Chapter 3
The place where they landed was different from their home. It started with the sky. It was blue, with some white clouds drifting across it. When the first ones of the soldiers woke up, they instantly panicked, because they thought Telgus last afford had brought them to the Astral World. But if they would have looked at the world minus the sky, they would've realized that this wasn't so, but it took a woken up Meza to calm them down. He simply pointed at the trees, standing all around them, and asked them if they have seen something like this near the battlefield. They said no, so Meza could convince them that they were not in Astral World.
Nitak was woken up by a sad Saphon and tried to wake up Intaka too, however, he didn't feel that good either. They had lost the war for their home. Their leader, Telgu, was dead, killed by a duelist with a strength none of them had ever seen before. Usually, Astral World Soldiers use their Rank-Up-Magic for one Rank-Up, not for more, but this guy, Astral, has managed to make a Rank 4 Monster Rank 10! Nitak had no idea how he could be defeated.
He realized that all the others weren't that happy either. Most of the Soldiers especially did not believe that they would return to their home and take their land back. They did also see 'Number RU39: Utopia Rise 10' sweeping away Telgu like he was an amateur. It was rumbling among their army.
Once everybody was woken up, they had to decide what to do. Nitak had hoped that Meza would know, because Meza always knew, because Meza never named a situation hopeless, but he didn't either.
And that was when they started to notice it. It was Malin who spoke up first, directed to Belle: "Belle? What, how, is this really you?" The confusion Malin put into this sentence made them all turn their head to Belle. And she had changed, ever since they had arrived here, they just didn't notice it. In fact, all of them, all the emperors, all the soldiers, were now looking different. Well, not entirely they had kept their hair colour and their basic appearance, but they all now got the same skin color, for example.
Once Nitak realized that he had also changed too, he felt something in his body. He felt blood running through veins, he felt a stomach, he felt intestines, and hell, he had no idea how to control this, what to do with this. It took him a few second, as did the other emperors once they found out, to realize that his whole body was working on its own, that he had nothing to do for now. And with that realization, they could all return to their meeting.
Well, they could have.
"We have had enough of this!" This scream made all the Emperors turn their heads towards the soldier who had screamed this. He was backed up by many other soldiers, which were shouting "Yeah!" or "Tell them!".
Meza, who got the command of the emperors after Telgus dead, something none of them had complained about, took stand opposite to the speaking soldier: "You had enough of what?" He was sounding very angry, but he hid this emotion under his usual kind facial mask.
"Enough of this," he pointed onto their surroundings, and then at the Seven Barian Emperors. "Enough of you. Everything was fine, before you took command over the army and since then, things were getting worse and worse. And THIS is the last straw that broke our back!" The other soldiers agreed with him.
"And what do you want to do now? And what's your name?" Meza asked, but as he knew the answer, he already put on his D-Pad, a not very spectacular gray one.
"My name is Yild, and I want to challenge you for the command of the Barian Army!" The other men behind him started to chant his name, as he put on his D-Pad too, one of the standard ones all soldiers used.
"DUEL!"
Meza: 4000 LP
Yild: 4000 LP
"Since this will be your first and last period as leader, why don't you take the start Meza?" Every word he said was commented with cheering from the Army.
"Fine. Draw!" Meza looked at the cards in his hand, and decided on a move. "I activate 'Upstart Goblin'! Now I draw one card, and you gain 1000 Life Points."
Yild: 4000 LP → 5000 LP
"You are giving me Life Points? Are you already accepting me as your leader?" He laughed, as did his fellows.
The retort came immediately: "I just thought you would need it. I place one Monster and one Spell or Trap Cards face-down and end my turn."
"What kind of weak move was this? Did this whole 'sitting in your palace' thing make you even weaker than you were before? Draw," he added his card to his hand and then took another one out of it: "I Normal Summon 'Wind-Up Juggler'!" A humanoid robot with a few balls in his hand appeared on Yilds side of the field.
