Wyo was on the verge of tears as she watched her deck get shredded card by card right in front of her eyes... well, it felt that way anyways as she watched Hela slowly and methodically remove cards, add cards, remove the ones she just added, and then remove even more. Eventually, Hela scrapped the entire deck, claiming that she needed "... a blank canvas in order to create a masterpiece."
"Why not just use one of the available, CURRENTLY EMPTY deck slots then?" Wyo cried out, frustrated at her friend for deleting the entire deck, and also with herself for not having saved the deck recipe beforehand.
"You've gotta keep the essence," Hela shushed her before returning to Wyo's list of available cards. She scrolled through the surprisingly short list, checking to make sure that the filter was off before rechecking the list to find that it hadn't changed. "What... da f%#&? Are these really all the cards you have? This is like, one whole booster box! At most! How have you survived this long on the bare minimum?"
'Survived,' Wyo thought to herself with a silent chuckle.
"Pure skill?"
"If anybody else had said that I'd call them a liar," Ranger interjected as he himself browsed through his own cards. His collection wasn't much bigger than Wyo's, however.
Wyo watched as he opened the Card Store and browsed booster packs and decks, trying to find one that would fit his style the best or offer the best chance at powerful cards. Just when she thought he'd found something, however, she noticed him check his reserve of VCoins and hang his head in defeat. He reached up to the corner of the screen and tapped the Exit button before hanging his head low. She knew how he felt. VCoins were difficult to come by, normally a player would have to duel another player to win some, but that could only earn someone so much. The best way that players had found was to go outside the safety of the towns and cities and duel against NPC's. That, however, required risking one's own life, something that many players refused to do. She couldn't blame them. She had only dueled a few herself and those had been enough for a lifetime for her. Even then, winning didn't guarantee VCoins.
"Okay, this is ridiculous. Both of you come with me. Now!"
Ranger looked at Wyo, nervousness filling his eyes. She couldn't blame him, whenever Hela used her Mom Voice everyone in the vicinity snapped to attention and obeyed her every word. Wyo sighed, waving Ranger along as she also stood to follow, knowing it was better to listen to her friend and not argue when she got this way. They followed Hela down the street a short ways, passing duelists and duels every block or so until finally Hela stopped them right outside of a back-street card shop.
"Uh, Hela, you do realize that we hardly have enough coins between the both of us to buy one pack, right?"
"Yup. So duel me." Wyo and Ranger stared at her as if she'd spoken in another language. Sighing, she added, "Look, if both of you duel me at the same time and win you both will split the winnings. You each would get a quarter of my overall coin count which will be more than enough to get you two some good cards."
"A quarter doesn't sound like much," Ranger scoffed.
Hela glared at him in annoyance but pulled up her account regardless. Wyo's jaw dropped as she read the number silently to herself. Beside her, she could feel Ranger giving the same kind of response.
"That... That's a lot of zeroes."
"I've already got all the cards I could ever need and then some. These VCoins are burning a hole in my pocket and you all could use them more than I could. All we have to do is start a duel and I can quickly forfeit. You both split the pot and buy yourself some cards, as many as you can. Try to get sets and decks that have cards in your style. That means warriors for Ranger and spellcasters for you, Wyo. Now, let's hurry and get this duel over with. Don't want a husk showing up while we do this."
Thankfully, no husks had appeared. Wyo and Ranger quickly bought decks, packs, and individual cards until they ran out of coins. They found Hela back where they had started, her feet kicked up onto the table with a digital newspaper folded over her face.
"I thought we couldn't fall asleep in this world," Ranger whispered as he tried poking Hela in the shoulder. As quick as a snake, Hela's hand shot up and grabbed the boy's wrist, forcing a startled yelp from his lips.
"We can't. Figured I'd try regardless."
Ranger pulled his hand back, rubbing his wrist where she had grabbed.
"Right, so, let's see what you all managed to pull.
