-Chapter 45-
Sad, Yet Victorious Memory
"What I am going to do?!" Mike thought aloud.
The frustrated Mike only had one monster on his side of the field, in Defense position, while his opponents, his father Maxie, controlled two monsters and one of them is his ace monster, Victory Hope Dragon.
"So, what will it be, my son!? Will you give up here!?" His father asked.
"I…end my turn here," Mike said bitterly.
"Well folks, this became an unexpected turnabout! Mike's father, Maxie, stole his dragon and he couldn't do anything else for this turn! All he could do is staying defensive," Vivi commented.
"Hmph. So, you can't do anything else for this turn, eh?" Maxie said. "Fine! My turn, I draw!"
He drew a card, and then grinned at it when he looked.
"That grin!" Mike noticed. "I gotta move and find an Action Card!"
"Oh! It looks like Mike is moving again!" Vivi, the announcer said.
"Going after an Action Card, eh? Well, let's see if you can make it in time!" Maxie claimed. "I play the Continuous Spell, Totem's Curse!"
The Spell Card showed a tall totem tower emanating with dark aura.
"As long as this card remains face-up on the field, both players can only play one Spell Card per turn," Maxie said.
Mike found one stuck in between two rocks. He then ran faster to speed up his pace.
"I declare my Drago Santa Maria to destroy your Iron Guardian!" Maxie declared as his monster boat shot a giant fireball at Iron Guardian. It responded with its arms crossed much tighter.
Luckily, Mike grabbed the card and immediately placed it on his duel disk. "I play the Action Spell, Evasion! This will negate your attack!"
"I activate Drago Santa Maria's effect! I negate the effect of Evasion and you take 800 points of damage!" Maxie interrupted.
His monster boat's fireball blasted Iron Guardian into crisps. The fire didn't leave any burn mark on the owner, but his Life Points still drained.
Mike's LP: 1200
"Then, Victory Hope Dragon will attack you directly!" Maxie declared.
"What!? But, it won't do anything! It only has zero attack!" Vivi pointed out.
Maxie maneuvered so swiftly even for his age that he grabbed one Action Card successfully.
"I play the Action Spell, Thousandth ATK!" The old man declared. The Action Spell showed a silhouette figure throwing out multiple, thousand punches.
"Thousandth ATK!?" Mike gasped.
"That's right! This Action Spell allows Victory Hope Dragon to gain 1000 ATK points!" Maxie explained as the dragon's aura glowed in yellow. "Now, attack Iron Guardian with Super Shining V Strike!"
Victory Hope Dragon used its powerful horn with charging speed. Mike ran away from it, but it caught to him, and it hit him, making him trip on his feet.
"Grrrrgh!" Mike gritted.
Mike's LP: 200
"How is that, my boy? Your old man is strong as ever, don't you think? Gah, ha, ha!" Maxie laughed.
"Damn it! It is just like long time ago when I was a kid…" Mike remembered.
-Flashback-
"I play the Action Spell, Bi-Attack! My monster's ATK is doubled!"
Drago Santa Maria shot a much powerful and bigger fireball at Victory Fighter Hope. Hope cried painfully as it got annihilated completely.
"Aaaaaah!" Young Mike screamed as his Life Points drained to zero.
Young Mike's LP: 0
Maxie WINS!
"Hah, ha! I win again! But, I gotta say! You're getting stronger each time I duel you, my little Mikey, but you are still no match for your old man, ha ha!" Maxie laughed.
The little Mike got back up with watery eyes.
"You're so unfair, dad! I hate you!" He then ran off.
"Ah! Wait! Where are you going? Come back, my boy! Wah, hah, ha!"
-Flashback ends-
"I end my turn here. The effect of Thousandth ATK also ends here," Maxie said as the dragon's ATK went back to plain, old zero.
"My turn, I draw!" Mike drew a card, but it wasn't a card that he wanted. "Rrrr!"
"Huh? He won't do anything for this turn!" Vivi stated.
