"Hm?" A masked boy stopped his trek in the underground woodland area to place a hand over his one visible eye, making a circle with his thumb and index finger and peering over it as if it was a hole.
"Ah, would you look at that?" He hummed, as through means unnatural to this world, his vision reached far beyond the norm. For what he saw through this 'hole' was a pair of duelists standing across one another in an elevated stage with a fake sky around them.
"So he's the next one to duel is it?" He said giddily, stopping his exploration of the field he had found himself on to skip and sit in a fallen log nearby. Giggling to himself as he childishly swung his legs back and forth.
"Ah I can't wait! Now then, show me what you can do."
-
"Oh my, what a barren place." She said as her head turned to look at the area that the roller coaster had lead her to. Watching as a small piece of asteroid seemingly float above her head as she walked in an even larger piece of space rock.
"So this one's theme is space huh." She hummed as she surveyed the relatively flat rocky surface that she stood on, and the strange distorted purple sky filled with stars around her. "Though I think its less space and more different dimension. Is this a recreation of Sargasso?" She muttered to herself while scratching her chin.
"They have air conditioning at least. That's nice. Certainly has that other world feel around it." Kicking a wayward piece of rock that was laying on the ground of the field, she continued on while waiting for her opponent.
"At least it certainly has that feel doesn't it?" She said as she turned towards a large piece of rock, like the one that she had gone through after disembarking from her coaster, and watched as a dark robed figure walked past it to turn towards her.
'Oh crap there was an actual person there. I was just talking to myself.' Something that she's started to do because she doesn't have Mei or Serena who usually glue themselves to her side, but this isn't the time for that.
"Well now, I'm guessing that you're my opponent then?" She said after a huff, pushing her hat down and making sure that the blush that was on her face wasn't visible.
Her opponent remained silent however, as they simply raised their left arm where their duel disk was attached to, and allowed a dark blue duel blade to manifest from it.
"Not a fan of talking huh? Guess I'll have to do enough for the both of us then." She said with a wry smile as she does the same, allowing her own purple duel blade to manifest from her duel disk.
-
"Oh! It seems that we have another duel on our hands!" Mr. Heartland spoke after a brief lul, the giant screen in the middle of the stadium switching as the audience began to chatter amongst themselves, curious as to which duelists will face each other.
"AAAAAAAAND it's with our two most mysterious duelists as well! The duelist with the highest score during the preliminary, the ever mysterious Red Hat and the equally mysterious Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuelist S!" The commentator spoke as the screen showed both the robed duelist and the red clad figure.
Both the appearance of the World Duel Carnival's current strongest competitor and the most mysterious one making the crowd cheer wildly. Excited for the duel that was to come from their clash.
"Yuuna's up next!" Myu said excitedly upon seeing her friend on the screen, the same feelings were understandable shared by the rest of the group.
"Ha! This'll be a breeze!" Allen shouted with a grin that he shared with Serena, assured that the older girl would defeat the mysterious opponent easily.
"You can do this Yuuna!" Sayaka cheered along with the crowd, with Mei doing the same as they all watched as the duel began.
-
And with that, the duel then began.
""DUEL!!""
Duelist S: 4000LP
Red Hat: 4000LP
She began with the usual five card hand, briefly glancing down to see quite a bit of engine card and not much non engine. But she at least still opened one.
"I will go first." The cloaked duelist shouted at the top of their lungs as they took first in the duel. "And I will start by using the effect of Dream Shark." He shouted as he revealed the card in his hand.
"As I thought." She sighed. "That disguise doesn't matter if you immediately play something that's recognizable, you know."
"If I control no monsters, or if all monsters that I control are water, I can special summon this card from my hand." And the cloaked teen slammed the card into his shining duel blade, and with a splash the giant purple coloured shark manifested with its jaws opened wide.
Dream Shark - Water/Fish/Level 5/Effect: 0/2600
"Then I will normal summon Buzzsaw Shark." Not wasting any time, the clearly disguised Shark took a second card in his hand and placed it onto his field for his normal summon of the turn into a card that she is quite familiar with for a regular starter in his deck.
Buzzsaw Shark - Water/Fish/Level 4/Effect: 1600/500
"Buzzsaw Shark huh." She muttered under her breath, slightly frowning as she saw the card being played. "That's… quite 'modern' isn't it?" It was for sure a card that wasn't released during Arc-V's run… was it? Dream Shark too for that matter, but wasn't it an anime only card first?
"And I will activate its effect." The cloaked teen shouted as he threw his fist forward. "I can target one Water monster that I control, and special summon from my deck in defense position a Fish monster with the same Level but a different name."
With the explanation, the teen waved his outstretched hand to his side. "I will target Dream Shark, to summon a Level 5 Fish monster from my deck with a different name than Dream Shark."
"Then from my hand, I will activate the effect of Effect Veiler." She declared, showing the card in her hand. "During your Main Phase, as a Quick Effect, I can send this card from my hand to the graveyard, then target one Effect Monster that you control, to negate the effects of that face-up monster that you control until the end of this turn."
This way he not only uses up his normal summon, but also prevents him from going into any Rank 5s through Buzzsaw Shark's inherent Level modulation effect that lets it be used for Rank 3s and 5s, though in this case just 5s since he already has Dream Shark on the field.
Yet as the card was discarded, her opponent had something to respond with. "I won't let you. I'll activate the effect of Cutter Shark in my hand." Her opponent responded monotonically, yet somehow his voice still punctuated their importance as he revealed a card.
"What's this?" She said aloud, eyebrow slightly raising as she saw Shark reveal a third card that he had in his starting hand.
"When a card or effect is activated that targets a monster that I have and no other cards, or when a monster I have is targeted for an attack while this is in my hand or graveyard, as a Quick Effect, I can tribute that monster then special summon this card." Shark shouted, voice loud yet somehow monotone.
"A targeting protection?" She muttered with shock. It's not exactly protection to say, more like dodging through tributing, but since when does he have a card like that in his pool!?
So she was admittedly shocked to see the mechanical buzzsaw finned Shark disappear into golden motes of light, being tributed as the monster's own cost, before the chain then resolved backwards as it does, and the green coloured shark swam its way onto the field, the crimson ruby on its head shining under the artificial sun.
