The supernatural aspects of this duel will never be explained. Try not to think of this as a screw you to anyone who reads this, and think of it as something more akin to the final episode of Lost okay bad example.
Chapter TenRound Two Begin!
Max vs. The Masked Duelist
“Well,” said the announcer, “it seems that Exodus, scheduled to duel John of the Duel Force in the first block of Round Two has gone missing.”
Even inside the back room where the pairings were again taking place I could hear the confused murmurs of the crowd.
“It seems,” the announcer continued, “that John will get a buy to the next round. That means we have Max vs. the mysterious Masked Duelist as the only duel in the first block, followed by Paul Tucker vs. Christopher Johnson and Yugi Muto vs. tournament sponsor Seto Kaiba in the second block!”
As soon as the duel between Yugi and Kaiba was announced, the crowd went beyond wild. Everyone here, myself included, was excited to see these longtime rivals duke it out.
But first Max was up against the Masked Duelist, a powerful opponent who had defeated Lawrence with very little effort. Lawrence had been falling behind in his development as a Duelist lately, but he was still scary strong. Anyone who could sweep him under the rug the way the Masked Duelist had was powerful. More powerful than I could readily guess.
I turned to Max and asked, “You ready for this?”
“To be perfectly honest,” Max answered, “I’m not sure. This guy’s deck reminds me of the one that my old friend Randy used to use. This guy stirs up bad memories for me. Like there was this thing that Randy used to say right before he would beat an opponent. For some reason I can’t get it out of my head.”
“I don’t mean to sound insensitive,” I said curiously, “but are you sure that Randy’s really dead?”
“Yeah,” Max answered thoughtfully, “which is why it’s so weird that I keep thinking that this kid might be him.”
“Just do your best,” I said. “If you do that much then either way you’ve won, and whatever is supposed to happen will happen.”
He laughed, “You know I don’t buy into that bullshit.” We walked out of the pairings room, and Max and the Masked Duelist continued out onto the stadium floor.
Good luck, I thought. I get the feeling you’ll need it.
Max
To be honest I thought as I walked toward the duel stage, winning really isn’t my primary concern this time.
I looked over at my opponent as we stepped up across from each other. Randy, is that you? I fight this duel to find out.
I flashed a wicked smile, “You don’t stand a chance,” I said. “No one can escape Death.”
The Masked Duelist smiled back confidently, “That’s good news for me, since killing is my specialty. I place one card and set one monster.”
A stealth strategy, I thought, like many of the ones that Randy used to use. But considering his deck that much is expected.
“I’ll counter your stealth tactics with this,” I declared. “’Polymerization’ fuses my ‘Nightmare Horse’ with one of my favorite cards, the ‘Spirit Reaper’, to form my signature card, the ‘Reaper on the Nightmare’!”
A grim reaper appeared, riding atop a ghostly horse that was glowing blue and wrapped in bandages (ATK: 800).
“My monster not only has the power to attack you directly, it also forces you to discard a card randomly from your hand every time it deals you battle damage.
“Next I summon a second grim reaper, my ‘Emissary of the Afterlife’.” A second reaper appeared, carrying a decorated scythe (ATK: 1600).
“You triggered my Trap,” said the Masked Duelist, “’Trap Hole’, destroying your monster.”
‘Emissary’ was swallowed up by the ground beneath him.
“Then I’ll attack directly with ‘Reaper on the Nightmare’,” I commanded, making sure not to miss a beat, and my ‘Reaper’ flew forward and slashed with his scythe (8000-800=7200). The Masked Duelist shuffled his hand and discarded a card with a smile. I watched him discard the ‘Dark Assailant’.
“Next I place a card face-down,” I said, “and end my turn.”
This is the first test. Randy would be able to kill my ‘Reaper’ easily this turn, despite his effect. In fact, Randy would have foreseen my monster’s coming and set up a specific defense.
“I draw,” said the Masked Duelist, “and flip-summon my ‘Night Assailant’, destroying any monster, including your ‘Reaper’.”
