Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Kal: 8000
Xyle: 8000

“The challenged gets to go first.” The man in the tight shirt said. That meant that Kal got the opportunity to go first. That wasn’t usual.

Kal drew his first card, and thought a moment. He had to do this quickly, he had plans for the day and he was burning daylight dueling this punk.

“I Summon one monster in defense mode, and I place one card face down.”

Two card backs appeared just above the ground, one in a horizontal position, the other in a vertical position.

“Your move.” Kal said. “What should I call you?”

The man in the tight shirt drew his card, “My name is Xyle Fortress, but you can call me Xyle. Alright, I Summon Ajani – Magnus of the Beasts in attack mode!”

Its card flipped up, and a humanoid creature with a bunch of furs on his back appeared. He was holding a double ended sharp weapon that was about as long as Kal was tall. ATK: 1900

“I attack your defense mode creature!”

The beast Ajani came at the horizontal card, poised for attack. It swiped its sharp instrument at the card, splitting it in half. A creature that was wrapped in thin white cloth and chains appeared from under the broken card.

“I activate my Trap, Allied Vengeance!” Kal interjected.

The last card on his field popped up, and glowed.

“When you destroy an Ally Monster by battle, which you just did, the attacking monster is destroyed!”

A weapon with a sharp edge appeared in front of the Trap, and the chained monster took it. It threw the weapon at the beast Ajani, and when it hit both monsters burst into a thousand shards.

Then Kal’s Trap left and the field was again empty.

Xyle looked like he was in shock. “A-Alright, I place two cards face down and end my turn,” he stuttered.

Kal drew his next card.

“Okay, I summon Legion’s Elf Sorceress in attack mode!”

The card flipped and an elf with blue clothing appeared. ATK: 1700

‘I have to get rid of those Traps.’ Kal thought, ‘Maybe I can this way.’

“That allows me to activate the special ability of my Legion’s Magician of Tricks! So now that I have one Ally Monster, I can Special Summon him directly underneath it!”

The card flipped and a thin man with a coat and a top hat appeared behind the elf. ATK: 1000.

“No you don’t!” Xyle said, “Because I activate my Trap! Go, Stitch in Time!”

Xyle’s card flipped up and glowed.

“When a monster is Special Summoned, they go back to the top of the deck!”

Kal groaned, “Alright.” He took the Magician of Tricks off the field and placed it on top of his deck. No surprises for next round.

Kal couldn’t afford to not attack if he wanted out quickly. “Elf Sorceress!” he called, “Attack him directly!”

The elf raised her arm and her palm started to glow a green color.

“I activate my other trap! Go, Magnus Blessing!” Xyle said.

‘Great,’ Kal thought.

“When you attack, I can Special Summon one Magnus from my hand, so I Summon Crovix, Magnus of the Undead!”

The card flipped up, and a blue woman dressed in black and carrying a sword appeared. ATK: 1100

“She’s not strong enough to fend off my attack, so Elf, follow through!” Kal said.

The elf launched a beam of green light and energy straight toward the Magnus of the Undead.

The Magnus was destroyed, and it exploded into a thousand shards.

Kal: 8000
Xyle: 7400

“Are you wondering why I didn’t Summon my Magnus in defense? It would have blocked your attack.”

Kal was wondering that very thing. The Magnus had 1800 DEF, 100 points more than the Elf had ATK. He would have saved himself and a gotten a monster.

“Because I can activate her effect now. Since you destroyed her, she is allowed to Special Summon another Magnus from the Graveyard. So I can Special Summon my Ajani back!”

The Beast with the long, double ended weapon came out of the ground, ready for some revenge. ATK: 1900.

‘Crud, now he can destroy my monster next turn and still have a monster. All at the cost of 600 Life Points.’ Kal thought.

Kal took another hopeful glance at his hand, hoping for something that could help him next turn.

“I end.” Kal said.

Xyle looked happy. “I draw!”

“Hey, you remember my monster you destroyed last turn? That was my Legion’s Chained Daemon, and during each of your Standby Phases, like now, you lose 500 Life Points!” Kal said.

A Chain came out of the Graveyard slot of his Duel Disk and went straight for Xyle. It wrapped around him and squeezed 500 points out of him.

Kal: 8000
Xyle: 6900

“Fine, I Summon Glissa – Magnus of the Nature in attack mode!”