Cutter Shark - Water/Fish/Level 5/Effect: 0/2000
Her Effect Veiler resolved without effect as it had lost its target, the effect of Buzzsaw Shark resolved, and the disguised Shark took a card from his deck to summon onto the field. "I will special summon Gazer Shark from my deck."
And what appeared was a strangely metal coated shark, floating in the air alongside its brethren as if it was swimming in water.
Gazer Shark - Water/Fish/Level 5/Effect: 1000/1900
"Gazer Shark?" She muttered with confusion. "That's… does that mean that he's on a 5 axis rather than the usual 4 axis?" She knew that there's Rank 5 Water XYZ monsters, but they aren't that memorable.
"Then I will activate Cutter Shark's effect." He said robotically as he waved his hand aside. "If this card is special summoned, I can activate this effect. During the End Phase of this turn, I can add one Water monster from my graveyard to my hand except 'Cutter Shark'."
"And recursion too. Of course." She couldn't help but quip, but getting no reaction from the cloaked teen as he simply continued on by raising his hand.
"I will take the Level 5 Dream Shark, and the Level 5 Cutter Shark, and overlay them." He monotonically spoke as both sharks let out a hiss while showing their sharp teeth, bodies turning into glowing pillars of light as a black and golden vortex manifested before Shark.
"With these two monsters, I shall form the overlay network." And as both bright blue pillars swam through the sky and entered the vortex, a blinding pillar of light emerged. "XYZ Summon."
"Here it comes." She muttered, eyes narrowing and body tense in anticipation. A Rank 5 XYZ Monster that's most likely Water is it? With how limited his card pool is, it's got to be-
And emerging from the black and golden vortex of light was a monster that was beyond her imagination. "Appear. XYZ Armor Fortress." And changing from the fully armoured lance wielding warrior was a different bulky armoured monster. With many metallic green parts surrounding it's blue inner armour, the mechanical monster hefted a giant cannon on its shoulder, loaded with a rocket that was prepared to fire right towards her.
XYZ Armor Fortress - Water/Machine/XYZ/Rank 5/Effect: 2500/1800 OV: 2
And this time the shock was clearly no doubt visible as her eyes went wide. "What!? That card-! Armor Fortress!?" She held herself from saying it, but that card clearly wasn't one that he should have on his Extra Deck pool! She was expecting something like Abyss Splash or some other Water Rank 5s like Shark Fortress, but not this!
"You-how did you get that card!" She hissed alarm bells now ringing in her head as she faced the monster and the implications that they carried. Because if he had this card, what other modern options could he possibly have!?
'No calm down. Think logically.' She thought to herself as she took a breath to slow her rapidly beating heart. 'Shark as a deck has always had middling Rank 5 options, Valiant Shark Lancer is one of them. A better one to have gone into would have been N.As.H Knight, but the fact that he has Valiant Shark Lancer still shows that he at least has some modern support cards'
But she was familiar with the monster that Shark had XYZ Summoned onto his field. 'I know that he was the one that used the Armor XYZ cards first but this one too!? And hard summoning it instead of ranking it up through other means-crap if he has Armor Fortress then that means-!'
"And I shall activate its effect." Shark proclaimed, voice remaining even and not raising at all while his hand moved to gesture the new robotic XYZ Monster that he had summoned onto the field.
"Once per turn, I can detach up to 2 materials from this card to add 'Armored Xyz' cards with different names from my deck to my hand, equal to the number detached." He said, explaining the monster's on field effect as he then swept his hand to the side.
"I shall detach two materials from XYZ Armor Fortress, to add two Armored Xyz cards from my deck to my hand." And the giant armoured mech then raised its weapon, to which the two floating overlay material that it possessed funnelled into, absorbing them as cost for its effect activation.
XYZ Armor Fortress - Water/Machine/XYZ/Rank 5/Effect: 2500/1800 OV: 0
The effect then resolved, and the hooded Shark then took two cards from his deck for her to see. "I will add Full-Armored Xyz and Armored Xyz rom my deck to my hand." He said, showing her the pair of cards before shuffling them with the singular card that he still had in his hand.
"I knew it." She grumbled, slightly gritting her teeth. 'Adding Full-Armored XYZ basically means that he does have Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer, so I had to contend with that too then.'
Alarm bells was already ringing in her head as she saw that Shark had basically added to his hand an interaction, but he wasn't done just yet.
"I will activate the Spell, Surface." He said monotonously, placing the Spell card onto his duel blade and have its holographic projection shine brightly on the field. "This card allows me to target one Water Monster in my graveyard, and special summon it in face-up defence position."
"There's no Level restriction on that card?" Was it another difference that she overlooked? It just being an Attribute restricted reborn is quite strong.
"I will target buzzsaw Shark, and summon it back onto the field." And with a simple movement, he took the card from his graveyard slot and placed it back onto his duel blade, and the buzzsaw finned metallic shark returned onto the battlefield.
Buzzsaw Shark - Water/Fish/Level 4/Effect: 1600/500
"Then I shall overlay the Level 5 Gazer Shark, and Buzzsaw Shark that can be treated as a Level 3 or 5 for the XYZ Summon of a Water XYZ Monster." He said as both monsters then turned into shining blue pillars of light.
"Ah right. It has that effect too doesn't it." She muttered, remembering the monster's continuous effect to be used a different Level for XYZ Summon of a Water XYZ Monster as he had just explained, and watched as the black and golden vortex appeared on the field in front of him.
"I'll take these two monsters, and make an overlay network with them." And once more a galactical spiral of black and gold appeared in the middle of the field, and the two glowing dark blue orbs entered it as it appeared. "XYZ Summon." Shark brought his hand down, and the vortex then exploded into a glowing light.
"Appear, Numbers 73." And the shark duelist monotonically called forth yet another Number XYZ Monster. "The holy drop falls into chaos. It shows its power, purifying the chaos! Descend! God of Roaring Waterfalls - Abyss Splash."
And the monster that appeared took the form of a blue giant clad in golden armor, with shining blue gems adorning said armor. In his hand was a giant golden trident that was pointed towards its enemy. All while a pair of signing blue orbs orbited the monster.
Number 73: Abyss Splash - Water/XYZ/ Warrior/Rank 5/Effect: 2400/1400 OV: 2
"Abyss Splash?" Well at least that's a 'normal' XYZ Monster for him to have summoned. Its basically got battle protection for just being a Number, and its own effect to double its attack of course, but that was basically it.
