Hurray! Kris got her Soul, and used Destiny Draw to win! Sadly, however, this is akin to when Piccolo in Dragonball Z achieves a power even greater than Super Saiyan, only to be completely outshone by the villain Cell shortly afterward.
Chapter Six
Soul of Mettle;
Beast Ruler is Defeated!
Kris
My sister was defeated, her spirit taken to serve as a battery for some evil spirit. If the rest of us lost, we would suffer the same fate. And if we stayed like that too long, we'd die. I was facing a psycho who also happened to very likely be one of the most powerful Duelists in the world. And I was fighting alone. The only support I had came from the five members of the Duel Force who stood watching from a few yards away, but they couldn't actually help me fight.
This guy’s too strong, I thought. I considered giving up, thinking that if I did the Dark Duel Force might let me go home with my spirit attached. But Jen wouldn’t give up, I decided, and she asked me to win this duel. I won’t let her down! This guy does have a weakness, and I’ll find it.
John
My ‘Chaosrider’ was gone, my Life Points were hit, and I had no moves in my hand to speak of. The best move I had was inhibited by ‘Anubis’’ effect. I needed a way around it, and I only had one chance to get it. I drew, and I looked at my card.
Bingo!
“For my move,” I announced, “I activate the Spell card ‘Dark Core’, discarding ‘Red-Eyes Black Dragon’ to remove your ‘End of Anubis’ from play.” A black hole opened above my opponent’s monster, pulling it inside.
“Now,” I said, “I revive my ‘Red-Eyes’ with the Spell card ‘Monster Reborn’!”
There was a flash of red light behind me, and the mighty black dragon with the red eyes rose up from the ground with a roar (ATK: 2400). Thanks to my ‘Dark Core’, I’d not only been able to rid the field of my enemies monster, but summon an even stronger monster than I’d originally intended.
“‘Red-Eyes’," I commanded with a proud half smile, "attack with Inferno Fire Blast!”
Kris
I looked over my hand, and then back at my opponent. I caught a glimpse of the number of cards in his hand and it hit me. One card?
I remembered back to earlier in the duel, when Beast had used ‘Card of Sanctity’ to rebuild his hand, even though he was taking a big risk to do so, since it rebuilt mine and Jen’s hands as well.
That’s it! His weakness is in the fact that he uses his hand up quickly. Thanks to ‘Card of Sanctity’ I have a full hand, but he only has one card! I need to draw one particular card to win, but even if I don’t get it, the chance of him having the right cards in the next one or even two turns is pretty low. I should be safe for now. I just have to be careful not to act rashly.
I drew my card, resuming my ditz act as I did so on the chance that it would serve as a distraction and buy me even more time to act. I examined my new card, faking an expression of confusion, “I don’t know if it’ll work, but I activate the Spell card ‘Pot of Greed’.” I drew two more cards. Nothing.
“I Summon ‘Giga-Tech Wolf’, defense mode, set a card, and end my turn.”
My newest monster, a robotic wolf, appeared alongside my existing machine (DEF: 1400).
“Excellent,” said Beast, “because now it’s my turn again, and with the real threat out of the way, I can take my time destroying you! Maybe I won't win this turn, but that’s the way I like it, drawing things out, making the pain last as long as possible!”
I didn’t like the sound of that. I was already feeling a strain on my body as a result of the Shadow Game, which I couldn't even see. If I started taking a bunch of hits, I didn’t know if I’d make it.
Beast checked the card he’d drawn, and then went right on with his turn, “I sacrifice ‘Blade Rabbit’ to summon my ‘Manticore of Darkness’,” a creature with the body of a man, the head of a lion, and the wings of an eagle appeared and roared (ATK: 2300).
“Now my two monsters attack!” ‘Behemoth’ struck and the ‘Manticore’ roared. My two monsters were reduced to scrap, but my Life Points remained safe.