Wind-Up Juggler / Level 4 / Effect / WIND / Psychic-Type / 1700 ATK / 1000 DEF
"And thats not all! Since I Normal Summoned a 'Wind-Up' Monster, I can Special Summon 'Wind-Up Shark' from my hand." A toy shark splashed onto his field, next to Juggler
Wind-Up Juggler / Level 4 / Effect / WATER / Fish-Type / 1500 ATK / 1300 DEF
"You may think I am Xyz Summoning now, but you're wrong. 'Wind-Up Juggler' attack his face-down Monster!" The robot shot one of his balls at the face-down, which was revealed to be a small crystal.
Reckless Giver / Level 2 / Effect / LIGHT / Psychic-Type / 0 ATK / 0 DEF
"Well," Meza spoke up,"Unfortunately, my 'Reckless Giver' grants you Life Points equal to the ATK of the Monster that destroyed it, upon destruction." Yild was covered by an aura of light.
Yild: 5000 LP → 6700 LP
"What sick kind of game are you playing? You cannot defeat me by giving me Life Points!?" Yild was visibly confused by Mezas strategy, however this amused the Emperors, as they knew Meza and that he had almost won, as most of them suspected his face-down card to be 'Hundredsaver'.
As Meza didn't respond, Yild continued: "Well, 'Wind-Up Shark', attack him directly!" The shark darted forward when a glowing light surrounded Meza: "When I am attacked directly and 'Reckless Giver' is in my Graveyard, I gain 500 Life Points." But nonetheless, the shark hit Meza and bit his shoulder
Meza: 4000 LP → 4500 LP → 3000 LP
"Next it is time for an Xyz Summon." Yilds Monsters turned fully green and blue and shot into a red portal. "Xyz Summon, 'Steelswarm Roach'!"
The Monster that emerged the portal was a humanoid roach with a epee in his hand.
Steelswarm Roach / Rank 4 / Xyz / DARK / Fiend-Type / 1900 ATK / 0 DEF / 2 Xyz Materials
"I place one card face-down and end my turn."
"Then it is my turn again. Draw." Meza drew his card, before he placed two cards on his D-Pad again, a Monster and another card. "I end my turn."
"I have no idea what you are trying to do, but I can tell you, it isn't working." Yild taunted with the soldiers behind him laughing. "My turn, draw! Normal Summon 'Wind-Up Dog'!" A toy dog jumped onto Yilds side of the field
Wind-Up Dog / Level 3 / Effect / EARTH / Beast-Type / 1200 ATK / 900 DEF
"And I think you still know the effect of 'Wind-Up Shark', right?"A second copy of the toy fish appeared next to the dog.
"Its time for effects I think. I use 'Wind-Up Dog' to increase its Level by two and its ATK by 600, and also, I use Wind-Up Shark to increase its Level by one!"
Wind-Up Dog: Level 3 → Level 5
Wind-Up Dog: 1200 ATK → 1800 ATK
Wind-Up Shark: Level 4 → Level 5
"I guess you're Xyz Summoning now, right?" Meza asked, with Yild answering: "You're not getting your own strategy done, but you know mine, that's at least a thing. I overlay my two Level 5 Monsters!" His Monsters turned fully blue and orange and spiraled into a red portal. "Xyz Summon, Shark Fortress!" The Monster that emerged the portal was a submarine, that resembled a shark.
Shark Fortress / Rank 5 / Xyz / DARK / Fish-Type / 2400 ATK / 1800 DEF / 2 Xyz Materials
"I immediately use its effect!" Yild declared, "by detaching one Xyz Material, it can attack twice this turn." The soldiers behind him seemed to calculate something and then began to cheer even louder than before. If this attack was going through, Meza would have lost.
"Shark Fortress!" Yild yelled, "Attack his face-down Monster!"
"Chain!" Meza intervened, "At the start of your Battle Phase, I activate my face-down 'Hundredsaver'!"
Yild looked shocked at the torpedoes his monster fired, but the Trap seemed to have no effect on them, as they easily destroyed the face-down Monster, a bunch of Algae.
