#warriortherad

[structures-of-the-universe]

Episode 16

3:00pm

Therad sat silently as he flicked through his deck. He studied each card for a brief second, coming up with various strategies and card combinations in this head. As he shuffled his cards back together, his hand slipped, and he dropped two cards. Therad cursed as he placed this deck on the table in front of him and reached for the cards. They were lying face down as he picked them up and turned them over. He stared at the cards. One was RED-EYES FUSION, a card he had used against Zedd White, the previous World Tournament Champion. The other was PLAGUESPREADER ZOMBIE, a tuner monster which he had used against Cassidy Walters. In both duels he had felt a surge of rage and power he had never felt before. He had wanted to win at all costs, no matter who got in this way. Thinking back to the duels made him clench his fist tightly.

He stood for a few moments, before sighing, then he placed the two cards on top of this deck and reshuffle. He then placed this deck in the pouch on this belt. He looked up at the clock on the wall in front of him. 3:15pm it read. Therad picked up his jacket which was on the chair next to where he had sat and put it on. He then turned and walked out the room and headed down towards the stadium.

3:30pm

Blaze walked quietly alongside Flair as they headed towards the stadium.

“I can’t believe this is actually happening” Flair said, “I’ve never made it to the semi-finals of a tournament before, this is so exciting” Flair squealed with happiness, Blaze smiling awkwardly as she did so.

Flair turned to him. “How about you? Ever gotten to the finals of a tournament before?” she asked.

“A few times” Blaze replied, “I’ve even won a couple actually”

“No way, really!” Flair said enthusiastically.

“Yeah, but only small tournaments, nothing like this” Blaze said, smiling. Flair jumped up and down as she was filled with anticipation. Blaze continued, “What about Therad? Has he been in many tournam- Flair?”

Blaze stopped and turned around. Flair had stopped in the middle of the hallway, the fringe of her long black hair covering her eyes. “Flair?” Blazed asked again.

“Therad’s…never been in a tournament” Flair said. Blaze stared at her quizzically. She continued “In fact Therad has never duelled competitively”

Flair looked up at Blaze, a serious look on her face. “I’ve only known Therad for like, 5 years at most, and in that time he’s never…acted the way he has”

“What do you mean?” Blaze asked.

“I mean” Flair stuttered, “In that duel with Cassidy and the one with Zedd, he seemed… he seemed so different, like someone else” Blazed stared at Flair as she spoke, a stern look on his face.

They stood in silence for moment, the roar of the crowd could be heard in the distance.

Blaze spoke. “You’re worried about him, aren’t you?”

Flair nodded. “Therad’s my best friend. I don’t want anything to happen to him”

Blaze smiled at Flair, “You don’t need to worry about it Flair. I’ll talk to him when I next duel him” A faint smile appeared on Flairs face. She took a breath and walked up to Blaze.

“Thanks Blaze” she said, “Now let’s go. I’ve got a tournament to win and I don’t want to be late” She turned and ran off towards the sound of the crowd. Blaze watched as she ran for a moment, before running after her.

3:45pm

Bursting with cheers, the stadium was filled with excited fans and duelling enthusiasts. Confetti rained down from the sky as stunt pilots performed various aero acrobatics in the sky above. Cheerleaders lined the side of the stadium, chanting various words and rhymes. In the centre of the stadium was a large platform, on top of which stood Vusouski the announcer. He wore a bright yellow jacket which fell behind his knees. He had smart brown trousers and shoes, with a white shirt and a red tie.

With a huge smile, Vusouski spoke. “Welcome Duellists one and all, to the 250th World Tournament Semi-Finals!” The crowd cheered louder as he spoke. “Our 4 remaining duellists will compete for a place in this evenings Final, and claim the title of World Duelling Champion!” Vusouski continued, “So without further ado let’s introduce our Finalists!”

The crowd cheered again as 4 holes opened up on the top of the platform. From them rose the 4 duellists, donning their duel disks. “Our first Finalist is Therad Takeo!” Vusouski explained, “Therad is a fast paced duellist whose Red-Eyes Deck has proved to be a formidable challenge!” Therad looked up at the audience with a slight smile on his face. He rose his hand in a brief wave and Vusouski moved on.

“Our second Finalist duels with a red hot passion; it’s Blaze Waters!” Blaze rose his arm above his head, his hand in a fist and his eyes closed. “Blaze’s Fire King Deck has left many a duellist with serve burns, can anyone quench his fiery spirit?” Blaze lowered his arm, opening his eyes. He quickly glanced at Therad, who stood with his arms crossed, staring at the afternoon sun.

“Our third duellist is an angel to behold; Flair Summers!” Flair waved enthusiastically at the crowd, a large smile on her face. “This feisty duellist has shone brightly throughout the tournament; will her skills take her to victory?” Flair continued to wave as he spoke, and the crowd cheered loudly as she did.

Vusouski moved on, “Finally, last but not by any means least; Luxia Raeburn!” The blonde girl looked up as she heard her name, and stared around at the crowd. “Miss Raeburn has proved to be a very challenging duellist, all her duels have remained completely unique and has even won a few in the first turn! Will her techniques and strategies prove powerful enough to take her all the way to victory?!” The crowd cheered once more, as Luxia glanced across them, a vacant expression on her face.

“Now let’s take a look at that tournament ladder once again to see who will be facing who?” Vusouski said. On either side of the stadium, the large television screens flickered to life and displayed the tournament ladder. 

“So our Semi-Final match ups are Therad Takeo against Blaze Waters, and Luxia Raeburn and Flair Summers!” The crowd roared loudly as pair profiles of the duellists appeared on the screen. “Therad and Blaze will be duelling over in stadium 2, and at the same time Luxia and Flair will be duelling in stadium 3. This way, none of the duellists will know who they will be facing in the Final!” Vusouski explained. “So please my fellow duellists, make your way to your allocated stadiums”

Alongside either side of the platform, four transport vehicles parked up. The four duellists made their way off the platform and hopped onto a vehicle each. Therad looked up at the crowd as he travelled through the stadium entrance towards stadium 2.

-

4:00pm

Blaze stared at the crowd that filled the stadium. He watched as various facts and figures about himself and Therad appeared on the screen. Across from him stood Therad, his arms folded and his head bowed low. He had his eyes closed. Blaze sighed to himself. “You know; you could be a bit more relaxed” he taunted.

Therad looked up at Blaze, a frown on his face. Blaze shrugged. “You seem way too serious for someone about to lose in the Semi-Final rounds” Blaze smiled cheekily at Therad as he spoke.

Therad raised an eyebrow in question at Blaze. “If I recall” he said, “Last time we duelled I defeated you easily” Blaze glared at Therad

“Humph, well this time, things will be different” Blaze said, raising his arm, his duel disk activating, “Let’s see if you can defeat me this time” Therad stared at Blaze. He unfolded his arms and raised his own duel disk which activated.

Blaze took a card from his hand. “I’ll start” he said, “I set one monster in face down defence mode and one card face down and end my turn” Two cards appeared on the field in front of him as he spoke.

Therad stood silent as he drew a card from his deck. Without looking at it he said “I summon to the field, RED-EYES BLACK CHICK” With the card he had just drawn he placed it onto his disk. In front of him shone a light and a small black dragon appeared in front of him [800ATK/500DEF]. He then took a card from his hand and said “I now tribute CHICK to activate it’s effect to special summon RED-EYES BLACK DRAGON” The small dragon roared before it was encased in a bright light. It’s form began to change, increase in size. The light faded and there stood a large black dragon with shining red eyes [2400ATK/2000DEF].

Blaze stared at the black dragon. It growled lowly as it stared back at him. Blaze frowned. “Quite a powerful dragon you have there” he commented, “It’s been your go-to this entire tournament”. Therad said nothing as Blaze spoke. Blaze smiled, “But I think it’s about time someone slayed that dragon of yours once and for all”

Therad ignored Blaze and pointed at his face-down monster “RED-EYES attack!” he commanded. The black dragon roared loudly and fired a burning fireball from its maw at the card, destroying it instantly.

Blaze covered his face as the impact of the destruction hit him, then said “I activate MASKED DRAGON’s effect: I special summon DECOY DRAGON from my deck in attack mode!” [300ATK/200DEF]. A light shone, and in place of the now destroyed card a small green and pink dragon appeared, squeaking as it appeared on the field.

“No Fire Kings huh?” Therad commented, taunting Blaze.

Blaze frowned. “My Fire Kings were not strong enough to beat you last time” he said, “Besides, you’re not the only one with powerful dragons you know”

Therad stared at him. He took two cards from his hand. “I set two cards face down and end my turn” The two cards appeared on the field, behind the black dragon.

Blaze nodded and drew a card from his deck. “I activate the spell FOOLISH BURIAL” He said, as a green spell card appeared on the field. “This card lets me send one monster from my deck to the graveyard” he explained. He picked the card from his deck and his duel disk automatically shuffled it. Blaze then placed the card in his graveyard zone. He looked back up at Therad. “I end my turn” he said.

In the background, through the cheering crowd, Vusouski’s voice could be heard saying “Only one card? Blaze must be in quite the predicament if he can only play one card. How will he ever hope to win?”

Therad drew a card from his deck. Smiling he said, “I know your plan Blaze” Blaze stared back, eyebrow raised, questioning Therad. Therad continued, “I know DECOY DRAGON’s effect: when attacked, it lets you special summon a Level 7 or higher dragon from your grave” He paused. “It’s just a question as to what you sent” Therad took a card from his hand. “I summon to the field, MIRAGE DRAGON!”

A light shone next to the large black dragon, and from it appeared a long yellow dragon with a large snarl on its face [1600ATK/600DEF]. Therad then pointed at the small green dragon on Blaze’s field, “MIRAGE DRAGON, attack DECOY DRAGON!” The yellow dragon growl, as its body slowly vanished from sight. The green dragon panicked and glanced around looking for the yellow creature. Suddenly above the small dragon’s head, the yellow dragon reappeared, glaring its large teeth through its vicious snarl.

“Not so fast!” Blaze shouted, “I activate DECOY DRAGON’s effect: Then this monster is targeted for an attack, I can special summon a Level 7 or higher dragon from my grave!” The small green dragon glowed brightly, and next to it a large pit of fire opened up. From pit rose a large black and orange dragon, the flames licking its scales. “I summon DARKBLAZE DRAGON!” Blaze explained [1200ATK/1000DEF].

“I see” Therad said.

Blaze grinned as he continued “Now DECOY DRAGON forces your monster to attack DARKBLAZE!” The yellow dragon growled as it flew around to face the new dragon. “I now activate DARKBLAZE’s effect: when this monster is summoned from the graveyard it’s attack and defence at doubled!” Blaze explained. The black and orange dragon roared as it grew in strength [2400ATK/2000DEF], it then turned to the yellow dragon and with a single swipe of its powerful claws destroyed the yellow dragon.

Therad stood still as a rush of wind hit him and his life points fell.

3200LP/4000LP

“I end my turn” Therad said. Blaze smiled slyly as he drew a card from his deck.

“This is not like you, Therad, attacking without any sort of support” Blaze said, “Have you lost your touch or something?” Therad said nothing. Blaze shrugged, “Oh well it won’t matter, like I said after our last match, I will beat you this time” he pointed at Therad’s RED-EYES, “DARKBLAZE, attack!”

The black and orange dragon roared, and took off into the air. As it flew across the field, a surge of fire began to form in its mouth. Vusouski’s voice rang through the stadium, “Blaze has declared an attack on RED-EYES with DARKBLAZE, but both monsters have the same attack: It’s gonna be a stalemate!”

The red eyed dragon roared and a burning ball of red energy formed at its maw. Both dragons unleashed beams of high energy at each. The beams collided and an explosion rocked the stadium, smoke filling the field. As the smoke cleared, both dragons had disappeared, and Therad’s life points had dropped.

800LP/4000LP

“What happened?” Vusouski declared, “Both dragons were destroyed and had the same attack points, so why did Therad take damage?”

Blaze smirked, “When DARKBLAZE destroys a monster in battle, it inflicts damage equal to the destroyed monsters attack points”

The crowd roared loudly as he explained, cheering him on. Blaze grinned. “Now with RED-EYES out the way, I attack with DECOY DRAGON!” The small green dragon cried cheerfully, quickly flying over to Therad. With a quick slash of its claws, Therad fell to one knee, and his life points dropped once more.

500LP/4000LP

“So how’s that, hey Therad?” Blaze said cockily as the green dragon returned to its place, “In one turn, I almost reduced your life points to zero! Just one more turn and I’ll win. I end my turn!”

The crowd cheered as Vusouski said “What an amazing turn by Blaze Waters! How will Therad recover from this?”

Therad slowly stood up, head lowered and his hair covering his eyes. Suddenly, he began to laugh, slowly at first, but it quickly grew louder and faster.

Blaze stared at him and took a step back. “Hey, what’s so funny?” he said concerned, “Are you gonna make a move or wh-“ His voice trailed off. He gasped at Therad.

The crowds cheering slowly as all eyes turned to Therad. Therad had stopped laughing and out of nowhere a dark cloud began to form around him. “You’re quite a powerful duelist Blaze” A voice said. Blaze stared in shock at Therad. The voice wasn’t Therad’s, but it had come from his mouth.

“Therad!” Blaze shouted “What is going on?”

The voice began to laugh again, as the black cloud began to fill the stadium. The crowd and the announcer’s voices were drowned out, consuming the two duellists. Blaze glanced around, unable to see anything. A drop of sweat ran down his face, which he quickly wiped away. Blaze stared at where Therad was, but all he could see were two, blood red eyes.

To be continued…

[structures-of-the-universe]

Episode 15

The light shone brightly in her eyes as Flair walked out onto the duelling field. The roar of the crowd filled the stadium once more. Opposite her stood a tall man with wearing a dinosaur shirt. She took a breath just as the announcer’s voice rang through the stadium.

“Our last Quarter Final match between Flair Summers and Drake Star is about to begin! Duelists, ready your Duel Disks!”

Flair raised her right arm and her duel disk activated. Over on the other side Drake did the same. The roar of the crowd grew louder with excitement. 

Flair took a card from her. “I set 1 monster in face down defence mode and 1 card face down” she said as the two cards appeared in front of her, “I end my turn” Taking another breath, she smiled as the crowd cheered her name.

“Alright then” Drake said, “My draw. I start by activating the spell DIMENSIONAL FISSURE!” Drake placed the card onto his duel disk and above the centre of the field a large rip in space opened. The tear slowly spun like a wormhole as Drake continued. “With this card, all monsters sent to the graveyard are instead banished from play” he smiled.

“Banished!” Flair said, shocked. Drake winked at her and Flair frowned back.

“Exactly, so next I special summon GILASAURUS from my hand!” Drake said. A white light shone and small brown dinosaur appeared, baring its sharp teeth and dangerous claws [1400ATK/400DEF].

“Don’t you mean normal summon?” Flair asked, feeling that Drake had made a mistake.

Drake shook his head “No I mean special summon. See I can special summon GILASAURUS from hand, then allow you to special summon a monster of your own from your graveyard” he explained, “However, as your graveyard is empty, I get myself a free monster!” Flair glared at Drake as he laughed to himself. “Now, next I activate the effect of DESTROYERSAURUS in my hand – by discarding it I can add JURASSIC WORLD to my hand.” Drake placed the card from his hand into his graveyard before drawing the new card. “But, due to DIMENSIONAL FISSURE, my monster is banished instead” Drake explained, taking the first card from his graveyard and placing in his deck pouch on his belt.

Flair stared blankly as Drake made his move. Drake took the card he added and placed it on his duel disk. “I activate the field spell JURASSIC WORLD!” he declared. The stadium began to rumble as the field projectors switched on. Slowly the crowd faded from around the duellists and a jungle formed around them. A large mountain rose in the distance behind Drake and tall jungle trees grew all around. “In this world, all Dinosaur monsters gain 300 ATK and DEF” Drake explained. The brown dinosaur in front of him roared as it’s Attack points increased [GILASURAUS 1700ATK/700DEF].

