specifically for the duel against Nathan's psychic monsters; as long as it was out, any effect to increase his Life Points would cause him and Hillary to lose that number instead. Nathan had nothing on the field right now, but his partner had Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin (7/2300/2000)—who looked like a Final Fantasy summon creature with its wings, rings, and lack of feet—and two facedown cards.
As soon as his thinking time was up, Nathan was ready to make his move. "I'll activate Emergency Teleport to bring Krebons (2/1200/400)." Krebons was a small, jester-like creature whose ball socket joints were not there (e.g., his arms were disconnected from his torso, etc.) It was a strange creature to behold, but he wasn't going to stick around. Nathan looked to his partner and asked her, "May I borrow your monster?"
Hillary nodded. "Of course you can."
"Thanks. Krebons (2) will tune with Neo-Parshath (7) so I can summon Hyper Psychic Blaster (9/3000/2500)." When Krebons touched Neo-Parshath, they both turned into Tetris pieces that rearranged into a much bigger form. The pieces turned opaque and looked like a white spaceman out of Tron with a white gun in one hand and a black gun in the other. "I'll also summon Power Injector (4/1300/1400)." This psychic looked like Frankenstein's monster if Dr. Frankenstein was blind; the bolts in his head didn't seem to serve a purpose and the blue suit he wore offended everyone's sense of fashion. Most important, though, were the two needles he had instead of hands. "By paying 600 Life Points, all psychic monsters gain 500 points. Now HPB (+3500) is strong enough to attack Guardian Grarl (3000)." His astronaut charged plasma in both guns and released them simultaneously, sending a black beam and a white beam across the field. "Oh, and Power Injector (+1800) can attack Cyber Phoenix (1200)." Using the syringes like rapiers, Nathan's other monster pierced the metallic bird and destroyed it. "Set one card," he added as he waved to indicate the end of his turn.
Alister and Jessica 2300 – 500 – 400 = 1400: Nathan and Hillary 2400 - 600 = 1800.
"My turn," Alister said. "First, during my Draw Phase, I can skip drawing to take Spirit Burner out of the Graveyard instead. Next I'll play Pot of Avarice: I take five monsters from my Graveyard and shuffle them back into the deck to draw two cards." After he did so, he added, "That means now I have no monsters in my Graveyard, so I can summon Guardian Eatos (8/2500/2000)," a winged guardian wearing a headdress like an eagle and the rarest of the Guardians. "To power her up, I'll equip Eatos with Mage Power, Big Bang Shot, and Spirit Burner." Altogether, the three different color auras that surrounded Eatos (+4400) on the field gave her a massive attack boost. "I'm also going to send Spirit Burner to the Graveyard; this activates Eatos's effect to remove from play three monsters in your Graveyard, and she gains 500 points for each." He selected one of Hillary's monsters and two of Nathan's from the Graveyard lists on the Duel Disk.
"I'll play Divine Wrath," Hillary countered. She discarded a card from her hand and lightning struck Guardian Eatos. "It negates your monster's effect and destroys it."
"Counter with Counter Counter," Jessica replied. "Your Counter Trap is destroyed immediately." The lightning dispersed around Eatos and Hillary's card set again.
"Aw, man."
Alister grinned. "Eatos (+5400) will attack Power Injector (-1300)."
"I'll use Negate Attack," Hillary said as an invisible wall appeared on the field and blocked Eatos's progress. Alister was content to set one card and end his turn there.
Hillary had her Duel Disk set up on a tray on her wheelchair. She had the upper body strength to lift it, but it was enormously inconvenient considering the arms of the chair. She drew her card and studied it for a moment. It wasn't immediately helpful, but then she noticed how she could combo it with another limited card already in her hand.
"By removing two of my fairies from my Graveyard, I can summon Soul of Purity and Light (6/2000/1800)." A clear spirit with the form of a woman appeared on the field, naked but obscured through her wings and intentional hologram disruption. "Now I have only four monsters in my Graveyard, so I can summon Archlord Kristya (8/2800/2300)." This one was a white creature with red wings and cloth across the torso. "When I use this effect, I get to take a fairy from my Graveyard and return it to my hand."
Hillary looked over to Nathan and asked, "May I borrow a monster?"
"Whatever helps," he replied.
"Thank you. I'll send Power Injector, Kristya, and Soul of Purity and Light to the Graveyard to summon Moisture Creature (9/2800/2900)." He monster was an alien with indistinct features—just a floating circle with yellow eyes and two weapons floating in front of it. The gun pointed at Alister's field. "When summoned with three Tributes, Moisture Creature destroys all your Spells and Traps." The gun released a corrosive fluid through the air.
