To be fair, Jen came really really close here. Because she's badass.
Chapter TwelveRound Three;
The Erasing Light
“Impressive,” said Hiro. “Not many Duelists can summon one powerful monster in just one turn, let alone two. But as powerful as they are, they can’t defeat my ‘Majestic Mech – Goryu’.” Behind him, the massive snake-like ceramic dragon shuffled its wings and roared.
“They’re not strong enough yet,” I said, “but I have another card to play.” The Field Spell slot in the end of my Duel Disk slid open, and I placed a card in it. The ground behind me split open, and a massive tree sprouted from the ground, growing until it towered over everything else on the field. “I activate ‘Gaia Power’,” I declared, “boosting the power of my monsters by five hundred each.” Light shone from the tree, and the worms hissed fiercely (Doom Dozer: 2800+500=3300/Aztekipede: 1900 +500=2400).
“‘Doom Dozer’,” I commanded, “destroy ‘Goryu’!” The massive worm reached forward and crushed the mighty dragon’s midsection with its mandibles. The dragon’s crystalline ceramic body shattered (8200+2900-3300=7800).
“Next I attack with ‘Aztekipede’ directly.” The green worm struck, dealing a full twenty-four hundred points of damage (7800-2400=5400).
“Also,” I explained, “the player that took damage from my monsters discards the top two cards of his deck.”
Hiro smiled, impressed, and sent the top two cards from his deck to his Graveyard.
“I place two cards face-down,” I declared, my confidence swiftly returning. “I have complete control of the field now. Just try to come back from this.”
“Don’t worry,” said Hiro in a tone that drained my confidence away once again, “I will.”
He drew and declared, “I activate ‘Mystical Space Typhoon’, destroying the tree.” I massive cyclonic gust rose up, tearing the ‘Gaia Power’ to splinters. The Attack of my monsters fell back to their original values.
“Next,” said Hiro, “I play ‘Monster Reborn’ to revive my ‘Majestic Mech – Goryu’.”
A glowing red ankh appeared, rising into the air behind Hiro. It spread out until it was nothing but an intense red light which then became the mighty angelic dragon (ATK: 2900).
“It won’t matter,” I said, “because I have a couple of cards prepared for just this type of situation. ‘Zero Gravity’ changes your monster to defense mode, triggering my ‘Tragedy’ card, destroying every defense position monster that you control.”
“‘Zero Gravity’ is of no consequence,” Hiro countered, “but I won’t let ‘Tragedy’ resolve.”
“How do you plan to stop it,” I asked, “with your imaginary Trap card?”
“No,” Hiro replied, “I plan to stop it with a card from my hand, the ‘Herald of Purple Light’. I discard him and another Fairy monster to negate the activation of a Trap card and destroy it.” A small spherical mech-angel made of white and purple crystal appeared, a bright light emanating from it. The light flashed, and both the ‘Herald’ and the hologram of my Trap card disappeared.
“You really should have destroyed my ‘Zero Gravity’ card,” I taunted, “because now I can destroy your dragon again next turn.”
Hiro ignored me, “I place one card face-down and end my turn.”
I drew a card, Alright, I have everything I need to win. I’m going to win! I’m going to beat Hiro!
“It’s time I finished this,” I said. “I summon ‘Insect Knight’.”
A tall, slender insect appeared, standing on his rearmost four legs. His front two legs were very much like arms with human hands, and in them he carried a sword and a shield (ATK: 1900).
“Next I equip ‘Doom Dozer’ with the spell card ‘Insect Armor with Laser Cannon’, boosting his Attack power by seven hundred.” A cannon appeared on the massive worm’s head, held in place by several straps (ATK: 2800+700=3500).
“Now I attack with ‘Insect Knight’,” I commanded. “Slay the dragon (DEF: 0)!”
‘Insect Knight’ jumped up and swung his sword, splitting 'Goryu' in half.
“And I finish it,” I declared, “with ‘Doom Dozer’ and ‘Aztekipede the Worm Warrior’!”
My ‘Doom Dozer’ struck first, but his attack was intercepted by the appearance of the ‘Majestic Mech – Senku’.
“Reveal,” Hiro declared as ‘Doom Dozer’ crushed the human-sized angel under his incredible weight, “the Spell card ‘Celestial Transformation’, summoning a Fairy from my hand.”
“Then I’ll have to settle for only one direct attack,” I said, working to hide my disappointment. “‘Aztekipede’, go.”
“I don’t think so,” said Hiro. “I let you destroy my two monsters so that I could summon an even more powerful monster than ‘Goryu’, and I intend to summon it right now”
White clouds built overhead, and a bright light shone through them. The clouds parted, and a massive legless angel, its body made of gleaming, silvery armor, descended to the field, settling into place just behind its master.