I was running out of options. I hadn’t expected Beast to be able to summon such a powerful monster so soon. I tried to remember what effects ‘Manticore of Darkness’ had. If I was remembering right, each time I killed it, Beast could just discard or sacrifice another Beast to bring it back to life. I had to end this thing fast or the ‘Manticore’ would overrun me.
Please, I thought as I prepared to draw, gimme what I need to end this duel, avenge my sister, and prove that I have what it takes to be a Duelist worthy of fighting alongside the Duel Force!
In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to give everything that I had. In that moment, fate granted me my wish. There was a flash, and an orb of silvery light appeared, forming a silver-colored crystal that hung around my neck. I don’t know how I knew its name, but I knew if that moment that my Soul of Mettle, the twelfth and final Duelist’s Soul, had finally arrived. I looked around, suddenly aware of things that I hadn't been only a moment ago. I could see darkness surrounding the entire hospital, boxing us all in, and I could not quite see an aura around my opponent, but I still knew that it was there, and that it was big.
“This is it,” I said excitedly, “the power that I need to defeat you. With the Soul of Mettle’s power, winning this duel will be easy peasy! And lucky for you, I don’t draw things out the way you like to. I get things over with quick and painlessly. Mostly. After all, you did hurt my sister.”
I drew, feeling power flow through my fingertips, and looked down at my card. I smiled, “Bingo! Hey Beast. Want to know the power of my deck? The true power of it?”
I stared at him coyly, but he didn’t respond.
“Fine,” I said, “you spoilsport. I’ll tell you anyway. It’s the power of Ultimate One Turn Kill!”
Beast almost growled, “‘Ultimate One Turn Kill’?”
“Exactly,” I replied, “the power to kill any powerful opponent in one move. It all begins with the Trap card ‘Hidden Barrel’.” A laser cannon appeared at my side and fired, leaving a burn hole in the chest of Beast’s tiger print shirt and dealing him six hundred damage, two hundred for every card in his hand and every card he controlled (7600-600=7000).
“Next,” I declared, “I play ‘Polymerization’, fusing two mechs that I have in my hand, ‘Roboyarou’ and ‘Robolady’, into my favorite monster, the mode changing mech ‘Super Roboyarou’!”
A blue-armored male robotic warrior and a pink-armored female robotic warrior appeared, each carrying a staff in hand. They merged, forming a sterner faced male robotic warrior wearing blue armor with pink bands on his shoulders, carrying a double-ended lance (ATK: 1200).
“Next,” I continued, “I increase my machine’s firepower with two Spells. First ‘Rare Metal Soul’,” the mech was surrounded by a bright white light (1200+1000 =2200), “and then ‘Fusion Weapon’,” my monster’s lance grew into a larger, double-pronged version of itself and became metallic red and blue in color (2200+1500=3700).
“Now,” I commanded, “I have my monster attack the ‘Manticore of Darkness’, activating his effect, increasing his Attack by one thousand until the end of the Damage Step,” Rockets emerged from the mech warrior’s back and he flew forward toward the ‘Manticore’ at mind-boggling speed (3700+1000=4700).
“It doesn’t matter,” said beast. “I’ll survive your attack, and so will my monster, thanks to his effect. But you’ve caught my attention. I don’t plan on drawing this duel out anymore. Instead I’ll shred your monster into junk, and kill you right away!”
“Don’t count on it animal brain,” I said, “because if you haven’t noticed, I still have a card in my hand. Activate, my key card, ‘Limiter Removal’!”
“No!” Beast gasped disbelievingly. I think I saw fear in his eyes for the first time.
“Yes,” I said. “My monster gains the ultimate advantage. His attack points are doubled for the duration of the turn (4700x2=9400)! Now when he wins, you die!”
‘Super Roboyarou’ raised his weapon and slashed the ‘Manticore’ in half (7000+2300-9400=0). Beast’s ‘Behemoth’ disappeared, and his face went blank as death. He fell over, his soul-less body unable to remain upright.
