Ok, Akio thought, this creep is probably trying to scare me. Maybe, he thinks I'll be traumatized by seeing my beloved partner suffer or something like that. Well, tough luck, freak.
And of course, the idiot confirmed his hypothesis right away: "What's up, runt? Starting to realize how much it's gonna hurt?"
Akio didn't even bother to answer - he'd let his monsters do that for him.
"Well", he continued, "you forgot one thing: destroying Urnight can't stop his ability. Which means that I still have Sandman on the field", he said, pointing at the other monster, which looked like a bulky and headless humanoid statue with a fanged mouth on its neck.
"And I'm going to use it, trust me. Go, Sandman! Destroy his face-down monster!". The sand statue charged and threw a punch at the monster, which was revealed as being a small winged white horse. The shadow duelist interjected: "I activate the effect of the monster you just flipped face-up, which is 'The Fabled Peggulus'! This way, I reveal 'The Fabled Cerburrel' in my hand, and send "Fabled Oltro" from my Deck to the Graveyard!"
After the effect resolved, Sandman grabbed the tiny, frightened (or at least, it looked frightened) horse and smashed it to the ground, before stomping on its head.
The monster dissolved, then Akio announced: "Okay, and with this, I end my turn. Of course, to keep Sandman on the field, I reveal 'Koa'ki Meiru Wall' in my hand".
TURN 3: Akio 8000 - Shadow Duelist 8000
The shadow duelist drew his card, and said: "I activate the effect of 'The Fabled Chawa', and discard a card from my hand to Special Summon it to my side of the field! Then, I activate the effect of the monster I discarded, 'Fabled Krus', and Special Summon 'Fabled Oltro' from my Graveyard. And then, I immediately use its effect: I discard 'The Fabled Cerburrel' to Summon 'The Fabled Ganashia' from my hand-"
"And let me guess", Akio interrupted him, "When you discard Cerburrel, it Summons itself to your side of the field?". The shadow duelist looked irritated for having been interrupted: "Well, yes it does. So this means I now have four monsters on my side of the field... and this is really bad news for you. First! I tune Cerburrel and Oltro to Synchro Summon my first helper, 'The Fabled Kudabbi'!"
The two monsters transformed into two rings of iron, engraved with decorations, and two glowing dots insde those rings. Then, the rings projected electrical shocks towards the glimmering orbs, and then released a beam of light. When the light cleared, on the field was standing a monster that looked like a bull with a box curtain covering its face.
Akio was nervous. That monster looked absolutely ridiculous, and its 2000 attack points were anything but threatening. What was that idiot planning?
"Thought I was finished already? Ha! I still have two monsters, and guess what? I tune Ganashia and Chawa! The sum of their levels is also four, so I can use them to Synchro Summon another monster: 'Armory Arm'!".
Akio hadn't dueled all that much, but still recognized Armory Arm. That monster could act as an Equip card, raising the attack of the monster it was equipped to by 1000 points. Which meant that...
"I now equip Armory Arm to Kudabbi, raising its Attack by 1000 points! Go, Kudabbi! Attack!"
Kudabbi charged at Sandman, shooting the Arm from its back. Akio interrupted the attack: "I activate Mirror Force!".
The flying fist clashed onto a barrier, that shone radiantly, and...
When the light died down, Akio opened his eyes, expecting to see Kudabbi in pieces, but it was still alive and well, and it hadn't interrupted its run against Sandman. When the iron fist struck his monster, pulverizing it instantly, and then continued its run towards Akio.
Akio had only a second to process what happened, before being struck by the speeding metal fist square in the chest and being thrown to the ground by the force of the blow. The impact was hard: his chest and back felt like they were being torn apart, and he could only thank his luck that he was still in one piece.
He got shakily back on his feet and asked: "What... why is your monster still there? Don't tell me..."
"Yes! When I have no cards in my hand, Kudabbi can't be destroyed by card effects! See? I'm invincible! And now, I end my turn. You should surrender, you know? At least, I won't have to hurt you too much before killing you!"
TURN 4: Akio 5000 - Shadow Duelist 8000
"Oh, you'd like that. I draw!"
Core Overclock... perfect.
He announced: "I summon 'Koa'ki Meiru Crusader', and then activate Core Overclock! This way, all my monsters gain 500 Attack points!"
"And how does that help? Kudabbi still has 3000 attack points, and your monster has just 2400!"
"See, idiot, for how much you talk about your incredible power, it's quite fragile. Your monster can't be destroyed by card effects, true... but I don't need them. I activate Overclock's second effect: by sending one Iron Core from my hand to the Graveyard, Crusader's attack is raised by another 1000 points!"
Crusader grew in size, and with a bellow, charged Kudabbi. The opponent's monster tried to defend itself, but the fury of the charging giant was unstoppable. Crusader started hacking pieces off, and when it had severed all of its opponent's limbs dropped the sword and started pummeling the beast to the ground, until it was reduced to a bloody mess, after which, it disappeared, but not before one of its horns flew off and hit its owner in the face.
"Now", Akio stated, "I can use Crusader's effect, and take back to my hand Urnight! Sadly, the Attack boost received by Crusader only lasts for this turn, but now you have no cards in your hand and on your field, so I doubt you'll be able to mount a counterattack right now... guess you didn't think of that when you summoned your monster, thinking it was invincible, hm? I reveal Urnight to keep Crusader on the field, then I end my turn."
TURN 5 - Akio 5000 - Shadow Duelist 7600
The shadow duelist grit his teeth and muttered something before drawing, then looked at the card and grinned: "Here it is... the card I needed! I activate 'Vessel of the Forgotten Gods'! With this, if I pay all my Life Points except 1000, you have to discard your hand, and I can draw until I have as many cards as the level of the highest-level monster you discarded plus one! ARGH!"