"I'll play Fake Trap." Jessica's card rose, and a purple gremlin began hopping around with a handwritten label that read "FAKE." "It protects all Trap cards from destruction.
"You're too good at this," Hillary pretended to whine. "I'll attack Eatos (-3900) with Moisture Creature (2900). Of course, I'm not stupid; I'll discard the Honest I got from Kristya's effect." A winged man wearing blue robes from Ancient Greece appeared in the sky. He held together the bracelets he wore on each arm and covered Moisture Creature (+6800) in a bright light. "It gives my monster additional attack points equal to your monster's attack points."
"I remember," Alister said, thinking about how she used Honest to beat his Guardian Tryce earlier. "I'll play Mirror Force." A reflective wall appeared on the field, and Moisture Creature's energy bounced right back at him.
Hillary groaned with a smile on her face; she was annoyed that she didn't end the duel just now, but she was enjoying this. The tension of being in the semifinals added an air of fun to the duel.
Jessica thought it was funny so much happened during these last turns and no one lost any Life Points. "I'll summon Rescue Cat (4/300/100)." Her monster was a white cat—small and furry, with those big cat eyes that made it look adorable—wearing a hard hat and a whistle around its neck. "By Tributing it, I can summon two copies of A Cat of Ill Omen (2/500/300)." The white cat blew the whistle and disappeared, replaced by two black cats with menacing red eyes and wearing Egyptian gold jewelry. "I'll also play Double Summon to give myself another summoning this turn. I'll send both Cats to the Graveyard to summon Perfect Machine King (8/+3700/1500)." Her field filled with a large machine, Japanese in nature, that resembled a humanoid robot. Two streams of electricity flowed into it from Alister's and Nathan's monsters. "It gains 500 points for every other machine on the field, an upgraded version of Machine King's effect."
"I know," Nathan remarked.
Jessica looked around for a second. "Well, sorry this turn won't be as wild as the previous two were. Unless you have a big Trap to play, I guess Perfect Machine King (3700) will attack Hyper Psychic Blaster (3000) without a hitch." Nathan shook his head. Jessica's massive machine plowed its fist into the white astronaut. "That ends my turn."
Alister and Jessica 1400: Nathan and Hillary 1800 – 700 = 1100.
Nathan sighed and folded his hand. "I don't have any moves."
"Nothing?" Alister rephrased with emphasis. "You keep us on the ropes through this whole duel, and now you've suddenly got nothing at all?"
"Nothing that will give us a win. No matter what I play, you will be able to win in the next turn with your Guardian Eatos (3900)." Equipped with Big Bang Shot, Eatos could inflict piercing damage to any defense monster Nathan could set, and he didn't have enough Life Points to leave any monster in attack mode, either.
Hillary was getting excited. "Come on, Nathan! You've got to have something. We can't lose to the best tag team duelists on the island."
Nathan shrugged. "I can't win." But that didn't assuage Hillary's zeal; she insisted he do something to beat Alister and Jessica. Nathan wasn't sure he had any moves available, but he still decided to close his eyes and watch in his mind as his cards moved around like Pai Gow tiles.
He spent so long doing so that Laura Guertin, the judge for the duel, declared, "Time's up. Make your move now or forfeit your turn." She was a real stickler for the rules; she always looked immediately at her watch whenever Nathan's turn came up because he tended to take his time between moves.
Nathan opened his eyes. "Yeah, fine. I'll play Premature Burial to revive Hyper Psychic Blaster (3000)." His white, Tron-like monster hit the field again. "I'll play Assault Mode Activate." His facedown card lifted, and his monster was encased in a field of white energy. "This lets me transform my monster into Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode (11/3500/3000)." The mechanical armor altered its shape; wings sprouted from the ring on its back, the black gun merged with the armor into a phase-type gun, the white gun merged to resemble a Mega Man-style buster, a mask covered the monster's face, and the armor as a whole grew in size.
"That's impressive," Alister admitted. He recognized that Nathan's monster wasn't as powerful as his strengthened Eatos (3900), or even Jessica's Perfect Machine King (3700). So what was Nathan planning?
"Well, I know we've only got 200 Life Points left, but all I can do is have my monster attack Eatos." The armored astronaut started collecting energy in the barrels of each gun, finally releasing the energy from the white gun as a thick, heavy, white beam. They smothered Eatos, but the Guardian's wings deflected most of the attack.
