And here we have the conclusion of Sarah's duel with the defensive Deschutes Lew. Anyone who has read Yu-Gi-Oh! R will recognize Deschutes' signature 'Castle Gate' card here. This card allows the Card Professor to really push Sarah into a corner, as her 'Tornado Wall' is useless against its cannon attack special ability.
But the duel itself isn't the most important aspect of this chapter. What matters is the end, where we get an idea of another aspect of the Mystery Man's plan. He has truly stacked the deck in his favor, and further ensured that John won't have any choice but to face him in whatever type of duel he wants.
Chapter EighteenSarah vs. the Impenetrable Gate
I was beaming. I’d managed to create my ‘Tornado Wall’ defense without even having to use my ‘A Legendary Ocean’ field spell, and just in time to some pretty decent damage to my Life Points. In fact, the fact that I didn’t control a Field at the time, when using a deck like mine, had likely influenced my opponent’s last turn, giving me an opportunity to get a good look at his strategy.
He was a defensive player, one capable of attacking from a secure defensive position. The fact that he used a card like ‘Shooting Star Bow’ meant that he was probably the kind of person who prefered to ignore the opponent’s monsters and deal direct damage as much as possible. I was impressed. His strategy, which seemed to defend on the front row while attacking with effects from the back, was almost the exact opposite of mine. I was typically able to remain secure behind my ‘Tornado Wall’ for at least a few turns against most Duelists, but against someone whose strategy was so similar to mine, I couldn’t be sure. So you can imagine how excited I was when I drew…
“‘Card of Sanctity’!” We each draw until we hold six cards, which means I start the duel with an entirely new hand.
I drew six cards, and felt a happy, confident smile spread across my face.
“Oh, Deschutes Lew, you have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into Dueling me. I play ‘Terraforming’, allowing me to search my deck for any Field Spell Card.”
I thumbed through my deck, chose a card, and played it, “Welcome to ‘A Legendary Ocean’!”
The water below our feet gleamed, and massive golden city shimmered into existence far below the surface.
“Now that’s more like it,” I said, satisfied. “With this card out, all of my water monsters gain two hundred Attack, and the Level of every Water monster and I control, and every Water monster in my hand, is reduced by one, which is pretty great.
“Next,” I continued, “I activate the effect of my ‘Forgotten Temple’, allowing a level four or lower monster to hide in the ‘Temple’’s depths for one turn.”
My ‘Orca’ descended rapidly into the ‘Oceans’’s depths, until it was out of sight.
“And now,” I said, “because I technically don’t have any monsters on the board, my ‘Water Hazard’ activates, letting me Special Summon a new monster. I Special Summon another Level Four monster. And the monster I choose is my ‘Giga Gagagigo’!”
A pillar of seawater shot into the air in front of me. When the water fell away, a new monster stood upon the waves in its place. He was tall, much taller than me, with green skin, and shining steel, spike-studded mechanical armored arms, legs, and claws. It roared with angry ferocity (ATK: 2450 -> 2650).
“My monster attacks,” I declared, “and destroys your annoying warrior and his cute little shield.”
‘Gagagigo’ charged. ‘Total Defense Shogun’ lifted his giant shield, but my monster shoved with giant Lady Deathstrike claws right through it, shattering it, and piercing the body behind it.
“I end my turn,” I concluded, and my ‘Orca Mega-Fortress’ rose back up from the depths to rejoin my ranks.
“You’re strong, kid,” said Deschutes.
“Teenager,” I interjected.
“But you aren’t strong enough, if that’s your best,” my opponent continued. “I pay eight hundred Life Points to activate the Spell card ‘Brain Control’ (7700 -> 6900), letting me take control of your ‘Orca’ until the end of the turn.”
“Bad move,” I countered, “because, in case you forgot, I can send my ‘Orca’ deep under water, out of the reach of your spell.”
“Not if I discard ‘Level Inducer’,” Deschutes likewise countered, “increasing your monster’s Level by one.”
A small robot appeared. It had two long, springy arms. One ended in a point for stabbing and snatching up a level star to steal. The other ended in a claw, which it used to take in hand a Level star produced from the monster’s chest, reach out, and insert it into my ‘Orca’’s body. The robot faded from the field, and my monster, no longer eligible for the effect of ‘Forgotten Temple of the Deep’, was snatched up by a pair of long transparent arms and carried to Deschutes’ side.
“And to ‘Brain Control’,” Deschutes announced, “I chain ‘Spell Reclamation’, discarding ‘Ruthless Denial’ to return ‘Brain Control’ to my hand. And I tribute your ‘Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness’ to summon my ‘Castle Gate’.”
My brainwashed monster was replaced suddenly by a huge statue with massive red doors making up the majority of its body, the top of a castle tower making up its head. With a creak and a groan, the statue moved huge stone arms, reaching around in front of itself and pulling the doors open, revealing a large iron cannon behind them (ATK: 0).
“My monster is stationary,” Deschutes explained, “so it can’t attack you itself, but once per turn, if it’s in attack mode, it can launch another monster that I control directly at my opponent. It destroys the monster, but it deals damage equal to the monster’s attack right to my opponent’s Life Points. And I know just which monster to launch. I replay ‘Brain Control’ (6900 -> 6100) to take control of your ‘Gagagigo’.”
“Crap,” I said. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen it coming, but that didn’t mean I liked it when those psychic hands reached out and grabbed the head of one of my two favorite monsters, walked him over to Deschutes’ side, and stepped him into the cannon.
