Aella stood by in miserable defeat as Sky Striker Ace Raye disintegrated right before her eyes. In that moment, her lifepoints dropped to 0. Behind her stood a group of children including her little brother, Parker, and his friend. They all held a look of pure despair as Aella's opponent started to gloat.
"Hey, what was that you were saying earlier? That I would feel the 'arm of justice' or some shit?" he was a somewhat portly teenage with short black hair, a denim jacket underneath a white shirt and black shorts. Slung on his shoulder was a leather knap sack, "Okay, now you hold up your end of the deal. Gimme the deck. Chop chop!"
Aella wretched as she pulled her cards out of her duel disk. Her face was in a constant state of disgust as she presented her deck to her opponent, who swiped it from her hand rather roughly.
"This deck is hardly any better than the trash those five year olds use," he remarked as he took a deck case out of his bag and stored Aella's cards in it.
"Aella!" called a female voice. The teenager turned to see Ashley and Chuck rushing onto the scene.
"Ashley! Chuck!" Aella called back. Before she could say more, her opponent forcefully shoved her away with his free arm. Aella yelped in surprise as she stumbled forward. She might have collapsed onto the floor, had Ashley not been in time to catch her.
"Aella!" Ashley cried out in concern before taking notice of the children, especially Parker's friend, "Juan? What are you and Parker doing here? And who's that guy?"
"That's Max," the boy named Juan answered, "He's the guy whose been taking everyone's decks. Aella challenged him to a duel. If she won, we'd all get our cards back. If she lost, she would give up her deck."
"You ante-ed your deck?" Ashley asked the other teenage girl.
"I did," Aella admitted as she got her footing back.
Max suddenly spoke up, "She was going on and on about 'beating me for justice' or some shit. Hella toxic if you ask me. She was just butthurt I put her dumbass kid brother in his place. She even went ahead and got all the kids I crushed to come and watch. I made short work of this dumb bitch if you couldn't tell already," Max stuffed the case containing Aella's cards into his bag, "Real irresponsible of you to bring up all these kid's hopes up for nothing, by the way."
Aella could only cry tears of shame as Max spoke. His words stung deeper than any physical blow, "Everyone, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough," she was, of course, speaking to the children, who were all spilling tears of their own.
Only one word could describe Ashley at this juncture, outraged, "How dare you!" she screamed at Max, "How dare you treat these kids like this! You should be ashamed of yourself!"
"Don't be like that, sweet cheeks," Max snidely remarked with flirtatious eyes, "Say, wanna come over to my place for some alone time?"
Ashley's face twisted in pure disgust, not having expected such a response from him, "No chance in Hell, you creep!"
"Hey, your loss," Max shrugged, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find a buyer for all these goods," he turned his back at everyone to make his leave.
"Hold it!"
That commanding voice and tone immediately drew everyone's attention towards Chuck, whose face carried an undeniable sense of purpose and determination.
"What do you want, bedhead?" Max questioned sarcastically.
"Max! I'm your next opponent!" Chuck declared. Both girls gasped in shock.
"Excuse me? Didn't you hear a single thing those losers said? I'm untouchable. And who said you can decide my next victim? Who even are you?"
"My name is Charles Ikari! A professional duelist!"
Max reeled back in shock when he learned this dumb looking kid's name, "Hold up. You're that Charles Ikari?"
"That's right, and I challenge you to a duel!" Ashley looked at Chuck's expression and posture. They were similar to the time he dueled Professor Spencer. Back then, he looked and acted fearless. It was the same now, "I can't let this go. You go and steal the heart and soul of a duelist and then try to sell it like some cheap toy."
"What's your point exactly?" Max sneered, "They're trash and I'm not. Why shouldn't I take what belongs to me? It's called natural selection."
"If that's true then prove it to me! Do you accept my challenge?"
Max smirked, "Fine then. Maybe you'll actually give me a challenge. The bet is the same as with the chick. If you win, I'll give these five year olds theirs decks back. When I win, your deck will belong to me," how perfect was this? Once Max crushed this idiot, he could sell his deck for a fortune.
"Chuck, what are you doing?!" Aella questioned as the pro duelist walked towards his opponent, "This isn't like Professor Spencer. This guy plays for—"
Chuck immediately interrupted her, "Aella, don't try to talk me out of it. I already made up my mind," Chuck then reached for Aella's duel disk and slipped it off her arm, "Sorry, I need to borrow this," Aella could only look on in defeat as Chuck fastened the duel disk in place.
Ashley put a hand over her mouth in worry. Was Chuck really in the best mental state to be dueling? Especially with such high stakes?
