Another duel that I would have handled differently had I written it today, the ending of this duel could be a lot better. Still I like the characters here. They show a lot of attitude.
Also, I seem to have decided to break my two post per day limit and just put all four of these duels up today. Yay me!
Chapter EightSarah vs. Final Four Deck Three;
Rust Buckets
After Jen’s victory over the Harpie deck, Pegasus stood and gave a round of applause, “Another wonderful Duel! As soon as you saw what type of deck you were facing you formed two interlocking strategies to combat it, while keeping an open mind, which allowed you to use your opponent’s moves to your own benefit. A mind that is truly as complex as the forest itself!”
As usual, I couldn't tell if he was sincerely praising Jen, or if he was mocking her.
Jen didn’t even look up. She was considering something.
“Next up’” said Pegasus, “is the ocean Duelist, Sarah.” Jen stepped down, and Sarah took her place.
I watched and waited as the Duel Robot once again “randomly” selected itself to go first.
Okay, I thought, this is getting a little ridiculous. Still, I said nothing, waiting to see what would happen.
“Begin Duel,” said the robot. “Begin with Spell card ‘Pot of Greed’ to draw two cards from the deck. Chain Spell card ‘Trap Booster’, discarding one card to activate one Trap card from the hand.”
A machine monster, ‘Megasonic Eye’, appeared on top of the robot’s virtual discard pile. “Activate,” the robot said, “the Trap card ‘Ultimate Offering’. Summon ‘Double Coston’. Pay five hundred Life Points to sacrifice ‘Double Coston’, activating its effect to be treated as two sacrifices for the Tribute Summon of a Dark monster, and summon the Level seven monster ‘Zoa’.”
On the robot’s field appeared a small black blob with a face. It split into two blobs which disappeared a moment later (LP: 8000-500=7500), replaced by a giant blue demon with long arms ending in long, sharp claws (ATK: 2600).
“Set two cards,” the robot concluded. “End turn.”
“Good,” said Sarah, scowling with annoyance, “I was worried that you were gonna make me wait even longer than you already did. Draw! And I’ll start out the same way you did. ‘Pot of Greed’, to draw two cards!”
“Reveal,” the robot said, “the Trap card ‘Gamble’. When the opposing player has seven cards in hand and the controller of ‘Gamble’ has one, ‘Gamble’ activates and the controller of ‘Gamble’ flips a coin and calls it: heads.”
A display on the robot opened, revealing two lights, one labeled “Heads”, and the other labeled “Tails”. The two lights flashed one after another in rapid succession, and finally the lights stopped blinking, indicating “Heads”.
I scowled, Yeah, because that’s likely.
“Called correctly. Draw five new cards.”
“Back to me now thanks,” said Sarah, still scowling. “Activate the Field Spell card ‘A Legendary Ocean’! This amazing card not only raises the Attack and Defense of every Water monster on the field, it also lowers the level of every Water monster in my hand by one. That means that my Level five ‘Giga Gagagigo’ becomes a Level four monster, and can be summoned without tribute. I summon ‘Giga Gagagigo’!”
As the holoarena changed to show an extensive waterscape, a large, green-skinned, armored reptile appeared, standing on its hind legs, brandishing sharp claws (ATK: 2450+200=2650). Deep beneath the surface of the water, a massive glimmered, casting yellow-gold light upon the entire room.
“‘Giga Gagagigo’,” Sarah commanded, “slice ‘Zoa’ apart!”
‘Giga Gagagigo’ lunged at ‘Zoa’. ‘Zoa’ raised his claws to defend himself.
“Reveal,” the robot countered, “the Trap card ‘Metalmorph’, equipping to ‘Zoa’ and raising its Attack points by 300 (2600+300=2900).”
A metal shell coated ‘Zoa’, hardening his claws until they were like swords. ‘Giga Gagagigo’ slashed, but ‘Zoa’ repelled his foe’s attack with ease and counterattacked, reducing his foe to pixels (PL: 8000+2650-2900=7750).
Sarah scowled again (which is pretty typical, really). I knew that she had only been testing her opponent, but that she had also really wanted her attack to succeed. ‘Giga Gagagigo’ is one of her favorite cards, and she doesn’t enjoy sacrificing it. “Two cards face-down,” she said, “and I end my turn.”
“Begin,” the robot announced, “by sending ‘Zoa’ and ‘Metalmorph’ to the Graveyard to summon ‘Metalzoa’ from the Deck.” the metal coat over ‘Zoa’ merged with his skin, and ‘Zoa’ became a fully mechanical version of himself (ATK: 3000).