"Then I shall use its effect." He declared simply, with his ever monotonous emotionless voice.
"What's this?" She said after a blink. "You're using it turn one? No, you're just getting the material to the graveyard aren't you."
"Once per turn, as a Quick Effect, I can detach one material from this card, to double this card's attack until the end of your turn. But any battle damage that you take this turn is halved." The cloaked duelist said, explaining the monster's effect.
With water still gathering into its trident, the monster swung its golden weapon and sliced towards one of the shining blue orbs that orbited around itself. Absorbing it into its weapon to empower itself.
Number 73: Abyss Splash - Water/XYZ/ Warrior/Rank 5/Effect: 2400/1400 OV: 1
And as its effect resolved, Shark's XYZ Monster had its attack points completely doubled, shown by a blue glow that enveloped the monster. With the downside of halving the damage that his opponent would take for the rest of the turn. Though with it being the first turn, she doubted that he's going to be dealing any, and it's not that she's going to be beating that card through battle anyway.
Number 73: Abyss Splash - Water/XYZ/ Warrior/Rank 5/Effect: 4800/1400 OV: 1
"Then I will activate the effect fo Gazer Shark in my graveyard." He declared, using the effect of the monster that he had detached from Abyss Splash. "I can banish this card from my graveyard to target two Level 5 Water monsters in my graveyard except 'Gazer Shark' and special summon both monsters, but their effects are negated."
Taking two cards back from his own graveyard, the cloaked teen showed the two targets to her. "I will target both the Level 5 Dream Shark and Cutter Shark, and summon them back onto the field." And with a wave of his hand, the two cards were placed onto his duel blade, both gigantic sharks were resummoned onto the field.
Dream Shark - Water/Fish/Level 5/Effect: 0/2600
Cutter Shark - Water/Fish/Level 5/Effect: 0/2000
"Immediately after this effect resolves, I will XYZ Summon one Water XYZ Monster using those two monsters." He continued on with a raise of her hand, and both monsters immediately turned into shining blue pillars of light.
"Once again, I will construct the overlay network with these two monsters. XYZ Summon." He spoke monotonously, with a wave of his hand.
"Appear." The cloaked duelist said with his dead eyes as he threw his hand forward. "Valiant Shark Lancer." And what emerged from the vortex was a giant monster clad in armour, an evolved variant of the titular Black Ray Lancer as shown by their similar armour and name.
Carrying itself a large futuristic blue spear in hand with many shining wing-like fins and sharp light purple spikes protruding from it's armour, the newly summoned XYZ Monster was prepared to face whatever it is that she brings as two materials floated, circling its body.
Valiant Shark Lancer - Water/Beast-Warrior/XYZ/Rank 5/Effect: 2500/1600 OV: 2
"Shark Lancer!" She hissed, seeing yet another card that shouldn't be in his card pool of the time just yet appear right onto the field. "How do you-" No, the 'how' could come later, she hadn't thought of going first Sharks with the card pool of the time to be formidable at all, but it seems she'll have to switch gears and think of ways to properly break the board with the cards that she has.
"I will set two cards face-down, and move to the End Phase." Shark declared aloud. "But as there are no monsters in my graveyard, the effect of Cutter Shark will resolve without effect." Saying so he ended his turn with a board filled with three XYZ Monsters, two set cards, though sadly no follow-up with how Cutter Shark resolved without effect, and a card in hand
And thus ended the first turn of the World Duel Carnival's second match.
-
"AAAAAAAMAAAAAZIIIIIING! This mysterious duelist has finished his turn with an explosive finish!" Mr. Heartland shouted aloud as the hooded duelist finished his turn, and the crowd soon followed as they roared upon seeing him summon XYZ Monster after XYZ Monster. Going louder after each summon was successfully resolved.
"Whoa… three whole different XYZ Monsters on the field…" Allen said with his mouth agape, as astonished as all the other members of the audience as they saw the turn being played before him.
The poncho wearing boy then seemed to snap out of whatever funk he had as he shoon his head rapidly from left to right. Glaring at the screen with his hand caressing his chin. "But still, those cards… is that who I think it is?"
"Is something wrong Allen?" Sayaka asked her childhood friend, who simply looked at her and shook his head and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Huh? Ah nothing. That guy just felt familiar. But there's just no way." He said as he gave a glance back at the screen. Showing the hooded duelist and the formidable board that he had formed.
'No way that that's Shark. The cards might be familiar and all, but he doesn't play like him at all. And there's no way that Shark would show up with a cloak like that off all things.' The brown haired teen thought to himself, nodding his head as he reassured himself of the fact that the duelist that Yuuna was facing was most certainly not who he initially thought he was.
"But still… Can Yuuna win this? Her opponent seems quite strong…" Sayaka meekly asked, and immediately both of the purple girls snapped towards her.
"Absolutely." "No doubt." Both Mei and Serena answered instantaneously, both girls sharing a look with each other.
"Wow. You two sound really confident saying that." Myu couldn't help but say, to which Mei crossed both of her arms in front of her and puffed her chest.
"Of course! She's Yuuna after all." She said smugly, before the smile lowered ever so slightly as her eyes kept locked onto the giant screen in the middle of the stadium showing their red garbed friend.
"Well, I don't know what deck Yuuna is playing now, but knowing her I'm sure of one thing." The purple haired girl said. "She surely has a plan for this."
"NOW HOW WILL HIS OPPONENT FACE THE FORMIDABLE MYSTERIOUS OPPONENT! LET'S ALL FIND OUT TOGETHER!" And with Mr. Heartland's words as a sign, they all refocused on the screen to watch the duel continue to unfold.
-
'So I actually have to play through interruption. How lovely.' She couldn't help but think, internally feeling a bit giddy as she faced actual interaction that her opponent was going to be throwing to stop her plays.
With the power level of the cards that were out there at this time, and the way people in general build their decks too, interaction was something that you would rarely see. At most you'll see randomly drawn Trap cards, not unlike the one that Shark had just pulled.
A searchable, relatively reliable endboard piece that allowed him to interact with the opponent during their turn. And he also tried to search follow-up too! Isn't that just great! Even if it resolved without effect, he at least tried to.
