Chapter 32: Breaking the Ice, Part 1
Last time on Legends Unite…
During Jesse's match against Gansley, Jesse was able to call out his ace monster: Rainbow Dragon, but Gansley stopped it from attacking using his new Xyz Monster, Mermail Abyssgaios. Though Jesse was at the brink of defeat, he used a new Trap card to get rid of Abyssgaios and claim his place in the Finals.
Now there are four members of the Big Five remaining. How will our heroes deal with them?
Emperor Shade watched Jesse, Jaden, Yuya, and Soulburner run throughout the planet to search for their friends.
"Run, run all you want, you pitiful cockroaches. You're getting nowhere very quickly!" Shade said. "It doesn't matter if you find your friends. They'll stand no chance against me. Let's see how the Kaibas are doing." He types in the coordinates and sees footage of the duel. "It looks like Gozaburo is handling the Chessmate deck I gave him. That deck can overwhelm those who can't handle its power."
"Lord Shade!" a servant of Shade soon appeared. "I bring news from the tournament. It seems Jesse Anderson has defeated Gansley and has qualified for the finals."
"Disappointing." Shade said. "No matter. Gansley was just the weakest of the Big Five. I have a feeling the others will prove themselves worthy."
"They do have something to fight for, my lord. After all, you promised Gozaburo and the Big Five to restore their bodies to reality if they do well in the tournament." the servant said.
"Of course, I intend to trap them within cyberspace should they fail." Shade said. "And I do not tolerate failure."
"I'm well aware of that, my lord, and I'm certain the rest of the Big Five agree." The servant said. "What should we do?"
Shade looks at more of the duels until he spots Leo and Luna from the 5Ds Era dueling two Duel Academy Students - Zachary and Colin.
"Hmm… I have an idea." Shade said. "You better be ready, Leo. You're in for one icy surprise."
Shade chuckled low.
With Leo and Luna…
"Power Tool Dragon, attack!" Leo commands his Power Tool Dragon, who is equipped with Double Tool C&D, to attack Zachary's Umbramirage the Elemental Lord. The attack makes contact and the shock sends Zachary and Colin flying.
Zachary & Colin: 400 → 0 LP
"Oh yeah! Another victory in the books!" Leo cheered.
"You're a lot stronger than you look, kid." Colin said.
"It's all thanks to these new cards." Luna said.
"I don't like it when I lose." Zachary sighed. He gave the twins two Link Crystals each.
"So Luna, how many do we each have now?" Leo asked his sister.
"I've got eight." Luna said.
"Let's see… I've got six. Man, I've got to start dueling more people if I wanna get to the finals." Leo groaned. "If only there was an opponent for me."
"Leo, need I remind you that this whole planet is the tournament venue?" Luna said. "By the time you actually find an opponent that has the Link Crystals you need, all the spots will be filled."
"I know, sis! At this rate, we won't be able to make the finals, and I bet Yusei, Jack and the others are already qualified or close!" Leo said.
"Pull yourself together, Leo!" Luna told her twin brother. "Whining about it won't get you in the finals!"
"I know, I know…we should probably keep at it, see how far we can get." Leo said. Before they can continue searching for opponents, the two are approached by a penguin holding a note in its beak.
"A penguin?" Leo spoke.
"What's a penguin doing all the way out here?" Luna asked.
"Don't know. But look." Leo said. "There's a note in its beak." Leo takes the note and reads it.
"Well, what does it say?" Luna asked him.
"It says, "Follow me." Leo read the note aloud.
"I wonder why he wants us to follow him." Luna said.
"Only one way to find out." Leo said before facing the penguin. "Lead the way, little guy."
The penguin leads the twins through a series of dangerous areas on the planet, starting with a narrow mountain ledge.
"And here I thought things couldn't get any weirder on this planet." Luna commented. When they reach a river, they see more penguins.
"I'm guessing those are your friends." Leo deduced, to which the penguin nodded in confirmation. He hops onto a raft that is docked.
"Well, what do we have to lose?" Luna asked as the twins joined the penguin aboard the raft. Two more penguins hop on. "Let's go."
Meanwhile, with Aster and Yusei…
Aster and Yusei look around the north area. So far, they haven't seen anyone they know.
"This place is massive." Aster commented. "It'll take us days to find anyone."
"Yeah, and the fact that the tournament venue is the entire planet is no help either." Yusei said. He then hears a familiar voice.
"Aster! Yusei!"
They turn to where the voice came from and spot Jaden and Jesse coming.
"Jaden!" Yusei spoke.
"And it looks like Jesse's with him too." Aster added. Jaden and Jesse catch up to them.
"Thought we'd find you guys here." Jaden said.
"I'm surprised you're in this too, Jesse." Aster commented. "How's the search going?"
