Yu-Gi-Oh! Cyberspace [Episode 22/52]

[Guest Supreme Gamesmaster]

Some coincidence. XD

 

You'll wanna update the title. Great chapter, and good job avoiding the ATK-increase series. :lol:

[Guest TheFinalFan]

kewl!

[Guest Supreme Gamesmaster]

Geez, what's so great about Izo? :?

 

w/e, just so long as we keep this coming. :D

[Guest Supreme Gamesmaster]

Free bump for pwnage thread.

[TotalObelisk]

Lol, thnx dude...

 

[spoiler=Episode 15]Episode 15: Lonesome Duelist, Ryuga Kenza.

 

Ryuga picked up his Crystal World Dragon card from the floor, staring down at it.

“I’m not a failure,” he muttered under his breath before gathering up the rest of his deck.

He looked back up at the window of the observation room, but his grandfather wasn’t coming back. His hand tightened into a fist and he walked out of the room, cursing under his breath. As he walked through the door out of the duel arena he noticed his grandfather coming round the corner and stopped, glaring at him.

“Why do you never pay any attention to my efforts?” He asked “I’ve proven countless time that I’m not as useless as you think I am.”

“Ryuga,” the chairman said “Your skills are not in question, I’d expect no less of my own grandson, however you rely on chance far too much and even if you are successful, you’ll never certify your victory with chance.”

With that he walked past Ryuga, not even looking down at him. Ryuga remained where he was, glaring off down the corridor. He would’ve replied, but he thought it best to remain quiet for the moment.

 

Hours later, after night had fallen, Ryuga opened the door to his bedroom and walked inside, turning on the lights and revealing a rather small but messy room with several stacks of cards on the shelves and window sill and small parts of things scattered over the floor. He kicked a pile of junk out of the way and sat down on his bed, taking out his deck and looking down at it. He grimaced as he remembered his grandfather’s words.

“You’re just finding any excuse to ignore me,” he muttered darkly “Why did you take me in if you didn’t want me to be around in the first place?”

He fell silent, as though he was expecting his grandfather to reply.

“Why did you give me this deck if you thought I wasn’t good enough to use it?” He continued “Why?”

Whatever answer he was expecting, he didn’t get it. He merely sat there, staring at the stack of cards in his hand.

“Well, I’ll show you just how good I can be,” he muttered.

He stood up and picked up one of the stacks of cards lying about his room and began going through it, picking out several cards.

“Once I’m done here, my decks going to be even better than before,” he thought as he went through the piles one by one.

 

Ai stifled a yawn as she sat down next to Izo at the back of the classroom the next morning, looking a complete mess.

“What’s up with you?” Izo asked, taking out his notebook.

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” Ai replied, rubbing her eyes “I’m way too worked up about the Cyberspace Trophy.”

“Don’t knock it,” Izo said “You’ll be fine, you just need spirit.”

“I told you before, I don’t believe in all that stuff,” Ai replied, leaning on both arms and trying to keep her eyes open.

“Hehe, you will eventually,” Izo said, grinning.

Ai muttered something inaudible and turned to gaze longingly out of the window.

“I just don’t get you sometimes,” she muttered.

 

Ryuga wandered down the white corridor of the laboratory, his duel disk on his arm and his deck loaded into it. A serious expression was showing on his face as he glared straight ahead. His grandfather walked out of the observation laboratory and noticed Ryuga, turning to face him.

“Ryuga?” He stared at him “What…”

“Duel me,” Ryuga said, raising his duel disk and activating it.

“Excuse me?” The chairman said, his eyebrows rising.

“I said duel me,” Ryuga repeated “Now.”

The chairman stared down at his grandson and then a grin spread across his sallow face.

“Ryuga,” he said calmly “Do you honestly think you stand a chance against me?”

Ryuga’s eyes narrowed.

“Enough of this nonsense,” the chairman said, walking past Ryuga “I have no time for petty games.”

Ryuga’s eyes widened as his grandfather walked past, but he didn’t turn about. He lowered his duel disk, staring down at the floor, before turning to enter the observation laboratory.

 

Once inside he walked up to the glass booth in which he sat and entered, plugging himself into the Cyberspace program and transporting himself into the virtual reality. As the scenery loaded around him he continued to glare ahead, thinking about everything his grandfather had said.

“I guess I’ll just have to prove it to him this way instead,” he muttered as the scenery finally took shape around him.

He looked about, noticing that there were very few people milling about, most of the ones that where talking about the Cyberspace Trophy. Ryuga gave the area a quick scan before walking forwards, heading towards the fountain district. On the way there his shoulder banged into somebody just leaving, causing them to stumble.

“Hey, watch it!” The kid yelled, but Ryuga ignored him.

He continued walking till he was at the fountain where he sat down, looking about him absently. It wasn’t long before he could hear someone walking up behind him.

“Hey, you,”

Ryuga ignored them.

“I’m talking to you!” The voice repeated, somewhat angrily.

Ryuga looked about, noticing a tall boy with neat black hair, jeans and a dark shirt staring down at him.

“You’re Ryuga Kenza, right?” The boy asked, seemingly irritated.

“Why’d you ask?” Ryuga asked.

“Because…” The boy leaned forwards and grabbed Ryuga by the collar, lifting him up “You where picking on my sister, that’s why!”

Ryuga looked behind the boy and noticed the girl he’d dueled before his match with Lex standing behind.

“Gin, just leave it,” the girl said.

“I see,” Ryuga said calmly.

He grabbed the boy’s arm and wrestled out of his grip, throwing the boy to the floor effortlessly, causing his sister to let out a slight cry. Gin got back up to his feet angrily, his fists raised.

“This isn’t a place for fighting,” Ryuga said, raising his D-Wing “If you’ve got a score to settle with me, we do it the proper way.”

“Hehe, fine,” Gin said “But if I win you’re gonna regret it.”

“Then I’ll just have to not lose,” Ryuga replied calmly.

“Duel!”

The D-Wings activated, creating the virtual fields on which the cards would rest.

 

“Time to kick things off!” Gin said, drawing a card and placing it in his hand “I summon Cube Statue in defense mode!”

A small grey dice appeared on Gin’s field and began spinning.

“Cube Statue’s effect now activates,” Gin said “Allowing me to roll a dice, and his DEF becomes 400 times the result.”

The dice wobbled and then finally rolled over, landing on six.

“Nice,” Gin barked “So now his DEF is 2400!”

Cube Statue’s DEF rose to the appropriate amount.

“I’ll set two cards face down and end my turn,” Gin said.

 

“Very well then,” Ryuga said, drawing a card from his own deck. “With the improvements I’ve made to this deck, this duel shouldn’t take long,” he thought. “I activate the effect of my Crystal World Snake,” Ryuga said, showing Gin the card.

He took Crystal World Knight from his hand and held it up in the air, causing a larger version of the card to appear behind him before it vanished.

“I remove Crystal World Knight from play in order to special summon Crystal World Snake!” Ryuga declared.

A large snake made out of white rock appeared on Ryuga’s field, letting out a long hiss.

“Ha, that thing’s ATK is nowhere near enough to get past my Cube Statue,” Gin chuckled.

“I’ve already taken that into account,” Ryuga said “Because now I’m releasing my Crystal World Snake to summon my Crystal World Golem!”

Ryuga’s snake collapsed into a colourful orb which then opened up and his Crystal World Golem emerged from within it, groaning menacingly.

“Crystal World Golem?” Gin looked up at the card “Heh, no matter though, he doesn’t have enough ATK to get past my Cube either.”

“I didn’t summon him to attack your Cube,’ Ryuga said calmly.

“Huh?”

“I play the spell card Crystal Return,” Ryuga said “If a monster removed from play was removed by the effect of a monster in my graveyard, I can remove that monster from play to special summon the first monster to my field.”

“Huh?”

“So I remove Crystal World Snake,” Ryuga said, the card image appeared behind him before it vanished “To summon my Crystal World Knight!”

A white vortex opened up on the floor next to the Crystal World Golem and the Crystal World Knight rose out of it.

“It still doesn’t matter,” Gin laughed “Neither of your monsters have enough ATK to defeat mine!”

“It seems you’re unaware of my Crystal World Knight’s effect,” Ryuga said.

“Huh?”

“When Crystal World Knight is summoned, I can reduce the ATK of one Crystal World Monster I control to zero,” Ryuga explained.

Crystal World Golem let out of moan as its ATK dropped to zero.

“Why the heck would you want to do that?” Gin asked, slightly taken aback.

“Because Crystal World Knight now gains the same amount lost,” Ryuga explained as his knight’s ATK rose to 3800.

“Wait, what?” Gin stammered.

“Crystal World Knight, attack Cube Statue!” Ryuga ordered.

Ryuga’s monster ran forwards, raising its sword and cutting Gin’s monster in two before it shattered.

“You’ve set off my trap,” Gin said “Blind Destruction!”

Gin’s card flipped up and glowed slightly.

“If that’s all then I’ll end my turn,” Ryuga said.

 

“My draw then!” Gin said “And now my card’s effect activated, meaning I roll another dice, and all monsters with level equal to the result are destroyed”

A giant red dice appeared in mid air and rolled across the field, landing on three.

“It’s landed on three,” Ryuga said “Meaning my monsters are safe.”

“Not for long,” Gin said “I play my second trap, Dice Re-roll.”

“What?’

The first dice shattered and a new one appeared, rolling across the field.

“Dice Re-roll allows me to negate a dice roll and take it again,” Gin explained.

Ryuga didn’t reply. The dice slowed and came to a halt on four.

“Perfect,” Gin laughed “Say goodbye to your knight.”

An energy beam shot from Gin’s trap card and struck his Crystal World Knight, destroying it.

“Now I summon my Cube Warrior,” Gin said.

Another grey dice appeared on Gin’s field and began spinning.

“It’s just the same as my Cube Statue,” Gin explained “Except this one is for ATK.”

“I guessed,” Ryuga replied.

The dice stopped, landing on five.

“Sweet,” Gin said “My Warrior now has 2000 ATK!”

The Dice then opened up, a head popped out of the top, a pair of arms came out of the sides carrying a sword and shield and a pair of legs grew out of the bottom.

“Go!” Gin commanded “Attack Crystal World Golem!”

Gin’s monster ran forwards and jumped high into the air, bringing its sword down upon Crystal World Golem and destroying it, reducing Ryuga’s life points to 2000.

“Ha, how’d you like that?” Gin laughed “I end my turn!”

 

Ryuga drew one card from his deck and looked down at it.

“I summon a monster in defense mode and end my turn,” he said.

A face down monster card appeared in front of Ryuga and he lowered his arm.

“Heh,” Gin scoffed “Getting sloppy are we?”

Ryuga ignored him.

 

“Fine then, my draw!” Gin said “Now my Blind Destruction activates again!”

A new dice appeared in mid air and rolled across the field, landing on one.

“Looks like my Cube Warrior lives another day,” Gin chuckled “Speaking of which, Cube Warrior, attack!”

Gin’s monster charging forwards, raising its sword to bring down on Ryuga’s monster.

 

****

 

The monster flipped up, revealing Ryuga’s Crystal World Egg. Cube Warrior’s sword impacted, but nothing happening.

“Hey, what gives!” Gin cried.

“Our monsters are equal in points,” Ryuga explained “So I’m afraid this battle is a tie.”

“Pft, fine then,” Gin said “Turn End.”

 

Ryuga took a card from his deck and placed it in his hand.

“And now I play the effect of my Crystal World Egg,” he declared “Since it’s the only monster I control, I can special summon another Crystal World monster from my graveyard.”

“Huh!”

Ryuga’s Crystal World Egg glowed and his Crystal World Knight emerged out of it.

“Let’s go!” Ryuga said “I tune my level 4 Crystal World Egg to my level 4 Crystal World Knight!”

Ryuga’s egg glowed and burst into four green rings which fell about his Crystal World Knight.

“The weak shall become food for the strong, only the strongest fighter will survive to claim his throne. Synchro Summon, Rise up, Crystal World Dragon!” Ryuga recited.

A green pillar of light illuminated the field and faded, revealing Ryuga’s Crystal World Dragon.

“Go, Crystal World Dragon!” Ryuga commanded “Attack Cube Warrior!”

Ryuga’s monster opened its mouth, launching its attack towards Gin’s monster and destroying it, reducing Gin’s life points to 3200.

“You’re gonna have to do better than that!” Gin laughed.

“Turn end,” Ryuga said.

 

“Heh, my draw!” Gin took a card from his deck “Now my Blind Destruction will activate!”

Another dice appeared in the air and rolled across the floor, landing on five.

“Tch, guess you got lucky,” Gin muttered “Fine, I’ll summon my Cube Orb in defence mode.”

A grey dice floating inside a large bubble appeared on Gin’s field.

“Guess I’ll end there,” Gin said.

 

“My draw then,” Ryuga said, taking a card from his deck “Crystal World Dragon attack!”

Ryuga’s monster fired again, its attack heading straight for Gin’s monster.

“I play my Cube Orb’s effect,” Gin said.

The Cube began spinning within the orb and stopped suddenly with the number two facing up.

“Since the result is an even number, my Cube Orb can’t be destroyed!” Gin laughed.

The Crystal World Dragon’s ATK washed over the monster but it remained where it was.

“Hmph, turn end,” Ryuga said.

 

“Ha!” Gin laugh as he drew his next card “Blind Destruction activate!”

The dice appeared once again in mid air and rolled across the field, landing on six.

“Excellent!” Gin laughed “Now your dragon is destroyed!”

Ryuga’s eyes narrowed as another beam of energy shot out from Gin’s card and hit his dragon, destroying it.

“You’ve activate my dragon’s effect,” Ryuga said “Since he was destroyed, I can special summon Crystal World Knight!”

The pieces of Crystal World Dragon flew back together, forming Ryuga’s Crystal World Knight.

“Tch, cheap,” Gin muttered.

He looked down at his hand and grinned.

“I summon D.I.C.E Fiend,” Gin said, summoning a small, dark coloured demon holding a grey dice in one hand.

The demon threw his dice on the floor and it rolled along.

“When D.I.C.E Fiend is summoned, I roll another die,” Gin explained “And his level is equal to the result.”

The dice came to a halt, landing on two.

“Perfect! Now he’s level two!”

“Your point being?” Ryuga asked.

“It’s simple,” Gin said “My Cube Orb is a tuner monster, so I’m tuning him to my D.I.C.E Fiend.”

“I see,” Ryuga muttered “A Synchro summon.”

Gin’s Orb burst into three green rings which fell about the D.I.C.E Fiend, transforming it into two glowing orbs.

“Synchro Summon!” Gin said triumphantly “Rise, Cube Fiend Lord!”

A monster with green skin, armour and demonic wings emerged on Gin’s field, grinning in almost the same manner than Gin was.

“You’re lucky your dragon can summon your Crystal World Knight,” Gin chuckled “Because otherwise this duel would have been mine.”

Ryuga’s eyes narrowed once more.

“Now I play my Cube Fiend Lord’s effect,” Gin said as another dice appeared “I roll a die, and as long as my Cube Fiend Lord remains on the field all your monsters lose ATK equal to 100 times the result.”

The dice rolled across the field, landing on five.

“Ah, not bad,” Gin said “Now all your monsters lose 500 ATK.”

Ryuga looked down at his Crystal World Knight as its ATK dropped to 1200.

“Lucky he’s in defence mode,” Gin laughed “Cube Fiend Lord, attack!”

Gin’s monster threw three flaming die towards Ryuga’s knight, destroying it.

“Ha, looks like you’re in a pinch now,” Gin laughed “So, what are you gonna do?”

 

Ryuga remained silent as he drew a new card from his deck and looked down at it.

“I summon my Crystal World Creator!” Ryuga declared.

Ryuga’s monster rose up, revealing a woman with long white robes and a staff made out of crystals.

“Thanks to Cube Fiend Lord’s effect, your monster loses 500 ATK,” Gin interrupted.

Ryuga didn’t react as his monster’s ATK dropped to 1200.

“I play my Crystal World Creator’s effect,” Ryuga said “Allowing me to Special Summon my Crystal World Snake from out of play!”

Ryuga’s monster raised her staff and created a white vortex in the ground in front of her from which the Crystal World Snake emerged, hissing loudly.

“Quit stalling,” Gin barked “You already know you’ve lost.”

“No,” Ryuga said “In fact I’m going to win this duel.”

“What?”

“Since my Crystal World Snake is a tuner monster, I now tune it to my level 4 Crystal World Creator!”

“Another Synchro Summon?” Gin’s eyes widened.

Ryuga’s snake coiled up, transforming into three green rings which flew into the air and fell around the Crystal World Creator.

“This is where it ends,” Ryuga said “Synchro Summon, show yourself Crystal World Legendary Knight!”

A new knight rose up on Ryuga’s field; this one however had a large sword made up of crystals, blue crystal armour and long, blond hair that blew out behind him.

“Now, since my Crystal World Creator and Snake have a total of 2500 ATK, then that becomes the ATK of my Crystal World Legendary Knight.”

Crystal World Legendary Knight’s ATK rose to 2500.

“Don’t forget he loses 500 ATK,” Gin said.

Ryuga’s eyes narrowed as his monster’s ATK dropped slightly.

“In that case I’ll just have to play my equip spell,” Ryuga said “Crystal Rival!”

“What the heck does that do?” Gin asked.

“Quite simple, when the equipped monster attacks another monster, it gains 100 points for each level star that monster has.”

“He’s got more ATK than my Cube Fiend Lord,” Gin muttered “But it’s not enough to end this duel.”

“It is,” Ryuga said “Because thanks to my Legendary Knight’s effect, I can remove my Crystal World Dragon from play and increase my Legendary Knight’s ATK by my Dragon’s ATK.”

“What?!” Gin’s eyes widened in horror.

Ryuga’s Crystal World Dragon appeared behind him and then vanished, increasing his Crystal World Legendary Knight’s ATK to 5300.

“It’s over,” Ryuga said “Crystal World Legendary Knight, attack Cube Fiend Lord!”

Ryuga’s monster raised its sword and charged forwards, cutting Gin’s monster in two straight down the middle. Gin looked up in horror as his monster shattered and his life points dropped to zero.

“No…no way,” he gasped.

The holograms faded and Ryuga turned away.

“How ironic,” he muttered “You rely on chance, and your gamble failed.”

“Why you,” Gin got to his feet and charged at Ryuga.

“You just don’t get it, do you,” Ryuga muttered.

He took out his D-Cell and selected logout, vanishing before Gin even got close.

 

Ryuga opened his eyes and took off the headset, placing it down on the desk in front of him.

“Um, sir, we’re not done yet,” one of the technicians said as Ryuga exited the booth.

“No, but I am,” he replied, walking out of the room.

He wandered back down the corridor again, staring at the ground.

“Leaving so soon?”

Ryuga stopped and looked up, noticing his grandfather blocking his path.

“I’m done here,” he said “So I’m leaving.”

“I hope you’ve learned your lesson,” the chairman said.

“Lesson? What are you talking about?” Ryuga asked.

“You duelled a boy using chance, did you not?” The chairman said “And defeated him.”

Ryuga’s eyes widened slightly.

“Now, if his last monster had just one result higher he’d have survived your last attack, then your monster might have been destroyed by his Blind Destruction,” the chairman explained “His victory relied on that gamble, and it didn’t pay off.”

“Wait a minute,” Ryuga said “Did you make him duel me on purpose.”

A grin spread a cross the chairman’s face, stretching his features.

“Now, what would make you think that?” He asked, striding past Ryuga and chuckling softly.

Ryuga turned to watch him leave, his eyes still wide with shock.

“I wouldn’t mind him if I where you,”

Ryuga looked around and saw Lukon leaning against the wall behind him.

“Lukon?”

“He’s your grandfather, right?” Lukon asked “How’d you end up living with him?”

“It’s a long story,” Ryuga replied “I don’t want to go into it.”

“Heh, fair enough,” Lukon chuckled, standing up straight “See you later then.”

“Wait,’ Ryuga said.

Lukon stopped, looking over his shoulder at Ryuga.

“You don’t think I’m as worthless as he does, right?” Ryuga asked.

Lukon frowned, pondering the question.

“I’m not really at a position to say,” he replied, shrugging “But, old Kenza does set his standards pretty high.”

He walked away again, turning a corner and vanishing from sight. Ryuga watch him go before he turned about himself and continued down the corridor.

 

“I just don’t get it,” Ai moaned.

“Shall I go over it again?” Izo asked.

“If you must,” Ai muttered.

“Hey, guys!”

Ai and Izo looked up and saw Yue and Aoi standing in the classroom doorway. The rest of the classroom was quiet except for Ai and Izo.

“What are you two doing in here during lunch?” Yue asked.

“Ai fell asleep in class,” Izo replied, chuckling “So I’m helping her catch up.”

“Still nervous?” Yue asked “Come on Ai, get over it already, you’ve won plenty of duels.”

“I told you, that’s not it,” Ai muttered.

“Well whatever it is…” Yue walked over, feeling her way along the floor and patting Ai on the head, messing up her hair slightly “I bet you’ll get over it.”