"Ain't that amazing." She muttered, placing a hand on the rim of her hat while slightly lowering her head. "Honestly, it's the first time that I've seen a full blown combo like this." In this world of course.
Barring Anna who had just recently gotten an actual form of reliable interaction through Superdora and Derricrane, along with Citadel as her form of interaction. Though that was mostly due to her influence, her addition and help in deck building and advice on how to use her cards.
This however, had none of her hand prints on them. Without her help or influence, directly at least, Shark had managed to form a board of interaction all on his own… to a degree that is.
She was still unsure if this was all because of Tron or not, but she was more and more sure that it was. Shark wouldn't normally be like this after all.
'But just standing around here won't get me anywhere.' She placed a hand on her duel disk and began her turn. "Then it's my turn, I draw." And drew forth the fifth card for her hand, getting back to five cards to begin her actual turn.
'So let's see… I have to deal with both Valiant Shark Lancer and Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer, and an unknown set. Chances that the other set is actually just Armored XYZ isn't unlikely, but best to assume that it's another interaction of sorts.' She thought, calmly assessing the board state that her opponent had.
Eyes narrowing slightly, she took notice of two of the three XYZ Monsters on his field. 'No. Valiant Shark Lancer and the oncoming Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer are monster removal. One targeting and the other non targeting. The first I could play around but the second depends on when he chooses to activate it.'
Which means that the only interaction that she couldn't truly play around was that set card, the one other than Full-Armored Xyz that is. And though slightly cheating, she was using her Shop's system to look at the possible cards that it could be.
'Excluding the many generic Traps or Quick-Play Spells that he could possibly be playing, it could be one of the regular XYZ support cards. Heck, XYZ Effect could even work with Full-Armored Xyz.' The possibility was there, and that would at least mean that he had spot removal that isn't limited to just monsters.
'But if so I could definitely play around it. It's most likely not something like Splash Capture, there isn't enough Fish in the graveyard just yet, and I doubt he'd want to banish the ones that he could get since they are recurreable.'
A check on her opponent's graveyard quickly disproved that theory. As with how he played his cards, most of them remained on board under his XYZ Monsters, with nothing being left on the graveyard. As was the reason as to why his Cutter Shark resolved without effect earlier at the end of his turn.
'So at least that's out of the picture. A battle trap maybe? Who's to say.' She closed her eyes for a brief second, and opened them again. 'Calmly, logically, slowly, I'll break through this board, and win.'
Lets just hope that that set card isn't somehow a Spell negate, because then her plan would most likely crumble in place. "I will start by activating the Spell, Kuji-Kiri Curse." She said, placing the card onto her shining purple duel blade, and the card's holographic projection shone right in front of her.
"By sending a Level 9 monster from my hand or face-up field to the graveyard, Kuji-Kiri Curse allows me to draw 2 cards." She said, explaining the card's effects as she then showed another card in her hand. "I will send QQ Enneagon from my hand as cost."
Meeting Shark's somewhat hazy eyes and the teen not responding with interaction whatsoever, she resolved the Spell card's effect. "And draw two cards." Then returned back to five cards in hand.
Briefly glancing at the new cards and thinking of the possible plays that they all opened up, she nodded her head as she continued with her turn. "Well then, let's start then." She muttered to herself.
"I will activate the effect of QQ Enneagon in my graveyard." She declared. "If this card is in my hand or graveyard, I can reveal one Level 9 monster in my hand except 'QQ Enneagon' and special summon both this card and the revealed monster in defence position. But I cannot special summon from the Extra Deck for the rest of this turn except Rank 9 or higher XYZ Monsters."
Done with speaking of the card's effect and the restriction that it put her under, she revealed the target for the monster's effect. "I will reveal Vala, Seidhr of the Generaider Bosses in my hand, and special summon both monsters in defence position."
With the effect resolved without her opponent using any of his interactions just yet, she placed both cards onto her glowing duel blade, and with it two completely different monsters manifested through the holographic technology inside her duel disk.
One being an enormous crimson scaled dinosaur, standing up from the ground and shaking the earth as it opened its large maw and let out a defiant roar, small devil-like wings extending as far as it could as the monster appeared onto the field.
QQ Enneagon - Fire/Dinosaur/Level 9/Effect: 900/900
And alongside the summoned dinosaur was the emergence of a large grey serpentine snake from the ground, with crimson spikes on its insanely long body. And riding that enormously large serpent was a crimson robe-clad woman, hefting a shining specter in hand and pointing it towards her opponent's XYZ Monsters.
Vala, Seidhr of the Genereider Bosses - Fire/Fairy/Level 9/Effect: 2500/2500
'And now, which interaction is going to be used here?' Because chances are, he'll be using one of those interactions to prevent her from getting to XYZ Summons. 'Though if he used both of them right at once in a specific way it would be a bit troublesome.'
But of course, before that could all happen she still has the priority as turn player. "I will activate Vala's effect." She declared with a wave towards the serpent riding fairy. "If this card is special summoned. I can special summon one 'Generaider' monster from my hand or graveyard, except another one of herself."
"Then I will activate the Trap, Full-Armored XYZ." Her opponent responded to the activation of Vala's effect by flipping up the known set card that he had added to his hand, the Trap card's holographic projection shining as it was activated.
"Here it comes." She muttered while narrowing her eyes. Knowing full well where this line of play is going to go.
"If an XYZ Monster is on the field, immediately after this effect resolves, Full-Armored Xyz allows me to XYZ Summon 1 XYZ Monster using monsters that I control." The dark blue haired teen monotonously spoke as he waved his hand forwards.
"I will use the Rank 5 XYZ Armored Fortress and overlay it." He said as the giant cannon heaving XYZ Monster let out a warcry as a giant black and gold vortex appeared under it, to which the monster then slowly descended into.
"I shall recreate the overlay network with this monster. Double Rank-Up, Full-Armored XYZ Change." The hooded teen said as he swung his raised hand to the side, and the galactical vortex exploded into shining light.
"Descend, Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer." And appearing through the giant pillar of light was a newly formed giant monster, spinning the shining crimson lance that the monster held in its hand. Purple veins of chaotic energy pulsed through the monster's dark armour as large wing-like fins spread wide open in its back. With a single glowing blue orb shining orbiting it, the summoned XYZ Monster held its weapon towards her in an intimidating pose.
Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer - Water/Aqua/XYZ/Rank 7/Effect: 2800/1500 OV: 1
"I knew it." She hissed as her eyes narrowed towards the summoned XYZ Monster. "Of course you had it, why else would you have XYZ Armor Fortress."
"Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer gains 300 attack for each material and Equip Card that it has." The hooded teen spoke with the same monotonous tone that he's been using the whole duel. "As it has one material, Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer gains 300 points of attack."
Blue energy surrounded the armoured XYZ Monster as it slammed the but of its crimson lance into the ground below, power surging through its form as its attack power was enhanced.
Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer - Water/Aqua/XYZ/Rank 7/Effect: 3100/1500 OV: 1
"Then Vala's effect resolves, and from my hand I will special summon Utgarda, Generaider Boss of Delusions." And with the chain resolving backwards she placed the card from her hand onto her duel blade, and behind the gigantic crimson scaled dinosaur a gigantic floating white castle took form.
Utgarda, Generaider Boss of Delusions - Light/Rock/Level 9/Effect: 2200/2700
'Unfortunate that I had to open them in hand, but this still works.' She thought as she saw her opponent frown. 'Though it would have been perfect if instead I had opened Nidhogg instead, that would have checked the Full-Armored Xyz. Though that doesn't matter since he used it already.'
With her choosing to activate Vala's effect on its summon, her opponent used this window of opportunity to respond and chain his own card effect. "I will activate the effect of Valiant Shark Lancer." He declared on a new chain as soon as they reached an open gamestate.
"I can target one monster that you control; detach one material from an XYZ Monster that I control, and if I do, destroy that monster." He began, explaining its effect as he waved to the monster on his side. "This effect is a Quick-Effect if I control another Water XYZ Monster."
The giant lance wielding monster waved its weapon as Shark declared. "I will target Vala, Seidhr of the Generaider Bosses."" And said monster then swung its weapon, spinning it and then pointing it towards Vala.
"Right the detach is an effect and not a cost." She clicked her tongue as she eyes the field again. No, there was no doubt that he's going to detach the overlay material off of Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer so Full-Armored Xyz's graveyard effect could be activated.
'And reading it back the destruction effect is an 'and if you do', so he would be getting that XYZ Fortress to the graveyard either way. There's no stopping Full-Armored Xyz's graveyard effect then.' She thought with a click of her tongue as she then waved her hand. "Then I will chain the effect of Utgarda! As a Quick Effect, I can tribute two 'Generaider' monsters and or Rock monsters, then target one card on the field, and banish it!"
Done with explaining the card's effect like her opponent before her, she proceeded to pay for the card's cost as she raised her right hand to the air. "I will tribute Utgarda itself and Vala, to target your Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer and banish it!"
Both the monster that her opponent had targeted and her most recently summoned monsters disappeared from the field, yet a vague silhouette of the gigantic castle-like monster remained, gathering energy in the form of a ball of light that would soon be shot towards the armored XYZ Monster as soon as the chain of effects resolved.
"Foolish. Then I will activate the Counter Trap, XYZ Block." He blandly spoke as he waved his hand to the side, flipping up the unknown set card that he had opened and allowing its holographic projection to shine on his side of the field.
"That's-!" She hissed as she saw him activate a generic monster negate, and one that detaches material to boot.
"When my opponent activates a monster effect, by detaching an XYZ Material from a monster that I control, I can negate the activation, and if I do, destroy that monster." The badly disguised Shark blandly explained as he waved his hand to the side yet again.
"I will detach a material from Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer, and negate the effect of Utgarda." He said, as the singular material that the armored XYZ Monster possessed flew into the face of the Counter Trap, paying for its yet while also depowering the XYZ Monster itself.
Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer - Water/Aqua/XYZ/Rank 7/Effect: 2800/1500 OV: 0
A bolt of lightning emerged from the Counter Trap and shot towards the gigantic shadow of Utgarda, the blast cleanly destroying and dispersing the monster's remains into pitiful shards of light.
She clicked her tongue and held her hat as the chain of effects caused a gust of wind that almost blew it away. "That was an unfortunate chain of effects." She grimaced as she essentially lost most of her field in the exchange of effects.
"Then Valiant Shark Lancer will detach a material from itself as a part of its effect." Shark continued as the other lance wielding XYZ Monster cut through one of its own materials, a consequence of using its effect even though it won't get to then destroy a monster that it had intended to target.
Valiant Shark Lancer - Water/Beast-Warrior/XYZ/Rank 5/Effect: 2500/1600 OV: 1
She closed her eyes and took a breath. "Unfortunate… but that's two out of three gone." And the only thing that remained was Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer's non-targeting removal. Joy.
She glances at the three card that still remained in her hand and thought. 'In the next turn he still has Armored XYZ to activate Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer, and that also fuels Valiant Shark Lancer for its own effect. Not to mention that he still has that Number monster on his side that essentially wins battle.'
She sighed as she held the rim of her hat. "And that's not mentioning that Cutter Shark is now in the graveyard too huh." She said with a grimace, "So targeting effects are out of the window."
No. Wait, something was wrong with that line of thought. She narrowed her eyes as she studied the field again. "I see. The Full-Armored Xyz is the only thing that you could use then."
Because if he used Full-Armored Xyz, as long as that monster is still equipped and didn't trigger the card's replacement protection effect, he couldn't activate it. Which in turn prevents it from activating its non-targeting removal effect.
"But I'd still have to deal with it then." And much as it hurts to admit she couldn't quite do so with the cards in her hand, the draws from Kuji-Kiri Curse sure was something. She gave a moment to think before she finally closed her eyes and spoke out.
"I will set one card face-down." She said as she placed a card in her spell and trap zone, it's holographic projection briefly appearing in front of her before disappearing. "And activate the Field Spell, Generaider Boss Stage!"
Then proceeded to activate her deck's signature card. The floating rock in space that the both of them were on was being enshrouded by shadowy mist as the titular Generaider emblem hung above their heads.
"What's this? A Field Spell?" The hooded teen asked monotonously, a hint of curiosity heard through his voice as he eyed the giant symbol floating above them for a brief moment before dismissing it.
"Then I will end my turn." She said simply, ending her turn with-
"If that is all, then I will activate the effect of Full-Armored Xyz in my graveyard." Her opponent declared with a simple wave of his hand, and she snapped her head to look at him in disbelief.
