THE HEROES OF DESTINY
The duel room was many times larger than the classroom they'd been in earlier. The duel field, where the two duelists stood apart from each other, was large enough to accomodate not only the duelists but also their monsters. The wraparound bleachers ascended in rows of ten, and from the look of things, could easily hold the entirety of the student body and the faculty staff. Lights hung from the ceiling, large enough to illuminate the entire room, with two spotlights aimed down at the section of the field where the duelists would stand.
Not long after arriving at the room, they head an announcement over the PA system.
"Attention students and staff, there will be a duel in duel room 15E at 1:30 this afternoon, featuring our own Jasper Phoenix against a new challenger."
"I'm sure most of the students would rather see the duel than be in class," Hugo guessed. "Seriously, what kid likes being in school?"
"You'd be surprised," Yuka answered. "Anyway, we've got some time. Might as well get in some practice."
They spent the next few hours practicing in rotation - Yuka against Hugo, Hugo against Shelly, Shelly against Hugo - only stopping to go to lunch at a taco truck near the school.
At a quarter to one, students and staff started to file into the room. With the class jackets, the once pristine white room was now awash with splashes of red, yellow, and blue. The staff took their seats in the first two rows of bleacher seats; the rest were for the students. Hugo and Shelly took seats nearest to the duel field, watching as Yuka took her place and waited.
Right at the allotted time, Jasper Phoenix arrived, a teal green duel pad strapped to his arm.
"It's customary at Duel Academy for the challenger to tell the spectators why this duel is happening," he said.
"Oh." Yuka was caught off guard; she hadn't expected to tell these hundreds of people why she was dueling one of their teachers. It didn't help that she had no way for all these people to hear her.
"Don't worry; they'll hear you," Jasper said, as though he could sense Yuka's hesitation.
"Um...Okay." She took a deep breath. "Hi, everyone from Duel Academy. My name is Yuka Rumiko, from Initiis Town. I'm taking the Duel Monsters Championship League Gym Challenge, and I've already earned three badges. The reason I'm challenging your teacher is because beating him will earn me my fourth gym badge. Hopefully we can put on a good show for all of you." She turned back to Jasper. "How was that?"
"Pretty good," Jasper said. "Now then, shall we?"
The two duelists activated their duel pads, set their life points to 8000, drew their first five cards, and said "Let's duel!"
"I'll start us off," Jasper said. He scanned his opening hand, which consisted of three spell cards - Mask Change, Over Destiny, and Dark City - and two monsters - D Cubed and Destiny HERO Dread Servant. "I'll start by summoning Destiny HERO Dread Servant in attack mode." The monster he summoned was a tall man in silver and dark gray armor, with a dark green cape hanging off its shoulders; it carried a spear in one hand and on its other arm was a gold shield. "Next, I activate the spell card Mask Change."
"Mask Change?" Yuka repeated.
"With this card, I send a HERO monster I control to the Graveyard so I can special summon a Masked HERO monster from my Extra Deck, as long as it has the same attribute as the one I sent with this card," Jasper explained. "So I send Dread Servant to the Graveyard so I can special summon Masked HERO Anki in attack mode." This new monster was also humanoid in shape, dressed in black and gold full body armor; even its head was covered by a helmet with an opaque face plate. "That'll end my turn."
The staff and students of Duel Academy cheered as Jasper made his moves. Yuka supposed she couldn't blame them; they knew him, they didn't know her. To them, she was just some random girl who wanted to duel one of their teachers.
She drew a new card for the start of her turn and scanned her hand. She had four monsters - two Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragons, a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and a Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon - and two spell cards - Melody of Awakening Dragon and The Fang of Critias.
"I reveal a Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my hand to special summon Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon from my hand," Yuka called. The dragon appeared and roared down at Masked HERO Anki. "Now, Blue-Eyes, attack with Blue Lightning!" The dragon launched a stream of whitish-blue energy from its mouth. The energy hit Masked HERO Anki, vaporizing it and dropping Jasper's life points down to 7800.
"Thanks for that," Jasper said. "Because when Masked HERO Anki is sent to the Graveyard by battle, I can add another Mask Change card from my deck to my hand." He pulled the proper card from his deck. As he did, the duel pad's auto shuffle feature shuffled his deck.
"Well, that'll be the end of my turn," Yuka said.