"Jay and two o' his pals managed to find me, but some ol' guy named Gansley found me as well." Jesse explained. "I ended up dueling him."
"It's safe to say that Gansley's a member of the Big Five." Yusei deduced.
"He is. But I wouldn't worry about him." Jaden said. "Jesse mopped the floor with him."
"Then, I'm guessing you won your duel." Aster deduced.
"Sure did. And I qualified for the finals." Jesse confirmed it, with the ten Link Crystals he collected.
"Jesse even said he'd join the resistance. Me and Aster can vouch for him, he's pretty amazing." Jaden said.
"Jaden's right, Yusei." Aster said. "He's the owner of the Crystal Beast deck, which was given to him by Maximillion Pegasus himself."
"I heard about those cards, and how they seemingly chose someone. That was you?" Yusei asked Jesse.
"Got that right, Yusei." Jesse said.
"Good to have you on board then." Yusei nodded with a smile. "Let's get you up to speed."
Yusei explained to Jesse that Gozaburo Kaiba and Seto Kaiba were dueling right at this very moment to settle a long personal grudge. Meanwhile, Gozaburo's closest confidants, the Big Five, were going around the planet finding duelists to defeat, so they needed to find whoever they could.
"So let's see if I got this right: Gozaburo Kaiba challenged Seto Kaiba to a grudge match while his henchmen the Big Five are searching the planet for any potential opponents. Did I leave anything out?"
"You're right on the nose, Jesse." Yusei said. "Aster and I came out here because we thought we could see some of our friends here, but no dice."
"Excuse me." They hear another voice. They turn to see Colin. "I can't help but overhear your conversation. You said that you were looking for some of your friends, right?"
"Yeah, that sounds about right." Yusei said.
"I heard these two kids that Zachary and I just dueled mention you and Jack Atlas." Colin said. "Both had green hair. One was in blue and had a pony tail, the other was in red with pigtails."
"One in blue with a ponytail, and another in red with pigtails…" Yusei thought about the description and figured out who the Duel Academy student was referring to. "Leo and Luna."
"Friends of yours?" Aster asked.
"Yeah. They're young, but they have remarkable abilities." Yusei said. "Luna can speak to spirits and Leo has a spiritual connection with Luna."
"That's kinda cool." Jesse said.
"Did you see where they went?" Yusei asked Colin.
"Well, as soon as our duel ended, they started following a penguin." Colin explained.
"Well that's not weird at all…" Aster said.
"I know." Colin agreed. "They likely went that way, towards Arola." He points to the southeast.
"Arola, huh?" Aster said. "Then that's where we're going." The four of them head towards Arola to find Leo and Luna.
Back with the twins…
"Excuse me. Mr. Penguin?" Luna spoke to the penguin. "Could you squawk twice if we're almost there?" The lead penguin complies before he and his feathered friends jump off the raft and into the river.
"Hey, don't leave us!" Leo said to the penguins.
"Uh, Leo…" Luna spoke, looking towards the large number of penguins around them. Leo notices them.
"Well, that's just wonderful." Leo sighed. "Of all the possible places we could have gone, we had to end up on a raft ride to a proverbial Antarctica!"
"Or worse… Planet of the Penguins!" Luna added.
"Uh… hi." Leo nervously greeted the penguins. "We come in peace…"
"Uh…take us to your leader?" Leo spoke. Some of the penguins usher them to a penguin-themed mausoleum.
The twins look visibly upset, but they approach the steps leading to the mausoleum.
"If we're gonna climb 2,000 stairs, there'd better be someone up there who can at least speak English." Luna said. Halfway up, Leo spots Arola in the distance.
"Luna, check it out." Leo spoke to his sister, gaining her attention.
"Is that… a city?" Luna asked.
"Looks like it." Leo answered.
"We'll visit it later. Right now, we've got bigger problems." Luna said. "Like who in their right minds would lead us here." They reach the mausoleum and enter it, seeing several more penguins inside.
"Hello? Is anyone inside?" Luna called out for a voice they could understand.
"Of course, open your eyes and look around, will ya?" A gruff, masculine voice spoke. "You're surrounded by my penguin army.
"We know that! I mean is there anyone here without feathers and a beak?!" Luna argued.
"There's no one here but us penguins, Ms. Luna. And don't think you can convince me otherwise, Leo." The voice spoke.
"Hold up, you know our names?" Leo asked.
"I know more than that, Leo…" The voice said. "Both of you are 4-foot 9… participated in three tournaments, counting this one… I've got all the numbers in my report, and I'd say your number is up because I'm about to put the freeze on you!" The voice laughed.
"Just who are you and what do you want from us, anyway?" Leo questioned.
"Don't tell me you never heard of me." The voice spoke again before the penguins blocking its owner from view moved, revealing a table and chair where an avatar resembling Nightmare Penguin appeared on top of the table.
