Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Clubit Academia ❯ Guldalf_teh_gr8_Guru verses Paine59 ( Chapter 2 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Shariku Onikage 
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 06.20.2005 | Pages: 3 | Words: 7.6K | Visits: 166 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 06.20.2005 | Pages: 3 | Words: 7.6K | Visits: 166 | Status: Completed
"but he is n00b, not worthy of a great Guru liek myself. “u r nt a gr8 guru u shuld b honord 2 hve ur rae crds takn by me”
"Don't be rude like that, calling people n00bs is wrong. We were all newbies once."
The girl seemed oblivious to the fact that this was all she had called him since they had first met, but it wasn't really an issue at the moment. She was pushing this 'great guru,' as he figured that was supposed to be what the boy was calling himself, out of the newbie room and into the other next to it, which read 'Duelling Room' on the side.
"Don't be rude like that, calling people n00bs is wrong. We were all newbies once."
The girl seemed oblivious to the fact that this was all she had called him since they had first met, but it wasn't really an issue at the moment. She was pushing this 'great guru,' as he figured that was supposed to be what the boy was calling himself, out of the newbie room and into the other next to it, which read 'Duelling Room' on the side.
Following behind, feeling somewhat forgotten, he found himself admiring the large room. Unlike the one besides it, this had had money spent on it, marble pillars covered each corner of the room, long lines of seats connecting them, apparently split into four sections of red, yellow and blue like at football stadiums, with a smaller white section on both sides of him as he stood at the entrance. Despite the stadium feel it had, he suspected this was more like a sports hall than an actual arena, as several games were already going on, some divided by large green sheets that ran up to the ceiling.
"Oi, n00b," the girl shouted, grabbing his attention and yanking it in front of her. "Are you aware of the rules."
"What," he replied, not expecting such a dumb question. "Of course I am."
"Not the game rules!" she replied, apparently reading his mind. "The Academy entry rules."
"Oi, n00b," the girl shouted, grabbing his attention and yanking it in front of her. "Are you aware of the rules."
"What," he replied, not expecting such a dumb question. "Of course I am."
"Not the game rules!" she replied, apparently reading his mind. "The Academy entry rules."
"Oh." He hadn't heard of anything like that and shook his head to reply. There was an entrance exam or something like that, but that was for the individual dorms. Did he need to do something just to enter the Academy?
"It's more a formality really," the girl began to explain. "But you need to have at least one high ranking members approval to do anything in here, and you seem to be stuck with me."
"You're a high ranking member?" he asked surprised. He was beginning to suspect it, to be honest. The girl was wandering around like she owned the place and everyone in it.
"Technically, check your profile keypad," she indicated with a nod to the bulky item in his pocket. "That'll tell you everything you need to know."
Forgetting he had it, he pulled the small electronic keyboard out of his pocket, observing its sleek metallic surface with a series of buttons on it. The small, flat screen had the words 'Press enter to scan' in green on it and before he knew it, he found himself doing so.
Shariku Onikage
Status: Yu-Gi-Oh! Freelancer
Dorm: None
Posts: 576
The name sounded familiar, although he wasn't entirely sure he could place it. It must have been one of the less famous names he read about when reading about this place. `Shariku' waited for him to finish looking, standing like she was posing for a magazine, before speaking again.
"Now do him," she told him, indicating the guy with the strange name.
Guldalf_teh_gr8-Guru
Status: Guru
Dorm: None
Posts: 8735
His eyes shot up, reading the amount of posts this guy had in comparison to the girl, it was clear he had been a long time member of the academy, possibly one of the strongest here… and now they were having to duel just so he could stay here.
"Now press the challenge button," Shariku said, acting like she was teaching a baby to fly a rocket. His eyes scanned the device for something that looked remotely like a challenge button, his finger heading for the big C at the top right. It seemed to do the trick. Guldalf's on device beeped loudly in his pocket, grabbing the attention of several people around them.
"Wot i iz nt fightin thiz n00b" Guldalf complained, only to find his hand being grabbed by the girl and made to fish out his own device.
"Just do it. I'll challenge you myself if you win." The boy's finger jetted to a button on his keypad as she said this and, almost immediately, a voiceover announced something above them.
"Challenge accepted. Guldalf_teh....Guldalf verses Paine59. Please step up to Duelling platform four." Several lights shone over a previously darkened arena and already Paine could see several other people in the room drifting over to it.
"There you go," Shariku said, indicating the way. "Have a nice fight."
"What about my duel disk?" he found himself asking.
"What do you think you're duelling for?" Shariku asked with a grin. "The duel disk is one of the few things here you have to work for."
Saying nothing, but nodding lightly, he found himself wandering over to the platform that was now lit up, having to go to the far side as Guldalf took the near side. One ladder later, he found himself ready for his first duel, the confusion that had been plaguing him seconds ago left in a rush of antibiotics, curing him of his bewilderment. Whatever was going on in this place, and it hadn't been like he expected, didn't really matter in the end. What mattered was the duel. Pulling his deck out, feeling the 42 shiny cards weigh down in his hand as ready to play as he was, he placed them down where the game mat indicated, watching as electricity bubbled over the surface, apparently scanning the deck. The number 42 appeared at the top of the screen, followed by an option for heads or tails. On the other side of the platform, he saw Guldalf apparently doing the same. He picked heads.
It landed tails.
"Me 1s" Guldalf said, already drawing cards. Paine nodded somewhat pointlessly and began drawing as well.
"Duel!"
***********************
Everyone in the room had laughed when he shouted it out, she couldn't help but join in. Looks like he was serious about the dramatics, but he would learn. Oh how he would learn.
"Hey kid." Her neck winced as a black haired boy sat beside her. Realizing that he looked different to usual, she fished out another pair of glasses from her pocket.
"Hey, Strats-chan."
"You're never in here."
"Today is the exception."
"I see you've found a new guy"
"He's very new. He's the 58th of his kind." Strategy Master fished out his keypad and scanned the guy, quickly shoving it away.
"Just another newbie then?"
"Looks that way. I'll probably get bored in a few minutes."
Guldalf drew his first card.
"beserk gorila attk mode" the Guru shouted, slapping a card down and watching as a giant gorilla emerged from the electronic web in front of them. The creature roared for a moment, its hairy chest expanding to show off its colossal strength, before standing patiently. "Your turn."
The new guy seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if memorising the monster in front of him, before drawing his sixth card. He had barely looked at it before he made his play, a look of annoyance on his face.
