/ Duel Universe
/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma
/ Ch 41: What Am I To Ya'? Duel!!
/ word count: 2624
/ (Author's note: All duel actions are random and fair. Multiple choice decisions made by coin toss.)
Human Encampment: Ka'an vs Shelly
Moving through the encampment, many people were glad to see me and asked me where I had gone and what I had been up to. I told them what I could, but there was a lot of restricted material I had to keep to myself.
"I really can't talk about it right now," I tried to leave it at that.
When a voice came over the crowd to get them all to disperse, "what in the blazes hell is going on over here!? Why aren't ye' all training!? Get your lily-livered whiney backsides back to your posts!! Move it! Move it! Move it!" Sergeant Mulcahy screamed over everyone's heads, then he turned to me and gave a curt nod before moving on, "Captain."
I gave a wave and let them move on, then went my way. It didn't take long for me to reach my destination and I saw what used to be Shelly's tent and mine up ahead. As I got closer I could hear both Shelly and Akiza inside talking about what to do about Akiza's very drunken state she was still in. Walking up, I gave a polite knock on the sturdy frame holding up the waterproof fabric."Yes? Who is it?" Shelly spoke out loud.
"Hey…mayb..maybe it's kissy face, kissy face bouyfriend…," Akiza slurred.
"Oh shut it, you. It ain't gonna be hi…," Shelly's face flushed, as she looked over at me.
"Hey…," was all I got out before the door was shut in my face.
A roarous laughter broke out from inside as what I could best guess to be Akiza balling over herself as she was able to put together just what had happened, "it was him! It was him! I told you! Now go and give him kissy faces already!!" She roared.
"Shut up!" Was Shelly's retort.
"Maybe he'll want a threewa…," Akiza began but was cut off quickly by Shelly.
"NO! NO! NO! You are drunk and I am not gonna entertain that idea!" Shelly screamed.
"He can hear us!" Akiza prodded.
"SHUT UP!!" I heard Shelly scream, then I heard a metal clang as what could best be described as a weird cyclable making a gong sound and something falling over.
The door opened up and Shelly stepped through quickly then shut it behind her before I could get a look inside.
"Is anything wrong?" I asked skeptically.
"Nothin'! Let's go!" She said and pulled me away from the tent quickly.
Looking back, "is Akiza not going to be joining us? She normally likes to tease us, well me really," I asked.
"Nope. She's too tired an' drunk to bother us this time. Let's go this way!" She was practically dragging me along at this point.
I decided it was best to just follow her at this point since she seemed to have no intention of slowing down. She led me a long way from the tent and then kept going. I was trying to discern exactly where she was leading us when I saw the Oceanica up ahead.
"Shells, why are we going to the Oceanica?" I asked, hoping she'd give a reason.
"We're not. Maybe. I don't think…," she sounded uncertain, which is uncharacteristic of her.
She headed straight for the doors at the bottom of the ship, "kind of seems like that's where we're going to me, Shells," I remarked.
"Shut up an' com'on," she demanded.
Once inside, we got on the elevator and headed for the top floor of the ship. When we got there, she pulled rank on the officer in charge and cleared the deck of all personnel and civilians. I tried to ask her 'why she was doing this,' but she wouldn't tell me. Once everybody was in an elevator, doors closed, and leaving, she went completely rigid.
"Shell…," was all I got out before she snapped around and glared at me for silence.
"We're gonna hav'a conversation, right here, right now!" She demanded as she began taking quick steps away from me.
"Uh, okay. What would you like to…?" Again she cut me off as I was just taking steps to follow her.
"NO! Like this!" She screamed, heel-turned to face me, then raised her arm and activated her duel disk, "we're gonna duel."
"Wait, what!? Shell, what's that gotten into…?" I began to ask, but she wasn't having any of it.
"I said, DUEL ME!" She yelled as she pulled her opening hand out and commenced to draw her first card.
"I draw!" She began, "I activate my Polymerization, fusin' my Amazoness Queen and another Amazoness monster to form my Amazoness Empress in attack mode!"
A pool of swirling colors formed behind Shelly, then the two Amazoness monsters formed into flares and shot down into the vortex, a huge flash shot out and formed a monster with tan skin, white hair, green loincloth, purplish-red cape, a giant sword, spiked wrist bracers, and demon skull for a headdress.
"Empress protects all other Amazoness monsters on my field from battle and card effects, also she allows 'em to deal piercin' damage! Next, I'll summon Amazoness Trainee in attack mode!"