“Finally I’ll have SABERSAURUS join the duel” Drake said, taking another card from his hand. Another white light shone in front of him, and before him appeared a red triceratops with metallic blades for horns. It roared as it appeared and gained the field bonus [1900ATK/500DEF -> 2200ATK/800DEF].

Drake laughed and pointed at Flair’s face down monster. “Now GILASAURUS, ATTACK!” he commanded. The brown dinosaur roared, and ran over to the card. With a slash of its claws, the monster card was destroyed. Flair removed the card from her duel disk and moved it to her graveyard. “I don’t think so” Drake said, noticing Flair’s actions, “Remember, monsters are banished instead of going to the graveyard due to DIMENSIONAL FISSURE”. Flair stared angrily at Drake before she placed the card in her deck pouch.

Drake smiled, then pointed at Flair. “SABERSAURUS, attack her directly!” he commanded once more. The red triceratops roared, and charged at Flair. The dinosaur knocked Flair to the ground with a thud, before returning to its side of the field. Flair’s life points dropped dramatically.

4000LP/1800LP

Drake laughed again. “Well I doubt you can comeback from that!” he taunted as Flair got to her feet. “I end my turn” he said mockingly.

Flair grimaced and drew a card from her. She glanced down at her hand for a moment. “I set one monster down in defence mode and end my turn” she said, frustrated.

As the card appeared on the field in front of her Drake laughed again. “Ha! I knew you’d falter under my power. Now, my draw!” He drew a card from his hand. He smiled as he said “I think I’ll have GILASAURUS attack again shall we?” Flair braced herself as the brown dinosaur roared and charged once more. It slashed at the monster card, which flipped face up.

“I activate the effect of MARSHMALLON [300ATK/500DEF]!” Flair announced, “This monster cannot be destroyed in battle!” As she spoke, the card flipped up and a large, round pink creature appeared, with an upside down smile. The claws of the brown dinosaur bounced off the creature, causing the dinosaur to run back to its side of the field. Drake frowned at the creature as Flair continued “Because you attacked MARSHMALLON while it was face down, you now take 1000 points of damage”

“Wait what- AAHH!” Drake screamed as a bolt of lightning fell from the sky and struck him. As it did so, his life points fell too.

3000LP/1800LP

“Grr that was a lucky move” Drake said. He took a card from his hand, “Well if you have a monster I can’t defeat, then I’ll summon a monster you can’t defeat” he said, “I tribute both GILASAURUS and SABERSAURUS and tribute summon ULTIMATE TYRANNO!” A light shone around both dinosaurs, which became consumed by it. The light then merged together, and formed the body of a larger dinosaur. The light quickly faded and in its place stood a giant black scaled dinosaur [3000ATK/2200DEF]. The dinosaur roared loudly, its tail swinging and knocking down several trees, as it gained the field bonus [3300ATK/2500DEF].

Flair stood shocked at the new dinosaur. Drake smiled. “Oh, and due to DIMENSIONAL FISSURE, my two previous dinosaurs are banished instead of being sent to the graveyard” He took the two card and placed them in his deck pouch. “I end my turn”

Flair took a deep breath and drew a card from her deck. Glancing at it, she added to her hand and took another. “I activate the spell CARDS FROM THE SKY” she said, “By banishing one Fairy-type monster from my hand, I draw 2 cards” She took the cards from her deck. “I lay 1 card face down and end my turn” A second face down card appeared next to the first as she spoke.

Confused, Drake stared at her. “Playing defence huh? Aw man and I was expecting a challenge too” he said, drawing a card from his deck. “Seeing as you still have your pink fuzzball over there, there isn’t much I can do. I think I’ll build up my attack force and summon TWO-HEADED KING REX [1600ATK/1200DEF -> 1900ATK/1500DEF]. A light shone, and from it appeared a large purple two-headed dinosaur. It had a pair of large wings and roared loudly as it spread them. “I end my turn” Drake said annoyed.

Flair drew a card from her deck. She smiled. “Just what I was waiting for” she said. Drake stared at her, confused by what she meant. Flair continued, “I summon THE AGENT OF CREATION – VENUS!” A bright light shone on the field in front of Flair and an angel with large brown wings appeared. Drake smiled as the angel appeared.

“I now activate VENUS’s effect – by paying 500 life points I can summon 1 MYSTICAL SHINE BALL” Flair explained, “So by paying 1000 I can summon 2!” The angel raised its arms and from its hands two glowing silver orbs appeared on the field [500ATK/500DEF]. At the same time, Flair’s life points also dropped.

3000LP/800LP

Flair smiled and pressed a button on her duel disk. “I now activate the trap MIRACULOUS DESCENT” The first of her two face down cards flipped face up. “This card lets me special summon 1 banished Fairy-Type monster – I summon the previously banished BUTEN [200ATK/300DEF]” Another light shone, and from it appeared a small pink pig with small white wings onto the field.

Flair took another breath, then said. “I tune the Level 3 VENUS and my 2 Level 2 MYSTICAL SHINE BALLs with the Level 1 Tuner monster BUTEN!” The small pink pig oinked cheerfully as it turned in a green ring which surrounded the 3 other monsters. The other monsters themselves turned in 7 glowing orbs of light and lined up together.

“Level 8 ANGEL OF ZERA [2800ATK/2300DEF]!” Flair declared. With a burst of light, the green ring and glowing orbs vanished, and in their place now stood an angel with large green wings, wearing a green helm with red horns and wielding a curved blade.

“Now this is more like it!” Drake said enthusiastically. Flair grinned at his response.

“It gets better” Flair said, “You see ZERA gains 100 attack for each of your banished monsters, so as you currently have 3 monsters ZERA gains 300 attack” The angel flexed its muscles slightly as it gained its power bonus [3100ATK/2300DEF].

“Impressive” Drake said, “I can’t wait to take that angel down” he sneered, laughing.

Flair grinned. “ZERA, attack KING REX!” The angel nodded, then took to the skies. It flew over to the purple dinosaur, and with a single slash of its blade, cut the beast clean in half. The purple dinosaur roared as it was destroyed and Drake’s life points fell.

1800LP/800LP

As the angel returned, Flair continued “Due to you FISSURE, KING REX is banished, meaning ZERA’s attack increases by another 100” [3200ATK] “I end my turn” Flair said.

Drake nodded as he drew a card. “Your angel may be strong, but it’s no match for my ULTIMATE TYRANNO!” The black dinosaur roared as Drake mentioned its now. Drake then pointed at the angel. “TYRANNO, destroy ANGEL OF ZERA!” The black dinosaur roared, and swung its tail around. The tail smashed against the angel, destroying it and Flair’s life points fell.

1800LP/700LP

Drake smiled, “And thanks to FISSURE, ZERA is banished, so we won’t be seeing him again. I end my turn” Drake folded his arms mockingly as Flair drew a card from her deck.

“That’s what you think” Flair said. Drake stared at her as a light shone on her side of the field.

“What is happening?” Drake asked.

“ZERA’s other effect” Flair explained, “When ZERA is banished on the previous turn, it returns to the field during the next turn” Flair smiled as the green winged angel rose out of the ground and stood once more facing Drake.

Flair took a card from her hand “I now play the spell MYSTICAL SPACE TYPHOON!” The green card appeared on the field. “This card destroys one spell or trap on the field” Flair explained, “So I destroy JURASSIC WORLD!”

“WHAT!?” Drake shouted and glanced to the sky. Dark clouds began to form and a massive typhoon consumed the field, ripping trees from the ground and crumbling the large mountain. As the clouds cleared, both duellists now stood back in the stadium, the cheering crowd all around them.

Flair smiled. “Now without your field spell, TYRANNO loses its 300 attack point bonus” Drake flinched as he watched his monsters attack decrease [3300ATK -> 3000ATK]. “So” Flair said, “ANGEL OF ZERA, attack ULTIMATE TYRANNO!” The angel took to the skies once more, raising its sword above its head. The black dinosaur roared and swung its tail at the angel. Dodging the tail, the angel swooped down and sliced at the dinosaur, destroying it in an explosion. The force of the explosion knocked Drake to the ground and his life points fell.

1600LP/700LP

The angel returned to its side of the field as Flair said, “Once more, FISSURE banishes your monster and ZERA gains another 100 attack points” [3300ATK] “I end my turn”

Drake slowly got to his feet and laughed. “Well done Flair, you managed to defeat one of my most powerful dinosaurs. However,” Drake sneered, “It wasn’t THE most powerful dinosaur.”

“It wasn’t?” Flair said nervously.

“Nope” Drake said drawing a card from his deck. “Let me show you which dinosaur is! I summon TYRANNO INFINITY [?ATK/0DEF]!” Flair gasped as a light shone on Drake’s field, and a giant brown dinosaur with large horns on its head. The horns acted as lightning conductors as bolts shot from its horn periodically. It raised its head and roared loudly as it appeared.

Flair glared at the new beast. “It has no attack points, how is that your strongest monster?”

Drake smiled. “You see, thanks to DIMENSIONAL FISSURE, all our monsters have been banished rather than sent to the graveyard” he explained, “Well, TYRANNO INFINITY gains 1000 attack points for every Dinosaur-Type monster that was banished. So with 5 dinosaurs banished, TYRANNO INFINITY gains 5000 attack points!”

Flair stared blankly as Drake laughed. The lightning horned dinosaur roared once more as its attack points increased [?ATK/0DEF -> 5000ATK/0DEF].

Drake turned and pointed at Flair’s angel. “TYRANNO INFINITY, attack ANGEL OF ZERA!” The dinosaur roared, and charged head first at the angel, bolts of lightning shooting from its horns. The angel raised its sword at the beast. With boom the two monsters collided and smoke filled the stadium.

“It’s over Flair!” Drake said, “I’ve won!” Drake raised his armed and bowed his head as the crowd cheered.

“I don’t think so” came a voice from the smoke. Drake looked up and gasped. As the smoke clear, Flair still stood, her monster still standing, fending off the giant dinosaur. A trap card was face up on her side of the field.

“What? How did you? What did you do?” Drake questioned anxiously, shaken by the shock of Flair still standing.

Flair smiled. “I activated the face down card I played on my very first turn; LUMENIZE!” The trap shone and a white light surrounded the angel. “This card not only negates your monsters attack, but a Light attribute monster on my side of the field gains attack points equal to your monsters!” she explained.

Drake stood shocked, his mouth wipe open. His dinosaur returned to his side of the field as the green winged angel gained its attack point bonus [3300ATK -> 8300ATK]. “I end my turn” he said weakly.

Flair grinned and drew a card from her deck. “Now, ANGEL OF ZERA, attack TYRANNO INFINITY!” Flair commanded. The green winged angel flew once more into the air, raising its sword above its head. The brown dinosaur roared and snapped at the angel as it flew above its head. The angel dodged around serveral bolts of lightning before landing the final slash against the dinosaur. The giant dinosaur roared a final roar before exploding in a flash of light. Drake fell to his knees as his dinosaur was destroyed and his life points dropped to 0.

0LP/700LP

The crowd cheered loudly as the duel ended, the announcers voice rung through the stadium. “It is over! Flair Summers has managed to claim a close victory against Drake Lloyd!” Vusouski said. Flair looked up at the cheering crowd, a large smile on her face. Vusouski continued, “With this victory, Flair moves onto the Semi-Final round and will be duelling against Luxia Raeburn!” Flair waved at the crowd once more as Vusouski spoke, before turning and heading back to the locker room.

-

Therad watched the television monitor as Flair left the stadium and returned to her locker room. Suddenly the image of a young presenter appeared on the screen displaying the tournament match ups for the Semi-Finals. 

“The Semi-Final Rounds will begin this afternoon. However, both duels will take place at the same time so that the winners of this match will not know their opponents before this evenings Finals. The duels will take place at 4pm, with Therad Takeo and Blaze Waters duelling in stadium 2 and Luxia Raeburn and Flair Summers duelling in stadium 3. The winners of these will move onto the Finals for a chance to become the Champion of the 250th World Tournament”

[structures-of-the-universe]

Episode 14

“AND LET THE DUEL BEGIN!” Vusouski declared. The crowd roared as Blaze raised his arm, his duel disk activating. Across from him a girl in a slim blue jacket also raised her arm. Blaze smirked as he took a card from his hand.

-

Therad sat watching the duel on the locker room television. He watched studying both Blaze and Susokie as they dueled. Breaking his gaze, he turned and raised his left arm and removed his deck from his duel disk. He shuffled through, reading each card carefully as he went through. Suddenly he stopped when he reached the 2 RED-EYES B. DRAGONs he used in this last duel. After a brief second he sighed, and returned his cards back to his deck and placed his deck back into the duel disk. The duel disk automatically shuffled his deck as he placed it in.

He looked up around the room. The blonde haired girl still stood staring out the window onto the duel field where Blaze was dueling. To his left the guy in the dinosaur shirt still lay on the sofa, this eyes closed, assumedly asleep. In front of him was a drink vending machine. Therad reached into his pockets and pulled out a few coins. Counting them, he stood up and walked over to the machine. With a clunk, a bottle of lemonade fell. Therad reached in and grabbed it.

Taking his seat, he took a drink and looked around the room again. The blonde girl had taken a seat facing the window and was staring at her duel disk. Therad noticed she wore a second generation duel disk, just like himself and Blaze. It was silver, however it had light blue highlights around the edges. The second generation duel disk were becoming redundant with the fourth and fifth generation duel disks being created. Therad wondered how she got hold of it.

He shrugged and turned back to the television monitor. Blaze was currently losing with 400LP and Susokie with 2900LP. He continued to watch the duel play through. Behind him, the blonde girl turned and glanced at Therad and the monitor. She frowned and turned back to the window.

-

“My turn!” Blaze said as he drew a card from his deck, “And now during my Standby Phase, FIRE KING HIGH AVATAR GARUNIX returns to the field once more!” A purple void appeared in front of him, and a large red phoenix slow rose out of it. It cawed and spread its wing magnificently [2700ATK]. “Next GARUNIX’s effect actives” Blaze explained, “And destroys all your face down monsters!” The red bird cawed and burning red fire appeared out of thin air. The fire consumed all 3 of Susokie’s face down monsters. Susokie grimaced as her monsters were destroyed.

Blaze smiled and pointed at Susokie. “Now, GARUNIX, attack Susokie directly!” The phoenix cawed once more and unleashed another burst of fire, this time consuming Susokie. The girl screamed as she took the attack and her life points fell dramatically.

400LP/200LP

Taking a card from his hand, Blaze said “I now activate the spell MYSTIK WOK” The green card appeared on the field in front of him next to his face up purple card. Continuing, Blaze explained “MYSTIK WOK lets me tribute 1 monster I control and gain life points equal to Attack Points. So I tribute GARUNIX and gain 2700 Life Points!”

A golden light surrounded the bird as it cawed once more. The bird was consumed by the light and disappeared, meanwhile Blaze’s life points increased.

3100LP/200LP

“Finally my trap BACKFIRE activates once more” Blaze said, “It deals another 500 points of damage to you” The purple card glowed brightly, and Susokie fell to her knees as her life points fell to 0.

3100LP/0LP

“IT IS OVER! Blaze Waters has won and moves onto the Semi-Final rounds!” Vusouski explained. Blaze lowered his arm and his duel disk deactivated. Blaze looked up at the crowd as they roared with excitement. He smiled as he briefly waved to them before turning and walking back to the locker room.

-

“And so Blaze Waters has moved onto the Semi-Final rounds of the World Tournament, where he will be facing off against Therad Takeo…”

Therad glanced up at the monitor as he heard his name. He smiled to himself, “It’s about time Blaze and I had a rematch” he said quietly, continuing to watch the monitor.

“…Next to duel for a place in the Semi Finals are Dwain Lloyd against Luxia Raeburn. Both duellists are brand new to the pro leagues, so this duel will be an interesting duel to see how far they will go…”

Behind him the blonde girl stood up and walked over to the exit. Therad turned and caught a glimpse of her as she left the locker room. Therad frowned and turned back to the monitor, which had cut to the duel field.

