"What kind of duel was that?!" Allen shouted as he marched towards her with an enraged look on his face, said face all scrunched up and scowling as he stood straight right up in front of her. "That wasn't fair at all! That Summon Limit card's too broken!"
"It certainly didn't look like a fair matchup…" Sayaka commented as she creeped closer with Myu trodding behind her, her eyes wandering towards the cherry haired girl who stayed still, the only indication that she knew the girl was fine was by how her body seemed to shiver.
She… hoped that Anna's fine, she knew that she held back whatever spiritual powers that she had for that last attack, she had almost got into the flow of the game and had to calm herself at the last second and all that, but she still couldn't help but worry.
But that worry was then washed away when the cherry haired girl slammed her fist onto the concrete floor, shocking everyone and jumped upright to glare at her with a large scowl on her face.
"Darn it! One more!" The cannon wielding girl roared as she strode towards her, and Allen had yelped as she shoved him away to stand right mere inches in front of her. "One more game! This time I'll definitely-"
"Alright, alright, enough." She said as she pushed the girl away with both of her hands to make some distance, and turned to look at the others. "As much as I want to oblige that request, I think that it might be better to continue, or rather start the lesson instead."
The cannon carrying girl frowned at the rejection, and huffed as she turned away and crossed her arms. "Fine. Do whatever you want." She grumbled out before walking a few steps and flopping down at one of the concrete benches around the park, just keeping in hearing range.
She laughed lightly, and turned back to the trio who looked at her with mixed emotions. "Well then, the lesson." She started. "Can you tell me what is the card that managed to single handedly control the entire state of that game?"
"It's that Continuous Trap card right?" Myu answered instantly right as she gave out that question. "That Summon Limit card that prevented Anna-san from summoning her monsters."
"It's a cheat card, that's what it was." Allen grumbled out as he crossed his arms in annoyance and refused to meet her eye to eye.
"It is quite the card isn't it?" She hummed. "And sad to say, that isn't the only card out there that has an effect that can simply lock your opponent from doing anything, or playing anything, and allows a duelist to one sidedly play the game."
She sighed as she thought of the cards that could fit those category, a long suffering one to be quite exact. She knew that playing a card like this, a card that could quite honestly be described as 'unfair' in the current climate of the metagame in this dimension.
Summon Limit was, and is, a card that can easily win games just on its own. Then again, the same case could be argued for almost every single playable floodgate that the game has ever printed.
Be it Skill Drain or Imperial Order, Gozen Match or even Rivalry, not even mentioning There Can Be Only One, and the infamous Mystic Mine, those are simply some of the floodgates that she can name off of her head that can instantly win the game just by being activated depending on the game matchup.
And there was no doubt, that with her spreading the popularity of floodgates back in the Fusion Dimension, that those lots from the Academia would come marching in bringing those cards in their main deck.
"There's more?!" Allen shouted aloud in shock, and from the corner of her eye she also saw Anna sit up straighter as though she acted disinterested, she could tell that she was paying full attention to her words.
Good, if she could take her advice to heart then it would better her chances of surviving the invasion that's soon to come.
"There are lots of them, and just like Summon Limit, some, if not most, are Continuous Traps, though some come in other forms as well." She started her explanation. "It's an unofficial term, but I personally call them floodgates, since they're cards that continuously restrict both players from performing some action."
As an example she took out her True Draco deck from her duel disk, shuffled the cards around and finally found a card that she could use as an example. "Like this card right here." She said as she revealed the card, and the trio in front of her creeped closer to get a closer look at the card.
"It's another Continuous Trap, just like Summon Limit, but this one is called There Can Be Only One." She said as she showed the floodgate. "Which, while face-up, makes it so that both players can only control one monster of each type. And if a player controls 2 or more monsters of the same type, they have tos end some to the graveyard so they control no more than one."
The wordy explanation seemed to make them think for a while as they processed the card's wording and effects, but eventually Sayaka seemed to come to an understanding as she exclaimed. "Ah! If there can only be one monster of each type then they can't XYZ Summon!"
Allen and Myu snapped their heads towards the glasses wearing girl, wordlessly asking for further elaboration. Sayaka started a bit at the sudden attention, but gave an example. "I-if m-maybe, f-for example, the Continuous Trap card was flipped face-up when A-Anna-san has two Level 10 Earth Machine monster and was about to XYZ Summon, then she'll have to send one of them to the graveyard."
And she kept continuing. "T-then she can't even summon another Machine monster since There Can Be Only One is on the field and she already has one. B-but if she can get another Level 10 monster that's not a Machine then she can still XYZ Summon right! Yuuna-san!" She said as she pushed all the attention back towards her.
She stroked her chin at the impromptu explanation that the lilac haired girl gave, and nodded with a small smile. "That's correct. The player can indeed XYZ Summon, they just need to have two monsters of the same Level, but of different Types."
As she saw the glasses wearing girl let out a sigh of relief having gotten the correct answer, she continued. "But in that case, if this was Anna that we're talking about, then she still can't XYZ Summon. At least, not freely."
"Huh?" Sayaka let out as she said so, and Allen and Myu also gave their own cries of confusion.
She raised a finger as she began another session of explanation. "In the case of There Can Only Be One, each player can only control one monster of each types correct?" She said in confirmation, and the others nodded.
"And in the example that you gave, one of the monsters in question is a Machine." She sadi, looking specifically to Sayaka, and she had no doubts that the gears in the girl's head had already started running.
"And if this is Anna that we're talking about." She said as she took a glance at the girl in question. "Then her Extra Deck would only be filled with Machine type monsters wouldn't it?" She pointed out.
"Oh! I get it!" And the one who managed to piece together the puzzle was none other than Myu. "Since the Anna-san in the example already has a Machine monster, then she can't XYZ Summon another Machine monster!"
"That's right." She said with a soft smile as she gave the twin tailed girl a pat on her head. "That is the case, but that isn't just the case for There Can Only Be One." She said, and their eyes focused back on her.
"As I said, there's a lot of floodgates that can easily win the game on their own. And quite honestly, almost any deck can run them regardless of whether or not they work well together. As long as you can establish a board and prevent your opponent from making theirs, you can probably win from that kind of position." And in the case of some combo decks that end in a floodgate, that's most likely the case.