Hela's eyes lit up as she scrolled and scrolled through Wyo's now long list of cards. Even filtering out everything except spellcasters left many cards to choose from. She was like a machine as she clicked on cards quickly, hardly pausing between clicks to decide what next to add. In no time at all Hela finished up, scooting aside to allow Wyo to study the new masterpiece she'd built.
"Wh-... What the heck kind of monstrosity is this?!" Wyo blurted out as Hela began working on Ranger's. "Warriors? In a Magician's deck? And where's Dark Magician Girl?! And this equip spell card. Three hundred measly attack boost? Hela are you even listening to me?"
"Nope. Too busy. Never worked with a Black Luster theme before. Gotta focus."
Ranger shrugged his shoulders as he kept out of the way. Getting Hela's undivided attention right now would be impossible. Wyo sighed in defeat and sat down, studying her deck once more as she tried to make heads or tails of the abomination labeled "Magician's Infinite Potential", whatever that meant. After a few minutes a pattern began to emerge and combos began to stand out. The more cards she checked the more she found how much potential and synergy every single card had with the next. How Hela had managed to see these connections in such a short time was beyond Wyo. Closing her menu, making sure to save the new deck as her primary before doing so, Wyo felt almost giddy and couldn't wait to try out the new deck as soon as possible. Glancing over at her friends, she had to stifle a laugh as Ranger went through the same emotions that she had only moments ago.
"How do you expect me to win against anyone with THIS?! There's so many high level monsters that I'd lose before I could summon a single monster!"
"Kid, I am the best deck builder around," Hela growled. "When I say a deck that I've built will work, you'd best believe every single word. Sure, there are a lot of high leveled monsters in this deck, but you'll be special summoning a lot. You've got ritual monsters, link monsters, XYZ monsters, and then you've got your ace card that uses the graveyard as its summoning condition! Trust me, it'll work."
Hela turned and scooted over to Wyo, sighing deeply as she pulled up a seat with her back to Ranger. Wyo made sure Ranger was studying his new deck and trying to figure out how it worked before leaning in towards Hela.
"It may work like you said but do you really think he'd be able to use it properly?" She asked, whispering so softly that even Hela had difficulty hearing her as close as she was.
"We'll practice with him a bit before he takes on anything dangerous," Hela replied, just as quietly. "Even then, I don't want him dueling against any husks or NPC's outside of town."
"Agreed, but what about our plan?"
"Look, I want to get around to taking on the first floor boss just as much as you do, but if he's not ready then I think it'd be best to leave him here where it's safe."
"You mean 'safer'," Wyo corrected. "Husks could invade while we are away. And you remember what happened to him last time. He froze."
"That's because it looked like my sister," Ranger countered without looking up from his deck, anger slowly spreading over his features as he struggled to remain calm.
Wyo and Hela reddened, embarrassed at having been overheard.
"Look, kid, we know you have guts," Hela started, rubbing the back of her neck as she tried to explain herself, "and I've dueled you myself and know from personal experience that you have potential to be something great. It's just..."
"It's just that we don't want to lose you," Wyo finished. "I was responsible for your sister getting deleted. I can't be the one responsible for putting you into danger and getting you deleted as well. I wouldn't be able to live with myself."
"Good news for you, then, because I'm going with you whether you want me to or not," Ranger snapped back, closing his menu and turning towards the two girls. "You won't be responsible for me if I choose to go with you of my own free will."
Wyo rubbed her temples as she tried to come up with an argument, even looking over at Hela, begging for some help. Hela, however, shrugged her shoulders, at a loss just as much as she was. Looking back up at the young man, she couldn't help but be reminded of his sister. His unwavering stance... hers. That 'don't try arguing with me' attitude... hers. Hell, the way his face was set in single-minded determination reminded Wyo of Beret.
"Fine," Wyo surrendered, tossing her hands in the air in exasperation. "I can't stop you from following us. But that won't stop me from trying to convince you to stay behind."
