The battle continues to rage, and characters continue to be knocked out of the battle. We also get to see some of the upward limits of the main creature here. In true Shonen fashion, John, the main hero, uses what would, anywhere else, be finishing moves, and the enemy recovers easily. I tried to make the duel seem genuinely tense. I'm not sure if I succeeded or not.
Chapter Nine
Declining Hopes
Rocky
I drew, and let out a sigh
of relief, playing my newest acquisition without hesitation, "I
activate 'Card of Sanctity'. We each draw until we hold six cards."
Once again my opponent
actually responded to my actions, however superficially, when he
refilled his hand, as I refilled mine. I chose to ignore the fact
that he drew nearly as many cards as I did.
"Next," I
announced, "I activate 'Burial from the Different Dimension',
returning 'Stone Dragon', 'Alpha the Magnet Warrior', and 'Valkyrion'
to my Graveyard, and I play 'Monster Reincarnation' and discard
'Gamma the Magnet Warrior' to return 'Valkyrion' to my hand. Next I
play 'Dark Factory of Mass Production', returning three Normal
Monsters from my Graveyard to my hand as well. I choose 'Stone
Dragon', 'Gamma', and 'Alpha'.
"Now," I declared,
a little showishly, "I discard 'Alpha', 'Beta', and 'Gamma', the
Magnet Warriors, to combine the three of them on the field," my
monsters appeared and immediately broke down into various parts of
various sizes and colors, which reformed into a tall, humanoid
warrior made of stone magnet-themed parts, wearing a helm with curved
blade-like horns protruding from its sides and a black visor, broad
green wings spread from its back, carrying a sword and shield, "to
summon 'Valkyrion the Magna Warrior' (ATK: 3800). 'Valkyrion', attack
the enemy monster!"
'Valkyrion' glided forward
and sliced the Shadow Hulk in half at the waste (2800 -> 2700),
sending it back into the darkness from which it came, leaving three
Wisps behind.
I scowled, Three of those
things? I wonder what he could possibly have planned for three of
them.
My opponent drew, and all
three of the Wisps disappeared. I took a step back, bracing myself
for what I knew already would be a monster somehow even more powerful
and more dangerous than the ones that I'd already been fighting. In
place of the Wisps appeared a creature which I can only describe as
the shadow of a god. It resembled the legendary monster 'Obelisk the
Tormentor' in size and stature, but it's silhouette resembled that of a demon, and I somehow knew that it's Attack points would be the same. The immense creature raised its massive fist to strike,
and I was nearly too stunned to react, but I still managed to trigger
a card which I had set earlier, hoping that this monster didn't share
effects with the monster it resembled.
"Activate," I
declared, "'Enemy Controller', changing your monster to defense
mode!"
A giant game controller
appeared, its cord reaching out and plugging into the giant's chest.
It lowered its fist and assumed a more reserved stance. Good, I
thought, it isn't as powerful as a real God Card, or it would have
been immune to that. It does, however, seem to have just as much
Attack as the real 'Obelisk', because it was strong enough to attack
my 'Valkyrion'.
I drew, disappointed with
what I'd gotten, Maybe, because its weaker, it will have lower
Defense. I have to risk it, otherwise there's no chance at all that
I'll destroy it this turn, and it will just destroy 'Valkyrion'
anyway.
"'Valkyrion'," I
commanded, "attack that Shadow God!"
'Valkyrion' swung his sword,
but in that moment my opponent removed from play a Shadow card which
I'd forced him to discard earlier via the effect of 'Card
Destruction', and a transparent black energy barrier appeared.
'Valkyrion' punched through the barrier, but he was slowed
considerably, and when his blade struck the Shadow God, it was a
weaker strike than what was normal. The God deflected the strike
easily, dealing damage back to me (2400 -> 650).
Then my opponent revealed
another Shadow card which appeared to depict a Shadow monster lunging
at a regular monster, maybe 'Marauding Captain', and the God once
again raised his hand, counterattacking against my 'Valkyrion'. The
Magnet Monster was crushed to individual pieces with little effort,
and the Shadow monster's massive fist carried through, glancing me as
well, and I fell to my knees. Unable even to remain upright in that
position, I immediately fell forward and blacked out.
Ria
Our opponent drew, and then
played a Spell depicting one of the Wisps of Darkness, and the card
became a Wisp of Darkness, which floated alongside the other
two for a moment before all three of the Wisps disappeared, replaced
by a massive Shadow God.
"'Ignis' says it has
four thousand Attack," Tommy said, beads of sweat forming on his
brow, "and thirty-five hundred Defense."
I looked over at him, and I
saw that look in his eyes, the look that says "I'm about to do
something completely stupid".
"Thomas," I said
seriously, and I took his hand as the God raised its hand, to strike
either of us, but Tommy slipped his hand out of my grasp, and he and
'Ignis' stepped forward into the path of the strike, taking its full
force themselves, making sure I wouldn't. 'Ignis' took the brunt of
the attack, thank God, but Tommy was still sent spiraling through the
air, landing, unmoving, far behind me. I let out a little scream and
looked at the place where he lay, unconscious or worse.
