I don't know if this comes across as well as it is supposed to, but Karen, after seeing only a couple of John's plays, was able to map out his entire style and plan to defeat it. It's a talent she has, one which she associates with herself as she is now, and so, later on, when her situation changes, she subconsciously suppresses it. That also doesn't always come across as well as it is supposed to...
Chapter Seventeen
An Overwhelming Power
John
“After my turn ends,” I said to Karen, “you have to discard every card you just drew as a result of ‘Mirage of Nightmare’’s effect.”
“Not if I activate ‘Emergency Provisions’ to send my ‘Mirage of Nightmare’ to the Graveyard before my Standby Phase begins,” Karen replied smugly. “This also allows me to gain one thousand Life Points (LP: 8000+1000=9000). Next, I draw, and I activate ‘Toon World’!”
What?! I couldn't believe it. 'Toon World' was a card that no one had. It had been printed exclusively for the very same person who had sent us on our quest, Maxamillion Pegasus, for his own deck. It was one of the few cards that the others in his own company wouldn't let him print because it was too powerful.
I rededicated myself to the duel as I wondered, Who is this girl?
“At the cost of one thousand Life Points (9000-1000=8000)," Karen declared, "I open the door to the magical realm from which all Toon Duel Monsters are summoned, and I summon ‘Toon Mermaid’ as a Toon Special Summon.”
A green book appeared and fell open. A cloud of pink smoke erupted from the pages, clearing quickly to reveal a cartoon mermaid lying inside a clam shell, carrying a bow (ATK: 1400).
“Next I’ll sacrifice ‘Toon Alligator’ to Toon Summon the ‘Toon Summoned Skull’!” Karen declared. The small lizard was engulfed in pink smoke and pulled into the book. The pages turned to ones depicting a popup of a dark, dirty, gothic town. From the pages emerged a cartoon of a skeletal fiend, snarling wickedly at me (ATK: 2500).
“Toon Monsters cannot attack in the turn that they're summoned,” said Karen, “so I’ll set a card and end my turn. But be warned, I won’t go so easy next turn.”
“I never expected you to,” I replied, trying to hide the shock I felt at the sight of the forbidden card, ‘Toon World’, though this particular version seemed a bit toned down from the one that I'd heard of. “Now if you don’t mind, it’s my move.”
And, I thought, I’d better make it count.
Sarah
Crap! I thought as ‘Breaker’ finished his attack. My opponent had easily overcome my Infinite Serpent Wall, and he still had a Spell Counter, which would allow him to break the next card I set as well. For any of my combos to be effective, I would have to destroy ‘Breaker’ right away. Problem was I couldn’t do it with my current hand.
“I draw,” I said, and I was relieved to see that I’d drawn a way out. “I move my ‘Sinister Serpent’ back to my hand,” I continued, “and summon, ‘Sinister Serpent’, attack mode (ATK: 200). Next I activate ‘Big Wave Small Wave’. This card lets me destroy every Water monster that I control in order to Special Summon the same number of Water monsters from my hand. So say goodbye to ‘Sinister Serpent’, and hello to ‘Giga Gagagigo’!”
The serpent was washed away and was replaced by the armored lizard ‘Giga Gagagigo’ (ATK: 2450). Without even waiting for my command the ferocious reptilian warrior charged forward and slashed ‘Breaker’ to ribbons with his claws. I watched with my arms crossed, my confidence having finally returned.
‘Gagagigo’ made his way back to me, far less enthusiastic now that he was no longer attacking, and I continued my turn, “Now, finally, since my Spell and Trap zone is safe from attack, I set a card. Hit me with your best shot!”
Jen
After Lawrence’s move, Tucker and I had very few cards left to play. We’d used up nearly everything we had just trying to match the strength of Lawrence’s first monster. Tucker drew for his turn and said, “I start things off with the wall monster ‘Charcoal Inpachi’, defense mode.” A massive tree man, charred black, appeared behind Tucker, slouched over so that his huge arms wrapped loosely around Tucker, protecting him from harm (DEF: 2100). “Now I place a card face-down,” Tucker concluded, “and end my turn.”
“I draw, and I summon my ‘Skull-Mark Ladybug’,” I declared. A large beetle with a skull and crossbones on its back appeared at my side (DEF: 1200). “When ‘Skull-Mark Ladybug’ goes to the Graveyard I gain one thousand Life Points.”