"What was the point to that?" Alister wondered aloud. "Eatos gets to counterattack now." As he spoke, his Guardian flew across the field and struck Nathan's monster, cracking the armor. Nathan and Hillary's points dropped to zero.
"The point is," Nathan explained, "HPB/Assault Mode does more than just attack as usual." Suddenly, his monster released the energy from his other gun; this one came out as a focused, black beam that bypassed Guardian Eatos and struck Alister directly. "When he attacks, you lose LP equal to your monster's defense, and we gain LP equal to your monster's attack."
"But I have Bad Reaction to Simochi on the field," Jessica pointed out.
Nathan nodded slowly. "Yeah. That's why I said I had no way for us to win this. But Hillary insisted, so I figured we can settle for a tie."
Alister and Jessica 1400 – 2000 = 0: Nathan and Hillary 1100 – 800 – 900 – 3900 = 0.
The crowd was caught somewhere between amazement that Nathan and Hillary pulled out a tie and annoyance that now they would have to do a second duel in order to determine a winner. Laura, on the other hand, believed differently about the rules.
"A tie means neither team advances," she announced. "According to the rules established at the beginning of the tournament, each team participates in one duel per round."
"Shouldn't that mean, 'one successful duel'?" Alister asked.
Jessica agreed, "Yeah. We should duel again."
"Rules are rules," Laura reiterated, "and you all agreed to them when you signed up."
Hillary was disappointed, but she smiled at Nathan. "At least we know they don't suck any less than we do. We can be proud of that."
Nathan didn't show any obvious signs of understanding her words or even caring. "I'm just happy not to have to do this anymore."
Alister and Jessica were slightly more irritated. "So that's it? We just settle for a tie and, what? Everyone else moves to the final round without us? Who does that leave, anyway?"
###
As the Duel Academy Tag Team Tournament rolled into its final week and all the students began cramming for finals, only five teams remained. Though the total number of duelists in the tournament was even, the number of teams was odd, and so the semifinal round set up the following bracket: Numbers Harper and Keiju Iwase versus Kasumi Okuyama and Thomas Estrada, Alister and Jessica versus Nathan and Hillary; Carter Jade and Ivy Roaks would duel the winner of the latter duel. The way the tournament wrapped up, Numbers and Kejiu beat Kasumi and Thomas, then Alister and Jessica tied Nathan and Hillary; that meant Carter and Ivy were automatically moved to the finals.
"We got to the finals by default?" Carter repeated when Cary told him the news. "That's the same way I got Best Dressed in high school; the other guy came to school naked as a joke. Nobody got it."
Ivy made a face. "I'm not sure how to respond to that. Why don't we just get ready?"
"Probably a wise choice. Who are we playing against?"
Cary answered, "Numbers and Keiju."
"I figured they'd make it to the finals," Ivy commented.
Carter asked, "Aren't they the ones in charge of Team Lockdown?" Cary informed him they were. "Doesn't it detract from your team to have the leaders of the opposite team win a tournament you're hosting?"
"We get money out of it either way." Carter admitted that was a good enough reason not to care who wins. "That reminds me," Cary said as she looked at Ivy. "Matt wants me to tell you that if you can set up an appropriate OTK strategy in the finals, you can be the newest member of Team OTK without dueling against him first."
Carter smiled excitedly and patted Ivy on the back. "Hey, alright. You get to bypass dueling the best duelist in school provided you can beat his two nemeses. How often does that opportunity come along?"
Ivy laughed. "I doubt it's often. But beating them will be difficult."
"That's an understatement," Hillary commented. She and Nathan were with Ivy and Carter, discussing the way the tournament worked out. She wasn't thrilled not to be the one getting to duel in the finals, but at least her friends received that chance.
"They'll be tough," Nathan agreed from his supine position on the bleachers of the Hibiki Center. Normally, a duel sponsored by one of the Academy's teams would be held at someplace less official, but seeing as Matt now had connections and was accruing favors with the faculty, he managed to finagle permission to hold the finals someplace all the participants could witness.
"I'd like to point out that we're only here because you guys took out Alister and Jessica," Carter told his friends. "I'd also like to point out, ha ha! We're here because you guys took out Alister and Jessica."
"Such is life," Nathan quipped.
Hillary conceded, "Well, it's almost just like we planned when we teamed up this way, even if the unexpected team made it to the finals."