She shuddered as she was reminded of the many decks that could end on how many negation and also Buster Lock through the Link monster that was Union Carrier, or the other many combo decks that could end on Scythe DPE, and lock them out of the Extra Deck that way, made easier of course by Artifact Dagda and Predaplant Verte Anaconda.
"In any case, the reason why I'm showing these cards to you is to prepare to face them." She informed them, and they blinked a few times at the statement, to which she sighed. "I mean, you all wanted to go into the World Duel Carnival right? At least, to enter and see how far you can actually get."
"So wait, the reason why you used that unfair card was… to teach us how to beat it?" Allen concluded with a confused look on his face. "But how are we even supposed to beat it?" He asked aloud.
And at that question that the poncho wearing boy asked, she could only give a wry smile. "Well, you just simply have to draw the out, I suppose." And the answer that she gave undoubtedly made the others give her another look of confusion.
She sighed again, rubbing the back of her head while she did so. "Alright, listen here." She started out. "In the case that you find yourself faced with an opponent who plays these kinds of floodgate, then the chances that deck that they are playing is a slow one based on controlling the game state." Barring combo decks that ends on floodgates like Virtual World.
"And since in most cases the floodgates that you would find are Continuous Traps that are most probably splashed in the deck, then there is a type of card that can easily out it." She dropped hints to see if anyone would draw the lines together.
And seeing that they didn't, she huffed a little bit before continuing her explanation. "It's backrow removal." She said bluntly, and realization seemed to dawn on all of them. "Cards like Mystical Space Typhoon, Twin Twisters, and Cosmic Cyclone would count as one."
She placed a hand on her chin as she thought. "If possible the cards being Quick-Play Spells are preferable. Because just like you saw I did in my game with Anna, in the case of the floodgates being Continuous Traps, it can be chainable to certain cards and activations to prevent them from activating, or resolving without effect."
"Huh? How would they being Quick-Play Spell make them better?" Asked Allen.
"So that you can chain them of course." She said a matter of factly. "The floodgates that takes the form of Continuous Traps only has their effects activated as soon as they managed to resolve on the field, so if your backrow removal which is a Quick-Play Spell is chained-"
"Then the Continuous Trap wouldn't be on the field since it would be destroyed! And its effects wouldn't be able to resolve!" Myu concluded correctly and she nodded with a small smile.
"Yep, you can't really do something like that if your backrow removal of choice is unchainable. Like Kaito's own Galaxy Cyclone." She said, naming the card that she had sold the blonde as an example.
"But then again, the ones that are usually normal Spell cards mostly remove more than one backrow." She elaborated as she placed a hand on her chin. "Kaito's galaxy Cyclone can be banished in the graveyard to destroy another set backrow, though that effect can only be activated on the turn after it was sent to the graveyard. And the others like Heavy Storm or Harpie's Feather Duster are cards that normal Spells that can wipe the entire spell and trap zone."
"Ah! Kaito-san has one of those!" Sayaka sounded out. "That Harpie's Feather Duster, I've seen him use one in one of his matches with Yuto-san, it's a Spell card that can destroy all cards in the opponent's spell and trap zone right?"
"He has one of those? That's nice information to have." She muttered as she shelved that interesting bit of information for if she ever had to duel the Galaxy-Eyes, or rather Cipher duelist.
Though seeing as the boy bought three copies of Galaxy Cyclone even after having the backrow wipe that is Harpie's Feather Duster, it probably meant that the boy probably only runs the card as a one off, or he only has the singular copy of the card.
Though that also meant that the boy has ample backrow removal, which meant that he should at least be prepared for when the Academia comes and invades this dimension, though if possible she at least wants to give him some archetype specific support.
And if possible just, just straight up give the blonde duelist a whole deck that isn't Ciphers. Sure she knows that Galaxy Eyes and Photons could be quite bricky at times, but the deck at least has far more options to go into rather than Ciphers of all things.
She coughed in her fist to refocus herself. "Anway, what I'm trying to say is that the thing that you need to always have in your deck is a way to access backrow removal, main deck ones are good, but ones that are easily accessible through the Extra Deck are certainly better."
Cards like Knightmare Phoenix and Knightmare Unicorn are honestly the easiest to access, what with them being generic Link Monsters and the latter spins the card back into the deck instead of destroying, but with Link Monsters being monsters that she does not have access to, perhaps Tornado Dragon would work? Yes. It's a generic Rank 4 after all, guess she'll have to stock on that card then.
"As I said, since the decks that usually play these kinds of floodgates are slow, they usually take more than one turn to deal a lethal blow to the opponent." Just like Floowandereze who can't OTK to save its life, and Subterror, though the latter was helped by Final Battle.
"So the best strategy to go against the deck is to wall up while saving your resources, draw the out, and if possible OTK in the crack back." At least that's what most combo decks do when they managed to out the floodgate. Though at that point the control deck usually would already have amassed more than enough resources to win through card advantage alone or have another floodgate set and activate it in response to the first one being destroyed.
"The reason why Anna most probably lost that game was because she was too aggressive, if she hadn't attacked with that Super Express Bullet Train she would have at least had some cards to play with on the field." Though she certainly already had far over lethal on the crack back.
"Honestly speaking, the chances that you'll find Summon Limit isn't small, especially with how virtually splashable the card is. You can technically play around that card simply by summoning multiple times in one go." She said. "Since it only limits both players to summoning only twice, if you were to summon multiple times in one turn then you're good."
"How are we supposed to summon multiple times in one go?! That's impossible!" Allen shouted aloud, and she almost burst out laughing. The irony of the boy saying those exact words in a format that would soon be Master Rule 3 and Pendulum Summoning being a thing.
"It's possible isn't it? Just like Anna's Special Schedule that can summon two monsters directly under special conditions." She said pointing behind her towards the cherry haired girl in question.
"And speaking of, you really need to get more spell trap removal Anna." She chided her friend as she placed both of her hands on her hips. "If I remember correctly, the only form of removal that you have for spells and traps is Derricrane right?" The girl in question refused to meet her eye to eye, making her sigh.
"Come on, don't be like that." She said softly as she walked slowly towards the girl who still refused to look at her with a pout. "I'm just giving you advice here. Backrow removal is usually something that a going second deck like yours should have, that or just equalizers in general."