“Thank you Venessa. Both duellists have arrived on the field and a raring to get the duel going. This duel will start with Luxia taking the first move. Here she goes taking a card and summoning BZZT”

Therad gasped as monitor turned to static. “What the…” he said, staring at the monitor. He jumped to his feet and ran to the window. The froze as he glanced down at the stadium. Black smoke filled the arena, completely covering the duelling field. Therad tried to see through the smoke as it started to clear. One the far side he could see the outline of a person laying on the ground. Therad squinted to focus on the person, but they were too far for him to make out any details.

The monitor flickered back to life. Therad ran back to where he had sat, knocking over his bottle of lemonade, spilling it all over the floor. One of the Tournament staff ran over with paper towels and began to clean it up and muttered something to Therad. Ignoring the staff member, Therad focused on the monitor.

“Luxia Raeburn has moved onto the Semi Final rounds of the World Tournament with an amazing duel against Dwain Lloyd. Our final Quarter Final match between Flair Summers and Drake Star will begin shortly…”

The guy with the dinosaur shirt opened his eyes and sat up. After briefly stretching he walked over to the locker room exit and headed to the field. Therad continued to stare at the monitor. “Why won’t you give me any information on how Luxia won that duel?” He said out loud. The staff member who was cleaning up the lemonade shook their head as they got up and left the room to dispose of the paper towels.

Behind Therad, the door to the field opened with a creak. He turned to see the blonde girl walk back into the room and take her seat back by the window. Therad stared at the girl. She seemed completely unfazed from the duel as she stared out of the window. Therad frowned and sighed, sitting back down. He took a deep breath and looked up at the monitor as he watched Flair walk out onto the field.

-

[structures-of-the-universe]

EPISODE 13

“Zedd White, the current World Tournament Champion, is aiming for his fourth consecutive Tournament win this year. Virtually an unknown prodigy four years ago in his first World Tournament, Zedd has stepped up the game in the Duel Monsters world as a powerful fusion summoner. His flawless victories, overwhelming strength and cunning strategies make Zedd one of the greatest duellists in Duel Monsters history. Today Zedd will be duelling in his quarter-final match for a place in the semi-finals against Therad Takeo-“

Therad turned away from the television monitor in the duellist waiting room and walked across to the entrance to the stadium. He stopped and stood by the door, waiting for his name to be called. He glanced around the room. The 8 remaining duellists had been split in half in two separate locker rooms away from their quarter-final opponents. He looked over at the 3 other duellists in the room.

On the far side of the room a girl with light brown skin and long black hair sat rummaging through her duel deck. She wore a slim light blue jacket with slim grey jeans and shirt, a blue duel disk on her arm.

In the centre of the room a tall man lay on a sofa. Dark skinned he wore a brown t-shirt with a dinosaur skull printed on it, white shorts and white sport shoes. He wore a brown duel disk on his left arm.

Finally staring out the window stood a girl with long blonde hair, wearing a white sleeveless t-shirt, white slim jeans and a pale blue belt. On her right hair she had two pale blue wrist bands and around her neck she had a simple chain necklace with a single blue gem. She wore a white duel disk on her left arm.

“Therad Takeo to duel arena 1. Therad Takeo to duel arena 1” A voice declared. The black hair girl and man on the sofa looked up at Therad as he turned and made his way out of the locker room. As he closed the door behind him, the blonde haired girl turned and stared at where Therad had once stood.

-

The stadium crowd roared louder than ever. Confetti floated through the air as cheer leaders danced around the stadium. Therad walked out on the stadium, covering his eyes from the harsh sunlight. Vusouski’s voice rang through the stadium.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, our first quarter-finalist, Therad Takeo” he said, as the crowd cheered and Therad walked up to the duel arena. “And let’s not forget his opponent, looking for his fourth World Tournament win and avid fusion summoner, Zedd White!”

Therad looked across the duel arena as a tall man walked up to the other side. He had long dark blue hair and wore a long blue coat. Underneath he wore a simple black shirt with slim black jeans and shoes. He waved to the crowd as Vusouski shouted his name before turning to Therad.

“Ah, so you are this Therad I’ve been hearing all about” he said, “Nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard some interesting rumours about you”

“Rumours?” Therad questioned. Zedd smiled back at him.

“Yes. There are rumours that you are very relentless when it comes to duelling. I’ve watched a few of your previous duels and I must say there is certainly some truth to it” Zedd said.

“I do what I must to win” Therad said, “If I’m relentless, then so be it”

“Indeed” Zedd replied, “Though I must say your relentless style won’t be enough to defeat me however” Zedd laughed, “Why, you’re nothing but an over aggressive amateur compared to me”

Therad frowned at Zedd’s words. Zedd laughed again, “Anyway, how about we get this duel started, I’ve got a Tournament to win” Zedd raised his left arm which sat a white duel disk. Therad hesitated, then raised his left arm similarly.

“My my, it appears both duellists are eager to duel” Vusouski declared, “Well without further ado: It’s time to…”

As both duel disks activated, Zedd said, “To give you a fighting chance, I’ll let you take the first move”

Therad nodded and took a card from his hand. “Firstly I activate the spell ONE FOR ONE” The green spell card appeared on the field in front of him. “By discarding a monster from my hand, I can special summon a Level 1 monster from my deck” Therad explained, “I discard THE BLACK STONE OF LEGEND from my hand to special summon RED-EYES B. CHICK [800ATK/500DEF] from my deck”

He took a second card from his hand and placed it in his graveyard. Then he drew a card from his deck and placed it on his duel disk. As he did so, a red light glowed in front of him, and a red egg appeared, emerging from it a small black dragon. It cawed quietly as it appeared on the field.

“Next I activate CHICK’s effect” Therad continued, “By tributing CHICK, I can special summon RED-EYES B. DRAGON [2400ATK/2000DEF] from my hand!” Another red light glowed around the small dragon. The small dragon disappeared, and in its place stood a larger, fiercer dragon in its place. The dragon roared loudly as it appeared on the field, the crowd roaring in response. “With that I end my turn” Therad said. The dragon growled as the turn changed.

“Very well” Zedd said, drawing a card from his deck, “I think it’s time I showed you why I’m the current World Tournament Champion; As I have no monsters and you do, I can special summon CYBER DRAGON [2100ATK/1600DEF] from my hand!”

A white light shone in front of him, and a large metallic silver serpent appeared, it roared as it stood to face Therad’s black dragon. “Next I play the spell, EVOLUTION BURST” Zedd said, “As I control a CYBER DRAGON I can destroy 1 card on the field, so say good bye to your precious RED-EYES” The metal dragon roared and from its mouth it fired green electricity, engulfing the black dragon and destroying it instantly.

Therad covered his face from the explosion, before saying “By destroying RED-EYES B. DRAGON, I can play the effect of RED-EYES RETRO DRAGON [1700ATK/1600DEF] in my hand and special summon it in defence mode” As he spoke a smaller, blue-ish black dragon appeared in place of the previous one. “Furthermore” Therad said, “I can also special summon the RED-EYES monster that was destroyed back into its original position” A red glow shone, and the large black dragon reappeared on the field next to the smaller one.

“Impressive” Zedd said, “But not quite good enough, for I now summon PROTO-CYBER DRAGON [1100ATK/600DEF]” A white light shone, and a smaller metallic grey serpent appeared on Zedd’s side of the field. “Now while PROTO-CYBER DRAGON is on the field” Zedd explained, “Its name can be treated as just ‘Cyber Dragon’, which means I can play the spell card POLYMERIZATION”

Therad sneered as the green spell card appeared on the field. Zedd smiled as the two dragon glowed purple and became one large purple glowing orb.

“I now take my 2 CYBER DRAGON’s and fuse them together” Zedd declared.

“CYBER TWIN DRAGON [2800ATK/2100DEF]! From the orb appeared a giant 2 headed metallic silver dragon. Both its heads roared as they stared Therad down.

“And there it is!” Vusouski roared through a cheering crowd, “Zedd’s first fusion summon of the duel! Will Therad be able to withstand such power, or will Zedd’s strength be too much for him?”

“Now, CYBER TWIN DRAGON, destroy his RED-EYES B. DRAGON!” Zedd commanded. The twin headed mechanical dragon roar, and from its left head it fired green lightning at the black dragon. An explosion filled the stadium as the dragon was destroyed instantly from the attack. As the smoke cleared, Therad glanced at the score board and watched his life points fell.

3600LP/4000LP

Zedd laughed as he continued, “Now I should probably mention my TWIN DRAGON’s effect; it can attack twice per turn!” The dragon roared again as green lightning shot out of its mouth, destroying the smaller black dragon.

The mechanical dragon roared again as Zedd said, “I think now you should understand why I’m the current World Tournament Champion” He folded his arms, “Against skills like mine, there is no way you can defeat me, you might as well give up now!” Zedd laughed once more as the crowd around him roared with excitement.

“Fighting words from Zedd White” Vusouski said, “How will Therad counter his move?”

Therad took a breath and drew a card from his deck. Adding the card to his hand he said, “I activate the effect of THE BLACK STONE OF LEGEND [0ATK/0ATK] previously sent to my graveyard – by returning RED-EYES B. DRAGON to my deck I can special summon it” He took the cards from his graveyard, placed on in his deck and the other on his duel disk. A red light shone and a Black stone appeared, surrounded by a glowing red aura.

“Now with the STONE on my field I activate its second effect” Therad continued, “I can tribute it to special summon RED-EYES B. DRAGON from my deck” Zedd frowned as he watched the stone glow bright red and shattering into a ball of red light. Then from the light appeared the familiar black dragon, roaring loudly. His own mechanical dragons roared in response.

“So you brought your dragon back, big deal” Zedd mocked, “I’ll just destroy once more with TWIN DRAGON”

“Doubt that” Therad replied, “I activate the effect of BLACK METAL DRAGON in my hand and equip it to RED-EYES” Taking a card from his hand, he placed it in an empty spell and trap card zone. Then in front of him appear a small black dragon whose scales then split into multiple pieces. The pieces then flew around the large black dragon and covered various parts of its body, as if it were armour. The large dragon roared loudly.

“BLACK METAL DRAGON gives my RED-EYES a 600 point bonus when equipped [3000ATK]” Therad explained. He pointed at Zedd’s mechanical dragon, “RED-EYES attack CYBER TWIN DRAGON!” The armoured dragon roared, and charged at the metal dragon. With a single slash of its giant claw, the black dragon beheaded both heads of the metal dragon. The heads fell to the ground and the body collapsed, and in doing so they exploded in light. Zedd frowned and remained unmoved as the attack hit and his life points fell.

3600LP/3800LP

“I end my turn” Therad said, as he black dragon returned to his side of the field.

“Very well” said Zedd drawing a card from his deck. Placing it in his hand and taking a second card he said, “Once more as you control a monster and I do not, I can special summon a CYBER DRAGON from my hand” A white light shone and a metallic silver dragon appeared once more on the field.

Taking the first card again, Zedd said, “I now activate the spell MONSTER REBORN, and bring back my first CYBER DRAGON” The green spell card appeared on the field, and was quickly followed by a white light. From the light the first metallic silver dragon reappeared next to the second. Both dragons roared loudly. Therad stared at the two metal dragons, his RED-EYEs growling.

Zedd smirked, “I think it is about time I take the next step in duelling” He outstretched his arms at his two dragons. “As you can see, I have two CYBER DRAGONs on my field, both of which, are Level 5!”

“Two Level 5 monsters?” Vusouski said, “Could it be…?” His voice trailed off as Zedd continued.

“With my two CYBER DRAGONs I form the Overlay Network!” Zedd declared. A black vortex appeared, and his two dragons roared and morphed into two spheres of silver light before flying into the vortex.

“Rank 5 CYBER DRAGON NOVA [2100ATK/1600SDEF]!” Zedd said. From the vortex a large winged metal dragon flew out. It circled the stadium, spewing fire from its maw, before landing in front of Zedd where the vortex once was. The dragon had a large central body connecting its tail, wings and head. It was made of a black metal with a glowing orange core in the centre. It’s large wings spread across the field, and its tail was slightly coiled on the gound. The dragon had a metallic black helm with orange power lines running across it. It tilted its head back as it roared loudly. Two orange orbs orbitted it.

“OUTSTANDING!” Vusouski shouted, “Our Champion has once again passed expectations and has successfully pulled off an XYZ summon. What more surprises does Zedd have in store for us?”

Zedd bowed. “I now play NOVA’s effect; by detatching one overlay unit, I can special summon a CYBER DRAGON from my graveyard” he said. One of the orange orbs exploded in an orange light, and from it a CYBER DRAGON reappeared onto the field.

“Now with CYBER DRAGON back on my field, I can banish it from the duel and give NOVA 2100ATK until the end of this turn” Zedd sneared. The silver dragon roared as it faded away. The winged dragon roared louder as it gained its power up [4200ATK].

Therad gritted his teeth and raised his arms in preparation for the attack. Zedd smirk and pointed at RED-EYES. “NOVA, destroy RED-EYES!” he commanded. The metallic dragon roared and fired from its mouth a giant fire ball directly at the black armoured dragon. An explosion filled the stadium as the fireball hit.

2400LP/3800LP

As Therad’s life points fell and the smoke cleared, he said, “I activate BLACK METAL DRAGON’s effect; when it is destroyed I can added a “Red-Eyes” card to my hand” he drew a card from his deck and added to his hand.

“Very well” Zedd said, “No matter what you draw it cannot help you. I end my turn. At this moment NOVA’s attack returns to normal [2100ATK].”

Therad nodded and drew a card from his deck. “You might want to reconsider that statement” he said slyly, taking a card from his hand, “I activate the spell RED-EYES FUSION!” The crowd gasped as Therad placed the card onto his duel disk and it appeared on this field.

“What’s this?” Vusouski said, “Therad Takeo is going to fusion summon? This duel is full of twists and turns!”

Therad smiled. “This card let’s me fusion a monster using cards from my hand, field and deck” he said, “Providing, of course, that the fusion monster requires a RED-EYES” He paused as he took two cards from his deck.

“I fuse my RED-EYES B. DRAGON and RED-EYES ARCHFIEND OF LIGHTNING [2500ATK/1200DEF]” Therad declared, placing the two cards in his graveyard.

“ARCHFIEND BLACK SKULL DRAGON [3200ATK/2500DEF]!” A bright purple light shone on the field, and from it rose a large black and red scaled dragon. It had large red wings and plated black scales covered its body. Upon its head the scales resembled a dragon skull, and fire spewed from openings in its shoulders. The giant roared ferociously, causing Zedd’s dragon to recoil.

Therad looked sternly at Zedd and smiled. “BLACK SKULL DRAGON, attack Zedd’s CYBER DRAGON NOVA” he command. The black dragon roared again and charged at the metal dragon. The smaller creature used its wings to cover its head, but the black dragon’s giant claw slashed through it with ease. The metal dragon was destroyed instantly in a large explosion, and Zedd covered this face as his life points fell.

2400LP/2700LP

“I now activate BLACK SKULL DRAGON’s effect” Therad continued, “As BLACK SKULL inflicted battle damage, I can return a RED-EYES normal monster from my grave to my deck, and inflict damage equal to that monsters attack points. I return RED-EYES ARCHFIEND OF LIGHTNING to my deck, dealing you 2500 points of damage”

“Uh oh” Zedd said as dark clouds formed about him. Suddenly a red lightning bolt struck. Zedd screamed as the bolt hit him and his life points fell dramatically.

2400LP/200LP

The black clouds faded away above him as Zedd looked up. Therad stared emotionless at him. “I set a card face down and end my turn” he said as the card appeared on the field.

Zedd stood up straight, breathing heavily. “My turn” he said harshly as he drew a card from his deck, “I activate POT OF GREED and drew two cards” The green spell card briefly appeared on the field as Zedd drew the cards from his deck.

