Buried Treasure
The hoodie guy handed the box to Kai, who in turn handed it to Cody. "You think this is it?"
Cody took it. "Let's find out." At that, he grabbed the lid and opened it slowly. And when it was fully open... "Yes, that's it." Cody nodded. He reached into the box and pulled out a memory card, just like the one he found inside his pendant. "This is definitely the next message my parents left."
"Hm?" Jeremy noticed something else inside the box. It was a piece of folded paper. He picked it up and unfolded it.
"What's this?" Cindy asked.
"I don't know. Just a bunch of numbers." Jeremy replied before reading them out loud. "3-9-2-7-8."
"What's that mean?" Kai asked.
"Maybe it has something to do with the message." Cody said as he handed the memory card to Jeremy. He brought up his laptop and inserted the memory card. And a few moments later, a new video file popped up. "Alright, time to see what my parents found."
Jeremy clicked on the file, making the video appear. And just like in the previous video, Cody's parents were shown.
"Hey Cody." His father said. "If you're watching this, that means you managed to find this message."
"Now, here's what we have to tell you." His mother added. "We've been following the lead we found and were hoping to find much more about those who attacked us."
"But we didn't find much." His father shook his head. "Those people are obviously very elusive, doing their best to not let someone find out."
"But we found a few old documents. We're not really sure where they came from, but we're going to look into this case."
"And hopefully, we'll find out something more. And if we do, you'll know when you find our next message."
"Speaking of which..." His mother said. "You're probably wondering about the piece of paper with those numbers you found."
Jeremy handed it to Cody, who looked at it.
"You see, the next message we expect you to find is inside a box with a lock. And those numbers are the code you need to unlock it."
"And as for the box itself..." Cody's father spoke as the video showed what appeared to be a local park. "We buried it under the oldest tree in the park where you always came to." The video showed his parents again. "So, you just have to head over there and find it."
"But don't forget that you might run into the people who are after us and you." His mother reminded him. "So be careful, Cody." At that, the video reached its end.
"Whoa! Now this is serious." Kai commented, astounded. "So what's this talk about people coming after you?"
Cody narrowed his eyes. "Well, to make a long story short, someone has been after my family for unknown reasons. And my mom and dad believed that I might be able solve this case."
"So where are your parents now?" Cody had a somber look on his face. It took Kai a moment to realize the answer and felt bad. "Oh, I see."
"Anyway..." Jeremy spoke up. "According to this video, the next message is hidden in a park you're supposed to be familiar with, right Cody?"
"It seems like it." Cody closed his eyes and sighed. "Only problem is that I can't remember anything about it. Just another piece of my unknown past."
"Unknown past?" Kai repeated.
Cody turned to him. "You see, I don't remember anything from my past before the years I spent in the Satellite. I can't remember where I come from, or how my life used to be, or anything. The only thing that links me to my past are those videos my parents left behind."
Kai's eyes widened. "Well, aren't you an unusual guy."
Cindy smiled. "Luckily for you, I know where that park is. So you just follow me."
Cody smiled. "Works for me."
Moments later, Cody, Jeremy and Cindy were outside the warehouse and prepared their duel runners (With Jeremy sitting behind Cody, of course).
"So you're really going to look for the next clue?" Kai asked.
"Yeah." Cody replied.
"Well, from what I understand, this could be dangerous."
"I'll take my chances."
That earned him a smirk from the former pro duelist. "I figured as much. In that case..." He then pulled out a card and threw it to Cody, who caught it ease.
He looked at it for a moment. It was a monster card with 1600 attack points and 0 defense points. "What's this?"
"Just something for good luck. I have a feeling you're going to need it."
Cody smiled. "Thanks."
"And you better watch your back. Whoever's after you probably got eyes and ears in many places."
Cody nodded before he, Jeremy and Cindy took off, leaving Kai and his gang behind.
Meanwhile in the Facility
Deep in the hallways, Yusei was bounded by two security guards who were leading him to the Chief's office. "So how are you liking your stay here, Yusei?" One of the gurds asked mockingly.
"So far, so good." Yusei answered sarcastically.
"Well that'll change soon enough."
They stopped at a steel door and one of the guards answered on the small intercom beside it. "Chief Armstrong, we have the kid. Are you ready for him?"
"Yes." The chief replied from the of the line as the door opened.
Meanwhile, back on the dueling field, the other prisoners were talking about Yusei's duel with Tanner. They were impressed by the fact that Yusei defeated him without attacking once.
"I better hide you, guys." Yanagi muttered as he hid his cards inside his kimono.
"Gramps." Tanner turned to him. "Is Yusei back? I'm starting to worry about what the Chief wants him for."
"Oh, he's fine. It's just routine." Yanagi said, not bothered.
But Tanner disagreed. "It's not just routine. There are two ways you get to meet the Chief: You make a mean barbecue sauce, or he's mad. And Yusei may know how to duel like a pro, but I got a feeling he doesn't know squat about barbecue."
In a high-tech interrogation lab, Yusei was meeting face-to-face with Chief Armstrong. "So how do you like the Facility so far, Yusei?" The big, broad man asked. "I'm sure it smells better than what you're used to in the Satellite, as does my anchovy-and-onion breath, don't you think?" He blew in Yusei's face, who recoiled in disgust.
