After the briefing, Fuubi whirled around into an awkward karate stance, nervously shuffling away from the crowd. If he was challenged multiple times, he'd be forced to either lose or reveal his strategies! He looked like a nerdy loser, and knew it. They'd all want to tear into the weak looking one first.
~I'll become physically dangerous to make them too afraid to duel me! Then I'll challenge the last survivor! FOOLPROOF.~
Carnel woke up, groggy from waking up so early. It was definitely not something he was used to, but he supposed he would have to if he was going to make it. Going through his usual routines to get ready for the day, Carnel was soon properly dressed and ready to face the first events of the day. After breezing through the introduction from the Dark Magician and enjoying a hearty breakfast provided in the cafeteria, Carnel found himself pleasantly surprised in the opening ceremony.
"A battle royale. How interesting," Carnel muttered. Carnel believed he was at an advantage with the current rules in place, and perhaps it would prove to be a good learning experience. Activating his Duel Disk, Carnel started to scan his surroundings for an opponent, picking one at random. Pointing at him with his right arm, Carnel announced, "You there! You should be my first opponent!" The boy appeared to be full of spirit and eagerly accepted the challenge.
The first match of the Tournament, and Aya had lost spectacularly. Her opponent, who'd mixed in a few cards while the tourney's rules were being explained to everyone, had opened with Soul Absorbtion into Pot of Desires, She'd played what she could, but her hand being full of Kaijus, she'd been forced to concede after she played her Gren Maju and Glutton, The duel had been over in three turns. Her opponent cleared away her plates and left, slightly swaying under the 20500 life points she suddenly had, off to challenge somebody else. Aya turned back to her meal, biting into her scrambled eggs. Tasted like ashes in her mouth.
Well, her day had suddenly developed a massive gaping hole in it. She might as well go back to her dorm room and finish unpacking everything.
--Utopia house--
She ran into Mr Inoue, her newly-introduced house head, who'd helped to guide her to the right section of the entrance hall, where the bored looking mail clerk had handed her a crate. Well, "handed" was probably the wrong term. "Wheeled out in a modified forklift" was more apropos for what he did. Aya signed for the package, and asked if by any chance the clerk had a crowbar behind the desk. They had a good laugh about that. She finally managed to get the nails out of the crate, one at a time using the back part of a hammer. The box burst open, drowning everything around it with a wave of packing peanuts and bubblewrap. She offered to clean it up herself, but the clerk was having none of it, and just asked her to take whatever was so important and leave. Which she did.
Her bike was a beauty. Every single surface was waxed and polished to a mirror shine, from the oily green chrome backend to the fleet of mirrors and lamps festooning the front, and in the early morning light of day it shone like a beacon, blinding a few birds with its reflected light. She would have taken it for a spin, if it wasn't completely out of gas, and as she pushed it through the campus, alongside the tens or students, all engaged in dueling, she could have sworn a few heads turned in approval and jealousy. That might have been her imagination, though.
She parked the thing over near Utopia House' bike racks, chaining it up next to some dirty great black thing which had two wheels so therefore must have been a bike. One look at it was enough to imagine the thing wreathed in smoke and the dust it would kick up along any highway, and the mismatched handlebars and oversized engines made it look like a car accident that had somehow kept on moving so nobody had bothered to fix the thing. Somebody had carved the words "PhANToM dUelIsT" onto the seat cushions, too. Well, with any luck she'd never run into the guy, here's hoping.
Utopia house had individual rooms for each of their students, which was a surprise. She was expecting bunk beds, or a Harry potter-style dorm room arrangement, not this. It felt like a hotel, which was just fine with her. She took a shower, ran a comb through her hair, and changed her clothes, enjoying the feeling of cottons that didn't feel like they'd been slept in on a dingy plane. She decided to take the opportunity to walk around the campus, get to know the area a little bit better. She closed the door and walked out into the open air.
Turn one (Aya:8000lp, Opponent:8000lp ) Opponent goes first. Opponent activates Soul Absorbtion. Opponent activates Pot of Desires (Lp: 13000) Opponent sets 3 cards face down.