Max held up a gold coin depicting the head of a Blue Eyes White Dragon, "We'll use this coin to determine who goes first. If it's heads, I go first."
Don't I get a say in this? Chuck thought as Max initiated the flip. He caught the coin and slapped it onto his left arm. When he pulled his hand back, the result revealed itself.
"Would you look at that, Heads," Max gloated, "I go first."
"Very well," Chuck agreed, inserting his deck into the borrowed duel disk. Both duelist's auto shuffle activated as their duel disks sprung to life.
"Let's duel!"
Both players drew their opening hands as Max started the duel, "I'll start by activating the effect of Machina Fortress from my hand. I can special summon this by discarding eight levels worth of monsters. So once I send this dumb Metalcruncher to the graveyard I can put Machina Fortess on the field," after sending the level nine Machina Metalcruncher to the graveyard, he summoned Machina Fortress (Lv. 7, EARTH, Machine, Atk. 2500, Def. 1600), a tank-like monster with a head and arms. On it's side was a loaded and operational rail cannon.
"An earth machine deck," Chuck said. This could be tricky.
"I'll also normal summon Infinitrack Harvester to the field," a massive orange harvesting machine with tank treads bearing the infinity symbol materialized on the field, Infinitrack Harvester (Lv. 2, EARTH, Machine, Atk. 0, Def. 2100), "Now I activate Harvester's effect, increasing it and Machina Fortress's level by the sum total of both their levels," a golden glow enveloped both of Max's monsters, raising them both to level nine.
Despite the fact that Max was setting up a very substantial board, there was something else worrying Chuck at the moment, Why didn't Max use Harvester's effect to add another Infinitrack monster to his hand? Does he not have any other Infinitrack monsters in his deck?
"Now, I overlay level nine Machina Fortress and Infinitrack Harvester," a black vortex appeared underneath both monsters as they converted into golden wisps of energy, "With these monsters I build the overlay network!" The golden wisps entered the vortex as a shape started to emerge, "The bell of armageddon tolls. Let all who gaze upon you tremble in fear. Xyz summon! Rise, True King of All Calamities!" Chuck could only steel himself as the monstrous form of True King of All Calamities (Rank. 9, DARK, Wyrm, Xyz, Atk. 3000, Def. 3000) appeared and elicited it's terrifying roar.
Xyz summoning was a method of extra deck summoning that required two, more, or less monsters of the same level to be present on the field. Unlike other summoning methods, materials for Xyz summons didn't immediately go the graveyard. They instead were overlayed underneath the Xyz monster itself, serving as it's Xyz material, or overlay units as some call them. Xyz monsters typically activate their effects by sending their materials to the graveyard. True King of All Calamities had two wisps orbiting itself, indicating that it had two Xyz material ready for use.
"Feel like giving up yet?" Max taunted, "This monster has the ability to change the attribute of all monsters on the field to whatever I want. Then any monster you control won't be able to activate their effects."
"Every monster has its weakness," Chuck declared, "I've defeated this monster before and I can do it again."
"Yeah whatever, kid," Max blew off before setting the rest of his hand, "Now I'll set two cards and end my turn."
"My turn. I draw!" Chuck drew his card and smirked when he saw it, "I activate the spell, Raikegi. With this, I can destroy all monsters you control," a massive orange lightning bolt rained down from the sky, threatening to strike True King of All Calamities.
"Hold up!" Max shouted, "I activate my trap, Imperial Order!"
"Imperial Order?!" Chuck repeated in fear as ethereal swords raised up towards the sky.
"With this continuous trap, all spell cards are useless," Max explained. Rageki canceled out, removing the lightning bolt from the field. Chuck gritted his teeth, disappointed that his top deck amounted to nothing.
No wonder he was able to get the better of Aella, Chuck elaborated, The Sky Striker deck relies on spell cards. With Imperial Order on the field, my options are more limited, but that means so are his.
"You're not living up to your reputation," Max taunted, "Maybe the great rookie, Charles Ikari is nothing more than a pathetic wannabe. I mean if you can't get past something like this, then you shouldn't even bother dueling."
"I know about Imperial Order, Max," Chuck responded. Imperial Order was a very popular pick in the pro circuit, so Chuck knew all of it's ins and outs, "I also know there's a price to pay for controlling such a powerful card. During each standby phase, you're required to pay 700 lifepoints until you can't anymore."
"Not that it's gonna matter anyway, you cringy wannabe. You can't do a single thing against my skills."
Chuck only tightened his gaze as he pulled two cards from his hand, "I set one card and this monster face down in defense. That'll do for now."
