Yu-Gi-Oh!: To Be A Master

by Kenny Rutter

Yuka Rumiko sets off on her quest to become a master duelist. To do this, she needs to beat eight elite duelists before she can earn the right to compete to challenge the reigning champion. There will be friends, foes, accomplishments, and hardships along the way as Yuka tries to reach her goal. It's Yu-Gi-Oh, with Gym Leaders, like in Pokemon.

4. Tag Duel

TAG DUEL

"I'll start this off," Hugo said, "by activating the Field Spell, Lost World." He placed the spell card on the proper spot of his duel pad, activating the hologram projectors. The city plaza filled up with high conifers and shallow pools of water. The temperature raised slightly as the air became more humid. "Now all monsters that aren't dinosaurs lose 500 attack and defense points. Next I'll set two cards face down, and end my turn."

"My turn," Konton said as he drew a card. "I start by activating Necrovalley Throne, allowing me to add a Gravekeeper's monster to my hand, and the one I choose is Gravekeeper's Descendant. I will then summon Gravekeeper's Descendant in Attack Mode." As he activated the spell card, a golden throne decorated with Egyptian heiroglyphs appeared in front of him, the Descendant sitting on it. The Descendant was a tall man with bronze skin and blonde hair, dressed in black robes and carrying a golden scepter tipped with a blue gem. "I'll end my turn there."

"Then I guess it's my turn," Yuka said. "I draw." She scanned the cards in her hand. "I'll start by activating Trade-In to send a Level 8 monster from my hand to the Graveyard so I can draw two cards, so I'm going to send Dragon Spirit of White."

Hugo's eyes went wide when he heard the name of Yuka's monster. Wait a minute, he thought. I know she said she uses dragons, but she's not using those dragons, is she?

Yuka drew her two new cards. "Next I activate Return of the Dragon Lords to bring back Dragon Spirit of White." The dragon that appeared was a brilliant white in color with pearlescent blue eyes; the scales were so bright that they gave the dragon the effect that it was glowing. "Next I activate Ancient Rules to Special Summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my hand."

She is using those cards, Hugo silently mused as the dragon appeared, it's pure white scales glistening in the evening light. The dragon roared, shaking the nearby windows and drowning out the "ooh"s and "awe"s of the spectating crowd.

"I'm not finished yet," Yuka continued. "Now that I have two Level 8 monsters on the field, I can build the Overlay Network. I overlay Dragon Spirit of White and Blue-Eyes White Dragon to create a dragon born from the very core of a galaxy. I Xyz Summon Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon!"

The hologram projectors on her duel pad projected a swirling galaxy of gold and bronze stars. The two dragons transformed into orbs of light that were pulled into the center of the galaxy, and emerging from there was a new dragon, its scales a mix of teal and blue and black, its wings a kaleidoscope of colors. Two orbs of light circled the dragon.

"I'm not finished yet," Yuka added, "because I can Xyz summon one more time. I Xyz Summon Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon!" Cipher Dragon's body shimmered and morphed into a much larger dragon, its scales jet black with hints of blue poking through at the joints. The membranes of its wings were a translucent blueish-white in color. The dragon's long, whip-like tail slapped at the ground between Yuka and Hugo. Three orbs of light circled the dragon as it looked down at its opponents. "And now I can activate its effect, detaching one Xyz material to destroy one monster on the field, so your Gravekeeper's Descendant is going back to his tomb." One of the orbs of light flew into the dragon's chest. The dragon leaned its head back, its chest expanding, before it spewed forth a stream of black energy that enveloped Gravekeeper's Descendant, reducing it to nothing. As it did, Yuka removed one of the monster's materials, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, from the field and moved it to the Graveyard. "And with that, I end my turn."

"You'll pay for that a hundred times, you brat," Jakotsu said as he drew a card. "I'll start by activting Mask of Dispel, targeting Lost World. From this point on, during each of my Standby Phases, you'll lose 500 life points as long as either card remains on the field."