"I draw, then," Jasper said as he pulled a new card from the top of his deck. It was the spell card Destiny draw. "I activate the spell card Over Destiny. "With this card, I can special summon a Destiny HERO from my deck, as long as it's the same level or less than one in my Graveyard. Since the Destiny HERO Dread Servant in my Graveyard is a level three monster, I special summon the level one Destiny HERO Dreamer in defense mode." The humanoid monster, which looked like it was in a skintight jester outfit with cresent moon shaped shoulder pads, appeared, his duel pad shuffled his deck.
"Next," he continued, "I activate the Mask Change I got at the end of your turn to send Destiny HERO Dreamer to the Graveyard, letting me special summon Masked HERO Dark Law in defense mode." This monster looked similar to Masked HERO Anki, but with added shoulder wings. "I guess that ends my turn for now."
"Okay then," Yuka said as she drew a card. It was Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands. "First, I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands in attack mode." Manju appeared, its many hands obsuring whatever face it might have had. "And now I'll use his effect to add a ritual spell card from my deck, and I choose Chaos Form." She pulled the card from her deck, and her duel pad shuffled the deck.
"Doing that triggers Dark Law's effect," Jasper called.
"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Yuka asked.
"Probably not," Jasper answered. "Because when you add a card to your hand outside of your draw phase, Dark Law can banish one card from your hand. I know there's a one in five chance of getting that ritual spell, so let's go, Dark Law!" Dark Law removed a spike from its leg armor and threw it at Yuka's hand.
The spike pierced Chaos Form.
"No!" Yuka cried. "I needed that!"
Jasper wiped his forehead. "Dodged a bullet on that one. The last thing I need is to deal with whatever ritual monster you were going to bring out. Luckily for you, I can only do that once per turn."
"Shoots that plan in the foot," Yuka huffed. "Fortunately for me, I have a Plan B. I activate The Melody of Awakening dragon. I send The Fang of Critias from my hand to the Graveyard to add two dragons from my deck to my hand, and I choose Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon." She added the two cards to her hand, and her deck shuffled itself. "And I once again special summon Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon by revealing a Blue-Eyes White Dragon." A second Alternative White Dragon appeared.
"Now," she continued, "with two level eight monsters on the field, I can build the Overlay Network."
There was a collective, audible gasp from every student in the room as the black hole appeared and pulled in the two dragons.
"I XYZ Summon Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy!" The dragon appeared, large enough for its head to brush against the overhead lights. "Now, Hope Harbinger, attack Dark Law!" Hope Harbinger's large shoulder pads opened, revealing rows of missiles. The missiles were launched at Dark Law, destroying it; Jasper's life points were safe, since Dark Law was in defense mode. "Now, Manju, attack him directly!" Manju rushed at Jasper and slapped him across the face and chest, dropping his life points to 6400. "My turn's done."
Jasper took a moment to catch his breath from that hit, before drawing a new card. It was Destiny HERO Diamond Dude.
"I summon Destiny HERO Diamond Dude in attack mode," he announced. Diamond Dude, as his name suggested, was covered in shark diamonds attached to his black outfit. "Now I activate his effect. I excavate the top card of my deck, and if it's a spell card, it goes to the Graveyard, and then I can activate that card's effect on my next standby phase, ignoring any cost. Let's see what I get." He looked at the top card of his deck. "I pulled the spell card Destiny Draw. So it's going to the Graveyard. And now, Diamond Dude will attack your Manju."
"Are you insane?" Yuka asked. "Not only will both monsters be destroyed, but you'll be defenseless!"
Both monsters attacked each other and vanished from the field.
"That would normally be true," Jasper said. "But I have Destiny HERO Dreamer in my Graveyard. I can special summon him from my Graveyard if a monster I control is destroyed by battle. And yes, he's going in defense mode." Dreamer returned to the field, taking Diamond Dude's place. "Your move."
Yuka drew a new card, the spell card Reload. "I activate Reload. Now I add the four cards in my hand back into my deck and draw four new cards." They were the monsters Ash Blossom and Joyous Spring, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon, and the spell card Polymerization. "Now, Hope Harbinger, attack his Destiny HERO." Destiny HERO Dreamer took the full brunt of Hope Harbinger's missile barrage.
"When Destiny HERO Dreamer is destroyed after being special summoned from the Graveyard, it's banished from the duel," Jasper said. He drew a new card, Destiny HERO Decider. "Now, on my standby phase, the effect of the Destiny Draw I sent through Diamond Dude's effect activates, letting me draw two new cards." Those new cards were Polymerization and Destiny HERO Dreamaster. He smiled. "I'll start by activating Destiny Draw in my hand."
"That triggers my Hope Harbinger's effect," Yuka said. "Destiny Draw is added to him as an overlay unit." A third golden orb appeared, joining the two flitting around Hope Harbinger.