"What a loser, having to play defensive," Max mocked as he drew his card. As the standby phase comenced, Imperial Order drained Max's lifepoints to 7300, "I'll set one card and have True King of All Calamities attack that face down monster of yours. Go! Calamitous Breath!" True King of All Calamities reared back and unleashed a torrent of dark energy towards Chuck's face down monster. It was revealed to be a living jet turbine with arms and legs, Jet Synchron (Lv. 1, FIRE, Machine/Tuner, Atk. 500, Def. 0).
With the attack closing in, Chuck made his move, "Reveal trap card! Mirror Force!" a protective mirror coating reflected in front of Jet Synchron, "With this, True King of All Calamities is destroyed."
"Counter trap!" Max smirked, revealing his other set card, "Go, Solemn Judgment!" Chuck felt his face go pale as an imposing bearded figure rose and held his hand out, shattering Mirror Force, "Solemn Judgment lets me prevent you from playing any card in exchange for half my lifepoints," Solemn Judgment dropped Max's lifepoints down to 3650. Now nothing could stop True Kind of All Calamities' attack. Under such an oppressive force, Jet Synchron disintegrated on the spot, "I end my turn. Say, I'll give you a chance to give up now. Might save you from further embarrassment," Max offered.
"My turn," Chuck declared in defiance, drawing his card, Called by the Grave. This card won't help me, especially with Imperial Order out on the field, since it was the start of a new turn, Max had to pay Imperial Order's 700 point toll, leaving him with 2950 left. Max is throwing away alot of lifepoints to implement his strategy, maybe I can use that to my advantage. But for now, I need to protect my lifepoints, "I'll set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."
"Wow, imagine being so bad at the game all you can do is play defense," Max taunted, "Be a man and play your monster in attack mode, trash!"
Chuck only hardened his gaze as Max continued to goad, "It's your move, and with it comes the payment of Imperial Order, costing you 700 more lifepoints," Max's lifepoints dropped to 2250 by the effect of his trap.
"Whatever, trash. I draw," Max drew and then immediately played his card, "I summon Giant Rex," appearing next to True King of All Calamities was a red dinosaur with a green back fin and a red and green stripe tail, Giant Rex (Lv. 4, EARTH, Dinosaur, ATK. 2000, Def. 1200). Chuck stared at Giant Rex with a look of confusion on his face.
He didn't even look at that card and he knew he could play it, there was another thing troubling Chuck at the moment: the composition of Max's deck, Infinitracks, floodgates, and now dinosaur cards, Every duelist knows a strong deck requires cards that compliment each other, but Max has a hodgepodge deck.
"I'll attack that weak facedown monster with Giant Rex," the red dinosaur stomped forward and bared its jaws at Chuck's facedown card. Giant Rex bit down on a crow with a comically large head and a scythe blade on each of its feet, Caligo Claw Crow (Lv. 2, DARK, Winged Beast, ATK. 900, Def. 600). The dinosaur monster chomped it's jaws, swallowing the bird monster whole. Giant Rex then belched out a tuft of black feathers, "Now I attack with True King of All Calamities. Calamitous Breath!" True King of All Calamities released a torrent of dark energy towards Chuck, dropping his lifepoints to 5000.
He has an insurmountable lead right now, Chuck took a look at his current hand; nothing could help him in this situation.
Max continued to taunt, "Make it easier on yourself and give up already, loser. Like you're literally garbage. I don't know why you're wasting my time like this. These cards are mine, I earned them fair and square. All these dumb kids had to beg their mommies to buy them their cards. This is just my way of righting the wrongs of the world."
Chuck gritted his teeth at Max's words, Is this the course my life will take if I keep dueling? Am I doomed to battle people like this for the rest of my life? He lowered his head as that same thought kept repeating itself, What's even the point for me to duel?
Under this tense situation, Ashley turned over to the other teenage girl in the vicinity, "Aella, you just dueled this guy. Isn't there any way Chuck can win?"
The girl in the aviator jacket looked at her friend sadly before turning away with a sigh, "I hate to say it, but I think it's impossible. He did the exact same thing against me," Aella lamented, "Max is ruthless when it comes to dueling. I just fell apart."
Chuck widened his eyes before addressing Aella, "Hold on, the exact same thing?" he asked, "Using the Infinitracks to get True King of All Calamities, using Solemn Judgment and Imperial order?" Aella nodded, "And you kids, did Max use this strategy against you?"
"He used the same cards in every duel we played against him," Parker revealed, "He used Giant Rex to destroy any monster we put in defense so he can hit us with his big Xyz monster."
