Chapter 3: Duel Against Pendulum
Osrelios is waiting outside Declan's office as he was instructed.
He was waiting on a chair at the wall, when the door opened. Out of the room walked Chairwoman Henrietta Akaba, most likely to gather the LDS Trio and challenge YouShow.
Henrietta glanced at him for a moment before continuing her walk.
Once she was out of sight, Oz walked into the office.
"You called?" Oz said.
"Just yesterday, Silvio Sawatari was attacked, and claims Yuya Sakaki was the perpetrator. My mother has just left to challenge his school with the so called "Top Trio" of LDS. You and I are going to follow and observe the battle. If the situation calls for, you'll get your chance to duel against Yuya Sakaki."
"Yes sir." Oz said.
"Good. Also, as you requested." Declan said as he pulled out 4 cards.
The first two were the cards that Osrelios let Declan borrow. The other two were the requested pendulum cards. Performapal BaroKuriboh and Performapal Classikuriboh.
Oz gave off an internal smirk. 'Just because I can't use my Z-arc deck doesn't mean I can't use some of the cards I had in that deck.'
Oz slipped the two cards into his Shining Sarcophagus deck, and followed Declan out the door.
After having rode in a limousine to YouShow, Declan and Osrelios wait in the shadows of hallway leading to the duel field.
They watch and observe how the duels go.
All three duels go as cannon. Yuya wins, Yuzu loses, and Gong ties.
Henrietta gets furious over the tie and demands one last match, as Yuya was about to duel Julia, Declan spoke up.
"I propose a different scenario."
Declan and Oz walk out of the shadows.
"Who are they?" Allie, one of the three children who attend YouShow, asks.
"The grey haired gentleman next to me is Declan Akaba, current CEO of Leo Corporation, and President of LDS." Oz explained.
This shocked the YouShow members.
"That is correct. Now onto the change in scenario. I have something I want to test. Here is how this is going to proceed. We will drop all charges for the incident involving Silvio Sawatari. But only if your best student duels my best student." Declan explained.
"Declan! But what about-" Henrietta began as Declan cut her off.
"There is no need. We already have all we need to add it to our curriculum." Declan stated.
Henrietta sighed. "Alright." She said, giving in.
"Well, it's obvious our best student is Yuya, but what about yours?" Shuzo Hiiragi, the current principal of YouShow, asked.
"Osrelios." Declan said.
Oz then stepped up.
Oz said nothing, but gave Yuya a small glance before walking towards the field.
"Well that's rude of him." Sora Shuinin comments.
Shuzo was then seen looking up Osrelios' record.
"What the!?" Shuzo shouts.
"Dad what's wrong?" Yuzu asks.
"This kid's dueling record. It's crazy." Shuzo explains.
Tate, another one of the children there, also looked up Osrelios.
"He only has about 15 duels on his record... which are all wins... wait! He uses more than one deck!?"
"Huh!?" Was the collective reaction of the YouShow Crew.
"Does it say which deck is his most used?" Gong, the steadfast duelist, asked.
"Something called a "Timelord Deck", it doesn't go into detail though."
"So I have to face someone like him... I'll take him down." Yuya declared.
'With the deck I'll be using, in your dreams tomato head.' Oz thought to himself.
Yuya walked onto the field and stood across from Osrelios.
"Give this your all." Oz said. "You'll need to if you want to put a dent in my LP." Oz had a 'looking down on you' type look.
"That jerk!" Yuzu said, fuming. "All he's doing is looking down on Yuya."
"How unsportsmanlike." Gong stated.
"Why so glum? Don't you know that a smile can work wonders?" Yuya asked.
Oz shot him a glare. "Spare me from whatever sappy speech you conjure up. Just know that no matter what. You'll lose."
Yuya gave him a concerned look. 'I guess I'll have to try and reach out to him through my dueling.' Yuya thought.
"Alright Yuya, you've got to win this, as your pride as a duelist is on the line!" Shuzo shouts. "Let's give you the best advantage: Athletic Circus!"
The same field as the cannon duel against Declan appeared.
Everyone in the crowd (minus Declan) began to recite the Action Duel chant.
At the very end Oz and Yuya both shout "Duel!"
Osrelios LP: 4000 hand: 5
Yuya LP: 4000 hand: 5
"You're the guest, why don't you take the first move?" Yuya suggests.
