Chapter 8: The Breakers vs The Dustshoots, Pt 2

"I'll make the first move! Draw!" exclaimed Kuro. "I activate Delinquent Duo, paying 1000 Life Points to discard a card from your hand, and I'll hit the second card from the left!"

Emi looked at her hand. He'd pointed out Just Desserts, and the rest of her hand contained Graceful Charity, Ojama Trio, and two copies of Gyaku-Gire Panda. She discarded Just Desserts as required, and then the second effect of Delinquent Duo selected one of the Pandas to throw out as well.

"Next, I Summon Mystic Tomato [Level 4/DARK/Plant/ATK1400/DEF1100] and Set two cards! My turn is over."

Kuro: 7000 Life Points.

Emi: 8000 Life Points.

"My turn! Draw!" Emi checked her draw, seeing Cyber Jar. A plan was forming in her head, as well as a small smile on her face.

"I activate Graceful Charity!" She drew Secret Barrel, Gravity Bind, and Ceasefire, and discarded said Ceasefire as well as Ojama Trio. Already, she was seeing new cards added in during the previous night's editing session.

The previous night, at the dining table

"It's not that cards like Meteor of Destruction and Tremendous Fire are bad," said Tatsumaki, looking over Emi's shoulder at her deck, which was laid out on the table so he could see its contents. "But I think you'd be better off playing cards that take advantage of your ability to clog your opponent's field with Ojama Trio."

"Cards like what?" asked Emi. "I put this deck together with whatever I could scavenge, so I wasn't exactly overwhelmed with options, you know."

"Oh, I know, and it's really impressive that you managed to put together a deck this good on such limited resources," replied Tatsumaki. "As far as what cards, I can think of two that can outright replace Meteor and Tremendous Fire." He turned, grabbing a large stack of cards from the Traps section of his cart and flipping through them rapidly. After a few moments, he had pulled six cards from the pile.

"Try these out," he said. "Secret Barrel and Just Desserts. Normally their effectiveness goes up and down depending on how many cards your opponent has, but with Ojama Trio, you can make sure they always have enough for you to get the maximum amount of burn damage from them!"

Present day

Emi smiled. She really would have to remember to thank Tatsumaki later for going above and beyond to help her and Yoroi, as well as the rest of the gang.

"Next, I'll Set a monster and two other cards. That'll end my turn."

"Draw! I Summon Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier [Level 4/DARK/Spellcaster/ATK1500/DEF1000], and he'll move to attack your monster!"

"I activate the Trap Gravity Bind! As long as this card is in play, Level 4 and higher monsters can't attack!"

"Very well. I'll end my turn, then."

"Draw!" Ring of Destruction. Can't ask for much better than that. "I flip open my Cyber Jar [Level 3/DARK/Rock/ATK900/DEF900]! I assume you know what it does?"

"Damn. Of course I do, brat."

All monsters on the field were destroyed, and each player flipped five cards over from the top of their decks. Emi got Morphing Jar [Level 2/EARTH/Rock/ATK700/DEF600], Just Desserts, MST, Secret Barrel, and Pot of Greed, Special Summoning the Jar facedown. Kuro got Breaker the Magical Warrior, Don Zaloog [Level 4/DARK/Warrior/ATK1400/DEF1500], Pitch-Black Warwolf, Graceful Charity, and Snatch Steal. He Special Summoned all the monsters in Attack Position.

"Next, I activate Pot of Greed!" She drew Kinetic Soldier and Giant Rat. "I'll Set one monster and three cards, and pass the turn!"

"Draw! I activate Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two! Next, I activate Nobleman of Crossout, removing the Set card I know to be Morphing Jar from play!"

"I'll activate two of my Set cards, both of which are Secret Barrel! Each one deals 200 damage to you for each card on your hand and field for a total of 3600!"

"Fine, but your Morphing Jar is still gone! Now I'll activate the Field Spell Mystic Plasma Zone, giving all DARK monsters a 500 Attack Point boost! But, since I'm still under your Gravity Bind, I'll end my turn."

"During your End Phase, I'll flip open my Ring of Destruction, destroying your Warwolf and dealing us both 2100 damage, and then I'll throw Just Desserts on top of that before it resolves, dealing you 500 damage for each of your monsters for a total of 1500! Unless you have a way to stop this, that's game!"

"I… I don't believe it… I lost, too?!"

Kuro: 0 Life Points.

Emi: 5900 Life Points.

Kuro ripped off his Duel Disk and walked away without saying anything.

Chairo couldn't believe it. Two losses in a row, and that fast? The Breakers were making them look like chumps! "Dammit! Aka, show these fools what the Dustshoot Gang can do!"

"With pleasure, sir."

"Guess that means I'm up," said Ryo nonchalantly.

Ryo and Aka took their places and began their Duel.

"I'm up first! Draw! I Summon Ultimate Baseball Kid [Level 3/FIRE/Warrior/ATK500/DEF1000] and Set two cards! Your turn, Breaker scum!"

Ryo smiled as he drew. "I Normal Summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke [Level 4/LIGHT/Warrior/ATK1800/DEF1000] and attack!"

"Trap Card, Mirror Force!"

"Damn, okay. I activate Graceful Charity, drawing three and discarding two cards, then I Set two cards and pass the turn."

