REMATCH
Cole ran the brush over the canvas, each stroke bringing him closer to a finished product. Painting had always been a passion of his, ever since he was a child; he enjoyed it almost as much as he enjoyed dueling. Of course, there was a difference between the two: As a gym leader, it was his job to duel. Painting was simply a hobby, though he did sell his paintings on the side.
One final stroke of the brush, and this one was finished. Stepping back, Cole admired his work - it was a painting of a volcano, a plume of ash and smoke rising from the caldera and a stream of magma flowing down the slope. There was just something about volcanoes that fascinated him. He couldn't be sure exactly what it was: Their size, their power, the fact that they gave a brief glimpse into the inner workings of the planet...Whatever it was, they had captivated him since he was a child.
And maybe that was why he was drawn to the Volcanic archetype. Sure, it might not have been the best deck in the game, but they worked well enough for him; even the worst deck in the game could win if in the hands of a competent duelist.
His thoughts drifted back to those two duelists who had challenged him earlier. First was that boy who used only weak monsters; it said something when his strongest monster was Rabid Horseman, a fusion of Battle Ox and Mystic Horseman. That boy stood no chance. But then there was that girl, who lost because she foolishly played that gamble card. Cards like One Or Eight, the card she had played, were always tricky, having and upside that benefit the duelist as well as a downside that worked against them.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a bell, the indicator that someone had entered the gym. Cole took a few minutes to clean his supplies and wash the paint off his hands before grabbing his duel pad and making his way out to the main floor.
##################################################
Despite the gym being open, Cole was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the entire gym was empty; there were no other duelists in sight. The gym was still lit up by the same warm lighting of holographic fire and projections of flowing magma. The three of them looked around, but all they saw was an empty room.
That was, until the double door on the far end opened, and Cole entered the room, his duel pad strapped to his arm.
"So, you're back," he said as he approached.
"Yeah, I took last night to rethink my strategies," Yuka said. "So I'm ready for Round Two, Cole."
"I only hope you last longer than you did yesterday," Cole said as he and Yuka stepped into the middle of the room. "As long as you're not using that gamble card again."
"I learn from my mistakes," Yuka said as she and Cole set their life points to 8000.
Cole activated his duel pad and set his life points to 8000. As he did, both duelists looked at each other and said: "Let's duel."
"I'll let you make the first move, Yuka," Cole offered.
"Suit yourself," Yuka said as she and Cole drew their first five cards. Her hand was much better than it had been in their last duel, consisting of Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, Lightning Vortex, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Solemn Warning, and Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit. "I think I'll start my turn by setting one card face down." She put Solemn Warning face down in the trap card zone. "Now, by revealing Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my hand, I can Special Summon Blue-Eyes Alternaitve White Dragon. Come on out, dude." The dragon emerged, the holographic flames and magma reflecting off of its scales.
Cole let out an admiring whistle. "Not bad. And much better than last time."
"I know, right?" Yuka responded. "Anyway, I end my turn there."
Cole drew for his turn. His opening hand consisted of Crackdown, Call of the Haunted, Volcanic Shell, Magic Planter, Blaze Accelerator Reload, and Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. Not exactly the best opening hand, but he could make it work.
"I'll set two cards face down," he announced as he set Blaze Accelerator Reload and Crackdown in the trap card zone. "Next, I'll set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." He set Volcanic Shell face down in the monster zone.
Yuka drew her new card, Monster Reborn. "I'll start by activating Alternative White Dragon's effect to -"
"Hold it right there," Cole countered. "I activate my trap card, Crackdown."
"Uh-oh, that's not good," Hugo muttered.
"No it's not," Cole agreed. "Because this is a continuous trap card that takes control of your monster, stopping it from attacking or activating its effects. So your dragon can't do anything."
Yuka grinned. "You sure about that?" she asked slyly. "I activate my trap card, Solemn Warning!"
"Uh-oh," Cole gasped.