"I'll play one card in defence mode, and one card face down," he said, looking dejected. "And end my turn." Guldalf seemed to pick up on his discomfort, a gleeful smile appearing over his features.
"Bad Move!" he exclaimed, clutching his fist imposingly. "Ur skilz r no mtch 4 mne"
"Oh god," Shariku found herself muttering from the sidelines, Guldalf drawing his next card as she did so.
"I safice Berserk Gorila" he exclaimed, grabbing everyone's attention again, "4 teh kawaiiiii Dark Magician Gurl!!!!11"
The giant beast howled its lack of appreciation, its digital remains fading away as a large card appeared where it once stood. Seconds later, it exploded with a pink glowing, a buxom young girl emerging from the card, with a stylish blue hat and cane.
No one in the room reacted. No one knew exactly how to. The attacks of the monsters were both the same for crying out loud! Only Paine seemed concerned, while Guldalf cheered on his own beast.
"I play magik crd" he shouted, showing Painful Choice in his hand and slapping it onto the battle mat. One by one, five cards floated into view: A Dark Magician, White Magical Hat, Sinister Serpent, another White Magical Hat and a Thunder Dragon. "Chose 1"
Paine looked carefully at the cards, looking thunderstruck at what to do. Shariku could see why. It seemed kind of a bit obvious what card Guldalf was looking to send to the graveyard. With Dark Magician discarded, Dark Magician Girl's attack would rise to 2300. Everyone knew that. So it made it the obvious choice.
The new guy continued to hesitate, his hand slowly hovering across each, before retreating to his forehead, hanging limply as he couldn't decide.
"Well, that's interesting," Strategy Master said besides her.
"What is?"
"He's analytical," the black haired teacher mumbled, causing one of Shariku's eyes to squint.
"Go on..."
"He's seen the obvious strategy," the retired duellist stated, "and he's now assuming there must be a hidden one."
"But… there isn't."
"Of course not, Guldalf's too stupid for that," he replied with a smirk. "But this new guy doesn't know to assume that. He's taking this as if Guldalf knew exactly what he was doing. That he's making Dark Magician seem like the obvious choice when it isn't to do something else with one of the other cards."
"Wait, are you saying Guldalf's stupidity is actually working in his favour?"
"Looks that way."
Paine's groan of frustration ended the conversation, slamming the table as he pointed towards the forth card. "Sinister Serpent."
"Ha u n00b" Guldalf cheered, sending the four other cards to the graveyard and watching with ecstasy as Dark Magician's image slowly came into view above Dark Magician Girl like a faded memory, boosting her attack points by 500. "Cyan atk f-d crd"
Strategy Master held in the gut laughter as Shariku failed to, the girl on the field successfully understanding the command and raising several feet into the air to attack, pointing her wand to the face down card that lay innocuously on the field, a beam of pink light emanating from it, shooting down towards the supposedly defenceless card.
"I guess it didn't matter in the end," Paine said weakly, annoyance at his last move still etched on his face. "Activate Mirror Force!"
"Oh knoes!!!!!111" Guldalf shouted, apparently malfunctioning and saying numbers halfway through. The strange duellist watched in horror as a refracting shard of light glazed over the face down card before exploding into illumination and filling the platform. When it left, so had Dark Magician Girl.
"Good Move!" Guldalf shouted across the board, recovering quickly from the shock. "I c u hve sme skilz"
"What skill was that?" Shariku muttered to herself, Paine's face clearly mouthing the same question.
"Ur turn"
Paine sprang into action immediately, seeing an empty field before him and drawing his card. He scanned his hand quickly, before pulling three out.
"I'll play two cards face down," he shouted over the platform. "And I'll summon Friendly Dragon.” (1550)
"What?" Shariku whispered, a small cave appearing on the platform; two large, white eyes appearing from the darkness comically, before slowly walking out, a shy, green dragon emerging behind them. It sat on the field, smiling sheepishly.
"Never seen that card before," Strategy Master mumbled, confirming Shariku's suspicions. He knew almost every card by sight. This must have been rare or something.
"And I'll flip Crass clown into attack mode," he continued, revealing the small clown with 1450 attack points. "And now both of them will attack your life points directly!"
The clown lunged forwards first, striking in Guldalf's direction with a bowling pin it seemingly acquired from nowhere. The dragon hesitated a moment, before burping a fireball unexpectedly, looking shocked at its own actions as the flames hit the other duellist, engulfing him in orange flame.
Guldalf's life points fell to 5000 precisely.
"Friendly Dragon's effect," Paine began to explain, "means you have to discard one card of your choice from the graveyard."
Guldalf hesitated for a moment, looking as confused as others in the room were being, before dropping one card into the graveyard.
"Sinister Serpent," Strategy Master said without a gap.
"Definitely, even he's not that stupid," Shariku said agreeing, his eye still fixed on the dragon on the field.
The turn changed to Guldalf, who drew his next card with an almost lewd grin.
"lightning vortex!!!111" he called out, tossing one card to his graveyard, and watched as electricity rumbled around the arena, snapping violently at the monsters on the field, destroying each in turn.
"hevy strom!!!" The lightning continued almost unabated, an electronic wind flowing over the board and ripping the remaining two cards on the field apart.
"If only he had the skill to match the deck," Strategy Master complained, seeing the field now completely open.
"You would only complain more," Shariku said, a scornful look on her face. "The guy didn't even make this deck, did he?"
"Probably not. Although it's a good lesson for the newbie."
”Yeah. Oi Paine," Shariku shouted without warning, catching the duellist by surprise. "Are you beginning to understand what I meant yet?" The boy seemed not to hear her, his eyes remaining on his opponent. Shariku Pouted.
"ply berserk gorila" Guldalf said, waiting as another Gorilla flashed into view, this one beating its chest as it appeared. "nd ply premature bural" Guldalf's life points shot down to 4300, as the previous Berserk Gorilla lumbered back into view. "attk direct"
The two massive apes growled loudly, their echoes filling the room as balls of energy generated insides their mouths, both shooting towards Paine into unison. Despite not feeling anything, Paine seemed to react as if he did, holding his hands in front to hide from the beams.
His life points shot down to 4000.
"Ur trn n00b"
"Not just yet," Paine said, a cocky look appearing on his face.
"What?" Guldalf muttered, becoming aware of a circle of energy appearing on the board just in front of his monkeys. The cave from earlier reappeared, this time angry, squinted eyes appearing from the darkness. The large rock exploded, its shards flying out of view, as a dragon similar to before, only much more ferocious, came out.