“I thought so,” said Sarah. “That’s why I was ready with this, my Trap card, ‘Torrential Tribute’.” A wave poured from the Trap, destroying ‘Metalzoa’.
“Summon,” said the robot, “the ‘Mechanicalchaser’. Attack with Armed Arsenal.” The ‘Mechanicalchaser’, a spherical yellow robot with multiple many-jointed arms, each ending in a different affixed weapon, appeared on the robot’s field and lunged at Sarah. But like always, Sarah was prepared.
“Activate,” she declared, “the Continuous Trap card ‘Tornado Wall’. As long as there is water on the field, my ‘Tornado Wall’ will protect my Life Points from battle damage.” As she spoke several small cyclones rose up, deflecting ‘Mechanicalchaser’’s attack and throwing the robot backwards. It recovered and returned to its original position.
“End Battle Phase,” said the computer. “Set two cards. End turn.”
“Well alright then” said Sarah, cheerfully, “it’s time for my counteroffensive. I begin with the Spell card ‘Graceful Charity’ to draw three cards and discard two. Next I play ‘Monster Reborn’ to summon the discarded ‘Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness’ (ATK: 2100+200=2300). Activate a Spell card, ‘Elemental Surge - Water’. Once per turn I select a Water monster and raise its Attack power by two hundred until my next turn. I choose the ‘Orca’, of course (2300+200=2500).
“I also summon the monster card ‘Torpedo Fish’,” she continued, as a large bullet-shaped fish appeared (ATK: 1000+200=1200) next to a massive orca whale with a torpedo launcher on its stomach, two rows of cannons on its back, and a crane arm attached to its back near the base of its tail.
“‘Orca Mega-Fortress’, launch ‘Torpedo Fish’ at ‘Mechanicalchaser’ and destroy it!” ‘Torpedo Fish’ slid into the launcher on ‘Orca’’s stomach and was fired straight at the ‘Chaser’. Both monsters were blown away.
“Now,” Sarah continued, “I attack with my ‘Orca’, Whale Mouth Cannon!” ‘Orca’ opened his huge, gaping mouth, revealing a massive telescopic cannon. It fired, and the robot took massive damage (7500-2500=5000).
“Good one sis,” I said, smiling with pride. She gave me a thumbs-up over her shoulder, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew that this duel was far from over.
“Begin turn,” said the robot. “Summon the ‘Giga-Tech Wolf’ in attack mode. Activate ‘Tribute Doll’.” A mechanical wolf appeared. Moments later a wooden doll appeared at its side. The wolf and the doll disappeared and were replaced by a massive wingless mechanical dragon with a revolver for a head, and two more revolvers for arms.
“Sacrifice ‘Giga-Tech Wolf’ to Special Summon the level seven ‘Barrel Dragon’ (ATK: 2600). A monster summoned by ‘Tribute Doll’ cannot attack for one turn. Activate the effect of ‘Barrel Dragon’.”
The robot revealed its coin panel again, “flipping” three times and landing on a very convenient heads, tails, and heads. ‘Barrel Dragon’ locked onto ‘Orca’ and fired his three guns, destroying the massive whale.
“Place one card face-down and activate the Spell card ‘Card of Sanctity’,” the robot concluded. “Both players draw cards until they hold six cards. End turn.”
Sarah drew cards via the effect of ‘Card of Sanctity’, and then drew for the start of her turn. She looked over her new hand and smiled a wicked smile, reminding me of, well, me.
“Well, robot,” Sarah said mock-smugly, “your dragon may be strong, but my next monster is even stronger. I start off by activating the Spell card ‘Salvage’, returning ‘Torpedo Fish’ and ‘Neo Aqua Madoor’ from my Graveyard to my hand. Next I send ‘Neo Madoor’, ‘Torpedo Fish’, and ‘Hyosube’ from my hand to the Graveyard to activate the ‘Turtle Oath’ Ritual!”
Spirits of her three monsters appeared, along with a large turtle shell, standing on its end. The monster spirits flew into the open arm and neck holes of the shell. From the leg holes emerged thick, dinosaur-like legs, from the arm holes emerged two strong-looking arms ending in crab claws, and from the neck hole emerged a large stalk eye. Down its back and stomach on each side sprouted thin, spiny crab legs. The Ritual Summon was complete.
“Through the power of my Ritual Spell I summon,” Sarah declared triumphantly, showing off a little, “the mighty ‘Crab Turtle’ (ATK: 2550+200=2750).”
