And now we have the moment in the Shonen final fight archetype where the heroes think they might lose, because despite everything they are still failing. I never realized how trope-heavy these later chapters were. I still think they turned out okay, though.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Duel Force vs. The Order;
Hopes Declining
John
The ‘Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon’ inhaled, preparing to attack. I had to act fast for my plan to work. “Reveal,” I said, activating a card, “the Trap card ‘Shadow Spell', ensnaring your ‘Toon Dragon’ in magical chains, sapping him of his strength.” The shadow of the dragon reached up and took form, becoming a multitude of chains that captured the dragon. It squirmed desperately, but could not move, let alone attack (3000-700=2300).
“No monster can use its full power,” I explained, “if it can’t move.
“Now,” I said with a grin, “I begin my turn. I Sacrifice the ‘Gemini Elf’ to summon the demon lord,” the elves were replaced by the great brown fiend, “‘Great Maju Garzett’! His attack power becomes twice the attack of the sacrificed monster, making him more than a match for your card (ATK: 3800)! ‘Great Maju Garzett’, I command you, destroy the ‘Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon’ with Vile Energy!”
‘Great Maju’ thrust his palm, releasing his black, foul-looking beam. It washed over the dragon, ripping it apart (8600+2300-3800=7100).
“Also, since it’s been a turn,” I said, a hole opening in the sky above me, “my ‘Cannon Soldier’ returns.” The ‘Soldier’ fell from the hole, his cannon ready (ATK: 1400). “‘Cannon Soldier’ attacks, Cannon Barrel.” The robot fired (7100-1400=5700).
“Next I sacrifice my ‘Cannon Soldier’ to deal you even more damage,” I said. ‘Cannon Soldier’ converted to energy via its own effect and launched itself at Karen, scoring me my third hit of the turn (5700-500=5200). I actually saw Karen flinch, as if in pain, for just a moment before she was able to restore her cool façade.
“Not too tough without your ‘Toon World’ card, are you?” I asked, my arms crossed, my victory seemingly assured. Little did I know that Karen was far from through.
“Haven’t you been wondering where I got my Toons?” Karen asked, calmly.
“It had crossed my mind,” I replied, curious as to where she was going with this, and even more curious as to the answer.
“I got them from the same man who sent you here to stop me,” Karen replied pridefully. “I got them from Pegasus himself. I trained under him for a while, and now many of my cards and strategies come from him,” she selected a card, “including this one. Its time I showed you the most powerful combo my deck has to offer: Sacrifice Style. This is where the real battle begins!”
Sarah
“To end my turn,” said Monty, calmly, “I set a card face-down.”
“Good,” I said, and drew. “You won’t get the best of me anymore. I activate the effect of ‘Aqua Spirit’. Once per turn I can change the battle position of a monster on the field. I switch your ‘Dark Magician’ to defense mode (DEF: 2100). Next I sacrifice my ‘Aqua Spirit’,” I commanded, “to summon the ‘Legendary Fisherman’.”
A spiky-haired, bare-chested man appeared, carrying a harpoon and riding on the back of a large fish, like a shark (ATK: 1850).
“I also equip my ‘Fisherman’ with the Spell card ‘Steel Shell’," I announced, "raising his Attack by four hundred.” The familiar shell appeared, strapped to the fisherman's back (1850+400=2250).
“Now attack,” I declared, “and kill the ‘Magician’.” My monster prepared to throw his harpoon.
“Reveal,” Monty declared, “the Trap card ‘Magical Hats’,”
A large black top hat marked with a question mark appeared over the crouching ‘Dark Magician’, and then split into four hats. There was no way of knowing which one the ‘Magician’ was hiding in. “You must now choose a hat to attack,” said Monty. “If you choose wrong, my ‘Magician’ remains unharmed.”
I chose randomly, “My ‘Fisherman’ attacks the hat on the middle left!” My ‘Fisherman’ let loose his harpoon, piercing the hat through. The hat disappeared, but revealed only empty space.
Crap, I missed!
Disappointed, I did the only thing that I could. “I place one card face-down," I concluded, "and end my turn.”
Jen
“I draw,” said Lawrence, picking up his card, “and activate the Spell card ‘Cost Down’, discarding ‘Polymerization’ to reduce the levels of all monsters in my hand by two until the end of the turn. Now I summon ‘Different Dimension Dragon’, reveal ‘Ultimate Offering’, and pay five hundred Life Points (8000-500=7500) to summon ‘Luster Dragon #2’.”
The familiar emerald-skinned dragon appeared (ATK: 2400). At its side appeared a strange legless dragon with four undulating triangular wings and an arrow-shaped head (ATK: 1200).
“Now,” said Lawrence, “I attack 'UFO Turtle' with ‘Luster Dragon’, Emerald Flame!” The dragon spewed fire over the turtle, and it was burned to a crisp.