"Boooh! Come on, man! Do something better than that!" One of the spectators yelled.
"Yeah! Some us more fun!" Another one yelled, too.
"Your father is much more better than you!" A third one complained.
Some of the crowds followed up with more negativity at Mike while he was finding any action cards. Mike gritted his teeth, looking very frustrated while ignoring all of the negative comments.
"Hey, what's the big idea jerks! Don't boo at my friend!" Hannah lashed out at them while Cody Hackin tried to pull her down back to her seat.
"Hannah, please calm down!" Cody begged.
Meanwhile, in the girls' locker room, Muiko watched the duel unfolding and seeing the booing spectators. She watched silently, not saying anything about it.
"Hey everybody, please calm down! Let's all just have fun and be friendly, ok?" Vivi demanded.
Maxie stomped his feet with his right foot, like a monster. He breathed in very deeply and then let it all out. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAWWW!"
Everyone stopped and then looked at Maxie. Even Mike stopped, and watched him.
"Gah, hah, ha! What's this!? Booing at my son! You sure are dam right to boo at him!" He stated.
"Huh!?" Mike, Cody, Hannah, and everyone else gasped. Muiko didn't look surprised, but stayed neutral as she listened to what he's saying.
"What do you mean by that!? The people are like booing at your own son, Mr. Maxie!" Vivi yelled.
"I can clearly see that, lady, but I don't mean it like that!" Maxie claimed. "My son is just frustrated due to the fact that he holds some kind of grudge on me."
"What? He knows…" Mike pondered a little bit.
"And I may know why. He wants to be strong, stronger than me and make me accept him as him, the one and only Mike Tenzo. Not like his older brother…" Maxie admitted.
"His brother?" Vivi repeated.
"Hey! What are you babbling about!? Let's go back dueling and just focus on that only!" Mike yelled.
"You're right, my son! Let's talk about that mushy topic some other times, wah, ha, ha!" Maxie laughed. However, behind his excited face, he pondered.
"My son, you were way too young to remember this, but I do…"
-Flashback-
"Now, I tune my Level 1 tuner monster with my Level 7 Victory Fighter Hope!" A young male duelist declared.
The duelist looked similar to Mike, except that his hair was more wild and spiky, with some strands in red color. He was also taller.
A blue ball with a monster inside floated up in the sky and turned into a single green ring. The familiar warrior jumped through the ring, turning into seven spheres of light and then white energy streamed through those spheres.
"Warrior with heart full of hope, with the help of the magical, light fairy, transform into your true, enlightened form! Synchro Summon! Awaken! Level 8! Victory Fighter Cipher Shogun!"
A samurai in white and blue armor appeared. It wielded a shiny, sleek sword with blue aura emanating around it. The handle of the sword looked like Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon's wings.
Victory Fighter Cipher Shogun-Level 8, LIGHT, Warrior/Synchro/Effect, 3000 ATK, 2000 DEF.
"I declare my Cipher Shogun to attack your Drago Santa Maria and end this duel!" The duelist declared.
His monster had its sword out. It jumped up into midair, and the came falling down with its sword out. It sliced through the monster in half with glowing light, causing the body to split before it exploded.
"Uuwaaah!" Maxie screamed in defeat.
Maxie's LP: 0
"You're right, dad?" The duelist gave him a hand to help his father.
Maxie smirked. "Hee, hee. You got me, Marcus, my son."
"I learned a lot from you, old man, but that doesn't mean that I will stop learning and continuing in growing," Marcus said, smiling.
"Good to hear that!" Maxie slapped on his son's back, which he responded and then they laughed together.
"Boys! The pie is ready!" The mother called to them while she was holding baby Mike.
"Oh boy! Pie!" Maxie responded very quickly.
"Easy, old man! You remember the last time, do you?" Marcus snickered.
"Hah, ha! Don't worry! The doctor said my cholesterol level is fine!" Maxie claimed.
"But, don't forget to take your medicine after you eat, honey," the wife said.