Jasper laughed. "You took the bait."
"What?"
"I know that Hope Harbinger can only use that effect once per turn," Jasper replied. "So that's why I baited it out. Meaning that I can do this. First, I activate my field spell Dark City." Rows of skyscrapers appeared and surrounded the two duelists. "Next, I normal summon D Cubed." This monster was vaguely dog shaped, wearing a full face mask marked with a large "D".
"When D Cubed is summoned, it's treated as a Destiny HERO monster," Jasper explained. "Normally, I'd use its first effect to special summon two more from my deck at the cost of two cards from my hand, but I won't. Why, you ask? Because I'm going to use it for something else. And it starts with me activating Polymerization. I fuse the D Cubed on my field with the two Destiny HERO monsters in my hand - Dreamaster and Decider." Two more monsters apperaed on the field; Yuka didn't get a good look at them, as they joined D Cubed in morphing into colored swirls of light. "The three heroes of destiny join together to dominate their enemies. I Fusion Summon Destiny HERO Dominance!"
The swirls coalesced, forming a new creature. Despite its humanoid shape, it was gigantic, standing easily twice as tall as Jasper. The only other color on its armor, besides gunmetal gray, was the red icon on its torso. A ring of spikes rose up from its shoulders and around its head, attached to its cape, and it carried a large sword.
"First thing I'm going to do," Jasper said, "is use Dominance's effect. I can look at the top five cards of either of our decks and put them back in any order. I think I'll look at your deck. Let's see those top five cards." Yuka showed him the top five cards of her deck - Ghost Ogre and Snow Rabbit, Sage With Eyes of Blue, Deep-Eyes White Dragon, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and Return of the Dragon Lords. "I think we'll do this: Deep-Eyes, Sage, Blue-Eyes, Ghost Ogre, and Return." Yuka put the cards back in the order Jasper said.
"Now, Dominance, attack Hope Harbinger!"
"Hope Harbinger's still stronger!" Yuka cried. "Wait. Dark City..."
"That's right," Jasper said. "Dark City gives a Destiny HERO 1000 extra attack points if it attacks a stronger monster." As he explained this, Dominance's attack points rose from 2900 to 3900. It slashed at Hope Harbinger, cutting it down, destroying it and reducing Yuka's life points to 7100. "Since Dominance destroyed your monster by battle, I can draw a card from my deck." The card he drew was Over Destiny. "That'll end my turn."
Yuka drew a card for the start of her turn. She sighed. "I end my turn without playing a card."
"Got a brick hand, huh?" Jasper asked as he drew a card - Destiny HERO Dogma. "Let's use Dominance's effect on your deck again. Let's see them." He knew what four of those cards were going to be. The new card along with them was Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon. "I think the order is good as it is." Yuka put the cards back. "Dominance, attack her directly!"
Dominance slashed at Yuka. Despite the monster being hologram, she felt as though she had been slashed down the middle, and her life points dropped to 4200.
"That'll end my turn," Jasper said. Yuka fell to her knees, holding her chest and trying to breathe. "Yuka? Are you okay?"
"I just...I just need a moment," Yuka huffed. She took a few deep breaths, before climbing to her feet and drawing her Sage With Eyes of Blue for the start of her turn. "First, I summon Ash Blossom and Joyous Spring in attack mode." The monster she summoned was a small child, with fox-like ears and a tail.
"You're summoning a hand trap?" Jasper asked, confused.
"If only so I can do this," Yuka answered. "You really should have rearranged my cards, because by sending Sage With Eyes of Blue from my hand to the Graveyard, I can also send Ash Blossom, which lets me special summon a Blue-Eyes monser from my deck, and there's no substitute for the original. I special summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon in attack mode!" The dragon appeared, its pearl white scales reflecting the lights in the room. "Now, destroy Dominance! White Lightning!" Dominance was obiterated by the burst of white energy from Blue-Eyes's mouth, dropping Jasper's life points to 6300.
"Normally, if Destiny HERO Dominance is destroyed by battle, I can special summon three level nine Destiny HERO monsters from my Graveyard, but I don't have any," Jasper said.
"Well, that'll end my turn," Yuka said.
Jasper drew a new card, Polymerization. "I activate Over Destiny. You already know what it does. And I'm going to use it to special summon Destiny HERO Malicious from my deck." The new monster apperaed, a humanoid figure with gargoyle wings, three horns, and two tails. It flexed as it stared up at Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "Next, I activate another Polymerization, this time fusing Malicious with the Destiny HERO Dogma in my hand. Two heroes unite to obliterate the forces of evil! I Fusion Summon Destiny HERO Dystopia!" This monster was humanoid, like almost all of the other Destiny HERO monsters, in purple and yellow armor.
