This one is mainly just action. We don't really learn anything, apart from the fact that Kris has really improved, and that this elite group from the Order named themselves after the Duel Force, likely to mock them by proving themselves the "better" Duel Force. Will they succeed? Read on and find out!
Chapter Four
New Face of the Order;
Dark Duel Force
Jen
“You can’t pass,” I said to the obvious leader, the spiky-haired teenager, “we won’t let you.”
“You don’t concern us,” said the spiky-haired kid. “There is only one Duelist strong enough to contest the Dark Duel Force.”
“Dark Duel Force?!” Sarah cried, angry at the bastardization of our team name.
“Yes,” said the spiky-haired kid. “We are the Dark Duel Force, specifically selected from amongst the Order’s strongest and trained by Master Yami himself. The only one of you strong enough to stand up to us is your leader, and from what we hear, he’s a bit under the weather.”
“You won’t get near him.” I said. “To reach John, you’ll have to get past the real Duel Force.”
“If you insist,” said the spiky-haired kid, clearly unconcerned, “but remember, you were warned of our superiority. If you insist on opposing us then the battle to come will be one big Shadow Game. Any of us who loses will have his or her spirit and any magic tied to it stripped from their body and sent straight to Yami. Do you agree?”
I swallowed nervously, so afraid that I could only just keep from shaking. Not one of us would have agreed to these terms normally, but Karen was right, we couldn’t let the Order reach John while he was down and take his Soul. The Soul of Darkness has the power to call the other Souls together. With it, the Order could take our Duelist's Souls without a fight. And that could not be allowed to happen. So reluctantly I said, “Agreed.”
Spiky-hair nodded. “I think Beast Ruler should be sufficient to handle you so-called Duelists.”
He nodded to the little kid in the tiger print. The kid stepped forward. “My name’s Beast Ruler,” he said, his voice sharp and raspy like a growl, “and I’ll be your slaughterer this evening.”
Karen
“It’s starting,” said Max, quietly enough that only I would hear him, as aware of the hopelessness of the situation as I was.
“I know,” I said grimly, just as quietly, “I wonder how long it’ll last.”
Jen
“If you don’t mind,” I said, “we’ll take you on two-on-one.” That was our strategy, to face them in waves of two, hopefully overwhelming them with our superior numbers. Karen couldn't say for sure what decks these five would use, but she knew that whatever they were, they would be comparable, if not superior, to ours. She also attested to the fact that these five were as smart and experienced as any pro Duelist. Yami wouldn't associate with anyone who wasn't. In that case, our numbers were really the only advantage we had, and we didn't think that they'd agree to just fight us all at once.
Two-on-one seemed the best compromise. It was a great plan, and all of the pairs that Karen had put together were solid. I couldn't fault her logic. As a strategist, Karen was just as competent as I was, a fact that was hard for me to admit. I don't dislike Karen or anything, but I would be lying if I said that I wouldn't give her up to protect a member of my family.
“The more the merrier,” Beast Ruler said, practically jumping for joy at the mere idea of fighting. “Come to me like lambs to the slaughter.”
My sister and I stepped forward, a fact that left me thoroughly unhappy, since I didn’t really want my sister here at all. Still, I was the best of us to fight beside her. Her deck is slow, and is often left without adequate defenses until it is time for her strategy to pay off in a big way. I could cover her weaknesses with my more intricate, but overall less powerful, combinations.
“You’ll face us first.” I announced, masking my concern. We raised our Duel Disks in preparation. Beast Ruler raised his as well, though his stance looked less ready, and more like a lion ready to pounce.
“I’ll go first,” I declared (LP: 8000), “and I’ll start with my ‘Insect Knight’, one of the strongest four star monsters in the game.”
My monster, an insect wearing armor and carrying a shield and sword in the uppermost of its six appendages appeared between me and Beast Ruler (ATK: 1900).
“I also place a card face-down,” I said, “and I end my turn.”
“Making it my move,” my sister announced lyrically (LP: 8000), “and I begin with my ‘Machine King’s Guard’, a monster who’s Defense rises by one hundred for every Machine I control.” An eight-foot-tall black robot appeared, a clear shield attached to its left arm, and crouched at Kris’ side, a spear held at the ready in its right hand (DEF: 2000+100 =2100).