Lawrence sighed. He hadn’t been goading us. He really did find our dueling boring! “I start out my turn with ‘Graceful Charity’,” He said, “drawing three cards and then discarding two. Next I’ll activate ‘Premature Burial’, summoning the discarded ‘Kiryu’ to the field from the Graveyard at a cost of eight hundred Life Points (LP: 8000-800=7200).”
A red dragon with broad wings appeared and let out a roar.
“Activate,” Lawrence continued, “the Spell ‘A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon’ returning the level five ‘Kiryu’ to my hand to destroy all Spell and Trap cards on the field.” The red dragon flapped its wings, rising abruptly into the air, destroying our cards, and then disappeared back into Lawrence’s hand.
“Now, the deciding move. Summon ‘Lord of Dragons’,” a man appeared, wearing a dragon skull helm and breastplate, and a long, flowing cape (ATK: 1200). “Activate ‘Flute of Summoning Dragon. My ‘Lord’ plays the golden flute to call two dragons from my hand into battle, ‘Kiryu’, and the emerald-skinned ‘Luster Dragon #2’ (ATK: 2000/ ATK: 2400)!
“Now attack ‘Ladybug’ and ‘Arsenal Token’ with ‘Luster Dragon’ and ‘Lord of dragons’,” Lawrence commanded, and my monsters were incinerated (6700+1000=7700), “and attack ‘Charcoal Inpachi’ with ‘Luster Dragon #2’,” Tucker’s monster had a hole blown through its chest and it crumbled to ashes. “And I attack with ‘Kiryu’ and ‘Cave Dragon’ (7700-2000 =5700/7300-2000=5300), ending my turn.”
The dragons’ attacks hit me and Tucker, and I noticed something: the attacks hurt! For real! I almost fell over. I looked over at Tucker, and I saw that he was straining to keep the pain from reaching his face. That was the first time that I really occurred to me that we were fighting for our lives!
John
“I Draw,” I declared, “ and because you control two more monsters than I do, I can Special Summon my favorite monster, ‘The Fiend Megacyber’, and set a monster in defense mode."
My yellow-clad warrior monster appeared, his fists clenched, yellow lightning sparking across his knuckles (ATK: 2200). Shadows rolled in like fog all around him, concealing the shape of my second monster. This was odd, as it wasn't how set monsters usually appeared in the game. But I ignored that for now.
"Attack with Megacyber Impact," I commanded my monster. He charged forward, but was cut off by the activation of a Trap.
“Reveal,” said Karen, “the Trap card ‘Woboku’.” Three blue-robed priests appeared between ‘Megacyber’ and his target, chanting a prayer of safety, raising a barrier that protected the ‘Mermaid’.
“Then I’ll end my turn,” I said. Come on, show me what powers those Toons have so I can figure out how to take them out!
“I draw,” said Karen, “and pay five hundred Life Points (8000-500=7500) to attack ‘Fiend Megacyber’ with ‘Toon Summoned Skull’.” The cartoon fiend brandished with his claws and lightning rained down from the sky, vaporizing my monster.
“And another five hundred Life Points (7500-500=7000),” Karen continued, “to attack directly with ‘Toon Mermaid’, Animated Archery!” The ‘Mermaid’ shot her arrow right past my hidden monster, hitting me in the chest, near my heart, and I thought I would die. The impact point felt like I had just been hit by a baseball thrown at one hundred miles per hour! I clutched my chest. There was no wound, and no blood, but the pain was real. These kids were right, the loser of this duel could easily get hurt, or even die (7000-1400=5600)!
“Next I summon my ‘Toon Des Kangaroo’.” A living caricature of a kangaroo wearing a vest and boxing gloves appeared alongside Karen’s other monsters.
“I sacrifice him and ‘Toon Mermaid’,” Karen declared, “for the strongest Toon monster, ‘Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon’!”
A cartoon of the legendary white-skinned, blue-eyed dragon appeared, and winked at me mischievously with one of his huge round eyes (ATK: 3000). Karen had two incredibly strong monsters out on the field, I still hadn’t found their weakness, and if I didn’t soon, I might never be able to do anything again!
Sarah
“You really want my best, Water Duelist?” Monty asked smugly.