The exact same cards? Chuck thought over to the events of the duel so far: why Max didn't use Infinitrack Harvester's secondary effect, how he knew he would draw Giant Rex. Suddenly, the teen duelist smirked as he addressed Max, "I figured you out."
"What are you talking about, loser?" Max asked impatiently.
"There's a reason why official Duel Monsters tournaments require participants to have their duel disks examined," Chuck elaborated. Everyone was visibly confused, wondering what he was getting at, "It's to check for any third part software that's been implanted, specifically in the auto shuffle feature."
"The auto-shuffle?" Aella repeated. It was subtle, but Max was beginning to sweat when Chuck brought up the auto shuffle feature.
Chuck continued, "When auto shuffle was invented, it wasn't long until certain unsavory duelists found a way to take advantage of it. Hacks were made to make the auto shuffle stack a duelist's deck a certain way, granting an unfair advantage," Chuck's been accused of hacking the auto shuffle on his duel disk numerous times before, mostly by pro duelists he's beat, "Getting the exact cards you need in hand is never an easy task. So how is it you're able to receive a perfect setup like this every time?"
"Because I have way more skill than you," Max replied, "Like, are you even going somewhere with this, you weirdo?"
"Skill didn't have anything to do with it. My first clue was when you didn't use Infinitrack Harvester's effect to search out another Infinitrack monster. That leads me to believe Harvester is the only Infinitrack monster in your deck. My second clue was when you summoned Giant Rex without looking. That shouldn't be the case, unless you knew you were going to draw it," Chuck pointed an accusatory finger at Max, "You hacked your auto-shuffle, didn't you?"
Max widened his eyes at that remark, a trickle of sweat beading down his head. That reaction told everyone everything they needed to know.
"You grimy cheat!" Aella spouted in outrage, a spark of anger igniting inside her at this new-found information, "How dare you cheat to steal the decks of children!"
"You tricked us!" Juan yelled, shaking his fists. The rest of the children were just as upset, throwing insults Max's way.
Despite this, Max went on the defensive, "Bro, you are actual scum. You start losing and you accuse me of cheating. You can't prove shit! Did it ever occur to you five-year olds that I'm just luckier than you? Not one of you can measure up to me. Hey, what about the coin toss? Ever think about that? I couldn't do half of this shit if I went second."
Chuck didn't hesitate for a minute to give his response, "Tell me, how many times did your coin come up Tails?" Max's hesitation to answer gave Chuck all the confirmation he needed, "I thought it weird you didn't let me chose which side I wanted, but now I know. That coin is double headed, isn't it?"
"Shut up!" Max deflected in rage, "I'm about to prove to you that I can trounce pro duelists without even breaking a sweat. You're literally all trash compared to me. Watch, I'm about to make this dude cry to his mommy for bullying a great duelist like me!"
"Cheaters don't get to run their mouth!" Aella screamed, on the verge of popping a blood vessel. She might have resorted to physical violence, had Chuck not raised his hand in a signal for her to calm down.
"Max, you call yourself a duelist," Chuck paused for a brief moment as he gathered himself.
Max took the opportunity to snakily remark, "Yeah, I am a duelist, and you're just a—"
"No you aren't!" Chuck shouted, shocking everyone present. He normally was so composed, but something primal seemed to awaken within him, "You use this game to bully others into submission, and then you take their belongings," Parker looked at the floor in sadness as Chuck said that, "The idea of having the same setup implemented in every duel you play without search power is suspicious enough, but I know you're a cheater simply because I've seen who you are."
"Oh yeah, and who am I, exactly?"
"You're an entitled coward who enjoys crushing the dreams of those around you," Chuck answered, his voice dripping with venom, "Going out of his way to belittle and bully anyone you think is beneath you, mainly little kids. If you were really a duelist, you would have the confidence to play this game fairly," he then clenched his right hand into a fist, "I swear, on my family's dueling honor, I will defeat you!"
"Stop with your shit already," Max shook his head, "Do you see what I'm doing to you right now? What do you have that can beat me?"
"I'll tell you what I have," Chuck responded, "I have an unwavering belief in my cards. You might have the advantage now, but my deck will pull through for me," I doubt you have that same faith in your cards.
"Dude, do you even hear yourself? You sound so cringe right now. You think your trash deck is going to beat me?"
