Chapter 39: CatNap Vs Holden Howler: A New Day, A New Duel
It was a brand new day. CatNap was in the hospital, ready to go meet with DogDay, who was ready to leave.
"Guys!" DogDay said with a smile,
"DogDay!" CatNap said as he went over to hug him, "Feeling better?"
"Of course, buddy, I am! I'm medically cleared!"
"Good."
"Let's go home and meet with the others."
While walking home, DogDay looked up at the sky.
"When I was sleeping in that hospital, I had a dream where I was talking to my Dad, one on one." He said,
"Really?" CatNap wondered,
"Yeah."
"What was it like?"
"I talked to him about everything. My toxic mom, you, my friends, CraftyCorn, and… Kickin…"
"And what did he say?"
"He told me that he was happy that I was still standing and that I shouldn't use the past to make myself look weak."
"That…"
"And then I almost snapped at him after telling me all of the bad stuff that's been going on and that I also have emotions."
"Did he snap too?"
"Surprisingly, no, he was surprised by how I reacted. It was some sort of test he set up to make sure that I was using my emotions, but not all the time."
"Oh, well…"
"Don't worry, he knows everything that's been going on ever since he died."
"Ok then…"
Holden meanwhile was at a cafe, finishing up lunch when he then saw CatNap and DogDay.
"Hey guys!" He said to them,
"Hello, Holden!" DogDay said, "Happy you're feeling better as well!"
"Yes, yes I am!"
Holden then got up and left his money on the table.
"Hey, I'm sorry about Kickin." He said,
"Don't worry about him, he's out of our sight." CatNap said, "Except yours since you're still keeping his chicken butt on a leash."
"Yeah… I am."
Holden sighed.
"So… What are you guys doing?" He asked them,
"Not much." DogDay replied,
"Yeah, except going home and meeting with the others." CatNap replied, "Why?"
Holden had a confident look.
"I want to duel you, CatNap." He replied,
"A duel?" CatNap said, "But you just got out of the hospital."
"But I got in there from a beatdown, a physical beatdown by someone we don't know."
"Right…"
"And you never had a chance to duel in the tournament." DogDay said,
"True. So, what do you say, CatNap?"
CatNap looks at DogDay for a second before looking back at Holden.
"Sure." He replied, "I need some more excitement in my life, but…"
"But?" Holden wondered,
"I don't have my duel disk. Or my deck."
"Oh, ha ha… Me neither."
"Right, where should we meet?"
"I think I know a place. I'll text you where."
"Wanna exchange numbers?"
"Sure!"
The two got out their phones to exchange numbers.
"Alright, see you two later!" Holden said as he walked away,
"I hope you won't go overboard on him." DogDay said,
"I won't." CatNap said, "Trust me."
PickyPiggy meanwhile was on the phone with Bobby.
"Busy today?" PickyPiggy wondered, "That's ok, baby, we can hang out together whenever both of us are ready."
PickyPiggy smiled and blushed.
"Love ya, Bobby." She said as she blew a kiss at her phone before hanging up and sighed, "What a time to be alive…"
PickyPiggy's phone then started to ring again as Bubba was trying to call her.
"Bubba? What does he want?" She wondered as she answered Bubba's call, "Hello? …Oh? Nothing, nothing's new… Me and Bobby aren't hanging out today, she's busy with life."
PickyPiggy then realized something.
"You know what?" She asked, "Can I ask ya something, Bubba? Can we… duel? I never dueled ya in a while, and I have a new deck, so maybe this should be the perfect time for me to show you my new deck and come back to the basics."
PickyPiggy smiled.
"Great, thanks." She said, "Ok, I'll meet ya there. Later, Bubba."
Later, CatNap had his Duel Disk out and was walking to the park with DogDay.
"Good luck." DogDay said, "And don't go overboard on Holden."
"Don't worry, I got this." CatNap said, "I won't go overboard."
At the park, Holden was waiting for CatNap and DogDay. He saw them arriving.
"Hello!" He said as he showed CatNap and DogDay his Duel Disk, "I got my Duel Disk as well. Ready?"
