Hey, how y'all doing, folks?
Spring seems to be here, I know because my electric bill is down, seeing as I don't have to spend as much on heat. Of course, in two months or so I'm going to be spending just as much on air conditioning. This is a big reason why I don't drive.
Lol, nah, I'm fine, nobody here likes paying bills, right?
So, here is the new chapter of "Blockbuster! Yu-Gi-Oh!" I hope everyone here has a happy Easter. Stay safe.
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Chapter 19
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He Wrote More Carefully
"Hey, Hunter! How ya doin', how ya doin'?"
Hunter rolled his eyes. The bartender at the Point was an annoying and overly friendly type who had a brand of humor that could only be appreciated (and understood) if you had an English-Brooklyn dictionary. Hunter noticed a new appetizer special on the blackboard behind the bar, Root Beer Chicken Wings, likely another of his many odd ideas.
"You're early, Hunter, happy hour isn't until four."
"Well, I'm meeting someone later, Lenny, so I'll just have a Diet Pepsi for now."
Of course, Lenny was pretty much the only thing at the Point he found annoying. The bar and grill had a friendly atmosphere with a widescreen television (showing a football game), a dartboard, pinball machine, pool table, and -
Huh? Actually, the pinball machine wasn't there anymore, and something new had been added, sort of like a video game cabinet with a chair and a very different screen. The cabinet was shaped like the Millennium Golem (a blocky Rock-Type Duel Monster with the Eye of Wdjat on its otherwise blank face), the screen on its torso. The device also had slots to deposit cash or coins, odd levers and buttons, and a lot of flashing lights.
It was titled, Duelist Challenge! Millennium Madness!
"What is this thing, Lenny, a video game or a slot machine?"
"It's a Pachinko machine, Hunter, sort of both. Go on, give it a try!"
"Ugh, those crazy Japanese," he said with a sigh. Still, he had heard about these things and was a little curious.
"Well then, let's see here…" He sat down at the cabinet and dug into his coat for his wallet. On the screen, famous Duel Monsters like Dark Magician, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and Summoned Skull battled each other on a demo screen.
"Here goes." He fed the £5 note into the slot and there was a whirring sound, and then a dramatic music tone as the words, "Select Challenge!" appeared on the screen. It was a difficulty setting, the options being, "Novice", "Standard", "Expert", "Hard", and "Death Wish".
"Funny," he said, although he played enough regular games to know that such jokes meant they were not kidding about it, so he moved the controller to "Normal".
The screen came alive, with Duel Monsters cards rushing past at high speed, and then scattering, with a playing field starting to form.
"So, let's see what you've got here."
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"In the vast universe, the history of humanity is but a flash of light from a lone star. The life of a single person should be lost in space and time. But among the stars, there is one light that burns brighter than all others."
(T: 5,000) - - - - - - (L: 2,950)
The voice making the claim was in a voice that was young and feminine, yet stern and intimidating. The Xyz monster stepped forward out of the steam that had formed over Lorenzo's side of the field - the words seemed very fitting, in more ways than one.
It was a tall, humanoid figure about seven feet tall, a humanoid in solid, high-tech battle armor. Most of it was colored a dull hue of gold, with the upper torso and domed helmet red, the helmet also having an opaque purple visor. The armor's right gauntlet was in fact a long blaster cannon.
The figure looked at me, and then her - yes, her - visor opened, showing cold eyes that burned with determination. (2,400 ATK)
"So… Terone…" said Lorenzo. "Whatcha think of Cosmic Hunter Samus?"
Actually, I thought she was awesome. This could well be the biggest duel of my career to date - I just wished my boss - and his ice queen amazon assistant - weren't putting so much pressure on it.
Of course, this wasn't going to be easy. Right now, I had three monsters, Cosmo Brain (3,100 ATK), Rabidragon (2,950 ATK), and Tri-Horned Dragon (2,850 ATK), plus one set card in my Spell Zone. But while even my least powerful monster here was stronger than Samus, I had a nagging feeling there was more to this card than a simple Attack Score.
"Cosmic Hunter Samus!" exclaimed Brett. "Hank, you got the info on this chrome champion?"
Naturally, a third screen above the arena flicked on, meaning it was time for Hank's exposition. Not that I minded much, these were starting to get interesting.
"Oh, I sure do, Brett, first and foremost, I'd say Lorenzo is packing serious heat here, in more ways than one.