"When Dystopia is special summoned, you take damage equal to the attack points of a level four Destiny HERO monster in my Graveyard," Jasper said. "And I choose Destiny HERO Decider." Yuka winced as her life points dropped to 2600. "Next I banish the Destiny HERO Malicious in my Graveyard to special summon another one from my deck." Another Malicious appeared; his duel pad shuffled his deck.
"Now, I attack with Dystopia, and thanks to Dark City, it gains 1000 attack points," Jasper continued. Dystopia's attack points rose to 3800 as it charged two spheres of energy in its hands. After a brief moment, it threw the spheres at Blue-Eyes White Dragon, destroying it and dropping Yuka's life points to 1800.
"I activate the effect of the Deep-Eyes Whtie Dragon in my hand!" Yuka called. "When a dragon I control is destroyed, I can special summon this monster from my hand, and you lose 600 life points for each dragon in my Graveyard with a different name." This new dragon was even more brilliantly white than Blue-Eyes White Dragon, with a ring of feathered wings sprouting from its shoulders. It roared, and as it did, Jasper's life points dropped to 4500. "On top of that, it gains attack points equal to a dragon in my Graveyard, so it gets the same attack points as the Blue-Eyes you just destroyed." Its attack points rose from 0 to 3000.
"I end my turn, then," Jasper said.
Yuka drew the spell card Trade-In for the start of her turn. "I activate Trade-In. I send a level eight monser from my hand to the Graveyard to draw two cards. So I send Blue-Eyes White Dragon and draw two cards." The two cards she drew were two spell cards, Return of the Dragon Lords and Advanced Ritual Art. "First, I activate the spell card Advanced Ritual Art. I send a Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck to the Graveyard for the ritual cost. From the depths of chaos rises the mightiest of dragons. I Ritual Summon Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon!" The new dragon apperaed, so tall that its head nearby broke through the roof.
"Next," Yuka continued, "I activate Return of the Dragon Lords to bring back a Blue-Eyes White Dragon." One of the Blue-Eyes White Dragons in ther Graveyard returned to the field, roaring triumphantly.
Jasper smacked his lips. "Well...I think I see where this is going."
"First, Deep-Eyes, destroy Malicious!" Deep-Eyes roared as energy shot out of its wings, piercing Malicious and dropping Jasper's life points to 2300. "Blue-Eyes, destroy Dystopia with White Lightning!" Blue-Eyes fired its energy at Dystopia, destroying it and dropping Jasper's life points to 2100. "Now, Chaos MAX, finish him off with a Chaos Burst Attack!" Energy shot out of Chaos MAX's wings and mouth, blasting Jasper and the skyscrapers of the Dark City spell card, and Jasper's life points dropped to 0.
The room fell silent. The students, who had been cheering for Jasper, could only stare in shock as Jasper's life points finished counting down to 0.
A moment later, the cheering began again.
"Well played, Yuka," Jasper complimented her. "Are you sure you didn't attend one of the other campuses?"
"Never been to a Duel Academy," Yuka said. She looked up at her dragons; all three of them turned to look down at her, and nodded their heads. Yuka put the cards back in her deck and deactivated her duel pad, and as she did, the dragons faded away.
"Could have fooled me," Jasper said. He pressed a button on his duel pad. Yuka's duel pad beeped. She booted it up and brought up her duelist profile. A fourth badge had been added to her collection, this one in the shape of a stylized "D". "Congratulations, Yuka. You've earned the Avis City duel badge. Add in the three you already had, that means you're halfway to qualifying for the real tournament."
"Thanks, Jasper," Yuka replied. She shook his hand, before hurrying over to Hugo and Shelly. "You guys! We're halfway there!"
"You mean, you're halfway there," Shelly corrected her. "We're just along for the ride."
"No you're not," Yuka said. She put her arms around her friends' shoulders. "We're all in this together."
"Hey Yuka!" Jasper called over to her. "You want to say something to the crowd as the victor?"
"Oh. Um..." She looked around at the hundreds of people, all looking down at her. She suddenly felt very small. "Jasper is, um...He's a great duelist, and uh...You're all lucky to have him as a teacher." She swallowed. "Sorry. Just a bit nervous."
"Hey, no big deal," Hugo said. "But we'd better get going and let these people get back to class."
The students and faculty began to file out of the room. Yuka, Hugo, and Shelly hurried out of the duel room, not wanting to get caught in the tide of people.