"Very well then. My turn!" Oz declared.
Looking at his hand, a very basic strategy for the particular deck he's using came to mind.
"I'll start by summoning Gadget Trio!"
The three RGY gadgets with energy lines on them appear on Oz' field.
Gadget Trio: atk: 1300
"When Gadget Trio is summoned, I can add Shining Sarcophagus, or a Spell/Trap that mentions it to my hand. I'll choose Shining Sarcophagus!"
Oz' deck shuffled before ejecting the card.
"Now I'll activate it!"
Suddenly an actual golden sarcophagus appeared on the field.
"Shining Sarcophagus is a continuous spell, meaning it stays on the field. What's more is that it can not be destroyed by monster effects." Oz explained.
"That sure looks like a troublesome card." Sora comments.
"Now I play my Sarcophagus' effect! Once per turn I can add any card that lists it in its text from my deck to my hand, other than another copy of itself. I add the spell card: Ties that Bind to my hand."
The sarcophagus opened up and a large version of the mentioned spell rose out. The large version then shrunk and flew into Oz' hand.
"Now I play my newly added spell. If I control Shining Sarcophagus and a monster that mentions it, I can special summon up to two level 4 or lower monsters from my hand or deck that list my Sarcophagus in their text."
"With this one card! Come forth the silent fighters that start from zero! Silent Magician Zero and Silent Swordsman Zero!"
The silent duo appeared from a portal created by Ties of Friendship.
Silent Swordsman Zero: atk: 1000
Silent Magician Zero: atk: 1000
Everyone had different reactions. Declan only showed mild suprise, while everyone else was shocked.
"Those two monsters... they look just like those incredibly rare cards that are said to be worth a fortune!" Yuzu exclaimed.
"To think he has such cards." Gawked Gong.
"He got three monsters on his field without having his hand go down past 4." Sora stated.
"Now I set 2 cards facedown and end my turn." Oz declared.
"That's not good for Yuya." Tate stated. "With 3 monsters and 2 set cards, who knows what could be in store."
"My turn! I draw!" Yuya declared as he drew a card.
Yuya LP: 4000 hand: 6
Yuya immediately noticed Oz' smirk. "What's with that look?" He questions.
"Oh nothing. It's just that Silent Magician Zero's effect activates. Whenever my opponent draws a card, she gains a level for each card drawn."
Silent Magician Zero: Level: 5
"Oh, and due to her effect, if her current level is higher than her original, she gains atk equal to the difference times 500."
Silent Magician Zero: atk: 1500
"Oh, and Silent Swordsman Zero has a similar effect. The main difference is that it triggers during each and every standby phase instead." Oz explained.
Silent Swordsman Zero: level: 5 atk: 1500
"They can manipulate their level!?" Exclaimed Yuya.
"With each passing turn they get stronger." Yuzu said quietly."
'They're now level 5... I can work with that.' Yuya thought to himself.
"With my Scale 1 Stargazer Magician, and Scale 8 Timegazer Magician, I set the pendulum scale. I'll take control of this duel starting now!" Yuya declared as he set his Pendulum Scale.
"Oh really?" Oz asked. "In that case, let me return control back to me. I summon the Trap Monster: Stronghold the Hidden Fortress!"
Oz' set card flipped up and the large fortress emerged. Due to the elevation, Stronghold broke through the terrain before crashing into the ground.
"Oh. Oops." Oz said as he saw the destruction from just summoning the card.
Stronghold the Hidden Fortress: atk: ?
"Unknown atk?" Yuzu questions.
"Stronghold gains 1000 atk for each Shining Sarcophagus and/or each monster that mentions it! Including itself." Oz explained.
Stronghold: atk: 5000
"5000 attack points!?" Was the reaction of the crowd.
"Impressive atk, but I got something more impressive: my pendulum summoning!" Yuya declared.
"Pendulum, pendulum, pendulum!" The children of YouShow chanted.
"Pendulum Summon! Draw an arc of light across the Aether! Come forth: my monsters!" Yuya chanted.
A large version of his pendant swung back and forth before opening a pendulum portal.