Zedd stared across at Therad. “I’m going to make you pay for making a mockery of me” he threatened. Therad frowned and lowered his stance, ready for Zedd’s move. Zedd took one of the cards from his hand, “I summon CYBER DRAGON CORE [400ATk/1500DEF]” he said.

A flash of white light shone, and a thin, metallic grey serpent appeared, red wires trailing from its body. “I activate CORE’s effect” Zedd stated, “I can add a “Cyber” Spell or Trap to my hand” He drew a card from his deck and continued, “I will now activate the Spell, CYBERNETIC FUSION SUPPORT!”

The green spell appeared on the field. “I pay half my life points” Zedd explained, “And for the rest of this turn I can fusion summon Machine-Type monsters by banishing materials from my hand, graveyard or side of the field”

2400LP/100LP

Therad grimaced causing Zedd to smile. “I now activate POLYMERIZATION!” Therad stared intently as the card appeared on the field.

Zedd revelled the card in his hand, “I banish CYBER DRAGON in my hand, and the CYBER DRAGON in my grave” He said, then pointed at CYBER DRAGON CORE, “I also banish CORE, for it too counts as a CYBER DRAGON!” The grey metallic dragon roar as black clouds formed. The wind in the stadium began to pick up. The grey dragon roared as it dissolved into the cloud. Green lightning struck the field.

“CYBER END DRAGON [4000ATK/2800DEF]!” A second bolt of green lightning struck and from it emerged a giant 3 headed mechanical dragon. It roared loudly as it stood over the black and red dragon.

“AND THERE IT IS!” Vusouski shouted, “Zedd’s most powerful monster has made its appearance on the field. Therad stands no chance to overcome such a powerful creature”

Zedd laugh manically, “With CYBER END DRAGON, you shall meet you end! Attack BLACK SKULL DRAGON!” he commanded. The three heads of the dragon each roared, and sent three bolts of lightning at the black dragon, destroying it in a cloud of black smoke.

1600LP/100LP

The smoke slowly cleared as Zedd’s dragon roared loudly. Zedd stared at Therad. “I end my turn” he said, “You might as well give up now. I know you don’t have anything in your deck strong enough to defeat CYBER END. Give up!” The giant metal dragon roared again.

Therad, his head lowered, drew a card from his deck. “Never” he said. Zedd flinched and grimaced at Therad.

Therad looked up. “I activate THE BLACK STONE OF LEGEND’s effect once more” he said, “Returning RED-EYES B. DRAGON to my deck and special summon it from my grave!” He returned a card from his grave to his deck as the small black stone reappeared onto the field. It then vanished as Therad said, “I send THE BLACK STONE to the graveyard and special summon RED-EYES B. DRAGON from my deck!” The stone was quickly replaced by the familiar black dragon.

“Next I play my face down card; RED-EYES SPIRIT!” Therad said, the purple card flipping face up as he spoke, “I special summon the second RED-EYES B. DRAGON in my graveyard to the field!” A purple light shone from the card, and a second RED-EYES B. DRAGON appeared on the field next to the first. Both dragons roared simultaneously.

“2 Red-Eyes monsters?” Vusouski questioned, “What does Therad have planned? An XYZ summon perhaps?” The crowd cheered excitedly. Therad’s eyes flickered up briefly.

Taking a breath, Therad said, “I activate the spell, THE CLAW OF HERMOS!”

Zedd gasped as the spell appeared on the field. “What?!” he said, struggling to bring the words to his mouth.

Therad smiled. “THE CLAW OF HERMOS lets me tribute a monster in my hand or on the field and special summon a fusion monster from my Extra Deck. I tribute RED-EYES B. DRAGON and special summon RED-EYES BLACK DRAGON SWORD [2400ATK/2000DEF]!” The left RED-EYES roared and sunk into a pit below it. A red light shone from the pit, and a large sword rose out of it. It had a long curved blade, and its hilt resembled the head of the RED-EYES B. DRAGON.

Therad pointed at the black dragon on the right and said, “I activate SWORD’s effect, and equip it to RED-EYES B. DRAGON” The sword floated in front of the black dragon, which grabbed the sword by its hilt. The dragon roared loudly as it swung the sword.

“The SWORD gives RED-EYES a bonus 1000 attack points” Therad explained, “And, as well as that, RED-EYES gains 500 extra attack points for every Dragon-Type monster on the field and in either players graveyard – I have a total of 8 dragons on my field and in my graveyard, giving RED-EYES 4000 attack points!”

Zedd stared as the RED-EYES roared as it gained its attack point bonus [RED-EYES 7400ATK]. The crowd fell silent at the black dragon’s power.

Therad pointed at Zedd’s tri-headed dragon. “RED-EYES B. DRAGON attack CYBER END DRAGON!” Therad command. The black dragon roared and charged at the metal dragon. With a single slash of its sword, the black dragon beheaded all three heads of the metal dragon. The body of the metal dragon exploded, knocking Zedd off his feet and his life points fell.

1600LP/0LP

As the smoke cleared, the black dragon faded as Therad’s duel disk powered down. In a silent stadium, Therad turned away and walked off the stadium and through the exit.

After a moment Vusouski said, “The winner of the first quarter final match is Therad Takeo…”

-

Therad sat in the centre of the locker room, his eyes closed. Above him the television flickered.

“…And in a turn of events, Zedd White was knocked out of the World Tournament in his quarter final match against Therad Takeo. This is Zedd’s first official loss in four years. All eyes now turn to Therad for the title of this year’s World Tournament. Up next is the second quarter final match between Blaze Waters and Susokie Tsuji…”

The girl with the slim light blue jacket stood up from her seat and walked out of the locker room. The man with the dinosaur t-shirt still lay on the sofa, his eyes closed. On the far side off the locker room, the blonde girl stared intently at Therad.

Sensing her stare, Therad looked up and made eye contact with the girl. After a brief moment, Therad broke his stare and looked down at the floor once more. Girl took a deep breath and turned her head towards the window, looking down across the stadium grounds.

[structures-of-the-universe]

EPISODE 12

Out of breath, Flair arrived at the stadium. She glanced around the stadium, the orange light of the setting sun filled the sky, and she could see the cheering crowd excited for her match. She turned and looked across the arena. Opposite her stood a tall middle aged man with short tidy black hair. He wore long pale green monk robes and a green belt tied around his waist. He had a comforting smile on his face and nodded at Flair. Flair nodded back and both duellists raised their duel disks.

“If you would be so kind, may I take the first move?” Quin asked Flair.

Taken aback Flair said “Sure, I don’t see why not”  

Quin bowed and took a card from his hand. “I play a monster in defence mode and set a card face down” he said, the two cards appearing on the field.

Flair drew a card from her deck, “Playing safe I guess” she laughed.

“Patience is a virtue my dear girl” Quin replied “And mystery leads to curiosity, a mystery in itself”

Flair frowned at his words, mildly confused. Quin continued to smile as Flair placed a card on her duel disk.

“I activate the Field Spell THE SANCTUARY IN THE SKY!” she declared. Slowly, the ground around the duellists began to fill with clouds, and the sky faded from orange to bright blue, the sun now high in the sky. Behind Flair from the clouds appeared a large Greek temple, floating on more clouds. Taking another card from her hand, Flair said, “I now summon THE AGENT OF MIRACLES – JUPITER [1800ATK/1000DEF]!”

A light shone amongst the clouds, and from it flew a brown winged angel. The angel looped around in the air before landing softly in front of Flair. Flair smiled then pointed at Quin’s face down monster. “Now JUPITER attack his monster!” At her words the angel took off once more and flew towards the monster, raising its fists to a punch. Quin’s card flipped over, and there sat a small white rabbit with bright red eyes, a blue aura surrounding it to show it was in defence position.

“I’m afraid you attacked my monster BUNILLA [150ATK/2050DEF] whose defence is higher than your attack” Quin explained “As a result it is not destroyed and you take 250 damage difference”

“Normally that would be the case” Flair said, “However my field spell prevents any and all damage involving Fairy-Type monsters” The brown angel flew back to its position.

“Ah, very clever” Quin said, nodding.

Flair grinned “I end my turn; you’re up!”

Quin bowed and drew a card from his deck. “Before I make a move I activate my face down card:  the continuous trap SOLEMN WISHES” His face down card flipped and stood up straight, facing Flair. “With this card, every time I draw from my deck I gain 500 life points” Quin explained, “So by playing POT OF GREED I draw again and gain 500 life points”

Flair frowned as Quin drew two cards from his deck, and watched as his life points increased.

4000LP/4500LP

“Now I very simply set a monster in defence mode and one card face down and end my turn” Quin said as the two cards appeared on the field. “It is your move my dear” he bowed.

Uneasy Flair drew a card, “I summon NOVA SUMMONER [1400ATK/800DEF]!” she said, a light shining on the field and the orange and green halo-shaped angel appeared. She looked across at Quins monsters.

“I can’t take out BUNILLA” she stated, “So let’s go for your defence; Attack JUPITER!” The brown angel jumped into the air and flew across the battle field. The face down monster flipped face up revealing the small flying squirrel creature NIMBLE MOMONGA [1000ATK/100DEF]

“NIMBLE MOMONGA?!” Flair said as the angel attacked, shattering the monster in a single blow. Quin smiled at her.

“Yes” he said “When NIMBLE MOMONGA is destroyed I gain 1000 life points” Quin looked up at the scoreboard and watched his life point’s increase.

4000LP/5500LP

He turned back to Flair. “As well as that I can set two more NIMBLE MOMONGAs face down from my deck” He took the cards from his deck and placed them on his duel disk. The two cards appeared face down on the field either side of BUNILLA.

Flair glared at him, annoyed. “I end my turn” she said, “I can’t attack you otherwise you’d gain more life points”

“Very well” Quin said, drawing a card from his deck “As I draw SOLEMN WISHES once more increases my life points” Frustrated, Flair watched his life points increase again.

4000LP/6000LP

Quin smiled as he pressed a button on his duel disk. “I now activate my face down card; a second SOLEMN WISHES” Flair watched in shock as the purple card appeared face up on the field. Quin took a card from his hand and placed it on this duel disk. “I also activate another POT OF GREED, so as I draw I now gain 1000 life points” He drew 2 cards and his life points increased again.

4000LP/7000LP

“I’m beginning to see a theme here” Flair said in frustration.

Quin continued to smile. “Yes, I believe in preservation my dear, and I don’t believe in fighting” he said.

“So how do you plan on winning?” Flair asked, confused, “By not fighting there is no way you can win”

“Actually that’s not true” Quin said, “There are many ways to win a duel. Some win with pure strength, some with strategy, and others on technicalities on the rules. I however have this” He placed a card on his duel disk and a green spell card rose from amongst the clouds, “I activate the spell; FINAL COUNTDOWN”

Suddenly dark clouds filled the sky, covering the bright sun. The clouds began to slowly spin, then descending from them came 20 glowing orbs of fire. They formed a circle above the duellist’s heads. Flair stared up at the display, then turned to Quin. “What does your card do?” she asked nervously.

“My dear, FINAL COUNTDOWN is a very powerful card” Quin replied, “At the cost of 2000 life points, the glowing orbs disappear turn by turn”

A cold sweat dripped down Flairs neck. “And what happens when all 20 orbs are gone?” she asked, watching Quin’s life points fall.

4000LP/5000LP

“Why, I win the duel of course” Quin laughed. Flair gasped and Quin smiled slyly. “I set a monster in defence mode and end my turn” A third face down monster appeared on the field and Quin bowed. Flair looked up and watched as 1 of the 20 orbs faded. “Only 19 turns left my dear” Quin said mockingly at Flair.

Flair frowned as she drew a card from her deck. “I sacrifice NOVA SUMMONER and tribute summon THE AGENT OF JUDGEMENT – SATURN [2400ATK/0DEF]. A purple light engulfed the orange and green creature. The creature descended into the light and from it ascended a new angel. It had large purple wings and wore a long purple dress. It flew around the stadium and landed softly on the ground next to the brown angel.

“SATURN” Flair commanded. “Attack BUNILLA” The purple angels brought its hands together. A purple energy began to form at her hands into an orb. Then the orb flew through the air and collided with the small white rabbit, completely destroying it.

“Now JUPITER” Flair said looking at Quin’s 3 face down monsters, “Seeing as two of those are NIMBLE MOMONGAs, attack the third set monster!” The brown angel took off at once, and flew directly at the third set card. The card flipped up and revealed white masked woman, cloaking in a green and yellow dress with bright blue hair; AQUA MADOOR [1200ATK/2000DEF]. A blue aura surrounded it like the rabbit before it. The brown angel retreated from its attack and returned to its position.

“I may not have destroyed your monster” Flair said, “However due to THE SANCTUARY I take no damage” Flair sighed and took a breath. “I end my turn” she said, glaring at Quin.

Quin bowed and drew a card. Flair scowled as she watched his life point’s increase due to the two SOLEMN WISHES cards. Meanwhile above her a second fire orb vanished.

4000LP/6000LP

Quin, adding his drawn card to his hand, took two others. “As you are summoning more powerful monsters, I once more must protect myself” he said, placing the card on his duel disk, “So I simultaneously play 2 DIAN KETO THE CURE MASTERs” Two copies of the same card appeared on the field. “Just one of these increases my life points by 1000. However with 2 it instead increases by 2000” The cards faded as his life points increased.

4000LP/8000LP

“Now I simply place a face down card and end my turn” Quin said, another card appearing face down. As he spoke a third orb faded. Flair frowned as he watched it disappear. “Only 17 turns left my dear” Quin said. Flair grimaced as she drew a card.

“Alright” she said as she saw the card she had drawn. “By banishing JUPITER from my field I can special summon MASTER HYPERION [2700ATK/2100DEF] from my hand!” The brown angle crossed its arms over its chest and slowly faded from existence. Then in its place, from the clouds below, appeared a larger angel, cloaked in black and gold garb surrounded by an orange aura.

“Now I activate HYPERIONs effect; by banishing NOVA SUMMONER in my graveyard, I can destroy 1 card on the field” Flair continued, pointing at Quin, “I destroy one of your SOLEMN WISHES trap cards!” As she spoke, an orange light engulfed one of the purple trap card and it shattered to pieces. Quin frowned as he watched his card get destroyed.

Flair smiled, “MASTER HYPERION!” she declared, “Attack AQUA MADOOR!” The orange angel raised its hands up together, and an orange orb of glowing energy formed. The angel thrusted its arms forward and sent the orb flying towards the blue creature.

“Not so fast my dear Flair” Quin said slyly. Flair flinched as a face down card on Quin’s side of the field flipped up. “I activate the trap DRAINING SHIELD!” A glowing barrier erupted in front of the blue creature. With a crash the orange orb collided with the barrier and exploded into orange light. Quin smiled as he said “DRAINING SHIELD not only negates an attack, but I also gain life points equal to the attacking monsters attack points” He laughed as his life points increased once more.

4000LP/10800LP

“Well I still have SATURN!” Flair shouted. The purple winged angel brought her hands together, a purple orb of energy forming between them. The angel then pushed the orb towards the blue creature, exploding in purple light on impact, destroying it.

Flair sighed. “I end my turn” she said. Above her head a fourth light faded as Quin drew a card from his deck. Flair watched the large monitor in annoyance as Quin’s life points increased again.

4000LP/11300LP

“I activate the spell GRACEFUL CHARITY” Quin said, “I draw 3 cards then discard 2 and at the same time gain another 500 life points due to SOLEMN WISHES”

4000LP/11800LP

Quin drew his 3 cards and added them to his hand, then took 2 of them and placed them in his graveyard. “Next I activate POT OF GREED, drawing 2 more cards and gaining 500 more life points” Quin said mockingly, adding the 2 cards to his hand.

4000LP/12300LP

“I then set a card face down and end my turn” Quin said, a face down card appearing on the field.