"I'm ready." CatNap replied as he showed Holden his Duel Disk, "It's a new day, and a new duel will start."
"Alright, let's do this!"
The two then gathered on the duel field, started their Duel Disks and started the Duel by shouting "Duel!" together.
Turn 1 has started and Holden went first. He looked at his 5 cards in his hand.
"Alright, CatNap, I never got the chance to duel against KickinChicken with my cards, but I can with you." He said to him,
"Cool." CatNap said, "Just don't go overboard now that you're out of the hospital."
"I won't, as long as you won't do the same to me."
"Deal."
"Ok, here we go!"
Holden then played a Spell Card.
"To start this duel, I'll play the Spell Card, Gladiator Beast's Respite!" He said,
"Gladiator Beasts?!" DogDay said, "That already sounds a bit overboard!"
Holden then shuffled back Gladiator Beast Secutor and Gladiator Beast Sagittarii.
"By shuffling back 2 of my Gladiator Beast monsters from my hand to my deck, I can draw 3 cards." He said as he does so,
"And it looks like he's back to the usual 5 cards start." DogDay said,
"What a unique way to draw new cards." CatNap said,
"Thanks. Anyways, I think I have what I need for this next card!"
Holden then Normal Summoned a monster.
"I Normal Summon Gladiator Beast Equeste in Attack Position!" He shouted,
Gladiator Beast Equeste was Normal Summoned in Attack Position with 1600 ATK Points.
"I'll then set two cards face down." Holden said as he does so, "And that wraps up my turn. Go ahead, CatNap, it's your turn."
"Alright, it's my turn." CatNap said as he draws a card to start Turn 2,
CatNap then started his turn by playing a Spell Card.
"I'll start my turn off by activating the Spell Card, Chaos Space." He said as he then sends Black Dragon Collapserpent from his hand to the Graveyard, "By sending a Light or Dark monster from my hand to the Graveyard, I can add a Level 4 to 8 monster that can't be Normal Summoned or Set and with a different attribute from the one discarded, from my Deck to my Hand."
CatNap then added White Dragon Wyverburster.
"And I'll add White Dragon Wyverburster since I discarded Black Dragon Collapserpent." He said,
"Are you gonna use him now?" Holden asked him,
"Not yet." CatNap replied,
"Not yet?"
"You'll find out. For now, I'll set a monster."
CatNap then sets a monster face-down.
"And then I'll set a card." He said as he does so, in the Spell/Trap Zones, "It's your turn."
"Oh no, does CatNap have another case of bad hand syndrome?" DogDay wondered, "I hope he finds a way through…"
"Ok… It's my turn!" Holden said as he draws to start Turn 3,
Holden looks at the card he drew.
"Hmmm…" He wondered, "Is this good enough? Only one way to find out."
Holden then Normal Summoned a monster.
I Summon Rescue Cat in Attack Position!" He said,
Rescue Cat was Normal Summoned in Attack Position with 300 ATK Points. This made DogDay go aw.
"Awwww!" He said, "He's adorable!"
"He kinda is…" CatNap said to DogDay as he then turned to Holden, "What does he do?"
"Simple!" Holden said, "I can send Rescue Cat to the Graveyard to Special Summon 2 Level 3 or lower Beast monsters from my Deck with their effects negated!"
Holden then sends Rescue Cat to the Graveyard to activate its effect. He then searches for two Level 3 or lower Beast monsters from his Deck to Special Summon them.
"Now I'll Special Summon in Attack Position, Test Tiger and Gladiator Beast Samnite!" Holden shouted,
Test Tiger with 600 ATK Points and Gladiator Beast Samnite with 1600 ATK Points were both Special Summoned in Attack Position.
"But I'm not done yet." Holden said, "Because I'm about to Link Summon!"
The Link Circuit has appeared.
"The summoning requirements are 2 monsters including a Gladiator Beast monster." Holden said, "So I'll be using Gladiator Beast Samnite and Test Tiger as Link Materials!"
Gladiator Beast Samnite and Test Tiger were sent to the Bottom Left and Bottom Link Arrows as Link Materials.