“Yue, stop that!”

Izo chuckled softly, watching Ai trying to wrestle Yue off her.

“Yue, try not to kill her,” Aoi said.

Yue chuckled and took her hand off Ai while she attempted to straighten out the mess. Aoi walked over and pulled up a chair, sitting down opposite Ai and Izo.

“Tell you what,” she said “Why don’t we go through your deck and improve it.”

“Huh?” Ai blinked, confused.

“I don’t think that’s the problem,” Izo replied.

“Yeah, but it’s worth a try,” Aoi said.

She lifted up a large bag she’d been carrying on her shoulder and dropped it on the desk where it made a heavy slam, causing Ai to jump.

“What’s in there?” She asked.

“A bomb,” Aoi replied.

“Eh?!”

“Kidding,” Aoi chuckled “I just dug out some spare cards I have lying about, I figured a few of them might help you.”

“These are spares!?” Ai gasped, looking in the bag.

“Wow, not bad,” Izo said, taking a few out and shuffling through them “Mind if I steal a few?”

“Go ahead,” Aoi said “I’ve got all the cards I need.”

“Thanks,” Izo replied.

Aoi smiled at him and continued to gaze at him for a few minutes whilst he and Ai went through their decks.

“Aren’t you going to change your too, Yue?” Ai asked, looking behind her.

“I can’t read any of those cards,” Yue replied “If I want to edit my deck I have to get Aoi to do it and then she’ll put in the brail afterwards, so for the moment I’ll pass.”

“But won’t that put you at a disadvantage when we duel?” Ai asked.

“I’ll go through it later, don’t worry,” Yue replied.

Ai frowned and looked back down at the cards in her hand, her eyes widening suddenly. Izo looked up and saw her expression.

“What’s up?” He asked.

“I dunno,” Ai replied, staring at the card in her hand “I recognize the picture in this card, but I don’t know where from.”

Aoi leaned over the table and looked down at it.

“Ah, that’s some spare spellcaster support I had lying around,” she said “It might give your deck a major boost.”

“You serious?” Ai asked.

“Yeah,” Aoi replied “Go ahead.”

Ai gave a slightly smile and looked back down at the Sacred Temple card.

Name: Crystal World Legendary Knight

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 7

Type: Rock / Synchro

Lore: 1 Tuner + 1 Non-Tuner Monster.

This card's ATK is equal to the combined ATK of all monsters used to Synchro Summon this card. Once per turn, you can remove 1 "Crystal World" monster in your Graveyard from play to have this card gain the ATK of the removed monster until the End Phase.

ATK: ?

DEF: 2200

Trivia: This card's appearance is based off Siegfried from Soul Calibur IV

Tips: Use a high level tuner to get this card's ATK as high as possible.

 

 

[spoiler=cards used in episode 15]

Name: Cube Statue

Attribute: EARTH

Level: 3

Type: Rock

Lore: When this card is summoned, roll a six-sided die. This card's DEF become equal to the result x400.

ATL: 1000

DEF: ?

 

Name: Crystal World Snake

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 3

Type: Rock / Tuner

Lore: You can remove 1 "Crystal World" Monster in your hand from play to Special Summon this card from your hand.

ATK: 600

DEF: 200

 

 

Name: Crystal Return

Type: Normal Spell

Lore: Select 1 of your removed from play "Crystal World" Monsters that was removed by the effect of another "Crystal World" Monster. Special Summon the selected monster then remove from play the monster that removed it.

 

 

 

 

Name: Cube Warrior

Attribute: EARTH

Level: 3

Type: Warrior

Lore: When this card is summoned, roll a six-sided die. This card's ATK become equal to the result x400.

ATK: ?

DEF: 1000

 

 

 

Name: Cube Orb

Attribute: EARTH

Level: 3

Type: Rock / Tuner

Lore: When this card is attacked, roll a six-sided die. If the result is an even number this card cannot be destroyed by battle during this turn.

ATK: 1000

DEF: 1000

 

 

 

Name: Crystal World Creator

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 4

Type: Rock

Lore: When this card is summoned, you can Special Summon 1 of your removed from play "Crystal World" Monsters in Defense Position.

ATK: 1700

DEF: 1200

 

 

Name: Crystal Rival

Type: Equip Spell

Lore: When the equipped monster delares an attack against another monster, increase the equipped monster ATK by 100 x that monsters level during Damage Calculation.

__________________________________________________________________

 

 

[Aelsthla-Mental]

Awesome chapter

 

That luck-based deck was interesting, and sounds like that crystal world deck has become even more of a powerhouse. Although it sounds like his grandfather is stronger still...

[TotalObelisk]

Episode 16 is now up, enjoy...

 

[spoiler=Episode 16]Episode 16: Cyberspace Trophy part 5. Blind Ambition.

 

A happy laughter filled the room as a group of small children crowded about a round table, sticking their hands in paints and smudging them across the paper spread out before them. However at the back of the room a single girl sat, her dark green hair tied behind her and her milky eyes staring downwards, unable to see what was ahead of her.

“Are you okay?” A blue haired girl kneeled beside her, a few green patches of paint on her face.

The blind girl turned away: “I’m fine,” she muttered.

“Don’t you want to join in?” The blue haired girl asked.

“I can’t,”

“Why not?”

“I’m blind,” the girl said “I can’t see what I’m doing.”

The blue haired girl was unimpressed.

“Then I’ll just help you dummy,” she said.

“Huh?”

She stood up and grabbed the girl’s arm, leading her over to the table.

“I’m Aoi,” the girl said “What’s your name?”

“Y-Yue?”

“Nice to meet you, Yue,”

 

The modern day Yue stood, leaning against the school gates as the sun set behind her, her arms folded and her milky eyes gazing ahead.

“What’s up?” Aoi asked, walking up behind her.

“Nothing,” Yue replied “Just remembering stuff.”

 

Ai looked down at her new deck, a soft smile on her face as she sat down next to Izo on the benches in the yard.

“Well, with the changes we’ve made I doubt you’ll need to worry about the rest of the Cyberspace Trophy,” Izo chuckled.

“Y-you think?” Ai replied “I still don’t know if I’ll do well enough.”

“You will,” Izo said “Hey, you wanna test it out?”

“No way,” Ai replied “You’d just beat me!”

“Well then we could just edit it again,” Izo said.

“Hey, you’ve stolen enough cards from me!” Aoi called jokingly.

Izo looked up and saw her and Yue walked up to them across the yard.

“Thought you two had gone home,” Izo said “Everybody else has.”

“There’s nothing much for me at home,” Aoi replied “Trust me, the less time I spend there the better.”

“What about you, Yue?” Izo asked “I’m pretty sure your parents get worried about you.”

Yue shrugged but didn’t reply.

“Well, I still need to check to changes to my deck as well,” Izo said, standing up “Aoi, care to duel?”

“Really!” Aoi almost squealed “Awesome.”

Izo grinned and took out his duel disk, Aoi followed suite.

“Duel!”

 

Yue passed the two of them and sat down next to Ai to watch.

“Still haven’t tried that new deck out?” She asked.

Ai shook her head: “I’d rather save it for the tournament,” she replied.

“Oh, trying to surprise me, are you?” Yue chuckled.

“T-that’s not it,” Ai stammered.

“Ha, I’m kidding, loosen up,” Yue laughed.

“Oh, sorry,” Ai muttered.

The two fell silent, watching the duel as Aoi summoned her Bloodwing Mantis.

“Say, Yue,” Ai began, slowly.

“Hm?”

“Why didn’t you answer Izo’s question earlier?” Ai asked.

“That?” Yue looked about “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“Hm?” Ai looked confused.

“Just don’t tell anybody else, okay?” Yue said, putting a finger to her lips.

“Eh?”

“My parents don’t really notice me anymore,” Yue replied “To them; I’m more like a vegetable.”

“W-what?” Ai exclaimed.

“Something wrong?” Izo asked, pausing mid-turn.

“Ah, no nothing!” Ai called back “Sorry.”

Izo shrugged and carried on.

 

“Why do they treat you like that?” Ai asked, whispering this time.”

“It’s because I’m blind I guess,” Yue replied “They think I can’t do anything. You see, both my parents run a family business, they get a good amount of money out of it too so they live in the tops.”

“Then, why send you to an ordinary school?” Ai asked.

“I told you, didn’t I?” Yue said “They think just because I’m blind I can’t do anything.”

“But you can do loads of stuff,” Ai said “You’re a great duellist, better than a lot of people without handicaps! Why don’t you just show them…?”

“They’d take no notice,” Yue interrupted.

“Eh?”

“They’ve given up on me, so I’ve given up on them,” Yue explained “It’s a pretty vicious circle.”

“But…”

“No buts,” Yue said “That’s how it is.”

“I see,” Ai muttered, suddenly feeling sorry for Yue all of a sudden.

“It’s not a problem for me,” Yue said “They’d only get in my way.”

“Eh?”

“Most parents with blind kids spoil them,” Yue explained “And there’s no way I want that, I’m happy as I am.”

“So, you’re fine with this?” Ai asked.

“Yeah,” Yue nodded “In fact, I see my blindness as an advantage.”

“I don’t follow,” Ai muttered.

 

“It’s simple,” Yue replied “Since I’m blind, people expect me to be unable to duel, right? And since duelling is one of the worlds biggest industries then that automatically means I won’t do so well in life…”

“So?” Ai asked.

“So, imagine a blind girl winning a top duel monster’s tournament having defeated the very best of the best without even being able to read her cards,” Yue continued, a grin crossing her face.

“Oh, I get it,” Ai said.

“Yup,” Yue nodded again “I can prove to the world that blind people can be just as good as anybody else, duelling or otherwise. And that is good enough for me.”

“Wow,” Ai exclaimed “And that’s why you entered the Cyberspace Trophy, right?”

“Well, yeah,” Yue shrugged “But, it’s kinda backfired on me.”

“Hm?” Ai blinked.

“Nah, forget it,” Yue said, waving her hand “It doesn’t matter, let’s just look forwards to tomorrow and enjoy it, okay?”

“Sure,” Ai replied.

 

“Sword Butterfly, attack him directly!” Aoi commanded as her monster rushed forwards, going straight through Izo’s Virtual Interceptor.

“I play my trap card,” Izo said “Spirit Barrier!”

“Eh!?”

A pearl orb surrounded Izo as the Sword Butterfly’s attack flew past him and his life points remained the same.

“Hey, that’s cheating!” Aoi yelled.

“You’re the one that’s made your monster stupidly strong,” Izo replied “If I hadn’t played that card, I’d have lost. What would you have me do?”

“Aw come on, can’t you let a cute girl win?” Aoi said.

“Hehe, sorry, no can do,” Izo chuckled.

“Meanie!” Aoi yelled.

 

“Izo’s really good at this,” Ai commented, a tone of awe in her voice.

“I’m just impressed by the way he keeps his cool so easily,” Yue replied “It’s kinda irritating.”

“That just makes him that much cooler,” Ai said cheerfully.

“You like him, don’t you?” Yue asked casually, causing Ai to jump and turn pink.

“No, I just said he…I…Ah, forget it,”

Yue chuckled childishly.

 

“My turn then,” Izo said, drawing a card “I remove Virtual Sniper and Virtual Princess in my graveyard from play.”

Both aforementioned monsters slid out of his graveyard slot and he picked them up, stowing them in his breast pocket.

“And Special Summon my Virtual Hero!”

Izo’s favourite monster emerged onto his field beside his Virtual Interceptor.

“Too bad they can’t attack my Sword Butterfly,” Aoi called.

“Well, I’m about to change that,” Izo said.

“Eh?” Aoi looked confused.

“I play the magic card, Digitize,” Izo said “And equip it to your Sword Butterfly!”

Aoi looked up as her monster suddenly turned blue and glowed.

“Hey, what did you do?” She asked.

“Simple,” Izo said “Digitize turns your monster into a data monster, meaning my monsters are free to attack it.”

“You’re kidding,” Aoi gasped.

“I’m not,” Izo chuckled “Virtual Crusader, attack!”

Izo’s monster flew forwards to attack Aoi’s monster.

“Too bad, I play my trap Insect Armour!” Aoi said.

“Hm?”

“If an Insect type monster I control is attacked by a stronger monster, I can play this card to increase its ATK by 1000 this turn.”

Sword Butterfly’s ATK rose to 3000.

“Well, it’s a good thing my Interceptor inflicts 500 damage to my opponent whenever they play a trap card,” Izo said.

“Eh?”

Izo’s Virtual Interceptor paused, firing a beam of energy towards Aoi and reducing her life points to 900.

“Sword Butterfly!” She commanded.

Aoi’s monster flew up and shot a beam of green energy back at the Virtual Interceptor, destroying it.

“Well, thanks to my Spirit Barrier I take no damage,” Izo said calmly “Now to finish this, Virtual Hero attack!”

“Huh, but my Sword Butterfly has more ATK,” Aoi said.

“Then I play Virtual Hero’s effect,” Izo replied “By sending Spirit Barrier to my graveyard, I can increase his ATK by 1000 during damage calculation.”

“You’re kidding,” Aoi stammered.

“I’m not,”

Izo’s trap card vanished and his monster’s ATK rose to 3900. He rushed forwards and threw a punch at Aoi monster, destroying it and reducing Aoi’s life points to zero.

“Gah, I lost,” she exclaimed.

“Guess you’d best stick to riding duels,” Izo laughed.

 

“At last, it seems we’re moving up to round 2,” The chairman said to the group sitting around the table in the dark room “Meaning we’re another step closer to our goal.”

“Just remember not to step out of line,” Josh said, glaring at the chairman “You may be head of this project, but you are still under my orders.”

For a second, the chairman’s expression faltered but returned to normal.

“I do not need a lecture from you,” he said “Unlike you; I can actually control my ambitions.”

Josh’s eyes narrowed dangerously, but he made no response.

“In any case,” the chairman said “We must prepare for tomorrow. Kimiro, how are the preparations.”

“Couldn’t be better,” Kimiro replied “Everything is in place.”

“Good,” the chairman replied, not noticing the subtle tone of Kimiro’s voice “Till tomorrow then, gentlemen.”

The group stood up and exited the room.

 

****

 

Ai sat on her bed, going through her deck.

“Is this really going to be good enough to get me through this tournament?” She thought.

She frowned and then shook her heads.

“No, I can’t have any doubts,” she muttered “My friends helped me make this deck, so I’m going to use it.”

She picked up her duel disk and inserted her deck into the deck slot before she plugged in into her computer.

“Here I go,” she muttered, opening the Cyberspace program.

 

Minutes later she found herself in the tournament server once more, the first duel of the second round already underway.

“I hope I can do this,” she muttered “No, I know I can do this.”

“You’ve certainly got your spirits up,” Yue chuckled.

“Eh?”

Ai turned around and noticed Yue standing behind her.

“Yue,” she exclaimed brightly.

“Hm, you’re way too cheery,” Yue said “Who are you and what have you done with Ai?”

“Hey, that’s not funny,” Ai replied.

“That’s better,” Yue chuckled, patting Ai on the head again.

“And stop that!”

“Representative of Server 10, Leon Tren, advances to round 3,” the voice announced.

“Well, that didn’t take long,” Yue chuckled.

“So, what’s the next duel?” Ai asked.

“Well…” Yue looked up at the holo-screens and grinned.

“Huh?”

Ai blinked as she looked up and her eyes widened with shock as she saw herself and Yue matched up together.

“Y-y-you’re kidding,” she stammered.

“Well, looks like you and I are in the next duel,” Yue laughed.

“No way,” Ai moaned.

 

Izo arrived at what had now been named the screen district due to the four screens displaying the tournament server in the centre. As soon as he arrived he looked up and noticed that Ai had been paired with Yue for the next duel.

“Hm, interesting,” he muttered.

“Yo’,” Lex called, walking up behind him “Did I miss Ai’s duel.”

“She’s just on now,” Izo said.

“Well she’d better not take long,” Lex said “I have to get going in a bit, family stuff.”

“Oh yeah,” Izo replied “I keep forgetting this isn’t reality.”

Lex gave a slight chuckle and didn’t reply.

 

“Great, what am I going to do?” Ai thought “I only beat Yue last time by a fluke.”

“Hey, Ai!”

“Huh?”

“Are we going or not?” Yue asked.

Ai took one look at Yue’s grinning face and looked away.

“Sure,” she replied.

“And quit being so down,” Yue said “We’re friends right, it doesn’t matter who wins and who loses.”

Ai didn’t reply as she stepped up on the stage opposite Yue.

“This is terrible,” she thought “I don’t want to lose my first ever tournament so early, but I don’t want to kick Yue out either after what she told me.” She bit her lip nervously “What am I going to do?”

She and Yue both raised their D-Wings and activated them.

“Duel!”

 

Izo grinned slightly as he watched the duel begin.

“Put that new deck to good use, Ai,” he thought.

 

“Give me your best, Ai,” Yue said eagerly.

“Oh…Sure,” Ai replied.

“My draw!” Yue declared, taking a card from her deck.

She looked down at it, frowned and heaved a sigh.

“Something wrong?” Ai asked.

“Oh, nothing,” Yue replied “I summon Cocco Lupia in defence mode!”

“This again?” Ai thought as Yue’s fire bird monster appeared in front of her.

“I’ll set two cards face down and end,” Yue said confidently.

A pair of face down cards appeared behind Yue’s monster and she lowered her arm.

 

“If I’m right, then that means she’s about to Synchro summon her Explosive Soldier,” Ai thought as she drew a card from her deck “But if I have a stronger monster on the field I can destroy it.”

She looked down at her hand and took out a monster.

“I summon Spell Girl – Krystal!” She declared, her blue haired sorceress appearing on the field.

Yue raised an eyebrow.

“I see, fighting my fire deck with a water monster,” she chuckled “How ironic.”

“I play Spell Girl – Krystal’s effect,” Ai said, sending a spell card from her hand to the graveyard “And freeze one of your face down cards.”

“Hm?” Yue looked down at Krystal shot a beam of blue energy towards her field, encasing one of her cards in a block of ice.

“Since there’s now a spell card in my graveyard, Krystal gains 100 ATK,” Ai said.

Krystal glowed slightly and her ATK rose to 1700.

“Hehe, the usual strategy, huh,” Yue muttered.

“Next I play the effect of my Spell Wind,” Ai said.

“Huh?”

 

“Ah, that’s one of her new cards,” Izo said.

“Eh?” Lex looked over at him.

“Oh, we’ve edited Ai’s deck,” Izo explained.

“When you say we…” Lex began, but was cut off by the cry out awe from the crowd.

 

A vicious wind picked up and both Yue’s face down cards shattered.

“What the heck?” She cried.

“Spell Wind has an effect when it’s discarded from my hand,” Ai explained “Allowing me to destroy all set cards on my opponent’s field.”

 

“Eh? Then why freeze the face down?” Lex asked.

“It’s simple,” Izo said “Because Yue is clearly trying to summon her Explosive Soldier, but by using Krystal’s effect Ai has put her monster on equal ATK with Explosive Soldier, meaning she’s lowered its usefulness considerably.”

“Wow, I never knew Ai was this good,” Lex exclaimed.

“I don’t think she realizes it either,” Izo muttered.

“Hm? What’s that?” Lex asked.

“Nothing, forget it,” Izo replied, smiling.

 

“Pretty good,” Yue said “But I’m afraid I wanted those traps destroyed, well, one of them at least.”

“Huh?” Ai blinked “What do you mean?”

“My trap card is Frembell Candle,” Yue explained as a large version of the card appeared in front of her and glowed “When this card is destroyed thanks to my opponent, I can special summon a Frembell monster from my deck.”

“N-no way,” Ai gasped.

“Come on out, Frembell Paun!” Yue declared as her flaming monkey appeared out of the card and settled next to Cocco Lupia.

“Great, now what?” Ai thought “If I attack Cocco Lupia she’ll just summon Baby Zoppe and in turn summon Cocco Lupia again, allowing her to summon Explosive Soldier. But if I attack her Paun she’ll just add another monster to her hand, summon Explosive Soldier anyway and possibly summon her other monster too.”

She bit her lip nervously.

“Guess I have no choice then,” she said “Krystal, attack Cocco Lupia, Freezing Flash!”

Krystal raised her staff and fired at Yue’s monster, encasing it in a block of ice and destroying it.

“Hehe, I thought so,” Yue chuckled “Since a winged-beast monster was destroyed, I can now Special Summon Baby Zoppe.”

“I knew it,” Ai moaned.

“And of course, don’t forget that I can also summon Cocco Lupia from my graveyard,” Yue continued as her Baby Zoppe and Cocco Lupia emerged from balls of flame onto Yue’s field.

“Too bad,” Yue said “Looks like you got the worst end of the stick.”

“What would you have me do?” Ai replied “No matter what I did, you’d have been able to summon your Explosive Soldier and use it to damage me.”

“Well, I guess that’s true,” Yue chuckled.

Ai looked down at her hand.

“It’s not over,” she thought “I can still block her Explosive Soldier, if just for one turn.

“I’ll set one card face down and end,” Ai declared, setting a card which appeared behind Krystal “Your turn.”