Flair drew a card and added it to her hand. Above her a fifth orb faded. She glanced across the field at Quin’s set up – SOLEMN WISHES face up, a set card and two set monsters. Flair grimaced. “Even though I know your two monsters are both NIMBLE MOMONGAs, I’m going to have to attack them in order to start getting at your life points” Flair stated. She pointed at the two cards. “HYPERION and SATURN – destroy those monsters!” Together, the two angels formed orbs of energy between their hands. Each angel them thrusted their arms forwards, hurtling at the set monster cards. The cards flipped face up revealing two brown flying squirrels and each exploded in orange and purple light as the orbs collided with them. Quin smiled as his life points increased once more, by 2000. Flair stared at the floor.

4000LP/14300LP

“I end my turn” Flair said through gritted teeth. The sixth orb faded as Quin drew a card and his life points increased by 500 again.

4000LP/14800LP

“I very simply set one monster in defence mode” Quin said, a sideways card appearing on the field, “And I also activate my face down card – another SOLEMN WISHES trap card”

“What?!” Flair said as the purple card flipped face up.

Quin smiled at Flair and bowed “I end my turn my dear” he said. Flair drew a card and he straightened himself. He glanced upwards to the sky as a seventh orb faded “Ah not long now. Good things always come to those who wait” he said slyly.

Flair smirked and added her card to her hand. “Not if I have anything to say about it – SATURN attack his defence monster!” The purple angel hummed and once more created a purple orb and sent it flying towards the set monster. The card flipped up revealing itself as DANDYLION [300ATK/300DEF] and was destroyed.

“Oh dear” Quin said, “It appears you have sent DANDYLION to the graveyard and in doing so have allowed me to summon two Fluff Tokens [0ATK/0DEF] to the field. Two dandelion seeds appeared on the field in place of the previous monster.

“Doesn’t matter” Flair said, “I’ll have HYPERION take one out” The orange angel put its hands together and sent an orange energy orb hurtling towards a Fluff Token, destroying it instantly. “I end my turn” Flair said.

The eighth orb faded from the sky as Quin drew a card from his deck. In doing so both of his SOLEMN WISHES trap cards activated, increasing his life points.

4000LP/15800LP

“I set one card face down. That is all” he said as the card appeared face down on his side of the field.

Flair frowned as he ended his turn. “You didn’t summon a monster?” she questioned, drawing a card. “You must be running out of options. Now to make my come back” Flair pointed at the second Fluff Token. “Saturn attack his Token” The purple angel placed its hands together once more and sent a purple energy orb at the Token, destroying it. Quin remained unmoved.

Flair smiled. “HYPERION attack Quin directly!” The orange angel nodded and brought its hands together, forming an orange energy orb. The orb then flew through the air, directly at Quin.

An explosion rocked the stadium and smoke covered Quin’s side of the field. Flair grinned as her attack hit and turned expectantly at the score board. She gasped.

Quin’s life points hadn’t fallen. Instead, they had risen. Flair turned back to Quin as the smoke cleared. There, face up in front of Quin was the trap card DRAINING SHIELD. “Another DRAINING SHIELD!” she said loudly, shocked.

4000LP/18600LP

Quin laughed. “Why of course. I don’t know what you expected from me” he smirked.

Annoyed Flair said “I end my turn” Above her the tenth orb faded.

“We’re halfway to the end” Quin said slyly as he drew a card and his life points increased. Flair gritted her teeth as she watched his life points go up again.

4000LP/19600LP

Quin looked at the card he drew, smiled and placed in on his duel disk. “I activate the spell SCAPEGOAT which summons 4 Sheep Tokens [0ATK/0DEF]” In front of him appeared four small round sheep, one blue, one orange, one red and one pink. “I end my turn” Quin said, as the eleventh orb disappeared, “Time is getting on dear Flair – only 9 turns left”

Flair frowned as she drew a card. Quickly she said “SATURN and HYPERION attack 2 of the Tokens” As she commanded, two energy orbs flew through the air and destroyed the orange and red Sheep Tokens. “I end my turn” she said. Quin drew a card and the twelve orb faded. As he did, his life points rose again.

4000LP/20600LP

“I place another monster in face down defence position and end my turn” Quin said, another face down card appearing on the field.

Flair drew a card as the thirteenth orb faded “Aren’t you going to make any other move than defence? This duel could have ended several turns ago if you attacked once or twice” Flair questioned.

Quin stared at her, “Why yes that is true, this duel could have ended turns ago. However it would have ended in my loss had I done so” Quin explained, “Which is why my strategy works best when playing defence”

Flair frowned, “Whatever” she said, “I summon THE AGENT OF CREATION – VENUS [1600ATK/0DEF]” A light shone on her field as a four winged brown angel appeared, 3 orbs orbiting around it. Flair pointed at Quin’s 3 monsters. “Now, VENUS and SATURN destroy those 2 Sheep Tokens; and HYPERION destroy his defence!” The 3 angels bought their hands together and fired 3 energy orbs at the monsters. The 2 tokens were destroyed instantly. The face down card flipped up to reveal MYSTICAL ELF [800ATK/2000DEF] before it was destroyed.

“Finally!” Flair shouted, “I’ve wiped out all your defences. I end my turn!” She smiled as Quin glared at her.

“It matters not” Quin said as he drew a card and the fourteenth orb faded, “I summon SHIELD WING [0ATK/900ATK]” A large green pterodactyl appeared with large white feathered wings. As the creature folded its wings in front of itself, Quin said, “I activate the spell GRACEFUL CHARITY; I draw 3 cards and discard 2” He drew from his deck and once more his life points increased from his trap cards.

4000LP/21600LP

“Finally I play DIAN KETO THE CURE MASTER and gain a further 1000 points” he explained. Flair watched angrily as his life points increased again.

4000LP/22100LP

Quin sighed, “And with that I end my turn” Above him the fifteenth orb faded, leaving only 5 left. Flair drew a card from her deck.

“You only summoned one monster” Flair stated, “This means I’m guaranteed to land 2 direct attacks. So…” She pointed at the green dinosaur creature, “VENUS destroy SHIELD WING!” The angel raised its arms and threw an energy orb at the monster. The monster screeched loudly as the orb collided, smoke filling the field. Flair smiled, “Alright HYPERION attack Quin di- what!?”

The smoke cleared and on Quin’s side of the field the green dinosaur stood. “How?” Flair asked, “How did your monster survive that?”

Quin laughed, “Why, it’s SHIELD WING’s special effect; up to twice per turn it cannot be destroyed in battle!” The green dinosaur screeched again.

“Damn it” Flair cursed, “Well it doesn’t matter; HYPERION and SATURN, destroy that bird!” The angels nodded and threw two energy balls at the creature. The first collided with the bird filling the field with more smoke. Then as it cleared the second orb collided with the creature, and with a final screech, it was destroyed.

“I end my turn” Flair said, watching as another orb faded.

“Only 4 turns my dear Flair” Quin said mockingly, “Good things always come to those who wait. Now, my draw” He drew a card from his deck and gained more life points.

4000LP/23100LP

“Hmm, I set 1 card and end my turn” Quin said as a card appeared on the field. Flair frowned at Quin as the seventeenth orb faded. Quin just smiled.

Flair closed her eyes. “I need to draw the right card now or I’ve lost at the end of my next turn” she mutter to herself. Opening her eyes she drew a card. Pausing for a second as she glanced at it, she smiled. “Alright Quin, I attack you directly with HYPERION” she said, turning to the duellist. The orange angel raised its arms and sent an energy orb flying across the field.

Quin smiled as he face down card flipped up, “I activate DRAINING SHIELD, negating the attack and gaining life points equal to the damage I would have taken” A transparent wall shone brightly and the energy orb collided with the shield. As it did so Quin’s life points increased once more.

4000LP/25800LP

“Flair my dear, is it even worth your struggles?” Quin said, “By the time my life points would reach 0, it will be too late”

“Yeah” Flair said, setting one card face down on her side of the field, “That’s what I’m counting on. I end my turn” As she spoke another or faded, leaving only 2.

Confused, Quin drew a card from his deck, gaining life points as he did so.

4000LP/26800LP

“I activate the spell ATTRAFFIC CONTROL” Quin said, “As long as you control 3 or more monsters, you cannot declare an attack. I end my turn” Quin folded his arms as the nineteenth orb faded. “This is it my dear Flair, the final turn, what we have all been waiting for. The moment you release you cannot win and end your turn, this will all be over” Quin smiled sinisterly at Flair.

Unmoved by his words, Flair drew a card from her deck. “One turn” she said, “That’s all I need”

Quin frowned at Flair as she spoke, and Flair smiled back at him.

“First off I play the spell card ADVANCE DRAW” The green spell card appeared on the field, “By tributing a Level 8 or higher monster I draw 2 cards – good bye MASTER HYPERION” A white glow of light surrounded the orange angel and it disappeared as Flair drew two cards. “Right, now with just 2 monsters, VENUS and SATURN, I can attack you” Flair stated.

Quin shrugged, “That maybe so, however even with a combined total of 4000 attack points, you are no closer to defeating me”

“That’s what you think” Flair said, “I activate my face down card – LIFE EQUALIZER!” The purple card flipped face up and Quin gasped.

“What!” Quin shouted in shock. “How do you have that card?”

Flair smiled, “I’ve had this card in my deck for as long as I can remember, I’ve just never thought I’d have the chance to use it” Quin stood staring as Flair explained, “Now, due to LIFE EQUALIZER’s effect, if the difference in our life points is 8000 or more, then both players life points become 3000”

Two bolts of green lighting fell from the sky, striking both the duellists. Quin yelled as the bolt hit him and his life points drain dramatically. Flair stood with her eyes closed, withstanding the shock as her life points also fell.

3000LP/3000LP

Flair opened her eyes. “Now with only 3000 life points left, and no way to protect yourself, you’re wide open for a direct attack. VENUS, attack Quin directly” Flair commanded. The angel nodded and sent an energy orb flying through the air. It exploded as it made contact with Quin and his life points fell.

3000LP/1400LP

“Finally, SATURN, launch the final blow!” Flair declared. The angel rose its arms and sent a purple energy orb through the air. An explosion rung through the stadium as it hit and Quin dropped to his knees, his life points falling to 0.

3000LP/0LP

“IT IS OVER!” the announcer declared, “It what was the longest duel in the tournament so far, Flair Summers has defeated Quin McDonald!” The crowd roared as he spoke. Flair smiled and waved to the crowd as they cheered. “Now with the first round matches over, let’s check the leader board for the second round matches” the announcer continued. In the centre of the stadium the large monitor lit up, displaying the tournament ladder. 

“As you can see 8 duellists have won their way to the quarter-finals” the announcer continued, “Our first quarter-final match shall begin tomorrow with Therad Takeo duelling against Zedd White! We’ll see you soon!”

The crowd roared once more as the announcer finished talking. Flair stared at the tournament ladder. “2 duels before the finals” Flair muttered to herself, “I’ll see you there Therad” She turned and slowly walked to the exit of the stadium.

[structures-of-the-universe]

EPISODE 11

Blaze walked through the entrance doors and took his place in the stadium. He closed his eyes ad bowed his head. The sound of the crowd slowly faded as he focussed his mind. His mind silent, he stood still. Suddenly he heard the sound of the announcer’s voice. “And let the duel begin!” it said. 

Blaze opened his eyes and raised his left arm, his duel disk activating. He stood with his legs apart and his armed in front of his face. He glanced over at his opponent at the other side of the arena. Pat stood facing Blaze, his left arm raised too, wearing a grey duel disk. Fairly short and slightly chubby, he had short spiked black hair and wore a brown jacket over a white shirt and black jeans. Blaze watched as his opponent stared at the cards in his hand, before finally taking one.

“Okay then” Pat said “I set a monster in face down defence position and set one card face down and end my turn” As he spoke two face down cards appeared on the field, one in front of the other, the front most sideways.

Blaze took a breath and drew a card from his deck. He took a quick glance at the card then said “I summon FLAMVELL FIREDOG [1900ATK/200DEF]!” A burst of orange light shone, and appearing on the field was a hound whose body was made of molten lava. The hound growled as the heat of the lava coursed through its body. Blaze pointed at Pat’s set monster. “FIREDOG attack his monster!” he commanded. The hound barked and took off in a sprint. The sideways card flipped up to reveal the monster GIANT RAT [1400ATK/1450DEF] in defence mode. The hound barked again, and bit into the rat’s arm. The GIANT RAT screeched and exploded in a flutter of sparks. The hound turned and leaped back to its position.

“You activated my GIANT RAT’s effect!” Pat announced, “I can special summon an Earth Attribute monster with 1500 attack points or less from my deck” Pat drew a card and placed it on his duel disk, “I special summon another GIANT RAT!” A light shone, and on the field appeared a second giant blue rat.

Blaze unfazed said “Since my FIREDOG destroyed your monster, I can special summon a Fire Attribute monster with 200 or less defence from my deck” Blaze drew a card from his own deck, “I special summon FIRE KING AVATAR KIRIN [1000ATK/200DEF]!” A light shone on Blaze’s side of the field, and from it appeared an armoured white unicorn with a fiery green mane. It whinnied as it took its place. “I end my turn” Blaze said.

“Alright then” Pat said nervously, drawing his own card. Blaze squinted slightly as he noticed Pat’s nervousness. Pat continued his move, “I summon RESCUE RABBIT [300ATK/100DEF]” A light shone and onto the field a small grey and white rabbit hopped. It had large brown eyes and on its head it wore a yellow hard hat with googles, and around its neck hung a small radio. From the crowd the distinct sound of people cheering for the rabbit could be heard. Pat laughed nervously at the crowd’s response. Blaze noticing this smiled slightly.

Pat turned to his rabbit “Okay, I play my RESCUE RABBIT’s effect; by banishing it I can special summon 2 Level 4 or lower Normal monsters from my deck as long as they have the same name” he explained. The rabbit leaped into the air and began to glow in a white light. “I summon 2 SKULL DOG MARRONs [1350ATK/2000DEF]!” Pat said. The glowing rabbit split into two, and the lights formed into two new creatures. Both creatures formed as the skeleton of small dogs, both of which had a dog tag around their necks.

Suddenly the two skeletons began to glow again, and a vortex formed in the ground in front of them. The glowing skeletons formed back into orbs and flew into the vortex. “With my two Level 4 SKULL DOGs I form the Overlay Network” Pat explained.

“Rank 4 DIAMOND DIRE WOLF [2000ATK/1200DEF]!” From the vortex appeared a giant blue wolf, clad with dark blue armour and spikes made of diamond around each of its legs. The wolf howled as it took its place on the battlefield. Two glowing blue orbs orbited the wolf. Pat smiled at his beast, which in turn made Blaze’s smile larger.

Pat looked at Blaze “I activate my DIRE WOLF’s effect; by detaching one Overlay Unit and sacrificing a Beast-type monster I control, I can destroy your FLAMVELL FIREDOG!” The wolf howled again as one of the blue orbs exploded, “I sacrifice my GIANT RAT!” Pat explained. The blue rat screeched and exploded in shards of light. Then on Blaze’s side of the field the black hound also howled as it was engulfed in light. Like the rat it too exploded in shards of light. “Yes!” Pat proclaimed as he watched the dog get destroyed, “Now DIAMOND DIRE WOLF – attack his FIRE KING!” he said, pointing at the green maned unicorn.

The wolf howled again, before leaping across the battlefield. Then with a single slash of its claw the unicorn exploded in light and Blaze’s life points fell.

P:4000LP/B:3000LP

Blaze covered his face as the blast of the explosion hit him. Then lowering his arms he said “When FIRE KING AVATAR KIRIN is sent to the graveyard, I can send a Fire Attribute monster from my deck to the grave with it” Blaze took a card from his deck, “I send FIRE KING HIGH AVATAR GARUNIX to the graveyard [2700ATK/1700DEF]”

Pat took a breath, “Okay then; I end my turn” he said, his wolf returning to its side of the field. Blaze drew a card from his deck. As he did he made eye contact with Pat and smiled slyly. Pat took a step back as he nervously said “W-what?” Sweat dripped down his face.