"Uh-oh is right," Yuka taunted. "Sure, I have to give up 2000 life points -" Her life points dropped to 6000 - "but it stops the activation of your trap card and destroys it, meaning my dragon's effect goes off and your monster is destroyed. Blue Lightning!" Alternative White Dragon launched a stream of bluish-white energy from its mouth, obliterating Cole's face down mosnter, Volcanic Shell. "Since your monster was in defense mode, and since I used my dragon's effect to destroy it, you don't lose any life points. I'll end my turn there."
Cole drew a new card, Volcanic Scattershot. "I'll start by activating Volcanic Shell's graveyard effect," he announced. "By paying 500 life points, I can add another Volcanic Shell from my deck to my hand." His life points dropped to 7500 as he added the proper card to his hand. "Next, I activate my remaining face down card, Blaze Accelerator Reload."
"What the heck is that?" Shelly asked.
"This card shares a name with another card, Tri-Blaze accelerator," Cole explained. "And what this card does is, during our Main Phases, I can toss a Volcanic card from my hand to the Graveyard to draw one card. I can only do this once per turn though. And if it's in the Graveyard, I can banish it to send a Volcanic card from my deck to the Graveyard. So I think I'll activate it now to send that other Volcanic Shell card I just picked up and draw a new card." He put Volcanic Shell in the Graveyard and drew a new card, another Volcanic Scattershot.
"Now," he continued, "I activate the spell card Magic Planter. This card sends a contiuous spell or trap I control to the Graveyard so I can draw two new cards. So I'll send Blaze Accelerator Reload to the Graveyard and draw two new cards." The cards he drew were Pot of Prosperity and Torrential Tribute. "Now I'll set one card face down." He set one of his Volcanic Scattershots in defense mode. "I'm done for now."
"And now you're on the defensive," Yuka noted as she drew a new card, Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands. "I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands in attack mode." Manju appeared, its body still appearing to be made of nothing but living hands. "Now I activate Manju's effect to add a Ritual Card to my hand, and I choose Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon." She added the proper card to her hand, after which the duel pad's auto shuffle function activated. "And now, to keep you from using your Volcanic Shell's effect, I think I'm going to take it with Monster Reborn." Volcanic Shell appeared on her side of the field.
"And now that I have three non-token monsters on the field, I can create my circuit and Link Summon," Yuka continued.
"So you took my monster just to give it back?" Cole asked.
"Well, mainly just for this," Yuka answered. "The summoning conditions are at least two non-token I set Volcanic Shell, Manju, and Alternative White Dragon in the link arrows. I Link Summon Link 3 Triple Burst Dragon." The red and black metallic dragon appeared, roaring at Cole as it aimed all three of its guns at his face down monster. "Triple Burst Dragon, destroy his face down monster. Triple Burst Shot!" All three guns fired, destroying Volcanic Scattershot, and dropping Cole's life points to 5100.
"Ow! What the heck?" Cole yelled.
"Oh, I forgot to mention that Triple Burst Dragon does piercing damage on monsters in defense mode," Yuka said.
"Warn a guy next time," Cole grumbled as he moved his card to the Graveyard. "But that activates Scattershot's effect, dealing you 500 points of damage." Yuka's life points dropped to 5500.
"I'll end my turn there," Yuka said.
This is great, she silently cheered. I haven't bricked, and I can already tell that getting rid of One Or Eight has really helped my deck. Not going to lie, though, I feel kind of sorry for cole; all he's been able to do is defend.
"You're doing great, Yuka!" Shelly cheered. "Keep it up!"
"You got this!" Hugo put in.
The sound of the doors opening caught their attention. They turned to the door in time to see someone enter, the same boy they had seen dueling Cole yesterday.
"Oh. He's already got a challenger," the boy noted.
"Yup. That's our friend Yuka dueling him over there," Hugo said.
"Who's winning?" the boy asked.
"Yuka is," Shelly answered. "By the way, we caught the end of your duel with Cole yesterday."
"Yeah, he kicked my butt," the boy said solemnly. "I'm Tommy, by the way."
"I'm Hugo, and that's Shelly, and we already told you about Yuka. Go Yuka!"
