Jason awoke with a start, ripped out of unconscious like a drowning child being pulled from a lake. He sat up in shock, panting and sweating as he scanned his surroundings frantically. He was in a hospital bed, apparently back on Earth, and he was not alone; Chris was awake in the bed next to him and chatting with his father and sister, and Teagan, Ashley and his own mother were standing in front of him with glad looks on their faces. Jason smiled weakly and leaned into the waiting arms of his mother and sister, sighing contentedly in the knowledge that he had finally escaped the nightmare.
“I’m so glad you’re alright! When we heard that you’d fainted at school we were really worried about you!” his mum squealed in delight.
“Well, she was much more worried than I was, but I guess it’s good I have my brother back!” Ashley taunted, grinning wildly. Jason could only chuckle lightly at his sister’s snarking; it was good to have her back.
“It’s good to be back too, I had the craziest dream. I dreamt that while Chris and I were duelling we got transported to this huge planet populated by pastel coloured ponies! Weird right?” he joked, beaming all the time. His smile dropped when he saw the awkward looks worn on his friend’s faces,
“Umm... You may wanna look outside,” Teagan said, a pained look on his face. Jason whipped his head around in concern, and his eyes widened at the sight that greeted him out of the hospital window; there was a whole planet floating outside. It was close enough that it would have blocked out most of the sun, had the entire world not had an illusionary glimmer to it, making it seem like it was translucent and merely a holographic projection. Jason’s neck snapped back to his family and yelled in disbelief,
“It was real? That planet is real?!”
“Yeah. When you were halfway through your duel, you both just disappeared and that huge planet appeared in the sky. We could even see you guys duelling on its surface,” Teagan replied, a concerned tone permeating his Irish brogue.
“You could? That’s crazy!”
“I know! At first when we saw the real destruction the game was causing to the planet we all thought it was just a holo-emitter malfunction.”
“No way, that was real.”
“We all know, the city shut down the holo-emitters as a precautionary measure and the planet just stayed there,” Ashley added, her eyes showing genuine concern for her brother. Mum had walked off to check on the doctor, and Chris’ dad had left to go with her.
“So it was real? Everything I saw was real?” Jason asked, and was quite shocked when he heard a voice from across the room.
“It was indeed, just look at this,” Chris interrupted, stretching his hand across to Jason, a card clasped between his middle and index finger. Jason took the card with a thank-you and his face paled when this one card proved everything for him.
“Hades - Monarch of the Underworld. It’s all real,” he deadpanned. A sympathetic look was plastered over Chris’ face. His sister, Samantha “Sammy”, placed a hand over her brother’s shoulder and rubbed it comfortingly. Chris put a hand on his sisters and reclaimed his card with the other.
“Yes, and you have your card too. Just check your deck box,” he said. Teagan presented Jason with his box solemnly and Jason took it slowly. It was a small golden box, modelled after the golden sarcophagus case owned by the legendary duelist himself, with an eye of Wadjet button clasp that sealed the lid shut. With bated breath, he thumbed the button. The lip popped upwards and the first card that rested on top of the stack was his face up Hephaestus - God of the Forge. Jason closed the lid with a click and placed it on his bedside table. He swung his legs off the edge of the bed and stood from it, stepping into his shoes as he did so.
“Are you all right bro?” asked Ashley, her voice full of concern.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just need to think for a moment is all,” Jason replied, walking over to the corner of the room and stared out the window at the planet of Equestria hovering over the horizon.
All eyes were on him.
“What happened while I was out cold?” he asked.
“When you two came back unconscious, the ambulance and police were called as soon as possible. The entire school has been cordoned off; there’s a weird portal on the ground where you two duelled and no one has been allowed onto the premises since,” Teagan explained.
“When I came to I was immediately questioned by the police and some men in black suits. I told them everything: the duel, the ponies, the lack of illusions and the gods themselves. Everything,” Chris added. Teagan and Ashley whipped their heads around to face the brown haired boy and scowled at him.
“Yeah, and I bet this bastard twisted the story in his favour too,” Ashley grimaced.
“That’s a lie!” Chris retaliated, jumping out of his bed and lunging towards Ashley. Teagan growled and intercepted the attacking boy with his extended arm and clothes-lined him to the ground. Chris hit the floor hard, the wind knocked out of him when he landed. Jason sprinted over to Chris’ coughing and spluttering body, horrified, and pushed back Teagan with both arms.
“Teagan, leave him alone!” he yelled.
“But this arsehole tried to kill you and attacked Ashley!”