There was still a little time to get set before the duel actually began. Nathan and Hillary used that time to find ideal places to be lazy, and Ivy and Carter used the time to make minor alterations to their decks. Numbers and Keiju, both adorned in blue uniforms since their sophomore years, were as powerful of foes as Duel Academy could produce. It didn't take long for the center to fill up with spectators.
With all eyes on the duel, Ivy received the first turn.
"I'll start by summoning Cactus Bouncer (4/1800/300)." A short, stout cactus with two bulky arms and an intimidating grin on its face outstretched its arm toward Numbers and Keiju. "I'll also place one card facedown and activate Black Garden." Her Field Spell covered the field in dark, thorny vines with black roses blossoming here and there. "That's my turn."
Keiju drew and began his turn. "I'll summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4 (4/-800/1000)." As soon as his metallic, pigeon-like dragon appeared on the field, the vines from Ivy's Black Garden reached out and wrapped around the dragon. "What's it doing?"
Numbers smiled. She didn't know ahead of time the details of all the cards in Ivy's deck, but she was well versed in many cards, and quick on the uptake for the few she didn't know. "Black Garden cut your monster's attack power in half. Next, she'll get a Rose Token (2/800/800) on her field." Sure enough, a rose blossomed on Ivy's side of the field in attack mode.
"Then I might use this," Keiju said. "Stamping Destruction allows a dragon on my side of the field to destroy any Spell and inflict damage to you." Horus began stomping as he charged toward the Black Garden card.
"I'll play Pollinosis," Ivy quickly countered. "By Tributing the Rose Token on my field, I can negate the activation of your Spell card." Pollen spread across the field in such quantities it looked like a yellow blanket. As if struck with sudden boredom, Horus stopped his rampage and calmly walked back to his side of the field, still wrapped in vines. Keiju ended his turn with just one card facedown.
Carter gave a little laugh. "My turn. I'll discard one card to summon Quickdraw Synchron (5/-350/1400) to my field." His Synchron wore a cowboy getup, complete with two holsters and a cloak wrapped around his body and mouth. Black Garden immediately enveloped his monster, and a Rose Token (800) blossomed on Numbers' side of the field. "That was a Special Summon, so now I'll Tribute him to summon Silent Swordsman LV5 (5/-1150/1000)." Black Garden grabbed this swordsman, equipped with a blue trench coat and a massive buster sword, and another Rose Token blossomed on Numbers' field. "Before I end my turn, I'm going to set a card and play Field Barrier to protect my partner's Black Garden." The vines comprising Black Garden began to shine, protected from destruction by Carter's barrier. "It's your turn, little lady."
Numbers just shook her head as she drew. "I'll set two cards and a monster."
"That's where my card comes in," Carter said. "Light of Intervention prevents anyone from setting monsters; everything has to be face-up in defense mode."
Numbers accepted the limitation and revealed her Sangan (3/-500/600), a little, yellow critter with three eyes. A Rose Token (800) blossomed on Carter's field. "I'll put these Rose Tokens in defense mode." Then she gave the slightest nod toward Ivy.
Ivy nodded back, which Carter noticed but didn't understand. "Do we nod, too?" he asked Keiju. Keiju rolled his eyes and told Carter not to worry about it.
"My turn," Ivy said. "I'll summon Botanical Lion (4/-1400/2000)," a root-like quadruped with a face lion a lion and a mane of petals; its points were cut when Black Garden grappled it with vines, but it gained an additional 300 points per plant Ivy controls. And by Black Garden's effect, another Rose Token (800) blossomed on Keiju's field. "Time to attack: Cactus Bouncer (1800) against Horus (800) and Botanical Lion (1400) against the Rose Token (800)." The Bouncer jumped into the air and body slammed the silver dragon, and then the lion-like root tore into the Rose. "I'll set one more card and end my turn."
Ivy and Carter 8000: Numbers and Keiju 8000 – 1000 – 800 = 6200.
Keiju was well aware of the difficulty facing Ivy's strategy; Cactus Bouncer, as long as there was another plant on the field, prevented any player from Special Summoning a monster. That meant Horus couldn't evolve and Numbers couldn't play her chaos monsters. The only exception was Token summoning, such as through Black Garden, but that was hardly helpful.
"I've got one idea," he said. "I'll play Brain Control to take control of that Cactus Bouncer." A pair of demonic hands reached across the field for Ivy's monster, but suddenly the hands disappeared; instead, a well dressed man slipped a gold coin to Keiju's side of the field.
"I'll chain Dark Bribe," Ivy said. "It negates the effect of your Spell and lets you draw one card instead."