"Wait, you're using that now of all times!?" She asked with eyes wide and jaw hanging open as she saw her opponent begin to explain the card's effect.
"I can banish this card in my graveyard, then target one XYZ Monster that I control, equip one other XYZ Monster from my face-up field or graveyard to it as an Equip Spell that gives the equipped monster attack equal to its attack, and if the equipped monster were to be destroyed by battle or card effects, I can destroy it instead." And after that long winded explanation, the teen then pointed towards the black armoured XYZ Monster on his side of the field.
"I will target Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer, and equip XYZ Armor Fortress to it, giving it an additional 2500 attack." The cloaked teen spoke as the monster spun it's crimson lance while its body glowed with power, the silhouette of the cannon carrying monster briefly appearing behind it as it was empowered.
Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer - Water/Aqua/XYZ/Rank 7/Effect: 5300/1500 OV: 0
She wasn't surprised at all at the increase of attack points, she knew it was coming after all, and so did she knew of the next effect that was going to activate in a separate chain. "And with that, the effect of Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer activates." The disguised Shark declared.
"Once per turn, if an Equip Card becomes equipped to a monster that I control, I can attach one monster that you control to this card as material." He spoke out simply, and with a wave of his hand the non targeting effect resolved. "I will attach your last monster to it as XYZ material."
And with that declaration as the effect resolved, the crimson lance in the hands of the dark armoured XYZ Monster was thrown and stabbed right through the crimson scaled dinosaur on her field. Her monster let out a painful cry as it turned into a shining blue light that was pulled back by the shining crimson lance that returned to Dark Knight Lancer's hand. The orb then proceeded to orbit the XYZ Monster as it also increased its attack ever so slightly.
Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer - Water/Aqua/XYZ/Rank 7/Effect: 5500/1500 OV: 1
"And at the end of your turn, Abyss Splash's attack points return to its original attack." The teen said with his even and monotonous tone, an aura of blue surrounded the golden trident wielding monster as its attack points returned to normal.
Number 73: Abyss Splash - Water/XYZ/ Warrior/Rank 5/Effect: 2400/1400 OV: 1
And with that her turn finally ended, with her board of monsters essentially dismantled by her opponent, leaving her with her Field Spell and one set card in her spell and trap zone, along with a singular card left remaining in her hand.
And with her opponent possessing three whole XYZ Monsters on their field, most would certainly see it as an unwinnable situation.
But for her, the duel was just beginning.
-
"OHO! What is this! It seems our mysterious Red Hat fails to defeat the ensemble of monsters that the even more mysterious Duelist S had assembled!" Mr. Heartland shouted into his microphone as he held the rails of his flying platform as tight as he possibly could.
"Could this possibly be the end of the preliminary round's champion!?" He shouted yet again, stoking the flames deep within the audiences' heart as they all roared in anticipation and excitement.
"No… Yuuna…" Sayaka gasped as she placed both of her hands in front of her face. Horrified and fearful as she watched her friend be in a disadvantageous situation.
"No! There ain't no way that she's losing this duel!" Allen shouted as he slammed his fist on the armrest of his seat. Teeth gritting as he glared at the cloaked teen shown at the screen. "She's definitely going to turn this around! Believe it! She'll definitely find a way to go through those monsters of his!"
"But it seems pretty bad…" Sayaka whispered, loud enough for them all to hear. "T-that Duelist S person has a whole field of XYZ Monsters… Valiant Shark Lancer can destroy a monster as a Quick Effect, even if Yuuna doesn't have any, and even if she did both Full Armor Dark Knight Lancer and Abyss Splash just have so much attack points…"
Yet at the face of Sayaka's logical dissection of the duel's current field state, two of their impromptu group remained calm and collected. "She's playing new cards again…" Myu turned towards the purple haired girl as she heard her mutter to herself while watching the duel continue before her. Completely unbothered by the situation that her friend was in.
"You're not worried Mei?" She asked, and the purple haired girl blinked before turning towards her, and shrugged her shoulders as her eyes turned to focus towards the giant screen in the middle of the stadium.
"I'm sure that Yuuna has something up her sleeves." The smaller girl said as she crossed both of her arms in front of her. "She's definitely going to turn this around."
-
"Hmph. Then I suppose I should end this." The cloaked teen said with the same tone that he had throughout the duel placing a hand on his duel disk and taking a card from the top of his deck. "I draw."
But before he could pass the Draw Phase however, his opponent stopped him. "Ah, not so fast there." She said with a snap of her finger. "Because I will activate the effect of Generaider Boss Stage." She said, smiling all the while as her deck was beginning to work its magic.
"What?" The hooded teen said with a frown, a first for him since the duel.
"Once per turn, if a card or cards is added from the deck to our hand except during the Damage Step, I can special summon one 'Generaider' monster from my deck in defence position." She said, pointing upwards towards the sky as the giant symbol that hung above them began to glow with power.
"A special summon from the deck?" The dark blue haired teen spoke. "And during the opponent's turn. How strange."
"Ah, you'll find out how strange it would be in a few seconds." She spoke teasingly with a smile as she took out a card from her deck and showed it to her opponent. "I will special summon Harr, Generaider Boss of Storms from my deck!"
Placing the card onto her shining duel blade, a light falling from the giant symbol floating in the sky and taking the form of a new monster surrounded in dark clouds, a giant staff wielding monster clad in black and gold, a singular red eye glaring down from
Harr, Generaider Boss of Storms - Dark/Spellcaster/Level 9/Effect: 3000/3000
"And that's not all of course." She spoke with a grin and snapped her fingers again. "Generaider Boss Stage's second effect, if I special summon a 'Generaider' monster during my opponent's turn, I can special summon as many 'Generaider Tokens' as possible in attack position, but they are destroyed during the End Phase."
And with that said, she swept her hand towards her empty field. "And because my field is empty, I can special summon four Generaider Tokens." And through the giant symbol that yet again shone, four shining angels descended from the sky, wings fluttering as they danced across the field.
