Can Tucker beat Max? Probably not, but read on to find out!
Chapter EightRound Two;
Master of Fear and the Fiery Spirit
Tucker
After the first couple of duels, which had turned out just about how I’d expected, things had really started to get interesting. I, of course, beat Lawrence, and Max beat Sarah. Jen won against her sister in a much closer duel than I’d expected. They’re both good, but I’d put my money on Jen any day. Amanda won against Monty, another surprise, but then again not really. Finally Hiro had defeated Jenna hands down (we all knew that was gonna happen, poor Jenna), and Kimi had fought and won against her old teacher (to be honest, I didn’t care a bit about the outcome of that one, but it was still a good match).
But that’s enough recap.
Now it was time for the first duel of round two. It was me against Max, one of the strongest Duelists I’d ever seen. I’d watched every duel today carefully, hoping to learn something that would help me in a situation like this. Very unlike me, I actually did learn something. As scary strong as Max may be, he’s set in his ways, utilizing only a few combos. His combos are scary powerful, but if I kept them in mind, being sure to prepare for them, I had a chance of winning. And I had to win. Just like in the Grand Championship, I wanted to duel John.
Max and I stepped up onto the platform and it rose into the air.
“You might as well surrender now,” said Max. “You know as well as anyone that whoever faces me in a duel is my enemy, and I never let my enemy win.”
“I can’t surrender,” I said. “There’s someone that I have to fight.”
“Then prepare,” Max said sternly, “because I don’t plan to hold back. I start out with one face-down monster and two face-down cards.”
I scoffed, “Your scare tactics may work on other Duelists, but they won’t work on me. I’m ready for this fight! I set one of my own cards face-down, and I summon ‘Darkfire Soldier #1’.” A bare-chested man appeared, carrying a sword (ATK: 1700).
“I’ll have ‘Darkfire Soldier #1’ attack your face-down monster.” Flames rose up around the swordsman and he swung his sword, flinging the flames at the hidden creature. The monster was revealed as the deadly ‘Rigorous Reever’.
“When ‘Rigorous Reever’ is flipped,” Max explained, “we must each discard a card.” Max discarded his ‘Spirit Reaper’, and I discarded my ‘Tyrant Dragon’.
“Additionally,” said Max, “my monster drains yours of five hundred Attack points.” An aura appeared around my ‘Soldier’, and a portion of his power fell away (1700-500=1200).
“I end my turn,” I said, trying not to get frustrated. After all, I’d known this was coming.
“Then I activate ‘Call of the Haunted’,” said Max, “bringing ‘Rigorous Reever’ back from the Graveyard.” The wooden reaper appeared, holding his scythe at the ready (ATK: 1600).
“Now I activate ‘Card of Safe Return’,” said Max, “and combine it with ‘Monster Reborn’. I revive my ‘Spirit Reaper’ and draw a card.” A cloud of smoke took on the shape of the cloaked ‘Spirit Reaper’ (ATK: 300).
“Finally,” said Max, “I summon ‘Emissary of the Afterlife’,” a third reaper appeared, carrying a decorated scythe (ATK: 1600), “and activate ‘Robbin’ Goblin’. While ‘Robbin’ Goblin’ remains on the field, you have to discard a card from your hand at random every time I deal damage to your Life Points through battle.
“I attack with all three of my monsters,” Max declared, and the reapers slashed me one after another, forcing me to discard every card left in my hand. This was more or less the same combo that he’d used to defeat Karen at the Championship. It was a near perfect combination.
Emphasis on near perfect.
I drew one card. It wasn’t much, but it was all I had.
“I summon ‘Darkfire Soldier #2’,” I declared. A skull-headed samurai appeared, wielding two burning katanas (ATK: 1700), and I commanded, “Attack ‘Emissary of the Afterlife’!”
The samurai slashed, and ‘Emissary’ was shredded into three pieces (8000+1600 -1700=7900).
“Because ‘Emissary of the Afterlife’ was destroyed by battle,” Max explained, “we each get to search our deck for a normal monster.” Max and I fanned out our decks. I chose ‘Hinotama Soul’, and Max chose the psychic wizard, ‘Ancient Brain’.
“I activate ‘Polymerization’,” said Max, “fusing ‘Ancient Brain’ with the fusion substitute monster ‘The Dark – Hex-Sealed Fusion’, forming my favorite monster, ‘Skull Knight’.” A knight in skeletal armor appeared, wearing a skull faceplate and carrying a skull shield and bone sword (ATK: 2650). “I’ll also summon ‘Fear from the Dark’ in attack mode.” A man-sized fiendish shadow appeared at Max’s side (ATK: 1700).
“‘Skull Knight’ destroys your ‘Darkfire Soldier’,” Max commanded, as the skeletal swordsman slashed my warrior to pieces with his sword (5700+1700-2650=4750), “and my remaining monsters attack, leaving you a stone’s throw away from defeat.”
The two reapers and the shadow sprung forward, only to be repelled by a wall of flames that sprung up to protect me.
“Reveal ‘Firewall’,” I said with a smile on my face. “I remove my two ‘Darkfire Soldiers’ and my ‘Hinotama Soul’ from play to repel three direct attacks against my Life Points. Now I draw, and I activate the Spell card ‘Card of Sanctity’!” Max’s eyes grew wide, surprised by how easily I’d begun to turn things around. Like me, he could feel the momentum of the duel shifting.