The card flipped, and a green humanoid creature dressed with plants appeared. ATK: 1000.

“Now her effect activates! Since my man Ajani is here, she cannot be destroyed by battle, and she also increases the ATK of all my Magnus monsters by 300!”

Glissa: ATK: 1300
Ajani: ATK: 2200

“Now Ajani, attack him directly!”

Ajani went to attack, but Kal had something up his sleeve.

“I discard my Legion’s defender from my hand, and the top card of my deck to negate your attack!” Kal said.

He sent the Defender and the Magician of Tricks from the top of his deck to the Graveyard. A woman in white appeared in front of the beast, arms raised, and the beast backed off.

“That also ends your Battle Phase.” Kal reminded.

“Fine, I end.” Xyle said.

Kal had saved himself, but barely. And he also got rid of the magician of tricks that was on the top of his deck, preventing him from drawing anything else. He was just now realizing the situation that he was in.

He took a look at Xyle. He looked to be late teens, early twenties. He had brown hair, and he was tall, too tall. He was over 6 foot, maybe 6’4”. He wore a Red shirt and black jeans, and a bandana on his right shoulder. Kal wondered what it stood for.

“What’s the bandana for?” Kal said, motioning towards his right shoulder.

“This?” Xyle asked, pointing at the bandana, “This was my fathers. He wore it everyday of his adult life. He wore it especially when he started to lose his hair from the chemotherapy.”

“He had cancer?” Kal asked caringly.

“Yes, both of my parents did. And they both died of it. We were poor, and the doctors wanted the best treatment for them, so they made us a deal to pay back the money eventually. But they died too soon, and they couldn’t teach me any sort of job to do. So now I fend for myself on the outskirts of town, and I help out those in need.”

“By being a thief?” Kal asked.

“It’s the only thing I know.” Xyle said looking down, ashamed.

“Hey man, it’s alright. Life is hard, but you are doing the best with it, I know.” Kal said, trying to pep talk him.

He looked up. A single tear come spilling down his face. I was a bit strange to see such a big, strong guy fall to pieces like this.

Kal decided to change the subject. “I draw! And now I release my Legion’s Elf Sorceress to Advance Summon my Legion’s Leader, in attack mode!”

The elf glowed for a moment, and then disappeared. In its place a man dressed in green armor appeared. ATK: 1800.

“When he is Summoned, he gains counters equal to the amount of Ally Monsters below him, then he can gain ATK points! And he cannot attack without them.” Kal said.

“But there aren’t any Ally Monsters under him, there aren’t any on your field other than him, and he doesn’t count for his effect! He can’t attack!” Xyle said, amused.

“But, I have another card. From my hand, I activate the Spell Card Ally Consolidation! This allows me to place 3 Ally Counters on the field, and I place all of them on my Leader! And for these 3 Counters, he gains 300 ATK points for each!”

Legion’s Leader: ATK: 2700.

Xyle took a step back, “What?”

“Now my Leader, attack his Glissa!”

“You can’t, thanks to my Ajani. He can only be selected as an attack target.” Xyle said.

“Alright, I attack Ajani!” Kal said.

The Leader drew his sword and went for the attack. He swung his sword down on the beast, and it was broken into a thousand shards.

Kal: 8000
Xyle: 6400

“Now my leader looses a counter, because of his effect. And I set one card face down, and end my turn.”

Legion’s Leader: ATK: 2400

“My turn now!” Xyle said as he drew his card.

“And your turn comes with the price of 500 points of damage from my Chained Daemon!” Kal said.

Kal: 8000
Xyle: 5900

“Fine, but now I Summon my Venser – Magnus of The Future.”

His card flipped, and a man with a helmet and flowing clothing appeared. ATK: 1500.

“Now I can activate his effect. I can look at the top and of my deck, and if it is a Magnus Monster I can add it to my hand.”

Xyle looked at the top card and smiled. He showed Kal the card; it was a blue Ritual monster.

“This is my Magnus of the Moon, so I get to add to my hand. Now I can activate the Ritual Spell Blood Moon!”

His card flipped up, and started to glow.

I send my Glissa, Venser, and my Chandra from my hand to reach above the 9 Level minimum, and Ritual Summon my Luunar – Magnus of the Moon!”

The three monsters were sent to the Graveyard, and in their place a Red Monster appeared with a stave. ATK 2850.

