Chapter 3 - CHAPTER 3

It was final match, the final battle, of the New Seattle Duel Fantasia Tournament. Trevor stood in his place, awaiting for his long unacquainted rival to enter on his side of the duel table.

The crowd cheered "Trevor! Trevor! Trevor!" one end of the stadium, shouting on encouraging the duelist's confidence. He felt somewhat embarrassed, knowing that he had to win now that he had an audience to entertain.

Trevor turned his head, noticing a strange man entering the other side of the table opposite of him, a man wearing a bizarre costume resembling the cliché box-shaped robot made of cardboard boxes, the kind you would normally see in your everyday Saturday morning cartoon. It was truly a silly sight to behold, but no one laughed and neither did Trevor; he knew who exactly this person was.

His name was J.D.

An infamous player of the Duel Fantasia card game, known for this mysterious disguise. His choice of wear was an attempt in representing the deck of his specialty, a clan of cards which comprised of various gothic machines, undead cyborgs, and other grotesque life forms with a metallic exterior- the Metal Civilization.

"So we finally get to face each other, J.D., and for a moment I thought we would never be able to face each other." Trevor words were conversational but his tone was slightly aggressive, sounding like fighting words than anything sportsman-like.

"Good job, Trevor, may the best man win." J.D. say with a youthful and calm voice, actually quite polite sounding in tone. He saw Trey's attempt at being antagonistic but not once did he seem phased. Then again, how can anyone see the expression on his face with the mask of a cardboard robot covering it?

The two duelists took the chance to shuffle each other's decks and placing them where they needed to be, and placing their stones where they needed to be. The audience cheered again, hoping for an exciting match.

With the card game itself being such a part of the world, it was obvious why there would always be spectators watching. A lot of people loved playing the game. And since the tournaments had been happening for so many years, the fans came from all over the country. They wanted to be apart of this event, just as much as the players did.

Trevor kept his cards in his hand, facing forward towards J.D. while J.D. faced Trevor. There was no need for talking because both of them knew what needed to be done, and their goal was to win.

J.D.'s deck was filled with metal creatures, not unlike his outfit, and they were all very deadly. Most of them were quite large, even bigger than Trevor's Bamboo Dragon. Trevor wasn't about to let himself lose this time around, though. He already had his ace creature on the field, ready to go up against any Metal creature J.D. wished.

He picked out the right card and placed it on the field. His goal was to take down J.D.'s Death Metal Liger before the card could hit the field. He also had a strong card that helped him deal with his enemies, so he didn't have to worry.

And then there was the fact that J.D. didn't have a card that could easily beat his Bamboo Dragon. He wasn't too keen on using his strongest card yet, though, because he really didn't want to use it in the first round. Despite that, Trevor knew not to overestimate J.D., not even for a second- many other players have done so before and it always costed them the game. J.D. was the pro among pros and Trevor knew this.

"Alright, here we go, it's do or die time." Trevor said in a confident manner, having to think of another way to win. His hand was starting to feel heavy from so many turns pulling out cards.

But Trevor was getting desperate, J.D. was clearly the better of the two, and if he wanted to win this tournament, he would have to pull out all of the stops.

And then, a flash of light enveloped the arena.

A white streak of lightning flew through the air, hitting the stage and making the ground rumble. But in the midst of this chaos, the face of the winner slowly appeared.

"It's over, Trevor!" A crowd of spectators cheered at the end of the match, thundering applause echoing throughout the stadium.

Trevor couldn't help but smile and nod back, while he pulled out a card from his deck and placed it on the field. It was a card called "Bamboo Dragon, Dojimaru" the only thing that mattered in this match.

J.D. looked on in confusion as Trevor used his final move. He didn't know what happened either, but he felt as though something strange was going on. But he still remained calm, and by the time J.D. took his turn- it was finally over.

Drawing from the top card of his deck- "I SUMMON DEATH METAL LIGER!!!" J.D. shouted, sparking the crowd to go wild with excitement.

"Dojimaru!" Trevor's eyes lit up, and he readied himself for battle.

"You did exceptionally well," J.D. said to Trevor, with a tone that sounded inspiring to the fellow player. "But now it is time for me to finish this!"

J.D. was no villain- he was a hero among the game. Even Trevor knew this. So, despite the fact that Trevor was losing, he didn't give up, and he continued to fight to the bitter end.

Trevor drew from the top of his deck and readied himself for the next turn. It was the final battle, to determine who was the strongest: Dojimaru or Death Metal Liger? This decisive bout was the turning point for the entire match, whoever won ensured the true victory- not for the match but in spirit. If Trevor manages to survive and defeat J.D.'s ace creature, then even if he were to lose on the next turn- his name would be immortalized forever, as the one person---the first person---to defeat the mechanical beast.

Trevor smiled confidently, knowing that he had to win this fight. He had to make sure that the Death Metal Liger loses. He had to make it happen.