"The Friendly Dragon doesn't like to fight," Paine explained. "And will lose 200 points each time it attacks. But what it doesn't like most is being attacked by something it didn't know was there."
"WTF"
"When destroyed by an effect, Friendly Dragon will special summon Angry Dragon (2400ATK) from the deck or hand at the End Phase of the turn it was destroyed." The dragon roared in succession to this claim, looking very pissed at Guldalf.
"What's going on," Shariku exclaimed to the person beside her, no longer relaxing against the wall. "This is a soul deck!"
"It must be," Strategy Master confirmed, his eyes not going off the duel, doing his best to remain calm.
"Why does a complete n00b have a soul deck?"
"I'm checking him," the teacher said, his eye scanning the player. "If his IP's been used before, then he's breaking the rules. Although it isn't impossible."
"Soul decks are only said to emerge to certain duellists who are one with their souls. Not..." she paused, her voice feeling dry, "not even we have one!"
"I know. It may just be the one card. But check it out." Shariku stopped for a moment to focus her glasses on the dragon only to gasp as she realized.
"Theatre type?" she muttered. "Is that possible?" He had said it before, back in the Newbie Room, but she just thought it was his name for a deck of monsters that filled that theme, not a new type altogether. What was going on?
"My turn," Paine shouted, drawing his next card and stifling any more arguments Shariku had. She needed to see this. "First, I'll play the field card, Theatre Stage!" As he said it, the platform fizzled, blurring around itself, red curtain and brown wood slowly appearing on both sides. When it was finished, there were two traditional theatre stages on each side of the field, all of the monsters moving back to sit on them without protest.
"Then I'll discard Ragged Maiden (ATK500) from my deck," his hand shot out to the stack of cards, quickly picking up the said card and tossing into to the grave, "to summon Wicked Stepmother." At his words, an old hag appeared from the stage, bringing boos from an imaginary audience, some of the people on the side joining in instinctively. "Wicked Stepmother's attack is only one thousand," he explained, but when she appears, she brings three wicked Stepsister tokens to the field, boosting her attack by 500 for each." Three younger hags appeared behind the woman, each dressed in a different shade of red, and the wicked Stepmother grew bigger for each one. "They can't attack, or be attacked, but they have their
uses elsewhere." Beside the trio, the angry Dragon seemed to shrink back slightly, looking put off by its vengeance scheme more and more, like it was about to become Friendly Dragon again. "Angry Dragon also loses one hundred attack for each monster on its side of the field.
"Ha u can only atk 1 of my mnsters then" Guldalf said triumphantly, his confidence returning after the appearance of so many monsters.
"Only half true," Paine said, his cocky grin refusing to leave his face. "Angry Dragon, attack Berserk Gorilla with Vengence Strike!" The two monsters faced off, their beams slamming through and into each other, destroying both, everyone's life points remaining the same.
"And now, Wicked Stepmother will attack the other Berserk Gorrila." Looking quite weak in comparison, the old woman on stage walked over to the front. All of a sudden, black light filled the plaform, obscuring everyone's view. When the stage reappeared, the Gorilla was gone, Guldalf's life points dropping to 3800, the Wicked Stepmother looking very pleased with herself, her foot dripping red liquid.
"Now I'll play two cards face down, I also get to draw one from the effect of Angry Dragon," Paine explained calmly, doing his actions in reverse order.
******
He only had half a clue what was going on. These weren't his cards! Yet this wasn't really stopping him from playing them. They weren't even recognisable, their effects looked like they belonged more to the show than anything, but his plays had been perfect, like this had been his deck all along. Was he even in control of his actions? He felt like lying back to see if his body would continue on its own, but the pressure to continue seized him.
His opponent was more than a bit weird. Either completely insane or an evil genius, all his cards so far had been rare and high powered, a deck most people would spend a fortune to construct, yet he wasn't playing it properly and no real combos had been used. In a way it didn't matter. Like the Gorillas he was using, his power was making itself know despite his actions, raw and unfocused, but still powerful.
"Archfend solder (1900)" Guldalf called out. The dark soul slowly walked out from the side of Guldalf's stage, apparently unconcerned for the curtain that drifted over its stern features.
Standing ready, the creature let its weapon known, and the four woman stepped back in fear. "Equp Ax of Despar" The Soldier held out his hand, the large, barbarian axe appearing there like he knew it was about to materialise, his eyes still fixated on the womenfolk. (2900)
"Atk that monster" Guldalf commanded, the Archfiend responded instantly, jumping off the stage and across the empty seats as a coo of appreciation filled them.
"Activate Book of Moon," Paine shouted and, more nimble than she appeared, the Wicked Stepmother shot backwards, hiding under the curtain. The Archfiend looked around as it landed on Paine's stage, looking concerned as to where the woman had gone. As it faced the audience, searching the empty space for where she had gone, the woman's head reappeared from behind the curtain, revealing a wicked, toothless smile.
"She's behind you," echoed from where the audience should have been, causing the once proud Soldier to turn quickly and look again. The Wicked Stepmother jumped out of sight, hiding her presence completely. Despite being the only place where she could have gone, the dark warrior gave up on looking right before he reached the large curtain.
"OMGWTF u r sooo cheeting" Guldalf eclaimed, his fighter now standing around."Moon buk desnt do that"
"Not quite," Paine began to explain. "It's the effect of Theatre Stage. While it's on the field, Monsters in Defence mode cannot be attacked. Don't worry though, this just means you can't attack them. You can still focus your attack on me." Guldalf seemed to grin, quickly understanding what the boy was implying, failing to notice that he didn't seem concerned.
"atk directly solder" The Archfiend, looking at a pitiful loss of what to do, quickly turned its weapons on the boy above it, launching at him with great speed.
"Activate Trap Card," Paine shouted, everyone expecting it. "Security!" He knew what the card did, yet didn't at the same time, like a word on the tip of his tongue; it didn't make sense.
Two burly guards appeared in front of the Archfiend, lunging at the dark soul and forcing him to the ground. As one continued to hold him down, the warrior struggling futilely, one of the muscular guards, grabbing both his weapons, his natural one and the Axe of despair, and tossing them away, both fading off the platform, the equip card exploding as it did so. The other guard remained on top of the Archfiend, subduing him.
"Security! can only be played when a Lv. 4 or less monster attacks with over 2000 attack points. It allows me to negate the attack, destroy all cards attached to the monster and reduce his attack points by five hundred."