“It wasn’t his fault; his card addled his mind! And Ashley, cut him a break!”
“But what about before? This guy has always been the bane of your school life! Everything he’s done for the last few years has been to make your life a living hell!”
“Will you stop talking about me like I’m not here?!” Chris cried, jumping to his feet, his face contorted in anger, “I’ve already apologised! I’m really sorry about the way I treated you.”
“Then why were you such a dick to him in the first place?!” Ashley seethed, the desire to help out her brother bubbling through her veins.
“Because I’ve never had friends before” Chris screamed, the whole room falling silent seconds later. Sammy returned to her brother’s seething side and returned her hand to his shoulder. Chris angrily shrugged her off and stormed from the room, barging past a doctor who was just entering the room.
“You have to forgive him. Since our mum died I’ve been the only thing close to a friend he’s had,” Sammy explained, a sympathetic look on her face. Teagan and Ashley remained quiet, but still heaved with the energy of the fight, while Jason was motionless and locked within his own thought. The doctor awkwardly approached the silent boy and took out a clipboard.
“Um, I have your release forms right here. Just sign these and you can be on your way. Your friend here has already signed his,” he explained.
“Thanks,” Jason replied, scratching his signature onto the paper, “I’ll be out of your hair as soon as possible.”
“Ah good,” said the doctor, reclaiming his clipboard and heading out the door, “We hope to see you again.”
“What a terrible thing to say in a hospital,” Ashley muttered. Jason turned back to the four other occupants of the room,
“We should get going,” he said softly, garnering murmurs of approval from the others, “If it’s alright with everyone else, I think we should go to Chris’ house. We could do with a little getting to know each other.” Teagan and Ashley seemed uncomfortable with the idea, with Sammy shifting from toe to toe anxiously.
“Where is he though? He left, remember, where are we going to find him?” Ashley observed. Sammy simply smiled and said,
“He’s headed back home; he always does after he loses his temper like that.” Jason grinned,
“So that’s where we’re going. I’ll text mum and tell here where we’re going, and if you two don’t like it, then you’re just gonna have to man up.” A brief pause of silence permeated the air.
“But I’m a girl.”
“Shut up Ashley,” Jason began to chuckle. It wasn’t long before Ashley began to join in the laughter too, and soon the whole room was roaring in hysterics. Following their small burst of laughter, they wiped their eyes and decided to leave home for the Haddock residence.
The walk to Chris’ house was not a long one, as the hospital was quite close to the city centre where they lived. From the hospital it was a mere walk down Goodge Street, through the Tottenham Court Road shopping district and into the high known as Oxford Street. After pacing down half the length of this majestic communal street, a right turn down a sideway lead to a remarkably quiet neighbourhood where the Haddocks made their residence. After entering the council building and climbing a dozen floors, they arrived at the Haddock Door. Sammy took out a set of keys and briefly fumbled with the lock before a faint click was heard and the door swung open. The four of them stepped into the flat and examined the house. There were six rooms inside; three bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a living room, and all were connected by one long hallway. From the sounds of muffled groaning coming from one door, Jason worked out that Chris was in his room, and he walked up to it, rapping his knuckles on the door. After a few seconds, a faint call was heard.
“Come in,” Chris mumbled. Jason grasped the handle and opened the door, all four making their way into the room. The teenager on the bed has discarded his jacket and was lying in just his shirt and trousers, face down, on his bed, “What do you want?”
“We want to apologise,” Teagan said, “We didn’t know.”
“It’s quite alright,” Chris replied sadly, “I would’ve thought the same way you did.”
“Well, when you treat someone’s siblings like shit they tend to develop negate feelings,” Ashley growled. Jason scowled at his sister who promptly retreated.
“Look, Chris. I came here for a reason,” he said, “Whatever happened on that planet, we are the ones who are linked to the centre of it, and it’s also somehow related to Duel Monsters. As a result, I want to personally accept your apology, and, seeing as you’re still one of the best duelists in school, I want to ask for your assistance should the need be.” Chris could only smile as he turned his head around to face his new friends,
“Sure, I’d be happy to. Besides, someone’s gonna need to bail you lot out of trouble.”
“Whatever you say man, Jason’s still the one who beat you!” Ashley jeered. Chris could only chuckle,
“I wasn’t in my right mind at the time, so the duel was not on even grounds. I’m sure the next time it’ll be on a more equal playing field.”
