Finally, the last of the Card Professors is dealt with. Unlike in Yu-Gi-Oh! R, Depre is the number one Card Professor instead of Richie, only because he managed to defeat Richie very recently, off screen. I don't say it anywhere in this book, but Depre only defeated Richie and took the title of number one by getting lucky. Normally, Richie is pretty definitively Depre's superior. That's why John's duel with Depre seems so much easier than Karen's duel with Richie. Could I have drawn out this duel? Could I have injected it with filler turns to make it more dramatic, and stretch it out over two chapters? Yeah, I could have. But that isn't the point of this chapter.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
John vs. Depre Scott;
A Battle Among the Stars
I stepped through the double doors into the next chamber, knowing that my friends and allies were doing the same thing. I heard the doors slide closed behind me, and I heard distant clanks of the other sets of doors closing as well. I looked across the room at my opponent. Depre Scott stood there, alone, in front of another set of doors. He wasn't looking at me. I followed his gaze, and I saw that between us, spaced several feet apart, barely visible in the low emergency lights that lined the upper edge of the gunmetal walls, were two large floor panels, each large enough for a person to stand on, and even keep their stance fairly wide if they wanted to. It wasn't hard to guess what they were for.
I stopped walking just before stepping onto the panel closer to me, and finally, Depre acknowledged my presence. "I should tell you, despite everything, I've been looking forward to this. I'm strong. That's not pride, it's a fact. And yet the new Number One was able to defeat me in only a few turns. I'm curious as to why he's so interested in you."
"I'd like to know that myself, to be perfectly honest," I told him. "So, I imagine that there's no way to get past you without a duel?"
"Honestly," Depre said, to my surprise, "in a situation like this, I'd like to just let you by. The new Number One is just as much a threat to myself and the other Card Professors as he is to you. But, as I said, I'm curious. I want to know how powerful you are compared to him."
He gestured to the panel at his feet, "All we have to do is step onto these panels and duel, without stepping back off. If my Life Points reach zero, the door behind me will open. If your Life Points drop to zero, the door behind you will open and you and your friends will be free to go. But don't worry. Even if I am about to win, I plan to surrender. The Card Professors can't beat him, whoever he is. If there's a chance that you can, I'm not going to get in your way."
"That's fine," I told him, stepping onto my panel without hesitation. I activated my Academy Standard Duel Disk, momentarily thrown off by the unfamiliar shape and weight of the un-modified device. It felt odd.
Depre smiled, ever so slightly, amused by how nonchalantly I'd agreed to his terms, and he stepped onto the panel at his own feet, and activated his own Disk. I heard two distinct clicks as both devices came online. "I'll move first," Depre announced stoically, and I didn't object. I wouldn't come out and say it, but I was curious about Depre's power, too.
Depre drew his opening hand, and declared, "I summon the extraterrestrial monster, 'EVA Psywall', in defense mode, and place a card face-down."
An alien creature with large eyes and large rounded lobes pulsating on either side of its bulbous head appeared, floating in the air defensively between me and my opponent (DEF: 500). I was taken aback. I'd never seen this monster, but it did have "wall" in its name. Clearly it was a defensive monster, but with only five hundred Defense, its defensive potential had to come from its effect.
"Interesting," I replied. "Let's see what your monster can do. I summon my 'V-Tiger Jet'."
A robotic yellow tiger with green jet wings appeared hovering across from the enemy monster (ATK: 1600).
"I attack your 'EVA' monster," I commanded, and my monster roared, energy building in its mouth.
"Then I activate my monster's effect," Depre countered, "sending 'D.D. Telepon' from my hand to the Graveyard to bolster my monster's defense by eighteen hundred. Go, Telekinetic Wall!"
The 'EVA''s lobes pulsed, and it raised its two four-fingered hands. The tips of each of its extra long fingers glowed, and a wall of rippling light appeared just in time to deflect my monster's beam attack, sending a portion of it's energy back at me, and damaging my Life (DEF: 500 -> 2300/8000 -> 7300). I smiled with anticipation. I'd expected something interesting from his monster, and I hadn't been let down.
"I set two cards," I concluded, "and I end my turn."
Depre drew his next card without a word, his eyes fierce, "Activate 'Emergency Teleport' to Special Summon another 'D.D. Telepon' from my deck."
Depre's monster, a floating robotic pod, appeared hovering in the air at Depre's side.
"I attack with my 'Telepon'," Depre commanded, "and reveal 'Psychic Reactor', removing my monster, and his target, from play."
'Telepon' rushed through the air toward my 'Tiger Jet'. Just before the two monsters could commence an exchange of attacks, a sterile-looking white metal device with a green internal glow appeared below them. Energy lanced from the device, hitting both monsters. They rippled and disappeared.
"Because 'Telepon' was removed from play," Depre explained, "I can remove the third 'D.D. Telepon' in my deck from play as well."
