Chapter 10: Tatsumaki vs. Chairo
"I'll open this Duel up, brat! Draw!" Chairo checked his opening six cards and smiled. "I Summon Goblin Attack Force [Level 4/EARTH/Warrior/ATK2300/DEF0]! Then, I'll Set four cards and activate my Field Spell, Gaia Power! This gives all EARTH monsters 500 extra ATK! I end my turn!"
Tatsumaki was smiling from ear to ear. At last, his goal was within reach. Well, his short-term goal, at any rate.
"Be careful, kid!" shouted Enzo from the sidelines. "Chairo's a much stronger Duelist than the rest of the gang! I've seen his deck firsthand, and he's got a lot of powerful cards in there!"
"Thanks, Enzo, but I'll be fine. I've already won this Duel. Draw!" Tatsumaki took a moment to think through the optimal play before making his move. Unfortunately, Chairo had a move to make before that.
"I activate two of my Set cards, two copies of Trap Dustshoot! Since you have more than four cards in your hand, I can look at what you have and send any monster I choose back into your deck!"
Reluctantly, Tatsumaki revealed his hand, containing Thunder Dragon, Magician of Faith, Ring of Destruction, Premature Burial, Gravekeeper's Spy, and Dust Tornado.
"Since I'm resolving two copies of Dustshoot, I get to pick two of these," noted Chairo in an amused tone. "I think I'll pick Thunder Dragon and Gravekeeper's Spy."
"Well, that's unfortunate, but oh well. I'll simply have to work with what I've got."
"Go ahead, brat. I didn't exactly leave you with many options."
"I'll Set a monster, Set two cards, and end my turn."
"At the end of your turn, I'll activate my third Set card, MST, to destroy one of your Set cards!"
"Damn. My Ring of Destruction!"
"Perfect. Now I don't have to worry about you removing my monsters. Draw! I Summon Berserk Gorilla! Now, Berserk Gorilla will attack your Set monster, which I happen to know is Magician of Faith!"
"And since our boy's got no Spells in his graveyard, her effect does nothing," noted Enzo. "Chairo got to deny him one of the best effects in his deck. Not good."
"Now, Goblin Attack Force will attack you directly!" shouted Chairo, relishing in the fact that he was in control of the duel.
"I open my Set card, Dust Tornado!" exclaimed Tatsumaki, "This will let me destroy your Field Spell!"
"So my monster loses its 500 ATK boost," shrugged Chairo. "Big deal; this attack is still gonna hurt."
"True. 2300 damage is still a big chunk," said Yoroi.
"Now, unfortunately, Goblin Attack Force's effect kicks in," explained Chairo. "When it attacks, it's forced to switch to Defense mode. I end my turn."
Chairo: 8000 Life Points.
Tatsumaki: 5700 Life Points.
"My turn! Draw! I activate Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Tatsumaki smiled when he saw the cards he'd gotten. "Hope you enjoyed being in the driver's seat, because I'm about to take back the wheel!"
"Bring it on, punk. What can you possibly do against my Gorilla?"
"First, I activate my own MST to destroy your last Set card! Next, I activate Premature Burial, paying 800 Life Points to revive a monster from my graveyard!"
"Your only card is Magician of Faith. 800 Life Points to bring back such a pathetic monster? You must be losing your mind," Chairo taunted.
"Magician of Faith is only a stepping stone to my real goal," explained Tatsumaki. "Now, I tribute her to Summon Airknight Parshath!"
"That could be troublesome," said Chairo sarcastically. "Except that my Gorilla still has 100 more ATK than your Airknight."
"True, but Goblin Attack Force is a sitting duck with 0 DEF, and Airknight's effect lets it deal piercing battle damage. Airknight, attack those Goblins!"
"Piercing, huh? That's annoying."
"Now, Airknight's second effect activates! Whenever it deals damage, I get to draw an extra card! I now discard the Thunder Dragon I just drew to add two more copies of it to my hand!" I end my turn."
Chairo: 6100 Life Points.
Tatsumaki: 4900 Life Points.
"That was you taking back the wheel?" laughed Chairo. "You still haven't got any way to beat my monster!"
"That was just the beginning. There's more to it than can be done in just one turn," replied Tatsumaki. "Just wait. I'm not done with you yet."
"Whatever. All I hear is the desperate bluff of a kid who's finally realized he's in over his head. Draw!"
"While it was a good turn and got him back a lot of the card advantage he lost to those early Trap Dustshoots, Chairo's right. Maki is still at a disadvantage," said Emi. "I'm sure he has a plan, but it doesn't look good right now."
"Now, I'll show you what I've got in store for you!" exclaimed Chairo, who was thus far proving to be in love with the sound of his own voice. "I Summon Blindly Loyal Goblin [Level 4/EARTH/Warrior/ATK1800/DEF1500], and now Berserk Gorilla will get rid of your Airknight for 100 damage, and then my Goblin will attack you directly! I end my turn."
Chairo: 6100 Life Points.
Tatsumaki: 3000 Life Points.
"My turn! Draw! I activate Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards as long as I discard two."