 

“Here I go,” Yue said, drawing a card “I tune my level 3, Baby Zoppe to my level 1 Cocco Lupia!”

“Here it comes,” Ai thought.

Baby Zoppe burst into three green rings which fell about Cocco Lupia, transforming it into a single glowing orb.

“Go, Explosive Soldier!” Yue declared.

A green pillar of light opened up on Yue’s field and faded, revealing her Explosive Soldier.

“How’d you like that?” Yue laughed “Our monsters may have equal ATK, but I can still use it to inflict damage to your life points.”

“In that case I play my trap card,” Ai said.

“Huh?”

“Dark Star Barrier, activate,” Ai declared as her trap card flipped up and several orbs of dark light shot from it, surrounding Explosive Soldier.

“What the…” Yue looked up at her monster.

“I can activate Dark Star Barrier when my opponent special summons a monster,” Ai explained “And during this turn, that monster can’t attack or play its effect.”

“I see,” Yue said “That’s thrown a spanner in my plans. But I’m not done yet.”

“Huh?”

“Next I normal summon Frembell Baby,” Yue declared, summoning a small imp creature made from flames.

“What are you going to do with that?” Ai asked.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Yue asked “Frembell Baby is a tuner monster.”

“Eh? Another Synchro summon!?” Ai exclaimed.

“Correct,” Yue said “So now I tune my level 1 Frembell Baby to my level 1 Frembell Paun and level 4 Explosive Soldier!”

Yue’s baby transformed into a single green ring which widened and fell about Frembell Paun and Explosive Soldier, transforming them into five glowing orbs.

“Blaze on, Frembell Urquizas!” Yue declared.

A warrior with blue hair and black and bronze armour appeared on Yue’s field, flames surrounding both fists.

“Y-y-you’re kidding,” Ai gasped.

“Sorry chick, not this time,” Yue said “Frembell Urquizas, attack Spell Girl – Krystal!”

Yue’s monster charged forwards, raising one of its flaming fists and throwing a punch at Ai’s monster, destroying it. Ai staggered back as the pieces of her monster and the flames of Urquizas’ attack flew past her, reducing her life points to 3600.

“N-no way,” she muttered.

“I’m not done there I’m afraid,” Yue said.

“Huh?” Ai blinked.

“Since my Frembell Urquizas inflicted damage to your life points, he gains an extra 300 ATK.”

“W-what?!” Ai cried as Yue’s monster’s ATK rose to 2400.

Yue’s grin widened slightly.

“I told you, didn’t I?” She said “I don’t intend to lose this tournament.”

Ai bit her lip, staring up at Yue’s monster.

Name: Frembell Urquizas

Attribute: FIRE

Level: 6

Type: Pyro / Synchro

Lore: 1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters

During battle between this card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points. When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent, this card gains 300 ATK.

ATK: 2100

DEF: 400

 

 

[spoiler=cards used in episode 16]

 

 

 

Name: Frembell Candle

Type: Normal Trap

Lore: When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard by an effect your opponent controls, you can Special Summon 1 "Frembell" monster from your Deck.

 

Frembell Paun

Lore::If this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can select 1 monster with 200 DEF from your Deck and add it to your hand.

 

 

 

 

Frembell Baby

Lore::You can send this card from your hand to the Graveyard to have 1 target FIRE monster you control gain 400 ATK.

 

Frembell Urquizas

Lore::1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters

During battle between this card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points. When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent, this card gains 300 ATK.

 

 

[GHawk]

Wow! This fan fic is good.

[Aelsthla-Mental]

Not much to say... Great chapter, and a bit of an extra look into Yue's past and current life. Good duel so far, and yeah. Keep it up!

[TotalObelisk]

Glad you think so Aelsthla...Anyways, the show goes on...

 

[spoiler=Episode 17]Episode 17: Cyberspace Trophy Part 6. Oath of Wings.

 

“Something wrong, Ai?” Yue asked, grinning broadly.

Ai bit her lip, staring up at Frembell Urquizas.

“It’s your move, Ai,” Yue said “Don’t keep me waiting.”

“G-got it,” Ai replied, drawing a card from her deck.

 

“I get it,” Izo muttered “Yue deliberately repeated her strategy.”

“Eh?” Lex looked over at him.

“Since Ai expected her just to summon her Explosive Soldier she used her Dark Star Barrier to block it rather than waiting for her to summon Frembell Urquizas. Since Ai didn’t expect the second Synchro summon, she wasted her Dark Star Barrier on Explosive Soldier.”

“Tch, that sounds a little below the belt,” Lex muttered.

“Well, it seemed to work,” Izo replied “But Ai should have plenty of cards to counteract it.”

He looked back up at the screen, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“All she needs, is spirit,”

 

A little ways off from the crowd, Wings stood watching, his arms folded.

“This should be the perfect chance for her to get used to that new deck,” he muttered “Good luck, Ai.”

 

Ai bit her lip as she added her newly drawn card to her hand.

“Come on, think,” she thought to herself “There has to be something I can do.”

She looked up at Yue’s monster.

“Since it gets stronger by inflicting battle damage, I can just defend against it by having my monster in defense mode, meaning it won’t get any stronger.”

She looked down at her hand and picked out a monster.

“I summon Spell Girl – Sola,” she declared, placing her card on the field “Turn end.”

Sola appeared in front of Ai and crouched down, holding her staff out in front of her.

“Hehe, bad choice,” Yue muttered.

“Huh?”

 

“My draw!” Yue took a card from her deck “Frembell Urquizas, attack!”

Yue’s monster charged forwards and threw a flaming punch at Ai’s monster, destroying it. Ai’s life points suddenly dropped to 1700.

“Eh, but why?” She cried.

“It’s simple, isn’t it?” Yue explained “Frembell Urquizas inflicts piercing battle damage.”

“What?!” Ai exclaimed.

“So now his ATK increases again,” Yue said as her monster’s ATK rose to 2700.

“Y-you’re kidding me,” Ai said “Even if I defend your monster still gets stronger?”

“Pretty much,” Yue replied “Now I’ll set one card face down and end my turn.”

“Great,” Ai thought “Now what?”

 

She drew a card from her deck and looked down at it.

“Of course, it’s so simple,” she exclaimed.

“Huh?” Yue raised an eyebrow.

“I summon Spell Girl – Elda!” Ai declared, showing Yue the card “Let’s go!”

Ai placed her monster on the field and her blond sorceress appeared in front of her.

“Since there’s a spell card in my graveyard, Elda gains 100 ATK,” Ai explained.

“Yup, I figured,” Yue replied.

“Not only that, but by discarding a spell card from my hand, your monster loses 500 ATK,” Ai explained “So I’ll discard my enchanted sword!”

Elda raised both hands and began chanting something as a red glow surrounded her and Frembell Urquizas, lowering his ATK to 2200.

“This can’t be good,” Yue muttered.

“Next I play the effect of my Enchanted Sword,” Ai explained “Which increases Elda’s ATK by 1000 for this turn.”

Elda glowed once more and her ATK rose to 2600.

“Heh, combining that with her ability to gain ATK for each spell card in her graveyard, not bad,” Yue chuckled.

“Go, Elda,” Ai ordered “Attack Frembell Urquizas.”

Elda raised her hands once more, charging an orb of red energy within them.

“Sorry, Ai, but I can’t let you destroy my monster,” Yue said.

“Huh?”

“I play my trap card, Interdimensional Matter Transporter!” Yue said.

Yue’s Frembell Urquizas suddenly vanished and Elda’s attack shot straight past, hitting Yue and reducing her life points to 1400.

“But why would you do that?” Ai asked.

“I told you, didn’t I?” Yue said “I can’t have you destroying my monster just yet.”

Ai bit her lip.

“I’ll set one card and end my turn,” she said, a face down card appearing behind her monster.

Elda’s ATK dropped back down to 1600 and Yue’s Frembell Urquizas reappeared.

 

“My turn then,” Yue said, drawing a card.

She looked down at her hand and grinned.

“Here we go,” she said “I summon Frembell Archer!”

A man with flaming red hair, huge muscles and a flame themed bow emerged next to Yue’s Frembell Urquizas.

“Here I go,” she said “I tune my level 3, Frembell Archer to my level 6 Frembell Urquizas.”

“Wait, don’t tell me,” Ai’s eyes widened.

“A soul that knows nothing but darkness shall know no victory, but when my soul burns with a brilliant flame there's nothing that can stop it, so light up the heavens with your bright white flames!” Yue recited “Synchro Summon, show yourself, Kachua the Firekeeper!”

A pillar of green light lit up and from it emerged Yue’s signature monster, Kachua the Firekeeper.

 

“Eh, why’d she trade out?” Lex asked.

“Because this way, even if Ai managed to block her attacks Yue can still damage her life points,” Izo said “I bet she only used Urquizas as a backup.”

 

“Go, Kachua,” Yue ordered “Attack Spell Girl – Elda!”

Ai’s eyes widened as Kachua’s white flame attack washed over her field, destroying Elda and reducing Ai’s life points to 500.

“What’s up, Ai?” Yue asked “Last time you beat me easily.”

“That was last time, though,” Ai replied.

“Well whatever,” Yue shrugged “Turn End.”

“Trap card activate!”

“Eh?”

Ai’s face down card flipped up.

“I play my Setting Sun trap card,” Ai said “During either player’s end phase, if I have no cards in my hand I can draw three times.”

“Oh, clever,” Yue muttered.

Ai picked up three cards from her deck, breathing a sigh of relief.

 

“My turn,” she declared, drawing a card.

She looked down at her cards, picking on out.

“I summon Spell Girl – Stella,” she declared.

Yue raised an eyebrow as Ai’s monster appeared.

“I only have one spell card in my hand,” Ai thought “So this had better work.”

She took Enchanted Flute from her hand and sent it to her graveyard.

“I play Spell Girl – Stella’s effect,” Ai said “So I pick up two cards, and if one of them is a spell card I can add it to my hand.”

Ai looked down at the cards she’d drawn.

“No way,” she gasped “Neither of them is a spell card.”

Yue watched Ai, uncertainly. Ai sent the two cards to the graveyard.

“I can still play the effect of my Enchanted Flute,” she said “Meaning I gain life points equal to Stella’s current ATK.”

Blue stars floated around Ai and her life points rose to 1800.

“Hm, not bad,” Yue muttered.

“Turn end,” Ai said.

 

“My draw,” Yue said.

She drew a card from her deck and looked down at it, a grin spreading across her face.

“Kachua, attack,” she ordered.

Kachua waved her arms again, sending a wave of white flames towards Ai’s field and destroying Stella.

“Lucky she was in defense mode,” Ai thought.

“And now, I think I’ll negate your life points increase,” Yue said.

“Huh?” Ai blinked.

“I play the spell card, Fire Bird Swarming!” Yue declared, showing Ai the card and activating it.

A larger version of the card opened up on Yue’s field and Baby Zoppe and Cocco Lupia flew out of it.

“And you know what happens next,” Yue said, grinning.

Kachua swept her arms across again, sending another wave of flame in Ai’s direction and reducing her life points to 400.

“N-no way,” she muttered.

 

“This isn’t looking good,” Izo said “Ai’s only got 400 life points left, all Yue needs to do is special summon a monster with that amount of ATK and its over.”

“Yeah but, all Ai has to do is destroy Kachua, right?” Lex asked.

“It’s not going to be that simple,” Izo explained “She’s already used up her Enchanted Sword, and she doesn’t have any other cards to give her monsters such a big boost. And even if she does destroy it Yue’s still got plenty of other burn strategies to use.

“Oh boy,” Lex muttered.

 

Ai bit her lip and stared down at her deck.

“This is not going well,” she thought.

“Giving up?”

Ai gave a start and looked about.

“Wings?”

Yue’s eyebrows raised.

“Ah, just when I was looking forward to seeing the changes you’ve made to that thing,” Wings said.

“But…”

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Wings asked “To trust your deck.”

“That’s not the problem here,” Ai replied “Even if I do destroy Kachua; Yue can still use a whole lot of other cards to damage me.”

“Well in that case, think outside the box,” Wings said “Look at Yue’s field, there’s a way to win.”

“Wings?” Ai muttered “I…Hey, wait, wings…I got it!”

She drew a card from her deck and looked at it.

“A spell card, yes,” she thought.

She placed it in her hand and selected another card.

“I summon Spell Girl – Gale!” Ai declared, summoning one of her more common monsters.

“Gale, huh,” Yue muttered “That won’t stop my burning.”

“No, I’ve got something else in mind,” Ai replied.

“Huh?” Yue looked confused.

“Since I control a Spell Girl monster, I can now special summon my Magical Mascot,” Ai explained.

She placed her card on the field and her small winged feline appeared next to Gale.

“What’s she doing that for?” Yue thought “It’s true; Ai uses a lot of Synchro monsters, but from what I know they all need a specific tuner. Unless, she’s got a new one.”

“Now I tune my level 2 Magical Mascot to my Level 4 Spell Girl – Gale,’ Ai declared as her mascot split into two rings and fell around Gale “An oath that lasts for eternity, and a soul that speaks of the powers of magic. Combined these elements will awaken a new power. Synchro Summon, take flight Spell Knight – Whings!”

Out of the pillar of light emerged a girl with a white and red robes, neat black hair tied behind her, a long thing sword and a pair of white wings sprouting from her back. She landed on Ai’s field, glaring over at Kachua.

“Hehe, even with the boost she gets from your spell cards, she’s no match for Kachua,” Yue said.

“That might be true,” Ai said “But her effect will help me win this duel.”

“Huh?”

“When Spell Knight – Whings declares an attack, I can send a spell card from my hand to the graveyard to destroy one spell or trap card on the field,” Ai explained.

“Oh I get it,” Yue said “As soon as my Fire Bird Swarming is destroyed I take damage equal to the combined ATK of all monsters summoned, Hehe, clever.”

Ai hesitated, her smile fading.

“What’s up, you gonna attack or not?” Yue asked.

“I can’t,” Ai said “If I do, I’ll just be ruining your ambitions.”

“Hm?”

“You said you wanted to win a major tournament like this, so that you could show the world you’re not as useless as they think, but if I defeat you then you won’t be able to prove anything, I don’t want to do that to you.”

“Ai, this tournament means a lot to you, right?” Yue asked.

“Huh?”

“For someone like you, even getting this far is good enough, but I’d like it if you went all the way,” Yue said “And I don’t mind losing to allow that.”

“But…”

“Ai, look around,” Yue said “I duel because I’m blind, but in here I can see as well as you or anybody else.”

She heaved a slight sigh, her tone dropping.

“This isn’t what I entered for,” she said “To everybody here, I’m just an ordinary person with nothing special about me.”

“Yue,” Ai muttered.

“There’ll be another tournament, at another time,” Yue said “And then, I’ll show the world how good a blind duelist is. Just not here.”

A slight smile crossed Ai’s face; however a tear was visible in one eye.

“So go ahead,” Yue said “And good luck, I won’t forgive you if you lose.”

“Got it,” Ai said, wiping her face with her arm “Whings, attack!”

Whings drew her sword and flew up into the air, diving towards Yue’s field. Yue looked up, a grin on her face.

“I play Whings’ effect,” Ai said “I send Spell Draw to my graveyard and destroy Fire Bird Swarming!”

Whings slashed her sword through the air, sending a blade of wind towards Yue’s field which struck her spell card, destroying it. Both her fire birds let out a screech and burst into flames, flying at Yue.

“Good luck, Ai,” Yue thought as the flames washed over her, reducing her life points to 0.

 

The holograms faded and the two duelists continued to stare at each other.

“And the winner is representative of server 5, Ai Sakeru!” The voice announced.

“I’m sorry,” Ai said, as the two of them hopped of the stage “I didn’t mean to…”

Yue raised a fist and hit Ai in the forehead, causing her to stagger back.

“I just told you, didn’t I?” She said, grabbing Ai’s head and ruffling up her hair again “This isn’t what I wanted.”

“Yeah, right…” Ai replied.

Yue grinned and pulled Ai closer.

“That’s the spirit,” she said.

 

****

 

“I still can’t believe I won,” Ai said, sitting down on the floor of the tournament server and gazing upwards.

“Yeah, just don’t count on being so lucky when I’m dueling in a real tournament,” Yue chuckled “Then I take no prisoners.”

She grinned down at Ai and took out her D-Cell, selecting the logout function and vanishing on the spot. Ai watched her go and then lay back on the ground, staring upwards.

 

“Wow, that was a close one;” Lex muttered “They don’t get much harder from that.”

“You speak like you’re an expert,”

Lex and Izo looked around to see Ryuga standing, watching the screens above him.

“Turning up to watch, eh?” Lex chuckled “That doesn’t sound like you.”

Ryuga didn’t reply, causing Lex to from slightly.

“Just forget it,” Izo said.

He looked back up at the screen.

 

Lukon leaned back in his seat, staring at the cards he’d laid out on the table in front of him, rubbing his chin. The door slid open and the chairman walked in.

“Still going through that thing?” He asked.

“Yup,” Lukon replied.

“Isn’t it good enough as it is?” The chairman asked “You didn’t seem to have a problem with the duel earlier.”

“If I use the same deck every duel, people will eventually work out a strategy to defeat it,” Lukon replied, picking up his Poe Raven “I find it’s best to keep your opponent guessing.”

“You say that,” the chairman said “But you always keep the same basic strategy.”

Lukon held the card to one side, staring at the chairman: “Your point?”

“Each deck you’ve built involves keeping that raven of yours on the field,” the chairman said “Despite its weak ATK; you always seem to use a powerful combo with it. But eventually somebody is going to figure out how to destroy it…”

The chairman sat down in a seat opposite Lukon, putting both elbows on the table and leaning forwards, resting his chin on his fingers.

“So tell me…” he continued “What will you do then?”

Lukon looked down at his Poe Raven, then at the cards spread out on the table. It was a pretty long table and there had to be at least 100 cards laid out upon it. Lukon frowned as he scanned them, then his eyes seamed to light up and he leaned forwards, picking up a trap card, a slight grin crossing his face.

“I believe I’ve got it,” he said.

He looked up at the chairman, grinning.

“Found it?” The chairman asked.

“I think so,” Lukon replied.

“One trap card?” The chairman raised his eyebrows.

Lukon examined the cards on the table.

“I’m gonna need a few new cards,” he said “If this idea’s gonna work.”

The chairman heaved a sigh.

“You’re going to take some from our stacks again?”

“Of course,” Lukon said, taking a few random cards and examining them before taking down some notes “You restock whenever new sets come out, don’t you?”

“Those stacks are used merely for experimental purposes,” the chairman said “If you insist on taking cards from them they’ll be coming out of your salary.”

“Heh, I never needed money in the first place,” Lukon chuckled.

The chairman heaved a sigh and stood up.

“Very well,” he said “Help yourself, but don’t expect any pay for the next few months.”

“Hehe, thanks,” Lukon grinned and stood up, collecting up his cards and stowing them in a tattered briefcase. He walked past the chairman and out of the room, his long coat billowing out behind him.

 

[Old Domino – 15 years ago]

 

A clap of thunder sounded from a distance, hinting at the storm coming closer. A young boy with messy brown hair, a grubby face and dull yellow eyes sat huddle, a ragged blanket wrapped about him providing very little warmth. He watched an old beggar down a bottle of something and toss it aside lazily, heaving a loud burp. The young Lukon shivered slightly and drew his rag closer in an attempt to keep warm. He took a deep breath and then released it, watching it cloud in front of him and vanish slowly. He shuffled further into his box and leaned against the back trying to go to sleep. He could hear the faint sounds of music coming from a window above along with a pair of children laughing. He tried to shut the noises out and get to sleep but sheer cold forced him to endure it.

“Lukon,”

He gave a start, looking up. But the only other person here was the drunk old beggar who was snoring in a small box opposite him.

“Help us,”

Lukon looked around, searching for the voice’s owner. It was then that a new noise broke the silence, the sound of smashing and a loud alarm. The beggar woke up suddenly, swearing loudly. Lukon looked up and peered round a corner to see the card shop across the road, a couple of dark clad mean clambering out of a broken window with a large briefcase each.

“Do you know what time it is?” The beggar yelled, oblivious to the robbery “Keep it down!”

Lukon ran across the street in an attempt to get a closer look, hiding behind a card as the robbers turned to run down the street. They passed Lukon’s hiding place and a card suddenly dropped out of one of the briefcases.

“Damn,” the robber stopped.

“Leave it,” his partner said “We’ve got plenty of others.”

“Hey you!”

Lukon, upon seeing the card, had crawled out of hiding and was now looking in awe at the Poe Raven on the ground.

“Hey,” the two robbers glared at him “Just our luck.”

Lukon looked up, suddenly remembering the two robbers where there and the colour instantly drained from his face. He slipped and his hand fell on the Poe Raven, as soon as it did a violet light shone from the card, illuminating the street.

“What the hell!?”

Lukon stared down at the card, amazed.

“Lukon,” the voice spoke again, and this time Lukon was sure where it was coming from.