Armstrong went behind Yusei and gripped his right arm, searching for a certain mark. "Rumor has it you might be hiding something, and it's my job to find out if you are. Take him, you two...!" The Chief Pushed Yusei to a couple of men in white suits. "And run your tests! Find out what this punk's hiding!"
Moments later
"Just lie still and don't move a muscle."
Yusei was in nothing but his boxers and was shackled to a platform leading to an MRI machine. When he entered, he received several electrical shocks and cried out. "Analyzing genetic make-up. DNA testing complete." When it was finished, the platform slid back out and stood Yusei right up. Armstrong lifted Yusei's head by his hair, so his beady eyes met Yusei's semi-conscious ones.
"Now, you better hope we find what we're supposed to find, and soon! Cuz if you make me miss lunch, you and I are gonna have big, big problems, Satellite. See, when my blood sugar level gets too low, I get cranky, angry and super-mean!"
Meanwhile, in the Public Security Headquarters, Goodwin and Lazar were walking down the hallway to Goodwin's office.
"He's with him right now." Lazar said, referring to what Armstrong was doing. "Though he hasn't found the sign as of yet."
"I doubt that Chief could find anything that wasn't lathered in a sweet honey glaze." The Director replied as the two of them entered his office.
"They're continuing to run normal tests, but with no results." Lazar tapped on a holo-keyboard. "Here's Yusei's file, sir."
A screen appeared before Goodwin as he looked over the file. "Lives in the Satellite, few run-ins with Sector Security, aptitudes include dueling, engineering...urrg. There's nothing about who he is or where he came from."
"We're, uh, working on that as we speak, Mr. Goodwin. But you have to consider, he may not be as special as we hope he is."
"It is time I take a trip to the Facility. I need to observe this satellite firsthand to see wether or not you're right."
"And shall I inform the Chief of your impending arrival?" Lazar offered.
"Yes, tell the Chief to send the boy back to his cell." Goodwin replied as he smirked. "I think I know of a better way to the information I seek."
Back at the Facility
"Have a nice trip!" One of the guards mocked as they tossed a drained and bruised Yusei back into his cell as Yanagi knelt to his side.
"You look horrible! What did they do to you?"
Yusei tried to pick himself up, but was only able to sit up. "Nothing... just ran some tests."
"Tests?"
"They must have been looking for a mark that appeared on my arm when that dragon showed up at the Kaiba Dome."
"They're looking for the Mark of the Dragon-!" Yanagi quickly clamped his mouth shut when a guard passed by. He stopped for a brief moment before walking away, leaving Yanagi and Yusei alone. "You must be a Signer, Yusei." The old man whispered.
"Signer?" Yusei repeated.
"I heard about them long ago. I thought the whole thing was just a legend. But now, the tale of the People of the Stars may actually be true."
Now Yusei was really curious and let the old man speak further.
"You see, long ago, there was a tribe. They were brave and they worshipped a crimson dragon. And some of them could even summon the beast; they're called Signers. There were 6 such warriors, and each had the mark of a different dragon that they could call forth to aid them in battle. Yusei, don't you see? You're one of them!"
"Me, a Signer?" Yusei asked as he thought back to his duel with Jack, when the Crimson Dragon appeared. "So you think that I actually called out this Crimson Dragon?"
"That's exactly what I think. And as legend would have it, the mystical powers of the six dragons were eventually sealed into six different Duel Monster cards." Yanagi then had a thoughtful look. "Which means that you... Yusei, you must have one!"
Yusei stared at his right arm. "One of the ancient dragons? I'm not so sure."
"WHAT!? Well, I've never been so sure of anything in my entire life! You'll let me see it, won't you?"
"I don't have it."
Yanagi cried out. "You don't have it?" He then sighed. "Just as well. In here, it would probably be confiscated. But why does the Chief think that you're a Signer in the first place, huh? Unless someone told him."
Meanwhile, Cody, Jeremy and Cindy rode through the city. Cody and Jeremy eyed on the different places of the city as they went by, and it was an amazing sight in the daylight.
"So, how far are we from that park?" Cody asked.
"It's not that far." Cindy replied. "It's just a few blocks away. We'll be there in no time."
"I'm just wondering though." Jeremy spoke up. "Your parents mentioned that they buried the next message under that tree in the park, right? If we're supposed to dig it up, then we might get in trouble. I mean, digging a place in the park without permission is illegal, isn't it?"
"We can worry about that later." Cody replied. "For now, let's just locate the place."
"Well, here it is." Cindy said as they parked right near the entrance of the park.
"So this is the park." Cody noted as he took off his helmet.
"And what about the tree?" Jeremy asked. "According to the message, the box is buried under the oldest one."
Cindy smiled. "That tree is pretty big. It's pretty easy to find. Come on."
At that, the trio entered. But, unbeknownst to them, someone was around the corner and watched them. A woman with dark-brown hair that was held together in a bun on the back of her head and grey eyes. She was wearing a black business suit and glasses.