Tatsumaki had already intended on discarding his Thunder Dragons, as they did very little in the current situation, but the three new cards he drew changed things a bit.
"Sorry to say, Chairo, but this duel is over! Per the effect of Graceful Charity, I discard one of my Thunder Dragons, as well as DMOC! Next, I Summon Bazoo the Soul Eater, and activate its effect! I remove from play the Thunder Dragon, Airknight, and DMOC in my graveyard to give Bazoo 900 extra ATK! Now, I activate the Spell Card, Dimension Fusion!"
"What?!" exclaimed Chairo, whose shock was written all over his face. "A punk kid like you has a card like that?!"
"I've never seen this card before," admitted Yoroi. "What does it do? It must be powerful for Chairo to be so afraid."
"Just wait and see, kid," said Enzo, who for the first time, was fully appreciating the depths of Tatsumaki's abilities as a duelist.
"By paying 2000 Life Points," explained Tatsumaki. "Dimension Fusion makes both players Special Summon as many of their monsters as possible that have been removed from play! Since you have none, that means only I get anything out of this effect! I bring back Airknight Parshath, Thunder Dragon, and DMOC!"
"That's an insanely powerful effect!" cried Yoroi.
"So that must be it," muttered Emi.
"What must be it?" asked Yoroi.
"Last night when we were talking in the kitchen, Tatsumaki mentioned that he gathered every card for his deck himself, save for one that he took from his mother's. He didn't tell me what the card was, but a card that rare and powerful must be the one from his mom's deck."
"Now, the effect of DMOC activates, giving me a Spell back from my grave!" continued Tatsumaki. "I choose Graceful Charity, which I'll then activate to draw three more cards, and discard two. Now, I activate the Spell Card Brain Control! By paying 800 Life Points, I take control of your Berserk Gorilla for the turn!"
"Wait, that means…" gasped Chairo.
"Yes! It means this duel is over! Berserk Gorilla, attack Blindly Loyal Goblin for 200 damage! Now, Airknight attacks you directly for 1900, letting me draw a card! Then, Bazoo attacks you for 2500 damage! Finally, DMOC attacks you for 2800, putting an end to this duel, and an end to your gang!"
Chairo: 0 Life Points.
Tatsumaki: 200 Life Points.
It was over. The Dustshoot Gang had been completely eradicated.
"You…" seethed Chairo. "You son of a bitch. You think you can humiliate me and wipe out my gang and get away with it! I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU!" Chairo charged at Tatsumaki, who responded by pulling his knife again, preparing to defend himself, but Enzo, Manda, and Kiri stepped in between them, and together they beat down Chairo, stripping him of his deck and Duel Disk.
"Sorry, Chairo, but your outfit is done for, and all your territory is now Breakers turf!" said Enzo excitedly. "I've been waiting for this day for so long!"
"Big talk for someone who let a teenager fight his battles for him," said Chairo weakly. "You weren't even man enough to take me on yourself."
"Says the guy who actually lost to said teenager," retorted Enzo. "Kiri, Manda, get him out of here."
"Roger that!" said Manda as he and Kiri did as ordered, grabbing a leg each and dragging him off to throw into a nearby ditch.
"Well, kid," began Enzo, turning towards Tatsumaki. "I gotta admit, I had my doubts about your plan, but it all worked out. Good job."
"I knew it would work out. There was no way the Dustshoots could take us on after how much work we put into our decks last night."
"Now, there's only one thing left to do," said Enzo, turning his back and walking to the spot Chairo had occupied during the Duel.
"What's that?" asked Tatsumaki nervously. He had a bad feeling about where this was going.
"Tatsumaki, I appreciate everything you've done for us in the past few days, and we couldn't have taken down the Dustshoot Gang today without your help. That being said, as the leader of the Breakers, I can't stand by and allow you to take my position. At the rate this is going, the gang will come to think of you as the leader instead of me."
"Enzo, it was never my intention to take your place as the leader," explained Tatsumaki. "I don't even want to be the leader! I have a plan to take us all to the big leagues, and nowhere in that plan am I meant to usurp your position!"
"Whether or not it's your intention to take the title of leader is irrelevant," countered Enzo. "The fact is, if we keep going along with this plan of yours and following your suggestion, that makes you the leader by default whether you want it or not. My pride as a man and my position as the current leader of the Breakers demands that I settle this now, before it can get out of hand, but simply kicking you out would be the coward's solution. So, Tatsumaki Adachi, I challenge you to a Duel, and the loser must leave the Breakers forever."
"Enzo, please! We just scored a huge win! This isn't the time for infighting!"
"I realize that, but I'm afraid my mind is made up. This has to happen."
Emi stepped forward, putting her hand on Tatsumaki's shoulder. "You don't have to accept this challenge, you know. We can just go back home and celebrate."
Tatsumaki sighed. "No, you're wrong. I have to settle this here and now. If I don't, then Enzo's resentment will just keep building up until it reaches a boiling point, and then the fallout from it will be even worse. It's better to nip this in the bud right now. Even though I don't want us to resort to this, and even though I really don't want to be the leader, I accept your challenge, Enzo."