"My deck is not trash, and it will beat you," Chuck looked down at his deck, feeling a renewed sense of purpose, I can't afford to lose now. I won't allow him to disgrace the game any further, "My turn, I draw!" Before drawing his card, Chuck closed his eyes, silently praying for his deck to grant him the means to turn the tide in his favor. Chuck drew and opened his eyes, This card… Thank you, "With my standby phase comes the effect of Imperial Order, costing you 700 more lifepoints," Max's lifepoints dropped again, leaving him with only 1550, "I'll set one card facedown, and this monster in defense mode," both cards Chuck set were in the same column as Max's set card.
Ashley suddenly spoke up, "Look at him, he's so determined. Even when he's backed against a wall, he still carries on like nothing's wrong."
"If Chuck doesn't do something on his next turn, he loses," Aella commented. Everything rided on the next few turns. Whether or not the children would get their cards back, or if Chuck would have to give up his own deck.
"My turn," Max said, drawing his card. The standby phase occurred and Max dropped to 850 lifepoints, "Giant Rex attacks your face down card," Giant Rex stomped forward and destroyed another of Chuck's monsters, this one being a small orange robot with hooks for hands and a working crane on it's back, Synchron Carrier (Lv. 2, EARTH, Machine, Atk. 0, Def. 1000), "Now I attack with True King of all Calamities. Calamitous Breath!" A surge of dark energy struck Chuck once more, threatening to knock him over; however, he stood his ground. His lifepoints fell to 2000, "All I need is one more turn and you're finished. I'll be the guy who forced Charles 'Trash' Ikari into an early retirement."
"My turn," Chuck announced, closing his eyes as he placed his hand on his deck. A tense silence filled the air as Chuck seemed to hesitate drawing his card, This is my final draw. I bet everything on this card, finally, Chuck pulled his card in a wide arc. He pulled the card to him and opened his eyes. The entire mood of the scene shifted when Chuck gave a small smirk, Fortune smiles upon me.
"Quit smiling and spit it out!" Max impatiently demanded.
Chuck placed his card in hand as his standby phase occurred, "Imperial Order shaves away more of your lifepoints," Max dropped to a mere 150 lifepoints left, meaning that this would be the final turn Imperial Order would be in play, "I activate my trap card, Infinite Impermanence!" as Chuck's card flipped up, True King of All Calamities roared in anguish as it's color drained. Moreover, a blue glow briefly washed over Max's set card, "Infinite Impermanence allows me to target a monster you control and negate it's effects for the remainder of the turn."
"He has an opening!" Aella declared, feeling a spark of hope in her heart for the first time in this duel. Despite True King of All Calamities having his effects negated, Max didn't appear worried.
"I'm ending this now! I summon Junk Synchron," appearing on the field was Chuck's drawn card, Junk Synchron (Lv. 3, DARK, Warrior, Tuner, Atk. 1300, Def. 500), "When Junk Synchron is normal summoned, I can special summon a level two or below monster from my graveyard."
"Nice try, loser," Max snorted, "I activate my trap, Trap Hole! This destroys any monster with over 1000 attack points you decide to summon," a collective gasp emanated throughout the spectators as a massive pit appeared underneath Junk Synchron; however, to everyone's confusion, Chuck's monster didn't fall in. It should have been destroyed, why wasn't it? "Something's wrong with your duel disk. Your monster should be dead."
"My duel disk is perfectly fine," Chuck explained, "It's just the secondary effect of my trap."
"Secondary effect?"
"There's a reason why I set my trap in the same column as yours. Infinite Impermanence is a trap that can be activated from the hand, but there's a benefit for setting it beforehand. Activating a set Infinite Impermanence negates the effects of any spell or trap in the same column. I was sure your set card was something nasty, so I waited to activate my trap."
"What?!" Max yelled, "That is so cheap!"
"He thought that far ahead?" Ashley asked to no one in particular.
"Now that that's settled, Junk Synchron's effect resurrects Synchron Carrier in defense mode," Synchron Carrier returned to the field as Chuck continued his play, "Level three Junk Synchron tunes level two Synchron Carrier," Junk Synchron evaporated into three green rings for Synchron Carrier to enter and dissipate into two stars, "The stage is set. Now with your power, we will vanquish evil! Now, Synchro Summon! Come forth! Junk Speeder!" through a massive pillar of light, Junk Speeder (Lv. 5, WIND, Warrior/Synchro, Atk. 1800, Def. 1000), danced onto the field, "Now I activate Junk Speeder's effect. I can special summon as many different level Synchron tuner monsters as is possible from my deck," Junk Speeder glowed bright as it attempted to call up it's reinforcements.
"That might work!" Parker exclaimed excitedly. He remembered how powerful Junk Speeder could be.
"He's going to win!" Ashley chimed in.