Generaider Token - Fairy/Light/Level 4/Normal: 1500/1500
Generaider Token - Fairy/Light/Level 4/Normal: 1500/1500
Generaider Token - Fairy/Light/Level 4/Normal: 1500/1500
Generaider Token - Fairy/Light/Level 4/Normal: 1500/1500
"This effect of Generaider Boss Stage can only be activated once per turn." She said with a grin, as her opponent seemed to stare at her through that covering hood of his.
"Four whole monsters?" Her opponent's eyes narrowed as he glared at the monsters. "Tch. How annoying. So you now have a wall of monsters to defend yourself, is that it? Well too bad, I will activate the effect of Valiant Shark Lancer!"
Following that declaration, the black clad Beast-Warrior spun its futuristic lance as its wing-like fins spread wide. "I will target that new monster of yours; detach a material from a monster I control, and destroy it!" He shouted as the spun futuristic lance was then pointed towards Harr.
"You're a chain too late for that!" She said with a grin as she pointed back towards the offending monster. "I will chain Harr's effect! When a card or effect is activated, as a Quick Effect I can tribute 2 'Generaider' and or Spellcaster monsters; negate the activation and if I do, destroy that card!"
"What!?" And for once, emotion flashed through the hooded teen as she could see the shot that was in his face as his eyes went wide, watching as the black cloaked giant raised the golden staff that it held in its hand, lighting forming and gathering around it.
"I will tribute two of the four tokens that I have on field, to negate your Valiant Shark Lancer's effect, and destroy it!" She declared as two shining fairies flew and entered into the giant staff in Harr's hand, and then swung it down to strike the armoured Beast-Warrior.
"Kuh!" He hissed as he held both arms in front of him as thunder struck the armoured lancer, the Beast-Warrior letting out a valiant cry as it was vaporized by Harr's divine lightning, motes of sparkling light scattered throughout the field left in its wake.
"Tch!" The hooded teen clicked his tongue, heeding to move into the Standby and Main Phase first before playing more of his cards. "Fine then! I'll just end this and move to the Battle Phase!" He declared as he waved his hand forwards.
"I will attack that pesky token that you have with Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer!" The hooded Shark shouted as the remaining armoured monster spun its crimson lance, energy pulsating throughout its body as it launched itself into the air.
"Alright then, if that's how you want to play it then I'll activate the Trap, Generaider Boss Fight!" She shouted in the attack declaration, pulling her right arm close to her chest as she flipped the set card that she had set.
"A Trap Card!" The hooded teen hissed yet again with actual emotion, no longer speaking in his monotonous tone of voice. "But if you think that it would do anything against my Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer-"
"Oh it will. Trust me." She cut off his monologue and began explaining the Trap's effect. "Generaider Boss Fight allows me to activate one 'Generaider' Field Spell directly from my deck or graveyard, then allow you to draw one card."
"What?" And even with most of his features hidden in that shabby hooded cloak of his, she could tell that he was scrunching his brows in confusion. "But you already have that Field Spell of yours on the field, why would you need another one? And let me draw a card of all thing?"
"Confused aren't you? Well let's find out shall we?" She said with a grin as the effect resolved, and she took out the exact same Field Spell card. Not like they have another one. "I will activate a second Generaider Boss Stage directly from my deck!"
For a brief moment, the giant symbol hanging atop of their heads shimmered as if it was a mirage, before returning to its normal form as she overwrote the active Field Spell that was on the field.
"Hmph, then I will draw a card." He huffed as he drew a second card of the turn, getting back up to three cards. "But that changes nothing! Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer attacks-"
"Oh but it does change things." She cut him off yet again, slowly pointing towards him before snapping her fingers. "Because a card was added from your Main Deck into your hand, the effect of Generaider Boss Stage allows me to special summon one 'Generaider' monster from my deck in defence position!"
"WHAT!?" He shouted, surprise clearly evident with how he took a step back and confident posture broken. Before immediately then moving forwards as he angrily pointed towards her. "But you've already used that effect already! You can't just use it again!"
"Oh did I forget to mention? Generaider Boss Stage's effect to special summon a 'Generaider' monster from the deck is a soft once per turn." She hummed, tapping her chin idly, before grinning as she pointed upwards to the shining symbol high in the sky.
"Which mean that this newly activated Generaider Boss Stage can still use this effect!" She shouted, watching the giant Generaider symbol hanging above them glow with power. "But that's not all! Because I will also activate Harr's other effect!"
"There's more!?"
"Of course there is! Once per turn, if you add a card from your deck to your hand except during the Draw Phase, I can make you send one monster from your hand or field to the graveyard!" She shouted, watching as the storm clad Generaider monster gathered power into its outstretched hand.
"What!?" He shouted yet again at the chain of effects that she was activating during his turn. "You're making me send a monster from either my hand or field to the graveyard!?"
"Of course. It's your choice to send which one." And thankfully she wouldn't have to worry too much since his pool of cards didn't have much graveyard effects… that she knows of. 'There's a chance that he'll actually have some like Gazer Shark's effect, but if it comes to that…'
The chain of effects then resolved, and started with Harr's signature hand rip effect. The giant monster clad in black and gold crushed the orb in his hand as he forced her opponent to send a monster from his hand or field.
"Tch!" The cloak wearing teen grit his teeth as he perused through the cards in his hand, before clicking his tongue again, clearly annoyed that she was fighting back. "Fine! I will send Right-Hand Shark in my hand to the graveyard." He said as he showed a card in his hand that he had drawn, before putting it in his duel disk's graveyard slot.
'Something to look out for later then. That'll be a pain to play around.' Right-Hand Shark's battle immunity makes a handful of XYZ Monsters more annoying then they should be, but she could hopefully play through it.
And with that, the chain of effects continued. "Then with the effect of Generaider Boss Stage, I will special summon a second Vala, Seidhr of the Generaider Bosses." She said, placing the monster card thats he took from her deck onto the field, and allowing the crimson clad fairy to manifest atop of the endlessly long serpent.
Vala, Seidhr of the Genereider Bosses - Fire/Fairy/Level 9/Effect: 2500/2500
"Which then allows Vala's effect to activate." She declared in a new chain. "Allowing me to special summon another 'Generaider' monster from my hand or graveyard." With her staff raised and her opponent's mood souring even further, the fairy's effect resolved as she took a card from her graveyard.
"Return to the field! Utgarda!" And allowing her to summon back her way to survive the turn, a removal spell that was sure to out the more annoying beatstick that her opponent currently has on the field.