"First up: Performapal Drummerilla. Next up is Performapal Silver Claw. Third is Performapal Fire Mufferlion. And finally, the dragon with dichromatic eyes: Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"
Performapal Drummerilla: atk: 1600
Performapal Silver Claw: atk: 1800
Performapal Fire Mufferlion: atk: 800
Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: atk: 2500
'Huh. A solid line up. Drummerilla to increase Odd-Eyes atk, and Mufferlion to increase it again and give the dragon an additional attack.'
Yuya then started to search for an Action card.
'And he's going to search for an Action card. Heh, I'll teach him what happens when you rely solely on Action cards and not your own deck.'
Yuya bounced off a trampoline and grabbed an Action card.
"I activate the Action card: High-Dive! This increases Odd-Eyes atk by 1000."
"Not good enough!" Oz shouts. "Silent Magician Zero's effect! Once each turn, she can negate a spell card! Magical Silence!"
Silent Magician Zero shot a magic blast at the spell.
The Action card immediately dulled out once the blast hit.
"Furthermore; when Silent Magician Zero successfully negates a card, she gains a level." Oz explained.
Silent Magician Zero: Level: 6 atk: 2000
"Well in that case: Battle! Odd-Eyes will-" Yuya stated before getting cut off.
"Quickplay spell activate! Silent Burning! This card can only be activated in the battle phase, while I control a Silent Magician monster and have more cards in my hand than you. Now what this card does is it forces both of us to draw until we hold six cards in our hands." Oz explained.
Osrelios drew 4 cards while Yuya drew 6.
"Now, because you drew 6 more cards, Silent Magician Zero gains six more levels!" Oz declared.
Silent Magician Zero: level: 12 atk: 5000
"Another monster with 5000 atk!?" Yuzu exclaims.
"Yuya Sakaki was foolish to accept the challenge." Julia said.
"What do you mean?" Fredrick, the last of the three children of YouShow, asked.
"Osrelios has been wiping out opponents left and right ever since he joined LDS." Kit explained.
"His dueling is on a whole other level. He has never even tried to grab an Action card." Dipper finished.
"He doesn't go for Action cards? Is he a fellow heavy strong style duelist?" Gong asks.
"I don't think so." Sora answers. "He is using spells and traps. Besides all that, I'm starting to think that these three are right."
"What do you mean Sora?" Yuzu asks.
"Take a look at his attitude. He's just standing there, with an unconcerned expression. Not to mention his dueling. He's been able to get out powerful monsters with just a few cards." Sora explained.
Back with Yuya and Oz, Yuya was shocked at Oz' combo, but shook out of his shock.
"Go Odd-Eyes! Attack Silent Swordsman Zero!"
Odd-Eyes charged forward.
"Now Drummerilla's effect activates! It increases Odd-Eyes atk by 600."
Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: atk: 3100
"Alright!" Tate cheered. "With this, Yuya will be able to deal 3200 points of damage!"
"Your naive for thinking this attack will go through." Oz stated. "Stronghold's effect! When you declare an attack, Stronghold can destroy the attacking monster."
"Oh no! Odd-Eyes will be destroyed and Yuya will be wide open!" Allie stated with worry in her voice.
Yuya noticed another Action card. He jumped up and grabbed it.
"I activate Mirror Barrier! This prevents Odd-Eyes' destruction. So continue Odd-Eyes! Spiral Strike Burst!"
"I activate the effect of Kuriboh in my hand!" Oz shouts. "The damage is reduced to Zero!"
"But with one less monster on your field, your Stronghold's atk decreases." Yuya reminds him.
Stronghold: atk: 4000
"Now Silver Claw will attack Gadget Trio! When Silver Claw declares an attack, all my Performapals gain 300 atk!"
Silver Claw: atk: 2100
Drummerilla: atk: 1900
Mufferlion: atk: 1100
Silver Claw cuts right through Gadget Trio, destroying it.
Oz doesn't even flinch from the damage.
Osrelios LP: 3200
"And with another card gone, Stronghold gets even weaker."
Stronghold: atk: 3000
"I end my turn." Yuya declared.
'He has 6 cards in hand right now, and yet he doesn't even set anything.' Oz thought to himself.
"My turn! I draw!" Oz shouts as he drew his card.
Osrelios LP: 3200 hand: 6
Yuya LP: 4000 hand: 6
"Let me ask you a question, Yuya Sakaki."