"I think we'd remember you." Leo said.
"Look… things are never what they appear to be around here, so if you do know about me, I looked a bit different." The Nightmare Penguin avatar said. "Give up? I'm one of the Big Five!"
"The Big Five?" The twins gasped in unison.
"That's right!" The avatar leapt back and landed perfectly on the chair. He's handed a clipboard with several papers on it. "The name's Crump, former accountant of KaibaCorp."
"And you're disguised as a penguin?" Luna asked.
"Yes, and I'll explain all that soon." Crump said. "But for starters, let's do a quick run through your numbers. According to my notes, there's a 100% chance that we're going to duel!"
"If you wanted to duel me, you should've spoken up sooner!" Luna said. "Why go through all this trouble with these penguins?"
"Now, now, I did say that we'd duel. I never said that you were my opponent, Luna." Crump corrected her.
"What?" Luna said, puzzled.
"That's right. My opponent in this duel… is your brother." Crump told him.
"Me versus you?" Leo said.
"Exactly. Winner gets the loser's Link Crystals. That's the rule in this tournament, remember?" Crump asked them. "Now then, let's get back to my calculations. It says here you've dueled ten times in your life, which gives you a 2% chance of actually winning this duel. It also says that you've developed a unique ability to communicate telepathically with your sister when you two were three years old, of course that only applies when she's in the Duel Monsters Spirit World."
"Hey, how do you know all this stuff about us, birdbrain?!" Luna asked Crump.
"Collecting facts and figures is my job." Crump said. "And you'd be surprised by what numbers tell you about a person's life."
"Look, Crump!" Leo spoke up "Our lives are none of your business!"
"I'm going to have to disagree with you." Crump said. "I need to know everything about you both. Not that it'll help, because once I win this duel, I'll be ready to return to the real world!"
"In your dreams!" Leo barked.
"My partners and I are currently trapped in a deep corner of cyberspace, therefore we no longer have our own bodies."
"That would explain…" Luna trailed off.
"Yes, that explains why I've taken the form of a giant virtual penguin and come here to live with my penguin brothers and sisters!" Crump said. The penguins applaud Crump.
"Then how about you stay here?!" Leo said.
"Cause I need the real world, Leo!" Crump said. "And once I completely duel circles around you in my very own Palace of Ice, I'll be one step closer to returning to the world!"
"Listen up, Flipper Feet!" Leo yelled. "I've had enough of this, so we're outta here! C'mon, Luna!" Leo grabs Luna by the arm and they start running out of the palace.
"We'll see about that!" Crump chuckled. Leo and Luna run through the forest. "You can try and run away, you two, but the odds are against you!"
Suddenly, as they run, the area around them turns into ice. Leo nearly slips. Luckily, Luna managed to grab him.
"What's going on?!" Luna asked. The ice around then transforms into a giant iceberg that rises from the water.
"This cannot be good!" Leo said. Another iceberg rises to their level, revealing Crump.
"Nice try!" Crump laughed. "It looks like my iceberg dueling arena is about to leave you cold! Before we start, we should decide on how many Link Crystals we should wager. Not that it really matters now how many you wager. The probability that you'll be victorious is slim to none!"
"Fair enough. I'll wager four!" Leo wagers four of his Link Crystals.
"Seems simple enough. I happen to have seven Crystals." Crump said. "That means once I win, I'll have an extra crystal for one of my comrades. Speaking of which, why don't we play with a special rule?"
"What kind of special rule?" Luna asked.
"Oh you'll find out soon enough." Crump said.
"You sure you can handle him, Leo?" Luna asked her brother.
"I stood toe-to-toe with a Dark Signer. I can handle a penguin." Leo said. Luna simply sighed before hopping off the iceberg and onto a conveniently floating ice floe.
"I know all about your duel stats, and once I put you on ice, I'll be one step closer to waddling my way to reality!" Crump said.
"That's what you think, Crump!" Leo countered as his Duel Disk powered on. Crump's Duel Disk powers on.
"Let's duel!" The two of them shout in unison, beginning the duel.
Leo: 4000 LP
VS.
Crump: 4000 LP
"Time to kick your feathered butt! I'm going first!" Leo said.
Turn 1: Leo (4000 LP)
Leo's starting hand consisted of Morphtronic Celfon, Morphtronic Map, Morphtronic Scopen, Junk Box, and Morphtransition.
"(Great! With these cards, I'll be able to bring out Power Tool Dragon in no time!)" Leo thought. "I'll place one card face down, and then I summon Morphtronic Celfon in attack mode!"
The transformable robotic cell phone appeared, converting to its Robot form as it stood in attack mode.
(Morphtronic Celfon: Level 1/ ATK: 100/ DEF:100)
"What kind of monster is that? A one-star monster with just a hundred points each isn't something to be scared of." Crump said.
