Here we get to see the new underlying theme of John's deck. Otherwise not much happens here. John and Max are both taking things slow and feeling out each others' abilities. John is using a deck which Max has never seen, and John never got a feel for Max's upward limits, so neither of them wants to overextend themselves.
Chapter Sixteen
Epic Final Battle;
Different Dimension Deck
“It’s my move,” said Max, his expression turning intense as he realized for the first time that this duel was not going to be as easy as he’d originally thought, “and I’ve got plenty of moves left. To start, I draw, and my two ‘Different Dimension Capsules’ return, opening to reveal my two cards.”
The ‘Capsules’ emerged from the ground, opened, and then disappeared. Max reached into the pouch in his shirt where he keeps his removed from play cards and pulled out two of them, adding them to his hand.
“Next,” said Max, “I play ‘Monster Reborn’ calling ‘Chaosrider Gustaph’ back from the dead.” There was a red flash, and ‘Gustaph’ appeared, motorcycle and all. “I’ll also activate the Spell, ‘Card of Demise’, letting me draw until I hold five cards.”
Max picked up three cards and added them to his hand. He looked them over, “Perfect. I got just what I needed. Activate ‘Soul Release’ to remove four cards in my Graveyard from play.”
“In case you forgot,” I said as Max took four cards out of his Graveyard and pocketed them, “for each card that you remove, I gain five hundred Life Points courtesy of ‘Soul Absorption’ (8100+2000=10,100).”
“It doesn’t matter,” Max replied, “because soon my combo will be complete and I’ll be able to devastate your Life Points, no matter how high they might be. I remove the two remaining cards in my Graveyard from play to increase ‘Chaosrider Gustaph’’s strength to its maximum value (1400+600=2000). But this is nothing compared to my true plan. I have seven cards removed from play, and I have no cards in my Graveyard. This unlocks a whole new side of my deck.
“First I activate the Spell card ‘Chaos Greed’, allowing me to draw two cards from my deck.” Max drew his cards, smiling all the while. “Next,” he declared, “I activate the Spell card ‘Chaos End’, opening a vortex that will destroy every monster in play!”
“You forget,” I said proudly, “that by removing ‘Summoned Skull’ and ‘D.D. Scout Plane’ from play, my ‘Ninja’ can avoid your effect.” ‘Strike Ninja’ jumped up, and disappeared in a ripple in the air, just as a vortex appeared above us, in the sky.
“But your strongest monster, ‘The Fiend Megacyber’, bites the dust,” said Max. ‘Megacyber’ and ‘Chaosrider’ were pulled upward, but only ‘Chaosrider’ was destroyed. Moments before he would have been pulled into the vortex, ‘Fiend Megacyber’ was hit by a sweeping red beam. The air around him shimmered, and he disappeared.
“Trap card activate,” I declared, “‘Interdimensional Matter Transporter’, pushing my ‘Megacyber’ out of play until the end of the turn as well. And don’t forget ‘Soul Absorption’. More cards removed from play means more Points for me (11,100+ 2000=13,100).”
The vortex faded away, and Max scowled, “My Spell did something at least. It opened you up to attacks until the end of the turn. Now I can summon a powerful monster and attack you directly. Continuous Spell card ‘Call of the Mummy’ activate. Now, whenever I don’t control any monsters, I can Special Summon a zombie from my hand. This means that I can summon the mighty ‘Despair from the Dark’!”
The massive shadow creature rose up, towering over the field (ATK: 2800).
“Now,” said Max, “I normal summon ‘Regenerating Mummy’.”
A tall, gangly mummy appeared, wearing yellowing and faded bandages (ATK: 1800). “‘Despair from the Dark’, ‘Regenerating Mummy’,” Max commanded, “attack him now!”
The two monsters struck one after another, hitting me square in the gut (13,100-2800-1800=8500). I coughed, and I tasted blood. This shadow game was taking its toll. Even with high Life Points, If I wasn’t careful I wouldn’t make it to the game’s end.
“That’s all I’ve got for now,” Max taunted. “Make your next move quickly so that we can get on with your funeral.”
As soon as Max passed his turn ‘The Fiend Megacyber’ and ‘Strike Ninja’ returned, along with the ‘D.D. Scout Plane’.
“Gladly,” I replied as I drew, “and I think ‘Despair from the Dark’ has been out on the field for long enough already. I equip ‘Fiend Megacyber’ with the Spell card ‘Fusion Sword Murasame Blade’.”
‘Fiend Megacyber’ held his right arm across his chest, holding his hand in the shape of a knife. The armor on his arm grew out over his hand, stretching and sharpening into a long blade (2200+800=3000).