"I draw," Cole said as he drew a new card, Royal Firestorm Guards. "I set one card face down," he said as he set Torrential Tribute face down in the trap card zone. "And next I summon Royal Firestorm Guards in attack mode." The monster that appeared was a snake-like creature with a vaguely humanoid torso.
Yuka tilted her head in confusion. "Seriously?" she asked. "You summon it in attack mode? Why?"
"Calculated risk," Cole said. "Your move."
Yuka's new card was Return of the Dragon Lords. "I activate Return of the Dragon Lords to bring back Alternative White Dragon." Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon reappeared on the field, roaring triumphantly.
"I activate my trap card, Torrential Tribute!" Cole cried. "I activate this card whenever a monster is summoned, and it destroys all monsters on the field." All three monsters on the field started to cry out as the effect of Torrential Tribute went off.
"You do know that Return of the Dragon Lords has another effect, right?" Yuka asked. "I can banish it to protect my dragons from being destroyed, so you just destroyed your Royal Firestorm Guards for nothing." Royal Firestorm Guards vanished as it was destroyed.
Cole could only gape in shock. He had forgotten about Return's other effect, and that it could be activated any time as long as it was in the Graveyard.
"And before you ask, I'm not finished," Yuka said. "I Link Summon again. The summoning conditions are at least three effect monsters, so I set Triple Burst Dragon and Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon in the link arrows. I Link Summon Link Four Borreload Dragon!" The red and green dragon roared at Cole as it emerged.
"She's got a monster that powerful?" Tommy gasped in awe.
"It's not even her ace," Shelly answered.
"Borreload dragon, attack him directly!" Borreload Dragon opened its mouth, the barrel of its mouth-mounted cannon extending, and it fired. The blast hit Cole directly and dropped his life points to 2100. "I end my turn." Cole didn't move for a moment; he was hunched over, breathing heavily. "Cole? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Cole breathed. He stood up straight and drew a new card. "I'm only wishing our last duel went like this."
"I know," Yuka agreed. "I bricked hard last time, and that trap card didn't help. So I removed it from my main deck and clearly it was for the better."
"I can tell that it was a good idea," Cole said as he looked at the card he just drew, another Magic Planter. "Yuka, tell me something: Why do you duel?"
"Why do I duel?" Yuka repeated. "Well, I've always enjoyed dueling."
"So you duel for fun?"
"No. Well, I guess that's part of it. But you see, I wouldn't even be taking this challenge if it weren't for my dad. He's the one who got me into dueling, and when this competition first became a thing, he lamented the fact that he wasn't in the age group to compete. And then one day he died; heavy rain makes it difficult to travel safely on the freeway." She could feel her throat start to tighten as she remembered the day she lost her father. "So when I turned seventeen, I told myself that I would take this challenge, not for me, but for him. So I guess you could say I duel for my father's memory."
"I see," Cole said softly. He looked down at his hand, noting that nothing he had would be enough to destroy that Borreload Dragon.
At least, nothing in his hand would be enough.
"I activate the effect of Volcanic Shell in my Graveyard, paying 500 life points to add another Volcanic Shell from my deck to my hand." His life points dropped to 1600 as he added the right card to his hand. "And now, I'll summon it."
"You're up to something," Yuka said as the monster, which looked like a metal bodied fish or lizard covered in fire, appeared; it was dwarfed by Borreload Dragon, which let out a grows that almost sounded like a laugh.
"That something is creating my own circuit," Cole said. "The summoning conditions are one Level One monster, so I set Volcanic Shell in the Link Arrow. I Link Summon Link 1 Relinquished Anima!" This new monster was a grotesque...thing, its body looking like a flayed mound of bluish-green flesh with a mouth-like orifice at the top of its misshapen body.
"I've seen a monster like that before, but it wasn't a Link Monster," Tommy said. "That monster can take control of another monster and gain that monster's attack points."
"And Yuka's got one heck of a monster on the field," Shelly muttered.
"I activate Relinquished Anima's effect," Cole announced. "Take control of that monster!" Yuka watched in disgusted horror as Borreload Dragon was sucked into the mouth. A few seconds later, Relinquished's body began to twist and contort as Borreload Dragon emerged from its body, trapped in its fleshy prison.
