And now we have the "Super Saiyan transformation" moment where the characters achieve a new level of power and defeat the previously-overwhelming opponent with ease. This occurs when they release their Souls and gain Destiny Draw, which is the tables-turning power many times throughout the series.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The Souls Awaken;
Destiny Draw!
John
At that moment, something happened within the Burial of the Soul. Something in the hearts of my team and I had been inspired by our battles, and the Souls had reacted, coming to life.
“Not much I want to do in my turn,” said Karen, “except absorb you ‘Orc’ into my monster.” As she spoke, my monster disappeared, drawn into ‘Relinquished’’s monstrous body.
“Alright,” I said, annoyed, but not surprised, “I draw,” Come on John, reach deep. You’ve gotta believe that you’ll pull what you need, or you never will!
Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt empowered, as if I were filling up with strength. The aches and pains from the Shadow Game disappeared. I looked around, and where I’d seen no visible evidence of the Shadow Game only moments before, I could see purple and black smoke surrounding all seven combatants like a fog, as if my eyes had been opened for the first time. A beam of purple light, like the light from a blacklight light bulb, shot from within the Burial, throwing the doors open wide, and was absorbed into me. My body was wreathed in a dark light and I had to fight extra hard for a second to keep my angry side down. A moment later, in a brilliant flash of blacklight, a spherical crystal twice the size of a marble appeared, hanging around my neck by a leather cord. The crystal had the symbol of darkness, the sun overpowered by the moon, within it.
This is the Soul of Darkness! I realized. My Soul has found me! I looked up at Karen, surprise giving way to confidence as my competitive spirit boiled up from under the surface, I’m not tired anymore, and the pain from Karen’s attacks is gone! My strength is back. There’s nothing I can’t do!
I drew, and very slowly, I looked at the card and smiled. “Well, it’s been fun, but this duel is over.”
Sarah
Everything rests on this card. I moved to draw, but I couldn’t. I’ll swallow my pride and admit that I was afraid. Come on Sarah, just pull the card. You can make a combo out of anything! This card has to help somehow!
I smiled, and a blue beam shot from within the Burial. It hit me, and I was surrounded by a blue light, and there was a flash. Suddenly I could see the Shadow Game around us, rather than just feel its effects. Also, in that same moment, a blue spherical crystal appeared, hanging from around my neck, bearing the water droplet, the symbol of water. I felt my fear completely melt away, and I drew my card.
I looked down at my new card, and then back up at Monty, a devious look in my eyes. Oh yeah, this will work just fine!
Tucker
“My move,” said Lawrence, “and don’t think that just because you two killed one of my ‘Blue-Eyes’ that you’re strong enough to defeat me. I still have the most feared dragon in the game, ‘Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon’!”
“Oh,” I said mockingly, “you do? Then I’d better activate this, my ‘Thunder of Ruler’ Trap. In the turn that it is activated, you cannot declare an attack.”
“Doesn’t matter,” said Lawrence. “Nothing can defeat my ‘Ultimate Dragon’!”
I smiled, You don’t know how wrong you are!
Jen
This is it, Tuck. I’ve made all of the preparations I could. Our futures are intertwined. Our decks are as good as one!
Tucker
At that moment, as I prepared to pull my card, there was a flash of red-orange light. I felt my spirit begin to burn, and a red crystal appeared on a chain around my neck.
Beside me I saw a flash of green. I looked over at Jen. The ground beneath her shook, and a green crystal appeared, hanging around her neck.
I smiled wide and turned my attention back on the duel, ignoring the dark fog that suddenly appeared all around us, Our powers have found us, and just in time! I drew my card, and played it without hesitation.
“I activate the Ritual Spell,” I declared, “‘Incandescent Ordeal’. I sacrifice ‘Twin-Headed Fire Dragon’ in my hand and ‘The Immortal Flame’ on the field to summon my Soul, ‘Legendary Flame Lord’!”
The two headed dragon appeared beside the living flame, and both monsters burned up in a massive blue blaze. The flames sparked and sputtered before finally dying down, revealing the form of a man.
My new monster stood six feet tall. He had red hair and wore a leather tunic and pants. Over the tunic he wore a coat and cape made of flames. On his head he wore a blue armor crown, and he wore armor over his lower legs. In his left hand he carried a jagged dagger with a blue hilt. In his right hand he carried a metal staff with a glass sphere on the end. His eyes glowed with an intense fire, brighter than anything I’d ever seen before, except maybe the sun (ATK: 2400).
“This monster represents my repressed fighting spirit," I explained, "the emotion that fuels the Soul around my neck. All of my hidden anger and frustration. For years my dad treated my mom like crap, until she finally left us. Once she was gone, he never lifted a finger to help me do anything, or to provide for me at all!”
By now the aura around me was burning stronger and brighter. It glowed even brighter than the flames around my monster. “It got worse and worse, and I got worse and worse, until I started making mistakes that had the potential to ruin my life. If not for John, I might not even be here right now. He helped me become the person that I am today, but all the frustration that built up, it’s all still there, more intense than ever!