"That's where you're wrong! Thanks to my Celfon's special ability, whenever it's in attack mode, it can dial up a random number between 1 and 6, then I excavate the same number of cards depending on the number it lands on, and if there's a level 4 or lower Morphtronic monster among them, I can summon it straight to the field!" Leo explained. "So Celfon will start dialing… now!"
Celfon then cycled through the numbers on its chest, before it landed on the Number 4. And so, Leo excavated the top four cards of his deck.
"(C'mon. Daddy needs a new Duel Disk.)" Leo thought as he checked the four cards he excavated, revealed as Gadget Gamer, Morphtronic Converter, Power Pickaxe, and Morphtronic Boomboxen.
"Yes! Time to rock to the beat with Morphtronic Boomboxen!" Leo said.
A transformable robotic boombox appeared alongside the robot cell phone, in its boombox form as it sat in Defense Mode.
(Morphtronic Boomboxen: Level 4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 400)
"(As long as my Boomboxen is in Defense Mode, it can block any attack he hurls once a turn.)" Leo thought. "(And just in case things go south, my Morphtransition Trap can change my monster's battle mode and tune out his attack.)"
"Be careful, Leo." Luna murmured.
"Alright, birdbrain. Let's see what you can do." Leo signals the end of his turn.
"Now the fun begins." Crump said as his turn began.
Turn 2: Crump (4000 LP)
"Watch this." Crump draws his card. His starting hand is revealed as Shock Troops of the Ice Barrier, Strategist of the Ice Barrier, Driving Snow, Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier, and Magic Triangle of the Ice Barrier. The card he drew was Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier.
"I'll start off by summoning my Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier!" Crump said before summoning a monk in white and light blue clothing with Nordic-themed tattoos and a similar hat.
(Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier: Level 2/ATK: 1300/DEF: 0)
"And he gets a little power boost." Crump continued as his Cryomancer powered up.
(Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier: ATK: 1300 → 1500)
"How did your monster get more attack points already?!" Leo asked him.
"Well… seeing as my avatar form is loosely based on Nightmare Penguin, I gain a nice little Skill which increases the attack power of every Water monster on my side of the dueling field." Crump explains. "So now my Cryomancer has 1500 attack points and that's a number you can't argue with!"
"That's what you think!" Leo countered. "So, are you going to attack me or not?"
"Patience. We accountants are a cautious bunch. I never rush into anything unless the numbers are there to support it." Crump said. "To attack now, I'd have to ignore two important facts… the first being your face-down card! I'm more than 90% sure it's a Trap. As for the second, I'm at least 80% certain that your defensive monster has an ability that blocks my attacks."
Leo gasped, surprised that Crump somehow knew Leo's strategy. "That's not the kind of risk a man in my position could afford to take. Of course there's one way around that. I can activate the spell card Magic Triangle of the Ice Barrier!"
"Oh no!" Leo said.
"Judging by your reaction, I assume you know what this card can do." Crump noticed.
"Y-Yeah! If you show me 3 Ice Barrier Monsters in your hand, you can destroy one of my cards!" Leo replied.
"And the numbers are in my favor, because unfortunately for you, I do!" Crump acknowledged, revealing Shock Troops, Dance Princess, and Strategist of the Ice Barrier. "And because of that, I can destroy your Boomboxen!"
A triangle then appeared around Boomboxen and destroyed it.
"And now for Magic Triangle's other effect. Since a card was successfully destroyed, I can summon another Ice Barrier Monster from my hand." Crump said. "Now, which one out of the three I showed you should I summon? I know! Come on out, Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier!"
A young girl with light blue hair tied in pigtails with snowflake-shaped ties dressed in a purple parka with dual snowflake chakrams appeared.
(Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier/Level 4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 900)
(Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier ATK: 1700 → 1900)
"And she has more than looks, she also has a very useful ability. When she's out on the field with another Ice Barrier monster, I'm allowed to return any number of Spell or Trap Cards to your hand depending on how many Ice Barrier Monsters I reveal from mine!" Crump explained.
"Seriously?!" Leo gawked.
Crump chuckled as he revealed his Strategist again. "Upgrading my deck with these Ice Barrier cards was perfect! They can do all sorts of things to my opponent. Preventing attacks, disrupting strategies, a deck like this is perfect for me." Dance Princess creates a gust of cold wind that blows Leo's face-down card off the field. The card reappears in Leo's hand.
"And now that your face-down is back in your hand, your Celfon is now a sitting duck! Attack, mighty Cryomancer!" He commands his monster to attack Celfon. He deals a strong kick to the robotic cell phone, destroying it instantly.
"Ah! My Life Points!" Leo yelped.
(Leo: 4000 → 2600 LP)
Ice suddenly starts forming around Leo's legs. "What the…?"