"Much like Link, who we saw a few turns ago, Samus has a history dating back to 1986, making her debut in Metroid a mere six months after The Legend of Zelda, but while she also failed to get top billing, the similarities between her and Link end there. This side-scrolling, non-linear platformer saw this ruthless bounty-hunter fighting against overwhelming odds on a hostile planet full of space pirates, giant aliens, and of course, a nasty bunch of critters called Metroids. It was such a groundbreaking game that, to this day, the whole genre is called Metroidvania!"
"And let's not forget it had one of the most shocking unmasking moments at the end!"
"Indeed, Yolanda, Samus did strike a blow for gender equality in video games, being the first major female protagonist since Ms. Pac Man. But what exactly do we know about Samus, and how one woman could so effortlessly tear through a horde of vicious Metroids? Well, simple, Samus was not a mere woman.
"Samus was born to colonists on a space colony established to excavate and refine Afloralite, a priceless ore that could fuel spaceships designed for intergalactic travel - but it could also be used for horrific and unethical biological experiments. It was thus that a band of cruel pirates would invade the colony with the intent to steal it when Samus was three years old. She was the only survivor, her parents giving their lives to protect her. She would later be found and adopted by a mysterious race of aliens called the Chozo. Their home planet had a harsh and hostile environment that would quickly prove lethal to humans, so the Chozo spliced her genes with DNA to enable her to survive, which made her grow up tougher and harder than any human could ever be. Naturally, her adoptive family taught her fighting skills, marksmanship, survival skills, and computer skills. She even learned enough about their technology to combine her genetic structure with Metroid DNA later, making herself even stronger."
"Like Frankenstein's monster, only cuter."
"End result, Samus is a nigh-unbeatable warrior even when unarmed - which she almost never is. Her armor - yet another Chozo invention - kicks her already-potent strength, speed, stamina, and leaping ability up to superhuman levels, while packing a power beam, wave beam, ice beam, plasma beam, and that is just in the arm cannon!"
"The woman is a practical Swiss army knife!" exclaimed Brett. "Too bad Lorenzo already 86ed Link, that is a fight I'd love to see here."
Oh, ye of little faith, I thought. Of course, I had a lot of questions about how Samus had made the transition from video game heroine to Duel Monster, but it seemed Lorenzo was about to pick up where Hank had left off.
"Yep, she's a beaut, but she's got it where it counts. You may notice her Attack Score ain't all that special, but for every Warrior and Machine she's got as Overlay Units, she gets 400 more!" (4,000 ATK) "Plus, in case you forgot, one of them was Option Eater, and when that monster is used for a Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Summon, all Equip Spells on it go to the summoned monster. So not Samus here has your Mist Body."
Samus lifted her right arm, aiming at Cosmo Brain, and the arm cannon started charging up. "Don' worry, this won't hurt a bit, but it might hurt a lot!"
"Terone," said the Spellcaster, "I'm no good to you now, you know what must be done."
"Yes…" I said with a nod. I lifted my arm and shouted, "I'm activating Cosmo Brain's effect!"
"Ha! How you gonna do that, Terone? You need to give up an Effect Monster, and -"
"What do you think Cosmo Brain herself is?" Clasping her staff in both hands, Cosmo Brain bowed her head and started to disappear. "I never said she couldn't Tribute herself. So, I'll sacrifice Cosmo Brain to bring out the Labradorite Dragon!"
As Cosmo Brain disappeared, a moonbeam came down from above and revealed a glowing orb of dark crystal. The crystal shattered, and a large, streamlined dragon made of the same material emerged, covering itself with its wings. (2,400 DEF)
"Seriously?" said Lorenzo. "Samus, change of plans - attack Tri-Horned Dragon."
The bounty hunter nodded, pointing to the Dragons in Attack Mode and firing a bolt of burning plasma, blowing the Dark one to pieces.
"Ugh…" I held my chest when the blow hit. He was right… That really hurt.
(T: 3,850) - - - - - - (L: 2,950)
"Not sure what Terone's game is here," said Yolanda, "by doing that he actually lost more Life Points than he would have if that attack had hit Cosmo Brain."
"Eh, suit yourself," said Lorenzo. "I'll set one more card, and then it's your go."
I drew a card - it was Betty's card, but I wasn't sure I could use her just yet.