The cloaked, dagger-wielding ‘Night Assailant’ leaped out of the shadows and sliced my ‘Reaper’ in half so fast that his invulnerability couldn’t activate (ATK: 300).
“I’ll also set one monster and activate ‘Premature Burial’," the Masked Duelist continued, "paying eight hundred Life Points to revive ‘Dark Assailant’ and equip it with this card (7200-800=6400).”
The assassin in the skull mask appeared, holding a set of knives in his right hand (ATK: 1200).
“I attack directly with my monsters,” the Masked Duelist declared. ‘Night Assailant’ ran past me, slashing with his dagger, and ‘Dark Assailant’ threw his knives (8000-1200-300=6500). “Turn end.”
I took a surprised breath, Exactly what Randy would have done, especially if he knew he was fighting me.
‘I reveal ‘Monster Reborn’,” I said as the glowing red ankh appeared at my side, “calling ‘Reaper on the Nightmare’ back from the dead (ATK: 800). ‘Reaper’ attacks the ‘Night Assailant’.”
‘Reaper’ swung his scythe and the ‘Night Assailant’ split in half (6400+300-800 =5900). The Masked Duelist shuffled his hand and discarded a card: a second ‘Dark Assailant’.
Now, if he’s Randy and he’s using that strategy, he’ll Flip-Summon ‘Lady Assailant of Flames’
“I Flip-Summon ‘Lady Assailant of the Flames’,” said the Masked Duelist, “removing the top three cards of my deck from play to deal you eight hundred points of damage.” The female assassin appeared and threw her flaming knives at me. They exploded nearby (6500-800=5700).
Now he’ll summon ‘Vengeful Shinobi’, and he’ll protect it from attacks somehow.
“I summon my shadow ninja,” said the Masked Duelist, “the ‘Vengeful Shinobi’, and I make him immune to attacks using ‘Mist Body’.” A ninja in a gray suit appeared, carrying a curved knife. He was surrounded by a veil of mist (ATK: 400).
Now he’ll use his Spell…
“I pay two thousand Life Points to activate my Spell card ‘Dimension Fusion’,” the Masked Duelist declared (5900-2000=3900). “This lets me summon the monsters that were removed from play by the effect of my ‘Lady Assailant’.”
The sky opened and two monsters emerged: a second ‘Dark Assailant’, and the eye-patch wearing, knife-wielding ‘Flash Assailant’. “My ‘Flash Assailant’ loses four hundred Attack," the Masked Duelist explained, "for every card in my hand (2000-400=1600).
And now that Equip card…
“I also activate ‘Phalanx Pike’,” the Masked Duelist said, “equipping it to my ‘Dark Assailant’, raising his strength by nine hundred for every ‘Dark Assailant’ in the Graveyard (1200+900=2100). This means my ‘Flash Assailant’’s power rises as well (1600+400=2000).
“‘Flash Assailant’, ‘Lady Assailant’, and two ‘Dark Assailants’ attack ‘Reaper on the Nightmare’.” The four monsters struck, their weapons passing straight through my monster, reducing him to smoke. He instantly reformed.
“Now you take serious damage,” said the Masked Duelist, his monster bearing down on me.
I smiled, “I don’t think so. Reveal ‘Spirit Barrier’. As long as I control a monster I don’t take any Battle Damage.” A barrier appeared around me, repelling the assassins and their attacks.
“For my turn,” I said, “I summon the Psychic Wizard, ‘Ancient Brain’.” A robed creature with a bulging bald head, a horn, wings, and a staff in hand appeared at my side (ATK: 1000).
“Attack ‘Vengeful Shinobi’,” I commanded, and ‘Ancient Brain’ put his hand to his temple and raised his staff. Waves of psychic energy hit ‘Vengeful Shinobi’, reducing him to wisps of vapor (3900+400-1000=3300).
“’Vengeful Shinobi’’s effect activates,” the Masked Duelist declared, “and I draw one card. And thanks to ‘Mist Body’, my ‘Shinobi’ is reconstituted,” the mist became his monster again as he drew his card.
