Not for the last time John wins by summoning a bunch of monsters at once and throwing them at the other guy. Simple, yet effective. Here we get our final examples of this book's fear motif. John accepts that he was afraid and decides to be proud of his efforts rather than afraid of his failings. He's rewarded by drawing his ace card just in time.
Second, we get the reveal that Max is afraid. Max, the character who inspired fear in the others, is himself acting out of fear and desperation.
Chapter Seventeen
Epic Final Battle;
Dimensional Victory
Despite the fact that my opponent had the upper hand, I was still in the duel for one simple reason; I had a plan, a plan that, so far, had gone off without a hitch.
“I place one card face-down,” I declared, “and then I’ll finish off with ‘Card of Sanctity’, giving each of us a whole new hand.”
If I’m right about Max’s next move, I thought, this should work. If I’m right.
“If you’re really finished,” Max said, clearly wondering why I would draw so many cards just to pass, “then I move. Reveal ‘Polymerization’, fusing ‘Spirit Reaper’ with the ‘Nightmare Horse’ on hand to form ‘Reaper on the Nightmare’.”
The mummified ghost horse from my previous duel with Max appeared alongside my opponent’s second most dangerous monster. ‘Spirit Reaper’ flew over and settled onto the horse’s back, forming the ‘Reaper on the Nightmare’, arguably Max’s most dangerous monster, a monster that I had honestly hoped to avoid fighting.
“Next,” Max continued, “I seal your fate with the face-down Continuous Trap card ‘Robin’ Goblin’. Now, whenever I deal you battle damage, you must discard one card from your hand at random.
“‘Reaper’,” Max commanded, “bypass his monsters and mount a direct attack!”
‘Reaper’ flew straight at ‘Fiend Megacyber’, but when my monster struck with his sword in an attempt to defend me, the ‘Reaper’ turned to smoke and slid past him, reforming directly in front of me. He slashed with his scythe (8200-800=7400).
“Now,” said Max, “you must discard one card due to the effect of ‘Reaper’, and an additional card due to the effect of ‘Robin’ Goblin’.”
I shuffled my hand and discarded two cards, not at random but on purpose, my ‘Dark Ruler Ha Des’ and ‘Jinzo #7’.
“Good move,” I said, honestly, “but I’m not even close to being taken out of this duel.” I drew my next card, smiling with relief at my ‘Dark Core’ Spell.
“Discard ‘Dark Master - Zorc’,” I declared, “to activate ‘Dark Core’, sucking your monster into the void.”
A black hole appeared above the ‘Reaper’, but before he could be pulled inside, the ‘Mask of the Undead’ appeared on the ‘Reaper’’s face, and he was surrounded by a transparent red barrier that canceled the energy from my Spell.
“I counter,” said Max, “with my ‘Mask of the Undead’, negating your ‘Dark Core’ and removing my monster from harm’s way.”
“I’ve seen that card enough times to know what it does,” I said, annoyed. “Since I’m out of options, I attack ‘Reaper’ with ‘D.D. Scout Plane’. It may not be able to defeat your ‘Reaper’, but it’ll go back to the Graveyard, allowing me to re-use my ‘Ninja’’s effect yet again.”
As I spoke, ‘D.D. Scout Plane’ lunged at the ‘Reaper’ and swiped with its arms. The ‘Reaper’ dissolved into smoke, reformed, and slashed the ‘Scout Plane’ in half with his scythe, causing it to explode.
“To begin my turn,” said Max, “I reveal the Spell card ‘Book of Life’, removing ‘Dark Master - Zorc’ in your Graveyard from play to revive a Zombie from my Graveyard. Rise again, ‘Nightmare Horse’!”
The ghost horse reappeared alongside its fused counterpart (ATK: 500).
“Don’t forget my ‘Soul Absorption’ card,” I countered, my Life Points rising (7400+500=7900).
Max ignored me, “Now I activate my second ‘Pyramid Energy’, increasing the Attack of my monsters by two hundred apiece (ATK: 800+200=1000/500+200=700). And because all of my monsters share the same ability,” Max explained, smiling wickedly, “I attack you directly with ‘Nightmare Horse’ and ‘Reaper on the Nightmare’!”