"Wyo, I know what you are about to do," Hela cautioned. "Are you sure you want to tell him?"
"Tell me what?" Ranger demanded, curiosity breaking the determined mask he wore mere moments ago.
"The whole reason I wanted to beef up my deck... our decks... that's because we are about to head out."
"Like out of town? Bring it on."
"I wasn't finished," Wyo scolded him, doing her best to hide an approving smile at his tenacity. "We are heading out to the Montage Canyon."
Wyo watched as the pieces slowly began to fit together in Ranger's mind, understanding slowly dawning upon his face only to be replaced by a sudden uncertainty.
"Montage... Canyon... Isn't that where...-"
"...The first floor boss is located," Wyo completed his question for him, nodding. "That's right. We're heading out to take on the boss."
A few in-game days later Wyo sat back against one of the large boulders that dotted Gaia's Field. The large, green plains spread out before her and her friends in every direction, its hills rolling and rising seemingly endlessly. Glancing down at her map she noted that they were at least nearing the end of the plains, and with that, almost to their destination. From the plains to the deep canyons of Montage Canyon, and from there they simply had to find the Dungeon where the Floor Boss resided.
'Almost there,' she thought to herself as she closed her map and leaned her head back, closing her eyes. 'Who knows, maybe once the First Floor Boss is defeated people will gain confidence and start trying to beat this damned game so we can all escape.'
She could feel the slight change in temperature as a shadow fell over her, blocking the warmth of the sun from above. Opening one eye she glanced up at Hela.
"Can I help you?" Wyo asked as she tried leaning out from under Hela's shadow to soak up some more sun.
"You and I need to talk about the upcoming duel."
"What's there to talk about? I'm going to be the one to take on the boss first. End of discussion."
"Like hell," Hela scoffed, crossing her arms as a small vein above her left eye started throbbing with controlled anger. "We both know my deck is better all around, regardless of the type of duel style. Yours excels against aggressive opponents but struggles against stallers. Let me go first so I can get a good feel for the boss's strategy."
"And what if you lose?"
"You'd have gained some good insight into how to beat them," Hela shrugged as if her death wouldn't mean much to her.
Wyo stood quickly, getting right into her friend's face.
"And I'll have lost my best friend in the entire world. You thought I was a wreck when I beat Beret? That will be nothing compared to me losing you!"
"Wyo... Whitney..." Hela's arms uncrossed and dropped to her side in defeat. After a deep sigh she looked back into Wyo's eyes, reaching up to place a comforting hand on her friend's arm. "If I lost you..."
Loose gravel falling from a nearby boulder cut her off as both girls whipped around towards the sound, ready for an attack. Instead, Ranger's face crested the top of the boulder with an innocent smile that immediately made them relax. Hela quickly snatched her hand back and took a step off to the side, her face flushing slightly as she glared up at the boy. Wyo raised a curious eyebrow at her friend before looking back up to Ranger, holding a hand above her eyes to block out the sun.
"What's up, kid? Besides you," Wyo added quickly before Ranger could be sarcastic. He pouted for only a minute before looking between Hela and Wyo.
"Am I interrupting something?"
"No, s#&$ for brains, we just wanted to stand here because we thought it would be fun."
"Oh," Ranger replied, now confused. Shaking his head clear he forced himself to get back on subject as he cocked his head back over his shoulder and jerked his thumb in the same direction. "By the way, whose horse is that?"
Wyo and Hela looked at each other confused before stalking around the boulder to get a better view. Sure enough, a massive horse with a saddle stood nearby, casually chewing on grass. Its rider was nowhere to be found. Ranger slid down the side nearest to the horse and stalked over to it.
"Kid, get back here," Hela hissed as she glanced around looking for the rider. When Ranger refused to listen to her she cursed and started after him. "I swear if this game doesn't kill him I will! Ranger, don't just trot up to someone else's horse!"