"Oops, remember that "special rule" I mentioned? Well, as each duelist's Life Points decrease, his or her body will be encased in a block of solid ice!" Leo sneered upon hearing about Crump's special rule. "So get ready for quite a chilling ending! You and your sister will be frozen stiff until the end of time!" Crump chuckled.
Meanwhile, back with the Battle of the Kaibas…
Kaiba managed to defend himself from Chessmate Brilliant Queen's attack using his Negate Attack Trap Card, and now it's Seto Kaiba's turn to fight back.
Seto Kaiba: 4000 LP
Gozaburo Kaiba: 6000 LP
Seto's field: Blue-Eyes White Dragon (Level 8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500), Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon (Level 8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 0), and Vorse Raider (Level 4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1200)
Gozaburo's field: Chessmate Brilliant Queen (Level 8/ATK: 3400/DEF: 0) equipped with Grandmaster Crown
"Tell me something, Seto. Why are you a part of the Resistance against Shade, when you should be serving him instead?" Gozaburo asked. "I know you better than anybody else, there would be no possible way you'd come together with Yugi and the others, along with the duelists from the other timelines!"
"What's it to you, old man?" Kaiba glared. "I'm only a part of this so I could get back to running my business."
"Hmph, typical Seto, always so focused on himself and his business." Gozaburo said. "When I was in charge, my subordinates handled everything. But you just had to toss them out like week-old garbage!"
"They were in the way." Kaiba sneered.
"Whatever the case, you won't be running KaibaCorp for long. Once I win this duel, and move on to win this tournament, I'll be placed back in charge, with the Big Five, and history will be as it should've been!" Gozaburo signals the end of his turn with a face-down.
"That will never happen, as long as I finally defeat you!" Kaiba said, taking his draw phase.
(Turn 4: Seto Kaiba: 4000 LP)
"I draw!" Kaiba draws his card. "I activate Pot of Greed! Now I can draw two cards." He draws two cards, revealed as Paladin of White Dragon and The King of D. His other two cards are White Dragon Ritual and Beacon of White.
"Now I summon The King of D.!" Kaiba then summons a human in dragon-like garb, wielding a three-neck guitar.
(The King of D.: Level 4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1100)
"He wasn't in your deck the last time we faced off." Gozaburo said.
"That's because he wasn't a part of it last time." Kaiba said. "Speaking of my deck, I'll use his ability. By discarding a Spell or Trap, I can add The Flute of Summoning Dragon, The Melody of Awakening Dragon, or Dragon Revival Rhapsody from my deck to my hand." A card slips out of his deck and Kaiba puts that card in his hand.
"Then, I activate White Dragon Ritual! By sacrificing my Level 4 Vorse Raider, I can summon my trusted dragon tamer. Rise, Paladin of White Dragon!" Vorse Raider disappears and in its place is a warrior in white and gold armor riding a white dragon.
(Paladin of White Dragon: Level 4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1200)
"An impressive move, Seto." Gozaburo chuckled. "Too bad none of your monsters are strong enough to take out my Brilliant Queen."
"We'll see about that. Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon, attack Chessmate Brilliant Queen!" Kaiba commands his Jet Dragon to attack.
"Didn't I just say that your monsters don't stand a chance against my Queen?" Gozaburo questioned.
"They will once I activate Jet Dragon's ability. Whenever it engages in a battle, he can force one of your cards back to your hand." Kaiba explained. "And the card I choose is your Grandmaster Crown!"
"NO!" Gozaburo yelled as the crown on Brilliant Queen disappeared. The card reappeared in Gozaburo's hand.
(Chessmate Brilliant Queen: ATK: 3400 → 2800)
"Now that that bothersome crown is gone, Kaiba can get rid of his Queen." Zaria said.
"Not this time! I activate Negate Attack! Gozaburo reveals his Trap card. A barrier blocks Jet Dragon's attack. Kaiba scowled when he saw his attack fail.
"Now you know how I felt during that last turn, Seto." Gozaburo laughed.
"You'll regret that very soon!" Kaiba glared.
Back with Leo vs Crump…
Crump just got rid of Leo's Celfon and a few of his Life Points in the process. Leo is starting to shiver from the ice forming around his knees.
Leo: 2600 LP
Crump: 4000 LP
"What's the matter, Leo? Got cold feet?" Crump taunted.
"V-very funny, Crump." Leo said sarcastically as his Draw Phase began.
Turn 3: Leo (2600 LP)
"You accountants are hysterical." He began to draw his card as his hand trembled from the cold.
"You're just lucky my Cryomancer's ability prevents my Dance Princess from attacking since she's Level 4." Crump said.
"So then his ability prevents all monsters that are Level 4 or higher from attacking?" Luna asked.
"Got that right." Crump said. Leo looked at the card and saw that it was Morphtronic Datatron.