“And now, after so long,” I said, taking note of the look of mild fear on my opponent’s face, “I finally have an outlet for it all: YOU!”
I pointed at my opponent. “Prepare to face defeat at the hand of my eternal flame!”
Lawrence steeled up his expression and said, “Right, like you could ever defeat me, even with help!” He glanced over at Jen. “You can’t defeat all of my powerful dragons just by ‘releasing your anger’. Give me your best shot!”
I smiled, “Okay, but only because you insist! Activate, ‘Pot of Greed’ to draw two cards. Next, the Continuous Spell card ‘Dark Room of Nightmare’, a card that deals you an extra three hundred burn damage every time you take effect damage from another card's effect. And finally I activate the Spell card ‘Salamandra’, summoning the spirit of the fire dragon into my ‘Flame Lord’’s staff and blade, raising his power.”
A dragon made of flames poured into the warrior before me (ATK: 2400+700 =3100).
“It doesn’t matter,” said Lawrence. “Your monster’s puny power is nothing compared to the awesome strength of the ‘Ultimate Dragon’.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that. I looked into Lawrence’s eyes, “You could not be more wrong!
“You see," I explained, "my monster has a special power. For each Spell card that resolves after he’s summoned, he absorbs magic energy in the form of a Spell Counter. Once he has three Spell Counters, he can unleash the energy he built up in the form of his ultimate attack, Incinerating Shockwave!”
‘Legendary Flame Lord’ raised his staff up over his head. The stone glowed, and a pillar of heat came up around his body, ready to erupt outward. “Are you crazy?” Lawrence asked, desperation in his voice. “An ability like that would destroy the ‘Great Moth’ as well!”
“True,” I said, “but I’m ready for that. Reveal ‘Interdimensional Matter Transporter’.”
A strange machine with a lens in the front appeared. A beam from the lens swept the entirety of the ‘Great Moth’, and it disappeared in a silvery ripple of the air.
“My Trap card can move one friendly monster through space and time to the end of my turn," Tucker explained, "or at least that’s how John said it works. By then my monster’s effect will be completed. That way the ‘Great Moth’ will survive the attack.”
And with that, the pillar spread out like an expanding dome, erupting outward like a fiery hurricane, and became a swirling ring of fire. It swept over the dragons in a flash of heat and light. The flash faded, and the only figure that remained on the field was the ‘Flame Lord’, his eyes closed, his head down, and his weapons held at his sides. His flaming aura had died down, smoke rising from his entire body.
“As I’m sure you’ve guessed,” I said, “I’m not done. Since you no longer have any monsters left, I can launch a direct attack, Dragon Firestorm Stream!”
‘Legendary Flame Lord’ took aim with his staff, and a serpentine stream of flames, the point of which took the form of a dragon’s head, erupted from the staff and hit Lawrence dead on (5400-3100=2300).
“Now,” I concluded, “I end my turn, and the ‘Great Moth’ returns.” the enormous monster reappeared in a ripple of the air.
“And I,” Jen declared, taking the baton as it was passed, “direct attack with ‘Great Moth’ to end this duel. Giant Whirlwind.”
The monster flapped its wings, unleashing its devastating wind-based attack. The cyclone picked Lawrence up and tossed him onto his back, where he passed out in the sand (2300-2600=0), and the fog around our part of the duel faded as if it has never been there at all.
Sarah
“I’ll turn the duel around with just this next move,” I declared, staring my opponent down. “I play the Spell card ‘A Legendary Ocean’, changing the field into the magical waters around the sunken city of Atlantis.” All around us appeared a calm ocean surface. In the water, far beneath me, was the immense golden palace from which my Spell’s magic emanated.
“Now,” I said, “thanks to my Field Spell card, my Water monsters on hand lose one summoning level, making my newest trump card a level six monster. I sacrifice ‘Guardian Kay’este’ to summon my ‘Levia Dragon - Daedalus’!”
‘Kay’este’ disappeared, and ‘Daedalus’, a huge blue- and silver-scaled serpent with pink fins and an armored head, appeared from beneath the surface with a splash and a spray, and a roar (ATK: 2600). The water began to swirl, closer and closer to my dragon, until it was like a liquid wall surrounding him on all sides.
“Next I sacrifice the ocean itself to destroy every card on the field, besides my dragon of course,” I explained. The water erupted away from my monster like a huge tidal wave that washed the rest of the field clean.
“Now attack," I declared, "Tidal Blast!”
‘Daedalus’ opened his mouth and fired a blue beam, hitting Monty directly (8000-2600=5400).
John
“My last stand against your ‘Relinquished’,” I declared, “is this, my ‘Strike Ninja’.” My monster, a black-clad ninja wearing a red scarf around his neck and carrying a kunai in each hand, appeared in the air, flipped, and landed gracefully at my side (ATK: 1700).