I did some quick calculations in my head. Seeing as I had Getsu Fuhma here and Labradorite Dragon was a Tuner, I could summon her and make a Level 10 Synchro Summon. The only card I had like that in my Extra Deck was Ascension Sky Dragon, and if I summoned that, my hand would have five cards, giving it… 4,000 Attack Points. While that was equal to Samus, it wouldn't matter due to the Mist Body. Or I could summon Apprentice Magician, enabling a Level 7 Synchro Summon, but Exploder Dragonwing wasn't going to fit the bill either. I set a monster, then moved Rabidragon to Defense Mode. (2,900 DEF) Then, I set one facedown card, and said, "Turn end."
"Well then, I draw," said Lorenzo, "and now that's it's my Standby Phase, and Samus has an Equip, I gotta destroy it -" The Mist Body faded from her armor as the card itself shattered. "-but I can replace it with a different Equip from my deck, and I think I'll use… Air Cracking Storm!"
That same aura of digital symbols surrounded Samus' left shoulder, forming a weapon there that seemed like an odd cross between a rocket and a dart with pulsating green energy in the center. Then, Lorenzo's Trap Card lifted.
"Next, I'll use Double Type Rescue! Now I can special summon a monster from the Graveyard so long as I have at least two Types of monster on the field - and before anyone says I don't, Samus is both a Warrior and Machine."
That was… pretty clever actually. I wasn't sure why he decided to summon Nanobreaker. (1,600 ATK) Then, it became obvious as she disappeared again.
"I'm gonna sacrifice Nano to summon… the Ambitious Gofer!"
What came next was a bellowing, sinister laugh, as the whole room rumbled, and a colossal monster started to rise behind Lorenzo. It was… a brain. A huge, disembodied brain covered with pulsating arteries and cranial nerves, with an evil-looking face on the front with bloodshot eyes. (2,400 ATK)
"Boy, that is ugly."
Ambitious Gofer laughed louder, and then said, "Flattery will get you nowhere, human!"
"Eh, yeah," said Lorenzo. "I'm usin' his effect here, which can destroy two of your monsters! Unless, of course, you got a monster in your hand to show me…"
No way I could let that happen. I took the Dark Magician Girl and flipped it around towards him.
"Ooh, that's a nice one."
"Don't get any ideas."
"Perish the thought there, Terone. Guess we're gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way. Flatten that Rabidragon! Mega Morph Sphere!"
Samus eagerly complied, crossing her arms over her chest and then leaping upwards and forward. There was an odd flash of light, and she literally transformed, turning into a large sphere made of bronze-colored metal covered with circuitry. But she didn't stop there, and rolled forward, thundering towards Rabidragon and crushing him.
Damn, I thought.
The impact knocked Samus backwards and back to her regular form, and she effortlessly landed back on her feet.
"And… when Samus crushes one of your monsters, I get to use another of her effects and spend an Overlay Unit to take another Equip Spell from my deck!"
I wanted this card… I wanted it bad. Of course, having lost one of those Overlay Units, Samus' Attack Score went down a few hundred points. (3,600 ATK)
"We'll get to that in a minute, cause Sammy ain't done yet." She pointed her weapon at the set monster. "Cause when she's packin' the Air Cracking Storm, she gets a second attack!"
Less dramatic this time, Samus fired three bolts of charged energy at the set card. A Spellcaster in a violet tunic and blonde hair revealed herself, the first two shots bursting around her, the second hitting and atomizing her.
"You just activated Apprentice Magician's effect! I get to take another Level 2 or lower Spellcaster from my deck and set it!"
I got what I needed quickly and then set it. If I managed to defeat Samus this way, it would be a… lackluster way to deal with her, but at the moment I couldn't think of anything better.
"Lucky for you, that also means she's the only monster that can attack if she does that, so to end my turn…" He used the Equip Spell he had searched for. "...Gravity Blaster!"
Samus lifted her right arm as he played the card, and the arm blasted shifted and changed, the tip of the barrel changing to an orb crackling with red energy, and a pyramid-shaped field of the same energy behind it. (4,000 ATK)
"Heh… Your move…"
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"Win this Turn!"
Hunter was a little surprised - this wasn't a typical Duel Monsters video game, it was a Duel Puzzle. There was a timer in the upper right corner of the screen, but it started at zero and went up - Hunter would later figure out that the payout for the machine was proportionate to the amount of time it took to solve the puzzle, which of course, meant reducing the opposing side to zero Life Points in a single turn.