He picked up the card, standing up straight as the light enveloped him and turned to face the two robbers.

“Poe Raven!” Lukon commanded.

The light intensified and the shadow of a bird rose up behind Lukon, letting out a screech. The two robbers where almost frozen with fear as they backed away. Eventually they dropped their briefcases and ran as cards scattered everywhere.

 

Lukon turned to look at the bird behind him as it and the light faded.

“Thank you,” was all the voice said.

Lukon gave a pretty weak smile as the shadow faded from sight. The sound of sirens caught his attention and he looked about to see a pair of security patrol cards pulling up nearby and the security officers got out. Of course, the first thing they saw was the cards scattered across the floor and Lukon still holding the Poe Raven.

“You, did you do this?” One of the officers asked.

Lukon backed away, still clutching the raven and shaking his head. The security officer moved closer until a wrinkled hand fell on his shoulder.

“I’ll deal with this,”

“Huh?” The officer looked around “But, Mr. Kenza…”

“I said I’ll deal with this,” the younger version of Ryuga’s grandfather said, rather forcefully.

“Y-yes sir,” the officer said, returning to the patrol card.

The chairman looked down at Lukon, an uncharacteristic smile upon his face.

“Quite an ability you have, my friend,” he said.

Lukon continued to back away, clutching his card even close. He suddenly turned about and ran, but didn’t get more than a few meters when something struck him in the back on the neck and he fell forwards, unconscious. The chairman looked around to see a man in a dark suit and sunglasses stowing away a stun gun before looking back at the unconscious boy.

“They always run,” he muttered, shaking his head.

 

Lukon opened his eyes, feeling like his entire body was made of lead. The first thing he registered was the white ceiling that seemed to hurt just to look at. He then realized that the entire ceiling was one large light panel. He sat up rubbing his eyes and looked about him, finding himself in a small white room with nothing but a bed, a long mirror along one wall and a small table beside him. As soon as he looked at the table he saw his Poe Raven and immediately snatched it up, holding it closer to him.

“You seem to be quite attached to that card,” the chairman’s voice rang through the room.

Lukon looked about, but didn’t see anybody else in the room.

“W-where are you?” He said, standing up on the bed and glaring about “I-I’m warning you, I’ll…”

 

 

He looked down at his card, his face set.

“Oh, I’m afraid you can’t do anything in here,” the chairman “That light above you is produced by Elethium.”

“By what?”

The chairman grinned, watching Lukon in a lab on the other side of the one way mirror.

“How is he?” The chairman muttered.

“Body functions are normal,” the worker next to him replied “He only had a few minor illnesses due to bad hygiene. Right now his blood pressure is a little high, but that may just be a side effect of the Elethium, since he’s not used to it.”

“I see,” the chairman muttered “He did have a pretty large response to the Millennium.”

He leaned forwards towards a mic and pressed a small switch.

“Lukon, I’d calm down if I were you or the Elethium will do more than negate your abilities,” the chairman said.

“How do you know my name?” Lukon asked.

“The Millennium told me,” the chairman replied.

“And how did you know about my abilities?” Lukon asked.

“The Millennium told me,” the chairman said “It told me everything.”

“Everything?”

“Lukon Jaku,” the chairman said “You’re now under my care. For your own safety and the safety of the world.”

Lukon’s eyes widened slightly and he hopped off the bed, staring at the mirror.

“I-I can feel you,” he muttered “It’s faint but, I can feel you.”

“Of course you can,” the chairman said “Because you’re very special.”

 

[unknown location – Modern day]

 

The chairman watched Lukon as he walked down the corridor, a smug grin on his face.

“How well you’ve grown,” he said.

 

At the same time Lukon was also grinning.

“I had nothing before I came here,” he thought, looking down at his Poe Raven card “Then I met you and my life changed.”

He grin faded slightly as he looked up at the ceiling where a long strip of light took up the entire space.

“If it weren’t for that damned Elethium we could probably talk more,” he muttered.

He shrugged and pocketed the card, continuing down the white corridor.

“Lukon!” The chairman called after him.

Lukon stopped and turned about.

“Yes sir?”

The chairman was checking his watch.

“Don’t forget your duel is due in a few minutes,” he said “Make whatever changes you need quickly, we can only delay it for so long.”

“Got it,” Lukon nodded.

He turned about and began to walk down the corridor again.

“Oh, and Lukon,” the chairman said again.

“Yes sir?” Lukon replied, stopping briefly.

“Good luck,”

Lukon smirked but didn’t look around.

“I don’t need it,” he replied smugly.

With that he set off, walking through another door and vanishing from sight.

 

“We apologize for the delay,” the voice spoke “The server is currently undergoing maintenance and therefore it is requested that no duels take place in order to speed up the process.”

“Aw man,” Ai moaned “This is only a temporary server, why do they need to perform maintenance?”

“Maybe in case a virus comes in,”

Ai froze, a slight chill running down her spine. She looked around slowly to see Komori standing behind her, his arms folded.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that,” she said, backing away.

“Sorry,” Komori said in a gruff voice “It’s a habit.”

“He’s kinda scary,” Ai thought, biting her lip.

“Something wrong?” Komori asked.

“No nothing,” Ai replied.

“Good,” Komori muttered.

He began to walk past Ai but stopped when he was beside her, but didn’t look down as he spoke.

“I saw your duel with that other girl,” he said “You’re good but you’ve got a long way to go, remember that.”

Ai swallowed, wishing he would just walk away.

“I…Thanks, I guess,” she replied.

Komori gave no response and merely continued walking, his scarf flying out behind him as he walked.

“What’s his problem?” Ai muttered.

 

Lukon finished shuffling through a small stack of cards and after picking up a few replaced them on a shelf. He was standing in what looked like a storeroom with the same panel lighting above him. Inside the room was shelve upon shelf of cards, stacked from floor to ceiling, making the room seem almost like a maze.

“That should do me for now,” Lukon muttered, checking his watch.

He loaded his new deck into his duel disk and turned to leave, striding confidently towards the exit.

“Let’s go, Poe Raven,” he thought.

Name: Spell Knight - Whings

Attribute: WIND

Level: 6

Type: Spellcaster / Synchro

Lore: 1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters.

This card gains 100 ATK for each Spell Card in your Graveyard. When this card battles discard 1 Spell Card from your hand to destroy 1 Spell or Trap Card on the field.

ATK: 2100

DEF: 1800

Trivia: This card's appearance is based of Setsuna from 'Mahou Sensei Negima'.

 

 

 

[spoiler=Cards used in episode 17]Frembell Urquizas

Lore::1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters

During battle between this card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points. When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent, this card gains 300 ATK.

 

 

 

Name: Enchanted Sword

Type: Equip Spell

Lore: Equip only to a "Spell Knight" monster. If a monster with more ATK than the equipped monster exists on your opponent's Field, the equipped monster gains 1000 ATK. When this card is sent from your hand to the graveyard as cost for a Monster Effect, once that effect resolves increase the ATK of 1 "Spell Girl" or "Spell Knight" monster you control by 1000 Until the End Phase.

 

 

Frembell Archer

Lore::Once per turn, you can Tribute 1 face-up Pyro-Type monster to have a face-up "Frembell" monster gain 800 ATK until the End Phase.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TotalObelisk]

What, no comments? Oh well...

 

[spoiler=Episode 18]Episode 18: Cyberspace Trophy part 7. Coliseum of wonders.

 

The young Lukon stared up at the duel droid at the other end of the room, his eyes narrowed.

“I summon Poe Raven!” He said.

A violet light illuminated the field in front of him as his favorite monster appeared, letting out a loud caw.

“Poe Raven, attack!” Lukon ordered.

Lukon’s monster rose up into the air, sending a wave of feathers to the droid. The machine shook as the feathers battered against it and scratches appeared in its armour before a feather struck it right in the single red eye on its head and it powered down, crumpling to the floor.

 

The scientists watching from the observation room above heaved a sigh.

“That’s the fourth droid he’s broken, sir,” the worked closest to the chairman said.

“And each one destroyed by his Poe Raven,” the chairman muttered “Interesting. He does seem to have a strange attachment to that card.”

“Sir?”

“Never mind,” the chairman said, turning to leave.

As he walked down the corridor, the chairman rubbed his chin with a wrinkled hand, thinking to himself.

“Lukon has proved to possess higher abilities than any other we’ve brought in;” he muttered “He may be of a higher use to us than mere experiments.”

He grinned slightly, his old features stretching as he did so.

 

The door to Lukon’s room opened and the chairman walked in to find Lukon lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He turned his head to look when the chairman came in and sat up, still staring at him.

“A good duel, Lukon,” the chairman said.

“If you say so,” the young Lukon replied.

“Lukon,” the chairman began “I have a proposition for you.”

Lukon raised an eyebrow, interested.

“What kind?” He asked.

“It’s clear that you’ve shown far more potential than anybody else here,” the chairman said “So I’m offering you a better opportunity for them.”

“Go on,” Lukon said.

“Instead of merely being a person we use to aid us in our research, we’re prepared to offer you a slightly higher position, working under us,” the chairman said.

“What kind of work?” Lukon asked, not liking the sound of it.

“Anything that requires the use of your considerable talent,” the chairman said “For example, if we encounter a spirit sensitive duelist that’s too powerful for us to contain, you will be able to duel them in order to subdue them.”

“So I get to duel all I like and get paid for it,” Lukon grinned, his attitude changing.

“Precisely,” the chairman replied “Interested.”

“You bet I am,” Lukon said, standing up “When do I start?”

The chairman grinned broadly.

 

Back in the present Lukon turned a corner to find the chairman standing there.

“Are you following me?” He asked.

“Well I thought I’d better make sure you make it to your duel in time,” the chairman replied “People are getting restless, Lukon.”

“Don’t worry,” Lukon replied “I’m done here.”

The chairman nodded and stood aside as Lukon walked past, entering the lab opposite and sitting down in a chair before donning a headset connected to a rather complex looking computer. He plugged his duel disk into a USB port and relaxed, allowing his brain waves to be diverted down the wires and into cyberspace.

 

He opened his eyes seconds later to find himself within the tournament server. He noticed Ai standing a short way off from where he was, looking rather bored.

“So, that’s the girl,” he muttered.

“We apologize for the delay,” the voice announced “The next duel will now begin.”

“Perfect,” Lukon said, walking up to the stage and taking his place in the pool of light, waiting for his opponent.

His opponent turned out to be a man who looked pretty middle aged but with a rather powerful look to him. Lukon could almost see his muscles rippling beneath his clothes as he flexed his arms and brushed some of his sleek black hair out of his eyes.

“This is a dueling arena,” Lukon said “Not a muscle match, I think you took a wrong turn.”

“Very funny,” his opponent said “You’re Lukon Jaku, right?”

“Very good,” Lukon replied “And you would be?”

“Gary Faun,” Lukon’s opponent replied “Pleasure to beat you.”

“Isn’t it, pleasure to meet you?” Lukon asked.

“Not by the time I’m finished,” Gary smirked.

Lukon shrugged and the two of them raised their D-Wings.

“Duel!”

 

“I’ll set off,” Lukon said, drawing a card “And I’ll call out my Dark Resonator in defense mode!”

Lukon’s fiendish tuner monster rose up in front of him, cackling softly.

“That trick again?” Gary muttered “I see.”

“Turn end,” Lukon said.

 

“Then I’ll take my turn,” Gary said, taking a card.

He looked down at his hand and grinned.

“I summon Gladiator Beast Darius!” Gary said.

An armoured horse, standing on its hind legs and wielding a long metal whip rose up on Gary’s field.

“Gladiator Beasts?” Lukon raised an eyebrow “Interesting.”

“Next I special summon my test tiger,” Gary said.

A small, lightly armoured tiger emerged next to Darius.

“Now I play my tiger’s effect,” Gary said “I release him to return Darius to my deck and special summon another Gladiator Beast.”

Lukon’s eyes narrowed.

The Test Tiger let out a roar of pain and vanished along with Darius and a new monster emerged, this one looking like a humanoid sea-horse armed with a jet pack on its back.

“I summon Gladiator Beast Murmillo,” Gary said “And since Test Tiger treats him as being summoned by the effect of a Gladiator Beast monster, I can destroy your Dark Resonator.”

Lukon looked down as his monster shattered.

“I see,” he chuckled “Since a single monster can’t defeat him you relied on your tag-out effect to do it instead, but its cost you by only allowing you to summon a weak monster.”

“I’ll take care of that,” Gary said “Murmillo, attack!”

The jet pack on the back of Murmillo activated, sending two spiraling torrents of water towards Lukon and hitting him, reducing his life points to 3200. He staggered backwards slightly from the sudden impact but regained his balance.

“Next I play Murmillo’s effect,” Gary said “Since he battled this turn, I can return him to my deck to special summon another Gladiator Beast.”

Murmillo vanished and a new monster emerged to take its place.

“Show yourself, Gladiator Beast Hoplomus!”

A rhinoceros wearing chrome plate armor and with several floating disks circling around him appeared on Gary’s field, crouched down.

“Since Gladiator Beast Hoplomus was special summoned by another Gladiator Beast, his DEF becomes 2400,” Gary explained.

Gary’s monster let out a grunt as it glowed and its DEF rose to 2400.

“Now his DEF far exceeds that of your Poe Raven,” Gary said.

“Heh, I’ll admit that tag-out strategy of yours is good for keeping me guessing,” Lukon said “But there is a weakness in it, and I’m gonna find out what it is.”

 

He drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand.

“With the changes I’ve made to my deck, this’ll be simple,” he thought.

He looked up at Gary, a grin crossing his face.

“I’ll start by summoning my Stingy Jack in defense mode,” Lukon said, placing his card on the field.

Lukon’s monster appeared in front of him, groaning slightly.

“Next I set this card face down,” Lukon said “Turn end.”

A face down card appeared behind Lukon’s monster and he lowered his arm.

“Your move,” he said “Let’s see what you can do.”

 

“Hmph,” Gary took a new card from his deck and placed it in his hand “I’ll show you. I summon Gladiator Beast Dimacari!”

A large purple armoured bull emerged next to Gary’s Hoplomus, giving a brief snort. Lukon’s eyes narrowed slight, but his smile barely twitched.

“Dimacari, attack,” Gary ordered.

Gary’s monster charged forwards, head first.

“I answer with my face down card,” Lukon said “Fire of Doomsday!”

Two small creatures made of black smoke with a single eye each appeared on Lukon’s field.

“Ha, what difference does that make?” Gray laughed “Dimacari, destroy his Stingy Jack!”

Gary’s monster carried on and struck Lukon’s monster in the chest. Stingy Jack staggered backwards, groaning but didn’t shatter.

“Huh, hey, what’s going on?” Gary yelled.

“It’s simple,” Lukon said “So long as I control at least one other Dark attribute monster, Stingy Jack can’t be destroyed in battle.”

“Tch, but Dimacari can still play his effect,” Gary said.

Dimacari vanished and another monster emerged to replace it.

“Since Dimacari battled this turn, I can return him to my deck to special summon another Gladiator Beast,” Gary explained “And I choose my Gladiator Beast Alexander!”

“What?” Lukon’s eyes widened slightly.

A lion wearing ornate golden armour topped off with a pair of technological looking wings emerged in place of Dimacari, letting out a low growl.

“Hehe, that’s right,” Gary said “And since Alexander was special summoned thanks to Dimacari, he’s unaffected by spell cards.”

Lukon made no reaction but continued to glare at Alexander.

“I’ll lay three cards face down,” Gary said “And end my turn.”

 

“Very well,” Lukon said, drawing a card from his deck.

He looked down at his card, scratching his chin.

“I play a trap in response to your draw,” Gary said.

“What?” Lukon was caught off guard by this.

“Battle Mania, activate!” Gary said, his card flipping up.

Lukon looked down as his Stingy Jack got up from a crouching position and his two tokens rose slightly in the air.

“Battle Mania changes all my opponent’s monster to attack position,” Gary explained “And during this turn you have to attack with all your monsters.”

“I see,” Lukon said “You’re trying to get me to attack your Gladiator Beasts so you can use their effects again.

“Correct,” Gary said.

“Very well then,” Lukon said, taking a card from his hand “In that case I release my two tokens…”

Lukon’s token monsters flew up into the air and spiraled into each other, creating a cloud of black fog.

“…To summon my Dark Ruler Jyacku!”

The smoke parted, revealing a man wearing dark robes with sleek black hair tied behind him and piercing yellow eyes. Several sharp, black spears floated about him, keeping him aloft.

 

****

 

“Go, Dark Ruler Jyacku,” Lukon said “Attack Gladiator Beast Alexander!”

Jyacku raised his hand and several of the black spears about him broke away and flew forwards, aiming for Gary’s monster.

“I play my second trap card,” Gary said “Shift, this changes your attack to Hoplomus instead!”

“What!?”

The spears changed course and headed towards Hoplomus instead.

“Not bad,” Lukon said “But your monster is still destroyed.”

“Wrong again,” Gary said “I play my final trap, Defensive Tactics!”

The disks around Hoplomus began spinning rapidly, sending the spears flying at him in all directions.

“Defensive Tactics prevents Hoplomus’ destruction,” Gary explained “And any damage I take is reduced to zero.”

“I see,” Lukon said “Stingy Jack, attack Alexander!”

Jack swung his lantern and was knocked back by Alexander, however nothing happened.

“If I have another Dark attribute monster, I take no damage from a battle with Stingy Jack,” Lukon explained “In any case, you seem pretty desperate to waste three trap cards just to summon another Gladiator Beast.”

“It’s worth it,” Gary said as Hoplomus vanished “To special summon Gladiator Beast Spartacus!”

A great armoured lizard wielding a battle axe emerged to take Hoplomus’ place, snarling aggressively.

“And now I play his effect,” Gary said “Allowing me to add Gladiator Beast’s Battle Gladius to my hand.”

A card slid out of Gary’s deck and he picked it up, showing it to Lukon before adding it to his hand.

“I see,” Lukon muttered “Well, I guess I can’t blame you for using so many traps then. I’ll set a card and end my turn.”

A face down card appeared behind Stingy Jack.

 

“Hehe, my turn,” Gary said, drawing a card “And I play Gladiator Beast’s Battle Gladius!”

A golden shortsword appeared in Alexander’s hand and his ATK rose to 2700.

“I thought so,” Lukon thought.

“Go, Gladiator Beast Alexander!” Gary ordered “Attack Dark Ruler Jyacku!”

Alexander let out a roar and charged forwards, raising its sword to strike down Lukon’s monster.

“I play my trap card,” Lukon said “Necro Shield.”

“What the…”

Dark Resonator suddenly rose up in front of Dark Ruler Jyacku as Alexander swung his sword. The blade cut right through the middle of Dark Resonator, destroying it and leaving Dark Ruler Jyacku unharmed.

“What did you do?” Gary asked.

“Simple,” Lukon said “I removed Dark Resonator from play to negate your attack.”

Gary grinded his teeth slightly.

“Fine,” he said “Gladiator Beast Spartacus, attack Stingy Jack!”

“Haven’t I already told you, Stingy Jack can’t be destroyed in battle so long as I have another Dark monster on the field?” Lukon said.

“I’m not attacking him so I can destroy him,” Gary replied.

Spartacus thrust forwards with his axe, catching Stingy Jack in the chest and knocking him back slightly.

“Now I play Gladiator Beast Spartacus’ effect,” Gary said “And return him to my deck to special summon Gladiator Beast Laquari!”

Spartacus vanished and was replaced by an armoured tiger with a flaming hoop around him. Lukon’s eyes narrowed as he watched the monster emerge.

“Why would he swap out for a weaker monster?” He thought.

“I play Laquari’s effect,” Gary said “Since he was special summoned by a Gladiator Beast monster, he now has 2100 ATK.”

Laquari’s ATK rose to the appropriate amount.

“Still doesn’t make much sense,” Lukon thought.

“I’ll set one card and end,” Gary said, a face down card appearing behind Laquari.

 

“Got it,” Lukon said, drawing a card.

He looked down at his hand, a slight frown on his face.

“Nothing for it then,” he muttered “Dark Ruler Jyacku, attack Gladiator Beast Laquari!”

Lukon’s monster threw his spears towards Gary’s monster.

“Not so fast,” Gary said “I play my trap card, Dimensional Prison!”

“What?!”

A vortex opened up in front of Gary’s field, sucking in the spears and Lukon’s Dark Ruler Jyacku.

“No!” He cried as his monster was sucked in.

“Ha, how’d you like that?” Gary laughed.

Lukon’s eyes narrowed.

“I can’t use my Stingy Jack’s immortality anymore,” he thought “I guess I have no choice.”

He looked down at his hand and picked out a card.

“Okay then,” Lukon said “But I’m also summoning my Dark Repairer!”

A small spider-like creature armed with a cleaver in each hand emerged on Lukon’s field.

“Here I go,” Lukon said “I tune me level 3, Dark Repairer and my level 4, Stingy Jack!”

Dark Repairer gave a cackle and flew up into the air, transforming into three green rings which fell over Stingy Jack, transforming him into 4 glowing orbs.