"Don't think so!" Max said with a toothy grin, "I play the effect of Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring from my hand. If you try to summon a monster from your deck, I can discard this card and negate that effect!" after Max discarded his last card, an after image of a small brunette child with cat ears and a bushy tail wearing a white dress appeared, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, (Lv. 3, FIRE, Zombie/Tuner, Atk. 0, Def. 1800). Ash playfully stuck her tongue at Junk Speeder before he was enveloped in a gray glow. Ash giggled and disappeared, leaving Junk Speeder alone on Chuck's field.
The air became arid as all the spectators felt their blood run cold. Chuck was left with a monster that couldn't attack over either of Max's, and he still couldn't activate any spell cards. He was trapped.
"No…" Aella said in despair, "He's lost… Junk Speeder's effect was his only chance."
As the reality of the situation started to set in, all the kids began crying. Their wails went out to the cards that they would never see again.
Max began laughing like an unhinged hyena, "Yeah, that's right, cry like the five-year olds you all are. You're all trash compared to me. Even a supposed professional can't lay a finger on me. I don't play in the pro circuit because I know it won't be a challenge. Like literally garbage, dude. You're literally garbage."
As Max continued his grandstanding, Aella clenched her fists as angry tears streamed down her face, "I can't believe it. I can't believe he's gonna get away with it. He cheats to swindle kids out of their cards, and he doesn't get punished? Then what's even the point of justice?! No one can stop him, not even a pro duelist like Charles Ikari."
Aella was brought out of her stupor when Ashley spoke up, "I don't know. If that were true, then why is he smiling?" it was true, despite his monster being weaker than Max's, Chuck still had a slight smile on his face.
"Bro, what are you so glad about?" Max asked, "You're actually a delusional weirdo."
"Max, you lost," everyone widened their eyes as Chuck made that declaration, "I've won this duel."
Max was more than a little shocked, "What are you talking about? You can't synchro any powerful monsters. You're delusional."
"True, you may have used Ash Blossom to negate Junk Speeder's searching effect, but I was counting on it," the declaration of such a thing made in everyone gasp in some way, "I figured your stacked deck would grant you a powerful card like Ash Blossom."
Aella pointed out, "Wait, if Chuck knew Max would use Ash, then why did he even summon Junk Speeder at all?"
"Junk Speeder has a secondary effect not many people know about," Chuck explained, "On the turn he's Synchro summoned, Junk Speeder can double his attack points during the damage step."
"Double?!" Juan repeated.
"1800 doubled is 3600, and True King of all Calamities has 3000 attack points," Parker added.
"And Max only has 150 lifepoints left!" Aella finished. Upon that revelation, the entire mood of the scene flipped immediately. Now it was Max's turn to be afraid.
"Dude, you're so cringe," he threw out in a panic, "You can't beat me normally so you resort to cheating with some made up effect!"
"You hypocrite!" Aella called out, "You've been cheating from the very start!"
"You don't have any proof," Max retorted with fear in his eyes, "You guys are just bullying me because I'm better than you!"
"Believe what you will," Chuck said as his expression became more serious, "But I always play to win, and I do it fairly. Feel the wrath of all those you preyed upon! Junk Speeder, attack True King of All Calamities with Sonic Dance!"
Junk Speeder took a starting stance. In an instant, he blitzed forward at full speed. True King of all Calamities fired it's breath in a vain attempt to stop Junk Speeder, but it acrobatically dodged the attack. As Chuck stated earlier, Junk Speeder's attack points doubled during the damage step, granting him Atk. 3600. Chuck's monster flipped into the air and delivered a sweeping axe kick against True King of all Calamities. Suddenly, the Warrior monster landed behind the Wyrm monster. True King of All Calamities wailed in agony before disintegrating in a terrific explosion. The shockwave was enough to send Max flying onto his back as his lifepoints fell to 0.
Once the dust settled, Chuck spoke, "Good Game."
"He won!" Ashley cried, clasping her hands together in relief.
"He did it! He beat him!" Juan cheered, as did the rest of the children.
Aella looked over at the victor, Chuck really is amazing, she considered, Even when he was backed against a wall, even when his opponent cheated, he stood his ground and won. Just like a real hero of justice. Like a true duelist.
"Max, I won," Chuck declared, "Now return everyone's cards."
"You fucking kidding me?!" Max hollered, "You think that was a legit win?! Theres no way that could have been fair! You can't expect me to hand over all my stuff after you cheated me like that with some bullshit effect you just made up?!"
Chuck scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Figures. You won't hold up your end of the deal."