As the trio walked through the park, there were relatively plenty of people around here. The park was full of some flower beds, some tall trees. There were even some ponds.
"I gotta say, this park looks nice." Cody said.
"Took the words right out of my mouth." Jeremy replied. "So, now that you're here, does this place bring back any memories?"
Cody stopped for a moment and looked around. "I'm not really sure." He muttered. His eyes then landed on a nearby playing ground where some kids were playing. It had a slide, a sandbox, and a couple of swings. As Cody stared at said swings, something popped up in his mind:
That dream when he sat on one of those swings until that girl approached him.
"Hey, Cody!" He snapped out of his stupor and turned to Cindy, who gave him a concerned look. "Is something wrong?"
"Um, no, it's nothing." Cody shook his head. "How about we move on?"
Cindy wasn't sure what to think, but decided to let it go. "Okay." At that, they kept walking.
"Are we there yet?" Jeremy wondered.
"As a matter of fact..." Cindy trailed off as she looked ahead. She then smiled. "...we are. Look."
Cody and Jeremy looked ahead saw what she was pointing at. It was a tree that was not only taller and bigger than any other tree they saw in the park. And it looked slightly majestic with its green top.
"The oldest tree of the park, huh?" Jeremy muttered.
"And the next message is buried under it." Cody added. "Now there's the issue about digging it up."
"True. Now maybe if we... hm?" Cindy said before noticing something.
"What is it?"
"Look." She pointed a finger. The boys followed it and were surprised to see some young kids behind the tree. And it looked like that two of them had shovels.
"What's going on over there?" Jeremy wondered.
"Let's take a look." Cindy suggested as she snuck around, with the two boys right behind her. They then hid behind some bushes pretty close to the kids, so they could get a good look at them.
They appeared to be three young boys. One of the boys holding a shovel was wearing a red and white striped t-shirt and blue overalls. And strangely enough, he was also wearing a red bandana on his head, and an eyepatch that covered one of his brown eyes.
The other boy holding a shovel had grey eyes and was wearing a grey t-shirt and brown shorts. And just like the other boy, he was wearing a bandana on his head. But the one he was wearing was yellow.
And the third boy, who watched his two friends digging, had blue eyes and was wearing an outfit that was definitely different from theirs. For starters, he was wearing a black hat. Specifically... a pirate hat. And he was also wearing what looked like a red pirate jacket over a white shirt and black pants. He certainly looked like a pirate captain.
"Arr! Keep digging, mateys! I can smell the gold buried here!" The kid clad as a pirate captain said with a grin.
"Aye aye, Captain!" The other boys replied.
Cody, Jeremy and Cindy blinked at this. "Okay...?" Cody said slowly.
"Who'd ever thought that we would find some kids playing pirates here of all places?" Cindy mused.
Jeremy looked around and saw the people nearby. "I'm surprised that no one noticed them."
"Well, we can't just let them keep digging." Cody said with slight worry. "And not only because they could get in trouble by doing this in public. They might find the box before we do, and that would be a problem."
Clank! Clank!
"Ah!" The kids who were digging gasped when they felt their shovels hit something. "We found something!" The boy with eyepatch said.
"Huh?" Cody widened his eyes.
The boy quickly moved away some dirt and found something metallic. "What is it?" The boy with the yellow bandana wondered.
"Let's pull it out of the ground!" The captain clad boy said. And so, all three boys made a few attempts to pull out whatever they found together. And eventually, they managed to pull it out and fell backward. "Ooff!" They rubbed their butts before they focused on the object they dug up. And boy were they surprised at what they saw.
It was a metal box, identical to the one that was found in the warehouse. But this one had an electronic lock, with buttons and all.
The three boys couldn't help but jump joyfully. "I can't believe it! We actually found a treasure chest!" The boy with the eyepatch said.
"And it was actually buried here!" The boy with the yellow bandana added.
The captain clad boy grinned. "Ahoy! We found a real treasure, indeed. Let's return to the ship and..." He stopped himself when he noticed the electronic lock. "Wait. Is that a lock?"
The other two boys turned to it. "Oh yeah, it really is." The boy with the eye patch said.
The boy with the yellow bandana rubbed the back of his head. "Then it won't open unless we can type in the code. So... any ideas what the code might be?"
They stood there for a long moment. And after that, they groaned and fell down on their knees. "Ah man! How are we supposed to get the treasure if we can't figure out the code?"
Cindy snorted. "Well, that's the question, isn't it?"
Cody stood up. "I think now might be the right time." He then walked towards them.
"Right." Jeremy nodded as he and Cindy followed him.
"Hello there." Cody greeted, making the boys look up.
"Um, hello, Mr." The captain clad boy greeted back. "Can we help you?"
Cody eyed on the box. "I know this might be sudden, but I need to take a look at that box."
The instant he said that, the little boys pouted and stood in front of the box protectively. "Nuh-uh! We won't let you have our treasure!"
Cody sighed. "Listen, I just want to look at it. It's important to me."
"Yeah right. Why should we believe that this treasure chest is yours?" The boy with the eyepatch questioned.
"Because..." Cody pulled out his piece of paper. "...I have the code needed to unlock it."