“A shadow cast by watching demons,” Lukon recited “And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor shall be lifted nevermore! Synchro Summon, Glare upon my enemies, Poe Raven!”

A pillar of light opened on Lukon’s filed and faded to reveal his signature monster, Poe Raven. It landed lightly on his field and glared up at Gary’s field.

“By the effect of Dark Repairer, I draw one card from my deck,” he said, taking a card.

“Ha, that’s it?” Gary laughed “Too bad you’re already past your battle phase; otherwise you might be able to destroy my Laquari.”

Lukon’s eyes narrowed slightly as he took the three cards from his hand.

“I’ll lay three cards face down,” he said “And end my turn.”

Three face down cards appeared one after the other behind Poe Raven.

“Looks like I didn’t draw it after all,” Lukon thought, looking down at his deck “Oh well, maybe next time.”

 

“My turn,” Gary said, drawing a card.

He looked down at the card he’d drawn and grinned.

“I summon Gladiator Beast Retiari!” Gary said, playing his card.

A humanoid lizard wielding a trident emerged in between Gary’s other two monsters.

“Another monster, huh,” Lukon muttered “Well, only one of them is strong enough to defeat my Poe Raven.”

Gary smirked and looked down at the other cards in his hand.

“Well, I guess I’d better put this down just in case,” he said.

Lukon raised an eyebrow.

“I activate the field spell, Colosseum - Cage of the Gladiator Beasts!”

Lukon looked about at the scenery suddenly changed, plunging him to a partly futuristic looking roman arena apparently made out of some sort of stone and with blue strips running along it. A small fountain was placed in the center and rocks protruded from the ground at random places.

“Welcome to my arena,” Gary said “I feel much more comfortable here.”

“Just get on with it,” Lukon said.

“Very well,” Gary said “I’ll return all three of my monsters to my deck!”

“Wait,” Lukon said “None of them have battled this turn, how can you?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Gary asked.

Lukon looked confused for a moment, then his eyes widened.

 

Gary’s three monsters jumped into the air, becoming orbs of light which collided and illuminated the entire arena. Lukon raised his arm to shield his eyes from the light, looking up after a few moments to see a monster of a beast descend onto Gary’s field.

“My god,” he gasped.

The creature had Gladiator Beast Laquari’s body, Gladiator Beast Spartacus’ Axe with a piece of Laquari’s weapon on the bottom, a shield made up of Gladiator Beast Hoplomus’ floating disks topped with a pair of cannons, the lower body of Spartacus, Gladiator Beast Murmillo’s waist armour, Gladiator Beast Darius’ helmet and what looked like Gladiator Beast Alexander’s hair cut, plus a lot of other parts presumably from other Gladiator Beasts.

“This is Gladiator Beast Heraklinos,” Gary said “My ultimate monster.”

Lukon’s eyes narrowed again.

“Oh, and thanks to the effect of my Gladiator Beast’s Battle Gladius, since Alexander has returned to my deck I can add it to my hand,” Gary explained.

“Let me guess,” Lukon said “You’re going to equip it.”

“No, I need it later,” Gary said “I’m not a fool to fall for those trap cards of yours.”

“What?”

“Gladiator Beast Heraklinos, attack Poe Raven!” Gary ordered.

Gary’s might monster stepped forwards, raising its mighty weapon.

“I play my trap card, Sakuretsu Armour!” Lukon said, his card flipping up.

“I told you, didn’t I?” Gary said “I’m not falling for it.”

“What?”

Gary took his Gladiator Beast’s Battle Gladius and sent it to the graveyard. Heraklinos paused in his attack and turned his shield towards Lukon’s trap, firing from the mounted cannons and destroying Lukon’s trap card.

“W-what happened?” Lukon asked.

“It’s my Heraklinos’ special effect,” Gary explained “I can ditch a card from my hand to negate any spell or trap card.”

“Y-you’re kidding,” Lukon stammered.

“Nope,” Gary said “Now continue your attack, Heraklinos.”

Heraklinos raised his weapon again and brought it down upon Poe Raven.

“I still have another trap card,” Lukon said “Zero Guard!”

Poe Raven’s ATK dropped to zero and the axe struck it, however Poe Raven remained on the field. A powerful wind swept from where Poe Raven was standing and blew past Lukon, almost blowing him backwards and reducing his life points to 200.

“Heh, that trick again, huh,” Gary said as the wind died “But that’s put you down to a mere 200 life points.”

“It’s worth it,” Lukon muttered “I play my final face down card.”

“W-what?” Gary’s eyes widened slightly.

Lukon’s card flipped up: “Inferno Tempest, activate!”

An even stronger wind than before picked up, creating a typhoon in the middle of the coliseum.

“W-what’s happening?” Gary asked.

He looked down at his deck and his eyes widened in horror as he saw a long stream of cards being sucked out by the tornado. The same was happening to Lukon’s deck.

“Inferno Tempest can only be activated when I take 3000 damage or more,” Lukon explained “And it then removes each monster in both players’ decks and graveyards from play.”

“It what?!” Gary’s jaw dropped.

The wind died slowly. Lukon’s smug grin had returned and Gary seemed frozen with shock.

“Well, looks like I’ve taken out your deck,” he said “Gladiator Beasts gain powerful effects from their tag-out strategy, but if you have no Gladiator Beasts in your deck you cannot tag-out your monsters, meaning I’ve rendered your deck obsolete!”

Gary continued to stare down at his deck, horrified.

 

“I’ll take it it’s my turn then,” Lukon said, placing his hand on his deck.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“Let’s go,” he thought.

He opened his eyes again, a violet tint showing around the iris. He drew his next card, glaring over at Gary as anybody watching held their breaths. He blinked and the violet tint vanished as he looked down at his card. A smile spread across his face.

“Gary,” he said “I’ve won.”

“W-what?” Gary seemed to unfreeze “Impossible, I still have full life points. Even if you could power up your Poe Raven to destroy my monster it still won’t be enough to defeat me!”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Lukon said “Behold!”

He inserted his card into the spell & trap zone slot of his D-Wings virtual field and a larger version of the card span round in front of him, showing the card to Gary.

“The card I play is Doomsday Night,” he said “A powerful equip spell card.”

“D-Doomsday Night?” Gary repeated.

“Exactly,” Lukon said “I can only equip this to a Dark monster, but as long as it’s equipped that monster can’t be destroyed in battle and I take no damage from it, but there’s more…” Lukon paused for effect “When the equipped monster battles a monster with higher ATK, Doomsday Night is destroyed.”

“Then, what’s the point?” Gary asked.

“It’s simple,” Lukon replied “When it’s destroyed by its own effect, Doomsday Night inflicts 100 points of damage to my opponent for each card removed from play.”

“It what?!” Gary’s eyes widened.

“I’m guessing you’ve got the usual 20 monsters in your deck which right now are out of play,” Lukon said “But even if you don’t, I’ve got a few extra just to make sure!”

Gary’s eyes grew even wider.

“And that’s more than enough to take out the rest of your life points,” Lukon said “Poe Raven…” he raised his fist with his thumb pointed out to the side, a smug grin on his face. He paused for a moment and then turned his fist so his thumb pointed down “…attack Gladiator Beast Heraklinos!”

Lukon’s monster let out a loud caw and rose up into the air, flapping its wings and sending a tornado of black feathers towards Gary’s monster. The attack went straight through and blew past Gary, causing him to yell. Lukon’s spell card shattered and Gary’s life points dropped from 4000 straight to zero.

 

Lukon smirked as the holograms faded, revealing a stunned looking audience, all staring up at Lukon. Lukon shoved his hands in his pockets and hopped off the stage, striding past a rather surprised looking Ai.

“Impressed?” He asked.

Ai jumped and looked round at him.

“If you work at it, I’ll bet you can do something a lot more impressive,” he said before he vanished on the spot.

“Eh?” Ai blinked, staring at the spot from which Lukon had vanished.

 

Lukon opened his eyes and removed the headset, sitting up and stretching.

“Quite an impressive duel,”

Lukon looked around to see the chairman standing behind him.

“I said I’d improved my deck, didn’t I?” Lukon chuckled, standing up.

“I take it you’re off to change it again?” The chairman asked.

“Yeah,” Lukon replied “I didn’t get out that strategy I’d planned for, so I’ll have to go over it. I’ve got plenty of time now.”

“Very well,” the chairman said, standing aside to let Lukon pass.

Lukon walked by, his hands in his pockets once more.

“Oh, and Lukon,” the chairman said.

Lukon paused, looking about.

“Yes sir?”

“What did you say to Ai, before you left?” The chairman asked.

Lukon looked slightly confused for a second before his grin returned.

“Merely some words of encouragement,” he replied.

 

Ai heaved a sigh and sat down where she was, still in awe of Lukon’s win against Gary’s Gladiator Beasts.

“I can’t believe he did that,” she muttered.

“If you work at it, I’ll bet you can do something a lot more impressive,”

Ai frowned, staring at the ground.

“What did he mean by that?” She thought “And why’d he say it to me?”

She looked back at the spot where Lukon had vanished and shrugged.

Name: Gladiator Beast Heraklinos

Attribute: FIRE

Level: 8

Type: Beast-Warrior / Fusion

Lore: "Gladiator Beast Laquari" + 2 "Gladiator Beast" monsters

This card can only be Special Summoned from your Extra Deck by returning the above cards you control to the Deck (You do not use "Polymerization"). You can discard 1 card from your hand to negate the activation of a Spell or Trap Card and destroy it. You can use this effect during either player's turn.

ATK: 3000

DEF: 2800

Trivia: * This card is named after Heracles, the Greek name of the hero Hercules, a semi-god and a great figure of mythology.

* Gladiator Beast Heraklinos is the strongest Beast-Warrior Type Monster.

* A portion of all of the original "Gladiator Beasts" can be seen on Gladiator Beast Heraklinos. There are :

o Gladiator Beast Alexander's: wings

o Gladiator Beast Spartacus': lower body, tail, bone fragments and halberd

o Gladiator Beast Murmillo's: upper waist armor piece

o Gladiator Beast Hoplomus's: plates as the shield

o Gladiator Beast Dimacari's: upper body, accessories as legguards

o Gladiator Beast Bestiari's: chest armor piece, wing armguards and spearhead attached on Spartacus' halberd

o Gladiator Beast Laquari's: face, shoulders, waist armor pieces, "dragoons/options" attached at the bottom of Spartacus' halberd next to Bestiari's spearhead

o Gladiator Beast Secutor's: cannons mounted on the shield, waist armor piece

o Gladiator Beast Torax's: chains

 

Tips: * To get this card out easily, use "Gladiator Beast Secutor" and "Defensive Tactics" to bring out two more "Gladiator Beasts", one of which is "Gladiator Beast Laquari", and then fuse them into this card.

o This proves even more effective when the other Gladiator Beast you summon is "Gladiator Beast Darius", as its effect will bring out the 3rd Gladiator Beast you need to summon Heraklinos instantly. You can even skip the use of Defensive Tactics by having Secutor attack a Defense Position monster your opponent controls. You may take some damage, but you'll end the turn with Heraklinos in play, making it more than worth the price.

* Combine this card with "Wild Nature's Release" for a massive attack, then swap it out with "Test Tiger", or protect it using "Gladiator Beast's Battle Archfiend's Shield".

* This card has a powerful lockdown effect which will makes it extremely important to get out as soon as possible, as Gladiator Beasts are particularly vulnerable to being destroyed by spells and Battle Phase traps.

o Be aware, however, that "Heraklinos'" effect cannot negate "Counter Trap Cards".

* This card cannot negate monster Effects, so to complete the lockdown, including a copy or two of Divine Wrath, My Body as a Shield, or Gladiator Beast War Chariot will help greatly, especially if this card's two most dangerous enemies, Dark Armed Dragon or Judgment Dragon, suddenly appear.

* This is one of the few Gladiator Beasts that cannot return itself to the Deck for another monster to be summoned. Ordinarily you wouldn't want to return Heraklinos anyway, but in the event that you do, you can return it to the Fusion Deck by using it as part of the cost for the summoning of one of the other two Gladiator Beast fusion monsters.

 

 

[spoiler=Cards used in episode 18]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Battle Mania

Lore::Activate only during your opponent's Standby Phase. All face-up monsters your opponent controls are changed to Attack Position and cannot change their battle positions this turn. Your opponent must attack with any Attack Position monsters they control this turn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name: Necro Shield

Type: Normal Trap

Lore: Remove 1 monster in your Graveyard from play to negate 1 attack from a monster your opponent controls.

 

 

 

Dark Repairer

Lore::If this is sent from the field to the Graveyard, draw 1 card.

 

 

 

 

 

Zero Guard

Lore::Activate only when your opponent declares an attack. Target monster's ATK becomes 0 and it cannot be destroyed by battle this turn.

 

 

[TotalObelisk]

....Still no comments O_o...

 

Oh well, I'm posting this even if nobody's gonna read it!

 

[spoiler=Episode 19]Episode 19: Cyberspace Trophy part 8. The next stage.

 

Ai frowned, staring down at her deck whilst Izo sat opposite her.

“Well?” He asked.

Ai looked up at him and sighed.

“Nope, there’s nothing I want to take out,” she said.

“Come on,” Izo said “There must be one card that you can get rid of.”

“I know…But…”

She bit her lip, remembering the dream from last night; she and Wings where standing in a black void, talking.

 

“This is different from usual,” Ai muttered.

“Well, technically you’re not asleep,” Wings said.

“But why is it so dark in here?” Ai asked.

“Well, that’ll be because you haven’t opened your mind yet,” Wings explained “When you finally open it, I’m sure it’ll be full of stuff. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

Ai stared at Wings, confused.

“Ai, may I see your deck?” Wings asked.

“Huh? Well, sure but…” Ai looked around; being in her pajamas she didn’t have anywhere to keep her deck.

“Thanks,” Wings said, a deck of cards appearing in his hand.

“Hey, how’d you do that?” Ai asked.

“This is your mind,” Wings explained “Different laws apply here.”

He fell quiet as he shuffled through Ai’s deck, muttering a few things as he went. Ai merely stood still and watched, frowning slightly as she did so.

“Looks fine to me,” Wings said and the deck vanished.

“You brought me here just to tell me my deck is fine?” Ai asked.

“Well, yeah,” Wings said “If your deck’s fine then that means you’re the problem.”

“I know that already,” Ai replied “You don’t need to tell me that.”

“Well, how about I tell you this,” Wings said “Next time you duel, try listening.”

“Eh?”

“Before you draw, close your eyes and clear your head,” Wings said “Just relax.”

“But…Why?” Ai asked.

However the image before her faded and she found herself standing in her room again.

 

“Ai?” Izo looked confused.

“No, it’s nothing,” Ai replied.

Izo frowned: “Well, I guess we’re done preparing for the next round then,” he said “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Ai replied.

 

She sat in front of her computer a few hours later, her cursor hovering above the large blue ‘C’ on her desktop.

“Here goes nothing,” she muttered.

She opened the program and felt herself leaving reality.

“Who knows,” she thought “I might actually win.”

 

She opened her eyes to see the first duel of the second-to-last round just about to begin.

“Ah, just in time,” she exclaimed.

She looked up to see Komori and Leon facing each other.

“I hope Komori loses,” Ai thought “But then even if I do win that’ll mean Leon is even better than him.”

She let out a low moan and tried not to think about it.

 

“My draw,” Komori said, drawing a card from his deck “And to start off I summon Gene-Warped Warwolf!”

A monstrous white wolf with four arms and black fur down its back rose up in front of Komori, growling viciously.

“Next,” Komori took a card from his hand and showed it to his opponent “I play Warwolven howl, allowing me to destroy Gene-Warped Warwolf!”

Komori’s monster let out a roar of pain and exploded, obscuring the arena in a cloud of smoke for a few moments as both players’ life points dropped to 2000.

“W-what did you do?” Leon asked, waving the smoke out of his face.

“Warwolven howl destroys a Warwolf monster I control,” Komori explained “Then both players lose life points equal to its ATK.”

“Then you’ve just left yourself open with only half life points,” Leon said.

“Hardly,” Komori said “I play my second card, I play Wolf Slash. When I take damage to my life points, I can inflict an equal amount to my opponent.”

“W-what?” Leon stammered.

A blue wolf spirit flew from Komori’s card and took a slash at Leon, leaving a blue trail which vanished slowly along with the spirit, reducing Leon’s life points to zero.

“H-he did it again!” Ai exclaimed “He won in one turn.”

“Tch, pathetic,” Komori muttered, walking off the stage as Leon fell to his knees.

Ai watched Komori as he walked to the other end of the room and turned about, watching the stage with his arms folded.

“Great,” she thought “Even if I win, how am I going to be able to defeat him?”

 

“Looks like Komori’s done,” the chairman said, watching Lukon give his deck a few finishing touches.

“Yep,” he replied without looking up “Guess that means it’s my turn again.”

He stood up, slotting his deck into his duel disk.

“But man, having to lose on purpose is just not my style,” he said.

“You still have to give it your all,” the chairman said “Ai won’t develop if you let her win.”

“Oh, so you’re saying I’m allowed to beat her if she sucks,” Lukon chuckled.

“More or less,” the chairman shrugged “Just don’t go easy on her.”

A grin spread across Lukon’s face as he moved to the room’s exit. He was still grinning as he walked down the corridor.

 

Ai looked up as Lukon materialized in the room and looked around, spotting Ai and grinning. Ai bit her lip and looked away, still nervous about the duel.

“If I can make it through this, I’ll at least come second,” she thought.

“The final duel of the penultimate round shall now begin,” the voice announced “Ai Sakeru vs. Lukon Jaku!”

No applause went up this time, at least not in the tournament server. As Ai looked around she noticed how fast the numbers had dwindles till there was only her, Lukon and Komori left. She swallowed as she stepped up on the stage.

“Well, at least I don’t feel like everybody’s watching me,” she thought.

 

Sadly, in server five at least, this wasn’t the case. The crowd around the giant holo screens had grown so much that people where standing on each others shoulders to get a good look and a few raised platforms had been programmed in so as to allow stragglers a good view of the action. Izo and Lex both say at the top of one of these platforms and looked out over the sea of heads.

“Tch, I hate crowds,” Lex muttered “It’s just asking for trouble.”

“There certainly are a lot of people here,” Izo admitted “The whole of server five I think.”

“Nah,” Lex replied “Not all of them are on, some live in different time zones, remember?”

“Now that you mention it,” Izo said “Isn’t it night over in Germany now?”

Lex chuckled and put a finger to his lips, winking.

 

A huge cheer went up, causing the pair to look up, as the two duelists where displayed on the four giant screens, Lukon wearing a smug grin and Ai still wearing her usual nervous expression.

“Of course, if Ai loses there’s gonna be a riot,” Lex muttered.

“Big crowd,” Ryuga muttered.

Lex and Izo looked around to see Ryuga standing next to them, both hands in his pockets and looking very bored.

“Yo’,” Lex said “You come to cheer Ai on too?”

“I’ve got nothing better to do,” Ryuga replied “So I may as well.”

“Well, you got her into this in the first place,” Lex said “Just think, it could’ve been you up there dueling Lukon, you sure you’re not regretting it?”

“I’m not the tournament type,” Ryuga replied “People cheering me on would only distract me.”

“Ah, so you built a bad reputation for yourself on purpose,” Lex chuckled “I see.”

“Quiet,” Ryuga snapped.

 

Ai and Lukon continued to stare at each other, each wearing totally opposite expression.

“Well, it’s nice to finally meet you face to face, Ai,” Lukon said.

“Eh?”

“After all, you’ve given a stunning performance so far,” Lukon said “Defeating the Obsidian Lord, coming out top against one of your best friends. I’d have to say I’ve been looking forward to this.”

Ai didn’t reply.

“But that was a little too easy for you,” Lukon said, his tone changing suddenly “This duel will be your first true challenge, so don’t hold back and give me everything you’ve got!”

Lukon raised his D-Wing and Ai did the same.

“Got it?” Lukon asked.

“Y-yes,” Ai nodded.

“Good,” Lukon grinned.

“Duel!”

 

****

 

“It’s started,” Izo muttered.

Ryuga’s eyes narrowed slightly.

 

“I’ll start off,” Lukon said, drawing a card “And summon my Bone Striker in defense mode.”

Lukon’s skeletal assassin rose up in front of him, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Next I’ll lay this card face down and end my turn,” Lukon said.

 

“My draw!” Ai said, drawing herself.

She looked down at what she’d drawn.

“Earth Spirit,” she thought “With this card I can summon Terra in one turn, then I’ll have a good defensive.”

She nodded and took a card from her hand.

“I summon Spell Girl – Ria”! Ai declared.

She placed her card on her D-Wings virtual field and Ria rose up in front of her, her pig-tails flying out behind her.

“I play Ria’s effect,” Ai said “I take Earth Spirit from my hand and send it to the graveyard…” She took the aforementioned card and sent it to her graveyard slot “…And Ria destroys your defense monster!”

Ria raised her staff and a bolt of lightning shot from it and struck Bone Striker, destroying it.

“Not bad,” Lukon muttered.