Utgarda, Generaider Boss of Delusions - Light/Rock/Level 9/Effect: 2200/2700
"That monster again!" Shark roared, head snapping to the large castle-like monster that now hung behind her. "So this was your plan all along!"
"Correct!" She grinned, waving her hand up towards the giant floating monster above her. "I will activate Utgarda's effect! Tributing my two remaining Generaider Tokens, I will target your Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer, and banish it!"
The last translucent shining fairies that remained on her field danced and flapped their wings as they flew and entered the gigantic floating castle that was Utgarda, the Rock monster forming a ball of energy at its center, aiming directly towards the offending armored knight.
"YOU! I'll use the effect of Cutter Shark in my graveyard! Tributing the Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer that you're targeting to special summon itself!" Shark roared back as he swiped his hand outwards, the targeted XYZ Monster letting a grunt as it disappeared into motes of light, and in its place the crimson gem headed shark returned onto the field.
Cutter Shark - Water/Fish/Level 5/Effect: 0/2000
With that however, her opponent's attacking monster was removed from the field, fully bypassing the replacement effect that Full-Armored Xyz gave it. "Then I will activate Cutter Shark's effect!" Her opponent roared as he waved his hand aside.
"During the End Phase of this turn, I can add one Water monster from my graveyard to my hand except 'Cutter Shark'!" The large shark that was summoned in defence position bared its sharp teeth as its effect was activated, and would linger and fully resolve at the end of the turn.
"I will Attack Harr with Abyss Splash!" Shark roared as his last remaining XYZ Monster readied his weapon, raised and pointed towards the defending storm cloaked Generaider Boss.
"Then I will activate its effect!" He roared yet again. "Once per turn, as a Quick Effect, I can detach one material from this card, to double this card's attack until the end of your turn! But any battle damage that you take this turn is halved!"
With water still gathering into its trident, the monster swung its golden weapon and sliced towards one of the shining blue orbs that orbited around itself. Absorbing it into its weapon to empower itself.
Number 73: Abyss Splash - Water/XYZ/ Warrior/Rank 5/Effect: 2400/1400 OV: 0
And as its effect resolved, Shark's XYZ Monster had its attack points completely doubled, shown by a blue glow that enveloped the monster.
Number 73: Abyss Splash - Water/XYZ/ Warrior/Rank 5/Effect: 4800/1400 OV: 0
"Go! Abyss Splash! Final Blow!" And then it struck, the golden trident that commanded the waters itself lashing out and striking the storm clad Generaider. Its lightning and magical prowess were unable to stand against the Number Monster's empowered blow.
"..." She held still even as her monster was destroyed, the realistic hologram's destruction causing an explosion of wind that made her red jacket flutter, but dealing no damage over all.
"Tch!" He saw her opponent grit her teeth and ball his hands into fists as he passed through the Battle Phase and entered his second Main Phase, sadly unable to break the board that she had managed to form all during his turn.
That same annoyance however, was not reflected by those who were watching the duel unfold.
-
"UUUUUUUNBEEEEEEEELIEEEEEEABLEEEEEE! Red Hat proves why she is the World Duel Carnival's preliminary champion! Managing to not only ward of Duelist S' attacks, but also completely dismantle his field of monsters in doing so!" Mr. Heartland shouted, commentating the going ons of the duel as the crowd cheered at the duel's continuation.
"What a comeback! What a reversal! What more will we see from the preliminary round champion!?" He shouted, voice reaching throughout the world as everyone watching the duel followed the hype that he was building towards the two duelists on the screen.
"Absurd. That's just absurd. The cards that she keeps pulling out are getting wilder and wilder." Mei let out a hysteric laugh at what she had just seen on the screen, while Sayaka, Myu and Allen remained seated on their seats with their jaws dropping onto the floor, or in Sayaka's case, completely closed by the two hands as her eyes went as wide as possible behind her round glasses.
"Summoning a monster from the deck, and filling the field with materials to pay for those monsters effects all during the opponent's turn?" Serena shared Mei's flabbergasted expression as she simply stared at the giant screen in the stadium that currently showed Yuuna's red garbed figure. "I agree Mei, this is just absurd."
Finally regaining composure, Sayaka fixed her crooked glasses as she spoke. "B-but still. For a single card to do all of that…"
"Well Duelist S did have a chance to stop this all from happening." The purple haired girl said as she narrowed her eyes. "At that time where Harr was summoned and that Field Spell, Generaider Boss Stage was it? Hadn't made the tokens, if he had just used Valiant Shark Lancer's effect a bit earlier then he could have still gotten it onto the field."
"Yeah. And that would mess up a bit of Yuuna's tempo too." Serena nodded her head, agreeing with her friend's assessment.
"Oh! Wait, that completely changes things!" Myu interjected as she finally shook of the amazement at watching her friend managing to not only survive the oncoming onslaught, but also dismantling her opponent's field of XYZ Monsters.
"Hm?" At Mei's questioning tone, the silver haired girl explained.
"If I remember it correctly, Yuuna said that Generaider Boss Stage summons as many tokens as possible right? Wouldn't that mean that if Duelist S had destroyed Harr at that moment-"
"I see! Then that would mean that Yuuna's field would have only been filled with attack position tokens!" Mei followed her reasoning and made the same conclusion, with the twin tailed girl nodding her head to show that she had gotten it correct.
"Then if he had done that, and with the amount of monsters that he had had…" Serena trailed off as a somber mood befell the group, before the poncho wearing boy finally spoke after a good minute.
"Bah! Who cares! All that matters is that he didn't!" The brown haired teen shouted. "It was a gamble on Yuuna's part, but she pulled it off! It was a whole thing where they basically played on each other's turn, but now she's turned the table on him!"
At Allen's loud and brash simplification, Serena could only snort and agree. "You're right!" She said with a grin. "At the end of the day, the better player is the one who'll win! And Yuuna's really showing him who's the better one right now!"
"I think Yuuna doesn't have any more cards that she could use to interact with him anymore." Mei noted, having noticed that her sister had used all of the cards that she had barring the one that remained in her hand. "But if Duelist S can't come back from this, then Yuuna's definitely going to win this in the next turn!"
The group of five gave a nod to one another as they situated themselves back in their seats, eagerly awaiting for the next card of the duel to be played.