"I know, I know! Come on, my family. Let's dig in!" Maxie declared. "Say ah, my little son, Mike!"
"Waaaaaah!" Baby Mike cried in response.
"Old man, you scared him! Here, let me do it," Marcus said as he cut his pie in small pieces, and took a spoon and scooped one of the pieces. He then brought it near his younger brother's mouth.
"Open wide, little bro," Marcus said.
Baby Mike looked at Marcus, and then opened his mouth to eat the pie. He munched and giggled to Marcus, liking the pie very much.
"How could this be possible!? My own son loves my older son more than me! Wah, ha, ha!" Maxie laughed whole-heartedly.
"That's because your voice is too loud, old man! Heh, heh," Marcus laughed.
The Tenzo family laughed and enjoyed each other's company.
Few Months Later
"Well, Mom, old man, I am off to the military," Marcus said as he carried his heavy backpack.
"You sure be careful, Marcus," his mother said as she wiped tears from her eyes. She also carried her son on her back.
"Don't worry, mom. I will write you letter every day when I get there. I promise," Marcus reassured.
"Marcus, my boy, you've grown to be quite a good, strong man! I wish you could be a great Duelist like your old man, but I am proud of you, no matter what you do for living. Good luck out there, my boy!" Maxie slapped on his son's shoulders.
"Thank you, old man," he said before he took out something out of his pocket. "Hey, old man, I know this is very valuable to me, but I want you to give this to my little brother, Mike. It is his now."
"What!? But, why, son? This is your Deck!" Marcus gasped.
"I know, old man, but I know that Mike will be a good Duelist some day when he grows up, stronger and better than me, but he needs a Deck. So, give this to him when he becomes old enough. Keep that as a promise for me, old man."
-Flashback ends-
"Ever since then, Marcus, your older brother never came back home. He…served this country well, and the only thing that came back was that 1 card. I know you were too young to remember him, my son Mike, but you share the same blood as him. I know you can do better than this, and even better than Marcus, just like he said many years ago! Do it, Mike! Level up even more!"
Mike continued running until he found another action card. He ran as fast as possible, but Maxie noticed and then went back focusing into the duel. His son climbed the icy mountain and grabbed the action card, but slipped from the top after he got it.
"Ooooh!" Hannah said after seeing him hit directly on his butt.
"Ouch," he agonized as he rubbed the side of his butt, where he got hit. He soon recovered from that fall. "I play the Action Spell, Life Barrier! With this, I do not gain any battle damage until my next turn! I end my turn with just that!"
A blue sphere surrounded and trapped Mike inside, protecting him from any further harms.
"According to my calculations, if Mike continues to defend himself like this, his chance of winning will decrease even more," Cody Hackin said.
"No way! Mike won't give up! He is just…waiting for the right time to strike, that's all!" Hannah argued before she looked with Mike with worried face. "Come on, Mike! I know you can do better than this, better than me."
"So, you are going to stay with the defense, eh?" Maxie noticed. "Well, you got to do better than that! I draw!"
He drew his card passionately, glancing the card he drew and grinned at it. "I play the Spell Card, Mythical Space Typhoon to destroy my Totem's Curse on the field!"
"Say what!? He is destroying his own Spell Card?" Vivi gasped.
Toten's Curse turned into sparkles of light.
"What's he planning?" Mike pondered.
"Then, I play the Equip Spell, Self-Destruct Virus!" He revealed the card from his hand, which showed a virus that looked like a time bomb. That same virus appeared and attached to Drago Santa Maria.
"When this spell card is equipped to a monster, in my next turn, that equipped monster is destroyed and both players gain damage equal to half of the equipped monster's ATK," Maxie revealed.
"Half of your monster's ATK!?" Mike asked.
"That's right, my boy! In other word, your next turn is your last one! Show me what you can do, and how you can get out of this mess! Bring it on!" Maxie declared.