“Next I play the effect of my Earth Spirit,” Ai said.

“Huh?” Lukon’s eyes widened.

“When Earth Spirit is discarded for a monster effect, once that effect resolves I can special summon Earth Union,” Ai said.

A display of lights illuminated the field beside Ria and Ai’s small fairy emerged from it, looking slightly bored.

“Now I tune my level 2, Earth Union to my level 4, Spell Girl – Ria,” Ai said.

Earth Union split into two green rings and fell about Ria, transforming her into four glowing orbs.

“A mountain that lasts for eternity,” Ai recited “And a soul that speaks of the powers of magic. Combined these elements will awaken a new power. Synchro Summon, let’s go, Spell Knight – Terra!”

A pillar of green light opened up on Ai’s field and Terra emerged from it, grinning slightly.

“Since there’s a spell card in my graveyard, Terra now gains 100 ATK,” Ai explained.

Terra’s ATK rose to 2200.

“Ah yes, the power of a spell girl deck,” Lukon said “Not only do they get stronger the more magic you use, but the magic itself will grant you new advantages. Almost like a real magician really.”

Ai ignored him.

“Terra, attack his life points directly!” She ordered.

Terra drew her sword and charged towards Lukon.

“I play my trap,” Lukon said “Necro Shield!”

“Huh!?”

Lukon’s Bone Striker suddenly appeared before Terra and was cut in half down the middle by her blade. No sooner had this happened that the two halved of Bone Striker turned about and struck Terra in the back, destroying her.

“Terra!” Ai cried “What happened?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Lukon asked “My Necro Shield allows me to remove one monster in my graveyard from play to negate your attack, and when Bone Striker is removed from my graveyard I can destroy one monster on the field.”

“N-no way,” Ai gasped.

 

“Not good,” Izo muttered “He blocked her attack and destroyed one of her best monsters.”

“That and Lukon now has a direct line of fire into Ai’s life points,” Lex muttered.

 

“I…I end,” Ai muttered.

 

“Good girl,” Lukon muttered, drawing a card “My turn.”

He looked down at his hand and grinned.

“I summon Dark Resonator in defense mode,” he said.

“Eh?”

Lukon’s fiendish tuner rose up in front of him, cackling.

“He’s not gonna attack?” Ai thought.

“Also, I activate the effect of the Hallow Bat in my hand,” Lukon said “Since I control another Dark monster, I can special summon it from my hand!”

A small, black bat wearing similar armour to that of the Poe Raven appeared next to Lukon’s Dark Resonator.

“Oh great,” Ai thought.

 

“Wait,” Lex said “He’s obviously gonna Synchro summon, right?”

“Yup,” Izo nodded.

“But his Poe Raven is level seven,” Lex said “He’s only got enough for a level five monster.”

“I guess he’s got more than one Synchro,” Izo muttered.

 

“Let’s go,” Lukon said “I tune my level 3 Dark Resonator to my level 2 Hallow Bat!”

Dark Resonator touched his weapons together and glowed, transforming into three green rings that fell around Hallow Bat, transforming that in turn into two glowing orbs.

“Show yourself,” Lukon said “Hallow Witch!”

Ai shut her eyes tight, not wishing to look at whatever monster Lukon summoned, however when Ai opened her eyes she didn’t see what she expected. The Hallow Witch turned out to be a girl with long pink hair, a large crimson hat and robes and a staff that looked much too big for it.

“Hey,” Ai blinked “That looks…Cute…”

Lukon looked up at the monster and shrugged.

“It doesn’t matter what it looks like to me,” he said “It still does the same thing. Now for my Hallow Witch’s effect. By removing Dark Resonator in my graveyard from play, Hallow Witch gains his ATK points.

“Eh!?” Ai’s eyes widened as Hallow Witch’s ATK rose to 2500.

“Not so cute now, huh?” Lukon chuckled “Hallow Witch, attack Ai directly!”

Lukon’s monster raised her staff and fired a beam of red light towards Ai. It struck Ai, causing a blinding flash. Ai staggered back a few feet before regaining her balance. A small grin spread across Lukon’s face as Ai’s life points dropped to 1500.

“Come on,” Lukon said “You can do better than that.”

Ai looked up at him, biting her lip again.

“Turn end,” Lukon said.

 

“Okay,” Ai muttered, drawing a card from her deck.

She looked through her hand, trying to think of a move to play.

“Well, here goes then,” she thought, picking out a card “I summon Spell Girl – Gale!”

Ai placed her card on her field and her monster rose up in front of her, crouching down.

“Very good,” Lukon said “Gale has the ability to negate my attack and then you’ll be able to use one of your spell cards.”

Ai looked down at Gale as her ATK rose to 1800.

“I’m counting on you,” she muttered “Turn end!”

 

“Good,” Lukon said, drawing a card “My draw. Hallow Witch, attack!”

Lukon’s monster raised her staff again and fired.

“I play Gale’s effect,” Ai said.

“Thought so,” Lukon muttered.

“I send Enchanted Flute in my hand to my graveyard,” Ai said, taking the card and showing it to Lukon “To negate your attack!”

Gale raised her own staff, summoning a violet barrier that Hallow Witch’s attack impacted against but didn’t break through.

“Very good,” Lukon muttered.

“Next I play the effect of my Enchanted Flute,” Ai said “Since it was sent to my graveyard, I gain life points equal to Gale’s ATK.”

 

“Nice one!” Lex exclaimed.

 

Blue lights fell around Ai and she breathed a sigh of relief as her life points rose to 3300.

“Heh, Gale is one powerful card,” Lukon said “So long as you keep enough spell cards in your hand; she gives you an excellent defense.”

Ai looked down at her hand, frowning.

“Well, I guess that’ll do for me,” Lukon said “Turn End.”

 

“R-right,” Ai replied drawing a card “My turn.”

She looked down at the card she’d drawn.

“Magical Lightning,” she read “If I use this card, I can destroy his Hallow Witch the next time he attacks.”

She looked up at Lukon’s field.

“I can’t do anything now though,” she thought.

“I end my turn,” she said.

 

“Really? That’s it?” Lukon looked surprised “Very well.”

He took a card from his deck and looked up at Ai.

“She took a pretty long time looking at the card she’d drawn,” he thought “Since Gale’s effect can negate my attack by discarding a spell card, the card she’s drawn is obviously another spell card, possibly one that can take out my monster.”

He looked down at his hand.

“Well, two can play at that game,” he thought. “I activate the spell card, Tuning,” Lukon said.

“Eh?”

Lukon’s card span round and glowed briefly.

“Tuning allows me to add one Tuner monster to my hand,” Lukon explained “After which I discard cards from the top of my deck equal to the level of that monster.”

Lukon’s card shattered and a card slid out of his deck. He picked it up and the top two cards of his deck vanished.

“Arcane Filo,” Ai thought “I’ve never heard of that card before.”

“Now I summon my Arcane Filo!” Lukon said.

A dark robed magician carrying a small blue scepter and with his face hidden by his hood revealing only a pair of glowing eyes emerged next to Lukon’s Hallow Witch.

“Hallow Witch is a level five monster,” Ai thought “And Arcane Filo is a level two monster. But then that means he’s…”

“Now I tune my level 2, Arcane Filo to my level 5 Hallow Witch,” Lukon said.

“Y-you’re kidding me!” Ai exclaimed.

Arcane Filo raised his Scepter which glowed, releasing two orbs of light after which he shattered and the orbs formed themselves into two green rings which fell around Hallow Witch.

“A shadow cast by watching demons, and my soul from within that shadow that lies floating on the floor shall be lifted nevermore!” Lukon said “Synchro Summon, glare upon my enemies, Poe Raven!”

Ai looked up as a pair of black wings burst from the pillar of light which opened on Lukon’s field and soon revealed the Poe Raven, letting out a might caw. Ai swallowed.

“Now, the effect of Arcane Filo lets me add a trap certain trap card from my deck to my hand,” Lukon said.

“Eh!?” Ai looked confused.

Another card slid out of Lukon’s deck and he added it to his hand, grinning smugly.

“Now, I play the spell card Pot of Gluttony. This card allows me to add Arcane Filo and Hallow Witch back to my deck to which I shuffle.”

The two cards appeared out of Lukon’s deck and he replaced them into his deck which auto shuffled.

“Now, Poe Raven attack Gale!” He ordered.

Lukon’s raven flew into the air and flapped its wings, sending a wave of black feathers towards Gale.

“I play Gale’s effect,” Ai said.

She took Magical Lightning from her hand and sent it to the graveyard. Gale raised her staff, creating the same magical shield which deflected Lukon’s attack.

“I thought so,” Lukon muttered as his raven landed back on his field.

“Next I play the effect of Magical Lightning!” Ai said, a larger version of the card appearing in front of her “Since it was discarded for a monster effect I can now destroy 1 monster you control!”

A bolt of lightning shot from the card, straight towards Lukon’s Poe Raven.

 

“She got him!” Lex cried.

“No, she didn’t,” Izo said.

“Huh?”

“Remember Poe Raven’s effect?” Izo asked.

 

Lukon’s Poe Raven’s eyes glowed and it flapped its wings again, creating a wind that sent the lightning bolt scattering.

“Eh?”

“Have you forgotten my Poe Raven’s effect?” Lukon asked “Since I don’t have any monsters in my graveyard, he can’t be destroyed by spell or trap cards.”

“Oh…” Ai faltered.

“Hehe and I thought you had such promise,” Lukon sighed.

Ai looked down apologetically.

“Very well,” Lukon said “I’ll set one card and end my turn.”

 

Ai silently drew a card from her deck.

“I’m out of spell cards,” she thought “But I’m not out of options. I have three spell cards in my graveyard right now, so all I need is a strong enough monster.”

She looked down at her hand and noticed her Magical Mascot.

“Perfect,” she said “I summon Magical Mascot!”

Ai’s winged cat appeared next to Gale.

“Your monster may be immune to destruction by spell or trap cards,” Ai said “But he can still be destroyed in battle. Go, Magical Mascot!”

Ai’s monster transformed into two green rings and fell around Gale, turning her into four glowing orbs.

“An Oath that lasts for eternity, and a soul that speaks of the powers of magic,” Ai recited “Combined these elements will awaken a new power. Synchro summon, take flight, Spell Knight – Whings!”

A pillar of light opened and faded, revealing Ai’s Spell Knight Whings.

“White wings,” Lukon muttered “How ironic.”

“Since I have three spell cards in my graveyard, Spell Knight – Whings now has 2400 ATK, Ai said “More than your Poe Raven.”

Whings’ ATK rose to the appropriate amount and she grabbed the hilt of her sword, preparing to draw.

“Very good, I’m impressed,” Lukon said.

“Whings, attack!” Ai ordered.

Whings flew up into the air and drew her sword, sending a crescent blade of wind towards Lukon’s monster.

“Like I’ll let you!” Lukon cried, activating a switch on the back on his D-Wing.

The attack impacted and then exploded, clouding the arena in smoke. Whings floated back down onto Ai’s field, stowing her sword away and looked up at the aftermath of the destruction. Ai stood where she was, panting and staring in disbelief at what she’d done.

 

“She did it!” Lex cried “She destroyed his Poe Raven.”

“I dunno,” Izo muttered, remembering the trap card Lukon had activated “He must have set that card for a reason.”

“Eh?” Lex blinked.

“Arcane Filo doesn’t just let you add any old trap to your hand,” Izo explained “It only lets you select a very specific trap card. A very powerful one too.”

“What he’s trying to say it, Ai walked right into Lukon’s hands,” Ryuga explained.

“What do you mean?” Lex asked.

“Lukon has a reputation for never allowing his Poe Raven to be destroyed,” Ryuga explained “So what do you think he’ll do when it is destroyed?”

Lex looked back at the screen as the smoke began to clear.

 

“I congratulate you,” Lukon said “And yet, at the same time, I pity you.”

“Eh?” Ai blinked, confused.

Lukon’s silhouette was now just visible through the smoke, along with a small rectangular shape just beside him.

“A…A trap!?” Ai exclaimed.

“Correct,” Lukon said as the smoke cleared enough for his upper body to be seen “Behold…”

He swept one arm aside, clearing the smoke from in front of his trap card and revealing it. Both Ai’s and Izo’s eyes both widened as soon as it appeared on screen.

“Trap card,” Lukon muttered “Buster Mode activate!”

A pillar of violet light exploded on Lukon’s field, clearing the rest of the smoke and sending a powerful breeze through the room. Komori merely stood where he was, his scarf flapping about like crazy.

 

“What the heck is a Buster Mode?” Lex asked.

“You wouldn’t know about it, since you don’t use Synchro monster,” Izo said “But it’s a very powerful trap that can create a more powerful version of a Synchro monster.”

“You’re joking,” Lex’s jaw dropped “Something even stronger than that Poe Raven?”

 

“A new power shall awaken from shifting shadows,” Lukon said “A great evil that taunts its victims more and more with the endless curse that shall be lifted nevermore! Show them your power, Poe Raven/Buster!”

Ai took a step back as a shadow began to emerge from within the pillar of light, its violet eyes glowing madly. Eventually two talons stepped out, almost cracking the floor as it descended and the light faded to reveal a slightly larger version of the Poe Raven. Ai’s eyes widened once more as she looked at it and the creature let out a mighty caw.

Name: Hallow Witch

Attribute: DARK

Level: 5

Type: Spellcaster / Synchro

Lore: 1 Tuner + 1 or more DARK Non-Tuner Monsters.

When this card is Synchro Summoned remove 1 DARK monster in your Graveyard from play. Increase this card's ATK by the ATK of the monster removed by this effect.

ATK: 1200

DEF: 2000

Tips: Best used in a Doomsday or DAD deck.

Removing DAD will make this card's ATK 4000.

 

 

 

[spoiler=cards used in episode 19]

 

 

 

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

 

Name: Bone Striker

Attribute: DARK

Level: 2

Type: Zombie

Lore: When this card is removed from the Graveyard, destroy 1 monster on the field. If you cannot, you lose 1000 life points.

ATK: 700

DEF: 200

 

 

 

 

 

Name: Necro Shield

Type: Normal Trap

Lore: Remove 1 monster in your Graveyard from play to negate 1 attack from a monster your opponent controls.

 

 

Name: Hallow Bat

Attribute: DARK

Level: 2

Type: Fiend

Lore: If you control a DARK Tuner Monster you can Special Summon this card from your hand. If this card is removed from the field after being Special Summoned it is removed from play.

ATK: 200

DEF: 800

 

 

 

 

Tuning

Lore::Add 1 Tuner monster from your Deck to your hand, then send a number of cards equal to that monster's Level, from the top of your Deck to the Graveyard.

 

Acrane Filo

Lore::If this card was used for the Synchro Summon of a Synchro Monster and sent to the Graveyard, add 1 "Buster Mode" from your Deck to your hand.

 

Name: Pot of Gluttony

Type: Normal Spell

Lore: Return two Monster Cards from your Graveyard to your Deck.

 

 

 

 

Buster Mode

Lore::Tribute 1 Synchro Monster. Special Summon 1 monster with the same name followed by "/Buster" from your Deck in face-up Attack Position

 

 

[Guest Supreme Gamesmaster]

Okay. I'm alive.

 

And this is still awesome.

 

Tough to say more. With Glads, gamblers, and the accursed Buster Mode, this thing has no lack of variety.

[2009Z]

This is the best thing i've ever read in my entire life.....Have gotten an award yet?

[TotalObelisk]

Wow...Looks like I picked up a new fan...Thnx for the comments guys ^_^. An no, no awards yet, srry...

 

I apologize for the heavy padding used in this episode ><, I won't be surprised if you just read the duel and skip the rest till the last couple of paragraphs, in fact go ahead otherwise you'll bore yourself to death...

 

[spoiler=Episode 20]

Episode 20: Cyberspace Trophy part 9. Nevermore.

 

Ai stared, wide-eyes at the creature glaring down at her, its violet eyes narrowed dangerously, putting Ai in mind of a watching demon, stalking its prey until it descended into madness.

“A /B-Buster monster?” She mouthed, hardly daring to believe it.

Lukon’s grin widened.

“The bond I share with my Poe Raven is unbreakable,” he said “Should he be destroyed I’ll only bring him back stronger than ever. He is my eternal guardian and the creature that will defeat you here today.”

 

Josh’s eyes narrowed as he watched the screen from the board-room.

“Lukon appears to be dueling with all his skill,” he pointed out “Wasn’t he supposed to be pushing Ai’s development slowly instead of throwing such a powerful monster upon her?”

“Sooner or later Ai will have to face a monster with equal, if not more strength than that Poe Raven. She’s already proven herself capable of destroying his first level of Poe Raven, so now she can defeat the next.” The Chairman explained.

Josh glared at him, but remained silent.

 

“So that’s a /Buster monster,” Lex muttered “Looks nasty.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Izo said “Each /Buster monster had 500 more ATK and 2 extra levels than their ordinary Synchro form as well as a more powerful effect.”

“That means that thing has 2800 ATK,” Lex replied.

“You expected less?” Ryuga asked.

 

Lukon continued to watch Ai and she stared up at the Poe Raven/Buster.

“What’s wrong?” He asked “You can’t be that petrified by my creature, just because he’s grown more powerful.”

Ai blinked and attempted to straighten her expression once more, but she couldn’t help staring up at the beast.

“I don’t blame you,” Lukon chuckled “The black demon that never moves, that watches its prey until they descend into madness…”

“Stop it!” Ai yelled “Just shut up!”

“Hiding won’t help,” Lukon said, his voice growing louder “So if you’re done, then I’m about to show you the true power of my creature!”

He drew a card from his deck and immediately extended his arm towards Ai’s monster.

“Poe Raven/Buster, show her your new power!” He ordered “Hell’s Glare!”

Lukon’s monster rose into the air, creating a strong wind as it did so that sent an array of black feathers scattering across the room. It finally tucked in its wings and opened them up, releasing a mass of pitch black feathers that looked more like a column of writhing insects all heading towards Ai’s field. They washed over Whings, obscuring her from view as her faint screams where heard.

“Whings!” Ai exclaimed.

The sound of Whings shattering could be heard and a few pieces managed to escape from the mass of feathers. By the time the feather’s cleared, Ai’s monster was gone without a trace. Ai looked up at her life points dropped to 2900.

“My monster’s power is great, don’t you think?” Lukon grinned.

Ai didn’t reply.

“Still stunned?” Lukon asked “I don’t blame you.”

He looked down at his hand and gave a short chuckle.

“Time to start a loop,” he said “I play the continuous spell card, Dimensional Fissure!”

Ai looked up as the sky seemed to open, becoming a violet rip crackling with energy.

“Why’d he play that?” She thought.

“I guess that will do for now,” Lukon said “Turn end.”

 

“Draw,” Ai said, taking a card. “I’m guessing he played that card to make sure he doesn’t get any more monsters in his graveyard,” she thought “I’m guessing that thing has a more powerful effect when his grave is empty. But he’s still got his Poe Raven in there meaning that effect is nullified.”

She looked down at her hand, looking for something she could use. She looked about and spied the card she’d drawn, Enchanted Sword.

“Of course,” she thought “It’s so simple.”

Lukon continued to watch her.

“I summon Spell Girl – Elda!” Ai declared, playing her blind sorceress, her ATK rising to 1700.

“Oh?” Lukon sounded vaguely interested “Trying to whittle down my monster’s ATK are you? I’m afraid you’re gonna need to lower it more than 500 points if you want to win my dear.”

Ai ignored him.

“I play Elda’s effect,” she said “By discarding Enchanted Sword; I decrease your monster’s ATK by 500.”

Elda raised her hands, a red glow surrounding them and Lukon’s Poe Raven/Buster. Lukon looked up at his monster.

“I see,” he muttered “Enchanted Sword will raise your monster’s ATK by 1000 for this turn, clever. But it’s still not enough.”

Ai faltered slightly as her monster’s ATK rose to 2800 and Lukon’s monster’s ATK lowered to 2300.

“W-what do you mean?” She asked.

Lukon merely grinned.

 

“He’s bluffing,” Lex said “Ai’s about to tear that thing apart.”

Izo looked doubtful.

“I dunno,” he said “He played that Dimensional Fissure for a reason.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Lex asked “To keep his graveyard empty of monsters.”

“No, it’s not that,” Izo said “He still got his Poe Raven in his graveyard so that card is meaningless, there has to be something else.”

 

Ai shook her head.

“Elda, attack!” She ordered.

Elda repositioned her hands so that the palms where facing each other and the red energy began to focus itself into a sphere of energy. No sooner than it was complete, Elda drew her arm back and thrust it forwards, sending the red energy towards Lukon’s monster. Lukon merely stood still, looking completely unphased by the attack. The red light hit his monster and it let out a cry of pain as the attack tore through it.

“I did it!” Ai exclaimed.

“Wrong again,” Lukon said.

“Huh?”

The red light faded and Lukon’s life points dropped to 3500, but his Poe Raven/Buster was still there.

“Eh? What gives?” Ai asked.

“I bet you’re wondering,” Lukon began “Why I played my Dimensional Fissure when I already have a monster in my graveyard.”