"How unfortunate. I'll summon Golem Dragon (4/-100/2000) in defense mode." Black Garden didn't affect a monster's defense points; at least this way, he was a little better protected, even if another Rose Token (800) blossomed on Ivy's field. "I'll also activate Ground Collapse." Suddenly two monster zones on Ivy's field disappeared, leaving her with a field that allowed a maximum of three monsters. This was step one of Keiju's lockdown.
"Here we go," Carter said when he drew. "I'll summon Drill Synchron (3/-400/300) in defense mode." This Synchron was a small ball with treads and three drills. "With this on the field, my warriors can inflict piercing damage, like when I send Silent Swordsman (1150) after Sangan (600)." The Swordsman's massive blade split the critter easily, and using Sangan's effect, Numbers retrieved Fabled Raven (1300). "And that's all for now."
Ivy and Carter 8000: Numbers and Keiju 6200 – 550 = 5650.
"You're pretty good so far," Numbers admitted. "You've got us locked out of Special Summoning with that Cactus Bouncer (1800), and you were smart enough to summon it before playing Black Garden to avoid cutting its points." Ivy was pleased to hear her praise. "Now let's see what you can really do. I'll summon Fabled Raven (2/-650/1000)." The field showed a man wearing all black, including over his face, and with bladed feathers growing from his arms. "And before making any other moves, I'll activate Royal Decree." She smiled because she was pretty sure, and correct in this case, that Ivy set Divine Wrath to destroy any effect monster who might try to grow stronger than her Cactus. "Now, by discarding three cards from my hand, Raven (+5/1850/1000) gains one level and 400 attack points for each."
"Uh oh," Carter muttered. "This could be the end of your Cactus Bouncer."
Keiju nodded. "That's kind of the point, isn't it? It's hard to paint a bigger target on your monster than to block Special Summons."
"So to continue my turn," Numbers said, "Raven will attack Cactus (1800)." Thanks to Royal Decree, no other Traps could activate to protect Ivy's monster. Numbers' monster sliced through the Cactus Bouncer. "Before I end my turn, I'm going to take advantage of the fact that we can Special Summon again. By removing Sangan, Shining Angel, and two Giant Germs from my Graveyard, I summon Sky Scourge Norleras (8/-1200/1500)." The field shook as big fiend grew from a hole in the floor, showing only its torso covered with spikes and bandages.
Carter hummed softly. "I may have been a bit premature with 'uh oh' earlier."
Numbers giggled. "I think so. By paying 1000 Life Points, Norleras destroys all cards on the field and in our hands." Norleras slammed his bandaged hands on the ground, and the darkness spread from his body. It slowly consumed everything on the field—itself included—leaving behind only Black Garden.
"Lucky I play Field Barrier," Carter commented. "We still get Black Garden to protect us."
"Sure," Numbers uttered. "Norleras also lets me draw one card." She picked it up and played it immediately, revealing a green pot with a goofy grin on its face. "I play Pot of Greed, but not in the usual way. I'm playing this Spell on behalf of my partner; that means he gets to draw two cards instead." Keiju gave a slight bow in thanks as he drew two cards. "Now, seeing as I have no cards left, I'll end my turn."
Ivy and Carter 8000: Numbers and Keiju 5650 – 1000 = 4650.
The only thing on the field was Black Garden, and only Keiju held any cards in his hand when Ivy drew. "Mama needs a winner," she told her deck. "Good enough," she decided. "I'll summon Lonefire Blossom (3/-250/1400)." Her monster was a small sprout that looked like a bomb growing out of the ground. "I can Tribute Lonefire Blossom to summon any plant from my deck: Tytannial, Princess of Camellias (8/-1400/2600)." Her field sprouted a giant camellia, and a woman grew from the stigma. She was covered by petals and fronds and had hair like a camlleia. She was more than a match for the two Rose Tokens (800) that blossomed on Keiju's field. When Tytannial attacked, she covered the field with poisonous pollen that withered one of the Rose Tokens. "That ends my turn."
Ivy and Carter 8000: Numbers and Keiju 4650 – 600 = 4050.
Keiju took a deep breath before he drew, a process which has proven a useful tactic for duelists over the years to help them draw better cards. "I'll play Dragon's Mirror; by removing Lord of Dragons and Divine Dragon Ragnarok in my Graveyard from play, I can summon King Dragun (7/-1200/1100)." A dragon-man with a humanoid torso and a serpentine body slithered onto the field. The cape across its shoulders billowed despite the lack of wind inside the arena. "Once per turn, King Dragun can summon a dragon from my hand, such as Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (6/2300/1600)." This time, he played a silver, phoenix-like dragon that stood twice as tall as the first and had a much stronger body. The vines from Black Garden whipped out to confine the dragon, but its scales repelled the effort. "Horus LV6 is immune to all Spell effects," Keiju announced.