“I also place a card face-down,” said Kris, smiling coyly, “and end my turn. Your move, Beastie.”
Beast Ruler drew. He wasn't at all distracted by Kris' unusual demeanor, a trick that she employed to throw other Duelists off of their game. He was too fixated on his own cards, only really caring that we were there in that we were something to use those cards against. As he looked at his hand, his broad, vicious smile widened even further, and he began, “I summon one of my most savage beasts, the mighty ‘Berserk Gorilla’!”
Beast’s monster appeared, an orange gorilla that beat its tan chest repeatedly in a savage frenzy (ATK: 2000).
“Now,” Beast Ruler declared, his voice dripping with anticipation, “I attack with Berserk Pummel against the ‘Insect Knight’!”
“No you won’t,” said Kris, her tone and expression turning suddenly serious, “because I can protect us both with my ‘Staunch Defender’ Trap!”
Just before the ‘Gorilla’’s fist struck my ‘Knight’, it was deflected by the ‘Machine King’s Guard’’s shield. Beast lost Life Points (8000+2000-2100=7900).”
“Looks like we’re stronger than you realized,” Kris said, standing ready, confidence in her eyes. “This duel is gonna be harder than you thought after all!”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Beast countered. “I place two cards face-down and end my turn.”
Kris smiled over at me. I smiled back, and to Beast I said, “That makes it my move again.”
Thanks to Kris I had a monster alive to use in my strategy. I was worried about Kris, I thought, but I’d already be losing if not for her.
“I draw,” I said, “and I reveal ‘Multiplication of Insects’, splitting my ‘Insect Knight’ into two ‘Insect Knight Tokens’ with half the power.”
The ‘Knight’ split into two slightly smaller and paler, but otherwise identical, monsters (ATK: 950 (each)).
“Now,” I said, “I can sacrifice my two monsters for a more powerful monster.”
“Don’t count on it,” Beast sneered, “because to the summoning of your ‘Tokens’ I activate the Trap cards ‘Token Feastevil’ and ‘Ojama Trio’. First my ‘Ojama Trio’ resolves, summoning three ‘Ojama Tokens’ on your side of the field, and then my ‘Feastevil’ destroys all Token Monsters on the field and deals both of you three hundred damage per monster.”
Three small creatures appeared on my field, one green, one yellow, and one black, and then all five of my monsters exploded. Kris and I were both hit (8000-(300x5)=6500 (each)).
“Next,” said Beast, “The controller of the ‘Ojama Tokens’ takes three hundred damage for each one destroyed.”
I felt as if energy was being ripped from my body. It hurt, enough that it almost brought me to my knees (6500-(300x3)=5600).
“And best of all,” said Beast, “you don’t have any monsters left to sacrifice!”
“That’s about to change,” I said. “I summon ‘Basic Insect’, defense mode.” A small green mantis-like insect appeared at my feet, standing as tall as my waste (DEF: 500).
“My move,” said Kris, “and no matter what, I’m going to make sure you lose this duel. I’ll do it by sacrificing my ‘Machine King’s Guard’ to summon my ‘Machine King’!”
A tall humanoid robot with thick, heavily-armored arms appeared as Kris’ ‘Guard’ faded away into the darkness all around us.
“My ‘Machine King’ starts out with twenty-two hundred Attack Points and gains another one hundred for every Machine-type on the field (ATK: 2200+100=2300),” Kris explained. “I attack with Rocket Punch!”
‘Machine King’’s lower arms shot off and flew straight at the ‘Gorilla’ like rockets, crushing it. Then the arms reversed course, flying back and reattaching to the ‘Machine King’. Beast took another hit (7900+2000-2300=7600).
“Finally,” Kris concluding, “I end my turn with a face-down card.”
Beast drew his card, seemingly unconcerned by his loss. In fact, he seemed almost excited. “This is great,” he said, a dark hunger in his eyes. “This duel is the best duel I’ve ever fought! You guys are good, but not good enough to keep your spirits from Yami.”
“We can keep our spirits from being taken,” I said, “by making sure that your spirit is taken first.”
