/ Duel Universe
/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma
/ Ch 24: Couples Therapy Duel!!
/ word count: 2689
/ (Author's note: All duel actions are random and fair. Multiple choice decisions are made by coin toss.)
Human Encampment: Harper vs Ben
Harper and Ben were sitting together and eating their lunch for the afternoon. Ben hasn't been around much because he was good at mechanical engineering and soldering. So he has been splitting his time between work and duel practices. But today he has some time off and wanted to spend it with his girlfriend Harper. Harper didn't mind that at all, once she was able to truly confess her feelings for him, he accepted and gave her his affections in return. Not to mention it also shut Jayden up from talking about how he didn't have a girlfriend.
"Hey." Harper leaned into his shoulder while taking a bite to eat.
"Hey yourself. What's up?" Ben responded.
"You wanna duel? Duel me, specifically?" She asked.
"Duel? I thought you wanted to spend time together with me?" He noted while eating.
"I do, but...I also want to see how much I've grown or if I should just give up on becoming a duelist and do something else more productive." She explained. "Like..raising a family."
Ben coughed and almost choked on the food in his mouth, he had to turn away and try to avoid spitting it back out. Harper just watched him with a questioning look while he nearly keeled over.
"Is it something I said?" She asked.
"Well..cough..yeah, a family? Seriously? I thought we were going to wait on that until the Earth was cleansed?" He queried.
Harper leaned away, holding herself a bit, feeling insecure. Ben reached over to try and comfort her, but she recoiled.
"Ben, I...I'm grateful for all we've been through, and what we have been, but...I don't know if we will be together forever, like that, I mean." She said.
Ben drew back his hand and was unsure what to say to this. He was good with machines, he was good with putting together a motherboard, super motherboards even, but this, he was dumbfounded.
"Harps..I..okay." He affirmed.
Harper looked at him with a question in her eyes.
"Let's duel. Some of the monsters believe that if you truly put your all into a duel, you can express your true feelings even if your words fail you. So let's do it, and I think we will find our answers with all we have!" He explained, determination in his voice.
"...okay. Let's duel!" She said nodding.
They walked over to a clearing so that they wouldn't interfere with anyone else's day. A few people who saw them walked up and watched the duel unfold.
"Duel!" They'd said together.
"I'll start! I draw!" Harper began. "I set one monster in defense mode and end my turn!"
A card back appeared on her field.
"Hm, not that strong of a start huh babe?" Ben noted. "Don't call me babe, not right now! We're rivals!" She stated.
"Okay, my turn. I draw!" He began. "I activate Onomatopaira, by sending one card from my hand to the grave, I can add up to two monsters of two separate archetypes from my deck to my hand. I choose Gogogo Giant and Gagaga Gardna. I discarded Gogogo Ghost for the effect. Now I summon Giant in attack mode!"
A tall red granite and blue marble monster rose from the card.
"Then use his ability to special summon another Gogogo from my graveyard, Ghost will do." He explained.
A formless monster with red and yellow armor seemingly floating in midair appeared.
"Now I use these two, level four monsters to build the overlay network! I xyz summon rank four, N39: Utopia in attack mode!" He explained.
A galaxy appeared on the ground as the two monsters became light and were sucked into the stars below, then a torrent of light and energy shot out from below. A monster of white and gold armor and a huge sword appeared.
"Now battle! Utopia attack her facedown monster!" He commanded.
Utopia flew across the field and slashed the card, shattering it. A small skeleton wearing a crimson robe appeared and shattered.
"Reveal Phantom Magician, when destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, allows me to special summon one hero, level four or lower, from my deck to the field. I special summon Elemental Hero Woodsman in defense mode!" She countered.
A monster of wood and plant greens appeared on the field.
"Hm, main phase two, I set three cards facedown and end my turn!" He finished.
"I draw! Woodsman's ability activates and I gain one Polymerization from deck or grave during the end phase." She got her card from the deck and then looked at her new hand.
"Well, well, well, I activate Emergency Call and take another hero from my deck to my hand, Stratos will do. Next, I summon Elemental Hero Solid Soldier in attack mode!" She said. "Soldier allows me to special summon one hero to my field from my hand, and I'll choose Stratos in attack mode!" She explained.
A purple monster with silver armor appeared, then struck the ground and a portal appeared, then a blue-winged monster with blue and white metallic armor flew out of the portal.