“So, why don’t we find out right away?” Teagan laughed, “You two are here right now and there’s nothing going on, why don’t you two have a friendly duel?” Chris seemed to consider the thought for a moment, before shaking his head,
“No. I have a new monster in my deck now with a strategy changing effect, so I’m gonna need to get some new cards.”
“Same here,” Jason added, “I’ll need some new cards too.”
“Besides, things are a little weird right now, so any old duel is a waste of time,” Chris added.
“It’s settled then,” Sammy announced, “We’re going to the Kame Game outlet shop.”
“Indeed we shall,” Chris confirmed, shouldering his jacket.
The Kame Game outlet store was situated in the London Victoria Train Station shopping mall, and after a brief walk, the group arrived at the local bus stop. After 10 minutes of the journey on the 73 bus through Oxford Street and Park Lane, they passed their school on the side of the road. They looked on in interest as they saw several police officers standing guard by the school gates, with several police cars and vans cordoning off the area. A faint crackle in the air was seen above the main gates and the smell of ozone filled the atmosphere.
“What do you think is going on?” Sammy asked, with the question not directed at one person in particular.
“The government must be investigating. When a giant portal to another world appears from nowhere, it’s not something that they can just ignore,” Chris explained.
“Good point,” Teagan commented.
“We’ll check it out after we’ve got some new cards, who knows what might happen there if we aren’t prepared. Have you all got your duel disks in your backpacks?” Jason questioned.
“Got it,” Chris answered.
“Same here,” Sammy agreed, patting her backpack.
“You know it,” Teagan smiled.
“Never leave home without it!” Ashley joked. Jason nodded in acknowledgement, turning his eyes away from his school. The next few weeks were going to be very long indeed.
After 20 minutes, the whole group was standing in the bus park outside the station. The park consisted of three lanes, each owning their own bus stop, and the entire park was enclosed within its own square with assorted shops and newsagents dotted around the outside. The entrance to the station mall itself was crowded with people, many of which had their duel disks firmly clasped to their arms. The group shuffled their way through the assortment of pedestrians and finally made their way into the station grounds. The station itself was divided into two sections. There was the east side, which consisted of several fast food restaurants and take aways, while the west was a mixture of newsagents, record shops and various commodities vendors. One of the vendors was the Kame Game store that they were looking for. Since the original King of Games had “conquered” the world, his grandfather’s business had boomed into an international chain of gaming superstores. While the original Solomon Moto had passed away a few years ago, the business was still ran by his daughter-in-law, Tea Gardener, as the elusive King could never sit in the same place long enough to run the business. The store was equipped with various board games, computer games and, of course, Duel Monsters. Naturally it was only the last one that they were interested in. Since Duel Monsters had taken over the western world and Kame Game had installed a store in the station, the entire roof of London Victoria had been transformed into a Duelling Terrace with weekly contests. Jason himself had never had the time to enrol in these as he was always tinkering with his electronics, but he knew that Chris and Sammy were frequent visitors. After ascending an escalator onto the upper floor, the five duelists made their way into the gaming emporium.
The game store was a large rectangular room, with the entrance doors and the till (with the passage to the roof) on both of the shorter lengths, while there were five rows of shoulder high shelves positioned longwise down the longer lengths of the store. Each one was decked out with cards, CD ROMs and various other gaming items. On each of the walls there were racks that suspended various duelling equipment, ranging from tokens and card protectors to duel disks and deck boxes. There was an entire section of wall devoted entirely to duel disk replacement parts, a corner that Jason visited often.
The group gathered in the centre of the store.
“I’ll be looking for some new cards then. See you in a moment,” Chris announced, wandering from the group to investigate the singles collection.
“I want to check out the new releases, might be some new support cards for my Contract deck. With any luck I’ll be able to beat Jason even easier!” Ashley laughed, earning a grin from the others and a scowl from Jason,
“Cut it out Ashley, Contract decks are overpowered enough as it is.”
“Says the guy with a Greek god on a trading card,” Ashley countered, a mischievous smile plastered on her face. Jason merely groaned in exasperation, and Ashley skipped off happily to investigate the local fauna, humming a little tune as she went.
“I should probably keep her in check,” Teagan winked, moving off to accompany the singing girl. Jason merely smirked.
“Sure, just remember to use protection. That’s my bread and butter you’re fucking with,” he joked, earning him a friendly punch to the shoulder.
“You cheeky fucker!” the Irish lad cried before dashing off, leaving Jason and Sammy on their own.
“We should probably go looking for some cards,” Sammy piped, an enthusiastic look worn on her face. Jason nodded and walked off with her to the nearest rack, skimming through the assorted cards, looking for some support for his new god.