He was a little unnerved when the backdrop assumed a forested background and his opponent was revealed to be none other than Insect Queen - and she looked hungry.
(Hunter: 1,400) - - - - - - - (Insect Queen: 4,500)
"I will devour you!" she gloated.
Okay, okay, let's see here, he thought.
The first thing to do with these puzzles was to see what you were actually up against. The Queen had a Spirit Reaper in Defense Mode. Obviously, he knew what that was, it was an annoying monster that couldn't be destroyed by battle. The two set ones (which he could identify by moving the cursor over them were Flip Effect monsters, Cobra Jar and Magical Plant Mandragola. He'd never heard of those before, but the descriptions seemed simple enough.
Ironically, the cards he was provided with seemed to be those an Insect deck would use, mostly. His side of the field had Petite Moth (300 ATK) in Attack Mode, and a facedown card in the Spell Zone, Ojama Trio. The hand consisted of Parasitic Ticky, Multiplication of Ants, Statue of the Wicked, Premature Burial, Book of Taiyou, and Opti-Camouflage Armor.
Okay, so then I have to summon this, Equip it with this, and then attack directly with it once I have enough Tokens to… Wait…
He checked the Graveyard, and noticed it had Breaker the Magical Warrior.
Ah, it's obvious.
He first took the Premature Burial card and used it, reducing his Life Points to 600 and bringing Breaker to the field, a Spellcaster dressed in crimson robes and a pointed cowl, holding a long sword. (1,600 ATK)
Next he set the Statue of the Wicked card, placing it face down in his Spell Zone. He then went for the Book of Taiyou and used it, moving the mouse to the Magical Plant Mandragola. It flipped face-up, revealing a man-eating plant with two huge flowers for heads, each with a toothy, vertical jaw. It was gruesome, but not as impressive as it looked. (500 ATK) In addition, because Breaker was a monster who used Spell Counters, Mandragola's flip effect gave him one. (1,900 ATK)
The 300 extra points was only the secondary effect, as it also gave Breaker the ability to destroy one Spell or Trap Card, and he quickly used that ability on his own Statue of the Wicked, which created a Wicked Token, a scary looking snake-like monster wearing an Egyptian burial mask. (1,000 ATK)
Next he took Parasitic Ticky's card and summoned it, the creature being a humanoid (vaguely) tick with four arms and a quiver of javelins. It only had 500 Attack Points at the moment, due to only one Token monster being on the field, but that was about to change. He took the Multiplication of Ants card and used it, causing the Petite Moth to dissolve into light as he sacrificed it, creating two Army Ant Tokens. (1,200 DEF x2, Parasitic Ticky: 1,500 ATK)
He took the Opti-Camouflage Armor and used that as well, causing odd fish-like plate armor to form around Parasitic Ticky, and a trident to appear in its hands. This didn't increase its Score - the point was it would allow Ticky, being a Level 1 monster, to make a direct attack.
Time to swat this bug, he thought. "I attack Magical Plant Mandragola with Breaker the Magical Warrior!"
Lifting his sword high, Breaker leapt at the strange plant and cleaved through its two stems. "Curses!" shouted Insect Queen.
(Hunter: 1,400) - - - - - - - (Insect Queen: 3,400)
"You're all bark and no bite. My Wicked Token attacks the set monster, GO!"
The statue lurched forward and then breathed golden flames at the defending monster. It flipped up, revealing a ceramic urn with a cobra in it. It was burnt to a crisp, and a duplicate of itself - a Poison Snake Token - appeared in its place. (1,200 DEF, Parasitic Ticky: 2,000 ATK)
He paused, then flipped the Ojama Trio Trap Card, causing three silly-looking gremlins - the eponymous Ojama Trio as Tokens - to appear on Insect Queen's side of the field. (1,000 DEF x3, Parasitic Ticky: 3,500 ATK)
"Attack directly, Parasitic Ticky! Skewering Striker!"
Nodding to the screen, the Ticky lifted the trident and then leapt over the Spirit Reaper, stabbing the weapon into Insect Queen's bloated torso.
(Hunter: 1,400) - - - - - - - (Insect Queen: 0)
"Damn you…" she cursed and then collapsed and shattered.