The little boys widened their eyes. The captain clad boy then rushed forward and jumped up in an attempt to grab the paper, but Cody reacted in time and held it high up. "Gimme gimme gimme!"
"Sorry, but I can't give it to you."
The boy puffed his cheeks in anger.
"Now, can you please just give us that box?" Jeremy asked.
"No way! This is our treasure! And we won't give it away without a fight!"
Cindy gave the little boys an amused look. "What? Are you gonna fight us with your swords or something?"
The captain clad boy grinned. "I don't need a sword. I've got something better!" At that, he ran off.
Everyone was confused until they saw him approach a red backpack that was laying nearby. The boy reached into the backpack and pulled out... a duel disk and a deck case.
His two friends gasped. "Billy? Did you steal your big brother's deck and duel disk again?" The boy with the eyepatch asked.
The boy now named Billy pouted at him. "I didn't steal them! I'm just borrowing them, not that he knows."
Cody and his friends blinked at his words.
"Now then..." Billy was now standing right in front of them. "One of you are gonna duel me, and the winning side gets to open the treasure chest! Now come and get me, ye landlubbers!"
"He sure has a lot of spunk." Cindy commented.
"I guess we don't have any choice." Jeremy added, rubbing the back of his head.
Cody nodded. "Fine, if you want to duel, then let's have one." At that, he brought his duel disk and put it on his left arm.
"Alright! Let's go!" Billy and put his on duel disk. But, to his embarrassment, it slid down his arm. "Aw!"
"A little too big for yah?" Cindy asked in amusement.
"Shut up!" Billy fixed it a little before inserting his deck, which caused the duel disk to shuffle it automatically.
Cody did the same. "Okay, are you ready?" He asked as he drew his opening hand.
"You got it!" Billy drew his opening hand.
"LET'S DUEL!"
Cody: 4000
Billy: 4000
"I'm gonna sink you!" Billy declared and drew his sixth card. "First I activate the field spell, A Legendary Ocean!" After one second, everyone found themselves in an underwater realm with large stone ruins. "From now on, the level of all water monsters in our hands and on the field is reduced by one, they gain 200 extra attack and defense points!"
"A water deck?" Cody muttered.
"And now I summon Mother Grizzly in attack mode!" A growling bear with blue fur rose up on his field. (ATK: 1400-1600 DEF: 1000-1200 LV: 4-3) "Now it's your turn!"
"Okay then." Cody drew. "I'll start by activating the spell card, Herculean Power!" A spell card appeared on his field. "And here's how it works; once per turn, if you have monsters on your field and I don't, then I can summon a level 4 or below Gemini monster from my hand. And now I'll use its power in order to summon Phantom Dragonray Bronto!" The large stingray with the reptilian neck sticking our of its mouth appeared. (ATK: 1500-1700 DEF: 1000-1200 LV: 4-3) "And since that was a special summon, I can still make a normal summon. So now I gemini summon my Bronto." The aquatic creature glowed white.
Billy blinked. "What's gemini summon?"
"It's when I normal summon a Gemini monster while it's already on the field. In doing so, I can use its special ability. And now that Bronto's abilities are active, its original attack points are now 2300! With that, along with the power of your field spell, its now up to 2500 points!"
"What?!" The little boys exclaimed as the monster grew stronger. (ATK: 1700-2500)
"Now attack his Mother Grizzly!" The water creature spat a stream of water that enveloped the bear, shattering it into pixels.
Billy: 4000-3100
"I activate Mother Grizzly's special ability!" Billy announced. "When it's destroyed in battle I can summon a water monster with up to 1500 attack points! I choose Cure Mermaid!" A mermaid with long blonde hair took the bear's place. She had a red tail and was wearing a pink dress-like top. (ATK: 1500-1700 DEF: 800-1000 LV: 4-3)
"Bronto has another ability. After it attacked, it switches to defense mode at the end of the battle phase." The water creature lowered itself. "I place one card facedown and end my turn." A card appeared at Cody's feet.
"Ha! I'll show you what happens when you mess with me!" Billy said and drew his next card. And when he did, the mermaid put her hands together in a praying matter and glowed with a pink aura. "Now my Cure Mermaid's effect activates! During my standby phase, she gives me 800 life points."
Billy: 3100-3900
"He almost regained all the life points he lost." Jeremy noted.
"Gotta say, that kid isn't half bad." Cindy said, crossing her arms.
"Now I summon Spined Gillman in attack mode!" A blue, amphibian man with many spikes on his back appeared next to the mermaid, holding his red trident in the air. (ATK: 1300-1500 DEF: 0-200 LV: 3-2) "And get this! When this guy is on my field, all fish, sea serpent and aqua type monsters I control gain 400 extra attack points!" Both of Billy's monsters glowed with a blue aura. (ATK: 1500-1900) (ATK: 1700-2100)
Cody gasped.
"Now, Spined Gillman, attack his Bronto!" The amphibian man swam over to Cody's field and used his trident to stab his monster, shattering it into pixels. "Now, Cure Mermaid, attack him directly!" The mermaid held up her palms and then blew bubbles that surrounded Cody before they exploded like bombs.
