And thus Lawrence's storyline concludes. Finally, after so much time humiliating this character, I give him a story where he grows as a character and accomplishes something. I hope I made this duel exciting. I certainly feel like it is. I love how this duel ends. I got to use a few original card ideas I've had for a while, and I got to show off what Lawrence can do when he actually puts his mind to it, and feels that he has a reason to do well. I also set up for a huge transformation to Lawrence's character at this point. He will, from now on, try to distance himself not just from Kaiba, but from Kaiba's attitude and influence. At the end of this chapter he leaves something important to him behind (well, three somethings), and that's permanent. Next time we see Lawrence duel after this, we'll see the affects of that decision.
The next chapter is Karen going to meet up with Pegasus and get clarification regarding some of the shocking things that she recently learned about him and is, peripherally, tied to the main plot. Then, surprisingly, the two of them play a card game where I feature the anime version of a card that I really wish was like the anime version IRL, as well as a slew of new Toon monsters that I made. It's the original master of Toons versus the master of field control! I mean, there is a chapter of Reaper in there again before the duel even starts, but hey, that's just how I troll.
Chapter Twelve
A Clash of Titans
Kaiba scowled as he assessed his hand. It was obvious that I’d
forced him to use up valuable resources much earlier than he’s planned, leaving
him low on options and facing down my ‘Blue-Eyes’ and my soon-to-be seven card hand.
“I activate,” Kaiba announced, “my ‘Card of Demise’, drawing
until I hold five cards, as long as I agree to give up my hand in five turns.”
I watched as Kaiba drew cards for the effect of a Spell that
he’d intended to save for a big play later in the duel, as his scowl softened
and turned into a wicked smile.
“If I can’t overcome your dragon,” Kaiba declared, “I’ll
match it with a dragon of my own. I play ‘Advance Force’. While I control this
card, my Level Five and Six monsters act as both tributes for the summoning of
a Level Seven or Eight monster.”
‘Swordstalker’’s shadow shimmered, and rose up becoming a
second, semi-solid monster, and both disappeared from the field.
“Behold,” Kaiba declared dramatically, “a true ‘Blue-Eyes
White Dragon’!” In a burst of white light, Kaiba’s own blue-eyed, white-skinned
beast appeared, only the more pronounced body segment plates and slightly
different wings of my dragon distinguishing them from each other. The two
dragons faced each other down and roared.
“I place two cards face-down,” Kaiba concluded, still
smiling, “and I end my turn. Let’s see if your
‘Blue-Eyes’ can overcome the original.”
I went to draw, but I found that my hand was shaking. I looked
up at my opponent’s monster. Seto Kaiba’s ‘Blue-Eyes’ was a legend, and while I
did have a ‘Blue-Eyes’ of my own, and while I did have a potential plan to
defeat his, it still had an overwhelming presence. Kaiba’s dragon, one of the
original ‘Blue-Eyes White Dragons’ created to be the rarest and most powerful
cards ever printed for the main release of the game, seemed to give off a
unique aura, one which threatened to overpower me. Not even my own dragon
standing at my eyes was enough to alleviate my anxiety.
I’d come here intending to duel my mentor. It was why I had
parted ways with Monty to begin with. But, as usual, I’d allowed my emotions to
get the best of me, and I’d turned this duel into something with real stakes. I
refused to allow myself to fall into anymore of the traps that I usually set
for myself.
This time I would not allow myself to look like a fool. I
would win this duel, no matter what,
and no dragon, no matter how legendary, would stand in my way.
I drew, looked at my newest acquisition, and smiled, “I set
four cards, and I pass the turn to you.”
Kaiba drew his next card, still convinced of his
superiority, and completely unaware that I wasn’t just reacting, that I
actually had a plan.
“Your ‘Decoy Dragon’ is a problem,” Kaiba reasoned, “but no
problem is too difficult for me to overcome. I activate the Permanent Spell
card ‘Overwhelming White Light’. While I control this card, when my Light
monster battles your monster with less Attack, the excess energy from my attack
splashes onto another of your monsters with Attack less than the difference.
But, if I activate a Spell or Trap during my Main Phase, this card is
destroyed.”
I scowled, He’s
planning to use that spell to destroy ‘Decoy Dragon’ without having to attack
it, preventing me from using it as an infinite wall, but the only other monster
I control is my ‘Blue-Eyes’. That means he either has a way to power up his ‘Dragon’,
or weaken mine. If it’s the former, I’ll probably lose this, but if not, I
still have a chance.