A message flashed on the screen "VICTORY!" The timer then appeared on the screen and reversed, counting down and applying the remaining time to points. There was a "kaching" sound, and five more Pachinko tokens fell into the slot.
Not too shabby, he thought.
"Hey, Hunter," said a voice from the bar. "Don't you know that guy?"
He turned and saw that the duel between me and Lorenzo was on the bar's television now.
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I drew one card - and almost fell over. It was Horntail! Just the card I needed for an epic finish. But first, I flipped the set monster face-up, a shriveled, bent old woman with an oversized cudgel and multicolored robe. (450 ATK)
The crone started to chant, channeling a dark hex upon Ambitious Gofer. "By Flip-Summoning Old Vindictive Magician face-up, I can destroy one monster. Wipe out Ambitious Gofer!"
The hag cast her spell, forming a pentagram in her hands, and hurling it spinning towards the huge brain…
…but then, to my surprise, Samus seemed to intervene. Lifting her right hand caused a wall to spring up between the two sides of the field, a force field made up of translucent hexagonal shapes tessellated together in a barrier. Samus fell to an Attack Score of 3,600 and the spell glanced off. Ambitious Gofer let out a deep, throaty laugh.
"Nice try, Terone, but Sammy has another effect. If you try to whack one of my monsters with a card effect, I can get rid of an Overlay Unit to negate that effect. The downside is, that does her in at the end of the turn unless I get rid of an Equip Spell, but I got two of them for that."
"In that case," I said. Labradorite Dragon and Old Vindictive Magician dissolved as I banished them. I threw Horntail's card onto my Disk, and the huge Dragon appeared with a loud roar. (3,400 ATK)
"And Terone brings out his super-spectacular signature card! But will it be enough?"
"I do believe we've seen Terone break out Horntail before, Yolanda, it's actually no contest - its effect forces any monster it battles to use its base Attack Score, so I think it puts Samus at a clear disadvantage."
"Heh, go on, Terone," said Lorenzo. "Take your best shot."
I stopped - that was certainly not the best poker face he had…
"Oh Terone…" purred Betty.
She was there, next to me reclining (in mid-air, like on an invisible couch), with the same snarky look, although I wasn't sure whether she had ever left.
"I told you, I don't need a cornerman."
"Okay, Terone, okay, but just some quick advice - when someone tells you to give it your best shot, he's usually planning to fire back with his best shot."
"What does that -" I started, but she was already gone.
Still, something was wrong here. Lorenzo had no set cards, only those two Equips, and…
"Well?" he asked.
"Give me a minute here."
That wasn't hyperbole, I had literally only a minute to make a move, that was a cardinal rule for pros. However, this new model Disk Jenni had sprung for had a few features other than the TDI system.
Tapping two switches on the underside brought up a Duel Mat screen, a hologram display of the duel setup in tabletop format. An easy way to check the text of any card currently in play, something I had to do now for those Equip Spells. I touched the Gravity Blaster card, it enlarged, and…
So that's it… clever.
Obviously, I couldn't rely on Horntail's effect here, and next turn, Samus would be even stronger. I looked down at my two set Trap Cards… I was always nervous when I used this, but…
"I activate the Trap Card, Reckless Greed! So, I'll draw twice…"
"You gotta be gettin' desperate here, Terone, you louse this up, you won't be able to draw for two more turns."
"Well then… I'd better not 'louse up'.
The two draws were Polymerization and Pot of Avarice. Let's see, I thought, Getsu Fuhma, Celtic Swordgirl, Dar… Oh, wait, Polymerization? That's it! I took that card, along with Dark Magician Girl and Getsu Fuhma. Secret weapon time!
"Hey, Brett! You might want to get a close-up here, because you're going to get that fight you wanted now! I use Polymerization and fuse together my Dark Magician Girl and Getsu Fuhma!"
Trask coughed, choking slightly, having swallowed what he was drinking too quickly.
"No… way…" he said.
"Slow down," said Hephzibah.
As I used the card, the Spellcaster and Warrior appeared in front of me, and were then drawn into the spiraling Fusion vortex… And then, she emerged from it, a female form gracefully floating forward.
"Behold… Seiya Ouijo!"