The strange creature stood slightly slouched, looking straight at the ‘Barrel Dragon’. “I increase the power of my ‘Turtle’,” Sarah said, “by renewing the effect of my ‘Elemental Surge’, and by equipping it with the ‘Steel Shell’.” Rotating balls of concentrated water appeared in the ‘Crab Turtle’’s claws, and its shell became metallic and studded with long, sharp spikes (2750+200+400=3350).
“Attack,” Sarah commanded, “with Shell Slammer!”
‘Crab Turtle’ jumped up into the air and retracted into its shell. It spun through the air, propelled by blasts of water from its arm holes, and hit ‘Barrel Dragon’, reducing it to a pile of scrap metal (5000+2600-3350=4250).
“Reveal,” said the robot, “Trap card ‘Time Machine’. This card activates when a monster is destroyed and returns that monster to the field.” A massive black chamber rose out of the ground in a cloud of smoke. The door to the chamber opened, and a shiny new ‘Barrel Dragon’ emerged (ATK: 2600). It was still weaker than Sarah’s turtle, but its effect could be a real problem.
“Begin turn,” said the robot. “Activate ‘Monster Reborn’ to revive the ‘Giga-Tech Wolf’,” the mechanical wolf reappeared, “and sacrifice ‘Giga-Tech Wolf’ to summon ‘Blowback Dragon’.”
The wolf disappeared again, and was replaced by a second dragon, this time with a 9mm pistol for a head rather than a revolver (ATK: 2300).
“Activate Spell card ‘Second Coin Toss’ and activate the ability of ‘Barrel Dragon’. Result: heads, tails, tails. Activate effect of ‘Second Coin Toss’ to re-toss coin three. Result: heads. Destroy ‘Crab Turtle’.”
‘Barrel Dragon’ fired, and Sarah’s monster was destroyed. She was astonished, “No way!”
“Activate effect of ‘Blowback Dragon’. Flip three coins. Result: heads, heads, tails. Destroy ‘A legendary Ocean’.”
‘Blowback Dragon’ aimed at the undersea city below the waves and fired. There was an explosion, and the city crumbled. The water faded away, and the holograms of Sarah’s Field Spell and of Sarah’s ’Tornado Wall’ card shattered.
“‘Barrel Dragon’ and ‘Blowback Dragon’, direct attack,” the two dragons fired energy beams from their mouths, hitting Sarah dead on. They were holograms, but you could tell that she still felt the diminished impacts of the attacks as her Life Points fell (7750-2600-2300=2850). “End turn.”
Sarah clutched the tabletop ahead of her. She was shaken. This was one intense Duel. She took several deep breaths before finally rising once again to her full height, glaring daggers across the arena at the robot. She wasn't happy. She drew her card, and upon seeing it, she looked straight at the enemy dragons, and I could tell by the look in her eyes that this duel was over.
“I play,” Sarah said, her voice scary calm, “the Spell card ‘Acid Rain’.” Rain poured down onto the field, and the machine monsters literally melted away. “And,” Sarah continued, “because you're really starting to get on my nerves, I’m just gonna finish this thing up right now. My next monster might look really stupid, but it has a kick-ass effect. I summon the tentacled plant ‘Lekunga’ and activate its special ability. For every two Water monsters that I take out of the Graveyard and remove from play I summon a ‘Lekunga Token’!”
‘Lekunga’, a one-eyed plant creature with multiple tentacles, appeared at Sarah’s side. Sarah removed six monsters from play and three more slightly smaller ‘Lekungas’ appeared alongside the first (ATK: 1700/ATK of ‘Tokens’: 700 (each)).
“Activate ‘Terraforming’ to take a Field Spell from my deck,” said Sarah. “The Spell I choose is, ‘A Legendary Ocean’!”
The water field returned, and the Attack power of the Water Attribute ‘Lekungas’ rose (1700+200=1900/700+200=900). “‘Lekungas’,” Sarah commanded, “attack!” The four monsters extended their tentacles, impacting the robot, scoring multiple hits. My sister turned her back and stepped down from the arena as the robot’s Life Points fell to zero.
Card of the Day:
Crab Turtle
Played by: Sarah
As one of the original Ritual Monsters, this one is a classic. For a very long time, this was the most powerful of the then very under-supported Aqua type, and so it only felt right to include it in the deck of the team Water Duelist. It's here more as a novelty than anything else, as in actuality Sarah has many more powerful cards in her deck. Still, a monster with more than 2500 ATK is nothing to sneeze at.
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