"WTF" Guldalf exploded fiercely, watching as his Archfiend became sluggish, slowly giving up against the security guard and lying there dejected.
"I have to pay one thousand life points to activate it though," Paine stated, his life points reducing to 3000. It looked stupid, he would have lost more life points just letting it hit the woman, but he needed her for the next turn. A few were laughing to the side of him. He kept an eye on them for his next turn.
"Time for the climax!" he exclaimed, pulling out his next card, not even looking at it, choosing instead to take another out of his hand. "I sacrifice the Wicked Stepmother," behind the stage, a loud, gargling scream was heard, the cackling hag slowly fading out of view as the three tokens slowly started to melt into the ground, reaching for the sky at they turned into invisible puddles, "to summon...The Star of the Show!"
The card appeared, shining with white light and filling the stage with pale luminance. Appearing off to the side, a man walked on stage, waving his cloak as he entered and looking very smug with himself. Wearing a suit of armour, the man made a point of swapping the helmet into his other arm, before facing the audience.
"Greetings," he said unexpectedly, addressing the Archfiend Soldier. "I have travelled far and wide in search of brave warriors like myself." His teeth seemed to glean. "You appear strong, oh black knight. Do you wish to join me on my cause to rescue the beautiful maiden?"
The Archfiend Soldier did not reply.
"Come now," the man continued unabated. "Do not be shy. It will be a fine and valiant quest. A strong man like yourself will find honour in the path I bring. Come, and join me."
The Archfiend Soldier did not reply. A few invisible audience members booed in the direction of the fallen fiend. Paine waited patiently, unsure of how long this was going to take.
"You test me, knight," the Star of the Show continued, looking as unconcerned as before. "If you do not reply, I shall take offence. Then, it shall be my sword who will continue this transaction." indicating the gleaming broadsword at his side, the man waited for a moment longer, the crowd cheering at his every word.
The Archfiend soldier did not reply.
"Very well," the handsome man said. "If you will not speak words, then let us declare actions. Shall I strike, my lord?"
It took a few seconds for Paine to realize that the character was talking to him. He felt a little off speaking to a digitized sprite, but figured it would be the best way to continue.
"Right. Star of the Show, attack Archfiend Soldier!"
"Righto," the man replied. "Just let me get my sword. He put his helmet on backwards, becoming surprised at the sudden darkness and falling over. After a few seconds of struggle, it was facing the right way and he moved for his sword, which jammed at the first three tugs. Childish laughter applauded from the audience, erupting louder as the sword finally came out, its weight toppling the clumsy knight. He quickly righted himself, acting as if it never happened.
"Now, sullen knight, I shall smite thee," The Star of the Show claimed. "My attack points are only 2000, but for each monster in the graveyard, I gain 200, taking me to 2800 and now, I'll attack with my mighty blade."
Jumping off the stage, the Star of the Show took what felt like an eternity running around the empty seats, zigzagging between lanes, getting himself lost and returning to his own stage once, before just leaping over the lot of them and landing by the archfiend soldier, who no longer seemed to care. With a mighty swing, the Star sliced into the Archfiend Soldier, who looked like he had only been stabbed between his arm and chest, but exploded all the same.
Guldalf dropped to 1400, looking glad it was over.
"I'll set a card face down," Paine said, watching the very active monster walk slowly back to his own stage, waving off cheers coming from the platform's audio speakers, "and end my turn." He had no cards left. Hopefully, this guy wouldn't do anything too major this turn.
"uuummmmmmmmmmmm" Guldalf said, his arm grabbing the next card and nearly fumbling. Below them, Paine could see the girl was making comments to her friend, who looked like the guy who had thrown him out of the other room, a mixture of bewilderment and amusement on both their faces. "pot of gred" The Guru duellist took two cards, his face changing back to a grin as he saw what he had. "nw i show u. Rare acrds r all tht mater"
"What?"
"cards of sankty" Guldalf stated. Not waiting for Paine to respond, he drew five cards. The new duellist found himself glad that he didn't need to counter here, and drew six himself.
"now ur owe crds wil b ur undonig" Guldalf exclaimed. "dizcard 1 lite nd 1 dark munsster to sumon choas emperer dragon." Pulling the two monsters from the graveyard and placing them off to the side, the Guru slapped the secret rare onto the table, laughing menacingly as the platform rumbled, its vibration feature shaking half the ground around it as the giant beast emerged from the ground.
"Egads," the Star of the Show said as the dragon lumbered into view, its red mane flowing through fake wind, its wings stretching as it cawed loudly, filling the room with a scream of madness.
"He has such a powerful card?" Paine muttered, his eyes feeling like they were about to pop out of their sockets.
"What did I tell you, kid?" Shariku shouted from off the stage. "They may ruin the game, but you won't stand a chance against them." He felt anger at this comment. He may have had no idea where this new deck of his came from, but it didn't go through all these tactics just to be destroyed by monsters like this one. What was the point of the game if things like this just popped up all the time? Drama and strategy were made worthless against this...
"No," he shouted, shocking the girl he wasn't even looking at. "I'll show you. I'll win within the next turn." His determination facing him, he waited for the move coming next. Six cards in his hand, four on the field, five cards in his opponent's hand, 4500 points of direct damage, plus 3000 actual attack. 7500. He had to avoid it all.
"2 cur master 1st" Guldalf stated, his own life points jumping to 3400, Dian Keto appearing to sprinkle dust over his master. "then efect" Down to 6900.
His life points dropping back down to 2400, Guldalf failed to notice the trap card activating, Chaos Emperor Dragon screeching its cry of attack across the room, bright light and dark energy filling the room from its mouth.
"Oh my god, my beautiful face."
*****
"It's more a formality really," the girl began to explain. "But you need to have at least one high ranking members approval to do anything in here, and you seem to be stuck with me."
"You're a high ranking member?" he asked surprised. He was beginning to suspect it, to be honest. The girl was wandering around like she owned the place and everyone in it.
"Technically, check your profile keypad," she indicated with a nod to the bulky item in his pocket. "That'll tell you everything you need to know."
Forgetting he had it, he pulled the small electronic keyboard out of his pocket, observing its sleek metallic surface with a series of buttons on it. The small, flat screen had the words 'Press enter to scan' in green on it and before he knew it, he found himself doing so.