Kaiba’s malicious smile widened, “Now, I attack your ‘Blue-Eyes
White Dragon’ with mine, Burst Stream of Destruction!”
Kaiba’s dragon opened wide it’s maw, collecting light within
it, ready to breath it at my monster in the form of its signature deadly beam.
“And I make sure my attack gets through,” Kaiba announced, “with
‘Shadow Spell’, ensnaring your monster, cutting its attack.”
I let out a held breath. As my monster’s shadow, deepened by
the building light of my opponent’s attack, reached up and formed chains which
threatened to ensnare him, I declared, “Reveal, ‘Dragon’s Bead’. I discard a
card to negate a Trap which targets my dragon and destroy it.”
A green glow appeared around my dragon, and the chains
dissolved.
My opponent scowled, “Then I won’t attack after all, and I
end my turn.”
I smiled, You may be
afraid to let our monsters battle it out at full strength, but I’m not.
I drew, “It’s time I solidified my control of this duel. I
summon ‘Lord of Dragons’ in attack mode, and command him to attack your
monster.”
“What?!” my opponent exclaimed as my dragon-armored sorcerer
(ATK: 1200) summoned an orb of black light to throw at the ‘White Dragon’, only
for him to be vaporized in a wave of white light which swept over him from
above (8000 -> 6200).
“What did that accomplish?” Kaiba wondered condescendingly.
“Oh,” I said, gesturing behind me, “nothing, except
contributing to that, my ‘Guardian Idol’ Field Trap.”
As I spoke, the ground beneath us became a rocky land
bridge. Behind me, at the end of the land bridge, appeared a huge stone statue
of a man which towered above the field. A crystal in his chest began to flash
blue, and stones rose us from beneath the land bridge and floated slowly around
the statue’s head.
Kaiba’s eyes narrowed, “An interesting card, and a risky
one. It won’t pay off, though, because I won’t let you get off the four attacks
that you need to activate its full effect.”
My eyes narrowed likewise, “You don’t have a choice. Next, I
attack your ‘Blue-Eyes’ with my own.”
The two nearly identical dragons unleashed their
identically-powerful attacks, which met in midair in a brilliant flash of white
light, and the flashing in the statue’s chest intensified, more stones rising
up to orbit it.
I showed Kaiba the same smile that he so enjoyed showing
others, “but I don’t plan on our monsters destroying each other. Oh no, I’m
activating a Spell which I included in my deck just for situations like this,
the Spell card ‘Ultimate Clash’, which sets off various effects based on how
similar our battling monsters are to each other.”
Even through the glow of our still-clashing monsters’
attacks, I saw Kaiba’s eyes widen in alarm.
“That’s right,” I told Kaiba, “because our monsters are
completely identical, I activate every effect. We each take damage for each
monster we control, for the levels of our battling monsters, and damage equal
to the attack of the opponent’s battling monster, and then one card that each
of us controls is destroyed.”
Energy surged from the clashing beams, striking each of us
(7500 -> 3600/6200 -> 2200), rolling off of us, and destroying Kaiba’s ‘Overwhelming
White Light’, and my ‘Dragon’s Bead’.
“Next,” I explained, standing there completely unfazed by
the staggering loss of life that I’d just experienced, something which Kaiba
couldn’t himself boast, “We each get to remove one card from our Graveyard to
our hand, and thanks to your ‘Virus’ card, I can choose from practically my
entire deck.”
I reached down and took a card from my Graveyard into my
hand triumphantly.
“And finally,” I said as the two clashing dragons finally
got winded and there attacks came to an end, “because our two monsters are so
perfectly matched, their battle ends up a draw, and neither destroys the other.”
“You’re still losing,” Kaiba insisted, beginning to regain
his composure.
“No,” I told him in a matter of fact way, “I’m not. Activate
‘Quick Summon’, tributing my ‘Blue-Eyes White Dragon’ and my ‘Decoy Dragon’ to
summon my most powerful monster.”
My two dragons disappeared, and were replaced by another
dragon with a long, slender body covered in golden plates, like armor, its
wings spread wide as it roared at the holographic sky.
“Behold,” I announced, “my Soul, the ‘Felgrand Dragon’ (ATK:
2800)!”
Kaiba laughed, “I gave you three ‘Blue-Eyes White Dragons’
and you dare to call that your most
powerful monster?”
“It is my most powerful monster,” I insisted, “because if
there’s one thing you taught me it’s to be ruthless, and this monster is the
most ruthless thing you’ve ever seen. ‘Felgrand Dragon’, attack the ‘Blue-Eyes
White Dragon’!”