"(Datatron… this could help me turn up the heat. Only problem is he's too weak to take down either of his monsters.)" Leo thought in his head. "I… I place a monster in Defense mode, then place one more card face-down."
"Sounds like someone's got a case of the chills. You should really dress more appropriately for the weather, kid." Crump chuckled as Leo's face down monster appeared and another face-down card appeared behind it.
"Sorry, my tux was at the cleaners!" Leo fired back.
"You got spunk, boy. Too bad it'll all go to waste once your mind is frozen solid!" Crump said as his turn began.
Turn 4: Crump (4000 LP)
"Now then…" Crump draws his card, revealed as Drowning Mirror Force. "Let's see… this could take some time… this card's good, but there's always these…"
"What's the holdup, beak breath?" Leo said. "Can't you see that it's freezing? Just go already!"
"I need to weigh the percentages before I make my decision. Morphtronic monsters aren't much of a risk to me on their own, but if you added other cards that support them, maybe they could be more of a threat!"
"Add other cards to them?" Leo asked.
"Of course. Every duelist knows that fact! What's the problem?" Crump said.
"There is no problem." Leo glared.
"Oh, I get it, you forgot to devise a strategy when you were building your deck!" Crump guessed. Leo simply responded with a sneer. "I knew it! Only a pure amateur would make that mistake!" He then laughed. "I'll take it easy on you with these two face-down cards, then I'll wait for your meltdown." Crump placed two face-down cards, ending his turn.
"(Hmm… he didn't attack, so he must be planning something big.)" Leo thought.
"Be careful, Leo. I think he's planning something." Luna called out to her brother.
"I know!" Leo responded.
"Soon, my brain will be inside that empty head of yours, then I'll finally be free!" Crump said.
Turn 5: Leo (2600 LP)
"You're not flying the coop just yet, so chill out!" Leo draws his card and plays it right away. "I play Morphtronic Accelerator! By returning one Morphtronic in my hand to my deck, I can blast one card off your field, then I get to draw a card. I choose to get rid of the face-down card on the right." A rocket booster appears from the card and blasts through Crump's face-down card, revealed as Drowning Mirror Force. "Booyah! How do you like that?" Crump responds with a laugh.
"You took my bait! By destroying one Trap card, you just fell victim to another!" Crump said, surprising Leo. "It's a little thing called Driving Snow! When activated, it creates a giant blizzard that blows away one of your Spell or Trap cards! So get ready for the storm of the century!" Crump's Trap card blows a gust of freezing wind at Leo's Morphtransition, destroying it. Leo braced himself as his card was destroyed. "Cold enough for ya? Now you've got nothing to stop my attack, so my Cryomancer is free to strike!"
"Oh yeah? It'll take a lot more than that to freeze me out!" Leo draws his card thanks to his spell's effect. He sees that the card is the Spell card Gadget Box.
"Isn't the weather wonderful today? It's a pleasant -16 degrees!" Leo tries to play another card, but Luna stops him.
"Leo, wait!" Leo hears Luna's voice in his head. "I'm using my powers to communicate with you mentally. I'm here to guide you."
"Okay, I trust you." Then, mirroring his sister's movements, he plays his next card. "Now I activate a Field Spell! Morphtronic Map!" A map the size of the duel field appears between them.
"Now for my face-down monster. I'll switch it from Defense to Attack Mode Reveal Morphtronic Datatron!" A robotic lighter appeared in its robot form.
(Morphtronic Datatron: Level 3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 600)
"Pretty cool, right?" Leo asked him. "And that's not all. Whenever a monster changes their battle mode, my map gains what's known as a Morph Counter." A small totem is placed on the map. "And for every Morph Counter my map has, my Morphtronics gain 300 Attack points." Datatron is energized by the map.
(Morphtronic Datatron: ATK: 1200→1500)
"Now to warm things up!" Datatron turns to its owner and uses the flame it shoots to melt the ice around Leo's legs. "Much better. Next, I'll activate the Spell Gadget Box." Leo plays one more Spell card. "When I play this card, my Spell gains 3 Morph Counters." A tool box appears on the field. "And by removing one Morph Counter from the field, Gadget Box lets me summon a Gadget Token." From the box, a small gadget appears.
(Gadget Token: Level 1/ATK: 0/DEF: 0)
"Now I'll activate Datatron's ability. By tributing one monster, I can burn through 600 of your Life Points." Leo said as his Gadget Token is loaded into Datatron. "Blast away! Datatron Corruptor Cannon!" Datatron fires its cannon at Crump. Crump flails about cartoonishly as the fire hits him.
(Crump: 4000 → 3400 LP)
"And since you lost some Life Points, your own rule is turned against you." Leo pointed out as ice started forming around Crump's feet. "How do you like being frozen?"