Shariku Onikage
Status: Yu-Gi-Oh! Freelancer
Dorm: None
Posts: 576
The name sounded familiar, although he wasn't entirely sure he could place it. It must have been one of the less famous names he read about when reading about this place. `Shariku' waited for him to finish looking, standing like she was posing for a magazine, before speaking again.
"Now do him," she told him, indicating the guy with the strange name.
Guldalf_teh_gr8-Guru
Status: Guru
Dorm: None
Posts: 8735
His eyes shot up, reading the amount of posts this guy had in comparison to the girl, it was clear he had been a long time member of the academy, possibly one of the strongest here… and now they were having to duel just so he could stay here.
"Now press the challenge button," Shariku said, acting like she was teaching a baby to fly a rocket. His eyes scanned the device for something that looked remotely like a challenge button, his finger heading for the big C at the top right. It seemed to do the trick. Guldalf's on device beeped loudly in his pocket, grabbing the attention of several people around them.
"Wot i iz nt fightin thiz n00b" Guldalf complained, only to find his hand being grabbed by the girl and made to fish out his own device.
"Just do it. I'll challenge you myself if you win." The boy's finger jetted to a button on his keypad as she said this and, almost immediately, a voiceover announced something above them.
"Challenge accepted. Guldalf_teh....Guldalf verses Paine59. Please step up to Duelling platform four." Several lights shone over a previously darkened arena and already Paine could see several other people in the room drifting over to it.
"There you go," Shariku said, indicating the way. "Have a nice fight."
"What about my duel disk?" he found himself asking.
"What do you think you're duelling for?" Shariku asked with a grin. "The duel disk is one of the few things here you have to work for."
Saying nothing, but nodding lightly, he found himself wandering over to the platform that was now lit up, having to go to the far side as Guldalf took the near side. One ladder later, he found himself ready for his first duel, the confusion that had been plaguing him seconds ago left in a rush of antibiotics, curing him of his bewilderment. Whatever was going on in this place, and it hadn't been like he expected, didn't really matter in the end. What mattered was the duel. Pulling his deck out, feeling the 42 shiny cards weigh down in his hand as ready to play as he was, he placed them down where the game mat indicated, watching as electricity bubbled over the surface, apparently scanning the deck. The number 42 appeared at the top of the screen, followed by an option for heads or tails. On the other side of the platform, he saw Guldalf apparently doing the same. He picked heads.
It landed tails.
"Me 1s" Guldalf said, already drawing cards. Paine nodded somewhat pointlessly and began drawing as well.
"Duel!"
***********************
Everyone in the room had laughed when he shouted it out, she couldn't help but join in. Looks like he was serious about the dramatics, but he would learn. Oh how he would learn.
"Hey kid." Her neck winced as a black haired boy sat beside her. Realizing that he looked different to usual, she fished out another pair of glasses from her pocket.
"Hey, Strats-chan."
"You're never in here."
"Today is the exception."
"I see you've found a new guy"
"He's very new. He's the 58th of his kind." Strategy Master fished out his keypad and scanned the guy, quickly shoving it away.
"Just another newbie then?"
"Looks that way. I'll probably get bored in a few minutes."
Guldalf drew his first card.
"beserk gorila attk mode" the Guru shouted, slapping a card down and watching as a giant gorilla emerged from the electronic web in front of them. The creature roared for a moment, its hairy chest expanding to show off its colossal strength, before standing patiently. "Your turn."
The new guy seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if memorising the monster in front of him, before drawing his sixth card. He had barely looked at it before he made his play, a look of annoyance on his face.
"I'll play one card in defence mode, and one card face down," he said, looking dejected. "And end my turn." Guldalf seemed to pick up on his discomfort, a gleeful smile appearing over his features.
"Bad Move!" he exclaimed, clutching his fist imposingly. "Ur skilz r no mtch 4 mne"
"Oh god," Shariku found herself muttering from the sidelines, Guldalf drawing his next card as she did so.
"I safice Berserk Gorila" he exclaimed, grabbing everyone's attention again, "4 teh kawaiiiii Dark Magician Gurl!!!!11"
The giant beast howled its lack of appreciation, its digital remains fading away as a large card appeared where it once stood. Seconds later, it exploded with a pink glowing, a buxom young girl emerging from the card, with a stylish blue hat and cane.
No one in the room reacted. No one knew exactly how to. The attacks of the monsters were both the same for crying out loud! Only Paine seemed concerned, while Guldalf cheered on his own beast.
"I play magik crd" he shouted, showing Painful Choice in his hand and slapping it onto the battle mat. One by one, five cards floated into view: A Dark Magician, White Magical Hat, Sinister Serpent, another White Magical Hat and a Thunder Dragon. "Chose 1"
Paine looked carefully at the cards, looking thunderstruck at what to do. Shariku could see why. It seemed kind of a bit obvious what card Guldalf was looking to send to the graveyard. With Dark Magician discarded, Dark Magician Girl's attack would rise to 2300. Everyone knew that. So it made it the obvious choice.
The new guy continued to hesitate, his hand slowly hovering across each, before retreating to his forehead, hanging limply as he couldn't decide.
"Well, that's interesting," Strategy Master said besides her.
"What is?"
"He's analytical," the black haired teacher mumbled, causing one of Shariku's eyes to squint.
"Go on..."
"He's seen the obvious strategy," the retired duellist stated, "and he's now assuming there must be a hidden one."
"But… there isn't."
"Of course not, Guldalf's too stupid for that," he replied with a smirk. "But this new guy doesn't know to assume that. He's taking this as if Guldalf knew exactly what he was doing. That he's making Dark Magician seem like the obvious choice when it isn't to do something else with one of the other cards."
"Wait, are you saying Guldalf's stupidity is actually working in his favour?"
"Looks that way."
Paine's groan of frustration ended the conversation, slamming the table as he pointed towards the forth card. "Sinister Serpent."
"Ha u n00b" Guldalf cheered, sending the four other cards to the graveyard and watching with ecstasy as Dark Magician's image slowly came into view above Dark Magician Girl like a faded memory, boosting her attack points by 500. "Cyan atk f-d crd"
Strategy Master held in the gut laughter as Shariku failed to, the girl on the field successfully understanding the command and raising several feet into the air to attack, pointing her wand to the face down card that lay innocuously on the field, a beam of pink light emanating from it, shooting down towards the supposedly defenceless card.
"I guess it didn't matter in the end," Paine said weakly, annoyance at his last move still etched on his face. "Activate Mirror Force!"