“Duh. What’s the point of taking somebody on if they don’t give you their best?”
And I saw it. For just a second, Monty’s mostly blank, arrogant-but-respectful eyes lit up, like something I had said broke through some outer shell and reached some kind of nice, nougaty Monty center deep inside.
“You’re strong,” said Monty, “almost worthy. Maybe someday. But I’m afraid that you don’t have what it takes to beat me yet. Activate ‘Magical Dimension’, sending my ‘Apprentice Magician’ to the Graveyard to destroy one monster, and to summon the ‘Dark Magician’!”
A metal frame appeared, suspending a human-shaped box within it by a series of chains. ‘Apprentice Magician’ stepped into the box and the lid swung closed. Moments later it opened again, revealing the legendary wizard, the purple-clad ‘Dark Magician’ (ATK: 2500). He aimed with his staff and my ‘Giga Gagagigo’ was destroyed. Things looked bad, but I was ready. I smiled confidently and glanced down at my face-down trap.
“Next, before I attack I play the Spell card ‘Dark Magic Attack’. This lets my magician launch an attack against your Spell and Trap Card Zone and destroy everything in it.”
As the ‘Magician’’s blast reduced my cards to bits of lingering smoke I cried out, “No! They were all I had left!”
“Activate ‘Card of Sanctity’,” Monty declared, ignoring me, “letting both of us draw until we hold six cards. If I draw the last card in my combo, this Duel ends right now.”
He drew his cards, and I drew mine. Monty looked over his new hand, expressionless, and continued where he left off, “I activate ‘Monster Reborn’ to summon ‘Breaker’ back from the Graveyard (ATK: 1600), set three cards and equip ‘Dark Magician’ with the Spell card ‘Mage Power’, increasing the Attack of ‘Dark Magician’ by five hundred for every Spell or Trap card that I control.
“‘Breaker’,” Monty declared, “attack, Magical Slash!”
The magical warrior swung his sword and I felt like I had been cut, though there was no real wound. The edges of my vision grew dark (6100-1600=4500).
“‘Dark Magician’, (ATK: 4500) finish it, Dark Magic Attack!”
The wizard rose into the air. A magic circle appeared on the ground beneath his feet. Streamers of light poured from the circle into his staff, as he raised the tip of the staff up above his head. A huge orb of light formed there, which the 'Magician' released it all at once. I remember seeing a large flash, and then everything going dark.
(4500-4500=0)
Jen
“My turn,” said Tucker, as he drew his next card, “and I begin with ‘Pot of Greed’ to draw two cards. Next I play ‘Graceful Charity’, drawing three cards and discarding two. Get ready Lawrence, because this is the move that will turn it all around.
“Activate ‘Monster Reborn’ to revive the discarded ‘Flame Ruler’, and sacrifice him, activating his effect, to summon my strongest card!”
The flame warrior appeared, and disappeared, and was replaced by a bronze dragon with huge sharp claws, broad sweeping wings, horns, and a crystal in his forehead.
“Time to fight your dragons with a dragon of my own,” Tucker declared. “I Summon ‘Tyrant Dragon’!”
The dragon roared at the utterance of his name (ATK: 2900). I stared, amazed, at the sight before me. Aside from the ‘Blue-Eyes White Dragon’, the ‘Tyrant Dragon was the strongest non-Fusion dragon in the game to date!
“Oh wow, Tuck! Where’d you get that?”
“From Pegasus,” he answered. “I went to find a bathroom last night, and I stumbled into a room with a bunch of cards displayed on the wall. A trophy room type of deal. This one caught my eye. So I asked Pegasus about the card, and he said it was a perfect fit for me and that I could have it!
“Now check it out! This monster is gonna save us here. Attack ‘Lord of Dragons’, Tyrant Burst!”
The ‘Lord of Dragons’ was completely blown away by the 'Tyrant Dragon''s fire breath (7200+1200-2900=5500).
“And because you still control another monster,” Tucker went on, “I can attack one more time, Tyrant Burst!”
The dragon attacked again, this time targeting ‘Luster Dragon #2’. The bejeweled dragon lasted less than an instant in the face of the bronze dragon’s flames (5500+ 2400-2900=5000).
“End my turn.”
I was inspired. I didn’t even hesitate before calling, “Draw!” Tucker’s play and the energy behind it had the potential to be game breaking. I just had to keep that energy flowing.