Blaze closed his eyes for a moment, then as he opened them he said “During my Standby Phase after HIGH AVATAR GARUNIX is sent to the graveyard I can special summon him to the field!” A large black cloud formed above his head, and from it descended a giant red phoenix, with a large golden crown on its head, and colourful wings. It cawed loudly as it landed on the field. Pat gasped at the creature.

“That’s not all” Blaze said. Pat stared at him, his mouth open in shock. Blaze continued, “When GARUNIX is special summoned this way he destroys all other monsters on the battlefield”

“WHAT!” Pat exclaimed. The giant phoenix cawed again and with a giant flap of its wings sent a whirlwind across the field. Pat’s wolf howled again as the wind hit it and it exploded in a scatter of light. “No! DIAMOND DIRE WOLF!” Pat said sadly as his monster was destroyed.

Blazes smiled turned to a frown and he closed his eyes again. “GARUNIX attack Pat directly” he said calmly. The phoenix screeched and flapped its wings again, sending a second gust of wind at Pat. Pat cried out and covered his face, falling to his knees as the blast hit him. As the attack stopped Pat glanced at the large monitor in the centre of the stadium and watched as his life points fell.

P:1300LP/B:3000LP

“I end my turn” Blaze said. He watched as Pat stood up off his knees, wiping away a tear from his eyes. Blaze frowned as Pat drew a card from his deck.

Shaken Pat said “I set one monster in defence mode and end my turn” A sideways card appeared on the field. Pat sighed as he looked back at Blaze, a determined look on his face.

Blaze drew a card from his deck. “You know we haven’t truly met” he said to Pat. Pat looked up in surprise. Blaze smiled, “You’re actually quiet skilled as a duellist Pat. You have some real potential to become a pro”

“Oh…I…uh” Pat said nervously, avoiding eye contact with Blaze. “I’m not skilled, I’m not even sure what I am, or how I made it this far into the tournament” he said, “I don’t know…” Pat trailed off.

“Well I can say for certain you have skill” Blaze complemented, watching Pat glow red with embarrassment, “If you hone your skills some more I think you could definitely become a champ”

Pat laughed nervously, scratching his arm, “I don’t know…my mum thinks duelling is a waste of time. All she cares about is grades and school”

“Is that so?” Blaze questioned, taking a card from his hand, “Well we’d better prove her otherwise” Pat looked at Blaze, but glanced away as he saw Blaze smile. Blaze placed a card on his duel disk, “I summon UFO TURTLE [1400ATK/1200DEF]” A red light shone, and a large green turtle appeared, its shell made of metal and was shaped like a space craft. “Next I play DOUBLE SUMMON” Blaze continued, “I can normal summon a second monster this turn” he took a card from his hand and placed it on the field “I summon a second UFO TURTLE” A second red light shone and from it appeared a second green turtle. Pat stared at the three creatures in awe.

“Now” Blaze said “My first UFO TURTLE attack Pat’s monster!” The turtle raised its head, the quickly retreated its head and legs into the metal shell. Suddenly the shell began to spin, rising into the air. The spinning forces sent the shell flying across the field, colliding with the set card. The card flipped face up to reveal the flying squirrel monster NIMBLE MOMONGA [1000ATK/100DEF]. The creature exploded in a shatter of light as the turtle flew back around and returned to its place.

“You activated the effect of NIMBLE MOMONGA; when this card is destroyed as a result of battle I gain 1000 life points” Pat explained removing the card from his duel disk. He watched as his life points increased.

P:2300LP/B:3000LP

“Furthermore” Pat continued, “I can set from my deck 2 more NIMBLE MONOGAS” he drew two cards from his deck and placed them face down. The two cards appeared on the field.

Blaze smiled. “See this is what I’m talking about” he said, “Not only have you gained life points, you’ve also protected them” Pat nervously scratched his arm. “However…” Blaze said, his smile dropping, “In order to win I must destroy your monsters. So go my second UFO TURTLE; attack!” The second green turned retreated into its shell, and like the first began to spin and rise into the air. It propelled itself forwards and collided with one of the set cards, destroying it.

As the turtle returned, Pat said “I may not be able to summon more NIMBLE MOMONGAS, but I do gain 1000 more life points”

P:3300LP/B:3000LP

Blaze pointed at the second face down card, “GARUNIX attack his last monster” The giant phoenix cawed and flapped its wings. The wind flipped the card face up, and it exploded in light.

Pat covered his face from the blast, but as he lowered his arm he said “Once more I gain 1000 life points” He smiled as he watched his life points increased.

P:4300LP/B:3000LP

Blaze crossed his arms, “That was a good move Pat” he said “I end my turn”

Pat stared at Blaze momentarily, then nodded as he drew a card. “I play the spell POT OF GREED and draw two cards!” The familiar smiling green pot appeared on the field briefly before vanishing. “Next I activate the spell DIMENSIONAL FISSURE” Pat declared. Suddenly in the centre of the field opened a giant purple rift in space, spewing shots of purple lightning bolts. “Due to this spell, any monster sent to the graveyard is instead banished” he explained, “So when I destroy your GARUNIX it can’t be resurrected”

“If” Blaze said, “If you destroy him”

Pat smiled as he took another card from his hand “Oh I will for I now summon BEAST STRIKER!” A light shone on the field and a large, tusked black ape appeared, wielding a giant black hammer. “I activate STRIKER’s effect; by discarding one card I can special summon MOJA from my deck [100ATK/100DEF]!” Pat said, taking a card from his hand and placing in his grave. Then he drew a card from his deck and placed it on this duel disk. A light shone and a small black creature appeared, with large eyes and a bright yellow face.

Blaze grinned. “I see what you’re up to” he said to himself, “Let’s see how you play it”

“Now!” Pat declared confidently, “I can tribute MOJA in order to special summon; KING OF THE BEASTS [2500ATK/800DEF]!” The small black creature began to glow and swell in size. Quickly it grew, its smooth body turning into long black hair. Four long yellow legs sprouted from its body, its face deformed into a skull. It creature roared as it grew to full size. “Next I activate my face down card HORN OF THE PHANTOM BEASTS!” Pat said. His face down card flipped face and glowed. On the black creatures head, two large amber horns grew, full of energy and power. “This trap gives KING a boosted 800 attack points” Pat explained. The black beast roared loudly as it gained its boost [KING – 3300].

Pat took a breath, then turned and pointed at Blaze’s phoenix, “KING OF THE BEASTS” he said, “Attack FIRE KING HIGH AVATAR GARUNIX!” The black beast roared, lowering its head and charged at the phoenix. The beast crashed into the giant red bird, which cawed loudly and exploded into light particles. Blaze’s life points fell as the black creature returned to its place.

P:4300LP/B:2400LP

“And due to the effect of DIMENSIONAL FISSURE your creature is banished instead of being sent to the graveyard” Pat said, “Meaning it can’t be resurrected!” Pat smiled as the crowd cheered in response to his attack.

Blaze grinned as Pat turned back to him. “Now BEAST STRIKER attack one of the UFO TURTLES!” Pat declared, the black ape jumping into the air. The turtle retreated into its shell as the ape raised its giant hammer above its head. It swung its hammer and destroyed the monster in an instance. Blaze covered his face as the shockwaves of the attack hit him, his life points falling again.

P:4300LP/B:1950LP

Pat smiled once more as the crowd cheered. He waved at them in thanks of their support, then turned back to Blaze. “I end my turn there” he said.

Blaze nodded and drew a card from his deck. “I was right” he said, “You could definitely go pro. Who cares what other people think” Pat stared at Blaze, “You should follow your heart and pursue your dreams”

Pat laughed nervously. “Thanks Blaze” he said. Blaze’s smile widened.

“However I’m not going to make it easy” Blaze said, placing a card in his duel disk, “I activate POT OF GREED and draw 2 cards” The smiling pot appeared once more and faded instantly. “Now I activate the spell MONSTER REBORN; I summon from my graveyard FIRE KING AVATAR KIRIN!” Blaze declared. A green light shone on the field, and from it appeared the green maned armoured unicorn.

“Next I now tribute KIRIN and my remaining UFO TURTLE” Blaze stated as yellow light glowed around his two creatures, “I summon TYRANT DRAGON [2900ATK/2500DEF]!” The two creatures exploded in particles of yellow light as a third light shone. Then, emerging from the light loomed a giant brown dragon, with bright green eyes and green jewel on its head. The dragon roared loudly as it stepped onto the field.

Blaze took another card from his hand “I now play the spell STAMPING DESTRUCTION; as I control a dragon I destroy one trap you control and inflict 500 damage” he explained.

“No!” Pat exclaimed as his trap card exploded and his creature lost attack points [KING – 2500ATK].

P:3800LP/B:1950LP

Blaze smiled and pointed at Pat’s black creature, “TYRANT DRAGON attack the KING OF THE BEASTS!” The brown dragon roared, and from its mouth erupted a torrent of fire. The fire engulfed the black creature, completely destroying it. Pat covered his face from the heat of the attack and his life points fell.

P:3400LP/B:1950LP

Blaze then pointed at Pat’s other monster, “When TYRANT DRAGON destroys a monster in battle and you still have monsters remaining, he can attack once more!” he explained. Pat looked in horror as the dragon turned its head at BEAST STRIKER. Another torrent of fire from the dragon engulfed the black ape, and like before completely destroyed it. Pat covered his face once more as his life points fell.

P:2350LP/B:1950LP

The brown dragon stopped its attack as Blaze announced, “I set one card face down and end my turn” He looked over and saw Pat on his knees. He watched as Pat slowly stood up, a determined look on his face.

“My turn” he said drawing a card. He looked at the card he drew and gasped. Smiling to himself he placed the card in his duel disk. “I lay one card face down and end my turn” He looked back at Blaze with a smile on his face. “Thank you Blaze” he said, “You helped me realise that duelling is my passion and I want to pursue it”

“I’m glad I can help” Blaze said, smiling.

“Alright then” Pat said, holding up both arms wide “Let’s end this, it all comes down to your move now”

Blaze nodded, drawing a card. Blaze took a quick glance of the card and placed it in his duel disk. “I activate the spell SOUL OF FIRE!” The green spell card appeared on the field. “First of all you draw a card” Blaze explained, and watched as Pat drew a card from his deck. Continuing he said, “Then I remove from play a Pyro-Type monster from my deck” He drew a card from his deck and revealed it as PYROTECH MECH – SHIRYU [2900ATK/1800DEF]. “And in doing so I inflict damage equal to half its original attack points” Blaze explained.

Still holding the card, a blue inferno erupted from the card and covered Pat. Pat raised his arms to protect himself, however his life points quickly fell.

P:900LP/B:1950LP

“Furthermore I cannot attack the turn I play this card” Blaze said. As the blue flames faded and Blaze placed the card in his deck pouch, Pat looked up. He wore a smile on his face.

Blaze smiled back and pressed a button on his duel disk, “I activate my face down card; SPIRITUAL FIRE ART – KURENAI” The trap card flipped face up, “I tribute TYRANT DRAGON and inflict damage equal to its original attack” An orange flame erupted and engulf the giant brown dragon. It roared as it was overcome by the flames. The dragon exploded in orange light, then the inferno turned to Pat. It raced across the field and surrounded Pat. Pat stood staring at Blaze, a large smile on his face. Then he raised his arm, and gave Blaze a thumbs up. Blaze smiled and responded similarly as Pat’s life points fell.

P:0LP/B:2200LP

-

Flair watched the monitor in her room as Blaze’s duel ended. As the monitor flickered to advertisements she stood up. Grabbing her duel disk she left her hotel room and headed to the stadium entrance.

Outside she covered her eyes from the glaring sunlight, as she walked towards the stadium. She passed all the sales booths and shops. She headed up the entrance steps and stopped to read the large monitor. “NEXT MATCH: FLAIR SUMMERS VS QUIN MCDONALD” it read. Flair took a breath and headed inside.

Just as she reached the door, it abruptly opened and a girl with long blonde hair walked out. With a crash Flair bumped into her and fell backwards, her cards flying everywhere. “Ow” she said rubbing her shoulder. She looked up at the blonde girl. She had dazzling blue eyes and wore a slim white vest and jeans. Around her waist she had a pale blue belt with a deck pouch and on her right arm wore two pale blue wrist bands. Around her neck was a small blue crystal necklace.

“Sorry” Flair said, turning to pick up her cards, “It’s my fault, I didn’t see you there. I hope you’re not hur- huh?” Flair turned back to where the girl had stood, however she had completely vanished. “Who…was that?” Flair questioned, looking around through the crowds of fans.

“WOULD FLAIR SUMMERS PLEASE MAKE HER WAY TO STADIUM 4 YOUR DUEL IS ABOUT TO BEGIN” a monotone announcer said. Flair gasped

“I’m going to be late” she said, standing up. She quickly ran off towards the arena.

[structures-of-the-universe]

Episode 10

“Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen to day two of the 250th World Tournament!” Vusouski, the announcer, declared. The crowd in the stadium roared, the atmosphere buzzing with excitement. “Today we have the first round matches of the final 16 duellists” Vusouski continued “Please turn your attention to the big screen!” As he spoke, the large central screen flickered to life and displayed on it was the tournament ladder. 

“As you can see, all our finalists have been randomly paired in matches for the finals” Vusouski said “So let’s introduce our duellists for the first round; Therad Takeo and Tigro Young!” The crowd roared once more. Then at either end of the stadium two duellists walked out. On the left side Tigro walked up. Bare foot, he wore a karate Gi and on his back he had a wooden training samurai sword. On his left arm he wore a metallic grey duel disk.

On the opposite side of the stadium, Therad walked out and onto the battlefield, his black coat flailing in the wind. He took his place on the battlefield and crossed his arms as he watched Tigro enter the stadium, a stern look on his face. Both duellists stood facing each other as Vusouski’s voice rang through the stadium once more.

“And now without further ado, it’s time to…” Vusouski started. Therad and Tigro raised their left arms up and their duel disks activated. Simultaneously the two duellists shouted:

Tigro lowered his arm to his side and bowed towards Therad. “It is with utmost respect to allow my opponent to make the first move” he said. He looked up at Therad while he remained bowed, as if to taunt him.

Therad frowned and took a card from his hand. “I set a monster in face down defence position and another card face down” The two cards appeared on the field, the front one angled sideways “I end my turn” Therad crossed his arms as his turn ended.

Tigro, having stood back up, drew a card from his deck “A simple man of simple moves” he said mockingly “Looks like this will be an easy victory” Tigro placed the card in his hand and drew a second one. “I activate the field spell TEMPLE OF THE SIX!” he declared.

Suddenly a low rumble filled the stadium, and around them a large square structure began to form. The sky darkened to night and a full moon could be seen over head through large dark clouds. The two duellists now stood in a Japanese styled courtyard. Behind Tigro a large central building rose, with a large circular door bearing 6 circular symbols.

“Welcome to the TEMPLE OF THE SIX, the battleground where I shall defeat you” Tigro taunted, “For you see every time a Six Samurai monster is summoned, the temple gains a Bushido Counter, and for each counter it has, your monsters lose 100 attack points!” Therad sneered as Tigro laughed, taking another card from his hand “Next I add to this honourable field by activating the spell GATEWAY OF THE SIX!”

More rumbling filled the stadium and in front of the temple doorway another wall rose, another door with the same circular design in the centre of it. “This gateway also gains Bushido Counters, two per Six Samurai summoned” Tigro explained “But more on that later, for I now activate one more spell, SIX SAMURAI UNITED!” The green card appeared on the field “Like before, this card gains a Bushido Counter every time a Six Samurai is summoned. Then by destroying it, I can draw a card for each counter on it. So, let’s start counting counters shall we?” He took a card from his hand “I summon THE SIX SAMURAI – IROU [1700ATK/1200DEF]!”