“Alright,” I said, turning to the remaining members of the Dark Duel Force, eager to keep up the momentum, “bring on the next one. I’m ready.”
John
Responding to my command, the vicious black dragon exhaled sharply, spouting flames that poured over my opponent’s body (7700-2400=5300). He raised his arms to shield his face from the flames.
“That won’t be enough to beat me,” said Keeper, his level of concentration rising. Could he have been toying with me and still given me so much trouble? I wondered as he began his turn.
“You have passed my first test, my hidden monster strategy," Keeper explained, "but the only way to defeat my true strategy will be to attain true balance between your mind, your deck, and your Soul, awakening the sleeping True Soul within.”
“What do you mean ‘True Soul’?” I asked.
“That,” said Keeper, “is something that you must discover on your own, but you can only do so by defeating me, something that is more easily said than done. Now, my true strategy begins with my ‘Protector of the Sanctuary’, and a Zombie monster, Special Summoned by the effect of my ‘Call of the Mummy’, the mighty ‘Immortal Mummy’.”
A mummy in a headdress, carrying a worn knife and a crooked staff rose up out of the sandstone at Keeper’s feet (DEF: 0), and behind him appeared a giant spectral torso made of patterns of light, wrapping its arms protectively around its master (DEF: 1900).
“Next,” said Keeper, “I activate ‘Card of Sanctity’, which normally allows both of us to draw until we hold six cards each, but because of my ‘Protector’’s effect, you can’t draw cards outside of your Draw Phase.”
“Hold on,” I said, “you mean that you draw six cards, and I’m left with a hand of only two?”
“Exactly,” said Keeper, “but that’s only the beginning. I’m going to lock you down with my ultimate combo, which begins with these three face-down cards.”
“You can’t play a combo if I finish you off first!” I insisted. “I summon ‘Giant Orc’ in attack mode (ATK: 2200).”
‘Giant Orc’, a giant goblin carrying a club, appeared at my side, towering above me. “I attack ‘Protector of the Sanctuary’ with my ‘Red-Eyes Black Dragon’, Inferno Fire Blast!”
“Reveal,” said Keeper, “a card that you should know very well by now, the ‘Ordeal of a Traveler’.”
I sighed, “Yeah, I know all about that card, and the middle card in your hand is a monster.”
“Wrong,” said Keeper, showing the Spell card ‘Cost Down’, “meaning that your ‘Red-Eyes’ returns to your hand via my Trap’s effect.” My dragon was wreathed in red light and disappeared, but my ‘Orc’ remained.
I watched my opponent shuffle the cards in his hand, following his Spell card. Tricks like ‘Ordeal of a Traveler’ may be annoying, but they're only that. Such simple tricks don’t work on me for long. Some of my greatest skills are memory and concentration games. Once I had it, I said, “‘Giant Orc’, attack his ‘Protector’ now.”
“Not so fast,” said Keeper calmly. “I know that you're good at memory games and visual puzzles, so I was ready with this. Reveal the face-down Spell card ‘Reload’. I shuffle my hand into my deck and draw three more cards. Now you don’t know any of the cards in my hand.”
“Wonderful”, I said sarcastically. “The middle card is a Spell,” I guessed, not even trying to hide my annoyance.
“You,” said Keeper, “would be correct.” He showed me ‘Shifting Shadows’, and my ‘Orc’ rushed my opponent’s field, crushing his monster with his club.
“After he attacks,” I explained, “‘Giant Orc’ becomes exhausted and falls into defense mode.” My ‘Orc’ stumbled over to my side, fell over, and passed out (DEF: 0).
I wasn’t entirely sure what Keeper had in store for me, but if I was right, this definitely wasn’t going to be as easy as I'd thought.
Card of the Day:
Super Roboyarou
Played by: Kris
Not only is this Kris' favorite monster, it also reaches levels of ATK higher than any other DF monster so far, at least as far as I can recall. Either way, it is definitely worthy of this spot.
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