Cody: 4000-1900
"Aw yeah!" Billy's friends cheered.
"And now I'll end my turn with a facedown!" Billy concluded as he inserted a card into his duel disk. "Ahoy! Now you're done for! Give up now or I'll keelhaul you!"
"Sorry, but that's not gonna happen." Cody drew his next card and looked at it. 'Kai's card.' He smiled. "First I'll use the effect of Herculean Power in order to summon Tuned Magician!" The green, white and yellow clad spellcaster appeared from a flash of light. (ATK: 1800 DEF: 1600 LV: 4) "Then I'll equip him with the spell card, Supervise!" A spell card appeared behind the spellcaster and released an orange aura that surrounded him. "By adding this card to a Gemini monster, I can turn it into an effect monster."
"For real?" Billy asked, almost amazed.
"That's right. And due to its special ability, my Tuned Magician is now a tuner monster. Next I summon Dragon Zombie!" The monster that appeared was a dragon with a purple, rotten body, making it zombie-like. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 0 LV: 3)
"I've never seen Cody use that card before." Jeremy said.
Cindy smirked. "Guess that's the card Kai gave him."
"And now I tune my Tuned Magician with my Dragon Zombie in order to synchro summon Lightning Warrior!" The magician's body turned into 4 stars that circled around Dragon Zombie before turning into circles of green light. And then, Dragon Zombie's body turned transparent and revealed three stars that lined up before creating a beam of light. "Time to accelerate!" The light died down and revealed the silver armored warrior with wild blonde hair. (ATK: 2400 DEF: 1200 LV: 7)
"And here's a little bonus." Cody spoke up. "Since my Supervise was sent from my field to the graveyard, I can now summon a normal monster back to the field. So welcome back, Dragon Zombie!" The zombified dragon rose up again. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 0 LV: 3) "And for my next move, I'll have Lightning Warrior attack your Spined Gillman!" The blonde man's body crackled with electricity. "Go, Lightning Punisher!" The warrior thrusted his right palm, firing a bolt of lightning.
"Not so fast! I activate the trap card, Tornado Wall!" Billy's facedown card flipped up.
"Hm?" Cody raised an eyebrow.
Billy grinned. "Hey, did you know that my field spell has the ability to have the name, Umi?"
"And what does that have to do with your trap card?"
The little boy gave him a smug. "Well, if Umi happens to be on the field, then my Tornado Wall protects me from all battle damage I would have taken from your attacks." And to prove his point, a whirling pillar of water appeared in front of him as the lightning bolt zapped the amphibian man until he exploded. But the whirling pillar of water blocked the explosion. "See? I take no damage."
But Cody smirked. "Are you sure about that?"
"Huh?"
"You may be safe from battle damage, but not the damage that you're gonna take from Lightning Warrior's ability. You see, every time he destroys a monster in battle, you take 300 points of damage for every card in your hand."
"Wait, so..." Billy trailed off as he counted the cards in his hands. "Since I have 3 cards in my hand, then I'll take... um..."
"900 points of damage!" Cody filled in as his Lightning Warrior fired another lightning Bolt at the little boy, making him cry out a bit.
Billy: 3900-3000
"And now with your Spined Gillman gone, your mermaid loses some points." (ATK: 2100-1700)
"But she's still stronger than your Dragon Zombie!"
"True, but I'm not going to attack with it. Instead, I'm gonna use this..." Cody revealed the remaining card in his hand. "White Elephant's Gift! With this spell, I can send a non-effect monster to my graveyard in order to draw two cards from my deck." At that, Dragon Zombie vanished as Cody drew his extra cards. "It's your move, Billy."
"Alright, now I'm going to crush you!" Billy drew his next card. "First I'll gain 800 more life points from my Cure Mermaid." The mermaid glowed with a pink aura again.
Billy: 3000-3800
"And now I summon the tuner monster, Royal Swamp Eel!" From a flash of light, an eel wearing some kind of crown appeared. Its body was silver, with gems in different colors on its sides. (ATK: 1700-1900 DEF: 1200-1400 LV: 4-3)
"A tuner monster?" Cody muttered.
"Okay, both of my monsters are level 3, so..." Billy looked thoughtful for a moment before he brightened. "Oh yeah! I'll tune my Royal Swamp Eel and my Cure Mermaid in order to synchro summon White Aura Dolphin!" The eel's body turned into 3 stars that circled around the mermaid before turning into circles of green light. And then, the mermaid's body turned transparent and revealed 3 stars that lined up and created a beam of light. Moments later, the light died down and revealed a white dolphin that was cloaked in a harsh white light. (ATK: 2400-2600 DEF: 1000-1200 LV: 6-5)
"A dolphin?" Jeremy questioned.
"That's one of your brother's best monsters, Billy." The boy with the eyepatch stated. "He's not gonna be happy when he sees you with it."
"Oh, be quiet! You worry too much!" Billy snapped at him before focusing on the duel. "Alright, I activate White Aura Dolphin's special ability! It makes your monster's attack points become half its original attack points!" The light around the dolphin became brighter, causing Lightning Warrior to cover his eyes with his arms. (ATK: 2400-1200)
"My Lightning Warrior!"
