Chapter 43: Testing Out the Pendulum
After the debriefing, life returned to normal in Paradise City. The rest of the Junior Youth tournament was canceled so that the Lancers could prepare for the coming war. Once everything about the mini-invasion was explained, the city was in full support of The Lancers were moved to homeschooling so they could better focus on their dueling.
At the moment, several of them were at Leo Corp, watching a duel between Sylvio and Yuya. Declan had created more pendulum cards, and wanted to test if they worked. Once the two of them were in the room, Declan spoke.
"This is just a test, no need to go too crazy."
"Whatever! Now's my turn to finish you off with the very summoning method you pioneered, Sakaki."
Yuya just rolled his eyes, and activated his duel disk.
"Bring it on."
DUEL!
Yuya: 8000
Sylvio: 8000
Yuya frowned at his hand. Not a lot of options.
Better play it safe. Good thing this is just a practice duel.
"Since there are no monsters on the field, I can normal summon Performapal Drummerilla without tributing by reducing its level by 1. I'll set one card face down and end my turn."
"Really Yuya, that's all? I guess it's up to me to entertain our audience! And to start, I activate the spell card Spring of Rebirth! Then I'll activate Yosen Training Grounds! Next, I summon Yosenju Kama 1 (1600/500) in attack mode! And since I don't want him to get lonely, I'll activate his effect! Since he was normal summoned, I can automatically normal summon a different Yosenju from my hand, like Yosenju Kama 2 (1800/200)! And he has the same effect as 1, so come on out Yosenju Kama 3 (1500/500)! And since 3 Yosenju monsters were summoned, my Training Grounds gains 3 counters!"
Just like that, three of the candles in the shrine lit up.
"Now then, time to put on the hurt! First, Yosenju Kama 1's second effect activates! Once per turn, I can send one face up card on your field back to your hand, so say goodbye to your overgrown monkey!"
The weasel swung its sword, creating a small tornado that swept Drummerilla away.
"And don't forget, every time a monster is sent back to the hand, my Spring of Rebirth grants me 500 life points!"
Sylvio: 8500
"Now then, attack him directly, my Yosenju!"
Yuya: 3100
"I'm not done! By removing three counters from my Training Grounds, I can add Yosenju Shinchu L from my deck to my hand."
Yuya's eyes narrowed when he saw what card Sylvio had added. It was a Pendulum monster, meaning only one thing…
"I'll end my turn. Unfortunately, since my Kamas were normal summoned this turn, they must return to my hand."
Sylvio: 10,000
"It's your move, Yuya."
Up in the control room, Yuto, Yugo, Shay, and Declan were watching the duel curiously.
"That's his new deck? How can he win if his monsters can't stay on the field for more than one turn?"
"With Spring of Rebirth, they may not need to. Every time a card is returned to the hand, he gains life points. As long as he can keep his up and Yuya's down, it won't matter."
Shay scoffed.
"That punk is all talk. If this was a battlefield, he'd be a card by now."
Declan remained silent, focusing on the duel. Suddenly, his duel disk beeped. After a quick glance at it, he stood up.
"Excuse me, gentleman, but my attention is required elsewhere. Claude, keep me updated."
"Yes, sir."
"Alright Sylvio, not bad. First, I'll set the Scale 2 Performapal Drummerilla and the Scale 8 Performapal Skullcrobat Joker in the Pendulum Zone! Now I'll pendulum summon Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Attack him directly!"
"Not so fast, Yuya! I activate the effect of Yosenju Oyam in my hand! By discarding Kama 3, I can special summon him to the field (?/?)!"
"It doesn't matter, because Odd Eyes will just attack it instead!"
"Which is what I wanted! When Oyam battles, he copies your monster's attack and defense (?-2500/?-2000)!"
"Well, Drummerilla will be a pal and lend Odd Eyes some attack points (2500-3100)!"
Sylvio: 8800
"I'll end my turn with one card face down and end my turn."
