I want to talk about it right away, because it's not really meant to be a secret or a big reveal, but this entire book has a theme of underlying fear. Nothing overt, but it's there, constantly in the background. Here we see an example of John's fear. He is afraid of his own failure, and he overcompensates. It's why he sucks so bad this duel. But we'll address this more later.
Pursue the Enemy;
A Battle with High Stakes
“Max is it?” I said, trying my best to seem confident. “So you’re the next red shirt that the Order’s sent to take us on, are you?”
“No,” Max replied. “It’s true that I’m one of the Order’s best, but I’m not interested in the rest of your team. I only fought those two losers because I knew taking their cards would motivate you to fight me yourself. My magic isn’t too strong on its own, since it’s not even my magic, so I can’t force someone with a Soul to fight me when they have nothing to gain. By taking your friends’ cards I assured that you’d have a desire to fight me. Even a subconscious desire to fight me would be enough to assure our game. A game that I’m sure to win, seeing how my ‘Spirit Reaper’ deck has never been beaten.”
“We’ll see about that,” I told him. “I learned just recently that no deck is truly invincible. Let’s get this over with.”
Max smiled, “Would you really so recklessly risk your Duelist’s Soul just for the chance to win back your friends’ rare cards?”
“Yes,” I said with a smirk, “I absolutely would, because I know I’m going to win. After all, if I can’t beat you I won’t stand a chance when your leader finally come knocking. If I can’t beat you, I have no business carrying a Duelist’s Soul in the first place.”
Max smiled beneath his hood, “Then the challenge is set and the Shadow Game begins. I’ll bring about your death!”
“Wait!” came a voice behind me. I turned to see Sarah running up to stand by my side. “John, this guy took down Jen and Tucker easily, and you just changed your deck around recently, in case you forgot. Let me help you on this one.”
I didn’t want her to fight with me. I was playing the part of the confident challenger, but the truth was I was really worried for exactly the reasons that Sarah had just given. I was hoping that my opponent would refuse my sisters admittance into the duel.
I looked at Max. “She can duel too,” he said, sounding bored, “but she must bet her Soul as well.”
I looked at Sarah and she nodded. Our Duelist’s Souls flashed and darkness began to form from nowhere and swirl around us threateningly. The Shadow game had begun, and if anyone tried to cheat or to back out of the agreed upon terms the Shadows would make sure that they were placed at the mercy of their opponent. I knew this, I could feel the truth in my Soul, and yet I still wanted to run away.
“I’ll go first,” I said, mostly just to distract myself. I drew my opening hand, expecting to draw one of my super powerful new cards. Crap! I thought, looking at my hand, Almost all high level monsters none of which can be summoned this early in the duel. This is easily the worst hand I’ve ever drawn!
I was even more worried now, but I couldn’t let my opponent see. “I summon ‘Sangan’ in defense mode,” I declared, a brown fur ball with three eyes appearing between me and Max (DEF: 600), “and I set a card. I end my turn.”
“My move,” said Sarah, a fierce edge to her voice that I knew too well from the various altercations that she and I had had over the years, “and I start with my newest rare card, ‘Revival Jam’. I also play two face-down cards and activate the Spell card ‘Card of Safe Return’. As long as this card remains on the field, I draw one card whenever a monster is revived from my Graveyard.”
On Sarah’s field appeared a creature of barely coherent liquid that was only vaguely human in shape with a distorted face (ATK: 1500).
“Excellent move,” said Max earnestly. “Bravo Water Duelist. John, not so excellent. I expected more. But it’s my move now so it doesn’t matter anyway.”
He drew and looked over his hand, “I begin with the Field Spell card ‘Fusion Gate’.” Behind Max appeared a portal, emanating green light. “With ‘Fusion Gate’,” He explained, “I can remove monsters from play to summon a Fusion Monster instead of using the ‘Polymerization’ card. I remove ‘Spirit Reaper’ and ‘Nightmare Horse’ in my hand from play to summon ‘Reaper on the Nightmare’.”
‘Spirit Reaper’ and ‘Nightmare Horse’ appeared. They circled around behind and flew through the gate, emerging in their combined form (ATK: 800).
“Next,” said Max, “since I have no cards in my Graveyard, I can activate ‘Dimension Distortion’ to summon one of my monsters that is removed from play. The monster I choose is ‘Nightmare Horse’.”
Beside the ‘Reaper’ the air rippled, and the ‘Nightmare Horse’ reappeared.
“Now,” said Max, “I remove my ‘Nightmare Horse’ and a second ‘Spirit Reaper’ from play to summon a second ‘Reaper on the Nightmare’!”
Again Max’s monsters flew through the gate, and again they emerged as one monster. Max had managed to summon two nearly indestructible monsters in only his first turn, when I had barely been able to make any move at all. Needless to say my worry was growing.
“As you know from before,” Max declared, “my ‘Reapers’ can attack you directly, so I attack, once for each of you.” His two ‘Reapers’ rose up into the air and moved to strike, but before they could get close enough to attack, they were deflected by a wall of living liquid.
“Reveal,” said Sarah, “my ‘Jam Defender’ Trap. As long as I control this card, you can only attack my ‘Revival Jam’.”
As she spoke, her ‘Jam’, which had stretched to form the aforementioned wall, returned to its original shape and size, and Max lost Life Points from the recoil of his failed attacks (8000+800-1500+800-1500=6600).
“Now unless you have another move,” I said, “it’s my turn again.” Nice move sis, I thought. My face-down was a total bluff!