"Hey, you feel proud of yourself?!" Max spouted as he picked himself up, "It's all true, pro duelists are nothing more than a bunch of bullies. Do your parents even know what you're doing right now? Why don't you get a real job, you braindead retard!"
Chuck sarcastically remarked, "Say, why don't you tell me you slept with my mom while you're at it? That's always a good one."
"Oh yeah, totally," Max took the bait with a deranged smile, "She was begging me to stop!"
"You're despicable!" Ashley spouted, appalled he would say something like that, "Face defeat with dignity!"
"Just return all the cards already!" Aella said impatiently.
"I don't have to do a damn thing you say!" Max roared defiantly, "I've got connections in the mafia. If you don't back off right now, I'll have them murder you and your family in your sleep! You won't see it coming!" that threat was enough to send a shiver down everyone's spine. Did Max really have that kind of influence? He sounded so serious when he made that threat.
Aella looked at Max with pure disgust. Of course this guy had criminal connections. How cowardly of him to use them to weasel his way out of honoring his word.
"You're lying," Chuck plainly stated with his arms crossed. Everyone went slack-jawed as a result.
Aella spoke up, "He's lying?"
"Yeah."
"Wait, how could you possibly tell that was a lie?"
"I just can," everyone aside from Max collapsed onto the floor in complete disbelief.
"Bro, you have no clue what you're doing! I can get a hit on you in about one hour!" Max threatened, a bead of sweat trickling down his face.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Chuck replied sarcastically, "I know a bluff when I hear one, Max. You're not involved with the mafia at all."
"Bro, I'm serious. You don't wanna fuck with me. I'm dangerous! I know people!"
"So you're hiding behind other people, is that it? I knew it. You really are a coward."
Max grew more desperate, seeing that Chuck wasn't immediately folding like he expected him to, "No, seriously, you have no idea what I can do to you."
"What you could do to me?" Chuck repeated in a low voice, "Do you have any idea what I deal with as a pro duelist? Carried, Lucky Bitch, Fake Nice Guy, Cringe, Boy Scout, I've been called all of that. The social media profiles my manager set up were full of hate messages and death threats. I've had horse shit delivered to me twice. I've even had a guy aim a bottle of piss right for my head," Chuck's words became more heated as he walked forward towards Max, who began to back away in worry, "I was under the threat of death after my first win in the regionals. Don't even try to intimidate me with your fake tough guy act, because nothing you do would ever phase me. Go ahead, take your best shot. I dare you," Max, having lost his bravado, ended up stumbling onto his behind under Chuck's intimidating aura, shaking like a leaf in a violent wind, "That's what I thought," Chuck forcefully took the bag hanging off Max's shoulder and yanked it away from him, "These cards don't belong to you. They never did."
Underneath the pressure of Chuck's glare, Max did the only sensible thing he thought he could do: he quickly got up and scurried away as far as he could. In his hurry, his deck ended up falling out of his duel disk. Everyone else looked at Chuck with mixed expressions. Who knew he could get that heated?
Ashley looked at him with pure concern on her face, It's just like how he was at the diner. It's like dueling is harming his soul.
Chuck turned towards everyone, his face now softer yet still holding an undeniable sorrow. He walked over to Aella and gave her both her duel disk and Max's bag, "Here, these are yours."
Aella reluctantly accepted both items, "Chuck, I don't know what I should say here."
"You don't need to say anything," Chuck assured as he turned away.
The kids all gathered around Aella as she opened the bag. All of them eagerly reached inside to pull out all the deck cases inside. There was a communal effort sortIng through all the contents of the cases to see whose deck belonged to who.
While that was happening, Chuck went over to where Max dropped his deck, The heart and soul of a duelist, and he just leaves it behind, Chuck collected them off the floor. The next card Max would have draw would have been Rageki. After that, the deck was just a bunch of cheap low level normal monsters. These cards deserved better, so Chuck decided to bring them with him back to the shop. He then took a look at the cards Max used throughout the duel. Something wasn't right. What was that filmy material rubbing off his thumb? His eyes widened as a sudden realization hit him.
"These cards are counterfeits!" in the heat of the moment, Chuck stacked the cards together and, in one fell swoop, tore them all in half. He tossed the pieces in the air, the winds carrying them away to parts unknown.
Ashley, having watched Chuck with palpable concern, approached him, "Chuck, are you feeling alright?"