Sylvio threw his head back and laughed.
"That's the best you can do? Well, Yuya, I certainly hope you enjoyed the spotlight while it lasted, because a new star is about to shine! First, I summon Yosenju Kama 1! And with his effect, here comes Kama 2! And here's a new player for you, Yosenju Sabu (1700/400)! And since Sabu was normal summoned while I control another Yosenju, I can add Yosenju Shinchu R from my deck to my hand! And now, with the scale 3 Yosenju Shinchu L and the Scale 5 Yosenju Shinchu R, I set the Pendulum scale!"
Yuya watched as the two stones rose into the air in a pillar of blue light, awaiting Sylvio's next move.
"Shinchu R's effect activates! Since I have another Yosenju in the other Pendulum zone, I can change its scale to 11! The only drawback is that I can only special summon Yosenju monsters for the rest of the turn, but that won't matter! Now, come on out, Mayosenju Daibak (3000/300)!"
Yuya stared unflinchingly as the mighty beast roared at him.
"Daibak's effect activates! Since it was Special summoned, I can automatically send back two of your cards back to your hand! Say goodbye to Odd Eyes and Drummerilla!"
Sylvio: 9800
"This duel is over! Attack him directly, my monsters!"
Sylvio grinned maniacally as his Daibak led the charge, blasting Yuya with a mighty blast of wind.
Yuya: 100
But before he could declare another attack…
"I activate my trap card, Flashbang! I can only activate this card after you declare a direct attack! We immediately move to the end phase."
Sylvio growled as his monsters were returned to his hand.
Sylvio: 11,800
"Fine, so you bought yourself another turn. But there's no way you can reduce my life points to zero before then!"
"Oh really? I activate my other trap card, Life Equalizer! Since your life points are at least 8000 higher than mine, our life points both get reset to 3000."
"What?"
Sylvio: 3000
Yuya: 3000
"Next, I'll summon Performapal Skullcrobat Joker (1800/100) in attack mode! With his effect, I'll add Timebreaker Magician to my hand. Now, with the scale 2 Drummerilla and the scale 4 Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon, I set the pendulum scale! Come on out, Timebreaker Magician (1400-2800)! Finish this duel!"
Sylvio could only watch in horror as Yuya's monsters attacked him directly, dropping to his knees as his life points hit zero.
Sylvio: 0000
"No…how could I lose?"
Yuya shook his head and left, hoping one day Sylvio would one day let go of his grudge.
Back in the control room, Declan returned just as the duel wrapped up.
"Claude, what are the readings?"
"Take a look for yourself."
Declan glanced at the table, nodding approvingly.
"Good, the summoning is stable. Send the cards planned into production."
"Yes, sir."
Then he turned to the other three in the room.
"I have some visitors who wish to see you."
The three were puzzled until Declan stepped aside to reveal…
"Rin Rin!"
Yugo immediately ran over to the green haired girl and hugged her, nearly tackling her to the ground. Rin, nearly in tears herself, happily returned the hug.
"Are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they? I swear, if that Yuri bastard did anything, I'll…"
"I'm fine, Yugo. Just glad to be free."
Shay and Yuto's reactions to Lulu's appearance was more subdued, but no less emotional as she grabbed them both in a big hug.
"Lulu? Is it really you?"
"It is me, Shay. Oh god, I thought I would never see you again!"
For the first time in ages, Shay smiled, giving his little sister the biggest hug he could.
"There, there. You're alright now."
Even Yuto felt tears well up in his eyes, hoping that this wasn't a dream.
"Lulu, I'm sorry I couldn't save you. If I had been there, I…"
"It's not your fault, Yuto. Please, don't blame yourself any longer."
Yuto nodded, and tearfully returned the hug. Serena and Barrett stepped into the room, smiling at the reunions. Shay looked at them and smiled.
"Thank you."
Even Declan couldn't help but smile at the scene.
"It's been a long day, all of you get some rest. I'm sure you have some catching up to do."