"Link the circuit!" Holden shouted, "Here comes a new test beast as I Link Summon Link-2 Test Panther!"
Link-2 Test Panther was Special Summoned in Attack Position with 800 ATK Points in the one Extra Monster Zone.
"Now when Test Panther is Link Summoned, I can add a Gladiator Beast card from my Deck to my Hand." Holden said as he does so,
Holden then adds the Quick-Play Spell Card Gladiator Beast United from his Deck to his Hand and then shuffles it.
"And now I'll play Gladiator Beast United that I just added!" He said, "By shuffling from my hand, field or Graveyard the materials needed for a Gladiator Beast Fusion Monster, I can Special Summon that Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, ignoring its summoning conditions!"
"Oh boy, this looks bad." DogDay said, concerned,
Holden then shuffled back to his Deck Gladiator Beast Equeste from his Field and Gladiator Beast Samnite from his Graveyard.
"And since I shuffled back 2 different Gladiator Beast monsters, I'll Special Summon from the Extra Deck, the Level 5 Fusion Monster, Gladiator Beast Essedarii!" He shouted as he does so,
Gladiator Beast Essedarii was Special Summoned in Attack Position with 2500 ATK Points.
"Already a 2500 ATK Monster?!" DogDay shouted,
"And since I've used Gladiator Beast United, for the rest of this turn, I can't declare attacks with any monsters except for Gladiator Beast monsters, so my Essedarii, despite not having any effects whatsoever, will take charge into battle, starting now!"
The Battle Phase has started.
"Essedarii will attack your face-down monster!" Holden shouted,
"Oh crap." CatNap said,
The face-down monster was revealed to be Chaos Witch with 1600 DEF Points. Essedarii dashed towards Chaos Witch.
"But wait, there's more!" Holden shouted, "When a Gladiator Beast monster battles a monster at the start of Damage Step, I can Special Summon this guy!"
Gladiator Beast Vespasius was Special Summoned in Attack Position with 2300 ATK Points.
"Gladiator Beast Vespasius!" Holden shouted, "And he'll help Essedarii with the Battle Phase!"
Essedarii then attacked and destroyed Chaos Witch and sent her to the Graveyard.
"Come attack me." CatNap said, pressuring Holden,
"Ok, if you say so." Holden said as he pointed at him, "Vespasius will now attack you directly! And since he was Special Summoned under a Gladiator Beast monster's effect, all monsters I control gain 500 ATK Points!"
Test Panther's ATK Points were now at 1300 while Vespasius's ATK Points were now at 2800. Essedarii's ATK Points, which had already attacked, were now at 3000.
"His monsters have gotten stronger!" DogDay said,
"Vespasius, gun CatNap down!" Holden shouted,
Vespasius then attacked CatNap and dealt 2800 points of damage to him, leaving him with 1200 Life Points.
"I'm… still standing." He said,
"Well that's good." Holden said, "Oh, and you should be lucky, since Test Panther can't attack through Gladiator Beast United's effect."
"Right, because he's not a Gladiator Beast monster, despite being a monster from them."
"Exactly."
Holden sighed in relief.
"Anyways, now for me to end my turn." He said, "I'm feeling confident about my set-up of monsters. Try and take them down, CatNap."
"I will." CatNap said as he draws to start Turn 4,
Turn 4
CatNap: 1200
Holden Howler: 4000
CatNap looked at the card he drew and decided to activate it.
"I'll play the Spell Pot Of Greed, which lets me draw 2 cards from my deck." He said as he did so, "Now I'm back up to 5 cards in my hand… I sure hope this is all that I need to make this comeback."
CatNap then Normal Summoned a familiar monster.
"I summoned Fallen Of Albaz in Attack Position!" He said,
"Oh! Albaz!" DogDay shouted,
Fallen Of Albaz was Normal Summoned in Attack Position with 1800 ATK Points.
"Now for Albaz's effect." CatNap said as he discarded a card from his hand to the Graveyard, being Chaos Hunter, "By discarding 1 card, I can Fusion Summon a Fusion Monster by using monsters from either field as Fusion Materials, including Albaz himself!"