Turn two: Aya activates Kyoutow Waterfront. Aya activates Twin Twister (Targeting Soul Absorbtion and Ghostrick-Go-Round, both destroyed.) Kaiju Counters: 3. Aya activates Kyoutow Waterfront to add Gamaciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju to her hand. Aya summons Counterattacking "C" (atk:1400). At start of battle phase, Opponent Activates Compulsory Evacuation Device, targeting "C". Aya sets 2 cards face down.
Turn three: Opponent flips face-down Soul Absorbtion. Opponent Banishes Extra Deck to summon All-devouring Glutton. (Life:20500) Aya activates trap Smash Hit!!! targeting All-Devouring One(atk:0 Def:0). Opponent normal summons Gren Maju Da Eiza (Atk:10000 Def:10000) Aya activates trap. Kaiju Capture device. Opponent attacks directly. End of duel. (Aya:0. Opponent:20500.)
The boy snorted as his green duel disk projected a pink blade which materialized in a rounded w shape almost like a worm. His glasses were adjusted as he sommersaulted back, taking his position. "Heheh. Nice to meet you. I was one of the top players at my school back in Costa Rica! Gabriel Echeveria. They called me the insect master!" he shouted. "Now. As I have introduced myself first, I shall be the one who goes first!"
A grasshopper-like monster first hopped out of a summoning circle. "I summon Pinch Hopper! But he won't stay for long, because I'm activating the magic of Insect Imitation, tributing him in order to special summon Ultimate Insect LV5!" he declared. Pinch Hopper cracked at the middle, and out of it the spiny limbs of another insect creature which crawled out of Pinch Hopper. "Next, I'll set two cards face down and end my turn. I believe it is now yours."
Great Swallowtail Moth Urania Level 8 EARTH Insect-type Effect monster 2500 / 2000 While this card is face-up on the field, both players must Set Spell Cards before activating them, and cannot activate them until their next turn. When this card attacks or is attacked, you can target 1 spell/trap card your opponent controls and destroy it. This card cannot attack the turn it is summoned.
With the rest of the ride ending without incident, Ayami left the bus and made a beeline straight for her dorm room. Luckily, she hadn't brought much with her, so the rest of the day was really just unpacking everything she had in her backs into their respective drawers. By the time she had finished, though, she was just a bit too tired to go about searching for cards at the store. The thought of having to weave through the other arriving students flashed by momentarily in her head, at which point her decision to not go was reaffirmed.
There was always tomorrow. Ayami found the early alarm a tad annoying, but not wholly unexpected. She had to admit, though, that a more lax schedule in terms of rise and rest would have been better, but given how today was the opening ceremony, it wasn't as if she had any room to complain. After splashing a bit of water on her face and brushing her teeth, the young woman swiftly changed into something more fitting to wear outside and left for the entrance of the dorm building.
The teacher there to greet them was one she had mixed feelings about, which caused Ayami to silently keep her hands folded in front of him. She would much rather a lax teacher than a stricter one, so there was no reason to complain about him. Noting that he was an English teacher was probably in her best interests, though; there were a lot of things to read that weren't translated into Japanese, and rudimentary classes in high school only did so much. A native speaker of the language as a teacher, regardless of personality, could only be beneficial.
Rather than entertain the thought of asking any questions at the moment, though, Ayami left as soon as she was able to in order to grab a meal before the ceremony. Rice, soup, and fish--a classic meal, and definitely not something to take for granted. With a cup of water to go alongside it, Ayami sat and ate in silence, paying no heed to all the chattering students around her... Or, well, ignoring them as best she could. Time was not to be wasted, after all. The dean's announcements were fairly run-of-the-mill as far as opening ceremonies went--nothing too standoffish, but not too boring, either. But what caught Ayami's attention, though, was his mention of what was essentially a battle royale. At this, Ayami bit her bottom lip in slight irritation.
"Another factor of randomness added into the mix, then? I can't say I saw this coming..." she complained internally as the old man continued to speak. 8000 Life Points, but the points were retained from Duel to Duel? In that case, it was probably more useful to try and wait until the crowd thinned, right? Hopefully there wasn't any way of picking her out of the crowd in the heat of the moment.