“Don’t count on it,” Beast countered, “because, far as I can tell, you still have fewer Life Points than me, and it’s my turn. I activate ‘Pot of Greed’ to draw two cards. Next I activate ‘Graceful Charity’, letting me draw three cards and then discard two. Next I play ‘Monster Reborn’, letting me revive a monster that I just discarded, my ‘Rescue Cat’!”
A small cat wearing a hard hat appeared on Beast’s side of the field (ATK: 500).
“Now,” said Beast, “I return ‘Rescue Cat’ to the Graveyard to summon two Beast monsters from my deck.” ‘Rescue Cat’ disappeared and a squat rodent and a flying squirrel appeared in its place.
“I’ll use these two new monsters as a sacrifice for the ultimate beast,” Beast Ruler announced as a massive purple beast rose up behind him, towering over the playing field, and growled, taking the place of his two weaker cards. “Behold,” said Beast, “’Behemoth the King of all Animals’!”
The massive beast roared (ATK: 2700). I heard Kris gasp, and I felt my knees begin to shake. If something that big hit us in a Shadow Game, things could get really bad for us.
“’Behemoth’’s effect activates,” Beast explained, “and I get to return two Beast monsters in my Graveyard to my hand.”
Two cards slid from his Graveyard, “‘Behemoth’, attack the ‘Machine King’ with Ferocious Claw!”
‘Behemoth’ raised his claw and thrust it at the ‘Machine King’. Kris, however, didn’t seem worried at all. “Reveal,” she declared, “the Trap card ‘Covering Fire’, increasing my Attack by an amount equal to the attack of Jen’s monster.”
The ‘Machine King’’s Attack rose (2300+500=2800), and he launched his arms at ‘Behemoth’, pushing back its claws.
“Activate,” Beast declared, smiling wickedly, showing off his yellow teeth, “my Spell card ‘The Big March of Animals’, raising the Attack of my ‘Behemoth’ by two hundred (2700+200=2900).”
The massive beast pushed back against the rocket arms, smashing them to bits and continuing through, slashing the robot and reducing it to scrap (6500+2800-2900=6400). Good try sis, I thought. It just wasn’t quite good enough.
“I end my turn,” said Beast, “with two more face-down cards. Hurry up and go so I can move on to the next kill!”
I drew. Thanks to Beast’s combo last turn I hadn’t been able to summon a strong monster then, but I would be able to summon one easily this turn, if I brought my ‘Multiplication of Insects’ back for another go.
“I start off my move,” I said, “with a Spell card, ‘Spell Reproduction’, discarding ‘Insect Imitation’ and ‘Forest’ to return a Spell in my Graveyard, like ‘Multiplication of Insects’, to my hand. Next I reactivate ‘Multiplication of Insects’, splitting my ‘Basic Insect’ in two.”
The small mantis monster split into two duplicates of the original, standing side by side (ATK: 250 (each)). I selected a card from my hand, and the two tokens disappeared.
“I sacrifice my two ‘Basic Insect Tokens’,” I declared, “to summon one of the strongest monsters in my deck, and the only one that can match your monster in size. Rise, ‘Metal Armored Bug’!”
Behind me a huge beetle with a metallic exoskeleton appeared, flexing its huge claws (ATK: 2800).
“Before you can attack,” said Beast, butting in, “I reveal a Trap, ‘Threatening Roar’. No monsters can attack this turn.” The ‘Behemoth’ roared, and the beetle cringed back.
“You're safe during my sister’s turn,” said Kris, “but not during mine, and it’s my turn again now.”
I looked over at her and saw a look of determination in her eyes, more intense than I'd ever seen in her before. She wanted nothing more than to help us win this battle.
“I play,” said Kris, “my own ‘Graceful Charity’ Spell card. I draw three cards and then choose two cards in my hand and discard them. Next I summon my ‘Guardian of the Throne Room’, defense mode.”
Kris’ monster appeared, a yellow robot that rolled along on treads with three missile launchers on its back (DEF: 1600). This duel was reaching a defining moment. All I could do at this point was wait for that moment to come and try to make things go my way.
Card of the Day:
Behemoth the King of All Animals
Played by: Beast Ruler
This monster is overwhelmingly strong, associated with swarm tactics, and easy to summon. It embodies Beast's entire strategy all on its own.
Original Cards in This Chapter:
Original Cards in This Chapter:
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