She scratched a cheek, as she said her next words. "Well, I don't really have the latter, but I'm sure that I have one or two cards that you can use as generic backrow removal. I'll even give you a discount!"
The girl stayed still, and she scratched her head to think of something that could get the girl to respond. She sighed. "I'm sure that your deck would be better if you at least have some of those cards as an option to use, especially if you face against some deck that focuses on the backrow like Yuto's Phantom Knights."
That seemed to piqued the girl's interest slightly, and seeing a response she pushed. "I'm sure that there's going to be more people in the World Duel Carnival that's going to be using floodgates, they're easy ways to win some games after all, and no doubt that there's going to stall and control strategies all around." Or at least she hoped there would at least be a variety of those kinds of deck, watching big bungus turbo.
The girl seemed to be on the precipice, but she had more than enough and took the initiative in an impish mood of revenge. She took the cannon carrying girl's hand and pulled her up, a complete opposite to the start of the whole mess that made her duel against the girl.
Their faces were quite close now, and she saw the lightest of red tint on the cherry girl's cheeks. She gave her a cheeky smile. "I'm sure that if you keep bettering yourself, and keep improving your deck, that ideal prince of yours would be happy."
The cherry haired girl's face seemed to become even redder, and making sure that her point has already been sent, she lets her go. "Anyway!" She said as she turned towards the others who were looking at the two of them with hilarious different emotions shown in their faces.
"Who else wants a duel?"
-
"Well, lets meet again." She said as she lazily waved towards the four native duelists of the XYZ Dimension.
"Goodbye, Yuuna-san!"
"Bye bye, Yuuna-san!"
"Later! Yuuna!"
"Y-yeah, later."
Anna gave her a brief look before snappily turning back and flying away with her cannon, having unfolded her small purse into it, and with Allen on tow, while Sayaka and Myu continued to talk to one another while they started to walk away.
The small smile on her face lingered for a good while, and soon enough she turned around and made her way off from the now empty park, or at least, the now empty spot on the park, she could spot many places of the park being filled with people of all ages after all. She walked leisurely, just like going on a stroll without a worry.
She took in the sights, the many colourful buildings, the many residents of Heartland City that are going through their daily motions. She saw a street vendor selling their wares, children running around as they played with each other, some she could even see were dueling, it was the premiere form of sports after all.
Eventually she made it onto an decrepit alley, one with what you could expect from such an alley, disrepair, disturbing dark spots on the walls, and even an over filled metal dumpster.
And of course, just as all decrepit empty dark alleys in a surprisingly advanced technological city, there's that one person who's been spying on her ever since she came out, no, ever since she went out from her visit on the Heartland Dueling School.
She kicked the large dumpster as hard as she can, and she could hear the physical jolt that her stalker had as whoever they were seemed to be surprised by her sudden move, and she pounced.
She turned on her heels and jumped onto her stalker, making said stalker yelp as she tackled them down. She placed herself atop of the stalker, her dueling blade activated she poised the impromptu weapon mere inches from her assailant's neck.
"Talk." She said, her voice as cold as a blade of ice as she pushed her duel blade closer to the stalker's neck. "Who are you, and Why were you following me." She narrowed her eyes as she took on the features of the… teen, that she had attacked.
First off, it was a he, and said teen had curly red, almost orange hair if she was honest, green eyes, and a beauty mark below his eight eye. The teen wore an odd ensemble of clothes, one made off what seemed to be a long-sleeved blue collared shirt with a purple bow tie around his neck, with an orange jacket on top without the right sleeve and with a shortened hang on the right side, as well as a black glove on his left hand, and dark pants and red shoes.
Simply his looks shows how he's different from the people that she could normally find everywhere, even in this quite eccentric city of Heartland, she has only met a handful of people whose mere appearance sticks out like a sore thumb, and he was certainly one of them.
Though she didn't know if he was an original 'character' of Arc-V or ZEXAL, she never did finish both of those series, or if he's simply just an eccentric, but her gut told her that it was one of the former.
And if it was indeed the former, and if he was a part of what she though he was
"Sorry! I'm sorry!" The teen cried out as he held out both of his arms out in a sign of him surrendering, not fighting back nor is he trying to get out of the position that he was in, a look of panic clearly seen on his face.
"I'm Dennis! Dennic McField!" The boy cried out his name as he showed her an incredibly fake smile that wavered quite a bit. "I-uh, well, I kinda saw that whole commotion back at the Heartland Dueling School and saw you leave and couldn't help but be interested so I followed you since the duel was over and all. And then you just started dueling and I couldn't help but watch! Then I saw-"
"Stop." She hissed and clicked her tongue, stopping him from blabbering his mouth as he shut his mouth. The boy was truthful, or rather, saying the truth in a way that masked whatever lie he was hiding it behind.
He was hiding it very well, she'll give him that, but by the way that he visibly avoided eye contact for the briefest of moments, how his body stiffened slightly, and especially that fake smile of his.
That, or maybe it's because of the position that they're currently in, who knows?
This orange haired boy was good at lying, that was undoubtedly true, but faced with her years of knowledge dealing with people, and the new gut feeling that she had now developed through whatever spiritual powers that came from playing card games of all things, he was no match for her.
Though she felt a headache coming in. No doubt that the boy found her because of the mess that Anna made, which probably meant that there should be more that saw her.
If her guess was correct however, and that there were Academia spies watching the Heartland Duel School exhibition match like she did, then they should be aware of her existence in this dimension.
That is quite annoying, but then again, she was already spreading her name quite widely, so the chances of the Academia having known of her existence is something that's probably already known.
Which can be both good and bad, as if the Academia spies truly did have their eyes on her then the chances of her meeting them head to head in a confrontation is high, but the possibility them also hampering her self imposed duty of spreading staples and taking them for themselves were also possible.
So if she can, she wants to nip the problem in the bud. And if this 'Dennis McField' was indeed a spy of the Academia as she had suspected, because who would follow a young lady such as herself into a dirty dark alleyway? Then he should have one or two pieces of information about the other spies in this dimension.
"You don't have to lie, I know you're working with that man." She hissed the last part, and she saw the green eyed boy blink a few times as his brain raced, but seemed to not understand what she meant, either that or he was feigning ignorance.