Instead of actively jumping into a Duel, though, Ayami simply stood on the sidelines watching Aya's own instead. The loss seemed painful, to say the least, and so Ayami seemed grateful that she hadn't been on the receiving end of that fight. After it had concluded, the young woman began to walk away, trying to work out which way it was to the card stores. If there was any time to find the place, now would be it.
Best case scenario? Nobody would try to pick her out for a Duel, and she could start picking up cards for her Side Deck in relative peace compared to the multitude of Duels outside. Worst case? ... Well, too many of those scenarios existed for her to even want to contemplate which of them would be the worst...
"Charmed," Carnel responded to Gabriel's introduction. And so the Duel began with a level 5 monster already on the field along with two face-downs. All in all, it appeared to be a strong field. Regardless, Carnel had no intention of letting that stop him.
"Draw!" Carnel declared as he drew his next card. Examining his hand, Carnel was quick to determine his course of action. "I play the Spell card: Stray Lambs," he said as the card appeared in front of him, and out come from that card two small balls of fur, one light orange and one white. "This card allows me to Special Summon two 'Lamb Tokens' in Defense position. I'll also place two cards face-down and end my turn."
"You're playing too passively," Gabriel snorted before placing his hand on his deck, eyeing it before declaring: "Draw!" The boy looked at the card and put it in his hand. The neutral look on his face suggested it was neither particularly good not particularly bad, or as the best of his school, it could possibly have been his poker face? "It is now the standby phase, unless you've got something. No? Well then. The effect of Ultimate Insect LV5 activates! By sending this card to the graveyard, I can special summon Ultimate Insect LV7 from my deck!"
Ultimate Insect dropped on all six of its legs with a loud thump over the ground. Its head was lifted up and began to cover itself in silk, molding into a sturdy cocoon, but it did not stay that way for long. The cocoon soon cracked as wings emerged from it. Breaking free, a terrifying beast covered in hard scales, its powerful, rapid wingbeats creating powerful gusts of wind which surely would have knocked the two boys over, had their duel disks been capable of more powerful solid vision.
"Enter main phase... I summon Howling Insect in attack mode." Another grasshopper appeared. "Enter battle... Howling Insect, attack one of those weakling sheep."
Carnel raised an arm to cover his face as the insect shredded one of his lambs, which exploded into yellow sparkles. No damage was taken, but now that was one less token to use.
Wrong- there were no more tokens. "Ultimate Insect, attack his other sheep token!"
Well, it wasn't like losing both tokens was a scenario Carnel hadn't accounted for. He still had a number of options open to him.
"Draw!" Carnel declared as he drew his next card. First things first, he would have to get rid of that Ultimate Insect, and he had a decent card to do so. "I suppose you know what happens when insects meet flames, correct?" Carnel asked. Without waiting for a reply, Carnel continued, "By Tributing your Ultimate Insect LV7 and Howling Insect, I can Special Summon Lava Golem to your side of the field." The two monsters suddenly burned up and melted, only to merge together in a large mass of molten lava. A cage also formed around Gabriel, trapping him underneath the monster.
Lava Golem Level 8 ATK 3000 DEF 2500
"Now, for every one of you Standby Phases, you will take 1000 damage," Carnel explained. "With that, I end my turn."
The Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of the Highway of Hell focused his attention on the bearded man as he made his edict. There was to be a gauntlet. With twice the life points and having to go on with the amount you were able to retain, this was sure to cause some mayhem. Behind his helmet there was surely an expression of some sort, but that was to be between him and the Devil. Konstantinovich knelt down upon his right knee and clasped his hands together in a sacrilegious prayer.
"Всемогущий Люцифер, ты подарил мне уникальную возможность. Я буду сеять хаос от вашего имени Люцифер. Я греться в грехе, от этого турнира, и я буду крестить других слуг в кровавой бойне. Победа или поражение в этом турнире не имеет значения, все, что действительно имеет значение в том, что я использую эту конкретную возможность, чтобы помочь ковать свой Ад на Земля!"
He followed this with a dramatic pause as he raised his left arm into the air and began vociferously chanting.
Fyodor arose from his kneeling aware of what he needed to do for his mission. Now he just needed to select an opponent. And lo did The Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of the Highway of Hell find suitable looking opponent. He spied a wandering girl, who was probably searching for some opponent.
The Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of the Highway of Hell moved in front of Ayami's path and squatted down. He activated his duel disk as an orange scythe of Solid Vision shot up.
Ayami stopped abruptly as some strange person--another student, in all likelihood--blocked her path ahead. Something like this was to be expected, given the current event, but that didn't make her any more pleased to have to Duel this person.
"...I understand the sentiment, but could you at least be less cryptic?" she asked, an annoyed expression on her face as she activated her Duel Disk. There was a moment of pause as the Solid Vision flashed out, the snowflake-esque design shining in the light as she slipped her Deck into place.
"In any case," she continued, taking a few steps back to make room for the monsters to materialize. "Since you made the challenge, I'll decide to go... Second. Is that fine with you?"
Matt didn't mind the wake-up call at all, eagerly dressing himself, unfortunately in the uniform, though he kept his hat: and going about his morning. The introduction was nothing special but the food was fantastic. Matt loaded up on food, got some orange juice as a classic morning drink and chowed down, neatly of course. They then the announcement came about the battle royale, it seemed quite exciting. 8000 LP, battle interruption, LPs carrying over, it was sure to be a good time. As soon as the doors opened students flooded out and battles began everywhere. Matt looked around for a bit and spotted Ayami getting ready to duel the motorcyle guy from earlier. Matt walked over and took a seat next to the battle. "Hey Ayami, hey brickdude, don't mind me I'll just be watching. At least for now." He added the last part with a conspiratorial wink at Ayami and waited for the duel to start.
Wordlessly did The Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of the Highway of Hell draw his cards. Still squatting he took a moment to glance at his cards.
"Curtains rise." spoke Konstantinovich as he placed the Field Spell Zombie World down. The Solid Vision created a great purple smog, withered trees and most importantly tons of bones of various shapes and sizes.
Utilizing a dramatic pause Fyodor looked at his newly set stage with macabre scenery behind his helmet.
"Under freshly darkened skies The stage is set to no surprise. As a damned soldier receives a Summoning Decree."
From his hand The Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of the Highway of Hell summoned forth the morbid manhorse Mezuki onto the field in attack mode. The monster heaved its axe over its shoulder and simply stared.
"With axe in hand The damned awaits for a further command. But little it can do in this act. And so I end his scene."
With that The Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of the Highway of Hell ended his turn.
"Draw!" Gabriel declared. "Was giving me a powerful monster a part of your plan? I'll activate one of my set cards! Forbidden Chalice, activate!" A goblet appeared before Lava Golem, apparently putting out its flames but soon bolstering them. "Thanks to forbidden chalice, I do not take the damage!" he snickered. "Next, I'll summon Petit Moth in attack mode! He may be small now, but just you wait. He too is part of my plan! Battle phase! Petit Moth attacks you directly!"
"Not bad," Carnel remarked. The little larvae creeped him out as it attacked him, and he was quick to swat it aside after it was done chipping away at his Life Points.
Carnel: LP 8000 -> LP 7700
"I now activate a face-down card of mine as well: Scapegoat!" Carnel said, and four more tiny lambs of varying color appeared in front of Carnel. "This summons four 'Sheep Tokens' in Defense Position, so that Lava Golem isn't going to touch me."
Sheep Token Level 1 ATK 0 DEF 0
"Okay. Your Lava Golem will attack your little token. I hope you don't plan on defeating me with those weaklings. Go ahead. I end my turn," Gabriel responded.
The little blue sheep was shot down by a fireball, which Carmel shielded himself from the impact with his arm once more. Carmel had plenty of shields, but that meant little if he could not draw the cards he needed, and he would need them soon.
"Draw!" Carmel declared, drawing a card. Taking a look at it, Carnel smiled. It was the first step to his comeback.
"I activate a Trap card: Royal Decree!" Carmel said, revealing the other face-down on his field. "This card negates all other Traps on the field for as long as it is face-up on the field."
Now that the field was set, it was time to go on the offensive. "I Summon Elemental HERO Stratos i Attack position," Carnel declared, and a warrior an armored blue flight suit, complete with a pair of wings and rotors, appeared on the field.