"Oh knoes!!!!!111" Guldalf shouted, apparently malfunctioning and saying numbers halfway through. The strange duellist watched in horror as a refracting shard of light glazed over the face down card before exploding into illumination and filling the platform. When it left, so had Dark Magician Girl.
"Good Move!" Guldalf shouted across the board, recovering quickly from the shock. "I c u hve sme skilz"
"What skill was that?" Shariku muttered to herself, Paine's face clearly mouthing the same question.
"Ur turn"
Paine sprang into action immediately, seeing an empty field before him and drawing his card. He scanned his hand quickly, before pulling three out.
"I'll play two cards face down," he shouted over the platform. "And I'll summon Friendly Dragon.” (1550)
"What?" Shariku whispered, a small cave appearing on the platform; two large, white eyes appearing from the darkness comically, before slowly walking out, a shy, green dragon emerging behind them. It sat on the field, smiling sheepishly.
"Never seen that card before," Strategy Master mumbled, confirming Shariku's suspicions. He knew almost every card by sight. This must have been rare or something.
"And I'll flip Crass clown into attack mode," he continued, revealing the small clown with 1450 attack points. "And now both of them will attack your life points directly!"
The clown lunged forwards first, striking in Guldalf's direction with a bowling pin it seemingly acquired from nowhere. The dragon hesitated a moment, before burping a fireball unexpectedly, looking shocked at its own actions as the flames hit the other duellist, engulfing him in orange flame.
Guldalf's life points fell to 5000 precisely.
"Friendly Dragon's effect," Paine began to explain, "means you have to discard one card of your choice from the graveyard."
Guldalf hesitated for a moment, looking as confused as others in the room were being, before dropping one card into the graveyard.
"Sinister Serpent," Strategy Master said without a gap.
"Definitely, even he's not that stupid," Shariku said agreeing, his eye still fixed on the dragon on the field.
The turn changed to Guldalf, who drew his next card with an almost lewd grin.
"lightning vortex!!!111" he called out, tossing one card to his graveyard, and watched as electricity rumbled around the arena, snapping violently at the monsters on the field, destroying each in turn.
"hevy strom!!!" The lightning continued almost unabated, an electronic wind flowing over the board and ripping the remaining two cards on the field apart.
"If only he had the skill to match the deck," Strategy Master complained, seeing the field now completely open.
"You would only complain more," Shariku said, a scornful look on her face. "The guy didn't even make this deck, did he?"
"Probably not. Although it's a good lesson for the newbie."
”Yeah. Oi Paine," Shariku shouted without warning, catching the duellist by surprise. "Are you beginning to understand what I meant yet?" The boy seemed not to hear her, his eyes remaining on his opponent. Shariku Pouted.
"ply berserk gorila" Guldalf said, waiting as another Gorilla flashed into view, this one beating its chest as it appeared. "nd ply premature bural" Guldalf's life points shot down to 4300, as the previous Berserk Gorilla lumbered back into view. "attk direct"
The two massive apes growled loudly, their echoes filling the room as balls of energy generated insides their mouths, both shooting towards Paine into unison. Despite not feeling anything, Paine seemed to react as if he did, holding his hands in front to hide from the beams.
His life points shot down to 4000.
"Ur trn n00b"
"Not just yet," Paine said, a cocky look appearing on his face.
"What?" Guldalf muttered, becoming aware of a circle of energy appearing on the board just in front of his monkeys. The cave from earlier reappeared, this time angry, squinted eyes appearing from the darkness. The large rock exploded, its shards flying out of view, as a dragon similar to before, only much more ferocious, came out.
"The Friendly Dragon doesn't like to fight," Paine explained. "And will lose 200 points each time it attacks. But what it doesn't like most is being attacked by something it didn't know was there."
"WTF"
"When destroyed by an effect, Friendly Dragon will special summon Angry Dragon (2400ATK) from the deck or hand at the End Phase of the turn it was destroyed." The dragon roared in succession to this claim, looking very pissed at Guldalf.
"What's going on," Shariku exclaimed to the person beside her, no longer relaxing against the wall. "This is a soul deck!"
"It must be," Strategy Master confirmed, his eyes not going off the duel, doing his best to remain calm.
"Why does a complete n00b have a soul deck?"
"I'm checking him," the teacher said, his eye scanning the player. "If his IP's been used before, then he's breaking the rules. Although it isn't impossible."
"Soul decks are only said to emerge to certain duellists who are one with their souls. Not..." she paused, her voice feeling dry, "not even we have one!"
"I know. It may just be the one card. But check it out." Shariku stopped for a moment to focus her glasses on the dragon only to gasp as she realized.
"Theatre type?" she muttered. "Is that possible?" He had said it before, back in the Newbie Room, but she just thought it was his name for a deck of monsters that filled that theme, not a new type altogether. What was going on?
"My turn," Paine shouted, drawing his next card and stifling any more arguments Shariku had. She needed to see this. "First, I'll play the field card, Theatre Stage!" As he said it, the platform fizzled, blurring around itself, red curtain and brown wood slowly appearing on both sides. When it was finished, there were two traditional theatre stages on each side of the field, all of the monsters moving back to sit on them without protest.
"Then I'll discard Ragged Maiden (ATK500) from my deck," his hand shot out to the stack of cards, quickly picking up the said card and tossing into to the grave, "to summon Wicked Stepmother." At his words, an old hag appeared from the stage, bringing boos from an imaginary audience, some of the people on the side joining in instinctively. "Wicked Stepmother's attack is only one thousand," he explained, but when she appears, she brings three wicked Stepsister tokens to the field, boosting her attack by 500 for each." Three younger hags appeared behind the woman, each dressed in a different shade of red, and the wicked Stepmother grew bigger for each one. "They can't attack, or be attacked, but they have their
uses elsewhere." Beside the trio, the angry Dragon seemed to shrink back slightly, looking put off by its vengeance scheme more and more, like it was about to become Friendly Dragon again. "Angry Dragon also loses one hundred attack for each monster on its side of the field.
"Ha u can only atk 1 of my mnsters then" Guldalf said triumphantly, his confidence returning after the appearance of so many monsters.
"Only half true," Paine said, his cocky grin refusing to leave his face. "Angry Dragon, attack Berserk Gorilla with Vengence Strike!" The two monsters faced off, their beams slamming through and into each other, destroying both, everyone's life points remaining the same.