"Actually, I just adore it!" Crump said. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a penguin, and we like things on the cool side. Or do you need a lesson on Antarctic birds?"
"Now that you mention it, I do have one question, Crump." Leo said.
"Is it about my charming good looks?" Crump guessed.
"No, not exactly. I want to know why you're so obsessed with penguins." Leo said.
"Not that it's any of your business, but when I was a young man around your age, these little flightless birds saved me from living a life of misery!" Crump said. "You see, unlike you and Luna, I was an only child and my parents were never around. They worked late and were too exhausted to spend any time with me. So to entertain myself, I would sit for hours and count things… crumbs on the rug, dots on the wallpaper, whatever I could find. Then one day, while counting books on the shelf, I discovered a book about penguins. I learned that a mother and father penguin actually take turns sitting on their eggs. These birds had a bond with their children that I never knew could exist. From then on, my life revolved around my two loves: numbers and penguins. And I devoted myself to both. As I grew, I dreamt of a career that would combine my two great passions. Then one day, that dream almost came true. I climbed my way to the top of the Kaiba Corporation as the company's chief accountant and number expert. And I had an idea that would have tripled our profits."
"Let me guess: an all-penguin theme park?" Leo guessed.
"Exactly! I brought such a proposal to Seto Kaiba…" Crump said.
(Flashback)
"Please, don't waste my time." Kaiba said. "We're a gaming corporation, not a petting zoo. Look Crump, stick to your calculator."
(End Flashback)
"That good-for-nothing punk shot down my dream, and once I'm free from my virtual bonds, I'll finally have my revenge!"
"But what does that have to do with us?" Leo asked.
"I told you I need a human body in order to escape the cyber realm that I'm in." Crump responded. "You and your sister just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the future, you should be more careful about who you hang around with. Of course, the odds of either of you actually having a future are slim to none! So let's continue this duel so I can get out of my digital shackles."
"Oh, we'll continue alright! But Luna and I aren't handing over our bodies to anybody!" Leo said. "And this card will help me make sure of that! I now activate the Junk Box Spell card! This lets me bring back a Morphtronic from my Graveyard. Come on back, Morphtronic Celfon!" The robotic cell phone reappears in its robot form.
(Morphtronic Celfon: Level 1/ATK: 100→400/DEF: 100
"Now I activate its ability! Now a random number between 1 and 6 is dialed and I check that many cards from the top of my deck. If any of them are Level 4 or lower Morphtronics, I can summon them. Start dialing… now!" The display starts flashing until it lands on… a 6. "Yes! I get to check six cards!" Leo checks the top six cards of his deck. He sees the cards Morphtronic Impact Return, Remake Puzzle, Gadget Arms, Morphtronic Radion, Morphtronic Mix-Up, and Morphtronic Remoten.
"Aw yeah! Here comes the Tuner Monster Morphtronic Remoten!" A remote appears in its robot form.
(Morphtronic Remoten: Level 3/ATK: 300→600/DEF: 1200)
"A Tuner monster?!" Crump gasped.
"That's right, and now Level 3 Remoten will tune with Level 1 Celfon and Level 3 Datatron!" Remote transforms into three motes of light that fly up and turn into three green energy rings that surround Celfon and Datatron, turning them transparent and revealing four motes of light.
"Machine and might combine to bring peace to the world!" Leo chanted as a blinding beam of light shines behind Leo. "I Synchro Summon! Here comes the monster with some major motor! Power Tool Dragon!" Leo summons a mechanical dragon with a yellow body, a shovel for a Left arm, and a screwdriver on its right. It takes its place in Attack Mode.
(Power Tool Dragon: Level 7/ATK: 2300/DEF: 2500)
"So, that's your Ace Monster? Hah! I was expecting something similar to what your Signer friends have." Crump said.
"Don't let its look fool you. Power Tool Dragon's got some tricks you won't believe. Like this one!" Leo activates Power Tool Dragon's ability. "Once a turn, I can show you three Equip Spells in my deck and you get to pick one for me to add to my hand." He shows Crump three Equip Spells: Megamorph, Double Tool C&D, and Power Pickaxe. The three cards flip backward and shuffle around. "Feeling lucky today. Crump?"
"(The ones I have to absolutely avoid are Double Tool C&D and Power Pickaxe, but I can't tell which one is which!)" Crump thought. "(No matter, even if I end up picking either of them, he won't be able to attack just as long as I have my Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier. His ability puts all attacks from monsters that are Level 4 or higher on ice.)"
"(Whatever he picks, I won't be able to attack because of his Cryomancer. Is there a way around him?)" Leo asked.
"Okay then, I'll play your little guessing game. I pick… the card on the right." Crump picks the card on the right. The other two cards disappear and the third is left. Leo looks at the card Crump picked and sees that it's Double Tool C&D.
