Seriously, Hiro is crazy good at this game.
Chapter TenRound Two;
Metal vs. Stone, and the Ultimate Angels
John
Next up was me and Rocky. I’d dueled Rocky once before, but I’d felt then that he’d been holding something back without even realizing it. However he’d recently shown that his deck had undergone a drastic series of modifications, and that his real power was beginning to shine through. I was looking forward to fighting him again, and maybe seeing a bit of that power, the power that he’d already used to defeat my rival, Christopher.
I looked over at rocky and asked, “You ready for this?” He nodded, and we stepped out onto the stadium floor, making our way toward the platform. As it lifted up into the air I looked Rocky in the eyes and said, “No holding back.”
Rocky smiled, “Don’t worry. I’m looking forward to this duel too much to restrain myself.”
Rocky activated his Duel Disk. Mine, being the non-transforming Dark Disk, was already online. “I’ll start things off,” Rocky declared. He took a deep breath and said, “I begin with ‘Painful Choice’, which lets me choose five cards from my deck and reveal them. Then you choose one for me to keep, and I discard the rest.”
He chose five cards and placed them on his Duel Disk. Holograms of the five cards appeared in the air above Rocky’s head, revealing the chosen cards as the magnet warriors, ‘Alpha’, ‘Beta’, and ‘Gamma’, and two copies of the “magnet monster” ‘Valkyrion the Magna Warrior’.
“Add ‘Alpha the Magnet Warrior’ to your hand,” I said. Rocky told me once that he only has two copies of ‘Valkyrion’, and I doubt that he’d change the ratio of his deck by adding another even if he had one, so if this is some strategy designed to summon ‘Valkyrion’, why would he give me the chance to send both copies to the Graveyard? What is he planning?
“In that case,” said Rocky, “I activate ‘Monster Reincarnation’, discarding ‘Stone Dragon’ to return ‘Valkyrion’ in my Graveyard to my hand. Next I activate ‘Dark Factory of Mass Production’, returning the other two ‘Magnet Warriors’ to my hand as well.”
“So it didn’t matter which of the five cards I chose,” I said, wearing an impressed smile.
“Exactly,” Rocky agreed, beaming with confidence. “Now,” he continued, “I discard ‘Alpha the Magnet Warrior’, ‘Beta the Magnet Warrior’, and ‘Gamma the Magnet Warrior’ to summon ‘Valkyrion the Magna Warrior’!” The three magnet monsters appeared, separating into their many components, and then combining into the mighty ‘Valkyrion’ (ATK: 3500).
“Now, finally,” said Rocky, “I play ‘Soul Absorption’. That way if you try to use your ‘Dimension Tactics’ I’ll reap the benefits.”
“That only means that you’ll lose more slowly,” I said. “I draw, and I activate my own ‘Painful Choice’, selecting my own ‘Magnet Monsters’, ‘V – Tiger Jet’, ‘W – Winged Catapult’, ‘X – Head Cannon’, ‘Y – Dragon Head’, and ‘Z – Metal Tank’.”
I placed the five cards on my Dark Disk, and holograms of them appeared above me. Rocky looked them over and then commanded, “Add ‘W’ to your hand.”
I smiled, Just like I thought.
“I activate ‘Soul Release’,” I declared, “removing ‘V’, ‘X’, ‘Y’, and ‘Z’ in my Graveyard from play-.”
“And triggering ‘Soul Absorption’,” Rocky cut in (8000+2000=10,000).
“Also,” I continued, “I activate ‘Dimension Fusion’, paying two thousand Life Points to summon every monster that I have removed from play (8000-2000=6000).” A swirling vortex opened above me, bridging the gap between our dimension and the Different Dimension, and four robots descended from it. ‘X’ was a torso sitting atop a spiked orb with cannons on his shoulders (ATK: 1800), ‘Y’ was a red metallic dragon (ATK: 1500), ‘Z’ was a small robotic tank with a stalk eye and cannons above its treads (ATK: 1500), and ‘V’ was a green and yellow robotic jet with the head and legs of a tiger (ATK: 1600).
“Next I summon ‘W – Winged Catapult’,” I declared. A boxy platform with short wings and equipped with missile launchers appeared alongside the others (ATK: 1300).
