OOC: Okay, slight update to Achan's deck in order to open up new avenues for Wanderers and un-staple things a bit. Omega, this post is going to take some liberties with your NPCs, but it's going to justify things a bit. (By the way, this roleplay has a plot written out for it already, unlike "Star in the Sky" where the roleplayers come up with ideas for moving it ahead, so don't try to unveil the bad guy just yet. He will come, he will come.... and he isn't a ninja. XD)
Alter Ego, I remember you saying that Achan's first duel was just to show off his Wanderer. It wasn't. It was filler added to the post so it wouldn't be just "Achan found his team mates, YAY!". I am sorry to say that this is a duel added just to show off a specific set of cards.
IC: Achan tugged at the ropes binding the girl to the gate as Tacey's suits arrived to help him undo the knots. Tacey, meanwhile, was giving Rurian's opponent a piece of her mind. Achan rolled his eyes once again. "I'm not an idiot, y'know," he called over his left shoulder, "Slacker? Quite possibly. Short? Yes. Rude? You can answer that question yourself. But I am not, I repeat, emphatically not an idiot." With that, he returned to his work. Just as he and the two suits- Rufus and "Ewans" as he recalled- he noticed something strange. The rope was knotted multiple times, true, but the knots seemed to run along its length instead of simply connecting two ends of the rope. In addition, the girl's gag seemed a bit loose. Not only that, but the gate led to... well, nowhere. There was nothing there but an empty alleyway. "What the..." Achan muttered, just as the two conspicuous cloaked men on the ground leaped to their feet as if they had never been unconscious and, in a surprisingly thick blast of smoke, exploded. Achan backed away coughing. What on earth?
As the smoke cleared, Achan could see them. Four teens, about his own age, each one carrying a duel disk and wearing clothing similar to that of Rurian's. The one who seemed to be their leader, and older kid with hair of a similar color to Achan's, walked forward. "Yuri, I think the game's up. We weren't supposed to have this many people here. It was only supposed to be Rurian that responded to our distress call."
At his words, the "Damsel in Distress" exploded into a burst of white smoke as well, which Achan futilely attempted to ward off with his hat. When it cleared she stood in the middle of the square, the ropes and gag sitting around her ankles while a collapsible gate stood off to the side. "Shoot," she muttered, viciously kicking at the dirt. She then turned to Achan. "It's your fault. Only Rurian was supposed to come. I thought the rich people would be too wrapped up in their own affairs, and I didn't realize he'd already made contact with you. If you hadn't come, I'd actually be able to asess whether Rurian can do... that."
Achan shook his head in bewilderment. "Wait a minute, wait a minute lady," he began in a baffled tone of voice, "I'm not sure what we're talking about here. First of all, what is...that, and second of all how do you know Rurian? I mean, I've never seen you before. And what was I supposed to do, ignore my team mate running off into the middle of nowhere?" he laughed nervously. "I mean, come on, you've got to admit that's pretty-" his voice petered off as a small metal object sliced through the air near his cheek and embedded itself in the ground next to him.
Yuri's eyes flashed dangerously. "Look, I didn't come here to argue. All I know is that my sensei wants us to find the one who can do... that. I have a good feeling that it may be Rurian, but it might be any of you all, or any other stupid competitor in this entire tournament. Well, guess I have no choice... you!" She pointed a finger at him threateningly. "Duel me or die."
The shock hit Achan like a semi-trailer. "What?"
"I said, duel or die. It's that simple. You beat me in a duel, or I kill you." With that, the girl revealed another throwing star in her hand. Achan gulped audibly, just as she stowed it away, a smile appearing on her face. "Just kidding!"
"Wha..." Achan shook his head. "I don't get any of this... let's just duel, I'll think it over when we're done." he moaned, clutching his skull.
The two combatants took their positions, about three feet from each other, and revealed the duel disks on their left arms. Nothing stirred. For half a moment, both players were silent, each gazing into the eyes of the other. It seemed as if, for that one moment, the world had stopped turning. And then it came: the challenge.
"Let's Duel!"
"Ladies first," Yuri smirked as she drew from her deck. "Let's see...hmm... ah, here we go! I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight!"
At her command, the field began to shimmer as an enormous warrior encased in black and silver armor stepped from thin air. The left arm of his suit held a blade, while the right one tapered into a massive shield. Yuri seemed to giggle as she continued. "Next I play Reinforcement of the Army! In case you didn't know, that means-"
"I know, I know," Achan groaned, "It means you get to move a level four or lower warrior-type monster to your hand. Jeez, give me a little more credit then that."