"I repeat the 'uh oh,'" Carter spoke.
Two Rose Tokens (800) appeared on Ivy's field during the process, offering a certain level of protection, but now Keiju had three monsters. "I'll destroy your Tokens with King Dragun (1200) and my Rose Token (800)." King Dragun ripped through a Token while the Token simply fired a thorn at the other side of the field, killing itself and as well. "Now Horus will immediately destroy Tytannial (1400)." The stream of black fire burned through the camellias and cleared the field. "I'll place a card facedown and end my turn."
Ivy and Carter 8000 – 400 - 900 = 6700: Numbers and Keiju 4050.
Carter drew and realized the level of comeback Numbers and Keiju might be pulling off here. He looked upon his United We Stand, a powerful equip card that didn't help without a monster, and placed it facedown as a bluff. "That will do for now."
Numbers just grinned. "I'll remove Fabled Raven and Chaos-End Master from play to summon Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (8/-1500/2500)." The knight clad in black and gold armor, shining with such luster as to blind anyone looking directly at it, stepped onto the field. He drew his sword and readied his shield while a Rose Token (800) blossomed on Carter's field. He leaped forward and cut right through the Token, then returned to Numbers' field with his sword drawn. "Whenever Envoy of the Beginning destroys a monster in battle, he can attack again." Her monster lunged again and struck Carter directly. "That ends my turn."
Ivy and Carter 6700 – 700 – 1500 = 4500: Numbers and Keiju 4050.
Ivy drew, holding her breath until she looked upon the face of the card. "I'll put a card facedown and end my turn." She knew Keiju would try to end the duel in his next turn, but to do that, he'd have to summon another monster; she could activate Torrential Tribute and wipe the field clean again.
Keiju didn't even look at his card. "I'll attack directly with Horus LV6 (2300) and King Dragun (1200)." His two monsters unleashed their attacks directly, and then a ring appeared on King Dragun's finger; in lieu of a jewel, it displayed a bomb. "Destruction Ring destroys one monster on my field and deals 1000 points of damage to each of us." When the ring exploded, King Dragun disappeared, and after a brief pause, the holograms shut down.
Ivy and Carter 4500 – 2300 – 1200 – 1000 = 0: Numbers and Keiju 4050 – 1000 = 3050.
"We were so close," Carter commented.
Keiju shook Carter's hand and said, "To be fair, the top two Lockdown duelists don't achieve their levels without pulling off a few comebacks. You did an amazing job just taking and holding an early lead."
As Numbers shook Ivy's hand, she said, "Just as I promised." When she released Ivy's hand, the younger duelist looked in her palm to see a badge with the Team Lockdown logo. "Your Garden Lockdown strategy was impressive. An average duelist would have lost pretty quickly, and I have to take into account the fact that Tag Duels are much more challenging for maintaining a lockdown strategy."
"Thanks."
Cary stepped up with a grin. "I take it this means you've declined Matt's invitation to sign up for Team OTK."
Numbers smiled and said, "Ivy's going to go with a winner."
"What about me?" Carter asked.
Numbers just smiled. "I'd love to have you join Team OTK."
"I'll bet you would," Cary replied. "Anyway, congrats, guys, for winning the tournament. I think Laura plans to present you with your prize at the December graduation ceremony." When asked why Matt wouldn't do it, she said, "This tournament was Laura's baby, and Matt is a big wuss."
He may be a wuss when it comes to women, but he planned to conquer one fear during the winter break; he was going to confront his foster father to find out everything he could about his parents.
A bit abrupt, I know, but I wanted to get this out today and I feel a little burned out after that second duel. I didn't realize it was going to be so tough to write. I think I did it all correctly, but I admit I don't play plants. I don't know how busy next week will be, but I'll try to get up the next chapter. Now that the tournament is done, things should be a little easier for me in terms of having a real story.
The next chapter will start the semester of Duel Academy and discuss a little more about the Ghost Duelist. Look for it soon.
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
Victor Rocks & Abel Shinzou...Iron-Arm-V
Alister Kazama & Jessica Parks...ZaneKazama001
Synthia Spencer...Madly Chessur
Leila & Linear Lockhart...Windraider
Romulus Malligan...Maximus1
Everyone else so far...YamiRuss