“Thank you,” said Tucker, “because thanks to my ‘Turtle’’s ability, I can Special Summon any Fire monster from my deck in attack mode.” As he spoke, a solid black humanoid figure with glowing red eyes appeared. “I summon, ‘Thing from the Crater’ (ATK: 1000).”
“Go,” Lawrence commanded, “attack the ‘Thing’, ‘Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon’, with Ultimate Burst!” The attack struck Tucker’s ‘Thing in the Crater’, which lasted less than a second under such force (8000+1000-4500=4500).
“Again,” said Tucker, even as his Life Points fell, “thank you. When ‘Thing’ is destroyed, I can Special Summon any Pyro monster from my hand. I Special Summon, ‘The Immortal Flame’!”
Between Tucker and the dragons appeared a spark that blossomed into a flame in the shape of a bird (DEF: 200).
“Are you trying to piss my dragons off?” Lawrence demanded, clearly enraged. “My dragons are gods compared to these weaklings that you keep bringing before them! ‘Different Dimension Dragon’, destroy it!” The dragon breathed light over the living flame, and it was snuffed out.
“Now,” Lawrence said, “I’ll hit you directly with the ‘Blue-Eyes’, Burst Stream!”
‘Blue-Eyes’ released his deadly beam, but Tucker placed his hands in his pocket, completely unconcerned. Just before the attack hit, a stray spark erupted out, blossoming into ‘The Immortal Flame’. It flew into the path of ‘Blue-Eyes’’ attack, absorbing it.
“What?” Lawrence demanded. “Where did that monster come from?”
“Oh,” said Tucker, “did I forget to tell you about my monster’s ability? My ‘Immortal Flame’ is a monster that cannot be destroyed by battle. Every time it’s killed, it returns!
“The only downside,” Tucker continued as the flame returned yet again, “is that he can’t be used as a tribute for a tribute summon and he can’t attack. Also, in case you didn’t notice, I activated the Trap card ‘Backfire’ back at the start of the Battle Phase,” he gestured at the hologram of his card. “As long as it remains on the field, you take five hundred damage each time a Fire monster is destroyed.”
Four pockets of air heated up and then exploded right in Lawrence’s face, causing him to flinch in the face of intense heat (7500-(500x4)=5500). “Now, if I counted right,” Tucker concluded, looking much cooler than I've ever seen him, so much so that even Lawrence looked impressed, “your dragons have all attacked. It’s my move.”
John
“I activate,” Karen said, “the Spell card ‘Black Illusion Ritual’. I send ‘Thousand-Eyes Idol’ in my hand to the Graveyard as a sacrifice to summon my ‘Relinquished’, attack mode!”
A small creature shaped like a clay pot, with hundreds of eyes all over its body, appeared and burned up in a black flame. Karen’s Ritual monster emerged from the flames, floating in the air, and the flames died down. The monster was unlike anything I’d ever faced. It looked like a sphere with long, strong arms, resting on a disk, two spikes protruding from the disk. In the center of its chest was a small sphere bearing the millennium eye symbol. The creature was a blue-gray color (ATK: 0).
“I activate ‘Relinquished’’s special ability,” Karen declared, "Assimilation Spell.” A crack appeared down the front of the creature’s body, and its entire body swung up, like two massive flaps, revealing a gaping hole underneath, and a stalk to which the single millennium eye was attached, like a tiny little head.
The creature raised his eye and looked at my ‘Great Maju Garzett’. The demon was wreathed in a red light and was pulled inside ‘Relinquished’ through the mysterious hole in its chest.
“Since your monster is a part of my ‘Relinquished’ now,” said Karen, “‘Relinquished’ gains your monster’s original Attack and Defense.”
I chuckled, “Well, joke’s on you then, because the original attack power of my ‘Great Maju Garzett’ is zero! So say goodbye to your ‘Relinquished’!”
Karen glared at me, angry that I'd gotten one up on her thanks only to her own short-sightedness.
I drew, and declared, “I summon ‘Giant Orc’, and I attack ‘Relinquished’, Club Slam (ATK: 2200)!”
The giant goblin raised his club and ran at the monster.
Karen smiled, and suddenly I realized that she hadn't misplayed, she'd only tricked me into thinking she had. “Do you really think I’m stupid enough not to know about the weakness of your card?” She asked. “I wanted you to attack!”
The flaps closed over ‘Relinquished’, and ‘Great Maju Garzett’ half emerged from the monster’s flesh, taking the attack, and was destroyed. “’Relinquished’ can use an assimilated monster as a shield,” Karen explained, “and then we both take the battle damage.”
“But won’t that combo hurt you more, since you have fewer Life points than me?” I asked Karen tauntingly.