"W-what might you be talking about?" He said naturally with a smile as he tilted his head slightly as if to show his confusion. "Um, if it's someone that I know-"
"There's no need to play games with me, spy." She hissed the last word. "I know that you work for the Academia." And by how his eyes widened ever so slightly she knew that she had him.
He moved suddenly sending a punch towards her face which she dodged by simply tilting her head slightly, hoping to take her off guard and free himself from the hold that she had on him. Or at least, he tried to do so, she instantly pushed him down again with more strength, keeping him down, and grabbing the arm that he used to punch her with her other hand.
"W-wait! We can talk about this!" He cried out as he sweat began to pour off of his face, his eyes darting back and forth as if to search for a way to escape. And as if a bright idea popped, he shouted his next few words aloud.
"T-then! How about a duel?!" He offered to her. "I-if you win I'll tell you all that I know, a-and if I win you'll let me go?" He said the last part as a question, as if unsure if she would even accept the offer.
She narrowed her eyes, her mind a whirlwind of emotions as she thought. The boy was an Academia spy, that she knew of by his reactions, or if not, then he at least knows of the Academia and she could wring out any form of information from him.
Though she was already in an advantageous position here, there wasn't really a need for her to accept his request to duel, she could just force him to give her whatever she wants here and now, accepting it would just allow him a chance where he could simply just escape.
But doing so would leave a bad taste in her mouth, using force that is, and it would essentially make her no better than the Obelisk Force that had captured both that grey haired boy and Serena, and though she doesn't care that much for that moral high ground, dueling the orange haired boy could also tell her of the deck that he play.
And subsequently, if he was indeed an Academia spy or not.
Logic and reason fought against one another in her head, and as she saw a glint of something in the corner of her eye, an idea formed. "Fine then. I'll accept." She said, accepting his offer, and he seemed bewildered that she did so by the shock that she saw in his face. "But first."
She kicked the dumpster again from her strange position, making the boy under her flinch slightly at the loud sound, and she could hear the loud crinkling of metal falling onto the ground.
She slowly stood up, her eyes still locked with Dennis' as she lifted her duel blade off of his neck, but kept a leg to pin him down. She then took the fallen bits of chain that conveniently sat next to the dumpster and wrapped it around the orange boy's hand much to his dismay.
It was an incredibly simplified version of the dueling chain that Edo had used on her on that fateful day, though unlike Edo's where his own was chained to each duelists' duel disk, this one chained Dennis to the dumpster.
The boy grimaced, she stood up fully and freed him from her hold, and so did he. Dennis then cleaned his vest off from dust, the clinking of metal a constant reminder of the literal metal chains that she had chained him with.
"I guess I'll have to duel you then?" He said with a wry smile, and activated his own red bladed duel disk. And she does the same, activating her own purple duel disk.
-
Mission!
[Uncover the Secret]
Defeat Dennis McField in a duel
Rewards: 20000DP, Captivating Curtain Call Pack Unlocked, Reputation Down (Dennis McField), Reputation Down (???)
Failure: Captivating Curtain Call Pack Permanently Locked, Lose all DP
-
Her eyes narrowed at the appearance of the new Mission prompt, and started the match.
""DUEL!!""
Dennis McField: 4000LP
Red Hat: 4000LP
"I guess I'll be going first." The orange haired teen laughed lightly to himself as he took a look at the cards in his hand, seemingly looking in thought as he took on the first turn, no doubt already knowing beforehand that he couldn't allow her to set up a board having spied on her earlier duels.
He took a few seconds as he looked at his own cards, before finally deciding on a play. "I guess I'll start by setting a monster!" He said as he placed a monster face-down on his dueling blade, and a face-down defence position monster appeared on his side of his field. "And I'll also set a card face-down!" And another set card appeared on his spell and trap zone.
"And I guess I'll end my turn." And he simply ended his turn with a T-set, three cards still left in his hand and not making any sort of combo play.
She frowned, her mind whirling at a quick pace. As he's someone that she met in this dimension, he should be playing an XYZ based deck, which means that his deck should of course lose to some of the floodgates that she runs in this deck.
Which, apparently, she hadn't drawn. Though perhaps it had to do with her hand modulation Skill where she would at least open with one 'True Draco' monstre and one 'True Draco' or 'True King' Continuous Spell or trap.
"Then it's my turn. I will draw." Six cards in hand, she started her turn. Briefly checking the cards that she had in hand again, rethinking of the many plays that she could now do to crack the simple, but possibly decisive, board.
And she then started her turn, taking out a card from her hand and revealing it. "I will activate the Continuous Spell, Disciples of the True Dracophoenix, and activate its effect." She declared as she activated the Continuous Spell card, and immediately used its effects.
"During the Main Phase, I can immediately after this effect resolves, tribute summon one 'True Draco' or 'True King' monster face-up." She explained the stipulation of texts that's printed on the two True Draco Continuous Spell cards, and revealed another card in her hand.
"I will tribute the Continuous Spell, Disciples of the True Dracophoenix, to tribute summon Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior." And sending the Continuous Spell card that she had just activated and tributed it to summon the red armoured draconic warrior.
Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior - Fire/Wyrm/Level 5/Effect: 2400/1000
And having sent a True Draco card to the graveyard, she activated its effects. "I will activate the graveyard effect of Disciples of the True Dracophoenix." She declared as she activated the graveyard effect of the card.
"If this card is sent from the spell and trap zone to the graveyard, I can target one spell or trap on the field and destroy it." She said as she explained the graveyard effect of Disciples of the True Dracophoenix. "I will destroy your set card."
And the effect resolves, with Dennis allowing it to resolve, his set backrow was then destroyed. "Kuh! Then I'll also activate the effect of my card in the graveyard!" He declared as he activated his card's own graveyard effect, said card briefly appearing back in the field.
"The Continuous Trap, Mage's Fortress!" He declared as the holographic projection of the destroyed Continuous Trap appeared back on the field, shining as its effects were activated.
"Mage's Fortress?" She muttered lowly as she narrowed her eyes and stared at the card. She's never heard of that card, though she doesn't know every single card in the game, she at least knew most of the usable cards that were released around this time. Which meant that it either was a card that she had looked over, or it was an 'anime only' card, which supported the theory that the boy was a 'character'.
"Then to the activation of the graveyard effect of Mage's Fortress, I will chain the effect of Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior." She said as she chained the effect of her own tribute summoned monster.