"Nice choice… for me that is! You picked Double Tool C&D, just what I wanted!" Leo said, adding the equip spell to his hand. "I'll equip Double Tool to Power Tool right now!"
Power Tool Dragon's arms converted into a Buzzsaw on its left, and a large drill on its right.
"And thanks to Double Tool, my dragon gains 1000 Attack Points during my turn."
(Power Tool Dragon: ATK: 2300 → 3300)
"Even with that power boost, it's pointless if it can't attack. What he needs to do is get rid of that Cryomancer." Luna thought. "It's good that it's in Defense Mode, especially since Power Tool Dragon can send a card he's equipped with to the Graveyard to stay on the field."
"That's all for now, Crump. Let's see what you got." Leo signaled the end of his turn.
Power Tool Dragon: ATK: 3300 → 2300
Turn 6: Crump (3400 LP)
"Gladly." Crump draws his card. He sees that the card is Royal Penguins Garden. "Now this is something that'll help me feel right at home. I activate the Spell Royal Penguins Garden!" His side of the field becomes decorated with icy flowers. "When I activate this Spell, I can add a Penguin card in my deck to my hand, just so long as it isn't another copy of this card." A card slips out of his deck and Crump places that card in his hand. "Now I summon the Tuner Monster Dewdark of the Ice Barrier!" He summons another ice-wielding warrior, this one in dark red and purple wielding ice kunai.
(Dewdark of the Ice Barrier: Level 2/ATK: 1200/DEF: 800)
"Another Tuner Monster?" Luna gasped.
"I'm not worried, Dewdark's ability only works when all his monsters are Level 2 or lower. And last I checked, his Dance Princess is Level 4." Leo pointed.
"How right you are, kid, but I'm not attacking with my Dewdark." Crump said.
"Say what?!" Leo said.
"You didn't think I wouldn't know the ins and outs of the Ice Barrier cards, would you?" Crump asked. "You're about to pay for your overconfidence once my Level 2 Dewdark tunes my Level 4 Dance Princess!" Dewdark transforms into two motes of light that fly up and turn into green energy rings that surround Dance Princess, turning her into four more motes of light. "Unleash your fury with your arctic fangs and chilling roar!" A pillar of light shines behind Crump. "I Synchro summon! Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier!" An icy blue tiger in black and gold armor appeared with a roar.
(Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier: Level 6/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1400)
"And thanks to my Skill, my Tiger King gains 200 Attack points straight away." Crump said as his Tiger King roared.
(Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier: ATK: 2000 → 2200)
"But that's just the beginning! Now I activate Dewloren's special ability." Crump said. "By returning my other two face-up cards to my hand, Dewloren gains 500 Attack Points for each card until the end of this turn." Crump's Royal Penguins Garden and Cryomancer disappear from the field and reappear in Crump's hand. Dewloren roars louder.
(Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier: ATK: 2200 → 3200)
"Not good. My dragon's toast!" Leo said.
"That's right! And now that my Cryomancer is off the field, my tiger is free to pounce!" Crump said. "Dewloren, attack his Power Tool Dragon! Arctic Fang!" Icy fangs materialize around Dewloren's mouth and they bite down on Power Tool Dragon. The buzzsaw and drill disappear.
"Sorry, but by getting rid of my equip card, my dragon gets to stick around." Leo said.
"Wish I could say the same for your Life Points." Crump said as the ice reformed around Leo's legs.
(Leo: 2600→1700 LP)
"Speaking of Life Points, since you lost more, the freezing continues!" Crump said.
"You're s-sick!" Leo shivered.
"It'll all be over soon, Leo. Your Life Points have dropped over 50% and though you still have your dragon, without any cards to defend him, you're out in the cold!" Crump said.
"You wish!" Leo glared as his and Luna's Marks of the Crimson Dragon started glowing.
With Jaden and his group…
They're searching for any clues on the whereabouts of their friends so they could build up the Resistance. So far, the only clue they have so far is that a pair of twins with green hair were seen following a penguin towards the mountain city.
"If Leo and Luna are around somewhere, someone here must've seen them." Jesse said.
"This is usually the part where I tell you that you shouldn't get your hopes up, but I guess when you have something that needs to be done, you follow through to the end." Aster said.
"Got that right, Aster." Jaden agreed just as Yusei's Mark of the Dragon Head started glowing.
"Yusei! Your arm!" Jesse said.
"It's glowing!" Aster said.
"Yeah. This means Leo and Luna are nearby." Yusei said. "And I think it's safe to say Leo's in danger."
"Then we better find them, and fast!" Jaden said.
Back with Leo vs Crump…
Leo breathed on his hands to keep warm, but the frigid air isn't doing much to help.
"A little chilly, are we? That's the least of your worries!" Crump said as he started laughing.
To be continued…