"Let him be," a booming male voice called out, stepping out from behind another boulder near the horse. Ranger came to a stop a few feet away, uncertain about the new individual. The man stood well above Ranger, his features hidden under his cloak. His stance and voice sounded so inviting to Wyo, but for some reason every nerve in her body screamed at her to run. She watched as he held his hand out to Ranger, offering to shake which Ranger seemed eager to oblige.
"Ranger, get away from him NOW!" She yelled as Ranger's hand reached up, pausing a hair's width from the man's.
Ranger looked back, his fingers twitching as if unsure which direction to go. Finally, painfully slowly, Ranger began to pull his hand away.
"I must apologize," the man said almost sadly as he quickly grabbed Ranger's retreating hand, "but you should have listened to your friends sooner."
"DUEL INITIATED," a digital voice sounded around them. An invisible barrier shoved Wyo and Hela back away from the two duelists as Ranger was flung back away from the man.
A breeze kicked up, whipping the man's cloak around him until the clasp finally failed and the cloak flew off into the distance. Wyo balked as the man's grey skin and blue armor caught her eyes. Looking back at the horse's slight purple tint, realization suddenly struck her and she cursed herself for not knowing sooner.
"Gaia," she hissed.
"'The Fierce Knight'?" Ranger groaned as he pushed himself up from the ground.
The man placed a fist over his heart and bowed low. As he straightened a duel disk appeared along his forearm in the shape of a shield.
"The one and only. You'll have to forgive me, my liege has charged me with eliminating you three, and as a knight I am bound to execute any command my master issues. The only mercy I am allowed to offer you is a swift defeat and the chance to see your sister again in the afterlife."
Wyo felt herself bristle at the mention of Beret, but whatever she felt paled in comparison to Ranger's fury as his duel disk snapped into position and his deck shuffled into place.
"My sister died because of your 'master'," Ranger spat. "Once I am through with you you'll wish that you'd never been programed!"
"Tough talk. Let's see if a peasant like you can back it up."
Ranger - 4000
Gaia - 4000
"I'll start things off," Ranger said as he drew his first five cards. "I'll begin by playing the spell card Black Luster Ritual. By discarding monsters from my hand whose levels add up to or greater than the requirement I can summon the best warrior around."
"We'll see," Gaia smirked at the would-be insult.
"I send Blade Knight and Breaker the Magical Warrior from my hand to the graveyard. Their total levels equal eight, which is just enough. Now, appear, Black Luster Soldier!"
Ranger's two monsters appeared on the field momentarily only to be sucked into a ritual circle. A blast of wind and light erupted from the ground where they had entered as a figure began to rise. The warrior stepped out from the swirling purple light, brandishing its sword and shield in powerful blue-skinned hands.
"Ah, Black Luster Soldier, my old rival," Gaia sighed, holding himself a little straight with his chest puffed out. Black Luster Soldier breathed deep as he studied Gaia, his body relaxed, though Wyo expected every digital muscle fiber in the monster's body screamed to be let loose like the dog of war that he was.
"And that's not all," Ranger boasted as he held up his final card in his hand. "I now remove from play the two monsters I just sent to the graveyard as the summoning condition for this card, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning!"
The two monsters reappeared on the field only to once again swirl into nothingness. Their digital particles reformed a moment later into a new creature very similar in appearance to the first. Wyo noted, however, that this one was brimming with powerful chaotic energy. The two warriors nodded to each other silently before eyeing Gaia with fierce glares.
"You f#$&ing idiot!" Hela cursed, yelling at Ranger angrily. Wyo couldn't blame her.
"Wh-What?" Ranger flinched, taken aback by his friend's sudden outburst.
"You started off too strong, you nimrod! Look at your hand!" Hela barked. Ranger glanced at the fingers and palms on both hands, uncertain as to what to look at. Irritated, She added, "Your CARDS! You used up your entire hand just to play two monsters! What are you gonna do if they get destroyed?"