"Shoot," Yuka growled. "Maybe I should have activated Dragon Spirit's effect earlier, huh, Hugo? Hugo?'' Hugo didn't answer; he was staring, slack-jawed, up at Yuka's dragon. Yuka snapped her fingers, catching his attention. "Earth to Hugo!"

"Huh? What? Uh, yeah, sure," Hugo sputtered.

"Next thing I'm going to do," Jakotsu continued, "is summon Masked Sorcerer in Attack Mode, then set one card face down and end my turn."

"Guess it's back to me then," Hugo said as he drew a card. "I activate the spell card Fossil Dig to add a Level 6 or lower dinosaur monster from my deck to my hand, and I choose Souleating Oviraptor." His duel pad's auto-search function protruded a card from the center of his deck, letting him draw it before the auto-shuffle function kicked in. "And now I'll summon it."

The dinosaur that apperaed was slightly taller than a normal human and about twice as long as it was tall. It's onyx skin was covered in various black markings, like tribal tattoos. Its face, headcrest, hands, feet, and tail were blood red in color, and there was a strip of blue flame running down its back. The dinosaur screeched at the two opposing duelists.

"Next thing I'm going to do," Hugo continued, "is activate my Oviraptor's effect, allowing me to add a Level 4 or lower dinosaur monster to my hand, which this time is going to be Gilasaurus, whom I will then Special Summon with its own effect." This new dinosaur was a raptor, slightly smaller than the Oviraptor; brown with black tiger-like stripes running down its body. "When I Special Summon Gilasaurus this way, you can Special Summon a monster from your Graveyard."

"Which I will," Konton said, "by bringing back Gravekeeper's Descendant." The Descendant reappeared on the field and stared down the two dinosaurs and the dragon.

"And now it's time to battle!" Hugo announced. "Souleating Oviraptor, attack Gravekeeper's Descendant!" The Oviraptor leaped onto the Descendant, biting with its teeth and slashing with its claws, until the Descendant was destroyed and Konton's life points dropped to 7200. "Next, Gilasaurus will attack directly!"

Konton cried out in pain as Gilasaurus's claws dug into his abdoment and reduced his life points to 5800.

"With that," Hugo said, "I'll end my turn."

Konton took a moment to catch his breath, trying to ignore the pain that was stil racking his body. "My turn," he growled as he drew a card. "I send Gravekeeper's Commandant to the Graveyard to add Necrovalley to my hand. Next, I'll activate Necrovalley Throne to add Gravekeeper's Spiritualist to my hand. And now, I'll activate Necrovalley!" The tropical forest of Lost World remained, but half of it was overtaken by a vast desert. "Next, I'll summon Gravekeeper's Spiritualist." The monster that appeared, digging itself out of the sand, was a shapely woman with a black and gold top and white pants, light purple cape, and a black and gold jackal's mask. "With Necrovalley on the field, my Spiritualist's effect activates, letting me Fusion Summon a Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, so I'll use Spiritualist and the Gravekeeper's Ambusher in my hand to Fusion Summon Gravekeeper's Supernaturalist!"

This new monster was a tall man with white hair, wearing teal and black robes, with bracelets and necklaces with red and green patterns, and carrying a staff with a spoked top in those same red and green patterns.

"The effect of Supernaturalist," Konton explained, "lets him gain attack and defense points equal to the total level of the monsters used to summon it times 100, so it's 2000 attack and defense points increase to 2800."

"You mean 2300 with Lost World," Hugo corrected him.

"More than enough," Konton said. "Also, with Necrovalley on the field, this card can't be destroyed by card effects. Now, Supernaturalist, destroy Gilasaurus!"

Gravekeeper's Supernaturalist charged towards Gilasaurus, its staff raised.

Hugo smiled. "I don't think so," he said smugly. "You just activated my trap card, Quaking Mirror Force."

The area began to violently shake, stopping Supernaturalist in its tracks before it vanished.

"What just happened?" Konton demanded.

"Quaking Mirror Force just happened, that's what," Hugo said. "It activates when a monster attacks and changes the attacking monster's from Attack Mode to Defense Mode. Oh, and this change can't be undone after the fact, so enjoy having a monster stuck in Defense Mode unable to do anything bu be a meat shield."