The card he put on the field was, "Bamboo Dragon, Dojimaru". He had done everything he could to keep his opponent from winning. Now, it was up to fate to decide the rest. Dojimaru had the effect that allowed him to attack a creature upon the turn they were summoned. Normally, a creature would suffer from summoning sickness, but with Dojimaru- that summoning sickness was only valid when pitted against the opponent directly. And so, Trevor knew that he had a chance at winning.

If he can manage to summon Dojimaru and defeat the Death Metal Liger, then maybe...just maybe...he will win. There was one problem, however. Dojimaru only had 9000 attack power, while Death Metal Liger had 12000. Trevor need is a major power boost for this to work. He needed to summon another creature.

He looked around the stage, trying to find an answer. But he could only come up with one option. In order to defeat Death Metal Liger, he had to use a card from his Item Shop.

The Item Shop was a specialized extra deck that could carry up to ten "Item" cards, and there could only be one copy of a single Item card within the Item Shop. He had one Item card that could give him the boost he needed.

"Last Resort," Trevor read aloud from his card. It was a card that allows the player to double the attack power of any creature he chooses, but at the cost of one life point and the creature must be sent to the discard pile at the end of the turn. That means, if Trevor managed to use it on Dojimaru, then Dojimaru's attack power would go from 9000 to 18000.

That was about the best he could do in order to beat the metal beast.

Trevor took another deep breath, readying himself for his turn. He would have to try this strategy, but he wasn't sure if it would work. The last thing he wanted to do was get hit by the Death Metal Liger's massive attacks. Still, there was nothing else he could do.

"I use Last Resort to boost Dojimaru's attack power," Trevor said. "And then Dojimaru will attack Death Metal Liger!"

This time, the spectators were silent, waiting for the outcome. No one expected Trevor to pull this off. He was already down to his last life point, and all he had to do was draw a single card that would allow him to use the item again.

As the attack phase initiated, J.D. said unexpectedly "I use Death Metal Liger special skill- if attacking or attacked, I can search my discard pile for a creature and equip it on to my Liger."

It was a surprise move. J.D. was using the advantage of the special skill to his fullest potential. His plan was to counterattack Trevor's Dojimaru with Death Metal Liger's ability, and then force Trevor to take his own life point.

"I equip 'Cyber Ninja, Raijin' to Death Metal Liger," J.D. continued. "Boosting Liger's attack from 12000 to a 21000."

Wow, that was unexpected. Trevor thought. J.D. didn't seem like the type to use such tactics...but now that he mentioned it, he had made a few moves that were quite surprising.

Metal decks specialized heavily in manipulating the discard pile, also known as the Amnesium, where a common strategy is to build up said Amnesium for various effects. For example, a card that would destroy a random creature, be it against a friendly or enemy, would be very useful to a Metal deck.

The battle continued. Dojimaru, previously having the upperhand, was now once more the weaker creature. Even with it's current 18,000 attack power, it couldn't even hope to take down the 21,000 attack power that Death Metal Liger had.

"I... lost..." Trevor whispered to himself. He had failed. There was no way he could defeat Death Metal Liger on his own. He had just watched his one shot at victory slip through his fingers.

Once it came back to J.D.'s turn, he made the final move- stripping Trevor of his very last life point. The match was finished.

"What?" Trevor asked, confused.

J.D. turned to look at Trevor and said "You played well, I was impressed by your skills." He assured. "We will duel again one day."

Trevor smiled. It was true. This was not the end. One day they would face each other again, and Trevor would win. He was sure of it.

"WE HAVE A WINNER!" The announcer shouted, declaring J.D. as the victor of this tournament.

"WOOHOO!!" Everyone cheered.

---

"Phew," Trevor sighed, relieved. He was exhausted. He had been working nonstop since the start of summer break. After winning the Duel Fantasia tournament, he went straight to his cousin Rocky's house to celebrate her birthday party. As if that wasn't enough, he then spent the rest of the weekend helping out his dad.

"So what are you gonna do next?" Rocky asked after the celebration had ended. She was sitting on an armchair near the TV, flipping through channels.

"I'm going to get stronger at Duel Fantasia, and I am going to beat J.D. on our rematch." Trevor replied.

"Sounds good," she said. "But hey! You know what would make you stronger? A girlfriend."

"A girlfriend?"

"Yeah. What guy doesn't want a girl to share their success with them?"

"Are you volunteering?" Trevor snarked.

Rocky laughed. "No, of course not. But a girl needs to have someone to talk to when she has problems, right?"

"True." Trevor nodded.

"Well, I don't have any problem with that. So why don't you try asking one out?"

"Oh, yeah." Trevor said, suddenly remembering something. "I think I might go to the mall today."

"Why?"

"I kinda promised my best friend that we'll hangout today."

"Wait..." Rocky was hesitant to ask. "Could you... teach me how to play Duel Fantasia?"

"Me? Why?"

"You were pretty cool back there in your match with J.D., I think it kind of made me interested." Rocky said.

"Oh, okay." Trevor smiled. "Sure, I guess I can show you."

"Cool." Rocky was all smiles.