Ashley and Teagan were laughing and joking by the Continuous Spell rack, barely concentrating on their original goals.
“And then the skull said, ‘What do you mean it doesn’t come with interest?’” Ashley finished, prompting a burst of laughter from Teagan, with the girl joining in moments later. Their eyes locked for a brief moment, their laughter petering out as they gazed at each other,
“You’re really funny, you know that?” Teagan said, a sly grin formed on his face. Ashley simply blushed and said,
“I make an effort.” They continued to look at each other for a few moments when a firm hand clasped itself onto Teagan’s shoulder, shocking him from his trance. He whipped his head around to come to face with a tall, smiling ginger man, around the age of 25. His red hair blazed across his head as if it was electrified, with each strand sticking out on end, and the image of his smiling face burned itself into Teagan’s retinas.
“Hello there! Are you the one they call the Ocean King? I’ve heard so much about you,” he said excitedly, as if meeting a celebrity. Ashley turned her head in shock to Teagan’s face.
“You have a title? Only tournament winners and duelists with status get those? How did you get it?” she asked in disbelief. Teagan’s face turned from pride at a fan, to awkwardness.
“Umm... I don’t know. I just sort of did. I duel people on the streets often and I guess I sorta made a name for myself,” he replied.
“Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight,” Ashley replied, still not convinced at his story. Teagan faced the newcomer again.
“But anyway, it’s nice to meet a fan. Is there something I can do for you?” he asked. The gingers face twitched into a grin.
“Actually, I wanted to know if you’d be interested in a duel. Knowing your reputation, I’d love to see if the stories were true.” Teagan’s face changed from friendliness to a competitive smirk,
“Oh no, now it’s on!” he yelled, catching the attention of his other friends, who flocked to his location, “Mind if I get your name? I like to know the duelists I crush!” Jason smirked at his adoptive brother’s confidence; he always was a brash one.
“My name is Shane,” the ginger said, “and I’d be honoured to be your opponent.”
Shane, Teagan and the others made their way over the till, booked a duelling arena, and climbed the stairs onto the roof, where there were in excess of twenty duelling arenas; each suspended twenty feet from the roof on large stilts. They were all bordered with a railing and equipped with a ladder leading up to its arena. An elevating platform was put in place next to each one, designed to rise and allow spectators to watch the battle. The group approached their booked arena, the central one, raised an extra ten feet higher than the others. Teagan withdrew his duel disk and deck box from his backpack, which he discarded to the ground before affixing the disk to his arm and slotting his cards into the deck zone. Ashley picked up his bag and slung it over her own back, winking at Teagan and stepping back to the others. Chris and Sammy kept silent, merely watching on in interest, while Jason and Ashley grinned wildly at their comrade,
“Go get ‘em mate!” Jason called.
“Stuff his deck up his arse for me!” Ashley added with a grin.
“Bit uncalled for,” Chris muttered, while Shane simply chuckled.
“It’s fine, she’s just excited is all,” he explained, attaching his own duel disk to his arm, “Ready to go, Ocean King.” Teagan gritted his teeth.
“Ready when you are,” he smiled, both beginning to climb the ladder. Before long, they were both standing opposite one another on the duel field. Jason, Chris, Sammy and Ashley made their way to the platform and Sammy thumbed the switch, raising them into the air and next to the duel arena. The stage was set, the spectators were ready, and the duelists prepared to activate their duel disks. Teagan and Shane pressed the activation button on their duel disks, which scanned the area for each other. An artificial voice resonated through the air.
“Five duel disks in range, select opponent,” called Teagan’s duel disk.
“Shane,” he commanded. A different, male voice, spoke from Shanes duel disk,
“Incoming duel from Teagan. Accept?”
“Accept,” Shane confirmed. Both duelists narrowed their eyes at each other, as both duel disks announced the duel was ready to start.
“LETS DUEL!” they both cried.
DUEL START
---------------------------------
TEAGAN LP: 4000
SHANE LP: 4000
TEAGAN TURN 1:
DRAW PHASE:
Teagan ripped a card from his deck, a slicing sound filling the air as he added it to his hand.
“This duel is gonna be a good one!” he thought to himself, grinning at his opponent.