"Uh, yeah sure." Yuya says hesitantly.
"Do you think your special just because you are the only pendulum user?" Oz asks.
"Sure I am! I have a completely unique was of dueling." Yuya answers enthusiastically.
"Then that makes what about to do all the more sweeter." Oz cryptically said.
Sora, was thinking over his words before realizing. "Wait! Does that mean-" he was immediately cut off.
"With Scale 1 Performapal BaroKuriboh, and Scale 8 Performapal ClassiKuriboh, I set the pendulum scale! With this I can summon monsters from levels 2 through 7!" Oz declared as he placed the cards on his duel disk.
Two blue pillars of light erupt from the ground, and in them are the two pendulum monsters.
"WHAT!?" Yuya exclaimed.
"Performapal Pendulum monsters!?" The YouShow crew shouts.
"No way! How do you have pendulum cards!?" Yuya shouts.
"What, did you really think that Pendulum would only belong to you forever? Leo Corp was kind enough to give me these two cards."
Henrietta, who was silent up until now turned to Declan. "I see why we no longer need YouShow to incorporate Pendulum summoning into our curriculum. To think that we've already produced our own Pendulum cards. Amazing job Declan."
"In truth, it was because Osrelios that we could achieve that. After all, he supplied us two real pendulum cards to study." Declan said in a low tone so only his mother could hear him.
"Now, continuing with my turn." Oz declared. "I will now Pendulum summon! Come forth! Dark Magician!"
A pendulum portal appears between the two Kuriboh, as a single dark light emerges from it.
From the dark light, the Dark Magician appeared from it.
Dark Magician: atk: 2500
"Dark Magician!?" The crowd shouted.
Yuya, however, was silent. Staring at the incredibly rare card in shock.
"Now for the final play: I activate Secrets of Dark Magic!" Oz declared. "Using this card, I'll fuse Dark Magician with Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
"Red-Eyes! And Fusion!" The YouShow crew shouted.
"Faithful Servant of the Pharaoh, red eyed dragon of the inferno. Join your powers together and create an unstoppable force! Fusion summon! Level 8: Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon!"
The extremely over powered Fusion monster lands on the field.
"Red-Eyes-" Gong began.
"-Dark Dragoon." Yuzu finished.
"So cool." The three children say, clearly too caught up in the looks of the monster.
"With this monster's appearance, comes your defeat!" Oz declared. "I activate Dark Dragoon's effect! Up to the amount of Normal monsters used for this card's summon, meaning two, I can destroy a monster you control and deal damage equal to its original atk!"
"What!?" Yuya exclaimed.
"I destroy Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Performapal Silver Claw!"
Yuya gained a panicked look, and took off to try and find an Action card.
Oz turned to his monsters. "Stop him."
Yuya noticed an Action card, but before he could grab it, Stronghold fired a cannon shot. The blast hit the card straight on and disintegrated it.
Yuya jumped back in suprise, before running off to find another.
Yuya spotted another Action card, but before he could reach it, Silent Magician Zero stood in his way.
Jumping away, Yuya tried to get another Action card, this time Dark Dragoon stood menacingly in the way.
Yuya looked around one last time for an Action card. He spotted one that was a bit far, but he went for it anyway.
Oz saw this and gave chase. "Oh, no you don't!"
Yuya jumped from platform to platform, getting closer to the card.
He finally got close and reached for the card.
Only for a foot to stomp down on top of the card, blocking Yuya from grabbing it.
Yuya looked up and saw Osrelios in front of him.
Oz gave Yuya a judgmental stare. "It's clear to me that you are a horrible duelist."
"Huh?! What do you mean?" Yuya asked, offended.
"I've seen your records. You spend a lot of time looking around for Action cards, rather than relying on your own cards. You prattle on and on about your style of dueling while you ignore the idea of a different style. Not to mention that you admitted to thinking your special for having a summoning method that no one else has, and you clearly got upset at the fact that I can use Pendulum as well, that just proves you're selfish. If you think that you should be the only one to have Pendulum, and that you're nothing without it, then you clearly aren't fit to have it at all." Oz lectured.
Yuya looked down, clearly upset with Oz' words.
Oz then pushed Yuya in the direction of his monsters.