Ai’s eyes widened slightly.

“I guess I’ll have to explain,” Lukon chuckled “So long as my Poe Raven/Buster is on the field, it can’t be removed from play. And my Dimensional Fissure creates a vortex that removes any destroyed monster from play instead of sending it to the graveyard. In short my Dimensional Fissure’s effect is stopping my raven from going to the graveyard and in turn my raven’s effect is stopping it from being sucked into the Dimensional Fissure.”

Ai’s jaw almost dropped.

“N-no way,” she mouthed.

 

“Well, I take it you’re done,” Lukon said, drawing a card.

He looked down at his card and grinned.

“I summon my Phantom of Chaos!” Lukon said.

A pool of swirling darkness opened up in front of Lukon, beside his Poe Raven/Buster.

“Phantom of Chaos?” Ai’s eyes widened.

“The same,” Lukon said “And by his effect I remove my Poe Raven from play, making my Poe Raven/Buster immune to all Spell and Trap cards, and in turn my Phantom now takes on my Raven’s form!”

The whirlpool opened up and an entirely black version of Lukon’s raven emerged from it.

“Phantom Raven, attack!” Lukon ordered.

Lukon’s fake raven rose into the air, flapping its wings and sending a cascade of feather’s towards Elda and destroying her.

“Oh no!” Ai exclaimed.

“Poe Raven/Buster, attack her directly!”

Ai’s eyes widened once more as the mighty raven rose into the air and sent its attack towards her. Ai gave a yell as the mass of feathers washed over her.

“I can’t take much more of this;” she thought “There has to be a way out of this.”

The mass of feathers cleared, revealing a panting Ai down on one knee as her life points dropped to 100.

“I guess you get to live another turn,” Lukon muttered “No matter really. Turn end.”

Lukon’s phantom collapsed back into a swirling vortex as Ai got back up on her feet.

 

“There’s not much I can do right now,” she thought as she drew a card.

She looked down at her draw and frowned slightly.

“I summon Spell Girl – Sola,” she said, her pink haired star sorceress appearing in front of her “And she gains 400 ATK because of the spell cards in my graveyard.”

“I know the routine by now,” Lukon said “It’s a pity you can’t use your monster’s effect to make her even stronger.”

Ai didn’t reply as her monster’s ATK rose to 1700.

“Sola, attack!” She ordered.

Sola raised her staff, firing a cluster of stars towards Lukon’s phantom and destroying it, reducing Lukon’s life points to 1800.

“Not bad,” he muttered “But you could still use some work.”

Ai didn’t reply: “I’ll lay one card face down and end,” she said, a solitary face down card appearing behind Sola.

 

“My draw!” Lukon said, taking a card from his deck “Poe Raven/Buster end this duel!”

Ai gritted her teeth as Lukon’s monster rose into the air.

“Hell’s Glare!”

The monster let its attack loose, sending thousands of feathers towards Sola.

“We’re done,” Lukon said.

“I play my trap card,” Ai said “Defense Draw!”

“Huh?”

Ai’s card flipped up as Sola was consumed within the Poe Raven/Buster’s attack.

“Defense Draw allows me to reduce the damage I take to zero,” Ai explained “And also allows me to draw a card.”

“Not bad,” Lukon said “You can’t target my monster with your traps so you use them for yourself. I’ve got to admit, I was hoping for a bit more though.”

Ai didn’t reply.

“Well I guess that’ll do me,” Lukon said “Turn end.”

 

Ai breathed a sigh of relief and drew a new card from her deck.

“That was close,” she thought “But will I be that lucky again?”

She looked down at the card she’d drawn.

“Actually,” she thought “I guess I will be.”

Lukon continued to watch Ai.

“This is your opportunity,” he thought “I have but one monster on my field. If you can’t win in this turn then you’re not worth a Dancing Elf against a god card.”

Ai looked down at her hand and picked out a card.

“I summon Spell Girl – Luna!” She declared.

Ai’s Dark spellcaster emerged in front of her, a solemn expression on her face.

“Not bad,” Lukon said “With her you’ll be able to change my monster to defense position. But even with a bit of an ATK boost, your monster still won’t be able to combat it.”

“That’s not what I’m planning,” Ai said.

“Hm?”

“I activate Spell Girl Summon!” Ai said, showing Lukon the card.

A display of lights lit up next to Ai and Sola emerged from it, giving an exited squeal as she descended next to Luna, crouching down.

“And just what do you plan to do with those?” Lukon asked “Neither of them can defeat my monster.”

“It’s simple,” Ai said “Because since I control a Spell Girl monster, I can special summon my magical mascot!”

Lukon’s eyes widened “Another one?”

“Well, with a card like this you’ll have to use more than one,” Ai replied as though this was obvious.

She placed her card on the field and a new Magical Mascot rose up beside her two monsters.

“Now then,” Ai said “I tune my level 2 Magical Mascot to my level 3 Spell Girl – Sola and level 3 Spell Girl – Luna!”

Ai’s mascot transformed into a pair of green rings which fell around Ai’s other two monsters.

“You think you can defeat a /Buster monster with a regular Synchro monster?” Lukon barked.

“It doesn’t matter what monster I use,” Ai said “Because I don’t need to mistreat my cards to get her out.”

“Mistreat?” Lukon’s eyes narrowed “What the hell are you talking about?”

Ai paused, her face growing strangely solemn.

“Can’t you feel it?” She asked.

“Huh?” Lukon looked surprised at Ai’s sudden change of personality.

“Your monster…It’s in pain,” Ai said “You’ve had to resort to using such cruel methods to power it up, and you can’t even feel its pain.”

“What are you…?” Lukon’s eyes widened as he looked up at his monster, seeing a slight twinkle in the corner of its eye.

“Poe Raven,” he muttered.

“A prayer that lasts for eternity,” Ai said “And a soul that speaks of the powers of magic, combined these elements will awaken an unlimited power. Synchro Summon, descend from heaven, Spell Queen – Maria!”

Lukon looked up and shielded his eyes as a pillar or bright light opened up on Ai’s field and two white wings burst from it.

“What?!” He attempted to squint at the lights as Ai’s monster descended “Synchro’s aren’t supposed to do this.”

 

****

 

“Hey, the screen whited out,” Lex said.

Izo looked up and saw that he was right.

“It looks brighter than last time,” he muttered.

“You think?” Lex asked.

 

The light finally faded, revealing Ai’s monster.

“Since there are five spell cards in my graveyard, Spell Queen – Maria gains an extra 1000 ATK.”

Maria glowed slightly as her ATK rose to 3800.

“That’s certainly impressive,” Lukon said “But it’s not enough to win this duel quiet yet.”

“That’s why I have one last card to play,” Ai said “I equip Maria with my Enchanted Broach!”

“What?!”

Ai inserted the aforementioned card into her Spell & Trap slot and an ornate broach appeared around Maria’s neck and her ATK rose to 4600.

“Her ATK is over 4000,” Lukon muttered “And it’s enough to defeat my raven and take out the rest of my life points.”

A slight grin crossed his face.

“Guess that means I’m finally done here,” he muttered quietly.

“Spell Queen – Maria,” Ai began “Attack his Poe Raven/Buster!”

Lukon looked up at Ai and raised his eyebrows, noticing that Ai was shaking slightly.

“Wait,” he muttered “Are you…?”

He didn’t finish his sentence as Maria rose up into the air, energy gathering around the orb of her staff, causing it to glow white. She aimed it towards Lukon’s monster and fired, creating a focused beam of white light which struck its target, creating a dome of light that shrouded Lukon’s side of the field from view. The cries of the Poe Raven/Buster where just audible

“I’m sorry,” Ai muttered quietly.

 

The light faded and Maria landed back in front of Ai. Lukon stood where he was for a moment, staring at the ground before he dropped to his knees.

“Heh, but I still hold my record,” he muttered “After all; she technically didn’t destroy my Poe Raven.”

The Poe Raven/Buster and Spell Queen – Maria where still staring at each other as Lukon’s life points dropped to zero and they faded from view. Lukon looked up at Ai, staring at him with an almost sorrowful expression.

“I understand now,” he said.

“Eh?” Ai seemed to snap out of a sort of trance.

“Your powers are not a bond with your cards, but with everyone else’s,” Lukon muttered.

“Hey, what…?” Ai was about to continue, but Lukon had already pulled out his D-Cell and selected logout, vanishing on the spot.

 

“Ai Sakeru advances to the final match!” The voice announced “The final match will be Ai Sakura Vs. Komori Dark!”

Ai froze and looked around slowly at Komori who stared back at her coldly.

“Well, see you tomorrow,” he said shortly before he vanished too.

“Wait,” Ai said, however it was too late, and Komori had vanished.

Ai stood where she was for a second, staring at the spot where Komori had vanished, now alone within the tournament server. She sighed and looked down at her feet.

“Am I really up to this?” She muttered, glancing down at her deck.

 

Ai sighed and took out her D-Cell, vanishing herself and leaving the room empty. However a field of white mist descended and slowly formed together and Wings stepped out, surveying the now empty room.

“Idiot, there are screens monitoring this place, what if someone sees you?” The voice of his spirit hissed.

“They only see what they want to,” Wings replied “Besides, it’s not like they can arrest me.”

He walked up to the stage and knelt down where Ai had been standing, running a hand through the air.

“Hm…”

“What is it?”

“Ai’s abilities are nothing like mine,” he said.

“Yeah, we’ve established that,”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Wings replied “I mean there are plenty of people like me who can hear their monster spirits, right?”

“Your point?”

“Well regardless of how we use that ability it’s always voluntary,” Wings continued “However Ai seems to be putting more effort into not using her abilities.”

“I don’t follow,”

“The leftover energy here feels kinda like it forced its way out,” Wings said “And yet the energy left over from Lukon feels just like any other. I reckon Ai’s not what we think she is.”

“Oh come on, what else could she be?”

“I dunno,” Wings replied “Something not from this world I think.”

 

“Ai? You okay?”

“Eh!?”

Ai gave a start, snapping out of a daydream and turning slightly pink. Izo gazed at her, frowning, pausing in his taking of notes. The teacher was still talking and so saw nothing of this.

“You’ve been spacing out all day,” Izo said “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just nervous,” Ai replied, staring out of the window “I mean, the final match is this afternoon, if I lose then…”

“Ai, you need to learn to relax,” Izo said “Clear your head, that sort of thing?”

“Eh?” Ai turned to look at Izo.

“Hm?” Izo stared back, slightly confused “Something wrong?”

“It’s just…I’ve heard that somewhere before,” Ai said.

“Oh really?” Izo didn’t sound that interested “Well then you’d best follow it.”

“Clear my heard,” Ai muttered; remembering Lukon doing something similar in his duel against Gary “Is that what he meant?”

She looked back at Izo who was continuing to take notes whilst the teacher spoke.

“Wait,” Ai thought, her eyes widening slightly “Don’t tell me…”

 

Ai frowned as she walked home, thinking hard.

“I’m getting ahead of myself,” she thought “I mean, Izo can’t be Whings, they sound different and Whings is taller than Izo. It’s gotta be coincidence.”

She paused, looking back down the road.

“But then again, I’ve only ever seen Whings outside of reality,” she thought “So how do I know Izo isn’t just changing his appearance?”

She shook her head and carried on walking.

“That’s ridiculous,” she thought.

She heaved a sigh, turning the corner onto her street.

“Right now I just have to focus on the final match,” she thought.

She reached into a pocket on her jacket and pulled out her deck, her Sacred Temple card showing on top.

“I still haven’t used this,” she thought “I just hope it comes in handy.”

 

The Chairman grinned as he walked down the bright corridor, Kimiro and Komori following close behind.

“It’s time to see just how far she’s come,” the Chairman muttered as they walked.

“And if she loses?” Komori asked.

The chairman shrugged: “I guess we’ll just have to push her the hard way,” he said “No matter the outcome, it can’t get in the way of our plans.”

“Well said,” Kimiro replied “I’m sure whatever happens, everything will come full circle.”

A faint beeping sounded from Kimiro’s pocket and he stopped, taking out a small cell phone and opening it.

“Hello?”

The chairman paused, staring at him. Kimiro nodded a few times and put the phone away.

“It appears my presence is required elsewhere,” he said “Well…If you’ll excuse me.”

He gave a short bow and turned about, walking down the corridor. The chairman turned back around and checked his watch.

“About half an hour left until the duel begins,” he said “I hope you’re ready.”

“Don’t worry,” Komori said “I won’t screw this up.”

The Chairman grinned, unaware of what was going on in Komori’s head.

 

Kimiro boarded a waiting helicopter and sat down as it took off, watching the island below them growing smaller.

“Is everything in place?” He asked the pilot.

“Yes sir,” the man replied in an almost robotic tone.

Kimiro smiled. The pilot merely stared ahead through a pair of green goggles, his expression completely emotionless.

“Very good. It will soon be time to begin our very special operation, I would hate to see it go wrong,” Kimiro said, his sly smile growing wider as he spoke “Soon the world shall be united under a single banner.”

 

Somewhere unknown, Wings stood, data flying about behind him as he stood on an invisible floor against a backdrop of changing colours.

“I can feel it,” he said “It’s coming.”

“I know,” his spirit replied “But there is little we can do.”

Wings heaved a sigh and stared down at the ground.

“Well…I had my fun a long time ago,” he said “It’s time for someone else to take the flag.”

“Do you really think that’s wise?”

“As I am now there’s nothing I can do outside of here,” Wings said “Remember, I can’t enter the physical world anymore, I’m afraid this is no longer my responsibility.”

“You never used to be like that,”

Wings gave a slight chuckle.

“Have I really changed that much?” He asked.

“Yeah, you used to be an idiot,”

“I see…Well I apologize,” Wings replied “But, I think there is one thing I can do.”

He raised his arm and the data around it began to warp, becoming a large screen in front of him displaying the currently empty tournament server.

“All we can do now is wish her luck,”

“I think I proffered you when you where pessimistic,”

“Too bad,”

 

Ai set her bag down on her bed and took out her duel disk, going through her deck one more time.

“I hope this is enough,” she thought “If I lose, I’m going to disappoint a lot of people.”

A frown crossed her face as she held her deck close to her.

“But…I don’t want to cause anybody any more pain. And no matter what I do now somebody is going to get hurt.”

She remembered seeing Lukon’s expression after their duel. She heaved a sigh and looked over at her computer, a determined expression now showing on her face.

“I guess I have no choice,” she muttered.

She inserted her deck back into her duel disk and hooked the disk up to her computer, putting on the headset that allowed her mind to travel into cyberspace.

“Here goes nothing,” she thought.

She opened the program and once again found herself transported out of the physical world and into the tournament server of Cyberspace. She looked around at the flashes of data swirling around her as her consciousness went from her body to the net before the scenery about her finally formed. She looked up and saw Komori already waiting for her, staring at her from the other end of the room.

“Err…Hi,” Ai said, nervously.

“Cut the introductions,” Komori said walking over to her.

Ai flinched slightly as her reached her, feeling slightly intimidated by him.

“It would be disappointing if this match where to last as long as my previous ones,” he said.

“Eh?”

“I’m expecting a good duel,” Komori said “Otherwise you’ve no right to call yourself my opponent.”

“Y-you don’t have to put it that way,” Ai replied, feeling slightly dejected.

Komori ignored her and turned about, walking towards the stage and ascending the steps leading to the spotlight on his side of the arena.

“Well?” He asked “Are you coming or not?”

“Er…Yeah,” Ai replied.

She swallowed and followed suit, walking up onto the stage to stand opposite Komori.

“Don’t fall behind,” Komori said, raising his arm and activating his D-Wind, causing the virtual field to light up.

Ai hesitated and followed suit, raising her own arm.

“I hope I can do this right,” she thought “If I can avoid his First-Turn-Kill combo then he won’t have any other strategies left.”

“Duel!”

Name: Poe Raven/Buster

Attribute: DARK

Level: 9

Type: Winged-Beast

Lore: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by the effect of "Buster Mode". If no monsters exist in your Graveyard, this card cannot be targeted by the effects of Spell or Trap Cards. This card cannot be removed from play while it is face-up on the field. When this card is destroyed, you can Special Summon 1 "Poe Raven" from your Graveyard.

ATK: 2800

DEF: 2900

Tips: Dimensional Fissure can be used both to keep monsters out of your graveyard to make this card immune to Spell & Trap cards but can also be used to prevent this cards destruction as destroying it would remove it from play and this card cannot be removed from play from the field.

Trivia: This card is the /Buster version of Poe Raven

 

 

 

[spoiler=cards used in episode 20]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[2009Z]

I will read your story till the end of time......or until EP 52

[asterr259]

This is the best thing i've ever read in my entire life.....Have gotten an award yet?

[Aelsthla-Mental]

Looks all good, although i didn't have much time for a good read-through no errors jumped out. Which is the most important thing, right?

 

Anyway that chapter went along nicely, poor Poe Raven. I suppose going buster isn't all it's cracked up to be!

[Guest Supreme Gamesmaster]

Whoa, what happened to the grammar?

 

Good plot for the chapter nonetheless. Ai is an extraterrestrial... weird. O,x

[TotalObelisk]

Whoa' date=' what happened to the grammar?

 

Good plot for the chapter nonetheless. Ai is an extraterrestrial... weird. O,x

[/quote']

 

Y'know, you're frighteningly accurate O_O...

 

I may as well post up ep 21 while I have the time, but from here one updates will probably be slower as I'm entering that time in college where it's work, work work (exams in January >< God help me).

 

[spoiler=Episode 21]Episode 21: Cyberspace Trophy Part 10. Howl of War.

 

“Draw!” Komori took a card from his deck rather violently and added it to his hand.

“Here it comes,” Ai thought.

 

Izo, Lex and Ryuga stood watching from their usual spot, both players’ life points displayed on the screens.

“I hope Ai can get through this,” Lex said.

“Knowing her, she’ll probably have some card in her deck that can help her,” Izo replied.

“Erm, hello?” Lex said “Komori can kinda kill his opponents on his first turn, even if Ai has a card in her deck that can help, she’s gonna have to have drawn it now.”

“Good point,” Izo muttered.

“Don’t underestimate her,” Ryuga said “Ai’s deck is the kind that full of surprises.”

 

“I summon Gene-Warped Warwolf!” Komori said.

“This move again?” Ai’s eyes widened.

“I think you know what happened next,” Komori said, holding up another card.

“N-no way,” Ai muttered.

Without the slightest change in expression, Komori turned the card around to reveal his Warwolven Howl card.

“Warwolven Howl, activate!” He commanded.

His Gene-Warped Warwolf let out a howl and exploded, creating a cloud of smoke out of which a ghost of the destroyed monster came charging at Ai and sped past her, taking a slash at her. Ai let out a slight yell and staggered back as her life points dropped to 2000.

“Don’t worry,” she thought “He’s taken damage too; if I can draw the right card next I can win right now.”

She looked up as the smoke began to clear, however her eyes widened as she saw what it was concealing. Another ghost of Gene-Warped Warwolf was attacking Komori too, but its claw was being blocked by another magic card Komori held in his hand.

“W-what’s that?” Ai asked, unable to see the card from where she stood.

“This?” Komori looked up at her, looking slightly bored “You’re about to find out.”

With a single swipe of his arm he sent the ghost flying back where it skidded across the floor, panting. He then held the card in front of him, revealing what it was for a split second before a bright blue light shone from it causing the ghost to shield its eyes.

“This is my Reflect Bound Mirror card,” Komori explained “When I’m about to receive effect damage, I can turn that damage onto my opponent instead!”

“W-What?!”

The ghost turned around, glaring at Ai and growling, causing Ai to flinch.

“Y-y-you’ve gotta be kidding me,” she stammered.

“Looks like you weren’t a worthy opponent after all,” Komori sighed “Too bad. Finish her off!”

The card vanished and the ghost charged forwards, raising one of its four claws to strike.

 

“Ai!” Lex yelled.

 

Ai took her a card from her hand and held it up, flinching slightly as the ghost struck it and was thrown backwards.

“What!?” Komori’s expression immediately changed to surprise.

The ghost recovered and charged at Ai once more, only for an orb of slime to come flying out of Ai’s card and wrap itself around the ghost.

“What on earth is going on?” Komori demanded.

“I’m discarding my Life Coordinator,” Ai explained, showing Komori the card “To negate your card.”

The ghost and the slime shattered, leaving the field perfectly clear.

“If you had such a card then why didn’t you use it against my Warwolven Howl?” Komori asked.

“Well to be honest I was kinda hoping to take advantage of the damage you took from it as well,” Ai muttered “But I guess that wasn’t very smart.”

“Hmph, that’s exactly why you’re going to lose this match,” Komori scoffed “I’ll set one card face down and end my turn.”

Ai heaved a sigh of relief as Komori’s card appeared face down in front of him.

“Wow, I can’t believe I survived that,” she sighed.

“Just make your move,” Komori said.

“Oh…Right,” Ai said.

“Tch,” Komori glared at her and then stared down at his deck. “Now it really starts.”