MAIN PHASE 1:
“I active my spell card, “Call the Army!”” Teagan called, flicking the card out to display his opponent, before slotting it into his duel disk. A giant die appeared on the battlefield, which span itself around before landing on a 4. Teagan grinned in success, while Shane raised an eyebrow in amusement,
“Because this die landed on a 4, I can search my deck for up to 2 Coldvalley Legionnaires or Coldvalley Commanders and add them to my hand. I choose one of each!” he announced as his deck extended two cards from its body. Teagan pulled them from his duel disk and the deck shuffled itself, adding the cards to his hand. Teagan scanned his hand for a strategy to use, before smiling and deciding his tactic. He reached into his hand and pulled two continuous spells from his hand, slamming them onto his disk.
“I activate two Coming of the Coldvalley spell cards!” he cried, as two holographic cards appeared flat on the battlefield, each with a small Icy rock appearing on the battlefield on top of it, “And now I summon my Coldvalley Commander (2)!” He drew his next card from his hand and slapped it onto his duel disk. A merman clad in icy iron armour appeared with a splash of water bursting from its body. Its sea green scales glistened with moisture, and it drew an arm length trident from a sling on its back. Shane grinned,
“Nice monster,” he commented. Teagan smiled in happiness and continued with his turn,
“Thanks, but looking cool is not all that it does. When this card is summoned, I can search my deck for 1 Coldvalley Formation or Coldvalley Battle Tactics card from my deck and add it to my hand. And I search for Coldvalley Formation Delta!” He drew another card from the deck and added it to his hand, “Also, due to the effect of my Coming of the Coldvalley cards, I can put two Coldvalley Counters onto my Coldvalley Commander.” The two icy rocks each shot off an icy shard that each impacted with an arm of the Coldvalley Commander. The shards grew and reformed into gauntlets that the Commander solidified into his own personal armour, grinning with satisfaction.
“Does anyone find it cold here?” Sammy commented, rubbing her shoulders. Ashley, Jason and Chris all looked at Sammy with a concerned face, nodding in agreement,
“Yeah, this seems weird,” Ashley agreed. Chris and Jason looked at each other in concern.
“Oh no,” they said in unison.
“What’s wrong?” Sammy asked. Jason turned to her and said,
“These are supposed to be holograms, but the environmental effects are real. The influence of the other world is leaking through.” Ashley and Sammy dropped their jaws in shock, looking up to the illusionary planet in the sky.
“Teagan, I don’t think it’s a good idea to continue this duel, things are getting strange!” Ashley called out to the duelling blond, who merely shrugged his shoulders and said,
“Quit the duel? No way, I’m on a roll! I activate Coldvalley Formation Delta!” He inserted his next card into its slot, a Greek Delta symbol illuminating the air above where the holographic card now lay, “With this card, monsters I control gain 500 ATK for each Coldvalley Counter on it!” The tips of the icy gauntlets extended into a metre long spikes and the Commander took an active battle stance. “I set one card face down and end my turn!”
“Interesting play, but now it’s time to get dangerous,” Shane said darkly, his eyes and face accumulating shadows and turning his face from an enthusiastic duelist into a malicious fiend. Teagan stared in confusion while Jason and Chris looked at each other in panic.
“Teagan you need to abort that duel! This is a lot more dangerous than you realise,” Jason cried to his brother. Teagan turned back to Jason and seethed,
“I’m insulted! Saying I should quit just because things are getting dangerous? I thought you knew me, Jason.”
“I never said I didn’t, but you don’t understand this. This duel could get really deadly and I don’t want you to get hurt!”
“Well then, you’d better just hope I win.” Jason growled in anger, but realised that nothing he could say could sway his brother.
“Fine, but be careful!” he cried, with Chris snapping his head around to face him while Sammy and Ashley continued to look in confusion.
“He doesn’t know what he’s doing! He’s going to get killed!” Chris complained.
“I know, but he won’t listen to us. When he sets his mind on something, the gods themselves couldn’t discourage him.”
“We’d just better hope that they can’t, because this guy could very well have one.”
“He’ll be fine, he has the luck of the Irish,” Ashley pipped in, causing Jason to laugh.
“She had a point,” he agreed, “Go on Teagan!” The Irishman saluted his friends and faced Shane.
“Go on then, your move,” Teagan smiled. Shane growled in agreement.
“My move.”
END PHASE:
---------------------
STATUS:
TEAGAN:
LP: 4000
HAND: 2 CARDS.
MONSTERS: COLDVALLEY COMMANDER (2 COLDVALLEY COUNTERS).
SPELLS/TRAPS: COMING OF THE COLDVALLEY x2, COLDVALLEY FORMATION DELTA, 1 FACE DOWN.
SHANE:
LP: 4000
HAND: 5 CARDS.