The new Spellcaster had the same face as Dark Magician Girl – the same smiles, dimples, and makeup – but her hair was now brown, tied back in a waist-length ponytail held in place with a silver hairpin shaped like a crescent moon. (2,400 ATK)
"WHOA! Now there's a gal I'd love to fuse with! Heh… If ya know what I mean…"
"Beautiful, yes," I said, "but deadly. Seiya Ouijo has an effect I can use once, the turn I summon her, meaning now I have to pay 1,500 Life Points, the cost for her effect."
(T: 2,350) - - - - - - (L: 2,950)
"But before I actually use that effect, I'm going to use… Pot of Avarice!"
"Eh?" asked Lorenzo. "Why didn't you use that one first?"
After confirming the two new cards – Pain to Power and Lady of D – I put them aside and said, "Make no mistake, I'm glad for two extra cards, but what was far more important was the cards I sent back to the deck." Seiya Ouijo's eyes crackled with mystic energy, and she cast a potent spell, causing two geysers of flames to erupt from either side of her. "Because now I can use Seiya Ouijo's effect to summon two Warrior or Spellcaster monsters from the deck!"
The first to appear was Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, though he appeared weakened and ill this time, sweating heavily and on one knee. Then, Getsu Fuhma appeared too, a dark warrior with Samurai style armor (black with a red skirt) flaming red, waist-length hair, and a glowing katana – he didn't look so well either.
"Of course, doing so causes them to be summoned without their effects and zero Attack Points, but Guardian is still an Earth Attribute Warrior, so I can Special Summon… The Celtic Swordgirl!"
This was another new one I had gotten from Betty, and the monster itself seemed… dubious at first. It was a young girl about ten years old, dressed in a child-sized version of Celtic Guardian's tunic and armor, sans the helmet. She had long, blonde hair in pigtails, and a wooden training sword. (800 ATK)
"Aw, ain't she adorable?" said Lorenzo with a chuckle.
"You know what they say, big things come in small packages. Because I summoned her via her effect, her Level becomes that of Celtic Guardian. So, one two, three…" The Overlay Unit started to open again, consuming Getsu Fuhma, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, and finally, Celtic Swordgirl, who blew a raspberry at Lorenzo before vanishing. "...and Xyz summon… well, remember this guy?"
Link, Guardian of Hyrule appeared as before, cleaving through the air with his glowing sword. (2,500 ATK)
"Eh, this is the time of year where all you get are reruns."
"I'm sure everyone knows Link's effect by now – I'll ditch one of his Overlay Units to use an Equip Spell from my deck."
Link's sword disappeared, and was replaced by a strange-looking battle-axe, a one-handed weapon with a silly jester's face etched on the blade. He looked dizzy and confused, but the muscles on his arms swelled as the weapon strengthened him. (3,500 ATK)
"Seems Terone is pulling a risky gambit here," said Yolanda. "He's armed Link with the Axe of Fools, a powerful Equip Spell, yet one that will prove costly to Terone. Not only will that prevent Link from using his effect, it will deal 500 points of damage to Terone on the end of his turn."
I was far from done. My final Trap Card lifted, Birthright, and shards of crystal floated up from the ground, fitting together and turning into Alexandrite Dragon. (2,000 ATK)
"Finally, I'll use one more Equip Spell, and give it to Horntail, Pain to Power!"
"Huh? What does that do?"
Using the card caused a long, golden ribbon to appear, covered with eldritch runes inked in gold. It affixed around Horntail's neck like a collar, and the runes covered its limbs and torso. "I'll show you, but first… Link, attack! Destroy Ambitious Gofer!"
Link grasped the axe in both hands and shouted "YAH!" as he leapt towards the much larger foe. Gofer's eyes bugged out as Link slashed downward, bisecting through the giant brain's lobes. The Fiend shattered into triangles. "Guh…" groaned Lorenzo.
(T: 2,350) - - - - - - (L: 1,850)
"Now… Alexandrite Dragon, attack Samus!"
"HUH?"
Lorenzo was not the only one who was shocked by the move – Trask, Brett and Yolanda were stunned too, though Hephzibah was as quiet and focused as she always was. Samus herself seemed surprised too, if her reaction was anything to go by. Of course, Alexandrite Dragon stood no chance, as she aimed her blaster and fired, atomizing him.
(T: 350) - - - - - - (L: 1,850)
"Perfect! While that cost me, Pain to Power grants Horntail Attack Points equal to the Life Points I lost, so now…"
The huge Dragon roared in rage and bloodlust… (5,400 ATK)
"Damn…" gasped Lorenzo.