"Listen, just pay attention to me, okay? I'm setting one card, and now I end my turn. Jeez, don't get so angsty just because I'm describing a card effect." Yuri frowned before placing the card into the appropriate slot on her duel disk as a gigantic version of it appeared on the playing field.
"Here we go..." muttered Achan as he looked at his hand. "Okay, lady, I have no idea who you are but I know one thing: You're going down." And with that, the turn began.
Duelist: Achan
Hand: Wandering Beast, Wandering Shinobi, Wandering Mage, The Road Goes Ever On, Skull Lair
Draw Phase>>>>>> A Wandering Fellowship
Great. A few pieces of the combo, but not enough to put it together. I knew I should have added another searcher. Achan groused darkly as he chose his cards. "Okay then, let's start it off. First things first: I summon Wandering Mage!"
As Achan placed his card on the field, the air around him began to darken. A tall, gaunt-looking man in a tattered red cloak stepped from a dark hole that had ripped through the air, and seamlessly closed as he stepped through it. His long, dark hair was held in place by a crimson band, and beneath the cape he wore a chain-mail doublet that seemed to shimmer as he walked. In his left hand a golden device resembling a combination between a gun and a scepter glistened. Achan held up another card as he grinned. "And it just keeps getting better. I also activate this card: The Road Goes Ever On!" Immediately after this statement a long, winding dirt path fringed by grass and heather appeared. At the end of it, an orange, tigerlike beast could be seen running forward. Just as the creature reached the area behind Achan it stopped short before leaping over its owner's head and landing next to the mage. Now that it was close, it was clear that the beast wasn't a true tiger, though its orange-and-black fur was certainly similarly patterned. Its limbs were slightly slimmer, for one thing, and for another its tail was much longer and bushier, resembling a furry alligator's tail more then anything else. Atop its head was a large, silver horn resembling that of a unicorn. Its white fangs gleamed as it gave a triumphant roar that shook the field and caused a smiled to play across Achan's lips. The holographic programmers at Kaiba Corp had certainly had fun with the animations for his monsters. "Now let me explain to you what just happened," he said, pointing to his life pointer counter. "You'll observe that I only have seven thousand life points left. That's because thanks to the effect of The Road Goes Ever On, I can summon any level four or lower Wandering monster from my hand, provided I give up a thousand points first. In this case, I chose to summon Wandering Beast. Now it's time for some introductions: Gearfried, meet Wandering Beast. Beast, meet your next lunch. Now hop to it!" At Achan's command, the monster leaped on top of the hulk of metal in front of him, bringing the monster crashing to the ground. Its paw slashed the monster once, and the holographic image immediately scattered into thousands of pieces. Achan smiled again. "Did I mention that when Wandering Beast attacks, it gains four hundred attack points for each Wandering monster in play?" he asked, before pointing at Yuri. "Wandering Mage, direct attack!" The man in red obeyed as well by leveling his curious weapon at the kunoichi and firing a burst of golden light from it, which immediately pierced through her duel disk. Achan bowed slightly before placing one last card face-down on the field. "I think that's it for now."
Yuri pursed her lips. "Don't get cocky just because you inflicted a tiny bit of damage, now. I don't intend to lose this duel easily. First off, I'll be playing The Warrior Returning Alive in order to bring Gearfried the Iron Knight back to my hand." The giant spell card appeared on the field as the girl removed the monster from her graveyard and placed it in her hand. "Next, I'll be summoning this monster: Marauding Captain!" As she spoke, the monster appeared: A tall, thin warrior wielding a massive sword clad in tarnished silver armor. "The ability of Marauding Captain allows me to put any other level four monster I happen to have in my hand onto the field, and oh, what a surprise! I just happen to have one: Gearfried the Iron Knight!" The air shimmered as the monster in question stepped onto the field. "Alright, since your kitty doesn't like to play nice I think I'm going to have to euthanize it with this: My spell card, shrink!" Achan cringed as his Wandering Beast shrank to half its usual size and its attack split in half. "Now Marauding Captain is more then enough. Captain, attack Beast, and Gearfried, put the mage out of his misery!"