The two monsters swarmed me. ‘Nightmare Horse’ kicked me onto my back, knocking the wind from my lungs (7900-700=7200). I sat up painfully, and there was the ‘Reaper’, right in my face. He slashed, and I fell back, writhing in pain (7200-1000=6200). My Life Points were still high, but my body felt like it was coming apart at the seams. I wouldn’t survive much longer.
“And don’t forget,” Max reminded me, “you must discard three cards.”
Without even rising I selected three cards, sending them to the Graveyard. Then, still lying there, I pulled my next card. I looked at it, deciding beforehand that I would be happy no matter what it was. I had done my best, which was all I could really ask of myself, right?
I looked at my card, and I smiled, pushing myself back to my feet. “Sorry Max,” I said, “but I have to beat you now.”
“That’s impossible,” he replied, dismissively.
My smile widened, “Watch, and learn. I sacrifice ‘The Fiend Megacyber’ to summon a new monster.” I looked at my old friend. He nodded, and I nodded back. He disappeared, and a bulky and massive humanoid monster appeared, wearing silver armor. He had puffy green hair, and electricity danced across his body.
“The Dark monster ‘Fiend Megacyber’ gives way,” I declared, “to the Light monster ‘Zaborg the Thunder Monarch’. When he’s summoned, he can instantly destroy any one monster on the field.” The new monster (ATK: 2400) raised his palm, charged with electricity.
“My ‘Reaper’?” Max asked, remaining remarkably calm.
“No,” I replied cheekily, “I’m aiming for your ‘Nightmare Horse’.” Even as I spoke, my monster released the built up energy, vaporizing the ‘Horse’ in an instant.
“Now,” I declared, “I reveal the Trap card ‘Skull Lair’, removing five monsters in my Graveyard from play to destroy the level five ‘Reaper on the Nightmare’.”
I took five cards from my Graveyard and placed them in my pocket where I keep my removed cards during holographic duels (6200+2500=8700). My card flipped up, and a ball of energy formed, launching forward and engulfing the ‘Reaper’. There was a crash and a crackle, and ‘Reaper on the Nightmare’ was gone, leaving Max’s field wide open.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Max. “Next turn I’ll play the ‘Monster Reborn’ card in my hand, and my ‘Reaper’ will return, leaving you right back where you started. You’ve exhausted your hand and your Spell and Trap cards. When my ‘Reaper’ returns, his ability will leave you top-decking, unable to mount a counterattack, until your body finally succumbs to the stress of this Shadow Game and you die. There is nothing you can do, and it is far too late for you to admit defeat.”
“I said I’d beat you right now,” I replied fiercely, “and I wasn’t bluffing. It’s time for me to activate my ace card for this duel. I pay two thousand of the Life Points that I’ve been accumulating to activate the most powerful Spell in my deck, ‘Dimension Fusion’!”
There was a crackle, and the sky above me seemed to fold over. Our dimension merged with the Different Dimension where all removed from play cards go, creating a bridge.
“Thanks to my Spell card,” I explained, smiling with smug satisfaction, “I’m able to summon three of my monsters that have been removed from play, one for each of my open Monster Card Zones.”
As I spoke, ‘Red-Eyes Black Dragon’, ‘Summoned Skull’, and ‘The Fiend Megacyber’ flew through the fold in the sky. The dragon and the demon setting down behind me, and the warrior landed at my side, arms crossed defiantly as he stared our opponent down.
“Next I fuse ‘Red-Eyes’ and ‘Summoned Skull’ using ‘Polymerization’,” I declared, “forming the ‘Black Skull Dragon’!”
‘Summoned Skull’ and ‘Red-Eyes’ merged into the skeletal dragon which had already been Max’s bane once since I’d met him, appearing with a roar (ATK: 3200).
“Now,” I commanded, “attack, Black Fire Meteor and Ninjitsu Shuriken.”
‘Strike Ninja’ threw his knife, and ‘Black Skull Dragon’ launched a barrage of fireballs at Max. He was hit and thrown backward through the air (6000-3200-1700= 1100). He steadied himself, landing firmly in a kneeling position, and looked up into the stern face of my ‘Fiend Megacyber’.