"And it's time for my Dolphin to attack! Now go!" The dolphin charged forward.
"In that case, I activate the trap card, Barrier Wave!" Cody's facedown card flipped up. "When you attack, I can activate this trap by sacrificing my synchro monster!" At that, Lightning Warrior vanished. "For starters, all monsters on your field are forced into defense mode!" A barrier of energy waves appeared and blocked the dolphin's attack and sent it back to Billy's field. The dolphin then lowered itself and turned blue.
"No way." Billy muttered in disbelief.
"And that's not all. You also take damage equal to your attacking monster's defense points." Cody's trap card released energy waves that caused Billy to stumble a little.
Billy: 3800-2600
The little pouted a little. "I end my turn."
Cody drew. "I'll use the effect of Herculean Power and summon Future Samurai!" A light-blue clad female samurai appeared with futuristic armor and a green sword. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And now I'll Gemini Summon her." The samurai glowed white. "Now for her special ability. Once per turn, I can remove one of the monsters in my graveyard from play and destroy a face-up monster on the field. So I'll remove Phantom Dragonray Bronto to destroy your White Aura Dolphin!" As Cody removed his monster from the graveyard, the samurai's sword emitted electricity that shocked the dolphin until it exploded.
"Yes! Now his dolphin is gone!" Jeremy said.
"Guess again!" Billy replied as his graveyard slot glowed. "I activate White Aura Dolphin's second effect. When it's destroyed by you, I can remove one of my other water monsters from play and summon it back from my graveyard."
Cody and his friends gasped.
"So I'll remove my Mother Grizzly and summon back my dolphin!" Billy removed the Mother Grizzly card from his graveyard as the white dolphin appeared again. (ATK. 2400-2600 DEF: 1000-1200 LV: 6-5)
"Looks like Cody's not off the hook just yet." Cindy commented.
Cody frowned and inserted his two remaining cards into his duel disk. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn."
"Then it's my move!" Billy drew. He then remembered something. "Oh right! Since my dolphin was summoned by its own effect, it now counts as a tuner monster!"
"It does?" Cody asked, almost in shock.
"Yep! So first I'm gonna summon Deep Diver!" A person wearing an orange and red diver suit appeared. (ATK: 1000-1200 DEF: 1100-1300 LV: 3-2) "And now I'll tune my White Aura Dolphin with my Deep Diver in order to synchro summon White Aura Monoceros!" The dolphin's body turned into 5 stars that circled around the diver until they turned into circles of green light. Then, the diver's body turned transparent and revealed two stars that lined up and created a beam of light. And after a moment, the light died down and revealed a white narwhal that was cloaked in the same harsh light as the dolphin. (ATK: 2500-2700 DEF: 1500-1700 LV: 7-6)
"Whoa!" Billy's friends said.
"This is bad." Cody muttered.
"Now get ready, because here comes my Monoceros' special ability! When it's synchro summoned, I can summon a fish type monster from my graveyard! And guess what. I'm gonna bring back my White Aura Dolphin!" From a flash of light, the white dolphin appeared once again. (ATK: 2400-2600 DEF: 1000-1200 LV: 6-5)
"Man, this is the third time the kid summoned that dolphin." Jeremy noted.
"Of course, since I used my Monoceros to summon my monster, it can't attack this turn." Billy revealed. "But just because my dolphin can't attack, doesn't mean it can't cause damage. I activate its special ability! I'm cutting your monster's attack points in half!" The light around the dolphin became brighter, blinding the samurai. (ATK: 1600-800)
Cindy narrowed her eyes. "If my math is correct, Cody will lose the rest of his life points if the next attack hits."
Jeremy paled. "Uh oh."
"I'm the winner!" Billy cheered. "White Aura Monoceros, attack!" The narwhal charged forward.
"It's too early to celebrate your victory!" Cody said and revealed one of his facedown cards. "I play Gemini Booster! This trap gives a Gemini monster 700 extra attack points!" The samurai glowed with a red aura. (ATK: 800-1500) And right after that, she pierced by the narwhal's horn and exploded.
Cody: 1900-0700
"Aw man, I almost had him." Billy complained. He then inserted a card into his duel disk. "Fine, I'll just end my turn with a facedown..."
"Before I let your turn officially end, I activate the trap card, Balance of Judgment!" Cody's facedown flipped up. "This trap card can only be activated if the number of cards on your field is higher than the combined number of cards in my hand and on my field. And since that's the case, I'm allowed to draw cards equal to the difference of the numbers. I have Herculean Power and Balance of Judgment itself. That's two cards. You have two monsters out on your field, along with your field spell, trap card and facedown. That's five. So that means I get to draw 3 cards." Cody drew his extra cards.
"I just hope he got something good." Jeremy said worriedly.
"I'm pretty sure he'll be fine." Cindy replied.
"My move!" Cody drew his next card and looked at it. He smirked. "First I activate the field spell, Catalyst Field!" As he placed the card in his field spell tray, the underwater ruins vanished, and everyone found themselves in the local park again. But then, the sky turned purple and the ground crackled with red electricity.