Elemental HERO Stratos Level 4 ATK 1800 DEF 300
"With Stratos' effect, I can add one 'HERO' monster from my deck to my hand," Carnel explained as he pulled out a card that had been ejected from his deck, revealing it to Gabriel. "This monster can only be Special Summoned by Tributing 3 monsters, and I so conveniently have 3 Sheep Tokens for that purpose." Then, the Sheep Tokens disappeared with a pop of yellow sparkles, and Carnel chanted, "Master of blood, strike fear into our foes. Take their strength as your own and render them helpless. Level 8! Destiny HERO - Plasma!" In the Sheep Tokens' place appeared a humanoid figure with dark purple armor and large tattered wings appeared next to Stratos, generating a menacing aura.
Destiny HERO - Plasma Level 8 ATK 1900 DEF 600
"I activate the effect of my Destiny HERO - Plasma! Once per turn, I can target one monster my opponent controls and equip it to him!" Carnel explained. "I'll take back my Lava Golem for this." Plasma then spread his wings, and a strong wind was suddenly generated, slowly sucking in the Lava Golem.
"Hm. You're forgetting that I have TWO facedowns!" Gabriel snorted. "Once again, I have my favorite Forbidden Chalice! And I'll use its effect on your Destiny HERO!" he declared victoriously.
"You're not the only one with those 'Forbidden' cards, you know," Carnel retorted as he took a card from his hand and played it. "I activate a Quick-Play Spell card from my hand: Forbidden Lance! Plasma loses 800 ATK, but he won't be affected by other Spells or Traps." The chalice attempted to pour its contents onto Plasma, but a lance came flying out of Carnel's card and smashed it into pieces, the chalice's payload scattering everywhere with not a single drop landing on Carnel's monsters. Meanwhile, Lava Golem could no longer resist the pull of Destiny HERO - Plasma's wings and was sucked in, simultaneously freeing Gabriel from his cage. "When a monster is equipped to Destiny HERO - Plasma, he gains half the ATK of the equipped monster," Carnel explained.
"Now then, let us proceed to the battle phase. Elemental HERO Stratos, attack Petit Moth!" Carnel commanded, and Stratos shot himself upward, soon reaching an elevated position before firing a twin cyclone from his rotors, blowing away Petit Moth. "Destiny HERO - Plasma, attack Gabriel directly! Bloody Fears!" Plasma spread his wings once more and fired small pellets of what appeared to be blood from them.
Gabriel: 8000 LP -> 6500 LP -> 3900 LP
"At the End Phase, Destiny HERO - Plasma's ATK is no longer affect by Forbidden Lance. With that, I end my turn," Carnel said.
Ayami glanced over as Matt seemed to walk over and gave a slight nod of acknowledgment towards his presence as she drew her cards. If his comment of 'brickdude' was any indication, then the person in front of her was, in fact, the culprit behind yesterday's incident.
All the more reason to handle this quickly, then. Buying cards could come afterwards.
"I wouldn't think that someone who was dense enough to attempt injury and vandalism would be a fan of theatrics, but I guess you need some outlet for your desire for attention," she said, drawing her cards and staring at them for a moment before acting. Her words were vitriolic today--understandably so, given the information she had just learned--but
"My turn. I activate the effect of Nekroz of Clausolas from my hand to add Nekroz Kaleidoscope in it's stead," she said, sending the Monster to the Graveyard and adding the respective card to her hand. "Next, I shall activate Preparation of Rites to add Nekroz of Unicore to my hand."
After a few moments of silence, Ayami followed the move by quietly activating Kaleidoscope from her hand.
"I tribute Herald of the Arc Light from my Extra Deck to summon Nekroz of Unicore from my hand. By Arc Light's effect, I can add one Ritual Spell or Monster to my hand; I'll retrieve Nekroz of Trishula," she continued, watching as the spellcaster materialized in front of her. "Battle Phase. Unicore, attack Mezuki."
Assuming the attack went through, Ayami would end her turn there. Now, it was a matter of seeing if Matt would jump in or not...