"Your friend is right," Gaia chastised as he drew his card and smiled. "A show of force is good against a weaker opponent, but foolish against someone of my standing. Behold, I summon Arisen Gaia the Fierce Knight!"
An almost exact duplicate of himself burst onto the field atop a mighty steed, its hooves crushing stones beneath it into dust.
"A level seven monster with no tributes?! What kind of tricks are you trying to pull, Gaia?" Wyo demanded.
"No tricks. Just its ability. You see, when my opponent controls more monsters than I do I am allowed to summon Arisen Gaia without a tribute."
"Big deal," Ranger laughed. "With only twenty-three hundred attack he's still no match for my monsters."
"True, but then again he won't be dealing with your monsters. This will. I activate the spell card Lightning Vortex! By discarding a card in my hand I can destroy all of your face-up monsters."
Wyo watched as Ranger's monsters were all destroyed, leaving her friend wide open with no cards available to him in his hand. This was exactly what she had been afraid of. Being put on the sidelines while a friend's life was on the line. She began to pace the border of the dueling barricade that kept her from her friend, desperate to do anything besides just standing around doing nothing.
"Now, Arisen Gaia, attack that boy's lifepoints directly!" The knight charged on his massive war horse, javelins leveled at Ranger. The impact sent Ranger flying back into the barrier with a sickening thud that Wyo was certain would have killed anyone in the real world. "I end my turn. Hopefully that's not ALL you are capable of. What would your sister think if she knew you'd lasted less than five turns?"
Ranger - 1700
Gaia - 4000
Ranger coughed as he slowly pushed himself up from the ground, digital blood splattering to the ground with each wet cough. Stumbling back to his area he took a steadying breath and drew a card before setting it in the monster zone face-down in defense position. Without saying a word he waved at Gaia that his turn had ended.
"What, no last words? If you insist. I'll draw and then summon another monster: Charging Gaia the Fierce Knight! At the cost of a measly four hundred attack points I can summon him without tributes."
"Not good," Hela growled. "He doesn't have a single low level monster in that deck that can tank something like that. I should have varied his creatures a little more instead of trying to stick to a single theme."
"...Hela, breath," Wyo said reassuringly, though inside she felt the same exact way. Her heart pounded harder than Gaia's horse's hooves and she was certain that if she clenched her fists any harder her nails would dig into her palms and cause them to bleed.
"I-It's my fault. He's gonna lose and it's all my fault, Wyo."
"I'm... not... gonna... lose...," Ranger panted as he gave a weary smile and a weak thumbs up. Taking a deep breath he added, "I hate to say this but I DID tinker with your "masterpiece" before we left. I had to add a bit of myself into this deck or else I would never have been comfortable in using it."
"You moron...," Hela shook her head, wiping a few stray tears off her cheeks. "If he doesn't kill you then I sure as hell am."
"As touching as this all is I'm going to have to cut it short," Gaia sighed. Pointing at Ranger's face-down monster he ordered, "Charging Gaia, attack his monster and scatter his defenses."
Charging Gaia did as his name implied, barreling towards the hidden monster and thrusting its lance home. A resounding ring of metal on metal echoed around the area as Ranger's monster materialized, its sword deflecting Gaia's lance with ease. Charging Gaia retreated back to its side of the playing field as a purple cape swirled around Ranger's monster. His monster repositioned, its pointy ears and green and silver armor easily standing out against its purple cape. The smirk on the monster's face caused Gaia to snarl angrily before spitting onto the ground between them.
"Celtic Guardian," Gaia hissed with distaste. "How you managed to survive that attack is beyond me. The fact that a low born like yourself is even in this duel... it's utterly obnoxious."
"It's BECAUSE he's obnoxious that he survived," Ranger grinned ear-to-ear. "He's the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, and he has a nice ability that enables him to survive any attack from monsters with nineteen-hundred or more attack points. Too bad for you, that's all you've got right now."
"Very well, I'll end my turn there."