“Luunar, attack his Legion’s Leader now!” the monster rose into the air, and started to come down with its weapon.

“I activate my trap, Barrier of the Departed Ally! This allows me to Special Summon one Ally Monster from my Graveyard to the bottom of one Stack, as well as end the Battle Phase. So I Special Summon my Legion’s Magician of Tricks!” Kal said.

The Magician that was summoned in the second turn was resurrected, right behind the leader.

“And that ends your Battle Phase.” Kal Reminded.

“How many stall cards do you have? Fine I end.” Xyle said.

Kal drew his card. “Alright, I activate the special ability of my Magician of Tricks. By discarding one card, I can deal 1000 points of damage to you.”

Kal put his card in the Graveyard and the Magician propelled himself off the shoulders of the Leader. He took out two handfuls of cards and threw them all at Xyle from up in the air. Where the Magician landed gracefully, the cards fell with 1000 damaging blows.

Kal: 8000
Xyle: 4900

“Oh, and you remember the card that I discarded? That is the Legion’s Defense Power – Earthen Brute. When he is discarded by an Ally Monster effect, like he just was, he can be Special Summoned in defense mode!”

Kal took the card he just discarded and put it in an empty monster card space in defense position.

The card flipped but remained in a face up horizontal position, and on top appeared a giant, round, rock monster with one eye. DEF: 2100.

“Now I will Ally Summon my Legion’s Samurai to the top of the Stack with my Earthen Brute!”

The Samurai’s card was flipped, and out he came brandishing his familiar long, sharp weapon. ATK: 1500

“Due to the rules for Ally Monsters, all monsters in the Stack must be in the same battle position. So my Defense Power is switched to attack mode.”

The giant rock brought itself to its feet very slowly. Its card beneath itself disappeared.

“But now I will tribute the Brute for the effect of my Samurai, and I can then destroy your Magnus of the Moon!”

The Earthen Brute glowed green, and then evaporated into a glowing, translucent energy. The energy poured into the weapon that the Samurai had. The Samurai flung the weapon and in so doing released the glowing green energy and it ran right into the Moon Magnus, breaking it into a thousand shards.

“Next my two monsters will attack you directly!” Kal said.

Both the Leader and the Samurai attacked Xyle directly, dealing him 3900 points worth of damage.

Kal: 8000
Xyle: 1000

“I end my turn. There is no way that you can win. All I have to do next turn is discard a card for the effect of my Magician. It will finish you off. Sorry Xyle, but there is no hope. My Leader lost a counter by the way, losing 300 ATK points.”

Legion’s Leader: ATK: 2100

“I draw!” Xyle said. Kal could hear the sadness in his voice. He knew that he would lose. But then the weirdest thing happened, Xyle grinned. Not just grinned, but full out laughed. He was happy about something….

“I drew what I needed! The crazy thing was that I said ‘heart of the cards, guide me,’ as a last resort! How funny!” Xyle said.

“Remember the effect of my Chained Daemon? You lose another 500 Life Points.” Kal said.

The Chains returned and choked another 500 points away.

Kal: 8000
Xyle: 500

“Fine, but I activate Monster Reborn!” Xyle said, “And I select my Ajani.”

From the depths of Xyle’s Graveyard came the beast from his first, and maybe last, turn. ATK: 1900.

“But he won’t be staying long, because I Release him for an Advance Summon of my next Magnus, Garruk – Magnus of The Wild!”

The beast Ajani disappeared and in its place came another beast, but this one had a helmet and axe. ATK: 1800

“And now the Special Ability of my Magnus activates! He gets 200 ATK points for all the other Magnus Monsters in the graveyard, and since there are 6, he gets 1200 ATK points!”

Garruk flexed his muscles, and he started to glow. ATK: 3000

“3000 ATK?” Kal gasped, “I never would have thought you could pull that one out.”

“So now I will attack your Samurai, I know that it won’t defeat you, but it sure gets your Life Points down. I couldn’t do any damage to you at any time during the duel, and there is no way I can get to next turn anyhow, so I might as well go out in style, right?” Xyle asked rhetorically.

“Sure,” Kal answered anyway.

“Garruk, attack the Samurai now!”

The beast raised his axe and slammed it down upon the defenseless Samurai. It was blasted into a thousand shards.

Kal: 6500
Xyle: 500

“Go ahead and end it, my friend.” Xyle said, almost beaming at him.