"That's just...yuck!" Yuka cried.
"And it gets worse for you, because I can attack," Cole said. "Relinquished, use your new 3000 attack points to attack Yuka directly!" A cannon burst, not unlike the one that Borreload Dragon shot, was fired from Relinquished's mouth and hit Yuka. She cried out as her life points dropped to 2500.
"Come on, Yuka!" Hugo called. "You can't lose to him again!"
"Don't remind me," Yuka grumbled through gritted teeth as she drew a new card. She smiled; this was the card that was going to win her the duel.
"I activate the card I just drew, Advanced Ritual Art!" She activated the card; an alter appeared behind her, a beam of white light emerging from the sigil on the floor. "I send a Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck to the Graveyard as material for a Ritual Summon. From the depths of Chaos, the mightiest of all dragons rises. I Ritual Summon Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon!" Chaos MAX Dragon appeared, its dark scales reflecting the red, orange, and yellow glows in the room. "Chaos MAX Dragon, attack and destroy Relinquished Anima with your Chaos Blast Attack!" The dragon roared; energy shot out of its wings and pierced Relinquished Anima, destroying it and dropping Cole's life points to 600. "I end my turn there."
Cole drew a new card, but didn't bother looking at it. He knew he had nothing in his deck to help him defeat a monster like Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon. It was one of the most powerful monsters in the game of Duel Monsters, a 4000 attack point beater that couldn't be targeted or destroyed by card effects. Even if he were able to get out his most powerful monster, Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder, it wouldn't matter, as that monster only had 3000 attack points and its effected targeted and destroyed, which Chaos MAX was immune to.
As Cole looked at his hand, he realized there was only one move left to make. Cole took a deep breath and smiled, knowing that he had been beaten by a worthy and superior opponent, as he put the remaining cards in his hand into the Graveyard and deactvated his duel pad.
"I surrender, Yuka."
Yuka stared at Cole in confusion. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"
"I yield," Cole answered. "I concede the duel. There's literally nothing else I can do."
"Look at that, she won via a scoop," Hugo observed.
Cole walked over to Yuka as she shut off her duel pad. He extended a hand, which she happily shook.
"Looks like I'm the one who needs to rework my deck," he said. "That was a good duel, though." He pressed a button on his duel pad. "As the leader of the Salamandra City Duel Gym, and as proof of your victory, I hereby present you with the Volcanic Badge." Yuka booted up her duel pad, showing she now had a third badge, this one looking like the monster Volcanic Shell. "Congratulations, Yuka."
"Thanks, Cole."
"Just remember what I said about that One Or Eight card."
"Like I said, I learn from my mistakes." She shook Cole's hand again before turning to her friends.
"Great job, Yuka," Hugo said.
"Yeah, you creamed him," Shelly put in. "What did you think, Tommy?"
"Tommy?" Yuka repeated.
"Yeah, that's me," the new boy said. "I tried to duel Cole yesterday but lost."
"Oh, yeah, we caught the tail end of that," Yuka said. "Are you going to try to challenge him again?"
"Emphasis on 'try'," Tommy replied. "But you beat him, so maybe I have a chance, right?"
"I lost to him yesterday too, so this was our rematch," Yuka said. "How many badges do you have?"
"If I beat Cole, I'll only have one," Tommy answered.
"Oh."
"And if I lose again -" Tommy started.
"You're out until next year," Yuka finished. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Chin up, Tommy. Do your best."
"But what if I lose again? That's what's scaring me."
"Don't worry about it. Just try again. Duel Monsters is about luck as much as it is about skill. So again, keep your chin up and do your best, and you'll win."
Tommy looked down at his duel pad, before looking back up at Yuka. "Thanks, Yuka. I'll do my best."
"You do that, Tommy, but we've got to get going," Hugo said. "The next gym is in Avis City, and we need to go before it gets too late."
"What's the rush?" Shelly asked. "It's not even noon yet. We can at least go get some lunch."
"Yeah, I guess so," Hugo conceded.
"Good luck, Tommy," Yuka called as she and her friends made their way to the door while Tommy made his way to the center of the room to meet with Cole.