Burning Algae / Level 3 / Effect / FIRE / Pyro-Type / 500 ATK / 1500 DEF
"If 'Burning Algae' is sent to the Graveyard, you gain 1000 Life Points." Meza explained, but Yild didn't seem to care about the boost he just received.
Yild: 6700 LP → 7700 LP
"Shark Fortress, attack him directly again!" The torpedoes struck Meza and knocked him off his feet, but once he stood again, Yild noticed something strange.
Meza: 3000 LP → 3500 → 100 LP
"What? Why did you lose that much Life Points? You should have only lost 2400!"
"Well," Meza explained, "If 'Hundredsaver' is face-up and I take Battle Damage, my Life Points become 100 instead. The only condition is that I must have more than 100 Life Points to trigger this effect."
"Okay..." Yild replied confused. "I don't see the point for you to use this card, but hey, its you who'll lose." The other soldiers laughed, again.
"'Steelswarm Roach', finish this Emperor off!" The Roach darted forward and pierced Meza with its epee, but Meza did not flinch.
Meza: 100 LP → 600 LP → 100 LP
"Your memory isn't the best either, right?" Meza asked taunting and even earned some laughs from the soldiers. "As long as 'Reckless Giver' is in my Graveyard, I will gain 500 Life Points every time you attack me directly, and thus, I can use the effect of 'Hundredsaver'. And that means..." "...that I cannot defeat you by attacking you directly." Yild ended the sentence dumbfounded. "I end my turn now," he said. His head must be working desperately on a solution to win this duel.
"I think I was kind enough now. Draw. I Normal Summon 'Saambell the Summoner'!" A young girl, with brown hair and a red hood appeared on Mezas side of the field.
Saambell the Summoner / Level 2 / Effect / WIND / Spellcaster-Type / 600 ATK / 400 DEF
"Due to its effect I can Special Summon 'Cheerful Giver' from my hand!" Mezas next Monster was a small blue crystal.
Cheerful Giver / Level 2 / Effect / LIGHT / Psychic-Type / 0 ATK / 0 DEF
Most of the soldiers, including Yild, were glaring in shock at the galaxy-shaped portal that opened on the ground, but Meza just kept going: "I overlay 'Saambell the Summoner' and 'Cheerful Giver'!" His Monsters turned green and yellow respectively and shot into the portal. "Let's show this rebels the whole beauty of the light and kindness of the Barian World! Xyz Summon! Arise, 'Number 102: Infinite Giver'!"
The portal exploded and a huge crystal emerged from it, and settled behind Meza. It had a golden ring around it, with the Number 102 written on it. Two yellow Xyz Materials cycled it.
Number 102: Infinite Giver / Rank 2 / Xyz / LIGHT / Psychic-Type / 0 ATK / 0 DEF / 2 Xyz Materials
Author-made cards:
Reckless Giver / Level 2 / Effect / LIGHT / Psychic-Type / 0 ATK / 0 DEF
If this card is destroyed by battle: Your opponent gains Life Points equal to the ATK of the Monster that destroyed this card. If this card is in your Graveyard and your opponent declares a direct attack: Gain 500 Life Points.
Cheerful Giver / Level 2 / Effect / LIGHT / Psychic-Type / 0 ATK / 0 DEF
If this card is destroyed by battle: Your opponent gains Life Points equal to the ATK of the Monster that destroyed this card. If this card is used as a Xyz Material: Your opponent gains 1000 Life Points.
Hundredsaver / Continuous Trap Card
Activate only if your opponent declares the first attack of a turn. During Damage Calculation, if you would take Battle Damage and your Life Points are higher than 100: Your Life Points become 100 instead. Destroy this card if your Life Points are higher than your opponents.
First time I have a chapter break in the middle of a duel. Well, looks bad for Meza, doesn't it? 7700 LP : 100 LP. Wonder how he wants to get out of that. If I wouldn't know already.
Yilds name is taken from a star from the Little Dipper, the Yildun. There's no real reason for that choice.
Uhm, that's all, for now, I think. See you at the conclusion of this duel, next chapter.