 

Back in the abandoned warehouse, Kimiro stood on a balcony, observing the many workers at their computers, a giant screen displaying the duel was set up at the far end of the room.

“Perfect,” Kimiro said “Now all you have to do is make this duel last for as long as possible.”

His sallow grin widened once more and he began to chuckle softly.

 

“My turn,” Ai said.

She took a card from her deck and looked down at it.

“Looks like I managed to avoid his FTK,” she thought “Which means now this duel should be easy.”

Komori’s eyes narrowed as he watched Ai.

“I summon Spell Girl – Ria,” Ai declared, placing her card on the field.

Ria rose up in front of Ai, yellow energy crackling around her.

“Ria, attack his life points directly,” Ai commanded.

Ria gripped her stave in both hands and flew forwards, her hair and cape flying out behind her as she went and energy crackling around the end of her staff.

“Too predictable,” Komori sighed.

“Eh?”

“I play my trap card, Draining Shield,” Komori said.

His card flipped up and a blue dome suddenly surrounded him as Ria shot a bolt of lightning towards him. The attack hit the dome and reflected off.

“What!?”

“Draining Shield allows me to negate your attack and then recover life points equal to the ATK of your monster.”

“I-I know what draining shield does,” Ai muttered.

“Hmph, I guess you’re not a total loss then,” Komori muttered.

The dome faded and Komori’s life points rose to 5800. Ai continued to stare at him, completely baffled.

“Let me guess,” Komori said “You’re thinking that just because I’ve used up my FTK combo that my deck is now vulnerable to your attacks.”

“Huh?” Ai continued to stare at him.

“Hmph, you’re far more naïve than I thought,” Komori muttered “You disgust me.”

“I am not naïve!” Ai retorted.

“Then prove it,” Komori barked.

Ai frowned and looked down at her hand.

“I’ll set one card face down and end my turn,” she said.

 

“Good,” Komori said “My draw!”

He took a card from his deck and looked at it.

“I summon my Pitch-Black Warwolf,” he said.

An armoured black werewolf carrying a long black sword appeared in front of Komori, growling softly.

“Why’d he summon that,” Ai thought “My monster has more ATK than his.”

“Next, I’ll equip him with my Vicious Claw card,” Komori said.

“W-what?!”

A metal claw appeared on one of the Pitch-Black Warwolf’s arms and its ATK rose to 1900.

“No way,” Ai gasped.

“Pitch-Black Warwolf attack Spell Girl – Ria!” Komori ordered “Show her no mercy!”

Komori’s monster charged forwards and jumped into the air, raising its claw to bring it down on top of Ai’s monster.

“I play my trap card,” Ai said “Magic Cylinder!”

“Wrong!”

“Eh!”

Ai’s card began to open, but barely got halfway before it stopped, energy crackling around it.

“What’s going on?” Ai gasped.

“Pitch-Black Warwolf negates your ability to play trap cards during the battle phase,” Komori explained.

“EH!?”

Komori’s monster brought its claw down, tearing straight through Ria and destroying her, reducing Ai’s life points to 1900.

“R-Ria!” She cried.

“Pathetic,” Komori muttered as his monster bounded back to his side of the field “How did you ever get to this stage of the tournament?”

Ai bit her lip.

 

“What is Komori playing at,” the chairman muttered, watching the duel from the boar-room.

“Apparently he’s taking this a bit to seriously,” Koru muttered “You know what he’s like.”

“You’re too soft,” Josh said.

“Huh?” The chairman looked up at him “What does that mean.”

“Going easy on someone only allows them to develop for a short amount of time,” Josh said “If you train someone by going easy on them and then stick them in front of a real challenge they’re going to lose, I believe I explained this to you before.”

The chairman was about to reply when a holo-screen opened up next to him.

“Sir, there’s an abnormality within the data flow,”

“What?” The chairman seems to forget about everything and stared at the man on the holo-screen “What do you mean?”

“It’s like there’s some extra data going in along with Komori’s deck,” the scientist explained “We’re trying to identify it.”

“A bug maybe?” The chairman muttered.

“Possibly,”

“I see,” the chairman sighed “Well give me a report once you’re finished, we can’t have the system screwing up now.”

“Yes sir,” The holo-screen closed.

“Tch, of all the times to go wrong,” the chairman muttered.

 

“My draw,” Ai said, taking a card from her deck.

“Good, now make it a good move this time,” Komori barked.

Ai bit her lip again, staring down at her cards. She looked at the new card she’d drawn and her eyes widened.

“Sacred Temple,” she thought “This could help.”

Komori raised an eyebrow as he saw Ai’s expression.

“What is she playing at,” he thought.

“I summon Spell Girl – Elda!” Ai commanded, placing her card on the field and allowing Elda to appear in front of her.

“Hm, so that’s what you’re planning,” Komori muttered.

“Next I play the field spell card, Sacred Temple,” Ai declared.

“What!?”

The room vanished and was replaced by a surreal blue room that seemed to be broken apart: A rectangle of blue glass floated in a black void, supporting the two players as broken bits of archways floated around them. A large orb stood behind Ai, glowing softly.

“W-what is this place?” Komori muttered.

“Next I play Elda’s effect,” Ai said “By discarding Spell Shuffle from my hand, your monster loses 500 ATK and Elda gains 100 ATK.”

Komori’s eyes widened slightly as Elda raised her hands, chanting slightly as a red glow surrounded Komori’s monster. It writhed for a bit, its ATK dropped to 1400 and Elda’s rising to 1500. At the same time a glowing black orb with a strange triangular symbol upon it appeared in the orb behind Ai, floating about.

“Wait…What on earth is that?” Komori thought.

“Next I play the effect of Spell Shuffle,” Ai said, a large hologram of the card turning about in front of her “Allowing me to place the bottom card of my deck in my hand.”

Komori’s eyes narrowed once more.

“Elda, attack Pitch-Black Warwolf!” Ai ordered.

Elda raised her hands once more, charging a red beam of energy within them and throwing it towards Komori’s monster.

“I play the effect of my Vicious Claw!” Komori said.

“Eh?”

Elda’s attack impacted, creating a cloud of smoke as Komori’s life points dropped to 5700, however once the smoke cleared his wolf was still there and the metal claw was absent.

“W-what happened?” Ai asked.

“It’s simple,” Komori explained “Vicious Claw can be returned to my hand to prevent my monster’s destruction through battle.”

Ai bit her lip once more.

“T-turn end,” she muttered.

 

“About time,” Komori said, drawing a card “And now my wolf’s ATK returned to normal!”

Komori’s monster growled as its ATK rose to 1600.

“Next I replay my Vicious Claw!”

“Again?”

The metal claw appeared once again on Pitch-Black Warwolf’s arm and its ATK rose to 1900.

“Attack!” Komori ordered.

Ai looked up as Komori’s monster jumped into the air and brought its claw down.

 

****

 

Pitch-Black Warwolf brought it claw down upon Elda, however before the attack could hit the black orb shot out of the larger orb and blocked the wolf’s attack and Ai’s life points dropped to 1500.

“What?!” Komori said, showing genuine surprise.

“I play the effect of my Sacred Temple,” Ai said “Whenever a Spell Card is sent from my hand to my graveyard it gains a spell counter, and by removing a spell counter I can prevent the destruction of one of my monsters through battle.”

Komori glared at Ai.

“Why you…” he growled.

Ai flinched slightly.

“H-hey…It’s just a game,” she said “You don’t have to take it so seriously.”

“A game?” Komori’s eyes widened “You think this is just a game?”

“Eh?” Ai stared at him.

“I end my turn,” Komori said.

 

“Okay then, my turn,” Ai said, taking a card from her deck.

She looked down at her hand and nodded.

“What I need to do right now is destroy his Vicious Claw,” she thought.

She took a card from her hand and looked up at Komori.

“I play the effect of Spell Girl – Elda,” she said.

“Again?” Komori thought, his eyes narrowing.

Ai sent her card to the graveyard and Elda raised her arms once again, summoning a red aura around Komori’s monster and reducing it’s ATK to 1400 as Elda’s rose to 1600 and another spell counter appeared inside the orb behind Ai.

“This trick again?” Komori scoffed “It’ll just produce the same results.

“Not really,” Ai said.

“Eh?”

“I play the effect of the card I sent to my graveyard,” Ai said “Spell Wind!”

“What?!”

A powerful wind suddenly picked up, sucking the broken pieces of wall into it and destroying the orb behind Ai and the Vicious Claw on Pitch-Black Warwolf’s arm.

“You fool!” Komori yelled “You’ll just destroy your own cards by doing that.”

“Maybe, but my Magic Cylinders are useless and my field spell card has an extra effect when it’s in the graveyard.”

“It what?”

The wind died and the room returned to normal.

“In addition to an extra 100 ATK, Elda gains another 400,” Ai explained.

“What, why!?” Komori demanded.

“Because as long as Sacred Temple exists in my graveyard, Spellcaster type monster I control gain 400 ATK!”

“What!”

Elda glowed bright red, her hair waving about as though in a gentle breeze as her ATK rose to 2100. Komori looked down at his own monster to see it panting heavily, its own ATK stuck at 1100.

“Oh no,” Komori muttered.

“Elda, attack,” Ai ordered.

Elda raised one arm, charging an orb of red energy within it that then shot towards Komori’s monster, striking it squarely in the middle and destroying it as it let out a howl of pain. Komori’s eyes narrowed as the pieces of his monster flew past him and vanished and his life points dropped to 4700.

“Not bad,” he said “I’ll admit I’m slightly impressed.”

Ai didn’t reply.

“Well, are you done?” He asked.

“Huh? Oh...Yeah, I am,” Ai said.

“Good,” Komori muttered.

 

He placed a hand on his deck and drew his next card. The movement of his arm became slightly pixilated for a second, as though the data was running slow. Ai blinked, staring at him for a moment.

“What just happened?” She thought.

Komori looked down at his card, noticing the edge where shaking slightly.

“It’s getting stronger,” he thought.

He looked up at Ai, his expression still as stony as ever.

“I summon my Flea-Bitten Warwolf,” he said, showing Ai the card before he placed it on his field.

A grey werewolf rose up, its fur in tatters and foam leaking from its mouth.

“Ew, that’s gross,” Ai said.

“Maybe so,” Komori said “But its effect allows him to gain half the ATK of my Gene-Warped Warwolf.”

“W-what the heck!?”

An image of Gene-Warped Warwolf appeared behind Flea-Bitten Warwolf and vanished as Flea-Bitten Warwolf’s ATK rose to 2200.

“Y-you’ve got to be kidding me,” Ai muttered.

“Flea-Bitten Warwolf attack!” Komori ordered.

Komori’s monster charged forwards and took a slash as Elda, destroying her and reducing Ai’s life points to 1400. She staggered backwards slightly and as her foot contacted the ground once more it pixilated beneath her and she slipped slightly but managed to regain her balance as the floor returned to normal.

“Huh?” She stared down at her foot, now perfectly normal “What was…?”

She looked up at Komori who was staring down at his cards.

 

Komori’s eyes narrowed slightly as he stared down at his cards, the edges where beginning to pixilate as where his own fingers.

“Looks like we’re almost there,” he thought “No problem.”

 

Kimiro could only grin as he watched Komori and Ai duel.

“Splendid, splendid,” he said “I think it’s about nearing the time when I announce my plans, oh this is going to be so...” he paused “…Excellent.”

He allowed himself a low chuckle which soon began to expand into a mad cackle of laughter.

 

“My turn,” Ai said, drawing a card.

She paused, looking down at her hand.

“Well, there’s not much else I can do,” she muttered “I summon Spell Girl – Gale!”

She placed her card on the field and one of her most used monsters rose up in front of her.

“And since Gale also gains ATK from the spells in my graveyard, she now has more ATK than your Flea-Bitter thingy.”

Gale glowed slightly as her ATK rose to 2400.

“Here it comes,” Komori thought.

“But I’m not done there,” Ai said “Because I also equip Gale with Enchanted Broach!”

“What?!”

Ai’s equip spell flipped around and glowed as a chocker decorated with a red stone appeared around Gale’s neck and her ATK rose to 3200.

“Gale, attack!” Ai ordered.

Gale raised her staff, firing a beam of purple energy towards Komori’s monster. It struck and vanished, appearing to have done nothing but after a few seconds several beams of purple light shot from within the Flea-Bitten Warwolf’s body and it shattered after giving a howl of pain.

“Hmph, not bad,” Komori muttered.

Ai looked down at the rest of her hand.

“I’ll set one card and end my turn,” she said.

 

“Very well,” Komori said “My draw.”

He took a new card from his deck, noticing that the pixilation was becoming more visible and the colour of his cards was growing darker.

“Not long left,” he thought “I guess I can go all out now.”

He looked down at his graveyard.

“I remove Gene-Warped Warwolf, Pitch-Black Warwolf and Flea-Bitten Warwolf in my graveyard from play!” Komori said.

“EH!?” Ai exclaimed.

“In order to summon Pack-Leader Warwolf!”

No sooner did he say this than a massive, shaggy crimson werewolf rose up on his field, his eyes appearing to be balls of flame, letting out a mighty howl.

“That things kinda scary,” Ai muttered.

“Pack-Leader Warwolf can only be special summoned by removing up to 3 Warwolf monsters in my graveyard,” Komori explained “And his ATK becomes equal to half their combined ATK.”

“Huh?”

Komori’s monster growled embers flying out of its mouth as its ATK rose to 2400.

“Not only that, but when my monster attacks the effect of all your spell cards are negated!” Komori said.

“W-what!?”

“Pack-Leader Warwolf, attack Gale!” Komori ordered “Magma Slash!”

Komori’s monster raised one of its massive claws, breathing out a stream of embers which flew around Gale. She raised her staff to protect herself, her ATK dropping back to 2400.

“They have equal ATK,” Ai said “They’ll both be destroyed.”

“Wrong,” Komori said “Because my Pack-Leader Warwolf can’t be destroyed in battle!”

“What?!”

“Attack!” Komori ordered.

Komori’s monster made to move its arm but froze.

“Huh?” Komori looked up, noticing that the arm of his monster was beginning to pixilate “Damn, it shouldn’t be that fast!”

“Eh?” Ai stared at him then looked down at her own cards, noticing the edges had begun to pixilated as well.

“Eh? What’s going on?”

 

“Sir!” A holo-screen opened up again beside the chairman.

“What? What is it?”

“The wave of data has increased,” the scientist said “It’s a virus!”

“What!?” The chairman stood up, knocking his chair over “How is that possible, the protection on the Cyberspace project is unbreakable, how did it get it.”

“I don’t know,” the scientist said “But it seems to have been disguising itself as something.”

“Disguising itself?” the chairman frowned and looked at the screen displaying the duel, noticing the pixilation around the edges of the screen and on Komori’s monster.

“W-wait,” he gasped.

“What is it?” Josh asked, panic just detectable in his voice.

“The virus was hidden in the data of Komori’s deck,” the chairman said, his jaw dropping.

“What?” Josh seems to hardly dare to believe it himself “Can’t you wipe it from the system.”

“We thought there was no way a virus like this could get in,” the chairman said “So we didn’t put any cleaning programs in to increase processing power.”

Josh looked back at the screen.

“Since it was part of Komori’s deck data all Ai needs to do is defeat him before it spreads to the other servers,” he said “At least then we can contain it.”

“Yes, but we can’t tell her that,” the chairman said.

 

“Move damn you!” Komori yelled up at his monster.

The image of the Pack-Leader Warwolf seemed to twitch slightly before it finally moved forwards, bringing its claw down upon Gale and destroying her. Ai staggered back a few feet. The giant form of the Pack-Leader Warwolf was still crouched down, bits of its body pixilating at random.

“What’s going on?” Ai muttered.

“It doesn’t matter,” Komori barked “Make your move.”

Ai stared at him for a second and placed her hand on her deck.

 

“This is looking bad,” Wings said.

“Huh?”

“I’m going in,”

“Hey, wait!”

Wings vanished from where he was, appearing in the tournament server.

“Ai, you need to finish this now!” He said.

“Huh?” Ai looked over at him “Wings, what are you doing here?”

Komori glanced over at Wings, his eyes widening suddenly.

“There’s no time to explain,” Wings said “Hurry up!”

“But,”

“Just do it!”

 

Ai swallowed and drew a new card from her deck.

“I play my face down card,” Ai said “Enchanted Statue.”

Her card flipped up and glowed, a figure emerging from it.

“Enchanted Statue can return one Spell monster destroy in battle to my field,” Ai said “And I choose Spell Girl – Gale!”

Gale re-emerged onto Ai’s field, her ATK returning to 2400.

“That’s not going to be enough to stop me!” Komori said.

Ai took another card from her hand, her movements becoming slow and pixilated.

“What on earth is going on?” She thought.

“I’ll also summon my Water Union!” She said “And since I control a Spell Girl monster I can also special summon my Magical Mascot.”

Ai’s small blue fairy appeared next to Gale as her winged cat appeared on the other side.

“Ai hurry!” Wings said.

“I tune Water Union to Gale to create Spell Knight – Akwa!” Ai said.

The two monsters merged in the usual fashion and soon Akwa was standing on Ai’s field.

“Now for the final touch,” Ai said “I tune my level 2, Magical Mascot to my level 6 Spell Knight – Akwa!”

Magical Mascot burst into a pair of pixilated rings which fell around Akwa and transformed her into what could only be described as six blue squares before a pillar of white light consumed both elements.

“A prayer that lasts for eternity,” Ai recited “And a soul that speaks of the powers of magic, combined these elements will awake an unlimited power. Synchro Summon, descend from heaven Spell Queen – Maria!”

Maria’s wings burst from within the light, seemingly unaffected by the pixilation, before the light faded to reveal Maria in her full form.

“Maria gains 200 ATK for each spell card in my graveyard,” Ai explained “Plus an extra 400!”

Maria’s ATK rose to 4800.

“Ai, now!” Wings ordered.

“Spell Queen – Maria, attack!” Ai ordered.

Maria rose up into the air and aimed her staff at Pack-Leader Warwolf, gathering energy from about her as the orb glow blue and finally shot a beam of white light towards the Pack-Leader Warwolf. However just before the attack hit the screen suddenly became nothing but static before suddenly becoming black.

Name: Sacred Temple

Attribute: Magic

Type: Field

Lore: If you control a Non Spellcaster-Type monster, destroy this card. Whenever a Spell Card is sent from your hand to the Graveyard place 1 Spell Counter on this card. During damage calculation, you can remove 1 Spell Counter from this card to prevent 1 Spellcaster-Type monster you control from being destroyed by this battle. As long as this card exists in your Graveyard, Spellcaster-Type monsters you control gain 400 ATK.

 

 

[spoiler=cards used in episode 21]

 

 

Name: Reflect Bound Mirror

Type: Quick-Play Spell

Lore: When a card whose effect inflicts damage to you activates switch the damage you recieve to your opponent.

 

Life Coordinator

When your opponent activates a card effect that inflicts damage, you can discard this card to negate the effect of that card and destroy it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name: Flea-Bitten Warwolf

Attribute: EARTH

Level: 3

Type: Beast-Warrior

Lore: When this card is Summoned, select 1 Normal Monster in your Graveyard. This card gains half the ATK of the selected monster.

ATK: 1200

DEF: 800

 

 

 

Name: Pack-Leader Warwolf

Attribute: FIRE

Level: 8

Type: Beast-Warrior

Lore: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summon except by removing up to 3 "Warwolf" monsters in your Graveyard from play. This cards ATK becomes equal to half the combined ATK of all monsters removed to summon this card. This card cannot be destroyed by battle. When this card declares an attack, negate the effect of all Spell Cards your opponent controls during Damage Calculation.

ATK: ?

DEF: 2100

 

Name: Enchanted Statue

Type: Contunuous Trap

Lore: Select 1 "Spell" monster from your Graveyard and Special Summon it in face-up Attack Position. When this card is removed from the field, destroy the monster. When the monster is removed from the field, destroy this card.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest Supreme Gamesmaster]

Well, y'know, he did pretty much tell us...

 

Also, VIRUS. Spooky. I predict it coming to life and destroying stuff. XD Kinda stupid not to put a virus control program in; Deck holograms would be loaded with virus-able data. Even Flash is, if you think about it. I'd be willing to take DMU-esque lag if it meant no DeAtH vIrUsEs could get in. I guess Chairman and co. don't think that way. :?

[senron]

Greay chapter but, OMG why didn't they think there could be a virus

[Guest TheFinalFan]

nice chapter man!!

 

By the way, long time subscriber, first time poster on this thread....or am I?

(cue mysterious music)

 

Anyway, I really like how you take basic concepts like the stereotypical anime/manga "magical girl" and turn them into really good Yu-Gi-Oh! cards without totally ripping off the original concept. Did you also make most of the card artwork for the Spell Girls? If so, nice! (Hi-5s through the computer).

 

So, keep up the good work!

 

P.S. Yeah, the charmers are cute! And I also loved 3rd Legacy! U rock!

 

Y-Tak

[Guest Supreme Gamesmaster]

Free bump for pwnage FF. :D

[2009Z]

still reading and still loving!