“‘Megacyber’,” I commanded, “finish this farce of a duel, Megacyber Impact.”
‘Fiend Megacyber’ punched my opponent in the face, throwing Max onto his back (1100-2200=0). Our monsters faded, and the darkness around us lessened, the color returning to our surroundings. Max struggled to his feet. For a while we just stood there, my team and I waiting to see exactly what Max would do. Then I sensed something, and my eyes narrowed, Is that fear, coming from Max?
I thought about it and I remembered something that Karen had said during our one-on-one conversation in the park, that if Max weren’t a willing follower of Yami, if he lost, Yami might try to do to Max what he had tried to do to Karen and her allies. I didn't sense Yami's energy around Max as I had Karen and her friends, or the thugs at the mall, but in that moment I realized that Yami might have been controlling Max in a different way.
Would he really try it again? I wondered. Would Yami really challenge me a third time in only a few days?
Before I could even contemplate what the answer might be, I got an answer, straight from Yami himself. The darkness around us seemed to come together, and the shadowy face from the park returned, not looking at Max, but at me, taunting me. Then Yami looked down at Max and said “You failed me again Max. You will get no more second chances. I will use your spirit to fuel my own.”
“No,” I said, “you won’t. You won’t take any more spirits on my watch Yami.”
I stepped forward and flared up my Soul, but Yami was unconcerned. I realized that he was not really interested in Max, but in me, that he was testing just how far I would go to oppose him. Of course Max didn’t know that. Despite the fear that I felt from him, he did something that I found truly impressive.
“No,” said Max, putting up a façade of defiance, looking the dark form of Yami right in the glowing red eyes, “I won’t cower behind others ever again, and I won’t let myself be pushed around, even if it means my death. If you want to take me, Yami, and if you really think you can take on Death, then come and get me.”
He stepped in between me and Yami, and Yami laughed, “You conceded fool! You have no power over me, and I have the greatest power over you, the power of fear!”
“No,” Max argued, “you don’t. See, I realized something today, that I don’t have to be afraid, even when I should be. I saw these people stand against me even though they were afraid," He gestured at me and the others in the Duel Force, "and I learned how to have courage. Not confidence, real courage, and I will wear that courage to my grave.”
Then something happened that I surprisingly still found astonishing. Around Max’s neck, in a flash of light, appeared an amber-colored Soul adorned with a symbol like a golden Egyptian Ankh. I felt Max’s fear literally melt away, dispelled by the new Soul’s magical aura.
“No,” said Yami. “I won’t let another Soul awaken in someone else’s hands.” He reached out with his shadowy hand, but Max wasn’t afraid. In fact, he was laughing.
“Sorry Yami,” he said, “but you don’t have any power over me anymore.” He raised his hand, and Yami’s shadowy arm dissolved.
“Leave here Yami,” I said, stepping up to Max’s side. I raised my hand, and Yami’s body began to melt away. Yami struggled, but his efforts were useless.
“This isn’t over,” Yami said, melting into the ground. “Soon I will have strength enough to come for you in a more permanent body, and then I will have the Duelist’s Souls!”
And just like that, Yami was gone.
I turned to Max, my Soul ready just in case, and as the light of Max’s Soul faded, I asked him, “You okay?”
“I am now,” he said. “Now that I’m free of him.”
I looked over at the crane control booth where my mom was being held. Rocky and Tucker were already helping her down. The ropes were scorched where Tucker had burned them away with his lighter and frayed where Rocky had cut it with his Swiss Army Knife. I turned back to Max, “So Yami had you brainwashed too?”
“No,” he answered, “but Yami has more than one way of controlling a person.”
“How so?” I demanded, still unsure about the validity of Max’s sudden reformation.
Max smiled, “I’m definitely not the most sociable or open person, but there’s something that you all should know, so that maybe you can understand. After what I’ve put you through, the least I can offer you is understanding.”
So my friends, my mom and I gathered around, and with a deep breath, Max began to tell his story.
Card of the Day:
Dimension Fusion
Played by: John
There was no doubt in my mind that once we got to the first appearance of this card that it would end up here. This is John's Kamehameha. His Getsuga Tensho. His Rasengan. His Spirit Gun. His insert Shonen anime protagonist signature attack here!
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