"And now, Wicked Stepmother will attack the other Berserk Gorrila." Looking quite weak in comparison, the old woman on stage walked over to the front. All of a sudden, black light filled the plaform, obscuring everyone's view. When the stage reappeared, the Gorilla was gone, Guldalf's life points dropping to 3800, the Wicked Stepmother looking very pleased with herself, her foot dripping red liquid.
"Now I'll play two cards face down, I also get to draw one from the effect of Angry Dragon," Paine explained calmly, doing his actions in reverse order.
******
He only had half a clue what was going on. These weren't his cards! Yet this wasn't really stopping him from playing them. They weren't even recognisable, their effects looked like they belonged more to the show than anything, but his plays had been perfect, like this had been his deck all along. Was he even in control of his actions? He felt like lying back to see if his body would continue on its own, but the pressure to continue seized him.
His opponent was more than a bit weird. Either completely insane or an evil genius, all his cards so far had been rare and high powered, a deck most people would spend a fortune to construct, yet he wasn't playing it properly and no real combos had been used. In a way it didn't matter. Like the Gorillas he was using, his power was making itself know despite his actions, raw and unfocused, but still powerful.
"Archfend solder (1900)" Guldalf called out. The dark soul slowly walked out from the side of Guldalf's stage, apparently unconcerned for the curtain that drifted over its stern features.
Standing ready, the creature let its weapon known, and the four woman stepped back in fear. "Equp Ax of Despar" The Soldier held out his hand, the large, barbarian axe appearing there like he knew it was about to materialise, his eyes still fixated on the womenfolk. (2900)
"Atk that monster" Guldalf commanded, the Archfiend responded instantly, jumping off the stage and across the empty seats as a coo of appreciation filled them.
"Activate Book of Moon," Paine shouted and, more nimble than she appeared, the Wicked Stepmother shot backwards, hiding under the curtain. The Archfiend looked around as it landed on Paine's stage, looking concerned as to where the woman had gone. As it faced the audience, searching the empty space for where she had gone, the woman's head reappeared from behind the curtain, revealing a wicked, toothless smile.
"She's behind you," echoed from where the audience should have been, causing the once proud Soldier to turn quickly and look again. The Wicked Stepmother jumped out of sight, hiding her presence completely. Despite being the only place where she could have gone, the dark warrior gave up on looking right before he reached the large curtain.
"OMGWTF u r sooo cheeting" Guldalf eclaimed, his fighter now standing around."Moon buk desnt do that"
"Not quite," Paine began to explain. "It's the effect of Theatre Stage. While it's on the field, Monsters in Defence mode cannot be attacked. Don't worry though, this just means you can't attack them. You can still focus your attack on me." Guldalf seemed to grin, quickly understanding what the boy was implying, failing to notice that he didn't seem concerned.
"atk directly solder" The Archfiend, looking at a pitiful loss of what to do, quickly turned its weapons on the boy above it, launching at him with great speed.
"Activate Trap Card," Paine shouted, everyone expecting it. "Security!" He knew what the card did, yet didn't at the same time, like a word on the tip of his tongue; it didn't make sense.
Two burly guards appeared in front of the Archfiend, lunging at the dark soul and forcing him to the ground. As one continued to hold him down, the warrior struggling futilely, one of the muscular guards, grabbing both his weapons, his natural one and the Axe of despair, and tossing them away, both fading off the platform, the equip card exploding as it did so. The other guard remained on top of the Archfiend, subduing him.
"Security! can only be played when a Lv. 4 or less monster attacks with over 2000 attack points. It allows me to negate the attack, destroy all cards attached to the monster and reduce his attack points by five hundred."
"WTF" Guldalf exploded fiercely, watching as his Archfiend became sluggish, slowly giving up against the security guard and lying there dejected.
"I have to pay one thousand life points to activate it though," Paine stated, his life points reducing to 3000. It looked stupid, he would have lost more life points just letting it hit the woman, but he needed her for the next turn. A few were laughing to the side of him. He kept an eye on them for his next turn.
"Time for the climax!" he exclaimed, pulling out his next card, not even looking at it, choosing instead to take another out of his hand. "I sacrifice the Wicked Stepmother," behind the stage, a loud, gargling scream was heard, the cackling hag slowly fading out of view as the three tokens slowly started to melt into the ground, reaching for the sky at they turned into invisible puddles, "to summon...The Star of the Show!"
The card appeared, shining with white light and filling the stage with pale luminance. Appearing off to the side, a man walked on stage, waving his cloak as he entered and looking very smug with himself. Wearing a suit of armour, the man made a point of swapping the helmet into his other arm, before facing the audience.
"Greetings," he said unexpectedly, addressing the Archfiend Soldier. "I have travelled far and wide in search of brave warriors like myself." His teeth seemed to glean. "You appear strong, oh black knight. Do you wish to join me on my cause to rescue the beautiful maiden?"
The Archfiend Soldier did not reply.
"Come now," the man continued unabated. "Do not be shy. It will be a fine and valiant quest. A strong man like yourself will find honour in the path I bring. Come, and join me."
The Archfiend Soldier did not reply. A few invisible audience members booed in the direction of the fallen fiend. Paine waited patiently, unsure of how long this was going to take.
"You test me, knight," the Star of the Show continued, looking as unconcerned as before. "If you do not reply, I shall take offence. Then, it shall be my sword who will continue this transaction." indicating the gleaming broadsword at his side, the man waited for a moment longer, the crowd cheering at his every word.
The Archfiend soldier did not reply.
"Very well," the handsome man said. "If you will not speak words, then let us declare actions. Shall I strike, my lord?"
It took a few seconds for Paine to realize that the character was talking to him. He felt a little off speaking to a digitized sprite, but figured it would be the best way to continue.
"Right. Star of the Show, attack Archfiend Soldier!"
"Righto," the man replied. "Just let me get my sword. He put his helmet on backwards, becoming surprised at the sudden darkness and falling over. After a few seconds of struggle, it was facing the right way and he moved for his sword, which jammed at the first three tugs. Childish laughter applauded from the audience, erupting louder as the sword finally came out, its weight toppling the clumsy knight. He quickly righted himself, acting as if it never happened.
"Now, sullen knight, I shall smite thee," The Star of the Show claimed. "My attack points are only 2000, but for each monster in the graveyard, I gain 200, taking me to 2800 and now, I'll attack with my mighty blade."
Jumping off the stage, the Star of the Show took what felt like an eternity running around the empty seats, zigzagging between lanes, getting himself lost and returning to his own stage once, before just leaping over the lot of them and landing by the archfiend soldier, who no longer seemed to care. With a mighty swing, the Star sliced into the Archfiend Soldier, who looked like he had only been stabbed between his arm and chest, but exploded all the same.