"My field spell is gone!" Billy exclaimed. He then jumped when his Tornado Wall card shattered into pixels. "What!? What happened to my trap card!?"
"I guess your trap card is automatically destroyed without your field spell." Cody assumed.
Billy just pouted.
"Speaking of which, with that card gone, your monsters lose their extra points." (ATK: 2600-2400 DEF: 1200-1000 LV: 5-6) (ATK: 2700-2500 DEF: 1700-1500 LV: 6-7) "And now I'll use the effect of Herculean Power in order to summon Blazewing Butterfly!" The flame-winged butterfly appeared. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "And next I summon Goggle Golem in attack mode!" The goggle wearing stone golem appeared. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 500 LV: 4) "And now I'll use the effect of my field spell. You see, I'm allowed to normal summon a Gemini monster in addition to my normal summon."
"Huh?" Billy, as well as his friends, gave him a confused look.
"Basically, I can normal summon up to 2 times, as long as one of the monsters I summon is a Gemini monster. Which means I can now gemini summon my Blazewing Butterfly." The butterfly glowed white.
The little boys gasped.
"Now I activate its special ability. By releasing my butterfly, I can summon another Gemini monster from my graveyard and turn it into an effect monster! So I'm bringing back Tuned Magician!" The butterfly was enveloped in a swirling ball of fire. And then, the flames died out and revealed the familiar spellcaster. (ATK: 1800 DEF: 1600 LV: 4)
"That monster again?" Billy questioned.
"That's right. And now I'm gonna tune him with my Goggle Golem!" The magician's body turned into 4 stars, which then turned into circles of green light and surrounded the golem. "Now my Gemini monsters are joining forces to bring out a creature with brutal firepower." The golem's body turned transparent and revealed 4 stars that lined up and created a beam of light. "Now come forth, Black Brutdrago!" The light died down as Cody's armored, black-scaled dragon emerged and let out a mighty roar. (ATK: 3000 DEF: 2600 LV: 8)
"Whoa!" Billy said, surprised by the new monster.
"And now I activate the spell card, Pot of Avarice. This lets me take 5 monster cards from my graveyard, shuffle them into my deck, and then draw two new cards." He took five cards from the graveyard slot and put them into his deck, letting it shuffle itself. Once it was done, he drew his extra cards, looked at them, and nodded. "Then I'll activate Black Brutdrago's special ability! By sending a Gemini monster from my hand to the graveyard, I can destroy one spell or trap card on your field. So I'll send this to the grave..." He slid a card into his graveyard slot. "...and destroy your facedown card."
Billy's facedown shattered into pixels instantly. "Not my trap card!"
"Now to destroy your dolphin! Go, Black Brutdrago! Attack with Brutal Fireball!" The dragon spat a big fireball that obliterated the dolphin.
Billy: 2600-2000
"I remove another water monster to bring back my dolphin!" Billy removed another as the dolphin appeared again. (ATK: 2400 DEF: 1000 LV: 6)
Cody the only card in his hand into his duel disk. "I place one card facedown and end my turn.
"Alright, you landlubber, you're gonna get it now!" Billy drew. "I activate my dolphin's ability and cut your dragon's attack points in half." The dolphin's light brightened, blinding the dragon. (ATK: 3000-1500) "Now my dolphin, attack!" The dolphin charged forward and tackled the dragon, shattering it into pixels. "Yes! I win!" Billy cheered. But then he noticed something unusual...
Cody: 0700
"What!? Why didn't you lose life points?"
Cody smirked and pointed at his facedown card... which was now face-up. "Because I activated the trap card, Defense Draw. Thanks to this, the battle damage from your attack was reduced to zero. And as a bonus, I get to draw a card." He drew.
Cindy smiled. "For a second there I thought it was over."
"And that doesn't stop there." Jeremy replied.
"That's right." Cody nodded. "Since my Black Brutdrago was destroyed, I can activate its special ability, which lets me summon a Gemini monster from my graveyard."
"What!?" Billy exclaimed.
"So here comes Phoenix Gearfried!" From a pillar of fire, the fiery warrior in white and red armor appeared. (ATK: 2800 DEF: 2200 LV: 8)
"Aw man, that guy doesn't give up." Billy complained. "Fine, I'll switch my Monoceros to defense mode and end my turn." The narwhal lowered itself and turned blue.
"Then it's my turn." Cody drew his next card and looked at it. Then he looked at the card in his hand and smiled as he came with a plan. "This is it."
"Huh?" Billy, as well as his friends, gave him a curious look.
"First I summon the tuner monster, Attack Gainer in attack mode!" A figure wearing dark-green armor and white pants appeared. (ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1) "And then I'll use the effect of my field spell, and summon the Gemini monster, Dawnbreak Gardna!" A warrior in bulky iron armor appeared. The armor had heavy gauntlets that had small shields attached to them, and two small gems: a green one on the chest, and a red one on the large neck guard. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 500 LV: 3) "And now, Attack Gainer, time to give Dawnbreak Gardna a tune up!" The figure in green armor turned into one single star, which turned into a circle of light and surrounded the iron-armored warrior. The warrior's body turned transparent and revealed three stars that lined up and created a beam of light. "I synchro summon Armory Arm!" The light died down and revealed the familiar, mechanical arm. (ATK: 1800 DEF: 1200 LV: 4)
Billy blinked. "A robot arm?"