Max sounded mildly frustrated, but otherwise as sure as ever as he said, “I end my turn by placing one card face-down.”
Alright deck. I know I just changed you around a lot, but I also know you’ve got plenty of good cards hidden within you. Give me one of ‘em!
I drew. The card I got couldn’t destroy the ‘Reaper’, but it would do for now.
“I sacrifice ‘Sangan’,” I declared, “to summon my ‘Dark Ruler Ha Des’.”
‘Sangan’ disappeared, and a tall, green-skinned, cape-and-headdress-wearing, horned demon appeared in his place, holding a wine glass full of a red liquid that looked a lot like blood (ATK: 2450).
“Now,” I said, “I use my ‘Sangan’’s effect to take a monster with fifteen hundred or less Attack from my deck and add it to my hand. I choose my ‘Magician of Faith’, and I attack your ‘Reaper on the Nightmare’ with my ‘Dark Ruler’’s Darkness Energy Orb.”
‘Dark Ruler’ raised his free hand and summoned a ball of dark energy, firing it at the first ‘Reaper’. The ball exploded, but Max and his ‘Reaper’ remained unharmed.
“Reveal,” said Max, “the Trap card ‘Spirit Barrier’. I think you both should remember its effect.”
I scowled, Damn! I was hoping to deal some damage before he could draw that.
“My turn next,” said Sarah, doing well not to let her own worry show, though I could see it. “As your turn ends, I reveal the Continuous Trap card ‘Solemn Wishes’. Now, whenever I draw, I gain five hundred Life Points. I draw (4000+500=4500), and I summon my ‘Water Magician’ in attack mode.” A woman in a green cape appeared, carrying a staff (ATK: 1400).
“Of course I can’t destroy your monsters yet,” Sarah concluded, “so I’ll simply pass, for now.”
“This is interesting,” Max said. “I expected to see bigger plays from the leader of the Duel Force, but so far my greatest obstacle has been his baby sister.” At the word “baby” Sarah huffed angrily, but she stood her ground. Max laughed, an arrogant and decisively wicked sound.
“My hand is empty,” said Max, “and my monsters can’t penetrate your ‘Jam’ Wall, but it’s like I say, Death can’t be overcome.
“I draw,” He declared, smiling wide upon seeing his newest acquisition, “and I couldn’t have asked for a better card. Activate ‘Card of Demise’, letting me draw five cards, as long as I give up my entire hand in my Standby Phase five turns from now.”
Max drew five cards, and he smiled again. He had clearly drawn something good.
“I start off,” Max said, “with a fiend who can sap the strength of another monster when he's summoned, the ‘Dark Jeroid’. I summon it in defense mode.” A strangely deformed headless blue-skinned mutant with multiple limbs and a face in its abdomen appeared (DEF: 1500). It stuck ‘Revival Jam’ with two stingers coming off of it’s back and ‘Revival Jam’ lost power (ATK: 1500-800=700).
“Next,” Max declared, “I play the Spell card ‘Pyramid Energy’, raising the Attack power of my two ‘Reapers’ by two hundred apiece (800+200=1000 (each)). Now I have one ‘Reaper on the Nightmare’ attack ‘Revival Jam’, and the other attacks you directly.”
Both ‘Reapers’ rushed Sarah. The first slashed the ‘Revival Jam’, splattering it across the ground (4500+700-1000=4200), and the second flew past the first and slashed Sarah across the chest (4200-1000=3200). She clenched her teeth. In a Shadow Game the enemy’s attacks and Spells always hurt as if they're real, and the worst attacks are always consecutive ones. I knew it had to hurt, but I also knew that it would take more than two attacks to throw my sister off of her game.
“I pay one thousand Life Points (3200-1000=2200),” Sarah said, talking through clenched teeth, “to activate the effect of my ‘Jam’. During my next Standby Phase the ‘Revival Jam’ will return to the field.” As she spoke, the splatter created when the ‘Revival Jam’ was killed came together as an undulating ball of plasma.
“Don’t forget to throw away two cards,” Max said, still wearing the same confident smile.
“Don’t worry,” Sarah said, finally straightening up as the pain subsided, “I didn’t forget.” She discarded two cards without looking.
“I end my turn,” Max said, “with a new face-down card.”
“My turn,” I declared. I drew my card, and when I saw it I was visibly relieved, “I activate the Spell card ‘Graceful Charity’. I draw three cards and then discard two.”
I drew again, but the only card I could use out of the ones I’d drawn was a card from my old deck. I discarded the others.
“And now,” I declared, “I make my final stand with these.” I placed two cards on the Duel Disk, and the skeletal demon and the black dragon with the red eyes appeared.
“Go, ‘Red-Eyes Black Dragon’ and ‘Summoned Skull’," I commanded, "fly through the ‘Fusion Gate’, and combine!”
The two monsters entered the gate, and a black skeletal dragon emerged, “Form, ‘Black Skull Dragon’!”
In terms of sheer beginning attack strength, the ‘Black Skull Dragon’ was my strongest card. It circled around behind me and landed at my side with a roar (ATK: 3200). But even with this mighty dragon at my command, I still had no way to overcome my opponent’s combo.
This duel is going to be tricky.
“Kill ‘Dark Jeroid’,” I commanded, and my dragon blew Max's monster away in a barrage of fireballs.
I took a deep, calming breath in preparation for what was to come, “I end my turn.”
Card of the Day:
Revival Jam
Played by: Sarah
The IRL version of "Revival Jam", AKA the one that I use in my stories, isn't as powerful as the one in the anime/manga, but it is still a potent card, one which John and Sarah would have lost without.
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