Wyo felt herself and Hela let out a collective sigh of relief. Ranger had managed to pull off one small miracle and survived this round. Now if only he could pull off another. She watched as Ranger drew his next card, shrugging as he played it onto the field.
"I activate Pot of Greed. I get to draw two more cards," he informed. As he studied his two new cards any worry that clouded his face dissipated. "Perfect. I'll set one monster face-down and then activate this: Swords of Revealing Light."
"A mere setback," Gaia shrugged. "Luck won't win you this duel."
"You say luck, I say heart of the cards. I'll end my turn there."
Gaia rolled his eyes before drawing his card, scowling as he ended his turn with nothing to show.
"C'mon, deck, what else do you have for me?" Ranger drew his next card, his grin only growing bigger. "I'll set another monster face-down and end my turn."
"You are beginning to irritate me, boy." Gaia said as he drew his card. "Now THIS will be useful. I summon Gaia the Fierce Knight Origin. At sixteen hundred attack he'll be perfect for taking out that pesky Guardian of yours... once I deal with these swords that is. I end my turn."
"I'll draw... and set one card face-down." Wyo studied the card placed in the spell and trap zone, trying to figure out what Ranger was planning. So far, he'd been on the defensive after taking such a large hit. If only he had a fresh hand and some big hitters again. Ranger's voice cut through her thoughts and brought her back to the duel as he continued, "And now, I flip summon Morphing Jar. Due to its effect we each discard our entire hands and draw until we have five cards."
"That's how you bounce back!" Hela cheered.
"I'm not done yet. Next I flip summon my other monster, Magician of Faith. With her ability I get to add one spell card from my graveyard back to my hand, and I'll choose Pot of Greed. I'll then re-play Pot of Greed to draw two more cards... And there's what I've been looking for. I activate Enemy Controller. By sacrificing my Magician of Faith I can take control of one of your monsters for the turn. Now come on over, Arisen Gaia the Fierce Knight."
"No!" Gaia cursed as his monster teleported to Ranger's side of the field. "You'll pay for that, you brat."
"We'll see. For now, my turn is far from over. Now, I'll Link Summon using my Morphing jar, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, and your Arisen Gaia in order to link summon Black Luster Soldier - Soldier of Chaos!" A digital circle with six arrows formed above the field, sucking up Ranger's monsters into three of the arrows that then turned red. A blast of energy erupted from the circle, crashing onto the dueling field as if lightning had struck. As the dust settled a solitary figure emerged. "THIS Soldier makes the ones from earlier seem like push-overs. Especially since I used your level 7 monster to summon him. You see, when link summoned using a monster that high in level he gains immunity from your card effects. You can't target him and he can't be destroyed by your card effects. Also, when he destroys a monster by battle he immediately uses one of three other abilities. First things first: Soldier of Chaos, attack his Charging Gaia the Fierce Knight!"
Gaia shielded himself as waves of chaos and digital particles from his destroyed monster pummeled him.
Ranger - 1700
Gaia - 2900
"Is that all?" Gaia asked, dusting himself off.
"Far from it. Remember those three abilities I mentioned? One of them is to attack again. Attack his Gaia the Fierce Knight Origin to end this turn!"
Ranger - 1700
Gaia - 1500
Gaia once more shielded himself, roaring with anger as he drew his next card.
"ENOUGH! You've drawn out this duel long enough. I activate this, Mystical Space Typhoon. It'll allow me to rid myself of these pesky Swords of Revealing Light a turn early. Next, I activate Polymerization to fuse Gaia the Fierce Knight and Curse of Dragon to summon Gaia the Dragon Champion. Then I'll activate another spell card, Blustering Winds. With this, my monster gains an additional one thousand attack and defense until my next standby phase, making him more than a match for your wannabe warrior. Now attack his monster!"
Ranger - 1100
Gaia - 1500
"With that I'll set one card face-down and end my turn."