MONSTERS: 0.
SPELLS/TRAPS: 0.
-----------------------------
SHANE TURN 1:
DRAW PHASE:
Shane wordlessly drew his card and added it to his hand. His smile upturned and his eyes narrowed. This game was going to go well.
MAIN PHASE 1:
“I summon Aerialvoltic Circuit Revolver (2),” Shane said confidently, as his monster appeared onto his side of the battlefield. It appeared as a small power generator with what appeared to be an electrified weather vane affixed to its head. “But he won’t be staying for long, I sacrifice my Circuit Revolver to Special Summon my Aerialvoltic Overbeast (2)!” The power generator rose into the air and glowed white, while a gigantic cyborg dragon appeared from its card, and the power generator attached itself to its chest. As the scent of ozone filled the air, Teagan stared on in terror as his hair stood on end, feeling the real electricity permeate his body. Jason and the group shared his terror as Ashley and Sammy finally experienced first-hand the power of the other world.
“Jesus Christ! That thing is huge!” Teagan cried. Shane merely chuckled and continued his turn,
“I use the effect of my Voltic Lightningbolt to discard it to the graveyard to deal 1500 points of direct damage to your lifepoints, inflict 1000 to mine and to increase the ATK of my Overbeast by 1500 until the end phase,” Shane continued. Teagan tried to jump back and dodge the incoming lightning bolt which darted from Shane’s graveyard, but to no avail. The bolt struck Teagan, who screamed out in pain, while Shane merely gritted his teeth in pain as the other end of the bolt hit him.
“Brother!” Jason screeched.
“Teagan!” Ashley cried, running up to as far to him as the platform would allow, the others following suit behind her, “Are you okay?” The convulsing boy shook off the yellow electricity and climbed back to his feet,
“Yeah, I’m okay,” he said, through gritted teeth, climbing back to his feet and facing his opponent, “But this guy’s gonna die!” Shane merely laughed and said,
“Oh really? Well this duel is already nearly over! Overbeast, attack his Coldvalley Commander!” The gigantic beast flew into the sky, aimed his mouth at the Commander, and prepared to fire. But it stalled. Shane yelled in confusion while Teagan merely smiled,
“What happened?! Why isn’t my monster attacking!”
“Because you forgot about my Coming of the Coldvalley and Formation Delta spell card. This puts two Coldvalley Counters on your monster and prevents it from attacking!”
“No!” Shane growled, while Teagan’s friends whooped and hollered in support.
“Go Teegs!” Jason yelled. Teagan saluted his friend again,
“Thanks mate!” he called. Shane gritted his teeth and placed two cards face down into his duel disk,
“I place two cards face down and end my turn.”
END PHASE:
-------------------
STATUS:
TEAGAN:
LP: 2500
HAND: 2 CARDS.
MONSTERS: COLDVALLEY COMMANDER (2 COLDVALLEY COUNTERS).
SPELLS/TRAPS: COMING OF THE COLDVALLEY x2 (2 COLDVALLEY COUNTERS), COLDVALLEY FORMATION DELTA, 1 FACE DOWN.
SHANE:
LP: 3000
HAND: 1 CARD.
MONSTERS: AERIALVOLTIC OVERBEAST (2)
SPELLS/TRAPS: 2 FACE DOWN.
-----------------------------
TEAGAN TURN 2:
DRAW PHASE:
Teagan drew his card swiftly, smiling with confidence. He was about to play his first card when he saw his extra deck glow slightly. He picked up the card in confusion and examined it, where his frown turned to a sly smile.
“Well this is interesting. Let’s see what this can do!” Chris and Jason exchanged glances,
“Was that a god card?” Chris asked.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out,” Jason answered.
MAIN PHASE 1:
“I summon Coldvalley Legionnaires (2) to the battlefield!” Teagan called, watching as a rank of mermen soldiers armed with coral armour and short swords appeared in a flash of water behind their Commander, “And now I special summon Coldvalley Archers (2) using their own effect, increasing their level to 4 and destroying your Overbeast!” Shane’s face dropped as a phalanx of merman archers appeared from their card, joined the ranks of Legionnaires, and fired a volley of arrows towards the Overbeast. The beast cried out it pain as the arrows collided with it, shards of ice returning to one of the icy blocks, and it exploded, enclosing the arena in a burst of electrical energy. Shane interrupted the explosion,
“With the effect of my Overbeast, I can tribute it when it would be destroyed to inflict 1500 points of damage to your life points!” At that moment, the explosion turned hostile, and Teagan felt himself being electrocuted again. His body exploded with pain, but he soldiered to his feet and continued his turn.