“I can remove my monster from play to create many variable combinations, so I remove ‘X’, ‘Y’, and ‘Z’ from play to combine them into ‘XYZ – Dragon Cannon’.” A panel on ‘Y’’s back opened, and ‘X’’s base settled into it. Then ‘Y’’s wings fell away, and it settled onto the back of the ‘Z –Metal Tank’ (ATK: 2800/Rocky’s Life Points: 10,000 +1500=11,500).
“Now I activate ‘Pot of Greed’,” I announced, “to draw two cards.” I pulled the top two cards from my deck and examined them, smiling, Bingo! These are just what I needed.
“I discard ‘Red-Eyes Black Dragon’ and ‘Summoned Skull’ to activate ‘XYZ – Dragon Cannon’’s effect, destroying two cards on the field.” ‘XYZ’ fired his cannons twice, hitting and destroying ‘Soul Absorption’ and ‘Valkyrion’. I could tell from Rocky’s expression as well as from his silence that his former confidence was beginning to waver.
“Next,” I continued, “I combine ‘V’ and ‘W’ into ‘VW – Tiger Catapult’.” ‘V’ connected to the back of the ‘Winged Catapult’ (ATK: 2000), “and then I combine it together with my first combination monster into the most powerful machine monster ever made.” The five component monsters separated and then recombined into a tall, powerful-looking winged mech brimming with weapons. “Introducing, my ‘VWXYZ – Dragon Catapult Cannon’ (ATK: 3000)!
“I attack directly with my monster,” I declared, “Cannon Firestorm!” The mech took aim and fired, scoring a direct hit (11,500-3000=8500).
“Activate,” I continued, “the Spell card ‘Dimension Explosion’, returning ‘VWXYZ – Dragon Catapult Cannon’ to the Fusion Deck,” the monster split apart again, “and summoning back to the field my ‘VW –Tiger Catapult’ and ‘XYZ – Dragon Cannon’,” the parts combined once again into the two components (ATK: 2800/ATK: 2000).
“Cannon Firestorm!” I called, and ‘XYZ’ fired its cannons. “Missile Barrage!” I commanded, and ‘VW’ released a wave of missiles from the launchers on his back (8500-2800-2000=3700).
“Finally,” I said, “I end my turn by removing my monsters from play, creating my ultimate machine for the second time.” The two machines separated into five and then combined once again into one (ATK: 3000).
“Good,” said Rocky, “but not good enough. I remove two ‘Valkyrions’, ‘Stone Dragon’, and all three ‘Magnet Warriors’ in my Graveyard from play to summon ‘Megarock Dragon’.” The stony rubble of the six monsters appeared and rose into the air, merging into a massive form of living stone that closely resembled a dragon without wings. “My ‘Megarock’ has attack points equal to seven hundred times the number of monsters that I removed from play,” Rocky explained, and the dragon roared (ATK: 700x6=4200). It roared again, bellowing deeply, and chomped the mech, crushing its head and torso between the dragons stony teeth (6000+3000-4200=4800).
“Too little too late,” I countered. “’Monster Reborn’ restores my machine monster to its undamaged form,” the mech reappeared, as good as new, illuminated by the light of my Spell. “I can use my monster’s ability to remove your monster from play,” ‘VWXYZ’ summoned energy into his hands and released it. It expanded around the much larger dragon, pulling it out of our dimension.
“I tribute ‘VWXYZ’ to summon my favorite monster,” I declared, “‘The Fiend Megacyber’!” the mech disappeared, replaced by the yellow warrior (ATK: 2200). “I also equip my monster with my final card, the Spell card ‘Assault Armor’ (ATK: 2200+300 =2500). As my monster was surrounded by a gleaming aura, I could see in Rocky’s eyes that he knew as well as I did that the duel was over.
“I send ‘Assault Armor’ to the Graveyard,” I concluded, “to give my monster the power to attack twice this turn.” The aura around my monster flared up, and he rose up above the ground. “Finish it,” I commanded, “with Megacyber Impact!”
‘Fiend Megacyber’ launched forward, punching Rocky in the gut, and hanging in the air. His aura shattered like glass, propelling him into a midair spin. He spun around and swung his leg out wide, kicking rocky in the side (3800-2200-2200=0). Before my monster even touched the ground, he faded away, signifying that the duel had come to an end.
I let out a held breath and said, “That was intense! Honestly I didn’t expect you to do so well.” I looked into Rocky’s eyes, “You really weren’t holding back, were you?”
"No," he said, "after all, this is the first time that I've had something to prove in a duel like this."