“I’ll begin by destroying your ‘Shield’ first,” I said, “with the Spell card ‘Mystical Space Typhoon’.” A powerful burst of wind tore through the card hologram.
“Next I equip ‘Strike Ninja’ with the ‘Fusion Sword Murasame Blade’,” a blade grew out from his arm, above his wrist, and down over his right hand (1700+800=2500), “and attack, Ninjitsu Slash!”
‘Strike Ninja’ leapt up into the air, flipped, and sprung toward ‘Relinquished’ slashing with his sword. ‘Relinquished’ lowered his flaps, and the ‘Giant Orc’ emerged, absorbing the attack (5800+2200-2500=5500/5200+2200-2500=4900).
“I end my turn. Bring it on.”
Karen drew, and said, “I was worried there for a second, but apparently you aren’t as good as I thought. Did you forget that any monster you summon is vulnerable to my ‘Relinquished’’s effect? ‘Relinquished’, assimilate the ninja now!”
‘Relinquished’ activated its effect, pulling on the ninja. It pulled the sword away from him, destroying it.
“Sorry,” I said triumphantly, “but your ability won’t work this time, because my ninja has an ability of his own. I remove two Dark monsters in my Graveyard from the game to take my ‘Ninja’ out of play until the end of the turn.” Moments before the ninja would have been absorbed, he crossed his arms, jumped into the air, and disappeared.
“That’s not possible,” Karen said, almost desperately, “nothing escapes ‘Relinquished’’s grasp! It must have been absorbed. ‘Relinquished’, attack!” But at Karen’s command, nothing happened.
“Looks like you were wrong,” I said, “and it looks like your move is over, meaning that my ninja returns.”
My ninja appeared, flipped backward, and landed with his arms crossed at my side.
“Now it's my turn,” I said. “I start out with ‘Graceful Charity’, letting me draw three cards.” I picked up three cards and looked them over. Perfect!
I discarded two cards, “Activate the Spell card ‘Polymerization’, fusing two monsters from my hand.” A skeletal demon with broad wings and a fierce black dragon with red eyes appeared and merged into a strong-looking dragon demon. It looked directly at Karen and roared.
“With the power of ‘Polymerization’," I explained, "I fuse ‘Red-Eyes Black Dragon’ and ‘Summoned Skull’ into the ‘Black Skull Dragon’ (ATK: 3200)!
“Now, attack with ‘Strike Ninja’, Ninjitsu Shuriken!” ‘Strike Ninja’ threw his kunai through the hole in ‘Relinquished’'s body, killing it (4900+0-1700=3200).
“And I attack with ‘Black Skull’, Black Fire Meteor!”
The dragon inhaled, and breathed a barrage of fireballs over Karen’s field. She was hit, thrown through the air, and landed sprawled face-down in the sand.
Sarah
Monty drew a card to begin his turn. “I summon,” he declared, “my ‘Apprentice Magician’.” The familiar monster appeared, his staff raised (DEF: 600).
“I know about your monster’s power to summon a new Spellcaster in its place when it's killed in battle,” I told him, “and because I’m in a good mood, let me warn you that it won’t be enough. My next monster is the powerful ‘Tribe-Infecting Virus’.” A strange orange cloud appeared, swarming around my head (ATK: 1600).
“Next I play ‘Double Summon’, to summon my ‘Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness’.” A humanoid fish warrior appeared. His skin was blue, and strong like armor, and he carried a spear (ATK: 1800).
“Now, I discard one card to activate the effect of my ‘Virus’, destroying your monster.” The cloud flew into his monster’s mouth and nose, and the magician died. Monty remained solemnly silent.
“I attack with the ‘Virus’,” I commanded, and the virus swirled around Monty’s head (5800-1600=4200)
“Now,” I ordered my monsters, “I finish it!” ‘Levia Dragon’ attacked, firing his beam, and the ‘Sea Serpent Warrior’ lunged, slashing Monty with his spear. Monty fell to his knees (4200-2600-1800=0).
I walked over to Monty, who stared at the ground, a shocked look on his face. “I let you remain conscious,” I said, “so that I could give you and your friends a message. You’ve lost. Go home.”
And with that, I turned and joined my brother and our friends at the entrance to the last stop on our journey, the Burial of the Soul.
Card of the Day:
Strike Ninja
Played by: John
Many of the DF members use truly game-changing cards this chapter. Tucker uses "Legendary Flame Lord" for the first time, and Sarah summons "Levia Dragon - Daedalus". John even summons the powerful Fusion monster "Black Skull Dragon". However, it is this card which I feel is the MVP of the chapter, as it is the card which John uses to overcome "Relinquished", not through power, but through subtlety. This indicates that he has taken what he learned from Odion to heart and begun looking for the weak links in his opponent's strategies and combos. It is a skill which will help him greatly going forward.
Next Chapter >>
No comments:
Post a Comment