"Once per turn, when my opponent activates a card or effect while I control this tribute summoned monster, as a Quick Effect, I can take one 'True Draco' or 'True King' Continuous Spell card from my deck, and either activate it or add it to my hand." She explained the card's effects.
"I will activate the Continuous Spell, True Draco Heritage, directly from my deck." And she immediately activated the Continuous Spell to the column adjacent from her Ignis Heat.
"Well then, if Mage's Fortress is destroyed, I can draw one card. So I will!" he said as he drew a card, and now the orange haired boy had four cards back in his hand.
With the chain finally resolved, the game went into an open game state, before finally returning back to her. "I will activate True Draco Heritage, and activate its effects." She declared.
"During my Main Phase, I can draw cards equal to the number of 'True Draco' and 'True King" card types sent to the graveyard this turn." She explained the Continuous Spell's effects.
"As I have sent Disciples of the True Dracophoenix, a Continuous Spell, earlier this turn, I will draw one card." And with that she replenished back her hand to five cards, shuffling them before eyeing the card that she had just drawn.
"Then I will activate the Field Spell, Dragonic Diagram." She immediately activated the card that she had just drawn, and the decrepit alleyway that they were in then was engulfed and changed into a field with an empty sky, shining beacons of light all aimed towards a translucent shining draconic figure shone above them.
"Dragonic Diagram gives all 'True Draco' and 'True King' monsters on the field 300 attack and defence." She said the Field Spell's passive effects, and a reddish light emanated from her singular monster as its attack and defence were both boosted.
Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior - Fire/Wyrm/Level 5/Effect: 2700/1300
"Battle." And she immediately went on to the Battle Phase, not having a card that she could activate to continue her Main Phase with. "I will attack your face-down monster with my Ignis Heat."
And her monster then attacked, with a loud battle cry, he swung his large greatsword with a single hand, striking the face-down monster. And as they moved on into the Damage Step, before the Damage Calculation, the face-down monster was flipped face-up, revealing a purple garbed clown with a question mark staff on his right hand, and a small ball on his left, a large comical smile on his face.
Performage Trick Clown - Light/Spellcaster/Level 4/Effect: 1600/1200
"Performage." She spat out the name of the archetype that her opponent played with venom, making her opponent blinked confusedly at the hate that he could hear from her tone. She closed her eyes slightly as she calmed herself down.
It was a pure deck, a Performage deck without the Pendulum Monsters, which meant that it's Performages without Plushfire and Monkeyboard, or anything that's close to Pepe. Which means that the teen was only playing the pure variant that has around five main deck monsters, the rest of his deck probably made out of Spellcaster support cards.
And without any cards to activate in the Damage Step, Trick Clown was then destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, and then its effect activates. "I will activate the effect of Performage Trick Clown in my graveyard!" Dennis declared.
"If this card is sent to the graveyard, I can target one 'Performage' monster in my graveyard and special summon it! Though its attack and defence becomes 0, that, and I take 1000 damage." He explained the card's effects before he then chose the one and only legal target.
"I'll target Trick Clown himself!" He said as he targeted Trick Clown with its own effects. "But oh? What's this? I'm not done yet! I'll also use the effect of Performage Flame Eater in my hand!" And then proceeded to reveal another card in his hand.
"Now this card you see, I can activate his effect in my hand during either players turn when a card or effect is activated that would inflict damage to me!" He started, explaining the effect of the monster in his hand.
"Though I can't special summon monsters for the rest of the turn except 'Performage' monsters, I can special summon this card from my hand, and make that effect damage 0!" And he then proceeded to summon the monster, a small balloon like monster with eyes and a red cape, along with a small wizards hat, spewing a small lick of flame from its mouth.
Performage Flame Eater - Fire/Spellcaster/Level 4/Effect: 1200/1600
And continuing the chain, he then special summoned back the Trick Clown, releasing a wave of light upon his summon. And the Flame Eater then ate said wave of light, taking the instance of damage and negating it after the monster's summon.
Performage Trick Clown - Light/Spellcaster/Level 4/Effect: 0/0
"And now, Flame Eater's effect!" Dennis then happily exclaimed. "If this card is normal or special summoned, each player takes 500 damage!" And declaring so, the balloon-like monster then shot out bursts of fire, dealing damage to both players.
Red Hat: 3500LP
Dennis McField: 3500LP
She clicked her tongue, noting how the teen now had two Level four monsters on his field. "I will set one card. And I'll end my turn." And with that, she ended her turn. Ignis Heat on the field, along with three cards in her spell and trap zone, one being True Draco Heritage, and three cards remaining in hand, Dragonic Diagram being the one and only Field Spell on the field.
"Now it's my turn again! I'll draw!" And he drew his cards for the turn. And now with four cards in hand, Dennis then went and started his turn. That irritatingly fake smile still on his face.
"I'll start by special summoning Performage Hat tricker!" He declared as he special summoned a monster from his hand. "Now this card you see, I can special summon it from my hand if two or more monsters are on the field!" And using its own innate summoning condition, the purple hat and green cloaked spectacled Spellcaster monster appeared onto the field, cramming the small alleyway that they were in as the three spellcasters seemed to comically struggle with space.
Performage Hat Tricker - Earth/Spellcaster/Level 4/Effect: 1100/1100
"I'll equip performage Trick Clown with the Equip Spell, Wonder Wand!" And he then continued by activating an Equip Spell of all things, and the question marked staff in the hand of Trick Clown then magically transformed into a wooden wand with a green orb on the end.
"Ignis Heat effect." And she chained her own monster's effect to the activation of the Equip Spell, and having already explained the card's effect earlier, she forgo doing so again. "I'll set the Continuous Spell, Disciples of the True Dracophoenix."
And with the chain resolving, the magic wand on the hand of the Light Spellcaster then strengthened the monster, only ever so slightly though.
Performage Trick Clown - Light/Spellcaster/Level 4/Effect: 500/0
"And now, I will activate Wonder Wand effect!" He declared so with flair, and the monster equipped with said magical wand twirled the weapon in question. "Wonder Wand lets me send both it and the equipped monster if I control the monster to the graveyard, to draw two more cards!"
And with a wave of his hands, he does so. "I'll send Performage Trick Clown to the graveyard, to draw two cards!" And with the order, the purple garbed clown shone as he swung his magic wand, and disappeared in a show of light, replenishing Dennis' hand to four cards as he drew two.