"Do you think they're here, watching?" I asked. Rocky knew that I, like him, was wondering about the Duelists Elite. Rocky didn't answer. Instead he scanned the audience with his eyes, and he smiled.
Kimi
My duel was up next. It was me against Hiro. I still couldn't believe it. What had John been thinking, bringing Hiro of all people into this tournament? Even he barely had a chance of beating Hiro. It was stupid, assuring that no member of the Duel Force would actually win the Duel Force Tournament. I tried to find the bright side to the situation, but I found none, apart from the fact that, at the very least, dueling with Hiro would be a good way to test my deck. I had a new power now, since my duel with Senpai, and I hoped to test it out.
Still, I knew that my chances of winning this one were slim, and I wanted to get it over with. My opponent must have felt the same way, because neither of us wasted any time. Without even waiting for the announcer to speak, we made our way out onto the floor and up onto the platform. I heard the announcer introduce us, but I didn’t pay attention. I wanted to focus completely on the task at hand. I usually don’t care much whether I win or lose, and I tend to take things lightly, but against an opponent as impressive as Hiro, I wanted to at least make a good show of things. The duel platform rose into the air, and we began.
“I’ll move first,” I said. “I’ve been wanting to see which of us has the better Light deck, and I’m too anxious to wait.”
“Fine by me,” said Hiro, almost aloof. “I have patience enough for both of us.”
I scowled at the mild, but likely unintentional, insult. I had to remind myself that as much as Hiro was like John, he wasn't John, and he didn't know us, as I chose a card from my hand, and placed it on my Duel Disk, “I summon ‘Agent of Creation – Venus’.” A female angel with long, flowing hair wearing a long brown dress appeared (ATK: 1600). “I also play a Field Spell card, ‘Sanctuary in the Sky’. While ‘Sanctuary’ is on the field neither of us takes damage from battle involving our own Fairy monsters.” The ground around us was disguised as clouds, and the ‘Sanctuary’ appeared behind me.
“Next I pay fifteen hundred Life Points (8000-1500=6500),” I declared, “to activate my ‘Venus’’ effect, summoning three ‘Mystic Shine Ball’ monsters from my deck.” Three shining glass orbs appeared, floating in a circle around the angel’s head (ATK: 500 (each)).
“I set two cards face-down,” I concluded, smiling brightly, “and that’s all for now.”
Hiro ran his fingers casually through his hair before drawing the last card of his opening hand. He looked over his hand for at least a minute before finally choosing a card, declaring, “I summon my ‘Royal Knight’.” A ceramic-bodied angelic knight appeared. His joints were made of a gray-blue crystal (ATK: 1300). “I place three cards face-down, and I end my turn.”
I smiled. It looks like he’s using the same strategy as before. If that’s the case then this shouldn’t be a problem. “Here goes,” I said. “I draw-.”
“During the Standby Phase,” Hiro cut in, “I activate the Continuous Trap card ‘Synthetic Seraphim’. Now, whenever a Counter Trap is activated, I summon a ‘Seraphim Token’ to the field.”
“I chain,” I declared, “the Trap card ‘Solar Ray’. Each of my monsters attacks you for six hundred points of damage.”
“Then I counter with ‘Solemn Judgment’,” Hiro announced, “paying half of my Life Points to negate your Trap and destroy it (8000/2=4000)," the hologram of my Trap shattered like glass. “This also allows me to summon a ‘Seraphim Token’,” Hiro continued as a small mechanical-looking ceramic angel appeared (ATK: 300).
I smiled, Now I’ve got you.
“Reveal,” I declared, “my key card, the ‘Aegis of Gaia’!"
Beside me appeared the ghostly woman, the Spirit of Protection. Light spread out from her and surrounded me like a veil.
"While this card is face-up on my field," I explained, "my Life Points are reinforced by three thousand (6500+3000=9500). Next I tribute ‘Mystic Shine Ball’ to summon ‘Agent of Judgment – Saturn’! Because my Life Points are more than double yours, and because ‘Sanctuary’ is on the field, all I have to do is tribute this monster to erase you from this duel with his Light of Burning Judgment.” As I spoke the blue-skinned warrior angel appeared behind me, wreathed in light. The light began to grown brighter.
“Do you really think that you can pass judgment on me?” Hiro asked, sounding amused, a slight smile playing across his lips.
“Yes,” I said frankly, “I do.”