Achan turned his face away momentarily as both warriors stepped forward and brandished their swords for a moment before impaling his monsters. He watched glumly as the numbers on his counter dropped. Great. I'm dead already. This girl's just toying with me. She could have played shrink when I attacked her earlier, but she wanted to test the waters. Now that she knows what I can do, I've had it. Unless... hold that thought. She doesn't know what my monsters can do yet, because otherwise... he glanced at his hand, She would be prepared for this.
"Hey, yoo-hoo, over here! You've been thinking about your move for five minutes already. Are you giving up, or are you going to draw your card already?" Yuri's impatient voice cut through Achan's thoughts.
"Right, right, sorry! Just hold on!" Achan stated, selecting two cards from his hand. "First, I'm going to toss these two cards in order to special summon Wandering Beast back to the field, in attack mode!" As soon as the second card hit the graveyard, a flash of flame burst from the ground in front of his feet as the beast shot out, roaring. "Now I can begin my turn." Achan stated, pulling a card from his deck.
Draw Phase>>>>> Twister
Dea Ex Machina, Achan thought with a smile. "Okay, first off, I'm going to show you a little trick of my own. You like ninjas, right? Well here's one of mine: Wandering Shinobi!"
At Achan's words, a whirling shuriken of enormous size shot from the sky. As it fell, a figure burst from the ground into the air to catch it before landing next to the beast. The shinobi was obviously female, and dressed in some sort of white cloth jumpsuit which covered her body with the exception of her hands, feet, and the upper side of her face. Her hair was black, and was quite short with the exception of a single ponytail that ran the length of her back and was held in place by a tube-shaped guard of some sort. Achan's grinned leeringly. "And now for a little Warrior against Warrior action. Beast, eat Gearfried again. Shinobi, send Marauding captain to the graveyard!" Achan's monsters complied beautifully. Beast immedately grabbed the armor-clad monster and dashed him to the ground, crushing him, while the shinobi launched her shuriken into the captain's solar plexus, causing him to scatter into grains of white light. "I'll place one card face-down and that'll do for now," Achan stated, staring defiantly at his opponent.
To his surprise, Yuri began giggling. "Don't get cocky, I said. I'm not finished. I've only got a few turns left, and then I'm going to wipe you out."
Achan rolled his eyes. "Come on, seriously? Unless you've got a complete one-turn-kill combo ready, I'm going to win this duel."
"I do. Allow me to prove it to you." Yuri smiled sweetly as she placed a card on the field. "First I'll activate scapegoat, which allows me to special summon four sheep tokens to the field in defense position," In a flash of light, four of the five spaces in front of Yuri were filled with pastel-colored, puffball-shaped goats. "Next, I play one card face-down, and I end my turn."
Achan shook his head. "I'm not finished yet," he growled, grabbing the top card from his deck. "Let's see what I've got in here!"
Draw Phase>>>>Limit Break-Beat Rush
"Aw, man! That's it?" Achan groaned, adding the card to his hand. "That's really a bummer." He rolled his eyes, pointing to Yuri's field. "Oh, well. I'll just attack two of those sheep tokens. Wandering Beast! Wandering Shinobi! Turn those goats into mutton!"
"That's sheep, idiot. They're sheep tokens." Yuri corrected as she tapped her duel disk. "Anyway, I'm activating Negate Attack, so that's a moot point." Her face-down card flipped up, releasing a blast of wind that forced both of Achan's monsters back into their original positions.
"Whatever. I end my turn." Achan muttered sullenly.
Yuri's hand strayed to the top card of her deck. "Okay, let's see... got it!" She giggled uncontrollably. "Achan, you're finished. See you next time!"
"What on earth are you talking about?" Achan snapped. "I'm not going anywhere!"
"My combo is completed." Yuri continued, smirking. "I summon Armed Samurai Ben Kai." At her words, the monster appeared on the field: A strong, heavily equipped warrior wearing some kind of head cloth and carrying a long spear of some sort. "Are you ready, Achan? This is game over. Now I'll equip hm with-"
"United We Stand." Achan finished for her. "I know you! You're 'one-turn' Natsumi, famous for playing around with your opponent before destroying them with your signature combo. Your strength as a duelist is in the upper class- but why the heck do you look like some kind of ninja?"
"Yuri" smiled. The hand holding her card strayed away from her duel disk. "That's right. I was wondering when you'd remember me. I wiped the floor with you last year at the Hawaiian summit." As she finished, another miniature explosion rocked the field. When the smoke cleared, the Natsumi Achan remembered stood in front of him: A green-haired girl about his own age wearing some sort of fishing vest, as well as a loose-fitting t-shirt beneath it. "Not many people realize that I'm a master of disguise," she said sweetly, "But it's the truth. I've been studying both dueling and ninjutsu under the tutelage of Samejima, my sensei. Anyway, you remember our last duel? I'm flattered."