He sighed as his brief fit of anger subsided, "I think so," he responded solemnly, "I'll be going now. Thanks again for the date," with that said, Chuck started his trek home. As he walked, he thought back on the duel, The only thing separating Max from a pro duelist was his skill level. His entitlement and arrogance was on the spot. Is that the curse of high level dueling? Does it encourage your worst impulses? Is that why Ryuji—
"Wait!" cried Aella, prompting Chuck to turn around. Aella and all the kids stood with their rightful decks in their hands, "You can't go without letting us thank you first."
"Thank you so much, mister!" Parker thanked.
"I never thought I'd see my cards again," Juan said.
"I wanna be just as strong as you someday!" a girl in the group commentated.
The "thank you's" kept coming, and Chuck stood there taking it all in. He wasn't used to this kind of widespread treatment from others. Sometimes, one person would give him a thank you, but not an entire group of people.
It was then that Aella stepped forward and spoke to Chuck directly, "Chuck, over a week ago, I dueled someone who I thought was bullying my little brother. It was you, wasn't it?"
Chuck didn't see any reason to deny it, so he nodded his head.
"Back then, you assured me that justice didn't forsake me when I lost. When I challenged Max, I thought I would win just because I had justice on my side. That was arrogant of me. I couldn't beat Max because I wasn't strong enough to meet out justice. I folded completely against him. I want to use dueling to disperse justice and punish wrong-doers. But, today proved to me I'm far too weak as a duelist to accomplish such a thing."
"Aella…"
"I'm not satisfied with how I am now. That's why I'm going to undergo your father's training!"
Chuck widened his eyes, "What?!"
"I heard that you dad's training is unbearable and harsh, but I'm willing to endure it if it means I can become stronger like you! I was in despair when Max defeated me. But then you came along. Even when Max cheated, you kept your cool and beat him fairly. You even deduced that he was cheating, something that seems so obvious in hindsight. You stopped him from stealing the hopes and dreams of these kids.
"Chuck, you are my vision of a true duelist!" Aella proclaimed. Chuck simply took in Aella's words. All he ever did was play as best as he could.
"Aella, I'm sure my dad will be happy to teach you," he said graciously.
"Chuck, I want you to make a promise with me," Aella continued, her face fully serious, "When I grow stronger, when I become a true duelist, I want to battle you again!"
"Battle me?" Chuck repeated.
"Promise me," Aella insisted, "Promise that you'll wait for me, that you'll duel me when I can stand as your equal! Please!"
Chuck smiled at Aella, Such a great sense of determination. He extended his arm forward. The girl with the goggles understood, and clasped her hand with his.
"It's a promise," he answered.
Ashley looked at this exchange with a smile on her face, Everyone's gratitude lifted his spirits. He looked so miserable after the duel, but now he looks so glad. I prefer him like this.
The Ikari Corner
Aella: Chuck, how were you able to tell Max was bluffing?
Chuck: It's part of my dad's training. Bluffs are fairly common in dueling, so he teaches his students to spot even the tiniest mis-truths. It's called the Ikari Family BS Detector.
Aella: So when I undergo your dad's training, I be able to tell if someone's being dishonest?
Chuck: Right. Just be prepared to spend twelve hours studying a man's face without breaks.
Aella: Wait… what—
Chuck: Now it's time for Ikari Family Trivia:
The Ikari family's Principals of Dueling Honor was started by my grandfather, Rynosuke Ikari. In his prime, he was the Japanese Duel Monsters champion for five years straight.
Aella: Hold on, what was that you said about twelve hours with no breaks?
Chuck: You wanted to take my dad's training, you live with the consequences.
Aella: Did I just make a huge mistake?
Chuck: Next time, The Tricky Trickstars.
To be continued…
Just so you know, I was writing this chapter before both Imperial Order and True King of All Calamities were put in Master Duel's forbidden list. Thank God.
This chapter marks a first for this series. Up until now, every duel featured has been a retelling of games I had in Master Duel. This time, the duel between Chuck and Max was made completely from scratch. What I wanted was a duel where Chuck is on the back foot the entire time, only for him to make a come-from-behind victory. When it comes to Max's deck, I basically fitted it with some of the most stereotypically annoying cards. I added Giant Rex solely to grant Max a way to get rid of set monsters, thereby giving him a win condition.
When it comes to Max himself. I based his personality off of a Minecraft hacker from a group of YouTube videos by ShotGunRaids. The videos chronicle ShotGunRaids' encounters with, and subsequent trollings of, the most entitled and narcissistic twitch streamer of all time. The guy would regularly use hacks on a server ShotGunRaids is an admin on and ruin the experience for other players. ShotGunRaids would then mess with the streamer in hilarious ways. I thought the hacker would make for a good antagonist, so I created Max as a result.