“Alright, I draw. Then I discard it for the effect of my Magician.” Kal said.

The Magician launched himself off the shoulders of the Leader for a second time, and threw down two handfuls of cards and dealing 1000 points of damage to Xyle.

Xyle almost welcomed it, which as strange. Who would wish for defeat?

Kal: 6500
Xyle: 0

“Thank you for that duel my friend.” Xyle said, as he walked up to Kal. He extended his hand to shake.

Kal took it and shook. That’s when he noticed that thee was a crowd of people around them at the edge of the market.

“After that duel I have a new respect for you, but there is one thing. I told you my name, but you have yet to tell me yours.”

Kal looked at Xyle, and thought a moment. The pull out of a 3000 point monster was quite amazing to him; he thought that he deserved to know his name.

“Kal. Kal Iszarc.” Kal said.

“Well, Mr. Iszarc, if you find yourself in a tight spot and are needing some help do not hesitate to find me. I will be more than willing.” Xyle said.

“Thank you.” Kal said.

They released each other’s hands and parted ways. Kal picked up his bag of groceries and walked home.
_____

‘I have made a friend.’ Kal thought to himself as he ate some ArChi. ‘I might need someone in the future, who knows what could come up…’

Kal finished the last bit of his artificial chili, and went up to his bedroom. He pulled off his duel disk and coat and laid them in their usual positions.

He fell onto his bed, not tired but knowing that he needed sleep.
_____

Kal knocked the mail cart over on his way out the door.

“Get his things out of here,” the chief asked Kal’s partner, Deputy Lance Brodorn.

“Me? Why?” Lance asked, motioning to himself.

“Yes you, you’re the only one that he is comfortable around outside of work.”

“No, I meant why get his stuff?”

“Kal has been let go from slacking off on his job,” the chief said.

“No way! He was the one that all of us officers looked up to! He was the best duelist in the precinct!” Lance said.

“You are correct on that point, he was the best. But not any more. Ever since the loss from the duel between him and Joel Karne he hasn’t dueled or acted the same.” The chief said.

Kal slid down the side of the office wall. After hearing that, he was in a mix of pain from anger and sadness. This job is the one thing that he has, and now he doesn’t have that anymore.

Kal walked home with his head down, knowing that Lance would be there later that afternoon with his things.

….

Kal heard a knock at his door. He walked to the front door of his apartment and opened it.

It was Lance Brodorn. He was holding a box.

“Hey, here’s your stuff. Sorry about your job.” Lance said.

“Thanks man.” Kal said, obviously sad.

“Hey, you gonna be alright?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Kal said, trying his best to sound normal. It almost worked.

“No man, I know you and you always have a plan. What are you going to do?”

“Lance, you know I trust you. You have been my partner ever since I entered into it last year. I trust you more than anyone, because I have no one. Not since my parent’s accident…

But you know that I can’t tell you everything, right?” Kal asked.

“Sure, I know. But I don’t want you doing anything drastic, okay?” Lance asked.

“I’m fine, man. Don’t worry about me.” Kal said. This time he was convincing.

“Alright. Well, I’ll see you around.” Lance said, and he walked down the hallway towards the elevator of the building.

Kal shut the door, and set the box down on the coffee table. Kal sat behind it on the couch and peered over the side into its contents.

Inside were three things: He duel disk, his deck, and one pen.

He pulled the disk and deck out and put them on his arm.

“Time to leave,” Kal said to no one in particular.

He went and picked up his bag filled with artificial food and water bottles, and walked out of the apartment, never to return to it.
_____

Kal woke up, and it was dark. He could tell that it was around midnight; it was just something he could feel.

He went to look at his alarm clock to check, but when he turned his head he didn’t see it. In fact he didn’t even see the table.

He looked at the ceiling again and thought, ‘That’s strange. Wait; does it seem like I’m closer to the ceiling?’

He felt for the bed, but he didn’t feel anything. He rolled over, and found himself above his bed by about three feet. He wasn’t supported by anything.

“What??” He was astonished.

But as soon as he talked he fell straight onto the bed. The bed springs still worked, he knew, because as soon as he hit he bounced off the bed and onto the floor, hitting his head on the bedside table. Hs alarm clock bounced off his head and onto his chest. Even though it was upside down he could still read the time.

12:00 PM.

‘Weird.’ Kal thought, and reached up to put the clock back on the table.