A glow of purple light appeared in front of Tigro and from it a Katana wielding swordsman appeared, a purple aura glowing around him [COUNTERS: TOTS – 1; GOTS – 2; SSU – 1]. “Now because I control a Six Samurai monster, I can play the spell ASCETICISM OF THE SIX SAMURAI!” The card appeared on the field as Tigro explained “This lets special summon a Six Samurai from my deck as long as it has the same attack points as IROU” He took the card from his deck “I special summon LEGENDARY SIX SAMURAI – ENISHI [1700ATK/700DEF]!” An orange light glowed next to the purple warrior, and from it a second warrior appeared, wielding another Katana and was shrouded in an orange aura. The two warrior glowed brightly in the dark [COUNTERS: TOTS – 2; GOTS – 4; SSU -2].

Therad stood expressionless at the two warriors. Tigro smirked “Strong silent type eh? Much like a ninja stalking his prey” Tigro laughed “I guess I will have to force your tongue, I activate the effect of SIX SAMURAI UNITED; by sending it to the grave with 2 counters, I draw 2 cards” The card exploded in green particles and Tigro drew the cards from his deck. Then he turned and pointed at the two samurais on his field. “Now with my two Level 4 monsters IROU and ENISHI I form the Overlay Network!” The two warriors jumped into the air and formed into two glowing orbs. Below them a vortex opened up, and the orbs flew into it.

“Rank 4 SHADOW OF THE SIX SAMURAI – SHIEN [2500ATK/400DEF]!” From the vortex appeared another samurai, wearing a large purple coat over red armour, a Katana in his right hand, glowing with a silver aura. He jumped from the vortex, which dissipated, and stood tall, pointing its sword at Therad. Therad remained unmoved [COUNTERS: TOTS – 3; GOTS – 6].

Tigro stared awkwardly “Well I was hoping to get some reaction from you” he said “Oh well” He took a card from his hand “I now equip SHADOW with the LEGENDARY EBON STEED!” The sound of hooves rung through the stadium. Therad turned around to see a large black armoured horse galloping towards him. He quickly moved out the way as it ran past. Then the samurai, sheathed its Katana and jumped into the air. It spun in the air and landed on the back of the black steed. The horse reared, whinnying as the swordsman took the reins and steered the horse around. The horse snorted loudly.

“This legendary steed gives SHADOW a 200 power boost [2700ATK]” Tigro explained “So, SHADOW, go in for the attack!” The black steed reared and whinnied again, before charging at Therad’s defence monster card. The samurai drew his Katana once more, and with a quick slash cut the card in half. The card flipped momentarily, revealing to be NECRO GARDNA [600ATK/1300DEF]. The samurai steered the horse back to its original position once the attack concluded. “Well that was easy” Tigro said “I guess I will have to let you have a turn now” He bowed towards Therad “Your move”

Therad, expressionless, drew a card from his deck and added to his hand. Then he took a second card from his hand “I activate the spell FOOLISH BURIAL” he said, placing the card on his duel disk “I can send a monster from my deck to the grave” he drew a card from his deck “I send ECLIPSE WYVERN to the grave”

As Therad placed the card in his graveyard, he continued “When ECLIPSE WYVERN is sent to the grave, I can banish a Level 7 or higher Light or Dark Attribute dragon from my deck” His deck auto shuffled and he drew a card from his deck “I banish RED-EYES DARKNESS METAL DRAGON” he said, revealing the card and placing it in his deck pouch. “Finally I place 2 cards face down and end my turn” Two new cards appeared on the field, next the first one he set from last turn.

Tigro frowned “You know, I watched your last match Therad and I gotta say, this is not what I was expecting” he drew a card from his deck “I activate the spell REINFORCEMENT OF THE ARMY and add a Level 4 or lower warrior monster from my deck to my hand” The card appeared on the field, then as Tigro drew a card from his deck it quickly vanished “I add SPIRIT OF THE SIX SAMURAI [500ATk/500DEF] who I will now summon!” As he spoke, a blue light shone, and from it rose a ghost-like blue figure, wearing enchanted purple samurai armour [COUNTERS: TOTS – 4; GOTS – 8].

Suddenly the ghost figure faded, and the enchanted armour flew towards the samurai. The samurai jumped into the air, and the armour equipped itself on the samurai. The samurai landed back on the black steed, which reared once more. Tigro laughed “The SPIRIT OF THE SIX SAMURAI is a union monster and can equip to a Six Samurai monster, giving it an extra 500 attack points! [SHADOW – 3200ATK]”

“Now SHADOW!” Tigro commanded “Attack Therad directly!” The samurai pulled on its steed’s reins, causing it to rear, then jabbing his heels into the side of the horse he charged towards Therad.

“I activate a continuous trap” Therad declared “ORDEAL OF A TRAVELER!” The central face down card flipped up and glowed. The behind Therad appeared a large sandstone Sphinx. The samurai came to a halt before Therad. Therad continued “This trap activates when you declare and attack” Therad raised his hand which he held a single card “You must now guess the card type in my hand” he explained “Guess right and your attack continues; guess wrong and your monster returns to the hand”

Tigro sneared “I guess the card in your hand is…a spell card!” he said, pointing at Therad. Therad closed his eyes, and revealed the card; BACK-UP RIDER, a spell card. “Alright!” Tigro said “SHADOW finish your attack!” The samurai charged once more and slashed with its Katana at Therad. Therad cringed as his life points fell.

T:800/T:4000

The samurai returned to its place as Tigro said “You’ve got one more turn, but from the way you’ve been playing there seems to be no point in continuing. I end my turn”

Therad stood up straight as he recovered from the attack, drawing a card from his deck. He placed the card in his hand and said “I activate my face down card ESCAPE FROM THE DARK DIMENSION” The left face down card flipped up and stood straight like the previous one. A black cloud opened up above Therad’s head as he explained “This card lets me special summon a banished Dark-Attribute monster – so I call forth RED-EYES DARKNESS METAL DRAGON [2800ATK/2400DEF]!”

A loud cry filled the stadium and from the cloud a large metal scaled dragon descended. Its eyes glowed red and a red energy could be seen pulsating through the course of its body and wings. The dragon cried once more as it landed.

Tigro smirked “Nice dragon, however” he said “The effect of TEMPLE OF THE SIX activates; because it has 4 Bushido counters on it, your dragon loses 400 attack points!”

The metal dragon roared again as its attack power decreased [DARKNESS METAL – 2400ATK]. Therad then said “I activate DARKNESS METAL’s effect; I can special summon a Dragon-Type monster from my hand – I summon RED-EYES B. DRAGON [2400ATK/2000DEF]!” A black light shone, and next to the metal dragon appeared a smaller black scaled dragon, with bright red eyes. It roared as it appeared on the field.

“And once more it loses 400 attack points due to the TEMPLE” Tigro explained. The smaller black dragon roared as it lost attack points [B. DRAGON – 2000ATK]. Therad remained unfazed at Tigro’s words.

Therad then pushed a button on his duel disk and pointed at his last face down card. “I now activate the Continuous trap CASTLE OF DRAGON SOULS!” he said. The courtyard began to shake and behind Therad rose a giant stone tower, destroying part of the courtyards outer wall. Decorating the tower were a variety of dragon statues. A top the tower there was a 4 spired castle, also decorated with dragon statues. Therad continued “The CASTLE OF DRAGON SOULS lets me banish a dragon in my graveyard and increases the strength of a monster on the field by 700 until the end of the turn” he paused for a second “I banish ECLIPSE WYVERN from my graveyard and give RED-EYES DARKNESS METAL DRAGON 700 attack points [DARKNESS METAL – 3100ATK]!” A light shone in one of the castle windows and a ghost of the wyvern appeared, flew down to the battlefield and covered the metal dragon in a white light, which slowly faded as the dragon gained its attack points.

“Normally at this point ECLIPSE WYVERN’s effect would activate, allowing me to add the monster banished by his effect to my hand” Therad explained “However as DARKNESS METAL DRAGON is already on the field his effect is nullified” He took a the last card in his hand “Next I activate the previously revealed spell BACK-UP RIDER!”

The spell card appeared on the field “This card gives RED-EYES B. DRAGON an extra 1500 attack points until the end of the turn” Therad explained, smiling to himself. The smaller black scaled dragon roared as it gained attack points [B. DRAGON 3500ATK]. Tigro sneered as the dragon grew stronger.

Therad smiled slyly and pointed at the samurai “Now RED-EYES B. DRAGON attack SHADOW!” The smaller dragon roared and from its mouth fired a red ball of energy. As the energy ball hurtled through the air, the samurai drew its sword and slashed at it. An explosion ricocheted through the stadium and Tigro’s life points fell. Smoke filled the courtyard.

T:800/T:3700

“I activate the effect of LEGENDARY EBON STEED” Tigro declared “By sending it to the graveyard SHADOW is not destroyed in this battle!” As the smoke cleared, the purple armour clad samurai stood alone, the black steed gone.

Therad continued “I thought as much” he said “Now RED-EYES DARKNESS METAL DRAGON, attack SHADOW!” The metal dragon roared and fired a red energy beam from its mouth. “With the loss of your steed your samurai’s attack has decreased by 200, meaning my dragon is now stronger [SHADOW – 3000ATK]!” The samurai jumped into the air and once more slashed down at the red energy beam. A second explosion occurred, filling the stadium with more smoke as Tigro’s life points fell again.

T:800/T:3600

Tigro cringed then said “I now activate the effect of SPIRIT; like my steed my sending SPIRIT to the graveyard SHADOW is not destroyed in battle!” The smoke cleared and the samurai stood once more, this time the purple armour had been destroyed.

Therad frowned “And like before your samurai loses attack points” [SHADOW – 2500ATK]. Therad crossed his arms and closed his eyes. “I end my turn” he said “At this moment the effects of CASTLE OF DRAGON SOULS and BACK-UP RIDER end and my dragons attack points return to normal [DARKNESS METAL - 2400ATK; B. DRAGON – 2000ATK].

Tigro sneered and drew a card from his deck. He smiled as he placed the card in his hand, then taking a second he said “This is the end my friend; I summon ELDER OF THE SIX SAMURAI [400ATK/0DEF]” A light shone on the field and a robotic charity appeared, carrying another samurai who wore white robes and hat, a black veil over his face through which glowing red eyes could be seen. “As I have summoned a new Six Samurai monster to the field, both GATEWAY OF THE SIX and TEMPLE OF THE SIX gain counters [COUNTERS: TOTS –5; GOTS – 10] and as a result your dragons lose 100 more attack points [DARKNESS METAL – 2300ATK; B. DRAGON 1900ATK]!” Tigro explained. Both dragons growled lowly as they lost more attack points.

“Now I play the spell SIX SCROLLS OF THE SAMURAI!” Tigro said. The green card appeared on the field, and from it 6 scrolls flew out, each a different colour, wrapping around the two monsters on Tigro’s field. “By sacrificing two Six Samurai monsters, I can special summon from deck – The GREAT SHOGUN SHIEN [2500ATK/2400DEF]!” Tigro exclaimed. Suddenly the two samurai’s glowed brightly in a shining light and merged together. The light then remoulded and faded, and there stood a new warrior, clad in dark red samurai armour, wielding a white Katana.

“Next I activate the effect of GATEWAY OF THE SIX; by removing 2 Bushido counters, the GREAT SHOGUN gains 500 attack points” Tigro explained “So by removing all 10 of them as pairs, he gains 2500 attack points!” The shogun stood in a battle stance as he began to glow red from his power boost [GREAT SHOGUN – 5000ATK] [COUNTERS: TOTS – 5; GOTS – 0]. Tigro laughed “Now with my ultimate monster I attack RED-EYES DARKNESS METAL DRAGON!” In a flash the shogun began to run at the metal dragon, which readied itself for the attack. “And don’t think your ORDEAL OF A TRAVELER card will stop it, with no cards in your hand it can’t be played” Tigro explained. The shogun jumped into the air, raising its Katana above its head before slashing at the dragon.

Suddenly an explosion rang through the stadium once more, erupting from the attack. Smoke filled the air. “That’s it!” Tigro shouted “I’ve won! Ha Ha!” Tigro began to dance on the spot, waving at the crowd, a large smile on his face.

“I don’t think so” a voice said. Tigro turned. Slowly the smoke began to fade and Therad stood, his eyes still closed and his arms crossed. “You might want to have a look at the scoreboard” he said.

“Wha…” Tigro stated and turned to face the central screen. He gasped. The screen displayed the current life points of each duellist, and Tigro hoping to see Therad’s life points at 0 instead saw them unchanged at 800. He turned back “You should have lost!” he said angrily “My SHOGUN had more attack points than your dragon!”

“You’re right he did” Therad said, opening his eyes. “However I activated the effect of a monster in my graveyard; NECRO GARDNA!” The smoke surrounding the samurai and dragon faded, and floating mid-air was a red armoured man, with a red mask and long white hair, its arms spread apart to protect the dragon. The samurai’s Katana rested on the shoulder of the armoured man. Tigro stood staring at the scene, his mouth wide open in shock. Therad smiled “NECRO GARDNA can be banished from my graveyard” he explained, holding up the card to Tigro “And in doing so can negate one attack this turn” he placed the card in his deck pouch. The red armoured man smiled and faded as the samurai jumped backwards and returned to its position.

Tigro grimaced angrily. “I end my turn” he mumbled. As he spoke, the samurai’s power increase ended and it returned to its original attack points. “I’ll just defeat you next turn”

“Right” Therad said, drawing a card. “I activate the spell POT OF GREED and draw two more cards!” A smiling green pot appeared on the field for a brief moment, then quickly vanished as Therad drew the cards. He glanced at the two cards and smiled.

“It’s over” he said “I play the spell A WINGBEAT OF GIANT DRAGON!” The green spell card appeared on the field “I return RED-EYES DARKNESS METAL DRAGON to my hand and destroy all spell and trap cards on the field!” Therad explained. The smaller black dragon roared loudly, and with a single flap of its wings, it jumped into the air, sending a powerful gust of wind across the stadium. All 3 of Therad’s trap cards exploded in light. Meanwhile on Tigro’s side of the field, the GATEWAY and TEMPLE began to crumble from the blast. The building came crashing down in a storm of dust and debris. As the dust cleared, the courtyard had completely been destroy.

Tigro sneered “You destroyed my TEMPLE and GATEWAY” he said however Tigro began to laugh. “Wow” he said “So my playing that one card you managed to destroy my cards but with only your B. DRAGON you’re still not strong enough to defeat my SHOGUN. You were right this is over – you’re practically defenceless!” Tigro threw this head back in laughter.

“Look again” Therad said calmly. Tigro wiped away a tear and looked at Therad’s field. Suddenly a light began to shine on Therad’s side of the field. Tigro covered his eyes from the light, but as it vanished he gasped. Stood on the other side of the field was a black, white and red wyvern next to the black dragon.

“How?!” Tigro questioned “How do you have a second monster?”

“The CASTLE OF DRAGON SOULS” Therad replied “When it’s destroyed I can special summon a banished dragon – ECLIPSE WYVERN [1600ATK/1000DEF]!” The wyvern cawed loudly as Therad spoke.

Tigro frowned “It matters not, your wyvern is not strong enough to defeat my SHOGUN” he explained “Give up already, you can’t win!”

Therad smiled “I now activate the effect of RED-EYES DARKNESS METAL DRAGON in my hand – I banish a dragon I control and special summon this card!” he explained “I banish ECLIPSE WYVERN once more”

“No…” Tigro started as a light shone on Therad’s side of the field. The light consumed the wyvern and then the large black dragon reappeared, covered in metallic plated scales, with glowing red eyes and red energy coursing through its body.

“I now play RED-EYES DARKNESS METAL DRAGON’s effect” Therad declared “And as a result I can special summon a dragon from my hand – RED-EYES WYVERN [1800ATK/1600DEF]!” The metal dragon roared as a purple vortex opened and from it loomed the small brown scale wyvern with bright red eyes. Therad continued “And without your TEMPLE field spell, my monsters don’t lose any attack points” [DARKNESS METAL – 2800ATK; B. DRAGON 2400ATK].