I frowned, What could he have planned for that third monster? There has to be a reason why he went out of his way to remove it from play, too.
"I end my turn," Depre declared. He was projecting the absolute confidence of someone who had a plan well under way.
"Okay," I said, drawing again, "I'd better kick things up a notch. I play 'Optical Twinning'. I treat one monster on the field as two monsters for the rest of the turn, for the purposes of card effects."
Depre's 'Psywall' rippled, and disappeared for just a second, and then faded back into existence, it's image having split into two translucent visages of itself. I flashed Depre my trademark smug smile.
"Now," I explained, "because you control two more monsters than I do, I can Special Summon 'The Fiend Megacyber'!"
In a flash of black and yellow static, my warrior appeared at my side, his yellow armor charged with electricity, his fists held ready to strike (ATK: 2200).
"And because I Special Summoned a Warrior monster," I continued, "I can play 'Special Draw' to draw two cards from my deck."
I drew again, "Now I normal summon my 'X-Head Canon' in attack mode."
A blue and yellow robotic torso appeared, floating at my side, a canon on each shoulder (ATK: 1800).
"I attack your 'Psywall'," I declared, "with Megacyber Impact." My Megacyber raised his fist, ready to lunge at the enemy, but before he could, the entire battlefield changed, giving him pause.
"Because you Special Summoned a monster," Depre explained, "I can activate 'Demise of the Land', taking this fight to my world, 'Cosmic Space'."
"It certainly is," I remarked, as I looked around. The room around us had become an endless expanse of twinkling stars and glowing nebulae in every direction. I could still feel the floor beneath my feet, but looking down, I could see no sign that it was there.
"In 'Cosmic Space'," Depre explained, "our monsters' Levels become their life force. They gain Life Stars equal to their Level, and they lose a Life Star at the end of each turn. If a monster would gain or lose Levels, it gains or loses the same number of Life Stars at the same time. And if a monster runs out of Life Stars, it dies."
"Interesting," I told him, "but unless I missed something, that does nothing to prevent my monster from attacking. So I continue my attack."
'The Fiend Megacyber' raised his fist again, and rushed toward 'EVA Psywall'. It wouldn't be so easy for Depre to increase the Defense of his monster to a level to withstand this attack. Lucky for Depre, he was competent enough as a Duelist to be up to the task. His monster's barrier sprung up again, and fist met barrier. Black and Yellow lightning burst from the point of impact, but none of it made it through. Energy lanced back and hit me (7300 -> 7000).
"I discard," Depre explained, "'EVA Martyr', a monster with two thousand Defense, increasing the Defense of my 'Psywall' to twenty-five hundred."
I cricked my neck and shot Depre's monster the evil eye, as 'Megacyber' returned to my side, Okay, that's starting to get a little annoying now.
"I end my turn," I said, watching as a Life Star fell away from each of my monsters. I did some quick subtraction, figuring that my 'Megacyber' had five remaining Life Stars, my 'Head Canon' had three, and his 'Psywall', only two.
"Then I draw," Depre began, "and during the Standby Phase of my turn, the monster removed from play by 'Telepon''s effect is summoned to my field.
The third 'Telepon' appeared alongside 'Psywall'
"Ah," I said out loud, "that's what you were planning for that monster."
"That's right," Depre explained, "and now that I have two monsters on the field, for real this time, I can tribute them both to summon my ultimate monster," 'Telepon' and 'Psywall' disappeared and were replaced by a monstrous floating torso with long arms ending in sharp claws, with a giant, evil-looking mouth in its gut.
"This is my 'Greed Quasar'," Depre explained, "a monster whose Attack is based on how many Life Stars it has (Life Stars: 7/ATK: 2100).
"Next I remove 'EVA Martyr' in my Graveyard from play to give its Levels to 'Greed Quasar', increasing its Life Stars by the same amount (Life Stars: 7 -> 10/ATK: 2100 -> 3000), and I attack 'The Fiend Megacyber'. 'Greed Quasar', devour the monster, and absorb its very Life!"
'Greed Quasar' snatched 'Megacyber' up in his claws, and stuffed him into the mouth in his gut, eating him in one bite (7000 -> 6200). 'Greed Quasar' roared as it absorbed my monster's Life, extending its Life, and increasing its power even further (Life Stars: 10 -> 15/ATK: 3000 -> 4500).
"I end my turn," Depre concluded, "and our monsters each lose another Life Star."
Another star fell away from each monster, leving my 'Head Canon' with only two, and leaving 'Greed Quasar' with fourteen (ATK: 4500 -> 4200).
Depre frowned, "The new Number One may think highly of you, but so far, I'm not really seeing it. You might be strong, but at best, you've only been keeping pace with me this duel. But when I dueled the new Number One, there wasn't a single moment where he wasn't in control. Even if you do manage to overcome my monster and defeat me, you'll have to do exceptionally well to convince me that you're any kind of match for him."