“Not when I have this,” she replied, “the Trap card ‘Sacrifice Shield’. Every time I would take damage from a battle involving my ‘Relinquished’, I gain the same amount of Life Points first (8000-2200=5800/5200+2200-2200=5200).”
As my Life Points fell, I realized that, even though I’d defeated the Toons, I was even worse off than I'd been before.
Sarah
“For my move,” said Monty, “I destroy my 'Hats' to reveal ‘Dark Magician’, attack mode. Now I attack ‘Legendary Fisherman’ with Dark Magic!”
“I won’t let you,” I countered. “Reveal ‘Ultimate Offering’, paying 500 Life Points to summon ‘Maiden of the Aqua’ in defense mode (LP: 8000-500=7500).”
A beautiful maiden appeared wearing a cape, her blue hair flowing in the breeze (DEF: 2000). “While ’Maiden of the Aqua’ is on the field, her special ability allows her to create the illusion of water on the field all around her. And while there is water on the field, my ‘Legendary Fisherman’ cannot be the target of my opponent’s attacks.” As I spoke, an expanse of water appeared, and the ‘Fisherman’ dove beneath, out of sight.
“Then I’ll make the only logical move,” Monty said, “and attack your ‘Maiden of the Aqua’.” And in a flash of green light, my ’Maiden’ was gone, her oceanic illusion gone along with her. Defeated as quickly as they had come.
Alright, I thought, I’ve used up every move I had prepared. Everything rests on my next draw.
Jen
“I draw,” said Tucker, “and I set three cards face-down. With that, I end my turn.”
I looked over at Tucker. It was amazing. I’d never seen him duel this way before. He was taking his time and thinking his moves through. He was relying on more than just force, and in doing so, he was making use of cards more suited to a prolonged strategy, like ‘UFO Turtle’. He'd even made the decision to rely on a card like ‘The Immortal Fire’ (a card I’d never seen, that I assumed he must have gotten from Pegasus at the same time as ‘Tyrant Dragon’), a card that I never would have expected Tucker to summon in a million years. I was truly impressed. I’d never suspected that there could be such a formidable mind under all of his hotheadedness. It seemed that, in this occasion, John had seen something that I hadn't.
“My move then,” I said, and my feelings of admiration increased as my move was interrupted.
“Reveal during your Draw Phase,” said Tucker, “the Trap card ‘Accelerated Evolution’. I've had this card for a long time, but I never really thought much about what it could be used for until today. It allows one monster to age one full turn. If I’m not mistaken, that makes the ‘Cocoon of Evolution’ ready to hatch.”
At first I was confused. My ‘Great Moth’ was a strong monster, but it wouldn’t be strong enough to match the power of the ‘Blue-Eyes’ monsters. But then I looked over at Tucker. He looked over out of the corner of his eye, and smiled confidently, and I couldn’t help but feel that he knew what he was doing.
Alright, I thought, I don‘t know what you have planned, but I‘ll play along. I don‘t have anything better in mind.
I drew my card. “I begin my turn,” I said, “by hatching my monster. I sacrifice my ‘Larvae Moth’ and my ‘Cocoon of Evolution’. Arise, ‘Great Moth’!”
The cocoon split open, and a giant spiked head emerged. A large worm-like creature wriggled its way out of the cocoon and unrolled its huge, colorful wings. It flapped, and rose swiftly into the air (ATK: 2600).
“Next,” I said, laying another card on the Duel Disk, “I summon ‘Milus Radiant’, defense mode (DEF: 250).” A tiger-like beast appeared, wearing a blue scarf and earrings. “While ‘Radiant’ is on the field, all of my Earth attribute monsters gain five hundred Attack (‘Great Moth’’s ATK: 2600+500=3100), and all enemy Wind attribute monsters lose four hundred Attack (‘Luster Dragon #2’’s ATK: 2400-400=2000).
“Now, ‘Great Moth’," I commanded, "attack the ‘Blue-Eyes White Dragon’, Great Whirlwind!”
‘Great Moth’ flapped its wings, releasing a large tornado-like wind funnel. It slammed into the dragon and tore him apart (5500+3000-3100=5400). I glanced over at Tucker. His expression, directed toward Lawrence, was fiercer than anything I’d ever seen on a person, and I understood.
I’m with you now, Tuck. I know what you’re going to do. John told me about your past. You’re letting it go. All of the frustration, all of the anger that built up during all of that time. You’re letting it all go, aiming it all at him. I’m really glad I’m not Lawrence right now!
Card of the Day:
Sacrifice Shield
Played by: Karen
"Relinquished" is the first early Ritual Monster to have any kind of longevity in the game. People still use it today, though it isn't as dangerous as it used to be. Still, for someone like John, it is a deadly opponent, one made more dangerous by this Trap, which removes its only glaring weakness.
Original Cards in This Chapter:
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