He's alive, I
promised myself, to keep myself from losing focus, he has to be. He
just touched my hand!
Fear and sadness turned in
an instant to anger, and I clenched that hand into a shaking fist,
turning back to my enemy and said, "You fool, you just signed
your own death warrant."
The creature set a card, but
I didn't care, ignoring it as I drew my next card, beginning what I
had dedicated my entire being to making sure was my opponent's last
turn.
John
My opponent drew, and even
on his detail-lacking face, I could make out apprehension as he eyed
my set card. He knew how close he's come to losing only one turn ago,
and I guess he was a more cautious gamer than I was, because where I
would likely have attacked, he chose to consolidate his position by
setting a card and waiting to see what I'd do next.
He must be planning
something, I decided. Apprehension about my face-down card
wouldn't be enough to stop a player as aggressive as this one unless
he already possessed another way of dealing with my monsters
I eyed his face-down.
I had a pretty good idea what it was, and I needed to get rid of it.
I need Destiny Draw,
I thought, but I already used it to trigger 'Zorc''s effect,
thinking I was about to make a final attack.
I was hesitant to draw,
fearing that I wouldn't get anything worth using. What I needed was
my 'Heavy Storm' card. It would solve so many of my problems that it
was hilarious, but I also needed a monster strong enough to defeat
the Emissaries of Darkness when their back-row support was gone. I
really needed to draw 'Card of Sanctity', and then apply
Destiny Draw to it, but there was nothing I could do about it
now.
I tried to focus, to balance
my Soul's good and evil aspects with each other and myself to change
my Soul into the Soul of Chaos, but it was no good. I couldn't focus.
Summoning my True Soul had always been a difficult and unreliable
task and now the same little voice which had suggested brainwashing
the crew of Pegasus' ship was whispering an alternate plan into the
back of my mind, a plan which I refused to carry out, and refusing it
was just taking too much of my concentration. So instead I decided to
just draw, and let come what came.
I picked up my card, and I
turned it over, and I smiled. I still didn't have a Destiny Draw to
apply to it, but it was something. I played the card, "I
activate 'Card of Sanctity'. We each draw until we hold six cards."
My opponent and I rebuilt
our hands, and I smiled again. At the very least I'd given myself a
chance to live through the turn and, hopefully, get rid of my
opponent's Trap as well. It would be costly, but I was running on
fumes, and I figured it would be worth it.
"You really should have
attacked me when you had the chance," I told my opponent, trying
to throw him off center by turning the swagger up to eleven, "because
my face-down card wasn't anything capable of stopping your attacks.
In fact, it wasn't even a Trap. I reveal 'Soul Absorption', so that,
from now on, whenever a card is removed from play, I recover five
hundred Life. That, however, is only the beginning,
"'Zorc', use your
Special Attack again," I commanded. The Dark Dice appeared in my
hand again, and I shot it. It landed on a three, and I called out,
"destroy 'Emissary Kaiten', Dark Catastrophe!"
'Zorc' called darkness down
upon the field again, and the female 'Emissary' was destroyed in a
flash of dark light.
"Next," I
continued, "I tribute 'Zorc' for my favorite monster,"
'Zorc' was engulfed in black and yellow lightning, which tore him
apart, and then took the form of a muscular, dark-skinned man in a
black robe covered in sinister-looking panels of yellow and black
armor, wearing pauldrons with curved blades protruding from them, and
a spiked helm in the shape of a metal hood, which wrapped his neck
and chin and well as his head, "'The Fiend Megacyber' (ATK:
2200)! And I play 'Foolish Burial' to send a monster from my deck to
the Graveyard, and I discard a card to play 'Monster Reincarnation',
adding that monster to my hand."
There was a flash, and a
monster slid from my Graveyard. Without a pause, I placed it upon my
Duel Disk, "Because I control 'The Fiend Megacyber', I can
Special Summon my next monster from my hand: the 'Megacyber Girl'!"
White, black, and yellow
static built in the air next to my warrior, forming a female in
angular plate armor similar to her male counterpart, covering her
shoulders, arms, and legs, a black armored jumpsuit underneath. An
armored visor beneath her long, braided yellow hair covered her eyes,
and an array of blade-like wings hung in the air a few inches from
her back. Blades wrapped her feet, running up the shins of her armor,
making her legs into deadly weapons (ATK: 2000).
"Finally," I
concluded, "I equip 'Megacyber Breaker' to 'The Fiend
Megacyber', and I tribute a 'Megacyber' monster which was Special
Summoned this turn to add the Attack of that monster to that of the
equipped monster."
An enormous sword, nearly as long as my warrior's body, appeared hoisted over his shoulder. It was
little more than a long jagged slab of metal with a sharp edge
and some futuristic parts affixed near the hilt.
'Megacyber Girl' turned back into static and merged with the sword,
and those futuristic parts lit up, and the gray of the sword became
the gray and yellow of the 'Girl''s armor and charged with electricity. 'Fiend Megacyber''s armor transformed, becoming thicker and more complex, and he raised
the sword above his head, his energy crackling with the energy of the
'Breaker' itself (ATK: 2200 -> 4200).