My dragon charged golden light in its throat, as the
flashing on my statue’s chest intensified again, and even more stoned rose up
into the air.
“‘Blue-Eyes’,” Kaiba said, chuckling slightly in the
condescending way that he does, “destroy that pathetic excuse for a dragon,
Burst Stream!”
‘Felgrand Dragon’ breathed his golden beam, and ‘Blue-Eyes’
breathed his white beam. The latter overpowered the former rather easily, and
my dragon was blown away (2200 -> 2000).
“I warned you,” Kaiba said, “would you care to try again?”
I think I genuinely surprised him when I said, “Actually, I
think I will. I reveal ‘Rope of Life’, discarding my entire hand to revive my
monster with an additional eight hundred Attack, before my Battle Phase ends.”
A glowing rope appeared and reached into my Graveyard,
pulling from it a glowing shape which blossomed out and became my dragon, which
roared even more fiercely than before (ATK: 2800 -> 3600).
Kaiba scowled. He knew what was coming. “You won’t defeat me
so easily,” he said. “Reveal ‘Gift of the Mystical Elf’, increasing my Life
Points by three hundred for every monster on the field (3600 -> 4200).”
“It doesn’t matter,” I told him, “because when ‘Felgrand
Dragon’ is summoned from the Graveyard, his Attack increases by two hundred
times the Level of the highest Level monster in my Graveyard. Like my Level Ten
‘Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon’ destroyed by your ‘Crush Card’.”
My dragon spread his wings to their full width and rose into
the holographic sky (ATK: 3600 -> 5600).
“I declare my fourth attack,” I said, as my monster summoned
up his attack again, even brighter than before.
“You can’t,” Kaiba protested, his eyes filling with
disbelief, truly surprised by the turn of events.
“Oh yes I can,” I replied, the stone in the chest of the
statue behind me finally glowing solid blue. Even more of the large stones rose
up above our heads, and suddenly the entire sky above us was filled with them. “With
my fourth attack, the full power of my statue activates. Now, whenever one of
my monsters battles one of yours, the guardian aids it in battle, cutting the
Attack of your monster by the original Attack of mine.”
Stones wreathed in blue light fell from the sky, surrounding
the ‘Blue-Eyes White Dragon’ and boxing it in. It looked around, and the
finally looked up, just in time to see my dragon appear overhead. It didn’t
have time to react (ATK: 3000 -> 200), and my ‘Felgrand Dragon’ blasted it
apart. Light exploded outward, washing over my opponent. There was a bright
flash, and Kaiba’s Life Points were stripped away. When the light faded, the
holographic field around us had faded. We were back in Kaiba’s office, with
Kaiba standing dumbstruck behind his desk.
“So are you still glad that you broadcast our duel over the
internet?” I asked. “If a loss to you would damage my reputation, what do you
think a loss to me will do to yours?”
“I-I lost,” Kaiba stammered, “to you.”
“You know, Kaiba,” I told him, my expression darkening as I
watched sweat form on my mentor’s brow as he grew more and more panicked, “I
came here believing that you were superior to me, that you were the superior
Duelist, and the superior man, and that maybe, maybe, I’d reached a point where I might be worthy of being called
your equal, but now I understand the truth. Now I understand that I’m superior to you.”
I looked down at my deck, and on a whim, I fanned out all of my cards, and I removed the three 'Blue-Eyes' that Kaiba had given to me. I barely even had to think about it. I tossed the three cards to the floor, and I laughed and said, "In fact, I've grown so much that, unlike you, I don't need these anymore."
I looked down at my deck, and on a whim, I fanned out all of my cards, and I removed the three 'Blue-Eyes' that Kaiba had given to me. I barely even had to think about it. I tossed the three cards to the floor, and I laughed and said, "In fact, I've grown so much that, unlike you, I don't need these anymore."
I turned defiantly and strode from Kaiba’s office, “Think
about that tomorrow while you try to salvage your reputation.”
I walked through the darkened upstairs reception area, rode
the elevator to the ground floor, crossed the lobby, and stepped outside,
leaving Kaiba Corporation, and everyone associated with it, behind, never to
look back.
Card of the Day:
Ultimate Clash
Played by: Lawrence
This is one of those cards that the anime/manga throws at us sometimes, that is just overblown and ridiculous, and that's what made it so fun to create. Without this ridiculous card, Lawrence never would have accomplished what he did in this chapter, and the duel wouldn't have been nearly as exciting.
Original Cards in This Chapter:
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