Therad pointed at Tigro’s samurai “RED-EYES DARKNESS METAL DRAGON attack the GREAT SHOGUN SHIEN!” The metal dragon roared, and from its mouth it fired a powerful red energy beam at the red samurai. The samurai raised its Katana to protect itself, but to no avail. The samurai was completely obliterated from the attack. Tigro fell to one knee as his life points fell too.

T:800/T:3300

“RED-EYES B. DRAGON” Therad announced “Attack Tigro directly!” The smaller black dragon roared, as a red energy began to form in its jaw. Then in a single blast it shot a fire energy ball at Tigro. An explosion occurred as the energy ball hit, causing Tigro to fly through the air. He landed with a crash and once more his life points fell.

T:800/T:900

“Finally RED-EYES WYVERN” Therad said, turning away from the duel “Finish this” The wyvern cawed as Therad began to walk away and towards the exit. The wyvern quickly flew through the air and floated above Tigro. Tigro gasped as he saw the wyvern. It cawed once more and slashed at Tigro.

T:800/T:0

As Tigro’s life points fell Therad left the stadium and his 3 dragons faded from existence. The crowd sat silently as tournament officials ran to help Tigro.

-

Flair stood watching the television monitor from backstage, her hands covering her mouth. She hadn’t seen Therad duel since she lost her match and was shocked at his sudden duelling attitude. “Therad…” she said under her breath, unable to move. As the monitor flicked to adverts, she sat back down on her bed. She sat in one of the duellist hotel rooms, provided by the tournament officials. She stared blankly at the floor. The room was silent, except for the sound of the monitor. An announcer appeared on the screen and Flair looked up.

“And after the eventful duel of the first match, our second match is about to begin between duellists Zedd White and Soph Lee to determine Therad Takeo’s next opponent for the second rounds” the announcer said. “Let’s head to the stadium now!” The monitor cut to a wide shot of the stadium. Flair stood up and looked out the window. She resided on the second floor and could see the stadium entrance. She looked at the people walking around, fans excited for the tournament. In the distance she could see the Inertia Corporation tower in the centre of the city, the sponsors for the tournament. She stared at the large black building for a few moments, before turning her attention back to the crowd.

She saw excited children running around with cotton candy, chased by their parents. On either side of the grounds stood stands, selling merchandise and food to the masses. Within the crowd she saw a couple of duellists, as she noticed their duel disks on their arms. She glanced around, then her eye picked out a flash of white light. She squinted as she looked for the source, however all she saw was a blonde haired duellist with a white and pale blue duel disk walking towards the stadium. “That girls duel disk must have caught the light” she said to herself, shaking her head and turning back towards the monitor.

She sat back on the bed and watch the screen. “It is over!” the announcer said “In a series of twists and turns we have a winner for the second match; Zedd White!” An on-screen crowd cheered as a shot of a man filled the screen. He had long blue hair which reached his shoulders and wore a waist length blue coat. He had a white duel disk on his arm. “Zedd will move on to the second round to face Therad Takeo in the Quarter Finals!” the announcer continued “Now for our third match of the first rounds; Pat Carr VS Blaze Waters!”

“Blaze…” Flair said to herself, staring at the screen. An image of the red hair man appeared on the screen, next to an image of a young man with short spiked black hair. Flair watched intently as the monitor cut to the stadium, the duel about to begin.

[structures-of-the-universe]

Episode 9

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the final qualifying round!” Vusouski announced, his voice ringing through the stadium “After the last match between Jasper and Lilianna ending in a draw, the results of this match will determine who goes through to the finals!” The crowd cheered loudly as he spoke “So to kick things off, let’s welcome the duellists! Flair Summers and Cameron Parker!”

Flair walked onto the stadium. The orange glow of the setting sun shone brightly across the stadium. She took her place on the battlefield and watched as her opponent did the same. Cameron stood tall, wearing black hoodie over a light grey shirt, and he had long greyish jeans. He had charcoal black hair, and his fringe was spiked. He wore a light grey duel disk on his arm.

“Duellists, prepare yourselves!” Vusouski commanded. Both duellists raised their left arms and their duel disks activated. In unison they shouted;

“I’ll go first” Flair stated. Cameron nodded. Flair glanced at her hand and smiled to herself. She drew a card from it “I place one monster in face down defence position and end my turn” she said. A sideways card appeared on the field.

Cameron smiled. “Nice move. Keeping it simple” he drew a card from his deck “I activate the spell UNEXPECTED DAI; this lets me special summon a Level 4 or lower normal monster from my deck as I control no monsters” he drew a second card from his deck “I special summon V-TIGER JET [1600ATK/1800DEF]!” A light shone on the battlefield and from it appeared a green and yellow jet with a metallic replica of a tiger’s head and claws.

“Next I play the continuous spell, FRONTLINE BASE!” Cameron said as the green card appeared on the field “Once per turn I can special summon 1 union monster from my hand” he took a card from his hand and placed it on his duel disk “I special summon W-WING CATAPULT [1300ATK/1500DEF]!” A second light shone and this time a blue jet appeared and hovered next to the TIGER JET.

Suddenly the two jets flew high into the air “Now by banishing V-TIGER JET and W-WING CATAPULT I can fuse them together!” Cameron shouted. A bright light shone in the air above the duellists.

“VW-TIGER CATAPULT [2000ATK/2100DEF]!” Cameron said. From the sky the jets returned, however they had fused together to form a larger and stronger jet. It slowly came to a stop hovering above the ground. Flair frowned as the jet returned.

Cameron then pointed at Flair’s face down card. “I activate VW’s effect; I discard a card from my hand, and I can change the battle position of a monster you control” He took a card from his hand and placed it in his graveyard. Then at that moment Flair’s face down card flipped face up and in a flash of light appeared a smiling pink creature, MARSHMALLON [300ATK/500DEF].

“MARSHMALLON eh? Smart move, had I attacked it I would have lost 1000 life points” Cameron stated “However with it in attack mode that effect is useless, so” he pointed at the pink creature “TIGER CATAPULT attack MARSHMALLON!” The jet rose into the air and two flaps opened revealing missile hatches. “FIRE!” Cameron shouted and the missiles flew from the silos. In a multitude of explosions the missiles hit their target and Flair’s life points fell.

F:2300/C:4000

The jet then returned to its original position. As the smoke cleared from the explosion the pink creature still sat on the field smiling. “MARSHMALLON cannot be destroyed in battle I’m afraid” Flair explained.

Cameron smiled “Of course I knew that, however you still take damage if it’s in attack mode” he said. He folded his arms smugly. “I end my turn” he said.

Flair frowned and drew a card from her deck. “I activate the spell POT OF GREED!” A green light shone, and a single handled green pot appeared, sporting a large smiling face. “This card lets me draw two cards” Flair said and drew the cards. The green pot faded, then two new cards appeared face down on the field. “I set two face down cards” Flair explained “And I change MARSHMALLON back into defence mode. The pink creature shrunk slightly and a blue aura glowed around it, displaying it was in defence mode. “I end my turn” Flair said.

“And here I thought you would put up more of a fight” Cameron said mockingly, drawing a card from his deck “Well, well, I guess I should follow your lead and play my own POT OF GREED” A second green light shone and another smiling green pot appeared, this time on Cameron’s side of the field. He drew his two cards, and the green pot then faded like the first.

Cameron took a card from his hand “I now activate the effect of FRONTLINE BASE and special summon the union monster Y-DRAGON HEAD [1500ATK/1600DEF]!” As he spoke a red light shone, and from it appeared a red jet, this time in the shape of a dragon. “Next I normal summon X-HEAD CANNON [1800ATK/1500DEF]!” Cameron continued. A blue light shone, and out rose a robot, with two large robotic arms and two large shoulder cannons. “Finally I play PHOTON LEAD to special summon a Level 4 or lower Light-Attribute monsters – so appear Z-METAL TANK [1500ATK/1300DEF!” A yellow light shone and this time a yellow armoured tank appeared next to the blue robot.

Suddenly the three new machines took off and flew into the air. “Now like before I can banish these 3 monsters in order to fuse them together!” Cameron explained. Another light shone above the battlefield. 

“XYZ-DRAGON CANNON [2800ATK/2600DEF]!” Cameron shouted. Then from above a new machine appeared, a combination of the 3 machines – the wheels of the yellow armoured tank, the red head of the dragon jet with a tank barrel in its mouth, and the blue robot controlling the mechanism. Flair gazed in wonderment at the new tank.

Cameron smiled again “But why stop there” he said pointing at the sky. Suddenly the newly formed tank flew back into the sky, this time followed by the green and yellow TIGER CATAPULT jet. “I can banish both machines to fuse them together to create my ultimate monster!” Cameron declared. A third bright light shone in the sky above their heads.

“VWXYZ-DRAGON CATAPULT CANNON [3000ATK/2800DEF]!” With a crash, a giant mechanised robot fell from the sky, made of the 5 machines used to summon it. The WING CATAPULT had split to form the mechs legs, the HEAD CANNON had become the robots chest piece, both of which were connected together with the DRAGON HEAD. The wings from the DRAGON HEAD had also connected to the back of the chest, giving the mech its own wings. The METAL TANK had also split, and formed the arms of the robot. Finally the head of the TIGER JET had become the head of the giant mech, completing the robot. Flair stared at the machine, stunned.

“AMAZING!” cried Vusouski “Cameron has managed to summon his most power monster in his arsenal! Flair might as well say goodbye to her chances of winning!”

Cameron smirked “Now before I attack, I have the little problem of your face down cards” He glared at the two cards on Flair’s side of the field “Unfortunately for me, I have no idea what they or what they will do should I call an attack, so” He took the final card his hand “I activate DRAGON CATAPULT CANNON’s effect; by discarding a card I can destroy one card on the field” He placed the card in his graveyard, then pointed at the card on the right “I destroy the card on the right!”

The robot came to life, and aimed its guns at the face down card. With a single shot it destroyed the card. The card itself was revealed to be MIRROR FORCE before it was destroyed. “No!” Flair cried out as the card was destroyed.

“I called correctly” Cameron said “Had I attacked that would have destroyed my machine, and we can’t have that” His smile turned to a frown “But that isn’t to say I’m out of danger yet, you still have one face down card” He took a deep breath “I suppose I will just have to risk it; DRAGON CATAPULT CANNON attack MARSHMALLON!” The robot aimed its cannons at the small pink creature “Oh and I should point out” Cameron said “When my robot attacks, your monster is put in attack mode” As he spoke the pink creature’s blue aura faded to display its position change. “FIRE!” Cameron commanded. The robot shot at the pink creature, the bullet hurtled towards its target.

Flair smiled “NOT SO FAST!” she said, revealing her other face down card, MAGIC CYLINDER.

“WHAT?!” Cameron exclaimed in shock.

“MAGIC CYLINDER activates when you attack” Flair explained “This card negates the attack, then inflicts damage to you equal to your monsters attack points!” As she spoke a large cup appeared in front of MARSHMALLON and absorbed the bullet shot. Then a second cup appeared in front of Cameron, aimed towards him. From it the bullet flew out and hit him, knocking him to the ground. As it did, his life points fell.

F:2300/C:1000

“Lucky break” he said, getting to his feet. He gritted his teeth as he saw Flair smiling back at him “I’ll get you next turn, you won’t be able to protect yourself. I end my turn”

Flair sighed heavily, and whipped away the sweat form her head. “My draw” she said, drawing a card from her deck and adding it to her hand.

“Okay then” she said “Firstly I play the spell CELESTIAL TRANSFORMATION; this lets me special summon a Fairy-type monster from my hand, but its attack is halved and is destroyed during the end phase!” A light shone on the field “I special summon THE AGENT OF CREATION – VENUS [1600ATK/0DEF -> 800ATK]!” From the light appeared an angel, with large brown wings and long brown hair, wearing a green dress. Orbiting her were 3 orbs, one purple, one red and one blue.

“Next I play her special ability” Flair continued “For every 500 life points I pay, I can special summon a MYSTICAL SHINE BALL [500ATK/500DEF] from my deck; So by paying 1000 I summon 2!” Flair cringed as her life points dropped, and at the same time two silver balls appeared on the field.

F:1300/C:1000

“Now from my hand I summon the Tuner monster BUTEN [200ATK/300DEF]!” Flair said. In a quick flash of light, a small pink pig with two small white wings appeared on the field.

“A Tuner monster?” Cameron said “You’re planning on Synchro Summoning!”

Flair smiled as the pink pig glowed green and formed a large ring around the brown angel and the two silver balls. “Precisely, I tune my Level 3 AGENT OF CREATION, my two Level 2 MYSTICAL SHINE BALLs with the Level 1 BUTEN!” The other 3 monsters glowed white, and split into a total of 7 white star-like orbs. 

“Level 8 ANGEL OF ZERA [2800ATK/2300DEF]!” A beam of light shone and as I cleared a new angel appeared. It had large green wings and wore black trousers and a blue battle skirt. It had its chest bare and it wore a green helmet with red horns. In its right hand it held a large curved blade.

“ANGEL OF ZERA?” Cameron said “Wait a minute… isn’t that the one who...” he started.

“Yes” Flair interrupted, knowing what Cameron was going to say “The ANGEL OF ZERA gains 100 attack points for every card you have banished” She pointed at the DRAGON CATAPULT CANNON “And in order to summon you mech you had to banish a total of 7 monsters, meaning my angel gains 700 attack points” The angel glowed with its new power boost [ZERA 3500ATK].

“Oh no!” Cameron said “Now it’s more powerful than my machine!”

Flair took another card from her hand “Finally I play the continuous spell SOLIDARITY!” The card appeared on the field “If I only have one type of monster in my graveyard, all monsters with the same type on the field gain 800 attack points!” [ZERA 4300ATK, MARSHMALLON 1100ATK].

Cameron took a step back in shock. “It’s over” he said, stunned.

Flair pointed at the giant machine “ANGEL OF ZERA, attack DRAGON CATAPULT CANNON!” The angel jumped into the air and took flight. Then it rose its sword and slashed down on the machine, slicing it perfectly in half. The machine exploded as it split. The blast shook the stadium, and Cameron’s attack points fell.

F:1300/C:0

“WHAT A TURN AROUND!” rang Vusouski’s voice “Flair managed to make an unbelievable counter attack, using Cameron’s own banished cards against him, and won herself the duel and a place in the final rounds. Congratulations Flair!” The crowd roared with excitement as the remaining holograms faded away. Flair waved at the crowd with a big smile on her face.

“Well done” Cameron said, walking up to her, clapping his hands “You managed to defeat me in what seemed like impossible odds. Though you pretty much had be beat the moment I attacked. Had I not, this match would still be on”

“Yeah” Flair said, smiling “A single move is all that it takes to turn a duel on its head. But hey, you were pretty good yourself”

Cameron smiled, then gave Flair a small wave and turned towards the exit. Flair turned back to the crowd and continued to wave.

-

As the sun set, the atmosphere in the stadium still felt heated and excited. In the centre of the stadium stood the sixteen finalists. Vusouski’s voice once more filled the stadium “Congratulations to our finalists who have successfully managed to make it this far. Now this is where the tournament really kicks off with the knock out stages. Ladies and Gentlemen may I turn your attention to the big screen!” As he spoke the screen lit up and displayed a tournament ladder with the sixteen finalists.

“Here is our tournament line up!” Vusouski said. The crowd cheered as they read the board.

Down in the stadium Flair looked up at the screen. She took a breath. “Okay” she said to herself “Quin McDonald is my next opponent” She followed the tournament ladder path “I have to win 3 matches to make it to the finals” She smiled as she read the names, reading Therad’s name at the top.

She turned to look at the other finalists, all of which were also reading the board. At the other end she saw Therad, standing next to a brown hair girl, reading the list. Flair smiled to herself. “I knew he was going to make it”

She turned and looked at the other duellists. About halfway along, she saw Blaze standing between a girl with long blonde hair and a guy wearing a karate Gi. Blaze stood staring at his duel disk as if to contemplating his strategy. Flair sighed as she turned her attention back to the board. “I guess I will have to do my best” she said as the sun set on the first day of the tournament.