"During the End Phase, I flip up Dust Tornado to destroy the leftmost card! Looks like that Sakuretsu Armor won't be helping you! Now, my turn! I Summon UFO Turtle [Level 4/FIRE/Machine/ATK1400/DEF1200], which triggers my Baseball Kid's effect to give him an extra 1000 ATK! Both my monsters will now attack directly, and my turn is over!"

Aka: 8000 Life Points.

Ryo: 5100 Life Points.

"My turn! I activate Delinquent Duo, paying 1000 Life Points and going for the leftmost card in your hand!"

Aka discarded Nobleman of Crossout and Spirit of Flames.

"Next, I Summon Breaker the Magical Warrior, and his Spell Counter on him! Now, he'll attack your Baseball Kid! Pass turn!"

Aka: 7600 Life Points.

Ryo: 4100 Life Points.

"Draw! I Summon Element Dragon! Since I control a Fire monster, it gains an additional 500 Attack, enough to run your Breaker over and allow my Turtle to attack you directly! Now I'll Set a card and end my turn!"

Aka: 7600 Life Points.

Ryo: 2600 Life Points.

"My turn!" Ryo smiled. What a perfect draw. "I remove the White Ninja and Zombyra the Dark that I discarded earlier from play, to Special Summon the mighty Chaos Sorcerer in Defense Position!"

"Trap open! Solemn Judgment! By paying half my Life Points, this Trap negates any card!'

"Nice try, but I have a Solemn Judgment as well! Now, Chaos Sorcerer will remove your UFO Turtle from play! Now, I Summon Strike Ninja [Level 4/DARK/Warrior/ATK1800/DEF1200] and attack your weakened Element Dragon! I'll end my turn."

Aka: 3600 Life Points.

Ryo: 1300 Life Points.

"My turn!" Aka hesitated as he realized his hand was empty. He was relying entirely on the top of his deck. "Draw! I remove Ultimate Baseball Kid in my Grave from Play to Special Summon Spirit of Flames [Level 4/FIRE/Pyro/ATK 1700/DEF 1000] and attack your Strike Ninja! Since he gains 300 Attack during my Battle Phase, he can run over your ninja! My turn's over."

Aka: 3600 Life Points.

Ryo: 1000 Life Points.

"My turn!" Nobleman of Crossout. Dead draw at the moment. Oh well. "I switch Chaos Sorcerer to Attack and run through your Spirit of Flames! I end my turn!"

Aka: 3000 Life Points.

Ryo: 1000 Life Points.

"Draw! I activate Pot of Greed to get two new cards! And what cards they are! I Normal Summon Gaia Soul the Combustible Collective [Level 4/FIRE/Pyro/ATK2000/DEF0]! Next, I activate Premature Burial to revive my Spirit of Flames, so I can then tribute him to Gaia Soul's effect and grant him an extra 1000 Attack to bring down your Chaos Sorcerer! Unfortunately, during the End Phase, Gaia Soul destroys himself. Your move."

Aka: 2200 Life Points.

Ryo: 300 Life Points.

"My turn! Draw!" A monster! Perfect! "I Summon Strike Ninja and attack you directly! I end my turn."

Aka: 500 Life Points.

Ryo: 300 Life Points.

"Draw! I Summon Breaker the Magical Warrior and attack your Strike Ninja with the Spell Counter giving him a boost! Your move!"

Aka: 500 Life Points.

Ryo: 100 Life Points.

"Draw! I activate Pot of Greed, drawing two cards!" Finally, a route to his best combo! "I activate Reinforcement of the Army, allowing me to add a Level 4 or lower Warrior to my hand! I'll add to my hand and then Summon my third Strike Ninja! Now I'll Set three cards and pass the turn!"

Aka was confused at first, but it slowly dawned on him the reality of the situation. He could either risk an attack, which would end the game if it connected, but there was also those Set cards to contend with, any of which could be a battle Trap. However, if he used the Spell Counter on Breaker to try and hit a Battle Trap, not only could he potentially guess wrong, but then Breaker would no longer be strong enough to attack Strike Ninja. Awkward.

"Draw! I'll Set a monster and pass turn." Better not to stumble into a potential Mirror Force. As long as Breaker stayed bigger than Strike Ninja, he could stall until he found Heavy Storm or some other way to get rid of those pesky Set cards.

Unfortunately for Aka, that was exactly the wrong play. "At the end of your turn, I open my Trap, Ninjitsu Art of Transformation! By Tributing a Ninja, I can Special Summon a Beast up to three Levels higher than that Ninja! So now, behold, Behemoth the King of All Animals [Level 7/EARTH/Beast/ATK2700/DEF1500]!"

"Shit, no!" screamed Chairo.

"Oh, damn…" gasped Aka.

"Now, my turn!" exclaimed Ryo. "Behemoth, attack Breaker and end this Duel!"

Aka: 0 Life Points.

Ryo: 100 Life Points.

"No, no, no, no, goddammit, no!" screamed Aka as he threw down his Duel Disk and kicked it into the distance. "This isn't how it was supposed to go! Fuck!"

"Alright, three in a row!" exclaimed Tatsumaki! "Told you this would work out!"

"I gotta admit, kid, I was skeptical," replied Enzo cheerfully. "But maybe you're making a man of faith out of me!"

"Dammit, these punks are making fools out of us!" barked Chairo. "Ao, you're up! You'd better not fail me here!"

"Don't worry, sir. Kuro, Aka, and Midori were the weakest of us. Me and my Water monsters won't let you down."

"Come on, then," taunted Taza. "Let's dance."