Another late night. Troy and Henry have gone to search typical hotspots in the city. Giving his uncle a list, the pair split up in search of where his mentor, Mai would hang out.
While Henry's search comes up with nothing, Troy puts him in the line of sight of some cloaked figures. Watching him from the rooftops, they stalk him as he goes from casino to biker bar in search of his mentor.
The watching cultists speak to one another. "It's time we put Mister West out of our business, once and for all. I trust you'll be perfect for the job." Without saying a word, the other cloaked figure only nods before making their way to the ground floor.
Leaving another establishment, Troy is met face-to-face with the cloaked cultist. "You've been causing us trouble, again." A woman's voice speaks out from behind the cloak.
"Yes, well, I'm afraid you were the ones to start it. I'm just playing along. Don't blame me for playing the game better than you," he jokes, taunting the cultist.
"Better?"
"I figured if I kept up the search for Valentine, one of you would show your ugly mug around at some point, and you fell for it." Troy pulls out his duel disk, "So are you just going to stand there, or are we actually going to do this?"
"Very well, hon. But be warned, you won't like what happens." He follows the cultist into an alleyway for their duel. She goes over her deck, finalizing her strategy before inserting it into her duel disk.
They activate their duel disks and proceed into the duel without wasting any more time. Troy reaches into his back pocket and pushes a button on a recording device before they go any further.
Cultist 4000LP
VS
Troy 4000LP
"I'll start this duel with this," out of the gate, the cultist reveals the Seal of Orichalcos in their hand, and immediately activates it. The seal forms around the two duelists, with another appearing on their foreheads. "Now then, I'll set these two cards face down, and then summon this, Cyber Harpie Lady in attack mode." [Level 4/Wind/Winged-Beast/ATK 1800] The cultist summons a harpie monster, one dawning purple, metallic armor. With the power of the seal, she gains an additional power boost. [ATK 1800 - 2300]
Troy is disturbed by the sight of the monster. A part of him is cautious, having faced this monster many times before during his training. He doesn't let it distract him, however, and instead moves on to his turn.
"It's my turn, draw. I summon Thoroughbred Elf in attack mode," Troy brings out one of his stronger monsters. [Level 4/Light/Warrior/ATK 1800]
"I activate my trap, Card Decline. By sending a monster from my deck to the graveyard, you have to send a monster of the same level and type from yours. I send this card, a level 7 dragon monster." The cultist sends their card to the grave.
Thinking nothing of it, Troy searches his deck for his. Thinking on it, he plans for a future turn. "I'll send this card, Seiyaryu from my deck to the grave."
"Perfect," the cultist replies. "Now that I have a monster in my grave, I activate my trap, Call of the Haunted! This revives a monster from my graveyard, and I choose my sent card. Return to me, Harpie's Pet Dragon!" In a burst of flames, the cultist's ace monster is summoned to the field. [Level 7/Wind/Dragon/ATK 2000] "With the power of the Seal, my dragon gains 500 attack points. And with its own ability, it gains 300 more for every Harpie Lady I control." [ATK 2000 - 2800]
Troy is only amused. He shakes his head while giving a faint smile. "Well done. I'll give you points for trying, but this isn't going to work. I know what you're trying to do. You think playing almost exact same deck as my master Valentine would make me falter and give in. Well, sorry. It'll take more than that to rock me."
"Then how about this, honey," the cultist pulls back the hood, revealing a mane of spiked, blonde hair. Troy's expression changed upon seeing their face. It's Mai Valentine. "You look shocked. Are you not happy to see me after so long of searching."
Troy is at a loss for words, unable to truly comprehend what he sees before him. His hand starts shaking with emotions flooding his entire being.
"Speechless? I'm not surprised. After all, you probably thought I was lost, or dead, or even had my soul taken away by the cult. Well, I'm afraid the truth is, I never lost. In fact, after seeing the light, they made me an offer only a fool would refuse."
Finding his voice again, he doesn't respond to their taunt, but instead continues their turn. "I equip Elf with Spirit Slayer. This magic card raises my monster's power by 500, and then decreases the attack of any monster it battles." [ATK 1800 - 2300] Thoroughbred Elf is equipped with a large sword. Gripping it tight, it launches an attack. "I attack Cyber Harpie." Mai's monster becomes weakened by the sword before being slashed across the front, destroying it. [ATK 2300 - 1800] With the Harpie Lady destroyed, Mai's dragon loses the additional points. [ATK 2800 - 2500]
[Mai 4000 - 3500]
Mai can't help but laugh. "My my, you don't seem to be awfully caring about your master, now are you? Attacking me right after seeing me."
"I can't save you if I have my soul taken away. Besides, I'm not so sure," Troy ends his turn with one card face down without giving away a crucial piece of information on the duel.