“Now attack,” I commanded confidently, and the armored warrior rushed forward, his blade flashing with static energy. “Kill ‘Despair’,” I commanded, “with ‘Megacyber Slash’!”
‘Fiend Megacyber’ stabbed his sword into the shadow and jumped up, slicing the creature in half vertically. It cried out in pain as the two halves of its body fell apart and melted away. ‘Megacyber’ did a back flip and landed beside me, his sword held ready at his side.
“Good move,” said Max earnestly. “You defeated one of my strongest monsters, but you haven’t defeated me. Reveal ‘Spirit Barrier’, the key card in my immortality combo. Now to damage my Life Points, you have to knock down every one of my monsters first.”
“I've seen that card already,” I said a bit indignantly, “but since I can’t knock out any more of your monsters this turn, I'll do this. ‘D.D. Scout Plane’, attack ‘Regenerating Mummy’.”
“What kind of move is that?” Tucker whispered fiercely from his place behind me where he stood alongside the rest of my allies. Oddly enough, it was my mom who answered.
"Shh," she told him, "just watch."
My ‘Scout Plane’ rushed forward, but before it could hit the mummy, it was wrapped in bandages and crushed. It hurt, but it also allowed my strategy to progress.
“Why would you let your own monster be destroyed?” Tucker demanded, but I didn’t have to answer.
Quietly enough that Max wouldn’t hear, even though I was sure Max had figured me out, Karen said, “Think. He’s been using ‘D.D. Scout Plane’ to recycle the effect of ‘Strike Ninja’. But he’s out of ways to return it to the Graveyard for free, so he had to risk losing some Life Points (8500+800-1800=7500).
“Risky,” said Max. “Is saving a mediocre monster like ‘Strike Ninja’ for one more turn really worth one thousand Life Points? Well, I guess we’ll find out. For my move, I summon my spirit, the immortal ‘Spirit Reaper’, and I play the Spell card ‘Timespace Hole’, allowing him to attack directly this turn."
The ‘Reaper’ appeared, turning to smoke and slinking right past me, slashing me in the back with his scythe (8500-300=8200).
“My ‘Reaper’ also forces you to shuffle your hand and discard a card at random when it hurts you,” Max explained. I shuffled my hand, but little did Max know I was able to keep track of every card effortlessly. I discarded the card that was least important to my strategy, the Spell, ‘Darkness Approaches’.
“Next,” said Max, eager to continue his onslaught, “I attack with ‘Regenerating Mummy’ against your ‘Strike Ninja’.” The ‘Mummy’ lashed out with the bandages on his arms. They stretched and reached toward my monster.
“I remove ‘D.D. Scout Plane’ and ‘Giant Orc’ from play to save my ‘Ninja’ (8200 +1500=9700),” I explained needlessly. The ‘Ninja’ jumped up, disappearing. “If you still want to attack,” I said, smiling, “you can still attack my ‘Fiend Megacyber’.”
“Nice try,” Max said, “but I’m not that stupid.” The ‘Mummy’ pulled back its outstretched arms, and its bandages retracted. Max was smiling darkly.
“I’ve finally gained the upper hand,” Max said, confidently, “and you don’t even know it. I’ll ensure my advantage with a face-down card.”
“You haven’t gained a complete advantage yet,” I replied, well aware that I’d allowed Max to string together his best combo. “I can still destroy your ‘Mummy’, even if it won’t hurt you. And, of course, at the end of the turn, ‘Strike Ninja’ and ‘D.D. Scout Plane’ return to play.”
‘Strike Ninja’ appeared again just as the ‘Scout’ shimmered back into existence.
“Now, I draw,” I declared, “and I attack ‘Regenerating Mummy’. Let’s see it regenerate from this, Megacyber Slash!”
‘Fiend Megacyber’ shot forward and swung with his sword. Then he jumped back and landed at my side. As soon as his feet hit the ground, the ‘Mummy’ split in half at the waist and died, reduced to a cloud writhing black smoke and a pile of bandages. But Max didn’t take damage thanks to ‘Spirit Barrier’. Plus, he still had the virtually indestructible ‘Spirit Reaper’, and a face-down card. Even with ‘Megacyber’ at my side, this duel was nowhere close to being over.
Card of the Day:
Fusion Sword Murasame Blade
Played by: John
As John adds more and more Warrior monsters to his deck, this card becomes very important to his strategies. This card plus "The Fiend Megacyber" (who will show up here eventually, promise) gives John a monster with ATK as high as a "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" that he probably summoned without any tributes. John even begins to see this card as something like "Megacyber"'s signature weapon.
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