“Well,” Hiro assured me, “I'm sorry, but you’re wrong. Reveal the Counter Trap card ‘Forced Back’, returning your monster to your hand.” As he spoke, my monster turned into an orb of light and disappeared, and another ‘Token’ appeared instead. “And because a Counter Trap resolved,” Hiro continued, “I can tribute all of my monsters to summon the true agent of judgment, ‘Voltanis the Adjudicator’.”
‘Royal Knight’ and the two ‘Seraphim Tokens’ disappeared in bursts of lightning that poured into the clouds above, turning them dark. Lightning struck the ground three times in three different nearby places before Hiro’s creature was finally revealed. It descended from the cloud above like a god from the heavens. It was an impressively large violet ceramic angel, its lower body and its many joints made of glassy blue crystal. It had no legs, but it did have long, broad wings that floated independent from its body, and it carried a wicked-looking staff (ATK: 2800).
“When ‘Voltanis’ is Special Summoned by his own effect,” Hiro explained, “he summons lightning from the heavens to pass judgment on as many monsters as I used as a tribute in his summoning.” ‘Voltanis’ raised his staff to the sky, and a bolt of lightning struck his staff. It split into three, hitting my monsters and vaporizing them.
“Now I play ‘Pot of Greed’,” Hiro declared. He was obviously looking to draw either one or two specific cards, and yet he seemed unconcerned regarding the outcome. I noticed his Soul flash just before he drew. When he saw his newest cards he smiled, if only slightly.
“I activate ‘Mystical Space Typhoon’,” Hiro declared, “to remove the rather annoying Spirit of Protection.” A burst of wind swept by me, sweeping the Spirit away, reducing my Life Points to what they’d been before she had appeared (9500-3000 =6500).
“Finally,” Hiro continued, “I summon ‘Majestic Mech – Senku,” A white ceramic angel with broad wings appeared (ATK: 1000). “Next I equip ‘Voltanis’ with the Spell card ‘Megamorph’, doubling his size and strength,” The already intimidating angel grew even larger, his power rising (ATK: 2800x2=5600).
“‘Senku’ attacks,” Hiro declared, as the ceramic angel summoned a burst of light into his fist, throwing it at me, hitting me in the chest (6500-1000=5500), “and ‘Voltanis’ finishes it.” The massive judge raised his staff, summoning a bolt of lightning that hit me, bringing me to my knees (5500-5600=0). I'd lost, but I'd expected that. Still, I'd come a lot closer than I ever thought I would, and that made me happy.
John
I couldn’t help but marvel at Hiro’s power. Ever since I’d used the power of the Soul to cast him out the same way that Blackheart had a year ago, sending him to find a power all his own and then return as my greatest opponent, I’d wondered how powerful he would become. I’d seen his new deck a couple times now, and I was sure of one thing: his deck was more powerful than mine.
I promised myself that I wouldn’t use Destiny Draw anymore, I thought, but Hiro didn’t. I have a weaker deck, and I won’t use my powers. If I even make it in the tournament long enough to face Hiro, it’s going to be an intense one. If I make it. There are two rounds left. I might have to duel either Jen or Tucker in the next round, and to be honest, either one of them could beat me easily with a little luck.
Hiro and Kimi reached the doorway back into the waiting room. I was outside, standing against the wall where Hiro had been earlier. Hiro stepped up beside me and leaned back against the wall, his arms crossed.
“Well played,” I said, trying to hide the fact that I was impressed while still paying a compliment.
“Yeah,” Hiro replied, less than enthusiastically.
“What’s wrong?”
He hesitated, and then he finally said, “I was put into a difficult situation in that duel. I was worried that if Kimi made it another turn, I’d lose, so I used Destiny Draw to make sure I wouldn’t, and it felt wrong. I don’t think it’s right to use a power like Destiny Draw in everyday situations.”
“Then don’t use Destiny Draw again this tournament,” I told him frankly, a bit relieved that Hiro felt the same way I did.
“But I’m not sure I can win without Destiny Draw,” he said with a half smile, “especially against Duelists as powerful as you, Jen or Tucker.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that one. “I was just thinking the same thing,” I said. “I was wondering if I could beat you without Destiny Draw.”
We both laughed at the coincidence.
“Well, regardless of the opponent or the situation,” Hiro said, “I’ve used Destiny Draw for the last time in this tournament.”
He walked around the corner, stepping through the doorway. “See you in the finals,” he said, just as he stepped out of sight.
Card of the Day:
VWXYZ - Dragon Catapult Cannon
Played by: John
John just summoned a megazord. That happened. So it gets put here.
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