"Next I activate Attack Gainer's special ability!" The named monster appeared again. "Since he was sent to the graveyard as a synchro material, one of your monsters loses 1000 attack points! And I choose White Aura Dolphin!" Attack Gainer turned transparent ad entered the white dolphin's body, causing its light to die out. (ATK: 2400-1400)
"No way!"
"And now I activate Armory Arm's ability! It can equip itself to another monster and raise its attack points by 1000. So my Gearfried gets a power boost!" The mechanical arm launched itself as the fiery warrior held up his right arm. The mechanical arm then attached itself to it as the warrior's flames intensified. (ATK: 2800-3800)
Billy paled. "Uh oh!"
"Now Gearfried, attack his White Aura Dolphin!" The warrior dashed forward and swung his mechanical fist at the dolphin, shattering it into pixels.
Billy: 2000-0000
"Aww." Billy looked down, disappointed, as the holograms disappeared. "I can't believe I lost."
"That was a great duel." Cody said as he approached him. "You really know how to play your cards right."
Billy looked up. "You really think so?"
Cody nodded. "I do. You have the potential to be a great duelist."
Billy smiled at those words.
"But I'm curious, though. From what I've heard earlier, that was your brother's deck. Don't you have your own deck."
Billy looked away. "I do. My brother gave it to me as a birthday gift. But, I wasn't able to win a single duel with it. Compared to the cards in my brother's deck, my cards are useless."
Cody kneeled down and placed a hand on Billy's left shoulder, getting his attention. "You shouldn't think like that about your deck. Every card has its value, and a good duelist understands its power and knows how to best use it. You just have to figure out the right combo you can make with your cards."
Billy just stared at him, letting his words sink in. Cindy and Jeremy smiled.
"That's what I've been trying to tell him the whole time." A new voice spoke up. Everyone turned and saw a boy around Cody's age. He had short brown hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a green t-shirt, blue jeans and brown shoes.
Billy's friends widened their eyes. "Uh oh! It's Stan." The boy with eyepatch said.
"Big brother?" Billy muttered with a surprised look.
"So that's your brother." Cody noted.
Billy fidgeted in place. "How long have you been standing there?"
Stan crossed his arms and approached him. "I came here a little while ago during your duel. Seriously. How many times do I have to tell you to not steal my deck?"
Billy lowered his head. "I'm sorry."
Stan simply took off Billy's hat and ruffled his messy black hair. "Just don't do this again, okay?" He then turned to Cody. "I'm sorry for my little brother's behavior. He can be a troublemaker sometimes."
Cody smiled and shook his head. "It's okay. He wasn't that much troublesome. And I'm willing to forgive him after he dueled me so well."
Stan smiled back. "Glad to hear that. That said..." He turned to his brother. "It's time for us to go home."
"Okay." Billy muttered. He then widened his eyes. "Oh! Before we go..." He turned to his friends. "Guys, the treasure chest!" They then picked up the box and walked over to them. They then gave it to Billy, who held it up in front of Cody. "Here. This is yours."
Cody smiled and took it. "Thank you."
"Alright then, let's go." Stan urged.
As they were about to leave, Billy turned to Cody. "Thanks for the awesome duel, Cody."
Cody smiled and nodded. Billy smiled back and caught up with his brother and friends.
"Well, this turned out well." Jeremy said, smiling. "Now we've got another message from your parents."
"Yeah. I wonder what this one will tell us."
"Let's find out." Cindy said. "But first, how about we head to a place where we can watch it without any witnesses?"
Cody nodded. "Good call."
After a couple minutes, The trio left the park, jumped on the duel runners and took off. They just passed the corner, where a really beautiful, young woman was walking. She had light-blue eyes and long black hair with her bangs parted. She also had a gem tied to her forehead. She was dressed in a pale green dress under a white jacket, with an emeral green sash tied around her waist.
As Cody's duel runner passed by, time seemed to slow down, and the woman felt something strange. She turned and watched Cody's runner go further away until it was out of sight. "That boy..." She muttered.
Somewhere else, inside what looked like an office, a person was sitting on a big chair behind a desk. But because of the sunlight that came through the big window behind it, it was difficult to tell how this person looked like.
KNOCK KNOCK!
"Enter." The person spoke up with a male voice. A new person entered the office. It was the glasses wearing woman who saw Cody and his friends enter the park.
"Sir, I'm bringing some urgent news." She said.
"What is it?"
"I was witnessing some people enter the local park. Among those people, there was a boy who we believed was dead. It was... Cody Cooper."
Even though she couldn't see it, she could tell that the man was pleased. "So, the prodigal son has returned. Excellent. Now send our men after him. I want Cody Cooper brought here... dead or alive."
Guess I was slow with the process of this chapter. I had to change some parts of the duel over and over before I got it right. But hey, better finishing it at the end of this year than the beginning of the next. I hope you guys had a Merry Christmas, and until the next update, I wish you a Happy New Year.