“For my move I summon ‘Pinch Hopper’,” I declared, “and I activate ‘Multiplication of Insects’, sending ‘Hopper’ to the Graveyard to summon two ‘Insect Tokens’.” my ‘Hopper’ faded away, and he was replaced by two duplicates of itself (DEF: 600 (each)).
“Next, because my ‘Hopper’ went to the Graveyard, I can summon any insect from my hand. I Summon, ‘Insect Queen’!” A huge insect with a vaguely human torso atop a massive abdominal segment, with huge arms and four long, strong insect legs appeared, towering over me, reaching a height on par with that of Tucker’s dragon (ATK: 2200+(200xNumber of Insects on Field (3))=2800).
“Now,” I continued, “I activate two Spell cards, ‘Promotion’ and ‘Insect Imitation’. ‘Promotion’ raises the level of my ‘Insect Token’ to five, letting me sacrifice it for the effect of ‘Insect Imitation’ and summon a level six monster.”
‘Insect Token’ was encased in a huge egg sack. The sack tore open, and my frilly-necked mantis emerged, “Summon, ‘Empress Mantis’ (ATK: 2200)! Now I activate another Spell card, ‘Offerings to the Doomed’! I give up my next Draw Phase to destroy ‘Cave Dragon’.” The ground broke open beneath the dragon, and aged bandages rose up out of the ground and wrapped the dragon, pulling him down into the depths, which closed behind him.
“‘Empress Mantis’, attack ‘Luster Dragon’ with Royal Insect Blade!” The mantis slashed, and the dragon fell (5000+1900-2200=4700).
“Sacrifice ‘Insect Token’,” I declared, as the second duplicate 'Hopper" disappeared, “to attack with ‘Insect Queen’ (ATK: 2800-200=2600) against ‘Kiryu’, Acid Stream!”
‘Insect Queen’ spewed a stream of acid at the red dragon, and it melted into slag (4700+2000-2600=4100).
It was all over for Lawrence. He had no monsters, and Tucker and I each had our rarest cards on the field. It didn’t matter what he did. He couldn’t win.
“I end my turn.”
Lawrence drew, and when he saw his newest card, he broke out in a fit of maniacal laughter. Like, real supervillain stuff. “Do you think I’m done?!” he demanded. “Well, you haven’t even seen a fraction of my power. Activate ‘Card of Sanctity’, letting me draw six new cards!”
Lawrence drew, smiling wickedly.
“Just what I needed,” he announced. “I activate ‘Trade In’, discarding one high level monster to draw two more cards, followed by ‘Monster Reborn’ to revive the discarded monster. I summon the dragon of light, the engine of destruction, ‘Blue-Eyes White Dragon’!”
“No way,” said Tucker, fear and denial filling his eyes. “There are only three ‘Blue-Eyes White Dragons’ left in the entire world, and all three belong to the Japanese champion, Seto Kaiba! You can’t have one!”
“That’s not entirely true,” Lawrence replied, bragging. “A few years ago, just after Duelist Kingdom, I2 printed three limited release ‘Blue-Eyes White Dragons’ to use as tournament prize cards, but they were all bought up in a back door deal before their existence was even made public. This is one of those cards!”
And so, despite the clear improbability of it, in a flash of white light the legendary dragon emerged, letting loose its signature roar, one that every Duelist knew by heart (ATK: 3000).
“Activate ‘Burst Stream of Destruction’,” Lawrence continued. “My ‘Blue-Eyes’ on the field gives up his normal attack for the turn, but in exchange, he gains the power to destroy every monster controlled by the opposing players!”
‘Blue-Eyes’ inhaled, and then exhaled a stream of light, mowing mine and Tucker’s monsters down before our very eyes.
“Now for another Spell,” Lawrence said. “You’re surprised that I have one ‘Blue-Eyes’? Well what about three! That’s right, I have all three of the Secret Rare cards! My Spell is ‘Polymerization’! I use it to fuse the ‘Blue-Eyes’ on the field with the two in my hand to form the three-headed ‘Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon’!”
Two more ‘Blue-Eyes’ appeared and the three monsters merged into one, a three-headed version of the same. The three heads roared first at each other, and then more loudly at Tucker and I. It was just itching to attack (ATK: 4500).