"Attack Samus! Infernal Soulfire!"
As I expected, the Gravity Blaster equipped to Samus nullified the effect of my monster during the battle, meaning her Attack Score wasn't reduced to the base – fortunately, that meant it didn't happen to Horntail either. Samus was struck hard, her armor shattering into pieces before she collapsed. Briefly, I saw the woman under the armor; slim, young, attractive, with a long, blonde ponytail, wearing blue spandex, but then she collapsed and faded away.
(T: 350) - - - - - - (L: 50)
I made a note to myself to apologize to her later. For now… "Seiya Ouijo… finish him off!"
The Spellcaster nodded, leapt up high, did a flip, and then darted downwards Lorenzo, foot first. She delivered a drop kick to the jaw, and Lorenzo collapsed falling on his face.
"Game… over!" exclaimed Yolanda. "The Duelist of Hogwarts has again claimed an epic victory!"
How embarrassing.
"Lorenzo? You okay?"
I lent him a hand to help him up. "Ugh," he groaned. He clutched the side of his ribs. "I'll live, this sort of thing only hurts when I laugh. Heh-heh, ow… You know, that last move you made… It was freakin' awesome!"
"You did pretty well yourself, almost sorry I had to do it."
"Well, you know what they say about video games, Terone."
Then he handed me the card. Samus' card.
"...it ain't over until you're out of continues. Heh-heh. Ow…"
I barely heard him, I was entranced by the card. I may actually have become a true contender by now, maybe having caught up with…
Damn, I thought, I had almost forgotten about Hunter. I checked my watch and was relieved to see it was only
"Say, you hungry? I know a place around here that makes great calzones."
"Sorry, Lorenzo, I already have plans –" I looked towards the screens where Yolanda and Brett had been. "Schedule, you know, but next time I have a day off, look me up, I'll buy."
"Say…" He nodded towards the table where Trask and Hepzibah had been, whom I had almost forgotten about. "Where'd they go?"
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Back at the Point, a lot of young folks were watching the duel. Lenny was pretty enthralled by it too, until the final blow was made, that is.
"Yo, pay up old man!" said Hunter with a laugh. "And I'll take a refill too."
"Okay, okay," said Lenny. He slapped a £10 note on the bar and added, "Don't spend it all in one place."
Hunter sat down at a table, taking his deck and extra deck from his Duel Disk – he had seven of the Blockbuster cards now, one more than I did.
He didn't like Yolanda any more than I did, but knew she had a point, most of those other duelists he had gotten them from weren't much of a challenge. But in his eyes, that wasn't a bad thing.
Hunter had an outlook on life that was controversial at best, which he may have learned from his parents (who I had not seen since my folks and I stopped meeting them at the Point). He believed that if you were strong enough, cunning enough, or smart enough to take something from someone else, it was your rightful property, and generosity and charity only made a person weak. Some called it a selfish and amoral way of thinking, but he'd say that if you weren't strong enough to take what you need, you simply had to become strong enough.
Probably something Seto Kaiba would agree with. I was looking forward to meeting him as much as he was, simply for the chance to put him in his place.
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In the back seat of his limousine, Trask was on the phone with his broker, trying best to sound pleased. "Thanks, Bill."
"Seems your big sneak peek succeeded admirably," said Hepzibah, "in more ways than one."
"Where exactly did that Fusion Monster come from?"
To answer, Hepzibah quickly typed in a website address on her mobile and then turned it towards him.
"What the… Supreme Secret Rares?"
"That is what the blogger calls them, I do not believe these cards had an official designation."
Trask read down the blog, a listing of every Booster Pack from 2002 to 2018. Roughly half of them had a link to a Duel Monsters card, and while he recognized a few – including Supreme Sovereign Serpent of Golgonda, and Sofia, Goddess of Rebirth – most were completely new to him. About half of the links had a "?" next to them, while roughly half of the sets had no link, with "?" instead. Seiya Ouijo was listed next to a pack called "Resonant Lullaby", which had been released ten years ago.
"Each of these booster packs had an inclusion that was not only incredibly rare, but not part of the promoted list of cards for the set. Each set had only one, and it is believed there were only ten of them released in each set."
Trask was now looking over the official card list for Resonant Lullaby. True enough, Seiya Ouijo was not listed among the cards; the cards that were listed mostly included support for Arcana Force, Gagaga, and Darklords, but nothing that even suggested Dark Magician Girl, Spellcasters, or Fusion Monsters.