"Oh my, folks! It appears that Maxie put his own son in a huge jeopardy! If he doesn't do anything in his next turn, he will be over for him! Self-Destruct Virus will destroy Drago Santa Maria, and both boys will gain damage of 1400 points!"
"So, this is it. His last chance…" Muiko mumbled.
At the same time, a girl with long black hair in ponytail style watched the duel near the spectators' area.
"What will you do here, Mike?" Go asked.
"Mike…" Hannah gripped her hands together tightly as if she was praying for him.
"Sugei! There is a huge pinch for Mike!" Yuta commented as he had his entire face on the glass window to see things as closest as possible.
"I can't believe! This is…my last turn, already!" Mike gripped his hand very strongly and then slowly, but shakily moved his hand over his deck.
"What is this? Am I…nervous….scared? Oooh, I really don't feel like doing this, and yet….I came too far for this! I really want to prove my dad…but….I am so….afraid!" Mike thought nervously as he froze while shaking in fear.
"Mike…" Maxie whispered to himself.
"You can do it, bro!" Mike gasped when he heard a voice.
"Huh!? Who said that?" he asked.
"Don't worry, little bro! I am here for you, all the time!" The voice was coming from his deck from some odd reasons. "You are the greatest bro! I know you can do it!"
"Are you…are you my big brother?" Mike asked.
Suddenly, a ghostly form of his older brother appeared before him.
"What's up, little bro!" He greeted casually, with his hand waved at him.
"Marcus, but…what are you doing here? I thought you are…"
"I know, I know! I am not really here, technically, but that doesn't matter right now! What matter is you, man! So, what's wrong? You're afraid?" Marcus asked.
"Well, yeah! I mean, I want to prove to my dad that I am not good as you are…or were, and I am just me. I did it by showing him my new dragon, but he took it away, and with everything that happened so far, I…am just horrible Duelist," Mike said sadly.
Marcus just smiled and padded one time on Mike's head.
"Cheer up, little brother; you don't have to be like me because you are way stronger than I am. I mean, like way stronger!" Marcus exclaimed positively.
"What? I don't understand," Mike said.
"You are the one who called that dragon, right?" Mike nodded to that. "Then, you can definitely call it again! That dragon of yours is the key to winning this duel, trust me! Just think carefully about what you have on your field, and you will find out. See ya, little bro!"
Next thing he knew, he was back in reality as he hears the spectators' cheers. He looked at what was currently on the field, and analyzed it carefully. Then, he looked at his dragon, straight into its eyes.
Something flickered in his mind as images of Brave Knight, an angel-shaped silhouette, and a new dragon appeared through his mind.
"Of course! Now I understand what you mean, Marcus!" Mike stated as he regained his confidence. "Ok then!"
He placed his finger on the top of his Deck. Marcus noticed his sudden change in his son's emotion due to his facial expression.
"My turn, I draw!" Mike drew his card, creating an arc of light. He then stretched his arm up into the air.
"I activate Victory Fighter Brave Knight's pendulum effect! Once per turn, if I control no monsters on my side of the field, I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Tuner monster from my hand or Deck! I special summon Victory Fighter Cipher Angel from my hand!"
The new monster was a small angel with chibi-like face. It had golden wings that looked alike to Cipher Wing. She wore a light blue and purple dress with sparkles and stars for the pattern design. She wielded a wand with a star at the top.
Victory Fighter Cipher Angel-Level 1, LIGHT, Fairy/Tuner/Effect, 0 ATK, 0 DEF.
"That monster!" Maxie looked surprised with his eyes ready to pop out, and his jaw wide-opened. "That's Marcus' Tuner monster! The card that returned to us when we heard his..."
"With my Level 1 Victory Fighter Cipher Angel, I tune it with Level 7 Victory Hope Dragon!" Mike declared with his arm stretching out and pointing his finger at his dragon.
"But, wait! Hold on! Your dragon is under your father's control!" Vivi reminded him.
"Victory Fighter Cipher Angel's effect allows me to tune it with any Victory Fighter monster on the field, no matter if it is on my side or my opponent's side of the field!" Mike explained.