“I attack directly with ‘Reaper’,” I commanded, “and set a card.”
My ‘Reaper’ flew forward and attacked, taking the Masked Duelist’s newest card with it. But the Masked Duelist was smiling.
Randy would usually manage to draw ‘Card of Sanctity’ about now, I thought.
“I draw,” said the Masked Duelist, “and would you look at that, I got lucky and drew ‘Card of Sanctity’. I activate it, letting us both draw until we hold six cards.”
We drew (Flash Assailant’s ATK: 0).
“Now I place two cards face-down (Flash Assailant: 400), and I attack ‘Ancient Brain’ with ‘Dark Assailant’ (ATK: 1200).”
‘Dark Assailant’ jumped up and threw his knives. ‘Ancient Brain’ raised his staff and spun it, deflecting the knives. As he did ‘Dark Assailant’ drew a sword from a holder on his back, ran forward, and sliced ‘Ancient Brain’ in half. My Life Points remained the same, thanks to my ‘Barrier’.
“I draw,” I said.
One of his face-downs has to be ‘Spiritual Dark Art – Greed’, I thought.
“Reveal Trap card,” said the Masked Duelist, “‘Spiritual Dark Art – Greed’. I tribute the weakened ‘Flash Assailant’ to draw two cards. Go ‘Flash Assailant’, serve your final purpose and give me your very life!”
The assassin disappeared, and my opponent drew again. Now I was sure, or at least sure enough.
“I won’t let you beat me again Randy,” I said, He smiled, and I knew, “I attack with my ‘Reaper’.”
My monster flew forward and slashed Randy across the chest with his magical sickle (2500-800=1700).
“I’m glad you attacked, Max,” Randy replied, all pretenses gone. “I had a card in my hand that I needed to send to the Grave.” He discarded a card.
Oh man, I thought as I realized what Randy was doing, I forgot about that move. If I’m right, I lost already!
“I reveal ‘Birthright’,” Randy declared, “reviving a Normal Monster, like ‘Infinity Dark’!” A warrior fully clad in a black suit and black body armor, wearing a black cape and a black helmet and visor appeared (ATK: 1500).
“On my turn,” said Randy, “I Second Summon my monster. See, he’s no regular Normal Monster. He’s a Gemini Monster. That means he’s treated as a Normal Monster until I Second Summon him, at which point he becomes an effect monster with a powerful effect.”
A dark aura flared up around Randy’s monster, and I frowned.
“Once per turn ‘Infinity Dark’ can change the battle position of a monster on the field. But of course, when a monster from the ‘Spirit Reaper’ archetype is targeted by an effect, it’s automatically destroyed.”
My ‘Reaper’ melted away, becoming wisps of smoke, leaving me wide open. I was shocked, not because Randy had defeated my monster, but because I’d failed to see it coming.
“Don’t look so surprised,” said Randy, smirking. “No assassin would ever give his hit a chance.”
And if there were any doubts left in my mind as to this kid’s identity they melted away with his words. That’s what Randy would always say just before he’d win a duel. This kid has to be him!
Randy’s monsters attacked, my Life Points dropped to zero, and I smiled. I ran to my old friend’s side, “Randy, you’re alive!”
“Nah,” he said, “not really. I just wanted to fight you one last time, and I wanted to tell you that I’ve been watching you. You’ve been doing good things. Keep doing them. Keep fighting for what’s right. And I’ll see you again, when it’s your time.”
“But if you’re - if you’re dead, how are you here?”
“Oh come on,” Randy said. “Every time I beat you I’m cheating Death. What’s one more time?”
He smiled a mischievous half smirk that I recognized, that I'd thought I would never see again, and then he vanished, his body melting into wisps of smoke that went with the breeze.
Card of the Day:
Infinity Dark
Played by: The Masked Duelist
The Masked Duelist completely devastates Max here, but it is this card that helps him to finally strike the final blow by being one of the few monsters in my stories to defeat "Spirit Reaper" in combat, so it wins this slot.
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