Konton glared at Hugo. "I set a card face down and end my turn," he growled.

"My turn," Yuka said. She drew a card. "I set a card face down, then summon The King of Dragons in Attack Mode." The monster that appeared was a tall human wearing armor made of dragon bones and carrying a three necked electric guitar. "I activate the King's effect, sending a spell card from my hand to the Graveyard to add Melody of Awakening Dragon to my hand." She put Dark Hole in the Graveyard, then added the Melody of Awakening Dragon to her hand. "Now I'm going to activate Melody by sending another card to the Graveyard." She sent Advanced Ritual Art to the Graveyard. "I now add two dragons to my hand, and those dragons are Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Blue-Eyes Allternative White Dragon." She added the two dragon cards to her hand. "Now, by revelaing Blue-Eyes White Dragon, I Special Summon Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon!"

The dragon she summoned looked very similar to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but its scales were a slightly darker shade of white. It roared as it hovered above the field.

"Hey Hugo, mind if I put your Oviraptor to use?" Yuka asked.

"Go right ahead," Hugo answered.

"Cool. Using Hugo's Souleating Oviraptor and my King of Dragons, I build the Overlay Network. Cloaked in shadows and relentless in its objective, I call upon the most dangerous of dragons! I Xyz Summun Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" The dragon that appeared was jet black, with a strip of white on its torso and red highlights on its body. Its bottom jaw protruded out further than its upper jaw, forming a pair of sharp tusks.

"Next," Yuka continued, "I use the effect of Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon to destroy your defending Supernaturalist." The Alternative White Dragon shot out a stream of white energy, obliterating Konton's defending monster. "And now, I attack! Gilasaurus, you're up first!"

"Not so fast," Konton said. "I activate my own trap card, Storming Mirror Force, to send all your Attack Mode monsters back to your hand - or in the case of your Xyz monsters, back to the Extra Deck."

"No!" Yuka yelled as the high winds blew their monsters away.

"Shoot!" Hugo cried.

Yuka stomped a foot on the ground in frustration. "Sorry, Hugo," she said sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it," Hugo said. "We're still in this duel. Just gotta rebuild our field, that's all."

"Yeah, but there's nothing else I can do this turn. Your move, Jakotsu."

Jakotsu drew a card, and as he did, Hugo's life points dropped to 7500. "I summon Masked Sorcerer in Attack Mode." The monster he summoned was no more than a floating torso with two arms and a head adorned with bright red hair and weairng a silver, mechanical-looking mask. "Masked Sorcerer, attack!" The Sorcerer jingled the gold rings it carried, sending a wave of energy washing over Hugo and Yuka and dropping thier life points to 6600. "That will be the end of my turn."

"I draw," Hugo announced. "First, I'll Special Summon Gilasaurus from my hand."

"Then I'll use his effect to Special Summon my Gravekeeper's Supernaturalist back from the Graveyard, though it retains its now reduced base attack value of 1500," Konton said.

Only Gilasaurus apperead on the field. "What's happening?" Konton demanded. "Where's my Supernaturalist?"

"It's Necrovalley," Jakotsu explained. "It doesn't let any duelist Special Summon monsters from the Graveyard, or banish any cards from the Graveyard. Why do you think that girl didn't use her return of the Dragon Lords to save her dragons?"

"And you are just now telling me this, why?" Konton growled.

"I thought you knew!" Jakotsu yelled.

"Wow," Yuka breathed. "Some team they are."

"Next, I'll normal summon Skelesaurus in Attack Mode," Hugo continued as he summoned a living dinosaur skeleton to the field. "Now, my two monsters, attack directly." The two monsters attacked, biting and clawing, Gilasaurus against Konton and Skelesaurus against Jakotsu, and dropping their life points to 2700. "And with that, my turn is done."