A shadowy aura enveloped the cloaked man, and when it dissolved, his body was enveloped in barbed chains, and he wore on his face goggles similar to those on the 'Fabled Lurrie' card the group had found on his earlier victim.
The man grinned, and shrieked. His voice sounded inhuman, as if it had been heavily distorted: "Now, with the four cards I have in my hand, I can do... THIS! I SPECIAL SUMMON 'THE FABLED NOZOCHEE' WITH ITS EFFECT, BY DISCARDING 'FABLED LURRIE', THEN SPECIAL SUMMON 'FABLED RAVEN' WITH NOZOCHEE'S EFFECT! BUT IT IS NOT OVER! LURRIE COMES BACK FROM THE GRAVEYARD. THEN, I NORMAL SUMMON 'THE FABLED MITZOJI' AND AFTER I USE RAVEN'S EFFECT TO DISCARD KRUS, WHICH CAN BRING KUDABBI BACK TO MY FIELD, AND RAISING RAVEN'S LEVEL BY ONE, EVERYTHING IS READY! I TUNE 'RAVEN' AND 'LURRIE' TO SYNCHRO SUMMON 'THE FABLED UNICORE'! AND THEN, I TUNE NOZOCHEE AND MITZOJI TO SYNCHRO SUMMON ANOTHER ARMORY ARM!"
Akio was surprised. He never heard of that card, but he had a feeling that he wouldn't find it on any official catalogue, anyway. Whoever that madman was, he had access to pirate cards. Or even... wait, weren't Fableds...?
Oh, shit. Spirit cards?
The madman didn't give him time to reason, though: "GO, UNICORE AND KUDABBI! DESTROY THAT UNBELIEVER!"
Unicore was the first to strike, piercing through Crusader's armor and chest. The flying fist collided with Akio's chest again, sending him sprawling backwards, and making him land on the harsh terrain. Sharp, pointy pebbles scratched his back through his shirt and his breath was cut short when the ground greeted him. But before he could do anything, he found himself staring down the veiled beast. He raised an arm to protect himself, uselessly, before the monster stepped on him with its hard hooves.
After a few moments that felt like an eternity of pain, he finally no longer felt the hooves against him, so he opened his eyes and got up.
He was bloodied, hurting and could barely stand, but he was alive.
"WHAT... THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!", shrieked his monstruous opponent. "YOU SHOULD BE DEAD! THE DAMAGE YOU TOOK SHOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH TO END YOU! WHY DO YOU STILL HAVE 200 LIFE POINTS?"
Even Akio didn't understand, at first. But then, he remembered.
Panting, and holding his side, Akio answered: "You... overestimated your... Armory Arm's effect. That's... why you... didn't kill me."
"WHAT MOCKERY IS THIS? IT WAS CLEAR, YOU SHOULD BE DEAD! MY MONSTERS SHOULD HAVE INFLICTED 5300 POINTS OF DAMAGE TO YOU, AND YOU CANNOT HAVE ACTIVATED ANY CARDS, BECAUSE UNICORE WOULD HAVE STOPPED YOU! SO HOW COULD YOU..."
Akio allowed himself a grin: "Because... Armory Arm only... inflicts damage equal... to the attack... the destroyed monster... has in the... graveyard. And since... I had Core Overclock... on the field... Crusader's Attack... was 2400, but the... damage you... inflicted to me... was only 1900. So... if you... make your math... you'll find out... that you inflicted... only 4800... points of... damage to me... and I had... 5000 Life Points."
"IT MATTERS NOT! I WILL KILL YOU DURING MY NEXT TURN! EVEN IF YOU DRAW A MONSTER, YOU'RE FINISHED! I END MY TURN!"
TURN 6 - Akio 200 - Shadow Duelist 1000
"So... sure? Let's... see if we... can prove... your theory. It doesn't... matter what... I draw... though. I will... win anyway. And now... you'll see why... I... draw!"
Hello there, Speeder. What a nice time for you to show up.
"The card I drew is a monster... but I can't Summon it... for now. It's still... my draw phase... and now that... I have one card... in my hand... I'm not... affected by your... Unicore's effect... Which means... that I can activate... the effect of the... 'Iron Core of... Koa'ki Meiru' in my... Graveyard... so I discard... Speeder... and get my core... back."
"Now... I activate the first... of my face-down cards... 'Core... Reinforcement'. It lets me... Summon a Monster from... my Graveyard... and I choose... Urnight."
A giant pillar of metal emerged on Akio's side of the field. When it opened, Urnight came out, with wiring attached to its back.
"Now...", Akio continued, "we're in... my Standby Phase... and I activate... my second... face-down card... 'Core Blast'...". He coughed up blood, but simply grit his teeth and continued. "Now... you control... one more monster than I do... so I can... destroy all your cards except for one monster... and I choose... *cough* Unicore and Armory Arm..."
The image of an Iron Core attached to a machine appeared on the field. The wirings broke, and unleashed a bombardment of fireballs on the Shadow Duelist's side of the field, burning Unicore to a charred corpse.
"And now... I can... activate Urnight's effect... And I Summon... *cough* 'Koa'ki Meiru Guardian'... then, I activate... Core Overclock's second... effect... and discard... my Iron Core... and my monsters... gain 1000... attack points..."
The centaur and the stone statue both increased in size, towering over everyone else. They charged, Urnight cutting up Kudabbi with its giant knife, and Guardian punching the shadow duelist in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.
The moment the shadow duelist fell to the ground, unconscious, the harpoon and the curtain of flames disappeared.
Akio fell to his knees and then laid back on the ground, and said: "What are... you staring at... idiots... call a medic...", then coughed up blood again.