A young tan-skinned, dark-haired, monster wearing blue animal skins, wrist bracers, and carrying a chained kunai emerged on the field.
"Finally, I'll set one card facedown and end my turn!" She finished.
A card back appeared on her field.
I looked at her technique and was awed, "nice going there Shelly, but you do realize you'll have to do much more than that to faze me. I Draw!" I began, "I set one monster in defense mode, and set three cards facedown. That ends my turn." I finished.
Four card backs appeared on my field, one in the monster zone, and three in the spell/trap zone.
"What? That's it? That's all y'er going to do to counter me?!" She looked incredulous at what little I had done. "Take this Seriously!!" She demanded, "I draw! Battle! Trainee attack his facedown monster!" She commanded.
The young monster leaped at the facedown monster, slamming into a mechanical turtle shell.
"Your Trainee needs more practice. She just slammed into my Electromagnetic Turtle who has 1800 defense points!" I told her.
Dealing -300 in damages, leaving Shelly with 7700lp.
"Grrr! Fine! Empress, finish off his Turtle, attack!" She commanded, "and don't forget that she can deliver piercing damage!"
The monster lunged forward and sank its large sword deep into the turtle, destroying it. Dealing -1000 in damages, leaving Ka'an with 7000lp.
"Grah! Okay, that stung but you know it's not enough." I stated.
"Oh, I know, and I'm nowhere near done teaching ya' a lesson here, for now, I set one card facedown, and end my turn." She finished.
A card appears face down on her field.
"Okay, I draw! I activate Card Advance, allowing me to look over the top five cards of my deck, then rearrange them in any order I want," I declared. 'Now let's see what I got coming,' I said to myself, 'I see, then this is the best option I have.' "I end my turn here." I finished.
"What!? Again y'er doing nothing!? Are ya' mocking me Ka'an!?" She asked incredulously.
"Just make your move. You know I'm not one to end duels quickly," I answered.
"Fine! I draw! I summon Amazoness Chain Master in attack mode!"
A similar tan-skinned monster, older, more mature, appeared on her field. She was wearing the same cloth and dark hair as the younger, but her weapon was larger, longer.
"Now battle! Chain Master attack him directly!"
As her monster lunged forward it slammed onto a shield that formed around my field.
"What?" Shelly exclaimed.
"Really? You should already know what's happened, I banished my Electromagnetic Turtle from my gy, to end the battle phase of the turn, effectively protecting my life points." I stated.
"Son-of-a-bitch! Fine! I end my turn!" She finished.
"My move then, I draw!" I began, "I'll set two cards facedown, and end my turn." I finished.
Two card backs formed on my field.
With the look on her face, I'm glad she didn't have laser eyes to melt me where I stood. "Grrrrr! Ka'aaan! Duel me seriously! I'm not joking around here! I want ya' to really come at me with everything ya' got!" She demanded.
"And I told you, I won't end a duel quickly." I retorted. Come on deck, don't let me down.
"I Draw! If ya won't take me seriously, then I'm endin' this here and now! I sacrifice all three of my Amazoness monsters to summon a monster y've never seen before!" She said.
"Never seen, what do you mean?" I asked.
"Y'er not the only one that Dark Magician Girl thought could hold a god card!" She sneered.
"Wait, what!?"
"I summon my Winged Dragon of Ra!"
The world stood still. The sky went dark with thick clouds. Then a light shone through the clouds, but it began to grow in brightness and intensity. A golden sphere of light drifted down from the clouds, the source of the light. It began to transform and open up, revealing golden limbs and two bright red-lit eyes. When it fully extracted itself from its prior form, wings spread wide, it leaned its head back towards the heavens, then brought down a screaming roar onto the field.
Holy shit that beast was huge! It nearly dwarfed my Obelisk. So this is what it was like to be on the receiving end of one of these.
"Ra absorbs the essence of my monsters but also absorbs nearly all of my life points, leavin' me with only 100lp remainin'. Now his attack strength is all the way up to 7600 points!" She explained.
"If that thing hits, I'm a goner!" I exclaimed.
"Damn straight! Now battle! This is the end of your winning streak Ka'an! Ra, attack him directly and decimate his life points with your mighty Blaze Cannon!" She commanded.
The god card built up a huge amount of energy in its maw, aiming it right at me.