“You’ll pay for that! I tune my Coldvalley Legionnaires to my Coldvalley Archers to Synchro Summon Triton - Harbringer of the Oceans (2)!” he cried. The phalanx of legionnaires and archers raised their weapons to the sky before vanishing in a ball of blue light, more shards returning to one of the icy blocks, while the ball morphed and grew.
“Yes, he has a god,” Jason confirmed, with Chris, Sammy and Ashley nodding in unison. Teagan looked in shock when the growing ball began to grow larger than the roof itself, and hovered above the battlefield. It morphed into the shape of a titanic merman, standing with one foot on the roof of the station and the other on the street below, crushing the entire square of bus stations. Teagan, Ashley and Sammy reeled in shock at the horrified screams of the people below them, while Chris and Jason shook their heads in despair. They both looked up to the planet above them and noticed that ponies above it were also staring in fear at their duel, doubtlessly terrified of the returning titans. Shane looked on in mild amusement, somehow not scared of the giant best.
They felt the rain. Triton lanced his trident into the sky, and the rain began to fall. Teagan’s fear turned to pride as he realised his victory was nearby.
“I active Triton’s effect, by paying 500 life points I can copy any monster on the battlefield. I copy my Coldvalley Commander (2), and overlay them both to Xyz Summon Coldvalley Hail-Lord (2).” The titans trident pierced the ground and an additional Coldvalley Commander appeared next to the original. The two Commanders then locked tridents with each other, before morphing into another blue ball and manifesting into a giant water dragon with dorsal fins streaked across its back, more shards returning to the block. In seconds, the Icy monster was standing proud and tall. While nowhere near the size of the titan, it was still formidable in its own right. It was at that point that Shane decided that enough was enough, gritting his teeth and grinning maliciously.
“I activate my trap card, Aerialvoltic Sparks (2) (2). This card allows me to put two tokens onto the battlefield, which I sacrifice to bring out the big guns!” he yelled. Teagan cried out in anger,
“Hey, you can’t do that on my turn!” Shane merely grinned and replied,
“With this card’s effect, I can.” He pulled a card from his hand and slammed it on the battlefield, while Jason and Chris looked on in horror.
“He’s going to die,” Jason breathed, his voice taken away by despair.
“Not yet,” Chris added solemnly. The two tokens smashed into each other and morphed together, shards returning to the block. The gargantuan monster exploded into view; a giant beast; a man with medium length hair, clad in a white toga and a stern look struck across his face, grew from the card and crashed into the train lines behind him, standing tall and yet vastly out sizing the other giant in front of him.
“I summon Zeus - King of the Skies (2),” Shane finished. Teagan and his friends simply stared. It was at that moment that they all lost hope, the great and ancient king of the gods was here, and he was their enemy. It was when his heart had sank so low, when Teagan had abandoned his courage that a fire ignited inside him and he refused to let himself die this easily. Just then, his main deck glowed blue, the scent of sea air filling the atmosphere. Jason and Chris smiled, knowing that the battle was not yet lost.
“The effect of your Sparks card allows me to draw a card, and that’s what I’m about to do,” he grinned, Shane’s face beginning to fall. Teagan reached his hand to his deck, and pulled his card. A stream of water spewed from the card as it was swished from its deck, falling to the ground seconds later. Water began to whirl and flow around his feet, circling around his body. Teagan looked at his card and smiled a victorious smile.
“I by removing 10 Coldvalley Counters from Coming of the Coldvalley, I summon Poseidon - Lord of the Oceans (2)!” he cried. He slammed the card down onto the disk and the sound of the shaking earth filled the air. A third ball of blue light span from its card and hovered in mid air. Apart from the whirling sound, the air was left silent for a few brief moments, when in a split second, the ball exploded into another humongous titan. This one, also male, wore scaled armour like his mermen subjects and clasped a magnificent trident in his enormous hands. He stood next to Triton, his son, and prepared to take the orders from his duelist master. Teagan grinned and threw his hand out to Shane.
“Currently, I have 14 Coldvalley counters on the battlefield, but for what I need, that just isn’t enough. I activate the effect of my Hail Lord, detaching 1 Xyz material monster to give every monster on the battlefield a Coldvalley Counter, bringing my total up to 17. Next, I use the effect of my Poseidon - Lord of the Oceans, to give another 3 counters to my monsters, bringing the total to 20,” Teagan explained, beaming the whole time. Shane was now very nervous indeed.