"Now Stratos allows me to destroy spell and trap cards equal to the number of heroes I control or to search my deck for a new monster to add to my hand. I search out Elemental Hero Blazeman." She said. "And now for one of my new tricks, I send Stratos and Woodsman to generate the circuit of the future! I link summon Xtra Hero Wonder Driver in attack mode!" She said.
A circuit board formed in mid-air with eight arrows at each corner and edges, the two monsters became light and struck the top and bottom middle arrows, then the whole board lit up. A monster in deep blue robes and a gold scepter soared through the circuit field.
"If you didn't pay attention to the training before, link monsters don't have a defense so they cannot be placed in any defense position!" She explained.
"Now I activate Polymerization and send one hero monster on my field and one fire attribute monster from my hand to fusion summon Elemental Hero Nova Master in attack mode!" She said.
A pool of swirling colors formed on the floor, then the monsters turned into flares and shot down into the vortex of color and a huge flash shot up. A monster wearing flame-colored armor and cape, formed from the light, sending searing heat in all directions.
"Whenever a monster is summoned in the zone that Wonder Driver points to, I'm allowed to gain one fusion spell card from the graveyard. I choose Polymerization. Also, when Soldier goes to the graveyard because of a spell card, he special summons a monster used in a fusion summon from the graveyard, except himself. I special summon Elemental Hero Blazeman in attack mode." She explained.
The flames on the field flared in one spot and a monster of flame, wearing fire red armor and multicolored tights, appeared.
"I activate Blazeman's ability, I send Bubbleman to the grave to make him a water attribute, 800/1200 monster. Now I can't summon anything else except fusion monsters." She explained. "Now I activate Polymerization once again to fuse one hero from my hand and one water attribute monster on my field to fusion summon Elemental Hero Absolute Zero in attack mode!" She said.
A pool of swirling colors formed on the floor, then the monsters turned into flares and shot down into the vortex of color and a huge flash shot up. Clouds formed overhead, a torrent of wind shot down and mixed with the heat from below, a tornado formed, then it suddenly began to get colder and colder. A form slammed down on the field from within the tornado, disrupting it but also covering half the field in ice. A monster wearing white ice armor appeared.
"Now I activate my Righteous Justice, for each Elemental Hero on my field I can destroy up to that many spell and trap cards you control! I choose the outer two cards!" She said.
A man-sized R appeared, then two bolts of power struck out and collided with two of his facedown cards.
"Tch! You plan on summoning everything this turn!?" He asked with a little grudge in his voice.
"No, that's the last summoning. But now for my attacks! Battle! Nova Master attack his Utopia!" She commanded.
"I send one overlay unit on Utopia to the graveyard to negate your attack!" Ben countered.
Utopia's wings swirled around him and blocked the attack.
"Fine! Absolute Zero, your turn to attack him!" She commanded.
"Again, I negate that attack by removing the last overlay unit!" He countered.
"You're all out of overlay units, and Utopia has one huge flaw! Wonder Driver attack his Utopia!" She commanded.
Utopia cracked and shattered before he was engaged in battle.
"Since your Utopia literally blew itself up, Wonder Driver can attack you directly! Attack!" She commanded.
"I activate my facedown card, Xyz Double Back! Now when an xyz monster is destroyed, I can use this card during the same turn to special summon one xyz and one other monster with similar or weaker attack to the xyz monster onto my field from the graveyard! Arise Utopia and Gogogo Giant!!" He countered.
"Tch! Fine! I've decimated your field enough this turn, so I'll end my turn." She finished.
"Now my two monsters are going back to the graveyard. Now I draw." He sighed. "I end my turn." He finished.
"Aw, too bad. I draw. I summon Elemental Hero Prisma in attack mode." She began.
A monster made of crystal with wings appeared from the card.
"Now battle! Nova Master attack him directly!" She commanded.
"I activate Gagaga Gardna from hand and special summon him on my field in defense mode!" He countered.
A monster with a long coat and large shield appeared on the field.
"Fine, Nova attack his Gardna!" She commanded.
"I use Gardna's ability to discard one card from my hand to protect him from destruction!" He countered.
"Grr! You're really getting on my nerves! Absolute Zero, you attack his Gardna!" She commanded.
"Again, I discard one card to negate the destruction of my monster!" He countered again. "And the rest of your monsters aren't strong enough to get past my Gardna either!" He noted.
"Tch! I end my turn!" She finished.
"I draw. I summon Gagaga Caesar in attack mode." He began.
A monster in a white uniform, dark cape, and large scepter appeared on the field.