Achan grimaced. "That was a horrible loss. You had already collected the other two pieces of your combo into your hand on the first turn. All I had to do was attack that Sangan you set and Ben Kai was in your hand and I was down and out."
Natsumi nodded. "That's right! Of course, you couldn't help it. Nobody's ever managed to block the Ben Kai combo when I set it up right. All I've got to do is soften the opponent up a bit." She placed the card on the field, and immediately a golden gauntlet appeared on the samurai's left hand as energy began flowing to him from the other monsters on his owner's field. "Now, in case you were wondering, the reason I went after you specifically when the whole 'test Rurian's potential' thing went down the tubes is because I wanted to see if you'd improved much since the Hawaiian summit. Doesn't look like you're all that much better: I win again, Achan. I activate the spell card Axe of Despair," She stated as an iron cleaver appeared in her monster's hand. "Axe of Despair raises Ben Kai's attack by one thousand points giving him a grand total of five thousand two hundred attack points, but more importantly it gives him the ability to attack one more time this turn. Sorry Achan: You lose. Ben Kai, attack!"
Achan stared at Yuri. "One problem with your theory: I'm not finished yet. First, I activate my face-down card, twister!" As Achan stated this, the face-down card flipped face up and released a raging whirlwind that launched itself at Ben Kai, shattering the gauntlet on his wrist and substantially reducing his strength. Nevertheless, the monster easily hacked through Achan's defenses, destroying Wandering Beast and Wandering Shinobi with the blade in its hand. Achan smirked. "Twister lets me wipe out one spell card on the field in exchange for five hundred of my life points. That combo isn't always a one-turn kill, especially when you have only two equip cards in play."
Natsumi's gaze met his. "The duel is still mine, Smith. You've got one face-down that hasn't done you any good this far in the duel and isn't going to start now, and you have one card in your hand. You can't even resurrect your Beast to guard your life points. Face it, you may have drawn it out by a turn, but this duel is mine."
Achan shrugged. "Well, what can I say? It's just a card game after all. But something tells me this one is going to end a lot differently then our last one. And I can end this whole thing in three more turns if I get the right card on my next draw."
Natsumi shook her head. "What on earth have you been smoking?"
"You'll see," Achan said cryptically as he drew, "You'll see."
Draw Phase>>>> Wandering Rogue
"Yes! Yes! Alright!" Achan shouted, pumping his fist. "This thing is going to be over right now!" With that, he pointed his finger at his opponent. "Listen girl, you may have won before because of your 'unbeatable' combo. Well this time, I'm going to show you one that may not win me the duel in one turn, but it will turn this duel around. So, without further ado I present my monster, Wandering Rogue!" Grinning, Achan placed his card on the duel disk.
Nothing happened.
"Whoops, upside down." Achan replied, embarrased, as he corrected his monster's position so that the code inlaid on the card's back could be recognized by the duel disk. The air shimmered, and a small bag appeared on the ground. It sat there for a moment, when suddenly a speeding form leapt from a tree top to the ground and snatched it up. The girl straigtened, brushing her hair out of her eyes, and smiled sweetly. Her hair hunge to the back of her shoulders and was loosely fastened around her head with a strip of white cloth, and she was clothed in a black shirt that barely reached over her shoulders while a green vest filled with pockets covered it, as well as a pair of black pants that were also riddled with pockets. A pair of leather gloves hid her hands from view as she continued smiling.
Yuri raised an eyebrow. "I fail to see how a fifteen-hundred attack point monster is going to wipe out Ben Kai."
"Well, she isn't personally going to do it," Achan admitted, "I was sort of hoping that this trap card would do it instead." With that, his face-down card flipped face-up. "This card is known as 'Skull Lair'," he explained, "And with it I can destroy any monster on the field provided I remove cards from my graveyard equal to its level stars. Let's see.... one, two, three... that should do it." With that, he placed the removed cards in the deck box hanging from his belt and pointed to Ben Kai. "Skull Lair? Remove him from the field, please."
There was an audible silence as a misty, grey hand reached forward from Achan's trap card and grabbed Ben Kai. The monster struggled for a moment before bursting into thousands of myriad shards. Achan smiled. "Now... as for your wall monsters, I think I can take care of them too. But before I play this spell card, I have to ask you something: Did you ever play Final Fantasy?"