"As you can see," she continued, "many of these Supremes are only included on the list based on rumors or hearsay, while those in many sets have not been confirmed."
"Why would I2 even have such a system?"
"Difficult to say. Pegasus had an… odd outlook on the game. The Exodia cards were similar, it was something of a joke that was included when the game was first invented, the true power of the assembled cards being a secret that even Seto Kaiba was unaware of."
THAT'S for sure, thought Trask. "Any idea how Brickman wound up with one?"
Of course, he already knew how, but Hephzibah was still going to give her own opinion.
"Well, the less likely theory is that Mr. Brickman already had it, and only decided to use it after gaining the Dark Magician Girl card. Very unlikely, seeing as he wouldn't have needed that card to summon it. He could have done so with Versago or Goddess, and still been able to use its powerful effect."
"Go on…"
"The other, far more likely reason… it was given to him, by someone who gained it via… Incredible luck."
He quickly discerned what that meant. "Lovely, now we have to kill him."
"I can have it done by the end of the day, but I would recommend –"
"I didn't mean that literally! Honestly, you folks take everything so seriously!"
"You say that as if it were a bad thing," said Hephzibah in an annoyed tone. "Then what is our next step?"
"For now, we have to keep tabs on everything he does. I think I know just who his next opponent is."
"He has not accepted any other official challenges today."
Trask smirked, then turned the television on in front of him. A quick selection in the settings brought up Yolanda's interview with Hunter.
"Call it a hunch, but… I think he will be making an official one very soon."
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Well, that was something.
Right now, I'd like to thank King Dragun, who first thought up the original versions of Celtic Swordgirl and Seiya Ouijo in a fic he wrote as a spin-off to one of my oldest works, although the current versions have upgraded effects. I haven't heard from him in years, but if he's still around, thanks a bunch.
Next chapter, if it hasn't sunk in by now, we will finally get the start of the first confrontation between Terone and Hunter, and it will be epic. We'll finally see the Blockbuster card he started with and maybe the answers to some other lingering questions.
Like I said at the end of the last chapter, the rest of Lorenzo's cards are listed here.
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Option Eater (Effect Monster Card)
Machine/Earth/Lvl4/800/1,200
Effect: When this card is Normal Summoned, select 1 Equip Spell that is equipped to a monster and equip it to this card. If this card is used as material for a Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Summon while equipped with any Equip Spell, you may equip those Equip Spells to the summoned Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Monster.
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Celtic Swordgirl (Effect Tuner Monster)
Warrior/Earth/Lvl2/800ATK/1,200DEF
Effect: You may Special Summon this card from your hand by selecting an EARTH Warrior monster you control; this card's Level then becomes the Level of the selected monster. Only one "Celtic Swordgirl" can be Special Summoned this way per turn.
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Cosmic Hunter Samus (Effect Xyz monster)
Machine/Light/Rank4/2,400ATK/2,200 DEF
2 or more Level 4 monsters
Effect: For every Warrior or Machine this card has as an Xyz Material, increase its ATK by 400; for each Xyz material it has that is not a Warrior or Machine, lower its ATK by 600. This card is also considered a Warrior-Type monster. During your Standby Phase, if this card has an Equip Spell, destroy that Equip Spell; you may then select 1 Equip Spell from your deck and equip it to this card. Once per turn, you may activate 1 of the following effects by detaching 1 Xyz Material per effect:
* When this card destroys a monster by battle, you may add 1 Equip Spell from your deck to your hand.
* Once per turn, if a monster you control would be destroyed by a card effect, you can detach 1 Xyz Material; that monster is not destroyed. At the End Phase of the turn this effect is activated, select 1 Equip Spell equipped to that monster and send it to the GY; if you cannot, destroy this card.
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Seiya Ouijo (Fusion Monster)
Spellcaster/Dark/Lvl8/2,400/2,450
"Dark Magician Girl" 1 DARK Warrior monster
Effect: Cannot be Summoned except via Fusion Summon. On the turn this card is summoned, you may pay 1,500 LP and if you do, you may Special Summon from your deck 2 Lvl4 or lower Warrior or Spellcaster monsters from your deck; monsters summoned in this manner have their ATK and DEF reduced to zero and cannot use their effects. When this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate any Spell/Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step.