I paused, My monster is
stronger than his. If I attack with both of my monsters, and my
attacks get through, I'll win.
I looked back at my other
remaining monster, 'Supremacy Sun', But if he has the Trap I think
he has, and I leave both monsters in attack mode, I'll lose them
both, and I'll need the last card in my hand to keep myself alive. I
won't be able to revive 'Sun' again, not if I want to keep the card I
draw next turn.
I considered doing what my
opponent had done, and playing it safe. I could change 'Sun' to
defense mode, and attack only with 'Megacyber', but then I remembered
that I'd been able to accomplish so much only because my opponent had
been cautious and waited to attack me. How much could he accomplish
if I gave him the same chance? If 'Megacyber' failed, 'Sun' wouldn't
last much longer either way, so I decided to take the risk.
"'Fiend Megacyber',"
I commanded, "attack 'Gorz, Emissary of Darkness'!"
My monster swing his sword,
unleashing a wave of static energy, which was caught at the last
moment by a reflective barrier which sprung up around my opponent.
The energy from my attack hung there for a moment, and then lanced
back at both of my monsters and destroyed them. I scowled, I knew
it. I knew his card was 'Mirror Force'.
I looked at my last card.
I'd been right, and now that card was my last chance.
"I set a card," I
concluded, "and end my turn."
Rachel
My most recent opponent drew
its first card. It had inherited not just a Wisp from its
predecessor, but a Shadow Soldier as well. It played a Spell, and the
Soldier died, writhing in pain. I was surprised, but I understood
what the enemy Creature was doing. A ghost of the Soldier split from
its semi-solid body, which melted into a Wisp. The ghost surged
forward, plunging right through my 'Phantom Beast Rock-Lizard',
destroying it.
"Well," I said,
"at least now I know that you're as stupid as you look, because
destroying 'Rock-Lizard' damages you."
The pierced body of my
'Rock-Lizard' exploded, spraying my opponent with shrapnel, tearing
away a chunk of his Life (4000 -> 2000), but the Creature simply
didn't care, and it made good use of its new Wisp, tributing it to
summon a Shadow Behemoth and declare a direct attack. My reflexes are
good, so I was able to avoid the physical aspect of the attack, but I
still lost Life (4000 -> 1200), and as I sidestepped, I saw my
opponent set two cards.
I drew, "I play 'Fusion
Sage', searching my deck for a copy of the Spell card
'Polymerization'," I fanned out my deck and took the card into
my hand, and I played it immediately.
"I use it," I
declared, "to fuse 'Berfomet' and 'Gazelle the King of Mythical
Beasts' in my hand," a one-horned lion, and a demon with two
curved horns and four powerful arms appeared and merged into a lion
like creature with the heads of each, broad, feathered wings, and a
snake for a tail, "to form 'Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast,
and I immediately separate him with 'De-Fusion'."
My monster split into its
two base forms, but this time they were already on the field rather
than in my hand where they would do no good.
"I play 'Monster
Reborn'," I continued, the four-winged 'Phantom Beast' appearing
once again at my side, "to revive 'Phantom Beast Cross-Wing',
and I tribute all three of my monsters for my most powerful monster,"
my monsters disappeared and were replaced by the lion-man who had
battled Kimi earlier the same day, "my 'Beast King Barbaros'
(ATK: 3000)!
"When 'Barbaros' is
summoned," I explained, "using three tributes, he destroys
ever card that my opponent controls."
My monster thrust his lance,
and waves of energy poured from it, shaking the air, rippling across
the field and tearing the enemy's cards apart, leaving only two Wisps
behind.
"I attack a Wisp,"
I declared, 'Barbaros' piercing the small black cloud of darkness,
"and I end my turn."
I forced myself to remain
outwardly optimistic, but by now I was aware that many of us had
fallen, Rocky among them, and even with 'Barbaros' to protect me, I
was starting to wonder how much longer I could realistically hope to
avoid the same fate.
Marco
My opponent wasted no time,
tributing both of his Wisps for a giant, Hulking Shadow, which called
the soul of other Shadow monsters from the ground and set them upon
my 'Dragonic Knight', weakening him (3100 -> 2500). The Hulk
attacked, crushing my dragon with his enormous fist, weakening me
(3100 -> 2200).
That's it, I've had
enough of this sidelines bullshit, the other me said in my head,
let me out!
I was aching all over from
the strain of the Shadow Game and the force of the hits that I'd
taken. I'd fought in a few Shadow Games before, but I'd also rarely
ever fought one all the way through on my own. I wanted a reprieve,
so I agreed. My hair stood straight up and drained of color, and my
consciousness receded into the back of my own mind.
Next Chapter >>
Card of the Day:
Megacyber Breaker
Played by: John
When I got the idea to create more "Megacyber" monsters, I got the idea for this card. The image is heavily modified by me, and I think I did okay considering my lack of experience with photo-manipulation. It is basically just a permanent "Gift of the Martyr", but it can turn "Fiend Megacyber" or "Fiend Omegacyber" into a beast.
Original Cards in This Chapter:
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