“What are you going to do with that?” he scowled, but Teagan and Jason smiled knowingly. Ashley, Sammy and Chris were slightly confused, but gathered from the other two that things were going well.
“I’m going to use them to defeat you. I activate my trap card - Coldvalley Harnessed Leviathan!” Teagan called, as a humongous aquatic fish-like creature appeared in the sky, adorned with a large harness and with water pouring from its body. It was at least several miles long, and it completely blocked out the sun.
“Oh my God, that thing is huge!” Sammy screamed.
“It’s blocking out the sun!” Ashley added, “How is there still light?”
“There are the lights from the city, they’re keeping us illuminated,” Chris explained. Jason faced the others and added,
“It’s a shame it’s keeping us in this state. It’s almost Twilight.” Jason doubled over at the last word, clutching his stomach as he felt his mind punch itself like it was a sack of potatoes. Something about that word was familiar and yet foreign at the same time, comforting yet disturbing all at once. Jason shook his head and reorganised his mind; it was probably nothing, he was already stressed out from the day’s events and he was probably just hallucinating. He looked back to Teagan who was continuing his turn.
“I now play Coldvalley Glacier Modulation, which reorganises Coldvalley Counters as I see fit, and I place them all onto my Harnessed Leviathan!” Shane’s face contorted in fear as Poseidon slammed his trident into the ground, causing all of the icicle shards on the monsters and the rocks to shoot into the air like a reverse hailstorm. Each one impacted with the Leviathan and crystallised around its body, encasing the Leviathan in a body of ice. Poseidon clasped the reigns of the harness and tugged at them, the gigantic beast roaring in aggression. Teagan grinned and pointed at his opponent, “With the effect of my harnessed Leviathan, this game is mine! Harnessed Leviathan, attack!” he ordered. Poseidon leapt forward and yanked on the leash, the Leviathan moving with him and imitating his every action. The eldritch abomination dashed towards Shane, bypassing Zeus entirely, and prepared to impact its jaws with the duelist. The gang could only watch in awe as Teagan’s monster won the duel. Teagan whooped and cheered as his beast made for Shane’s face. At the moment of his demise, Shane suddenly threw a small black ball to the ground, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Instantaneously, all of the holograms vanished, and light returned to the sky. While the destruction remained, the rest of the area was safe. Teagan smiled at his friends, before collapsing in exhaustion.
“Teagan!” Ashley cried, vaulting the bar separating the spectator zone from the battlefield and lurching towards Teagan’s idle form. Jason and his friends dashed to their fallen comrade soon after and helped him to his feet. His eyes were half lidded and lax, his body occasionally twitching with remnants of electricity. Ashley cupped his face and hugged it tightly, tears streaming down her face. Chris and Jason pulled him up and supported him on their shoulders, while Sammy picked up his duel disk and deck and bag.
“Ashley, let go of him!” Jason ordered, “We need to get him to a doctor!”
“No! I can’t leave him!” Ashley yelled, hugging his face tighter, “He needs me!”
“He needs a doctor!” Chris countered, letting go of Teagan to wrestle Ashley from his body. Ashley screamed and thrashed but finally let go, and Sammy hugged her tightly. Ashley cried into her bosom while the elder girl stroked her head silently, whispering empty words of comfort into her ears. Jason looked at Teagan’s face sadly, hoping that he’d be okay.
Suddenly, Teagan’s body lurched into life, coughing and spluttering in Jason’s arms. Jason’s smile illuminated.
“He’s okay!” he yelled, “He’s just fine!”
“Yeah, never better!” Teagan joked, smiling, before vomiting violently onto the floor. Ashley left Sammy’s embrace and ran over to Teagan. She was about to attack hug him into the Nth Dimension, when she noticed the pool of vomit at his feet.
“Yeah, I’m just gonna leave it for a moment,” she said. Teagan smiled at her back.
“I’m not surprised.”
“He’s fine?” Chris asked, walking back to them, his voice riddled with disbelief.
“Good as leprechaun gold,” Jason laughed, earning a light punch from his Irish friend.
“Yeah, I’m good anyway,” Teagan confirmed.
“That’s good,” Sammy agreed, Chris nodding his head to his sister. A moment later the rooftop access port to the lower levels burst open, several police officers filling the area, tasers aimed at the duelists.
“Drop your decks and put your hands behind your head!” their sergeant bellowed. Jason and the others threw their hands up in the air at their command, Jason’s face turning to one of panic.
“Ah shit.”