"Well, aren't you playing coy. No matter. Once this duel is through, you'll see the true power the Orichalcos can offer you." Mai starts her turn. "First, I summon Cyber Harpie Lady from my hand. Then I activate two spell cards, Monster Reborn, and Elegant Egotist. With these spells I revive my destroyed Harpie, and then summon another from my deck, giving me three beautiful Harpies." Mai's combo fills her board, giving her more monsters than Troy. All three Harpies gain power from the seal. [ATK 1800 - 2300 X 3] With three Harpie Lady on her field, Pet Dragon also gains more attack points. [ATK 2500 - 3400]
Mai calls on her monsters to attack Troy. Their combined power is more than enough to end him in this single turn, yet he is still undeterred.
"Pet Dragon, attack his Elf!" Mai's dragon inhales before unleashing a large stream of flames.
"Trap open, Equip Exchange. I send one equipped card from the field to the grave, and then I can replace it with a new one from my deck. I send Spirit Slayer to the graveyard." [ATK 2300 - 1800] He searches his deck for a different spell card. "I replace it with this, Shield Mirror." Thoroughbred Elf grabs hold of the reflective shield. The attack continues as normal at first. However, Troy's effect presses back against the attack. Suddenly the dragon's attack bounces off the shield and is redirected into one of the Harpies. Mai loses a harpie from the attack, as well as some life points.
[Mai 3500 - 2400]
"What was that?" Mai asks in a confused panic. Her dragon loses some of its attack points with one less Harpie. [ATK 3400 - 3100] Her panicked states show cracks in their character.
"Once per a turn, a monster equipped with Shield Mirror can negate its destruction, and redirect the attack to another monster on your side." Troy cracks a smile. "The real Mai would have had a counter to it, or at least see my move as just a bump in the road. You're not Mai Valentine. You're weak. In spirit and in dueling."
Enraged, Mai throws her last two monsters at Troy and his Elf. First, the Harpie slashes Thoroughbred Elf, while the second goes over and attacks him in the back.
[Troy 4000 - 1200]
Troy can't help be start laughing. "Looks like a hit a nerve. Typical. That just proves that you're not the mentor that trained me. The one who tested me. The one who taught me the true spirit of a duelist. You're just a fake." Troy rises back onto his feet and prepares to start his turn. "I swear I will find my master, and together we will tear this cult down to its knees."
The top card of his deck starts glowing. Touching it, he sees visions flash inside his mind. He sees three dragons standing in a circle with a magician between them. He can hear faint chanting as if she was calling on an incantation. Suddenly, a bright pillar of light appears between the dragon, and rising out is a four dragon. One with white white and grey scales.
Returning to the duel, Troy draws from his deck and pulls an unfamiliar card from his deck. It's almost blank with no text on what it does, or even what type it is, just a name, and the image of the dragon from his vision.
He adds the new card to his hand, before continuing his turn. "I activate Double Spells, by discarding one card from my hand, I can use a spell from your graveyard. I activate Monster Reborn from your grave and use it to revive a monster I sent there at the start of the game. Arise! Seiyaryu!" Troy summons his ace monster, the mystic pink-scaled dragon arrives on the field. [Level 7/Light/Dragon/ATK 2500]
"That eye-sore of a monster is no match for my Pet Dragon. Even if you destroy a Harpie, my dragon will still be much stronger than yours."
"This eye-sore as you call it was given to me by my master. So this proves once and for all, that you're not who you say you are. And it's by the time I end this charade. With this!" Troy grabs the new card and activates, "Heart of Platos!" The white and dragon dragon appears on the field in a flash of blinding white light. Unlike a monster, it has no stats, but it's not a magic card either. "Platos will combine with Seiyaryu to create the monster of your defeat!" The two dragons take to the sky and unite. Platos merges with Seiyaryu's being, its power infusing with Troy's dragon and making it evolve.
Descending from the sky, Seiyaryu takes on a new form. A humanoid dragon with pure-white scales, and pink armor, and angelic feather wings. "I give you, Holy Light Dragon!" [Level 8/Light/Dragon/Fusion/ATK 3000] The light from Troy's new monster causes the field spell to react violently, unable to contain its power.
"Holy Light Dragon's power negates all power increases of every monster currently on the field, and returns them back to their original state." Fake Mai's monsters drop to their knees as the darkness within them is expanded, returning them to their original stat lines. "Then my dragon can attack all monsters affected by this ability. Meaning all three of your monsters are in line for my monster's holy fire."
Holy Light Dragon creates a ball of blue fire within its hands, before expanding it. Raising it to the sky, it gains even more power, growing to twice its own size before tossing it towards the other side of the field. All three monsters are engulfed in the white flames, burning all three to nothing as Fake Mai drops to their knees in defeat. With their life points reaching zero, their face cracks and shatter, revealing it to be a mask and voice change, with the cultist underneath just being a regular woman.
[Fake Mai 2400 - 0]
Troy stands there and does nothing as the seal closes around the cultist. She tries to break free of the barrier on her own, but it's too late. She screams in fear as the seal robs her of her soul, leaving her as just another body. Troy pulls out his new card. Still haunted by the visions he saw, yet pleased with the duel's outcome with this new monster.