I smiled, and met Depre's eyes, "Well, maybe this will do the trick."
I drew my next card, "Activate 'Painful Choice'. I choose five cards from my deck, show then to you, and you choose one to add to my hand. Then I discard the rest."
I thumbed through my deck and chose five cards, placing them on my Duel Disk in the four open monster zones, and the Field Spell slot. Holograms of those cards appeared above my head. I saw Depre frown as he looked them over. Either he had an idea what I had planned after seeing them, or he knew that I had used a move like this in the past. After all, my five cards were 'W-Winged Catapult', 'Y-Dragon Head', 'Z-Metal Tank', 'Limiter Removal', and 'Dimension Fusion'.
"Add 'W-Winged Catapult' to your hand," Depre commanded.
I frowned as I did what I was told, "That's a little disappointing. I don't really know what I expected you to do, but I was hoping that a Duelist powerful enough to lead the Card Professors wouldn't just pick the same monster that everyone does."
"Just continue your turn," Depre said. "I know as well as you do that it didn't matter what card I chose in this situation."
I shrugged in agreement, and continued, "In that case, I summon 'W-Winged Catapult'," a boxy blue flying missile pod appearing alongside my other monster.
"I activate 'Soul Release', removing 'The Fiend Megacyber', 'Y-Dragon Head' and 'Z-Metal Tank' from play, and reveal the Trap card 'Return from the Different Dimension' to Special Summon my remaining magnet monsters that are removed from play at the cost of half of my Life Points (6200 -> 3100)."
"I activate 'Soul Release', removing 'The Fiend Megacyber', 'Y-Dragon Head' and 'Z-Metal Tank' from play, and reveal the Trap card 'Return from the Different Dimension' to Special Summon my remaining magnet monsters that are removed from play at the cost of half of my Life Points (6200 -> 3100)."
Space rippled at my side, and 'V-Tiger Jet' appeared, alongside a red robotic dragon and a yellow robotic tank.
"My monsters," I announced, "combine together."
'X-Head Cannon' stacked onto the back of 'Y-Dragon Head', which stacked onto the back of 'Z-Metal Tank', and 'V-Tiger Jet' stacked onto the back of 'W-Winged Catapult', forming 'XYZ-Dragon Cannon' and 'VW-Tiger Catapult'. Then the two monsters split apart again. 'W-Winged Catapult' split in half and unfolded into legs. 'Z-Metal Tank' split in half, becoming arms. 'Y-Dragon Head''s wings split off, and its body became a waste holding the legs together. The arms, the wings, and the entirety of 'X-Head Canon' and 'V-Tiger Jet' formed a torso. The two halves of the monster linked together into a tall humanoid mech.
"This," I explained, "is one of the most powerful Machine-type monsters in the game, 'VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon' (ATK: 3000). I activate his effect, removing your monster from play."
My monster slung electricity from its hands at 'Greed Quasar'. The electricity rolled across the monster's body. Space rippled around 'Greed Quasar', forming something resembling a black hole around it. The creature struggled, but soon, it was gone.
"Attack directly," I commanded, "with Cannon Firestorm!"
My 'Dragon Catapult Cannon' aimed all of its various guns at Depre, and fired them all off at once. Depre, who had managed to preserve all of his Life Points up until this point, was shocked as three thousand of those Life Points were burned away in an instant (8000 -> 5000).
"Not bad," Depre said, through gritted teeth, trying to hide his frustration at losing his best card, "but I can still come back from this. Your would-be opponent had me beaten pretty decisively by this point in our duel."
"Then he and I have something in common," I told Depre with a smirk. "I activate 'Burial from the Different Dimension' to move your three removed from play monsters to your Graveyard, and I activate 'Dimension Explosion', returning the Fusion monster 'Dragon Catapult Cannon' to my Fusion Deck."
My magnet monster disappeared in another ripple in space, leaving a hole open in the place where it had been.
"This allows me to Special Summon two of my removed from play monsters," I explained, and one of the 'Dragon Catapult Cannon''s components, 'XYZ-Dragon Cannon' emerged from the hole (ATK: 2800), alongside 'The Fiend Megacyber'.
"Finish it," I said simply. 'Dragon Cannon' fired five energy blasts at once, hitting Depre, who was stunned motionless, directly in the chest. There was a flash of light, and by the time it faded, there was 'The Fiend Megacyber', his fist raised. He struck Depre, and in a flash of yellow and black static, the rest of the Card Professor's Life Points were stripped away. Our surroundings returned to the unpainted, gunmetal walls, and our monsters faded as our Duel Disks shut down.
"Wow," said, "I hope that was impressive enough for you, because I'm going to be honest, that time I even impressed myself."
Card of the Day:
Greed Quasar
Played by: Depre Scott
Literally just because it's another of the few Card Professor monsters that were actually printed.
Original Cards in This Chapter:
Original Cards in This Chapter:
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