“I knew I’d draw this card eventually,” I explained. “I just had to hold out until I did.” I drew my six cards and my smile widened, “Activate ‘Pot of Greed’, drawing two more cards from my deck.” I drew again.
“Now I summon ‘Flame Ruler’, combining him with the Spell card ‘Tribute Doll’.” A tattooed man holding flames in his hands appeared alongside a lifeless figurine pegged to a tombstone.
“I tribute ‘Flame Ruler’ and the ‘Tribute Doll’,” I explained, filling with pride, “to summon ‘Ryu-Ran’!”
A massive egg appeared. Its shell shattered, and a red dragon with short, stubby wings emerged (ATK: 2200).
“But my dragon won’t remain for long,” I explained. “I activate ‘Monster Reborn’, tributing the Dragon-type ‘Ryu-Ran’ to summon the monster sent to the graveyard by ‘Reever’’s effect.”
“No,” said Max, “I had you!”
I smiled, “The key word here is ‘had’.
“Now,” I declared as ‘Ryu-Ran’ disappeared, “return to life, ‘Tyrant Dragon’!”
‘Ryu-Ran’ disappeared, and in its place, out of a vortex of fire appeared the mighty bronze dragon with the crystal in its forehead. ‘Tyrant Dragon’ spread his wings and roared (ATK: 2900).
“I activate ‘Molten Destruction’,” I declared, and a mountain appeared behind me. The peak exploded and lava ran down its sides. “This increases the Attack power of every Fire monster on the field by five hundred (‘Tyrant Dragon’: 2900+500=3400/ ‘Rigorous Reever’: 1600+500=2100).
“Attack ‘Fear from the Dark’ and ‘Spirit Reaper’,” I commanded, “with Tyrant Burst!”
Flames poured over the deadly shadow and the immortal reaper. Out of the two, only ‘Spirit Reaper’ survived (7900+1700+300-(3400x2)=3100).
“I place one card face-down,” I concluded, “and end my turn.”
“You might have managed to turn things around for the moment,” said Max, sounding uncertain for the first time since I’d met him, “but I’m still going to win. I tribute ‘Rigorous Reever’ and ‘Skull Knight’ to summon the bringer of fear, ‘Despair from the Dark’!”
The wooden reaper and the skeletal knight turned to smoke and reformed into a massive shadow that towered over the entire field (ATK: 2800).
“My ‘Despair from the Dark’ attacks ‘Tyrant Dragon’,” Max commanded. I smiled, I thought so. That means he has that card in his hand.
‘Despair from the Dark’ brandished his claws, reaching straight for the bronze dragon’s head. ‘Tyrant Dragon’ bit down on the shadow’s hand, reducing it to wisps of black smoke, and then opened his mouth wide, breathing fire that incinerated the shadow in seconds (3100+2800-3400=2500).
“From my hand,” said Max, “I activate ‘Deal with Dark Ruler’, summoning from my deck a monster that destroys all that it sees and leaves only death in its wake!” The ashes of the shadow monster took on a new form, becoming a brown skeletal dragon with tattered wings, with tufts of hair coming off of the back of its head. “That dragon is your last hope, Tucker,” said Max. “Watch in horror as it falls to my ‘Berserk Dragon’ (ATK: 3500)! Attack with ‘Berserk Flame’!”
The ‘Berserk Dragon’ inhaled, but its attack was never completed. As my opponent watched helpless, my ‘Tyrant Dragon’ shed its skin, leaving only its pure, fiery spirit behind. “I finish this duel,” I declared as my dragon rose up toward the sky, “with ‘Spiritual Fire Art – Kurenai!”
My dragon exploded out like a tornado of flames, engulfing the entire field, burning Max’s monster away. The dragon took form again, sweeping over Max himself, dealing him a fatal blow (2500-2900=0)
Max said nothing. He’d never been very expressive, but it was clear that he was surprised.
“My strategy was perfect,” said Max. “I should have won easily. How did you manage to turn things around and defeat me with so little trouble?”
“It wasn’t easy,” I said. “In fact it was one of the hardest things ever! But I knew I’d win. In this game combinations aren’t everything. An even bigger part of a Duelist’s strength is the strength of his spirit.”
“But you didn’t even use your Soul,” said Max.
“I didn’t have to,” I replied. “I knew that I could win, because I knew that my connection to my cards was strong enough. I think that that’s all our Souls ever did in a duel. They just helped strengthen a connection that was already there. And now we’ve come far enough to see those connections for ourselves.”
That’s when something truly unexpected happened. Max, still stoic and unexpressive, stepped forward and shook my hand. “Thank you,” he said. “I would have left after our last team meeting, back at the mall, but I was holding out for the chance to fight one last truly exciting duel. I honestly expected that duel to be against John, but then Sarah did so well against me that I was tempted to count my duel against her. I'm glad I waited, because my duel with you was even better, and I’ll become all the stronger for it.”
Then without another word to me, Max turned toward one of the many cameras, addressing the others, who were watching on the big screen inside the competitors’ box, with an uncharacteristically bright smile, and said, “Hey guys! I’m going now. Next time we see each other, let me know who won this thing! And thanks for all the great duels!”
Max’s Soul glowed, as the others, having heard his speech, stepped out of the waiting room and ran out onto the stadium floor. By the time they had all reached the suspended arena, all that was left of Max was a puff of smoke.
Card of the Day:
Skull Knight
Played by: Max
Max plays "Spirit Reaper" literally every duel ever ever, but it isn't his favorite monster. Turns out this one is, and since this is the first time that he reveals this, this card wins by default.
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