Ranger swore under his breath as his link monster was destroyed, leaving him without protection once more. Glancing at his hand brought him a bit of relief. At least he could bring out another big beatstick monster, but Gaia's face-down card had him worried. Swallowing the lump in his throat and taking a calming breath, Ranger stood tall and drew his next card.
"Let's end this, Gaia. I play the ritual spell card Super Soldier Ritual. I'll use Evening Twilight Knight and Beginning Knight as the ritualistic sacrifices in order to ritual summon Black Luster Soldier - Super Soldier!"
As the new version of Black Luster Soldier arrived on the field Gaia's wicked smile made Wyo's heart sink.
"Too bad he won't be around for long. I activate my trap card, Bottomless Trap Hole! Any monster that is summoned, regardless if it is link summoned, Xyz summoned, or even ritual summoned, gets destroyed and removed from play. Goodbye "Super Soldier", and good riddance!"
Wyo slammed her fists into the duel barrier, anger welling up within her like a volcano ready to erupt. 'He was so close!' She thought to herself as tears threatened to blur her vision. She struggled to hold them back, willing herself to not cry over another loss of life. Though through the blurriness she could have sworn she saw Ranger stand a little straighter, a little taller. Rubbing her eyes clear of the wetness she looked once more.
"That takes care of that," Ranger smiled. "A noble warrior will always sacrifice himself to clear the way to victory, and in several rare cases the gods will reward that warrior with rebirth. I activate my face-down card, The Warrior Returning Alive! I return Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning back to my hand! Next I'll remove my Evening Twilight Knight and my Beginning Knight from play as his summoning cost. Return to the battlefield, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning!"
"Just. Stay. Dead!" Gaia roared in anger and annoyance as his rival once more appeared. "How many times will I have to kill you for you to stay down?"
"You won't get the chance," Ranger roared back. I discard Envoy of Chaos to activate its ability. Now a Black Luster Soldier on my field gains fifteen hundred attack for the turn, and any monster it battles has its attack reverted back to its original attack."
"That means..."
"That's right. Your Gaia's attack goes back down to twenty-six hundred while my monster's attack skyrockets to forty-five hundred! Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, attack his monster and finish this duel once and for all! Chaos Blade Strike!"
Ranger's monster leapt into the air, its sword swirling with purple chaos energy as he slammed the blade down on the dragon rider and cutting him into two. The resulting wave of energy blasted Gaia back, slamming him into the barrier and shattering the invisible wall.
Ranger - 1100
Gaia - 0000
Wyo, Hela, and Ranger slowly approached Gaia as he lay against a nearby boulder, digital blood leaking from the corner of his mouth as he smiled happily.
"Your sister would be proud of you," Gaia wheezed. Pointing a shaky finger at his discarded shield/duel disk hybrid he added, "Take your prize, young warrior. You'd be amazed at how well our cards work together."
A coughing fit ravaged Gaia's body as he slowly began turning into digital dust. Taking a shuddering breath he managed to calm the fit, only to see himself disappearing from the feet up.
"I'm sorry for how I acted, Ranger. My master wanted to see just how strong you and your friends have become. The easiest way I could think to manage that was to play on your emotions. An angry warrior is a dangerous one, but one that can control that anger is deadly."
"Who's your master?" Wyo asked quickly as the disintegration reached Gaia's chest.
"You already know who," Gaia responded. "Do me a favor and beat him at the end of the game, will you?"
Wyo nodded. Gaia smiled peacefully before the rest of him vanished into dust.
"Grab your prize, Ranger," Wyo sighed. "We've got a boss to beat and a virus to squash. Let's go."
Author's note: Sorry about the wait on this chapter, and about the length. Starting off I couldn't think of what kind of deck to use as the opponent, and then once I did figure it out I had to do a lot of reading on effects that I never used when dueling (I quit playing way back in 2011 so I missed out on a LOT of things). As always let me know if I messed up a ruling and thanks for keeping me going with this.