"Now I use Caesar's ability, by banishing a monster with a level, from the graveyard, all my Gagaga monsters now have the same level. I send level four Ghost to make both my monsters level become four. Now I use both monsters to build the overlay network to xyz summon Gagaga Cowboy in attack mode!" He said.
A galaxy appeared on the ground as the monsters became light and were sucked into the stars below, then a torrent of light and energy shot out from below. A cowboy wearing a brown stetson, boots, poncho, and wielding dual laser pistols, appeared from the light.
"Then I can use Cowboy's ability, by using one overlay unit, Cowboy gains 1000 attack and Nova loses 500! Battle! Cowboy attack Nova Master!" He commanded.
Cowboy raised both pistols and shot successive shots at Nova, chipping his attack down, then delivered the final shot and Nova crumbled to the ground, dealing -400 damage. 7600lp
"I end my turn." He said.
"I draw. I summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat in attack mode."
A monster with fire orange hair, wearing a red and white skin-tight uniform with little armor flares, appeared on the field.
"Since I summoned her in the zone Wonder Driver is pointing to, I regain Polymerization from my graveyard." She began. "Then I'll send Absolute Zero and Wonder Driver to the graveyard for three tributes to link summon Xtra Hero Dread Decimator in attack mode!"
A circuit board formed in mid-air with eight arrows at each corner and edge, the two monsters became lights and struck the bottom three arrows and then the whole board lit up. A monster nearly all black except for some deep red armor and a large blaster broadsword appeared.
"When Absolute Zero leaves the field, all of your monsters are automatically destroyed."
Ice emerged from the ground and shot forth to penetrate and pierce every monster zone on his field, skewering his monster, shattering it to pieces.
Decimator gives every hero, plus himself, 100 extra attack points for each hero currently in my graveyard." She said. "Next I activate Legacy of a Hero, returning two Hero fusion monsters from my graveyard to the extra deck, and I get to draw 3 new cards. Now I activate Polymerization to one fire monster on my field and one hero in my hand to fusion summon Elemental Hero Nova Master in attack mode. Then I activate Miracle Fusion and banish one hero and one dark attribute monster in my graveyard to fusion summon Elemental Hero Escuridao in attack mode. His ability gives himself 100 extra attack points for each Elemental Hero in the graveyard."
A pool of swirling colors formed in the sky, then the monsters turned into flares and shot up into the vortex of color and a huge flash shot down. A monster all skin and bone, wearing all black armor appeared on the field.
"Now battle! Escuridao, Nova Master, and Dread Decimator attack him directly and end this duel!"
(Details) -9500 0lp
"Graaaaahhhh!!!" Ben screamed and was thrown back a few feet by the blast.
"Ben!" Harper ran forward and skidded next to him, kneeling beside him. "Are you okay!?"
Onlookers all hooted for the display of force and figured it would be a useful trait when the battle began. A couple of medics made their way through the gathered crowd to reach the two duelists. Ben was sitting up and running his head by the time they got to him.
"Ow! Geez Harper! Did you have to do so much damage at one time!?" He asked as the medics began to check him for damage.
"I...I'm sorry! I was just so focused, I didn't think about what I was doing until I declared the attack! Then it was too late to stop it!" She had a worried expression on her face. "Will he be okay!?" She asked the medics.
"He's fine ma'am, a few scrapes and bruises. Nothing to worry about." The medic reported, then they moved on about their business.
Harper looked to Ben with apologetic eyes, wanting to talk to him about it. Ben just sat there rubbing his new sores ignoring her. It wasn't until Harper plopped down beside him that he finally decided to acknowledge her.
"Sigh, I'm fine, okay! You don't have to be so worried about it now." He said with no small amount of anger in his voice.
"I just want to know if.. we're okay, okay?" She asked with worry in her voice.
"I..don't know. I mean, we only did this to see if you should even consider continuing dueling. Well, from what I saw, I suggest you keep pushing your boundaries in the duel field. But as for me, I couldn't get anything to go with any real significance. I'm the one that should just give up and stick to the engineering I've been doing. I'm a lousy duelist." He finally said, hanging his head.
Harper leaned forward and gave him a hug, which he half-heartedly returned.
"Ben, are we okay? Will we survive this?" She kept asking.
Ben let go and began to stand up, slowly moving away. "I just don't know Harper. I..just..don't know." He said head hung and walked away. "I think we need some space for a while. To think about stuff."
He went to their half-shared quarters and removed all of his stuff, while she sat on the field and watched more duels happen through hollow, unfocused eyes. The only thought in her head was, 'what went wrong…'