“‘Castle Gate’,” Deschutes commanded with a little sideways smirk, “launch the lizard.”
There was a bang, and my monster was fired from the cannon. My ‘Tornado Wall’ sprung up to protect me, but the high-speed bulk of an entire monster launched at such high speed was too much for them to deflect quickly enough. My monster plunged through them and exploded against me (6800 -> 4350).
“Last, but certainly not least,” Deschutes concluded, “I equip my ‘Castle Gate’ with ‘Spirit Burner’. Now, once per turn, I can use the effect of this spell to change it to defense mode,” the monster reached down and closed its doors (DEF: 2400).
“That,” Deschutes concluded, “ends my turn.”
I drew, and I scowled at my hand. I had every card I needed for a turnaround except for one.
All of the monsters he has, I reasoned, seem to have higher Defense than Attack, and I still have half of my Life Points. Any monster that he summons to launch at me won’t do too much damage. I should be able to hold out for at least a few more turns.
“Alright,” I said, “I’ll give you that one. That was good. But I’m not out of this yet. I summon ‘Catapult Turtle’ in defense mode.”
A large mechanical turtle with a sliding launcher grafted to its shell appeared at my side (DEF: 2000 -> 2200).
“I place one card face-down,” I concluded, “and I pass.”
“Then here goes,” Deschutes announced, “my big play! I play ‘Pot of Greed’. And next, I summon my ‘Summoner Monk’!”
A priest in blue and white robes appeared at Deschutes’ side (DEF: 1600).
I sighed, annoyed, Well that’s just great. Now he has access to practically any monster in his deck!
“My monster himself can’t be tributed,” Deschutes explained, “but I can use him to summon a monster from my deck once per turn. I equip him with ‘Heart of Clear Water’, to ensure his survival, and then I discard a Spell from my hand to activate his effect.”
He discarded ‘Mind Control’, and a pig man carrying a stone hammer appeared with a flash.
“This is my ‘Boar Soldier’,” Deschutes explained. “He dies if he’s normal summoned, and his Attack is halved if you control a monster, but when I launch him, it does damage equal to his original two thousand Attack.
‘Castle Gate’ opened its doors, and the pig man climbed inside. ‘Castle Gate’ launched the new monster at me I threw up my arms instinctively as the monster tore through my ‘Tornado Wall’ and exploded in my face (4350 -> 2350). I looked across at my opponent. He was so sure of himself. I quickly ran through every Level four monster I knew of, trying to guess which monster he would summon to launch at me next. I couldn’t think of a specific monster that he might use, but I knew of more than one Level four monster with enough attack to finish me off with just one more blast.
If I don’t win this turn, I realized, I’m going to lose next turn. I don’t have all of the cards I need for my plan yet, but I don’t think I can risk waiting.
“I use ‘Spirit Burner’ to-,” my opponent began.
“No you don’t,” I interjected, “because I reveal ‘Mystical Space Typhoon’ to destroy that Spell before you can use its effect. Your monster stays in Attack mode!”
A whirlwind rose from the ocean at my feet and tore through the hologram of the ‘Spirit Burner’, and the doors of the ‘Castle Gate’ didn’t close. For the first time all game, Deschutes looked concerned.
“Now I draw,” I declared. I turned my new card over slowly in my hand, and smiled when I saw the blue color of its border.
“Deschutes Lew,” I said, “you aren’t the only duelist who can attack through the opponent’s defenses. Your ‘Castle Gate’ is open. That means I can send any of my monsters right through to attack you directly. And what a monster I plan to attack you with. I activate ‘Level Award’, changing the Level of my Level four ‘Catapult Turtle’ to eight, and I initiate the ‘Turtle Oath’, offering the ‘Catapult Turtle’ as tribute,” all but the shell of the turtle melted away, and the shell changed form slightly, “for the Ritual Summon of my ‘Crab Turtle’.”
Crab legs grew from the back and stomach of the shell. Pincers extended from the forward leg holes, and thick strong reptile legs extended from the rear leg holes. The creature pushed itself upright onto those legs, and a single eye sprouted from its head hole, blinking and clicking its pincers as it looked around (ATK: 2550 -> 2750).
“Finally,” I said, “I equip my monster with ‘Ice Blade’,” water rose up from the ocean, stretching and shaping and freezing into a long, icicle-like blade that my newest monster wore over his right claw (2750 -> 3650), “and I play ‘Monster Reborn’ to return my ‘Giga Gagagigo’ back to the field as well. I march both of my monsters through the ‘Gate’, and I hit you with the full force of their attacks (Total ATK: 6300).”
My monster charged through the large red open door and struck one after another, and Deschutes Lew, the Card Professor, was defeated.
“Now step off of your trigger panel,” I insisted, “and let me outta here.”
“I really wish I could,” he replied, and he really sounded like he meant it, “but the truth is, you were never supposed to leave here. I never stepped on my trigger.”
His form flickered for a moment, and I knew.
“In fact,” Deschutes finished, “I was never actually here at all. I hope you get out, though.”
And then, just as it had in the previous room, the holographic image of Deschutes disappeared. Suddenly I was alone, standing atop a trap trigger, with no way out.
Card of the Day:
Ice Blade
Played by: Sarah
I found this image, and I just had to make a card out of it. Now Sarah has a sword to give to her monsters. It is stronger than John's "Fusion Sword", but has to be made using water from one of Sarah's Field cards. I, at least, think it is a pretty neat idea.
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