"Now! I'll be activating Trick Clown's effect again!" He declared with a wink as he activated the graveyard effect of his monster for the second time this game. "Since he's sent to the graveyard, I get to summon back a 'Performage' monster from my graveyard! I'll of course be targeting himself! And take 1000 points of damage"
She hummed, knowing already where he was going to with Hat Tricker being on the field. "But wait! I'll also be activtaing Hat Tricker's effect!" He said dramatically as if he was performing on a stage.
"When a card or effect is activating that would inflict damage to me you see, I can as a Quick Effect, place one Performage Counter on this card with a maximum of three, to make that damage 0!" And the hat wearing Spellcaster then shone, taking on one counter to prevent him from taking damage from Trick Clown's effect.
Performage Hat Tricker - Earth/Spellcaster/Level 4/Effect: 1100/1100 (Performage Counter: 1)
And then he continued the chain. "Now I'll special summon back Performage Trick Clown!" And summoned back Trick Clown, the wand wielding Spellcaster monster appearing back with a goofy smile on his face.
Performage Trick Clown - Light/Spellcaster/Level 4/Effect: 0/0
"Well, it won't be staying for long though!" The orange haired Duelist said with a eerie smile as he then raised his right hand to the air. "It's like this right? I'll overlay the Level 4 Performage Trick Clown, along with the Level 4 Performage Flame Eater!"
And the two monsters that he called then turned into motes of gold and red light respectively, and in front of him a black and gold spiral appeared to which his monsters entered into. He seemed to look transfixed at the sight before him, before snapping back "Um, right! Show must go on! O magician of illusions, take to the stage!"
And from the galactic spiral in front of him exploded into light, a baton flew, spinning in the air, before seemingly righting itself midair as two yellow ropes of light appeared on both ends. With the sound of an ominous giggle, a purple figure of energy seemed to manifest as it swung using said baton.
"XYZ Summon!" Dennis declared, as the pillar of light succeeded, and the monster full manifested. "Appear! Performage Trapeze Magician!" And the XYZ Monster then made its way onto the field, a white clad magicians with light purple cape and decorations, along with golden trims and stars adorning its hat, on its left hand was the baton it used to swing above them, and two golden Overlay Materials orbited the monster.
Performage Trapeze Magician - Light/XYZ/Spellcaster/Rank 4/Effect: 2500/2000 OV: 2
"I… did it." She heard the orange haired boy mutter in wonder as his eyes transfixed onto his own monster, a look of wonder on his face. She frowned, from the context clues that she's picking up, he seemed to have never summoned the monster
He then seem to snap back into the game after a few seconds, shaking his head slightly before waving towards his newly summoned monster. "I'll activate Trapeze Magician effect!" He declared.
"It's a, right! Once per turn, during either player's Main Phase, I can detach one XYZ Material from this card to target one face-up monster on the field, and it can make a second attack during each Battle Phase this turn!" Dennis explained his own monster's effect.
"But at the end of the Battle Phase, if that monster doesn't attack twice this turn, then that monster is then destroyed! I'll target my own Performage Trapeze Magician!"And the Spellcaster did just that, swinging its small baton in this cramped space to take one of its own Overlay Units.
Performage Trapeze Magician - Light/XYZ/Spellcaster/Rank 4/Effect: 2500/2000 OV: 1
The Spellcaster in question then seemed to overflow with power as it seemed to grip its baton tighter than before as rainbow dust its own effect, allowing it to attack twice but at the cost of being destroyed at the end of the Battle Phase.
That wasn't what she remembered Trapeze Magician's effect was on release, she remembered that there was some more restrictions on it, but she guessed that it might be its anime effect then.
"And now, I'll equip Trapeze Magician with an Equip Spell! One-Shot Wand!" Dennis declared as he used up another card in his hand, showing that it was another Equip Spell of all things.
"This card can only be equipped to a Spellcaster-Type monster you see, and it gives them 800 points of attack!" He declared som and the XYZ Monster threw its baton into the air, and it transformed into a wand with a curved golden tip.
Performage Trapeze Magician - Light/XYZ/Spellcaster/Rank 4/Effect: 3300/2000 OV: 1
"Battle!" He declared aloud as he moved onto the Battle Phase immediately. "I'll attack your Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior!" And the monster then swung its newly minted wand, shooting a beam of light directed onto Ignis Heat who hefted his sword in an attempt to guard, causing an explosion.
"Che." She clicked her tongue as she raised a hand to protect her eyes from the dust cloud that the explosion made, the light shock of electricity coming up from her duel disk as she received battle damage.
Red Hat: 2900LP
"Alright! It's been quite fun but I'll have to close it here." She heard Dennis said with a eerie smile on his face. "I'll attack again with Trapeze Magician!" And the XYZ Monster then hastily attacked again, dashing through the cloud of dust to attack for game.
Only for said attack to then be stopped as a loud clang resounded along the alleyway, and as the dust from the first attack settled it revealed that the attack was blocked by the greatsword of Ignis Heat. "What?!" He shouted.
"Dragonic Diagram's effect." She said calmly, snapping his focus towards her. "The first time each tribute summoned 'True Draco' or 'True King' monster would be destroyed by battle each turn, it is not." She explained the other passive effect of Dragonic Diagram.
"Che! But since it's only once your monster will be destroyed this time!" He clicked his tongue in frustration at hearing the second effect of her Field Spell, and this time her monster was indeed destroyed, and she took the residue battle damage.
Red Hat: 2300LP
The orange haired boy physically growled as he scowled hard, having missed lethal. "Fine! I'll just attack you with Hat Tricker!" He declared as he tried to attack her directly with his second monster, the hat wearing Spellcaster rushing in.
"I'll flip up my set card, True King's Return." And she responded by flipping up one of her two set cards, True King's Return. "And I will activate its effects." And the flipped up holographic projection of the Continuous Trap then shone.
"I can target one 'True Draco' or 'treu king' monster in my graveyard and special summon it in define position, and for the rest of this turn, I cannot special summon." She explained the Continuous trap's effect, and chose the one and only target.
"I'll special summon back Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior." And placing back the card onto her duel blade, the sword wielding Dracowarrior returned back onto the field, placing his sword in front of himself in a defensive position.
Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior - Fire/Wyrm/Level 5/Effect: 2400/1000
And a red glow then emanated from his body as both his attack and defence was then boosted with the effect of Dragonic Diagram.
Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior - Fire/Wyrm/Level 5/Effect: 2700/1300
"Kuh!" Dennis clicked his tongue again as he failed to attack now that she had summoned a monster with a higher defence back onto the field, and replayed to not attack. "I'll set a card… And I guess I'll end my turn." He said with a scowl as he ended how turn with two cards in hand, and two monsters on the field, those being Hat Tricker and a Trapeze Magician equipped with One-Shot Wand, and a single unknown set card.
"My turn. I will draw." She said so as she then drew a card for her Draw Phase. Now with four cards in hand, she then proceeded to start her turn. "I will activate the effect of Dragonic Diagram."
"It has more effects?!" Dennis cried out in shock as she activated the third effect of the Field Spell.
"Once per turn, I can destroy one other card I control or in my hand, and if I do, I can add one 'True Draco' or 'True King' card from my deck to my hand." She said as she then pointed towards the card that she would target.
And with the card resolving, she then declared the target that she would destroy ad the card that she would then add. "I will destroy my own Ignis Heat, to add Dinomight Knight, the True Dracofighter."
The blade wielding Wyrm was then destroyed, and she added the other True Draco monster to her hand. But her play won't end there of course. "I will activate True King's return again, to summon back Ignis Heat."
And with that effect resolving, the True Dracowarrior returned onto the field once more, brandishing his blade in defence position.
Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior - Fire/Wyrm/Level 5/Effect: 2400/1000
And again, a red glow engulfed the re summoned monster, the passive effect of her Field Spell boosting both attack and defence of Ignis Heat.
Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior - Fire/Wyrm/Level 5/Effect: 2700/1300
And she then continued with her turn. "I will now activate the effect of True Draco Heritage." She declared. "During the Main Phase, I can immediately after this effect resolves, tribute summon one 'True Draco' or 'True King' monster face-up." She explained the effect, one that was shared by the other Continuous Spell that she had used earlier this duel.
"I will tribute True King's Return, to tribute summon Dinomight Knight, the True Dracofigther." And tributing the already spent Continuous Trap card, she summoned the monster that she had added to her hand, the green armoured Dracofighter appeared onto her side of the field.
Dinomight Knight, the True Dracofighter - Water/Wyrm/Level 6/Effect: 2500/1200
A translucent blue glow emanated from the newly summoned Wyrm, just like her other monster, his attack and defence was then boosted by the effect of Dragonic Diagram.
Dinomight Knight, the True Dracofighter - Water/Wyrm/Level 6/Effect: 2800/1500
"Then I will activate the graveyard effect of True King's Return." She said, activating the Continuous Trap's graveyard effect. "If this card is sent from the spell and trap zone to the graveyard, I can target one monster on the field and destroy it."
And she pointed a finger towards her target. "I will target and destroy Performage Trapeze Magician." She said as she targeted the XYZ Monster that the boy had.
"Uh oh! Trapeze Magician?!" He cried out as his monster was then destroyed by the effect of her card, the XYZ Monster letting a cry before it was then destroyed and turned into motes of light.
"Kuh! Then, Trapeze Magician effect! And I'll also activate the effect of Performage Trick Clown in my graveyard!" He said, chaining the effects of the two monsters that was apparently sent to the graveyard, having kept Trick Clown as the last Overlay Material on his XYZ Monster.
She narrowed her eyes and hummed. "I'll chain the effect of Dinomight Knight, the True Dracofighter." And she chained the effect of her own monster to the chain of two cards. "Once per turn, when my opponent activates a card or effect while I control this tribute summoned monster, as a Quick Effect, I can take one 'True Draco' or 'True King' Continuous Trap card from my deck, and either activate it or add it to my hand."
Done with the explanation of her monster's effects, and with no further card chained, she then took out a card from her deck with Dinomight Knight's effect. "I'll activate The Continuous Trap, True Draco Apocalypse directly from my deck." And she activated the card behind the green armoured monster.
"I'll special summon back my Performage Flame eater from the graveyard!" And resolving the chain backwards, he proceeded to summon the balloon-like monster back from his graveyard with the effect of Trick Clown, the monster's attack and defence reduced to nothing.
Performage Flame Eater - Fire/Spellcaster/Level 4/Effect: 0/0
And then the monster then exploded in light, making the orange haired boy yelp as he received the damage from the effect of Performage Trick Clown summoning back Flame Eater.
Dennis McField: 2500LP
"H-hey! What gives?!" The Performage duelist cried out in confusion. "How come I couldn't activate the effect of Performage Hat Tricker?!" He asked aloud, wondering why he couldn't have activated the effect of his own monster to prevent himself from taking effect damage.
"You missed its timing." She huffed at the boy for not even knowing his own cards. "The effect of Performage Hat Tricker is a 'When' Quick Effect that can only be activated when an effect that would make you take damage activates, and as I chained my own Dinomight Knight, the effect misses timing."
"O-oh. is that so. Thanks for telling me, I guess." He muttered after blinking a few times, thanking her for informing him of how his monster's effect misses timing, as a lot of 'when' effects do.
"A-anyway! Now Trapeze Magician's effect! If thai card is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, or if this card in my possession is destroyed by an opponent's card effect absent to my graveyard, I can special summon one 'Performage' monster from my deck!" He explained the XYZ Monster's floating effect.
And taking a monster from his deck, he then declared what monster he was going to special summon directly from his deck with its effect. "I'll special summon Performage Damage Juggler directly from my deck!" And summoned in defence position, a Spellcaster with a single eye seen and a large magicians hat juggling four red balls appeared onto the field.
Performage Damage Juggler - Light/Spellcaster/Level 4/Effect: 1500/1000
And with the chain having resolved and entering an open game state, the effect of Flame Eater activated. "Now Flame Eater's effect! Since its summoned, both of us takes 500 points of damage!" Dennis said as licks of flames appeared at the corner of the Balloon monster's mouth.
"But this time I'll activate the effect of Hat Tricker instead! Making it so that I place a Performage Counter on him instead of taking damage, but you still do!" And with a wave of its gloved hands, the purple hat Spellcaster on Dennis' side of the field took the ball of fire that would have struck his summoner and instead placed a counter on itself, its effects not missing timing.