"Zombies versus Ritual monsters. Interesting. That was a neat little combo with Arc Light, I wonder what other tricks you got up your sleeve. " Matt said. From what he knew ritual monsters were generally harder to use than other monsters because they required the appropriate spell to summon. But Ayami had been able to use her cards to search for the appropriate ones as well as prepare for next turn, either pressing the advantage or recovering from a setback. Matt drew five cards simply for fun and imagined what he would do in either players situation, still sitting on the ground casually.
An alarm buzzed through Drake's dorm as he got up in a slow and exhausted manner. Today was orientation day, a day likely filled with annoying interactions no doubt. Sighing at the thought, Drake got dressed into his school uniform after finishing the rest of his mourning routine, got his deck and gear ready, and set off. At the Utopian house, an uninteresting opening with their housemaster led into him grabbing a small substantial breakfast, before making his way into orientation
~~Oh no, weak opponents!~~
Drake's cold expression made it clear he wasn't fond of this type of battle. Though life points were doubled, players were expected to go through a gauntlet of battles with no recovery of life. Instead of wasting time and energy finding others to battle, Drake stayed in the corner with his arms crossed, waiting for the opponents to drop and instead having his challengers come to him. By his calculation, this meant that his odds of being the last one standing were high as it seemed most if not all of the other students engaged each other immediately. While they would waste valuable life points, he would reserve his for the survivors and pick them off easily.
Gabriel shook as he drew his last pathetic card. He dropped to his knees defeated. In his hand: a spell card, Silent Doom, which he had just drawn; and his pride and joy, Great Swallowtail Moth Urania. "I'll activate Silent Doom, special summoning Petit Moth back to my side of the field in defense mode... I-I... I END MY TURN!" he shouted, accepting defeat.
Gabriel dropped down to his knees. "My moths... they've failed me..." he lamented quietly.
"Draw!" Carnel said, drawing a card from his deck. Examining his card, Carnel nodded. "I'll make this quick," Carnel said. "I Summon Cardcar D in Attack position." A thin blue car appeared on the field, as if driving up from the card.
Cardcar D Level 2 ATK 800 DEF 400
"Battle! Cardcar D, destroy Petit Moth!" Carnel commanded, and the car was quick to make Petit Moth into roadkill, popping it into yellow sparkles as the car drove into the poor bug. "Stratos, Plasma, direct attack on Gabriel!" Stratos fired his double cyclone, followed up by Plasma's Bloody Fear, both headed straight for Gabriel.
Gabriel: 3900 LP -> 2100 LP -> 0 LP
WIN: Carnel!
As the monsters faded, Carnel went over to Gabriel and extended a hand for a handshake. "That was a good Duel," Carnel complimented with his usual polite smile. "Maybe we can Duel again some time."
600 Life Points were removed from Fyodor's own as the offensive blast from the bishonen sorcerer sent the dutiful zombified manhorse shattering into the boneyard below. The Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of the Highway of Hell stumbled back and rattled some bones. He popped back in his squatting position as he stared at both that scene, and then briefly hatted man who clearly wanted to intrude in the duel as seen by him playing around with his cards.
Fyodor drew his next card.
"Far too dry and clinical, you're no fun. Witness the construction of the Temple of the Sun." spoke The Ghoulish Rider - Traveler of the Highway of Hell as he performed the move.
In the foreground the Egyptian Temple arose as more decor for this world of rot and bone. Fyodor then activated the Spell Card Foolish Burial.
"From my deck a creature I send to the grave. But despite that cruel and cosmic joke, that isn't the punchline."
Konstantinovich waited for a dramatic pause as he enacted a series of events which led to a rumbling that shook up the bones below.
"Mezuki I banish you to pardon the one who received that execution. Bring forth Il Blud."
Emerging from the grave and near the Temple arose the shadowy headed and gargantuan prisoner Il Blud, with his outfit zipped shut.
"Empowered by the Temple of the Sun vitalizing his revival, he has gained 300 attack for a new total of 2400 Attack Points." Fyodor casually pointed towards Nekroz of Unicore.
"Kill it." Il Blud rushed towards Nekroz of Unicore to slam down upon it. Fyodor, still squatting, watched to see how the scene unfolded before preparing to move on to the last bit of his turn.