“Now to end it, Ultimate Burst!” Converging beams from the three mouths hit me dead on. The impact was huge. I coughed once and tasted blood (6200-4500=1700).
“Activate ‘De-Fusion’,” Lawrence said, “breaking my dragon down into three separate monsters!” The massive dragon separated, and the three ‘Blue-Eyes’ roared (ATK: 3000 (each)).
“End it!” Lawrence commanded, and the dragons fired their attacks, two against Tucker, and one against me (5300-3000-3000=0/1700-3000=0).
I saw Tucker fall to the ground, just before I faded into unconsciousness myself.
John
I stood facing my opponent, aware that my friends had fallen. I was in a tough spot, but I refused to back down. Win or lose, I would see this duel through to the end.
“To end my turn,” Karen concluded, “I set one card.”
“Good, that means I can start turning this game around.” I drew, “Activate ‘Pot of Greed’ to draw two cards. Next, I activate ‘Soul Release’, combining it with the Continuous Spell card ‘Soul Absorption’. I remove five cards in my Graveyard from play, and recover five hundred Life Points per card (LP: 5600+(500x5)=8100). Next I Flip-Summon my ‘Gren Maju Da Eiza’, a Fiend-type whose base Attack always equals the number of cards that I have removed from play multiplied by four hundred.” A red fiend with a centipede-like body from the waist down appeared at my side. From the waist up, he looked a lot like ‘Great Maju Garzett’ (ATK: 400x5=2000).
Speaking of which…
“Now I Sacrifice ‘Gren Maju Da Eiza’," I declared, "to summon ‘Great Maju Garzett’, whose Attack is equal to twice the sacrificed monster’s base Attack!” ‘Gren Maju’ dissolved into smoke that reformed into the huge skeletal fiend (ATK: 4000).
“Attack the ‘Toon Blue-Eyes’ with Vile Energy!” The fiend discharged his attack, trying to destroy the comical foe. But once again, my opponent was ready.
“Activate ‘Absolute End’,” Karen countered, “causing your attack to bypass my monster and hit me directly.” The ‘Toon Dragon’ flexed around the beam, and it hit Karen in the chest (7000-4000=3000). She didn't seem hurt.
"Why do your attacks hurt when they hit me," I asked her, "but my attacks don't seem to hurt you?"
And for just a second, something changed in her. She looked sad rather than arrogant, as she had our entire match. I saw real pain in her eyes, enough that I could almost believe that the damage from my monster's attack wouldn't even compare.
Then she regained her composure, and she said, "I don't mind taking the hit from you, hon. The intensity of a Shadow Game is based on the intensions of those playing, and you just don't have it in your heart to kill. But at least I still lose Life Points, right?"
“Eh, you’ll get no complaints from me on that one,” I said. “End my turn. Make your last move.”
Karen drew and said, “You’re right, this is my last move, but not for the reasons you think. I’m ending this duel, not you. My Spell card, ‘Megamorph’, doubles the attack of one monster that I control if my Life Points are lower than my opponent’s.”
A glowing ring appeared on the ground beneath the ‘Toon Dragon’, and he flexed his muscles, which exploded out like miniature volcanoes (3000x2=6000).
“You were planning this from the start of the duel,” I asked, “weren’t you?”
“Since the first card was played,” Karen answered proudly. “‘Toon Skull’, attack directly with Toon Demon Lightning!” a bolt of lightning struck me from above (Karen: 3000-500=2500/Me: 8100-2500=5600).
“Finish him," Karen commanded, "Burst Stream!”
The ‘Toon Blue-Eyes’ attacked (Karen: 2500-500 =2000), bypassing my monster and hitting me directly. I couldn’t believe it. I’d been defeated. It was all over. My team and I had fallen. The last thing I saw was the members of the Order walking away.
Then the world went black.
(5600-6000=0).
Card of the Day:
Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon
Played by: Karen
In this chapter, all three members of the Order play powerful monsters. Monty plays "Dark Magician", and Lawrence plays "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", but Karen plays this. Not only is it the most powerful Toon monster (well, second most powerful now that "Toon Ancient Gear Golem" is on its way), but thanks to Karen's strategy, this is the first monster to survive a battle with John's "Great Maju Garzett". At this point in the series, this makes it something pretty special.
Next Chapter >>
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