"But, your Victory Hope Dragon is not specifically a Victory Fighter monster!" Vivi stated.
"Victory Hope Dragon's effect allows it to treat itself as a Victory Fighter monster," Maxie added.
"No way!" Vivi gasped.
Cipher Angel and Victory Hope Dragon flew up into the air. The chibi angel twirled her wand around before she transformed into a single green ring. The dragon flew through the ring, turning into seven spheres of light.
"Victorious dragon, jump into the ring of evolution! Evolve further and create a new path to the endless victory! Synchro Summon! Arise! Level 8! Victory Hope Cipher Dragon!"
An energy beam pierced through the ring, and out came a new dragon. It looked similar to Victory Hope Dragon for the same size, but its V-shaped horn was much longer and redder in color. Its eyes were blue, like Galaxy-Eyes. It wore a shiny, silver armor with gold plating along the neck and all the way to the tip of the tail. Its neck was skinny and sleek despites the armor looked heavy. Its wings were light blue and looked thin like glass, but rainbow-colored energy went through them. It also had arms and hangs with sharp claws, but no legs.
Victory Hope Cipher Dragon-Level 8, LIGHT, Dragon/Synchro/Effect, 3100 ATK, 2200 DEF.
"He….Synchro Summon a new dragon!" Go gasped.
"No way!" Maxie gasped, too.
Everyone awed at the dragon. Muiko slightly grinned at the new summoned monster, feeling impressed for Mike that he evolved his dragon.
"Victory Hope Cipher Dragon's effect, like its previous incarnation, it is always treated as Victory Fighter monster, but that is not the only thing it can do!" Mike stretched out his arm.
His new dragon spread its wings, and roared as its wings unleashed a wave of light over Maxie's monster.
"What's this?" Maxie asked.
"Victory Hope Cipher Dragon's second effect allows me to target 1 monster that my opponent controls, so that it won't activate its effect until the end of my current turn! Not only that, but it also gains half of that target monster's ATK! Cipher Absorption!"
The dragon roared as its aura shined in light blue color, causing its ATK to rise up to 4550.
"4550 ATK!?" Cody gasped.
"I declare Victory Hope Cipher Dragon to attack your Drago Santa Maria! Cipher V-Strike!" Mike exclaimed as his dragon flew into high speed like a bullet train.
Its horn glowed in golden flame, and flew straight to its target like an arrow shot from a bow.
"Not so fast! I activate the Action Spell, Miracle that I picked up earlier!" Maxie got ready for impact.
The new dragon hit its target, but invisible barrier protected it.
Maxie's LP: 2325
"Ha, ha, ha! Even with your new dragon, you still can't beat your old man, Mikey my boy!" Maxie laughed.
Mike smiled. "You think so, dad?"
"Huh?" Maxie looked at him, with confused look.
"Victory Hope Cipher Dragon can attack up to twice this turn!" Mike exclaimed.
"Even so, that won't be enough to defeat me! I will still have some Life Points left!" Maxie stated.
"There won't be, dad because I picked this little helper up while my dragon was busy! I activate the Action Spell, Bi-Attack! My dragon's ATK is now doubled!" Mike yelled excitedly as his dragon's ATK changed to 9100.
"Ha, ha…" Maxie sweated.
"I declare my dragon to attack and end this duel!" Mike and the ghost of his older brother stood side by side as they posed together in perfect sync.
Maxie saw the ghost, and smiled lightly as tears fell from his eye. "Good job, Mike. I am proud of you."
Victory Hope Cipher Dragon attacked with all of its might, striking and piercing through Drago Santa Maria. It exploded, burning into rubbles as it fell over its master.
Maxie's LP: 0
Mike WINS
"Thank you, Marcus," Mike said to himself as the action field faded away. His dragon roared victorious before it disappeared, too.
"Wah, ha, ha!" Maxie laughed while he was lying on the ground. "That was the most fun duel I ever had in my 40 years of dueling!"