Natsumi stared. "What?"
"You know, Final Fantasy. That game series that's like hugely popular, with the heroes with the big swords, and the monsters, and the bad guys with theme songs in Latin..." Achan's voice trailed off. "Nevermind. Anyway, in Final Fantasy there's something called a 'limit break' that occurs when your character gets their back against the wall. Well, when I was designing these Wandering monsters, I thought it would be pretty cool if they could do the same thing so I created a line of spell cards that could turn the game around: one for each wanderer. And you, Yuri, have the honor of being the first duelist to experience the sting of one." Grinning, Achan placed his card in the slot. "I activate the spell card Limit Break-Beat Rush. This allows my Wandering Rogue to attack all four of your scapegoats this turn. Normally I'd have to pay half my life points to activate this card, but since Rogue is out here solo, that cost is negated. Oh, and guess what? Thanks to Rogue's effect, I get a card for each sheep I bullseye. See ya!"
A gleaming red aura surrounded the Rogue as she pulled her fists into position and charged. The first scapegoat fell victim to a quick uppercut, and the next two were instantly dispatched by a pair of powerful kicks. The final token quivered in horror as the fighter grabbed it with one hand and leaped into the air before slamming it to the ground like a basketball. With that finished, the monster brushed a lock of hair from her eye and walked back to her original zone. Achan grinned. "Now which one of us is on top?"
Draw Effect>>>>Wandering Hero, Return From the Different Dimension, A Wandering Fellowship, Wandering Vampire
"I place one card face down, and I end my turn." Achan stated.
Yuri shook her head. "No way. It isn't over yet. It's just... not." Her hand reached for a single card, which she pulled out. "Okay, let's see..." her face creased into a grimace as she realized that she was out of monsters. "I place one card face-down and end my turn." She sighed. Go ahead and attack, Achan. That face-down card is mirror force, and once you trigger it I'll wipe your field clean and attack you with the next monster I draw. This duel is going to be over.
"Let's end this game, shall we?" Achan asked pleasantly as he drew his card. "Let's see... first I'll summon Wandering Hero, then I'll use its effect to equip it with my own copy of United We Stand." The air shimmered as the hero stepped alongside the Rogue and high-fived her before donning a golden gauntlet similar to the one that had been on Ben Kai's hand.
So far so good... come on, summon as many monsters as you want, I don't care. Mirror Force will wipe them out...
"Next I'll activate my face-down card: Return From the Different Dimension!" Achan said exuberantly, a smile playing about his lips. He was actually beggining to have fun for the first time this tournament. "This card allows me to pay half my life points in order to bring back some old friends: Wandering Beast, Wandering Shinobi, and Wandering Mage!"
Above Achan, the air began to curl into a series of black holes as the three monsters he had mentioned dropped from the air to his side. "Nice to see you guys," he said, smiling. "Now get ready, because this is it!"
Alright... He's attacking... here he goes...
"I activate A Wandering Fellowship!"
What?
"This card increases the attack points of all of my Wanderers by seven hundred points..."
Okay... that's fine. I thought for a moment that-
"And it also makes them immune to card effects!"
Natsumi gasped. "But that means-"
Achan smiled. "Game over. Wanderers? Give her a taste of your power!"
The entire Wandering crew charged as one, striking the unfortunate duelist directly. Achan smiled as the counters on her duel disk dropped to zero. "Game over, one-turn Natsumi. This round goes to me. Now, what's going on here?"
Natsumi shook her head. "Oh brother..." she muttered. "Look, I'm searching for the duelist with the miracle draw, okay?"
Achan was stumped. "The who?"
"The miracle draw. The fabled skill that allows a duelist to draw any card he needs from his deck when he's in a pinch, posessed by Muto Yugi himself. I thought it might be Rurian because those searching for something are much more likely to have the miracle draw, but it could just as likely be anyone in this tournament." Natsumi explained.
Achan stared at her for a moment. "And you actually believe that?"
Natsumi rolled her eyes and walked until she and Achan were only a foot apart. "Let me tell you a little secret..." she said, leaning towards his ear.
SMACK!
"You really have no sense of tact." She continued as she marched past him, leaving Achan to rub the stinging spot on his right cheek.
Why me?
OOC: Whoo, long post. That took me forever to write.
EDIT: ALRIGHT, I EDITED OUT THE LOGIC BREAKS. HAPPY YET, ALTER?