"You can't be serious!" Holden said,
"I am!"
"Well, if that's the case, then I activate a Counter Trap, known as Gladiator Beast War Chariot!"
Holden then revealed one of his two face-down cards in the Spell and Trap Zone, being the counter trap, Gladiator Beast War Chariot.
"With this Counter Trap, when you activate a monster's effect while I control a Gladiator Beast monster, I can negate the activation and destroy it!" Holden said,
"What?!" CatNap shouted,
Fallen Of Albaz's effect was negated as a war chariot came out of the counter trap card and destroyed him and sent him to CatNap's Graveyard.
"Oh no, he was right there to use Albaz's effect!" DogDay said,
CatNap sighed.
"Alright then…" He said, "I'll just activate this Spell Card, Swords Of Revealing Light."
From his hand, CatNap activates Swords Of Revealing Light. 5 swords made out of light came down from the sky to block Holden's monsters from attacking.
"Your monsters can't attack during three of your turns." CatNap said,
"That's fine." Holden said, "I can find ways for me to power up my field before the swords go away."
"Good luck with that, because I end my turn."
"Alright, I'll draw!"
Holden draws to start Turn 5. He looked at the draw and took a deep breath.
"Ok, step 1!" He said as he showed the card he drew, "I'll Normal Summon one of the two Gladiator Beasts I have, being Gladiator Beast Darius!"
Gladiator Beast Darius was Normal Summoned in Attack Position with 1700 ATK Points.
"I'll then end my turn." Holden said as two of the Swords Of Revealing Light faded away,
CatNap draws to start Turn 6. He smiled at the card he drew.
"I end my turn." He said,
"What? That's it?" Holden wondered, "You're just curious about where my Gladiator Beasts are going, huh?"
"Could be."
"Ok, it's my turn!"
Holden draws to start Turn 7. DogDay was confused.
"Whatever CatNap is doing, he better knows where this is going…" He said with confidence,
Holden then Normal Summoned another Gladiator Beast monster he drew.
"Now I'll Normal Summon Gladiator Beast Laquari in Attack Position!" He shouted,
Gladiator Beast Laquari was Normal Summoned in Attack Position with 1800 ATK Points.
"And now that I have what I need, I'm going to Special Summon another Gladiator Beast Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck by shuffling the materials I control back into my Deck!" Holden said,
"Uh-oh, he's gonna bring out another one!" DogDay said,
"Bring it!" CatNap said,
"I will!" Holden said, "Because the materials needed are Gladiator Beast Vespasius and 2 other Gladiator Beast monsters!"
"Vespasius and 2 other Gladiator Beast monsters?!" DogDay said,
"Looks like you're gonna Special Summon a Gladiator Beast Fusion Monster that has Vespasius as a material, yes?" CatNap asked,
"You got it!" Holden replied, "Because right, I'm gonna shuffle back Vespasius alongside Laquari and Darius into my Deck!"
Holden then shuffled back Gladiator Beasts Vespasius, Laquari and Darius back into his Deck for a new Special Summon of a Gladiator Beast Fusion Monster.
"Swim out of the shallow waters and onto the land to conquer this duel!" Holden chanted, "From the Extra Deck, I Special Summon the Level 10 Fusion Monster, Gladiator Beast Domitianus!"
Gladiator Beast Domitianus came out of a sudden whirlpool of dark raging waters as it was Special Summoned in Attack Position with 3500 ATK Points.
"3500 ATK Points…" DogDay said in shock, "And CatNap is still wide open…"
CatNap was in shock as well.
"Not bad." He said,
"Thanks." Holden said, "Let's see if you can try and take down my Domitianus now. I end my turn."
"Alright, it's my turn!"
CatNap draws to start Turn 8. He looked at the card and sighed.
"Alright, I'll end my turn." He said as he looked at the Swords Of Revealing Light as only one remains blocking Holden,
"Ok, I draw!" Holden said as he drew to start Turn 9 and looked at the card he drew, "I'll set this card face-down and end my turn."