"Hey Dad, you need a hand?" Mike offered his hand to him.
Maxie grabbed his hand, although it was he who helped himself to get back up. He was too heavy for him to help.
"Wah, ha, ha!" Maxie laughed. "Listen up, you guys!"
Everyone looked at him, including the announcer as they stayed quiet.
"My son, Mike Tenzo here, has beaten me! He truly proved to me that he is a capable duelist with his own strength and passion for dueling! I, Maxie Tenzon, am proud of him as both a duelist and his father. That is why I declare that this duel is my last one I will ever have!" Maxie yelled aloud.
"Wait? What!?" Mike gasped.
"Huh?" Vivi said.
"I love dueling with all my heart, but unfortunately, even I cannot keep up with the current trend of dueling. Dueling is always evolving and changing with each new generation. That is why from this day forward, I will retire from professional dueling, and spend time with my family for the rest of my life! Thank you so much, and again, let's give applaud to my son, Mike Tenzo, for beating me and winning the first round of the Cup of Scorch!"
Maxie grabbed his arm and raise it up for him, like in wrestling. One person started applauding, followed by another and another until everyone in the dome applauded.
"What an awesome and heartwarming duel we saw, folks! This is truly the greatest duel in the history of the tournament, and possibly the world! Congratulations to you both, Mike and Maxie! Thank you for showing us a great duel!" Vivi announced.
Muiko watched and smiled. "Like father, like son."
New Cards Cheat Sheet
Totem's Curse-Type: Continuous Spell, Effect: Both players can only activate 1 Spell Card per turn.
Thousandth ATK-Type: Action Spell, Effect: Target 1 monster you controls; it gains 1000 ATK until the End Phase.
Life Barrier-Type: Action Spell, Effect: You don't gain any battle damage until your next turn.
Self-Destruct Virus-Equip Spell, Effect: Equip 1 monster you control on the field; the equipped monster is destroyed in your next turn and both players gain damage equals to half of that monster's ATK.
Victory Fighter Cipher Shogun-Level 8, LIGHT, Warrior/Synchro/Effect, 3000 ATK, 2000 DEF. Effect: 1 Tuner + 1 "Victory Fighter" Warrior-Type monster. Effect: Unknown
Victory Fighter Cipher Angel-Level 1, LIGHT, Fairy/Tuner/Effect, 0 ATK, 0 DEF. Effect: Target 1 "Victory Fighter" monster on the field; the targeted monster is treated as Synchro Material for a Synchro Summon until the End Phase. You can send 1 "Victory" Spell Card from your hand; add this card from your Graveyard to your hand.
Victory Hope Cipher Dragon-Level 8, LIGHT, Dragon/Synchro/Effect, 3100 ATK, 2200 DEF. Effect: 1 Tuner + 1 non-Tuner "Victory Fighter" Dragon-Type monster. Once per turn: Target 1 monster your opponent controls; the targeted monster cannot use its effect for remaining of this turn. This card also gains ATK equals to half of that targeted monster's ATK until the End Phase. This card can attack up to twice per turn.
Merry (belated) Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and all other holidays!
How was everyone's holidays? I hope you are all enjoyed this Christmas, whether you had a bad time in the past this year. Remember that there is always tomorrow, and a new year is coming, so if you want to do something better than what you did this year, yesterday, last week, or whatever, then make a commitment to yourself and do it!
I wanted to write this new chapter as an official present to you all, YGO fan. I hope you enjoyed reading it and comment/review is always welcomed.
The new monster, Victory Hope Cipher Dragon and Victory Fighter Cipher Angel are an inspiration of the Cipher Archetype used by Kaito in the current Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V anime. I am thinking of making a mix archetype for Mike's Deck with Cipher Archetype. There may be more coming, and some other new mix Archetype in the future for other characters. We will see ;)
Well, that is it for me, folks. I hope you are enjoying Christmas with your family and friends, and I will see you all again next year. Happy Holidays, everyone.