"Then it's my turn," Konton said as he drew a card. He turned to Jakotsu. "Next time you want to play a card, tell me what it does. All I can do is play a monster in Defense Mode, because its effect brings another monster back from the Graveyard, which I can't do because of my partner, and what are these eggs?" He pointed to the three small egg nests on his side of the field.

"Oh, that's another effect of Lost World," Hugo said. "Every time I bring out a dinosaur, you get what's called a Juraegg Token, and those are the only things you can target with card effects."

"Now you tell us," Jakotsu muttered.

"You're almost as bad as my parter in not stating card effects, boy," Konton grumbled.

"Cry some more and let Yuka take her turn," Hugo said.

"Thanks, I think I will," Yuka said as she drew a card. "I reveal Blue-Eyes White Dragon to Special Summon Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon." The Alternative White Dragon reappeared on the field. "Next, I activate the effect of Sage With Eyes of Blue in my hand, targeting Gilasaurus - you don't mind, do you, Hugo?"

"Go right ahead."

"Sage With Eyes of Blue takes Gilasaurus with it to the Graveyard to Special Summon Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon from my deck." Gilasaurus vanished, and a new dragon appeared in its place. This new dragon was more silver in color than white. Its wings were feathered and split into two pairs. Its underside was pale blue with a set of gemstones placed in the pectoral area. "When I Special Summon this monster, I can add a Ritual card or a Polymerization from my deck to my hand. So I'll take Polymerization." She added the spell card to her hand. "And now I'll activate it, fusing my Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon on the field with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my hand. Let two become one as I Fusion Summon Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon!"

Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon's body glowed as a second head grew out of its shoulders. The two-headed dragon roared, prompting some of the crowd to cover their ears.

"Twin Burst, attack!" Yuka yelled. "Double White Lightning!" Both dragon heads fired a stream of white energy that merged together and hit Jakotsu, dropping his life points to 200. "Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon, finish them off! Abyssal Wave!" Abyss Dragon flapped its wings as the gems on its chest glowed, shooting out a burst of energy that hit both Konton and Jakotsu and completely diminished their life points. "Game over. You lose, punks."

The force of the Abyss Dragon's attack was enough to knock the two vandal duelists back against the grocery store, Konton slamming against a pillar near the doors, Jakotsu ending up slumped inside one of the smashed out windows. The crowd cheered and applauded as the hologram projectors were turned off. Yuka and Hugo scooped up their cards before turning off their duel pads.

"Good job, Yuka," Hugo complimented her. "Great dueling."

"Thanks, Hugo. You too."

The sound of police sirens filled the air as two police cruisers arrived in the parking lot. "Okay, what's going on here?" one of the cops asked. "We got reports of vandalism."

"That would be those two goons knocked out over there," Hugo said, pointing to the two vandals still slumped in and against the grocery store.

"And you two are, who?" the other cop asked.

"We're the ones who dueled them to keep them from running off until you guys showed up," Yuka answered. "Didn't want them running off before facing justice, you know."

One of the cops clicked a pen and opened a notepad while his partner went to check on the two vandals. "Can I get some names, please?"

"I'm Yuka Rumiko, this is Hugo Akiba, and those two introduced themselves as Konton and Jakotsu. Said they were part of something called the Cultrua Mortis, whatever that is."

"Yeah, I've heard about them," the cop said as he wrote down the information. "And you said you two dueled them?"

"Yeah," Hugo answered. "And I'm pretty sure everyone in that crowd over there has some pictures or videos of everything that went down."

"Well, thanks for your help," the cop said as he closed his notepad. "We'll take it from here."

"You got it, chief," Hugo said as the cop joined his partner.

They watched as the two vandals were cuffed, put in the cars, and wheeled off. Once the police cars were out of sight, Hugo stretched and yawned.

"That was a nice little workout after dinner," he said. "What do you think, Yuka?"

"Certainly loosened me up, that's for sure," Yuka replied. "I want to duel again already."

"That's going to have to wait until tomorrow," Hugo said. "Right now, I can show you where the Duel Gym is, and after that, shack up at a hotel for the night and you can duel Flynn Hartmann tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me," Yuka said as she and Hugo left the plaza.