As Yuya fell, he heard Osrelios shout out. "Now, fall with your monsters! Dark Dragoon, Inferno Magic Destruction!"
Dark Dragoon shot two large black and red magic blasts, heading towards Odd-Eyes and Silver Claw.
The blasts consumed the dragon and the wolf.
The resulting shockwaves hit Yuya and sent him flying into a pillar.
Yuya LP: 0
Yuya fell to the ground as the Action field dissipates.
The entire YouShow crew was speechless.
The LDS Trio looked at them with an 'I told you so' look.
Declan had an indifferent look.
Henrietta was smirking. "Oh well. Even if we no longer need YouShow to obtain Pendulum, this is a satisfactory turnout. It would have been an insult for LDS to loose to a mediocre duel school such as this."
Yuzu, after snapping out of her shock, runs to Yuya's side. "Yuya!"
Yuzu ran right up to him and helped him stand.
Clearly sore, Yuya struggles to stand, but once he does, he looks at Osrelios just staring at him.
"Take this loss as a message. Better yourself, stop being reliant on the pure luck of the Action cards and believe in your own deck for once. Until then, in my eyes you're a third rate duelist with a fourth rate deck."
Both Yuya and Yuzu were shaking in anger at his words.
"How dare you say that you jerk!" Yuzu shouts.
She storms up to Oz and swings her hand, intending to slap him.
Before her hand could connect, Oz grabbed her wrist.
Oz threw her arm back, causing her to stumble backwards.
"Stay out of this. If he can't accept his defeat and learn from his mistakes, he'll never become a pro."
Oz then turned to leave, he walked a few feet before stopping and turning his head. "One last thing. Smiles will only get you so far. You need to learn how to control your emotions, or else you'll lose it."
Oz turned his head forward and walked away.
'Smiles will only get me so far... what does that mean?' Yuya thought.
Once Oz got back to the members of LDS, the trio congratulated him on his overwhelming victory.
Declan gave him a look of approval.
Henrietta then spoke up. "I see why you are the top student at LDS. Your skills were exceptional."
"Thank you, Madam Chairwoman." Osrelios said.
All six of them left the building as the YouShow crew watched. It was clear that Oz' displays in strategy and the usage of Pendulum cards left a bitter feeling in them. The 6 all got into a single limousine heading towards LDS.
"Was the shove really necessary?" Asked a voice.
Oz glanced out the window and saw the spirit form of Dark Magician.
"Kinda. It was more of a symbolic thing. He does need a push in the right direction after all." Oz communicated through projected telepathy.
A few days ago, Dark Magician got into contact with Oz, and taught him how to use telepathy to communicate with his duel spirits without making himself look weird.
"That's an expression and you know it!"
"Yeah. Anyway, different topic. How exactly did it feel to be pendulum summoned?" Oz asked.
"It felt... both strange and yet, exciting." Dark Magician answered honestly.
"That is interesting. Also, were you able to communicate with Odd-Eyes?" Oz asked.
"Yes. However it's worse than we thought. Odd-Eyes radiates Z-arc's darkness, and is in pain because of it. It seems to have lost its lust for destruction, but the influence is still there. Most likely, if it was to encounter another dimensional dragon, the influence would probably take it over along with its duelist." Dark Magician explained.
"That is... concerning. So Odd-Eyes will want to combine, not of its free will, but through a forced influence. If we can find a way to help Odd-Eyes, we might be able to prevent Z-arc all together. Let's just hope the thrird round of the tournament doesn't rekindle its hatred for humanity."
"Yes, let's hope." Dark Magician said as he disappeared.
The rest of the ride goes smoothly as the LDS trio talks amongst themselves and Oz just stared out the window.
Later when the Limousine arrives, Oz decided to walk the way home.
On his way, he thought he saw a shadow moving.
Staying silent, Oz removed his LDS pin and hides it in his pocket. 'Hopefully he didn't see me.'
Oz believes that could have been Shun. So he's hiding his identity as an LDS student to be safe.
Once he finally got home and inside, he relaxed.
'I believe that I've made this story take a big step in the right direction. Defeating Yuya during the LDS Assault, even if the stakes were no longer present, while using pendulum will have a larger impact on him that having the duel interrupted like in Cannon.'
Oz then yawned. "All's best for tomorrow. Time to head to bed."