I just smirked. Her eyes had been wild with anger and righteous fury a second before, but when she saw that I wasn't worried, they fell into panic.
"Wha…?" That was all she got out before I revealed my strategy.
"Now you're gonna get it. I activate my trap, Storming Mirror Force! Now every monster you have in attack mode on your field is returned to your hand!" I instructed.
Ras' attack lanced out in my direction, but stopped short as all the energy was absorbed into a mirrored image of the beast. Then it was returned to her field and engulfed her monster, making it retreat to her hand.
"Wha…no…I thought…" she stammered looking at the card in her hand.
"You thought what? I'd gone soft? I was going easy on you? That I was holding back because we were once an item? Then you don't know me at all!" I declared. "I played everything I have, every time I duel! I give every duel 100% of my attention! And if you weren't so hellbent on getting me to act so serious, maybe you would have realized that I had nearly played out my entire hand!"
Her eyes fell on the single card I was holding, realization dawning on her too late.
"I…I…end my turn." She finished quietly.
"Now that all of that headache is out of the way, I draw." I began, "I'll set one monster in defense mode and end my turn." I finished.
Another card back formed on my field.
"I draw." She began but something wasn't right. "I end my turn," she finished without even looking at her card.
"Now who's not giving their all or taking this seriously? I draw." I taunted, "I flip faceup my facedown monster, Capshell. Now I can tribute it to summon my Pyrotech Mech - Shiryu in attack mode!"
A Round monster-like ball, half orange and half clear, filled with glittery essence, and horns on its head, formed from the card. Then it left the field in a flash and pop as a new monster, formed in its place. It was purple, had large wings, tails, and an extended neck, with purple flames coming out of every surface, formed onto the field.
"My Capshells' effect activates, whenever it is tributed or used as material for a special summons, I'm allowed to draw a new card," I instructed. "Now to end this! Battle! Shiryu attack her life points directly and end this duel!!" I commanded.
My monster flared up its fire and flames, sending it to crash down onto her life points, dealing -2900 in damages, leaving Shelly with 0lp
She didn't even flinch as the flames raced over her, searing away the last of her life points.
As I reached to reset my duel disk, she suddenly spoke up. "Ka'an…?"
"Shelly?" She didn't look at me, just staring at the ground.
"What…am I to ya'?" She asked, almost whispering.
"What do you mean?" I questioned.
She clenched her fist, "what…do…I…mean…to…you!?" She spoke a bit more forcefully and clearly.
Her question took me by surprise, "uh, well, I..don't know," I dropped my hand from my disk and looked her right in the eye, "ever since the incident with the Fiends, I've just thought we were finished. You didn't seem to want to be near me anymore. So when the General told me to take a break, I almost didn't want to, but then I thought it would be best if we just got some distance.'' I explained.
Shelly just stood there with a look of surprise on her face, I wasn't even sure she was breathing for a few moments until she took what I can only assume to be an involuntary inhale.
"A…break? Ya' thought we needed a break?" She gasped out angrily.
"Well, you didn't really give me much of a reason to stay. You told me to 'stay away from you,' and you were angry with me over what happened to Akiza," I answered hurriedly.
The look she gave me, if it could kill…, "so ya' just went and found ye'rself some floozie and what? Make ye'rself some little monster babes with that…," she began to ramble when I interrupted her.
"Wait, what!? What do you mean by 'floozie'? What babies? What are you talking about?" I asked incredulously, "Moonie is just a friend, well, servant if you go by what she says.
"Just shut up! I know she has feelin's for ya' and I know she wants to have ye'r babies!" She screamed.
I could only just look at her, shock very evident on my face. Moonie and me? Babies? No! "No, just…no. That's not…we're not…we haven't…I didn't…what!?" I stammered.
"She confessed it to Dark Magician Girl and me, right in the middle of the throne room, she is in love with ya'!" She explained.
"What!?" My mind was reeling now, she left, and then the beasts came, then I woke in a cave. "You mean to tell me, the day she left the campsite, then came back with you, was the day she went to tell Dark Magician Girl that she was in love…with me?" I asked, dumbfounded. Gesturing along with each set of words at herself, myself, and to no one in particular.
"Yes! And then she led me to ya the next day and we found the campsite torn to bits." She explained.
I was listening to her words but I wasn't sure how to take the news of these revelations. Moonie…loved me? "I don't understand. Why would she say that? Believing that I was romantically interested in her?" I asked no one in particular.