Guldalf dropped to 1400, looking glad it was over.
"I'll set a card face down," Paine said, watching the very active monster walk slowly back to his own stage, waving off cheers coming from the platform's audio speakers, "and end my turn." He had no cards left. Hopefully, this guy wouldn't do anything too major this turn.
"uuummmmmmmmmmmm" Guldalf said, his arm grabbing the next card and nearly fumbling. Below them, Paine could see the girl was making comments to her friend, who looked like the guy who had thrown him out of the other room, a mixture of bewilderment and amusement on both their faces. "pot of gred" The Guru duellist took two cards, his face changing back to a grin as he saw what he had. "nw i show u. Rare acrds r all tht mater"
"What?"
"cards of sankty" Guldalf stated. Not waiting for Paine to respond, he drew five cards. The new duellist found himself glad that he didn't need to counter here, and drew six himself.
"now ur owe crds wil b ur undonig" Guldalf exclaimed. "dizcard 1 lite nd 1 dark munsster to sumon choas emperer dragon." Pulling the two monsters from the graveyard and placing them off to the side, the Guru slapped the secret rare onto the table, laughing menacingly as the platform rumbled, its vibration feature shaking half the ground around it as the giant beast emerged from the ground.
"Egads," the Star of the Show said as the dragon lumbered into view, its red mane flowing through fake wind, its wings stretching as it cawed loudly, filling the room with a scream of madness.
"He has such a powerful card?" Paine muttered, his eyes feeling like they were about to pop out of their sockets.
"What did I tell you, kid?" Shariku shouted from off the stage. "They may ruin the game, but you won't stand a chance against them." He felt anger at this comment. He may have had no idea where this new deck of his came from, but it didn't go through all these tactics just to be destroyed by monsters like this one. What was the point of the game if things like this just popped up all the time? Drama and strategy were made worthless against this...
"No," he shouted, shocking the girl he wasn't even looking at. "I'll show you. I'll win within the next turn." His determination facing him, he waited for the move coming next. Six cards in his hand, four on the field, five cards in his opponent's hand, 4500 points of direct damage, plus 3000 actual attack. 7500. He had to avoid it all.
"2 cur master 1st" Guldalf stated, his own life points jumping to 3400, Dian Keto appearing to sprinkle dust over his master. "then efect" Down to 6900.
His life points dropping back down to 2400, Guldalf failed to notice the trap card activating, Chaos Emperor Dragon screeching its cry of attack across the room, bright light and dark energy filling the room from its mouth.
"Oh my god, my beautiful face."
*****
It was over. Why she thought it was going to be any different she had no idea, the presence of a soul deck must have been enough to affect usual brilliant thinking.
Now it was over. That stupid card that made her drop the game in the first place now launching its stupid over the top effect and wiping out all the cards. She got up to leave, the kid had done enough to secure a duel disk, but she'd leave it for someone else to handle. Hearing the dumb knight screaming as he faded away, she felt unsurprised, every other card following, the effect reducing the game to top decking, if it hadn't wiped off his life points anything.
"WTF!"
Her feet stopped, her ears hearing the scream, turning her head back round to look at the empty field.
Paine was still smiling his cocky smile, his hands now folded, a discarded trap card still in his hand.
"Made made," he said calmly.
"What the?" Shariku shouted, running back around to get a view of the boy's life points on the now stageless platform.
'200LP' was displayed prominently on Paine's screen.
"How did you?"
"Made made," he begun to explain. "Trap card. This card can be activated at any time. If, during this turn, your life points are reduced to 0 as a result of direct damage or battle damage, gain 200 life points after damage has been resolved. Discard your entire hand. At the end of your next turn, lose 200 life points."
"What on earth..."
"This card saves you at the brink of death for one turn. Normally, I'll have to discard my hand, but your monster was polite enough to destroy all my cards anyway." Paine's grin was on the verge of reaching his ears, Shariku's eyes were blinking so fast now she might have well have just kept them closed. "The show always leaves the best til last."
Guldalf had gone quiet, his empty hand shaking at Paine with an accusatory finger.
"e-even if u ad 200lp u cant do that!!!!1111 u cheeting ****"
"Your damage Resolves before I gain the two hundred life points," the boy on the platform stated, beaming triumphantly. "It works perfectly. You could have hit me with 10,000 points of damage and I'd still be standing." He turned to her, his fist clutched in success before his face. "Do you see it, the drama of the fight?"
Shariku couldn't help but gulp loudly. Her body was feeling a little stiff at what she was seeing.
"You've got one card to turn it around," she said, biting her tongue and trying to remain cocky. "Can you?"
"That's why it's so dramatic," Paine exclaimed. "The next turn decides it all. I'll win or lose on one card."
If he says heart of the cards....
Slipping between his fingers, the card flew across the length of his hand as if he were Kaiba himself, before turning to look at it and unleashing a grin.
"I'll play…" he shouted, raising the card into the air, "Deus Ex Machina!" Shining, the light behind it foreshadowing the card, the monster was slapped face up onto the platform. Shariku felt her legs freeze up, the motions almost too perfect, her mouth fell open, the air within it frozen.
Falling onto the platform from above, a large, metallic hand shook the structure, covering the magic and trap zone as well as the monster zone. Its very presence felt godly, threatening to crush all around it with a single finger. Shariku realized the room had gone silent, only the crash of the monster landing filling the room, the attack score of the monster appearing on the back of its hand as if to boast.
"2400!" a voice exclaimed to the left of her, signalling what she could already see. No one else seemed to have been affected by the name of the creature, only its presence moving them; a level four monster with such a high attack score…
"This monster can only be summoned when the controller's life points are below 400. It can attack life points directly. If my life points go above 500, then it is sent to the graveyard."
"Godhand..."
"But that won't matter now, will it," the boy shouted, waving his arm to signal the attack. "Go Deus Ex Machina, Attack his life points directly with Plot Intervention strike!"
The giant hand flexed twice, bracing itself as it took to the air, reaching as high as the ceiling would let it before crashing upon its opponent, Guldalf screaming as the palm fell upon him, overwhelming him and taking his life points to zero in one strike.
What's going on, she couldn't help but think. I can't move...
The crowd erupted into applause, the duel instantly ending and bringing the duellist down to a crowd that quickly conveyed around him.
That was brilliant…