“Destroying every one of my two or more monsters in one turn,” Hiro explained, “allowed me to Special Summon ‘Tualatin’ from my hand, activating his effect, the Erasing Light! When ‘Tualatin’ is Special Summoned by his own effect, I declare one monster attribute, and monsters of that attribute cannot exist in ‘Tualatin’’s presence.” Even as Hiro spoke, light poured from his monster, erasing my monsters from existence. I had nothing left. The light faded, and only ‘Tualatin’ remained (ATK: 2800).
“I can’t believe it,” I said, though I knew I was kidding myself. “You managed to turn everything around just like that. In fact, you used the fact that I was in the lead to summon a monster that could wipe out my entire field all at once!”
I looked down at the arena floor.
This can’t happen. I was so close! Maybe I should quit now. Maybe all I’m good for is quitting, or giving up, or losing. It seems like that’s all I can do anymore, at least against the stronger opponents.
I moved my hand toward my deck, preparing to surrender.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Hiro asked calmly.
“Don’t worry, I’m not trying to draw an extra card,” I said solemnly.
“I know,” Hiro said. “I know you’re surrendering. But come on, you haven’t even finished your turn yet.”
“Why should I bother?” I asked. “What can I do? I’m supposed to be the team’s strategist, and yet I used every move I had just to get this far. I don’t have anything left!”
“Of course you do,” Hiro said frankly. “You were one of the ones that I wanted to fight today for the simple reason that you’re brilliant! You can make a working combo out of anything, or control the flow of a game with only a few cards. You beat Kris, whose strategy was brilliant, and Amanda, who I’m even afraid to fight. You owe it to yourself to see this duel through, and to keep fighting. You have as good a chance now as you ever did.”
I thought about it. He doesn’t have anything in his hand, so his next card will likely be a dead draw. If I get the right card in my next turn, I just might be able to turn this game back around!
I clenched my fist and looked Hiro in the eye. “Okay,” I said, “it’s your move.”
He drew and looked long and hard at his new card. Finally he placed it on his Duel Disk and said, “I set a card, and I attack directly with ‘Tualatin’, Erasing Light!”
‘Tualatin’ raised his hands and summoned massive amounts of light that washed over me (5100-2800=2300).
I drew, and without even looking I knew that I’d drawn the only card in my deck with the potential to save me.
“Activate,” I declared, “the Spell card ‘Card of Sanctity’, letting us both draw until we hold six cards.”
I drew four cards and looked them over.
Yes, I thought, even if his face-down card is what I think it is, I’ve got him. There’s nothing he can do about it!
“I activate the Spell card ‘Hammer Shot’,” I declared, “destroying the strongest monster on the field. And that, in case you didn’t realize, is ‘Tualatin’!”
“No you don’t,” Hiro countered. “I reveal ‘Magic Jammer’, discarding one card to negate and destroy your Spell.”
I thought so. That means my decoy worked for a second time this duel. It’s time for my real trump card.
“In that case,” I declared, “I activate ‘Monster Reborn’ to revive any monster from either Graveyard, and the monster I choose is the unstoppable ‘Majestic Mech – Goryu’!”
My own red ankh appeared, expanding into the shaped of the dragon.
“Sorry,” Hiro said, “but that won’t work either. I discard two cards from my hand to activate the effect of my ‘Herald of Green Light’.” A green and white version of the ‘Herald of Purple Light’ appeared, emanating an emerald light that erased the dragon before it could completely form.
I looked down at my feet in shock. He’d done it again. He’d managed to stop my combo with a card that I just didn’t expect. But this time, instead of letting it get to me, I looked up, gave Hiro a smile and said, “Then bring it on.”
Hiro drew a card to begin his turn, but he didn’t need to look at it. He smiled back and commanded, “‘Tualatin’, finish it, Erasing Light.”
The light from his mighty angel hit me, and my Life Points fell (2300-2800=0). I’d done well, but I’d still lost. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
Hiro walked over to me and said, “You know, if I hadn’t drawn ‘Herald of Green Light’, you would have beaten me. I don’t run any cards, other than ‘Tualatin’ that destroy monsters once they’re out on the field. ‘Goryu’ would have run me into the ground.”
He reached out, offering me his hand to shake. I took it. “You're right,” I said. “It looks like we both got lucky in that last turn. You just got a little luckier.”
We laughed, and then we walked back to the waiting room side by side, like equals.
Card of the Day:
Tualatin
Played by: Hiro
In the real game, this card is pretty dangerous. In the anime-esque universe in which my stories take place, where everyone uses theme decks, this card can shut a duelist down completely.
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