Performage Hat Tricker - Earth/Spellcaster/Level 4/Effect: 1100/1100 (Performage Counter: 2)
And she clicked her tongue again, her frown deeper than before as she took on the burn damage from the effect of Flame Eater, her Life Points already down to lower than half from the small damages piling up.
Red Hat: 1800LP
"Disciples effect." She declared aloud, activating the second effect of the Continuous Spell that was on her field. "I will use its effects to immediately tribute Ignis Heat, to tribute summon another Dinomight Knight, the True Dracofigther."
And with that said, the blade wielding True Draco then was tributed and sent to the graveyard, summoning another green armoured barehanded fighter onto her field, the Wyrm sending out a few punches out as if warming himself for battle.
Dinomight Knight, the True Dracofighter - Water/Wyrm/Level 6/Effect: 2500/1200
And just like the monsters before him, the Wyrm was then engulfed in a blue glow as his attack and defence were boosted by the Field Spell that was on the field.
Dinomight Knight, the True Dracofighter - Water/Wyrm/Level 6/Effect: 2800/1500
And she then continued her turn. "I will activate the effect of Disciples of the True Dracophoenix." She declared, this time activating the Continuous Spell's first effect. "Which allows me to target three 'True Draco' and or 'True King' cards in my graveyard and shuffle them back into the deck, then draw one card."
Done with explaining what the Continuous Spell does, she declared the three targets that were the only targets in her graveyard. "I will shuffle back the first copy of Disciples of the True Dracophoenix, True King's Return, and Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior, to draw one card."
And shuffling all those three cards back into her deck, she drew with the Continuous Spell's effect and now had four cards back in hand. "I will activate the effect of True Draco Apocalypse." And proceeded to continue with her turn.
"Once per turn, I can target one other 'True Draco' or 'True King' card that I control, and destroy it, to halve the attack and defence of all face-up monsters that you control." And Dennis' eyes widened as he heard her card's effects.
"I will destroy my own face-up Continuous Spell, Disciples of the True Dracophoenix, to half the attack and defence of all monsters that you control." And destroying her spent Continuous Spell, a wave of purple lightning filled her opponent's side of the field, his three monsters were then struck by said electricity as their attack and defence were then halved, barring Flame Eater who has none as it was summoned with Trick Clown's effect.
Performage Hat Tricker - Earth/Spellcaster/Level 4/Effect: 550/550 (Performage Counter: 2)
Performage Damage Juggler - Light/Spellcaster/Level 4/Effect: 750/500
"Now Disciples' graveyard effect." She declared.
"There's still more?!" The orange haired boy cried out as she continued to combo off.
"If this card is sent from the spell and trap zone to the graveyard, I can target and destroy one spell or trap on the field." She explained the card's effect, having already used so earlier in the duel.
She then proceeded to point towards the target. "I will destroy your set card." And the card was destroyed, revealing it to be another card that she had never seen before, and she immediately pulled up her duel disk to check the graveyard for any effect. The Trap card, Pinch braker, had no such a thing, so she continued on without any halts.
"Then I will activate the effect of True Draco Heritage, which lets me draw cards equal to the number of 'True Draco' and 'True King" card types sent to the graveyard this turn." She summarized the effect of the Continuous Spell.
"This turn, I had sent a True Draco monster, A True Draco spell, and a True King trap from the field to the graveyard, so I will draw three cards." And with that her hand had reached the cap of seven cards.
"Wha-! It allows you to do that?!" Dennis cried out in outrage as he saw her plus even more in card advantage, essentially activating Graceful Charity without the discard effect. He began to sweat, with the amount of cards that she had on him, and the monsters she had on field, he doubted that she wouldn't be able to at the very least clear his board of monsters.
"Now I will use my normal summon for the turn, to tribute my True Draco Apocalypse, to tribute summon a Majesty Maiden." And tributing the Continuous Trap whose effects she had already used this turn, she summoned the monster that she had drawn with Heritage, the blonde maiden swinging her golden staff upon summon.
Majesty Maiden, the True Dracocaster - Wind/Wyrm/Level 5/Effect: 2300/1500
And she then glowed with a glowing green light around her body, having her attack and defence boosted thanks to the Field Spell that was on.
Majesty Maiden, the True Dracocaster - Wind/Wyrm/Level 5/Effect: 2600/1800
"True Draco Apocalypse effect." She continued and started a new chain, activating the graveyard effect of the second Continuous trap that she had sent to the graveyard this turn. "Just like True King's Return, I can target and destroy one monster on the field."
And once again, she pointed towards the monster that she would destroy with its effects. "I will target and destroy Performage Damage Juggler." And without any responses, Dennis yelped as the monster that he had summoned directly from his deck was then destroyed and sent to the graveyard.
She knew that the monster has a graveyard effect, one that would essentially allow him to ROTA any Performage monster, but if her math was correct, then there wouldn't be any next turn.
And raising a hand up, she snapped her fingers. "Battle. Majesty Maiden, attack Flame Eater." She ordred, and her monster obliged. The golden blonde majestic maiden drew out her staff and shot out blades of wind that tore the balloon-like monster, destroying it.
"Dinomight Knight, attack Hat Tricker." And she then sent the first copy of Dinomight Knight to attack the hat wearing monster, sending a good straight towards the monster and dealing a hefty amount of battle damage.
"GUAGH!" Dennis screamed as almost all of his Life Points were then decreased, the singular attack making him almost fall off of his feet and shaking him heavily, having to raise both of his hands to guard against the harsh winds that the solid hologram made.
Dennis McField: 250LP
"Now then, the finale." She said with a mocking smile, mimicking the grandeur that the orange haired boy had done so far. "Go! Dinomight Knight!" And with a loud cry, her last monster attacked, sending a punch that hit Dennis directly.
"GUAAAGH!" And he was thrown right into the wall of the small alley that she had cornered him at, a loud thud resounding as he hit the wall, and then slumping down to the concrete below with a groan, the chains on his hand clinking as he does.
Dennis McField: 0LP
She winced slightly as she saw him flop onto the ground groaning, but whatever feeling that she had was then squashed as cold logic flowed into her veins. "Now then." She said as she neared the downed boy.
"You will tell me everything that you know."