Holden sets the card he drew face-down in the Spell and Trap Zone. Then, the Swords Of Revealing Light were gone, same for CatNap's Spell Card of it as it was destroyed. CatNap then draws to start Turn 10.
"CatNap better knows where this is leading to…" DogDay said, "It's Turn 10 and his Swords Of Revealing Light are gone."
CatNap looked at the next card he drew and smiled.
"Perfect." He said as he played it, "From my hand, I activated the Spell Card, Dark Hole!"
Dark Hole was activated.
"Oh shit!" Holden shouted in shock, "Did you just set me up?!"
"Somewhat." CatNap replied, "Anyways, Dark Hole destroys all monsters on the field, but I have none so your monsters are gone!"
All of Holden's monsters were destroyed by a Dark Hole formed from the card.
"I still have my face-down cards in the Spell and Trap Zones…" He said to himself, "And those cards are Drowning Mirror Force and Blazing Mirror Force."
CatNap then banished Chaos Witch from his Graveyard.
"By banishing Chaos Witch, who's a Dark monster, I can Special Summon White Dragon Wyverburster from my hand in Attack Position!" He said,
White Dragon Wyverburster was Special Summoned in Attack Position with 1700 ATK Points.
"And when Chaos Witch was banished from the hand or Graveyard, I can Special Summon 2 Light Beast Tokens!" CatNap continued,
2 Light Beast Tokens were Special Summoned in Defense Position with 1000 DEF Points.
"And they're Tuners, so I'm gonna tune one of them with my Level 4 White Dragon Wyverburster!" CatNap continued as a Synchro Summon between one of the 2 Level 2 Light Beast Token tuners and Level 4 non-tuner White Dragon Wyverburster has started, "I Synchro Summon, the Level 6 tuner, Golden Cloud Beast - Malong!"
Level 6 tuner Synchro Monster Golden Cloud Beast - Malong was Synchro Summoned in Attack Position with 2200 ATK Points.
"But wait, there's more!" CatNap said as he banished White Dragon Wyverburster and Black Dragon Collapserpent from his Graveyard, "By banishing a Light and Dark from my Graveyard, I can Special Summon Chaos Sorcerer from my Hand!"
Chaos Sorcerer was Special Summoned in Attack Position with 2300 ATK Points.
"Here it comes, my moment for a comeback!" Holden said in his mind,
"Battle!" CatNap shouted as the Battle Phase started, "And before I attack, I'll activate the Quick-Play Spell, Anti-Magic Arrows!"
Anti-Magic Arrows was activated from CatNap's hand.
"From here until the end of this turn after this card is resolved, Spells and Traps and their effects cannot be activated!" CatNap said,
"What?!" Holden shouted,
"And cards and effects cannot be activated in response to my Anti-Magic Arrows!"
"No way!" DogDay said, "He locked Holden out from using any Spells or Traps!"
CatNap then pointed his monsters in Attack Position at Holden.
"Malong, Chaos Sorcerer, attack!" CatNap said, "And end this duel!"
Golden Cloud Beast - Malong attacked first by blasting wind at Holden, dealing 2200 points of damage, leading him with 1800 Life Points left.
"Next up, Chaos Sorcerer!" CatNap shouted, "Chaos Magic Blast!"
Chaos Sorcerer blasts its Light and Dark magic at Holden, dealing 2300 points of damage to him that drags his Life Points down to 0, making CatNap the winner.
"Yes, CatNap won!" DogDay said in glee,
After the duel, Holden was then on one knee. CatNap was concerned as he went over to check on him.
"Are you alright?" He asked him,
"Yes…" Holden replied as he sighed sadly, but shared a chuckle, "You sure as hell got me!"
CatNap sighed in relief.
"Good." He replied,
"Hey, wanna get some ice cream?" Holden asked him, "I can give you and DogDay something as well. On me."
"Sure."
CatNap went to DogDay with Holden.
"We're getting ice cream." CatNap said to DogDay,
"Oh boy!" DogDay said, "Let's go get some then!"
The three boys then went to get ice cream together after a duel between CatNap and Holden.