The street outside the Duel League facility became an arena in the last hour, as well as a ceremony for the dumping of cards, for Yugo Yuki, with his black jacket billowing without wind, stood in front of dreams.
"How am I supposed to participate in the Duel League after this humiliation?" a fallen duelist cried, throwing his deck above the head of his comrades.
"Would you hear the opinion from a specialist?" Yugo uttered, with his duel disk shining. "Perhaps none of you deserved it in the first place."
Behind the scene, contemplating the worn off masses, a trio debated its next move.
"Enough!" the mountain yelled, ready to draw cards. "I will show to that cocky brat how a Japanese genuinely duels!"
"Will you?" His friend was sceptical. "You can't even remember the name of the last Spell Card he activated. You may be strong, Taro, but we are talking about an opponent who just defeated more than 50 duelists consecutively, and many of them at the same time." Zinoviy readjusted his short red hair. "It would be foolish for us to ignore the golden apple we found on our way; I finally could trace a strategy with almost 100% chance of success based on his moves. That is the reason why I and Xia decided to wait"
"What?" He turned his face. "And you didn't even consult me first! Don't you think I am also part of the team?"
"That's not true!" Xia answered in her clumsy way. "Why are you always yelling at me?"
"I thought you reached the same conclusion," Zinoviy returned. "I was surprised that you decided to wait before us."
"Nah," the giant relaxed for a minute, "my motive was more honorable. I was unsure before, but I have contemplated it many times already... In a duel the most important factor is the spirit of its duelists, that's why the greatest players of this game are always the strongest personalities. Now that I have witnessed the intimidating Yugo Yuki in action, though, not even his father's name matters; whatever he emanates is no different than the monsters he summons!"
Taro Ito's anger resurged, and his two friends had to worry up themselves to accompany his large steps.
"You, midget!" the challenger marked for his arrival. "It's your turn to contemplate a massacre, and now under the management of the great Taro Ito; former Pro League champion, a rising star in Japan, and an avid action-figure collector."
Zinoviy Drozdov and Xia Yun felt secondhand embarrassment.
"Never heard about it," their adversary admitted.
Taro was incredulous.
"Do you live under a rock, midget? I refuse to believe until now no one mentioned the word "The Pro League Giant" in front of you."
"Heh," Yugo chuckled. "I only remember the names of duelists who defeated me, so pardon my bad memory."
The mountain was about to turn into a volcano when Zinoviy interfered:
"I assume you don't have any problem if I challenge you, then. Or are you uncertain to go against two opponents if they aren't amateurs?"
Now Yugo smiled.
"And what type of complaints does a foot make to two ants? Just duel!"
"Hey, don't forget me!" Xia added, forgotten.
"Ok. Two ants and a cell, then."
I didn't like this guy before, the Russian thought after the Chinese girl wondered what was wrong with her short stature, yet in our brief interaction he just accomplished to turn us three into haters for life."
Yugo was full with himself, yet despite his declarations, excited to confront formidable duelists. Oh, yeah! I can't believe I just was lucky enough to meet the Giant of the Pro League! This completely changes my opinion earlier today; this might be the best day in a year. The day I show my full potential. I will win, make my way somehow, and then ..."
Don't be so confident, the feminine voice warned his thoughts in an ominous tone.
Yugo felt it before seeing it, credited but still deemed it hard to believe. A familiar face ended up at the end of the street, unapologetically staring at his soul.
She is really back.
Zinoviy had already rearranged his automatic disk duel:
"As a challenger, I start the ..." He noticed it. "Wait! Why are you running away!"
"Coward!" Taro declared. "To large dogs he only barks!"
"Should we follow him?" Xia added after the giant ran behind his prey.
"He owes us one," Zinoviy reminded.
...
The building Yugo entered was still incomplete, with various signs of ongoing construction reminding visitors to stay away.
"I know what you will say" the girl continued, "but is this really necessary? We might get in serious trouble."
"The only trouble here will be what happens when I find that midget..." Taro uttered in an exhausted mood while advancing on the almost eternal footsteps.
When the trio reached the terrace, though, Yugo was not alone.
A tall woman of long white hair and orange gleaming eyes hidden by a dark mantle stood in front of the four of them, with half a smile sprouting from her face.
"You three," Yugo addressed the group "This is none of your business. I deal with challengers later."
"Don't listen to him," the mysterious woman intervened. "He fakes this image of bad boy, but in the decisive moments he as innocent as the child he is. Our mother taught him manners, after all"
"Huh?" the trio uttered together before being ignored.
"Are you not going to answer my questions?" Yugo continued. "Were you the person spying on me days ago?"
"I don't see my little brother for a whole year," she said, as if joking. "I was starting to get worried about you." Her glad orange eyes saw the unsatisfaction in his teal eyes. "If you have any more questions to make, why don't we carry them to a duel? Do you still pretend to defeat me, or has this dream already been abandoned, Yugo?"
His duel disk opened.
"It is not a dream if I realize it today, Yumi."
Her own answered in advance.
"As expected."
...
The trio gave enough space for the siblings to make an arena at that altitude, and as implied by Zinoviy himself, the challenger should start.
"I draw!" Yugo emitted with greenish prompt in his soul. "I activate the effect of 'Evil Hero Adusted Gold' from my hand, which allows me to access 'Supreme King's Castle' from my deck by sending Adusted Gold to the Graveyard.
Yumi found it amusing.
"So you are honoring our father by using his cards? How cute."
"Cute things don't frighten you," her brother replied. "I place the Castle on the Field Zone."
The shining atmosphere of the environment suddengly grew darker with vast grey clouds, the high buildings of Domino City were eclipsed by a desolate rocky landscape, and a bridge leading to the ultimate fortress of the Dark World could be seen.
"Now I activate 'Dark Calling'. By banishing 'Evil Hero Malicious Edge' from my hand and 'Evil Hero Adusted Gold' from my Graveyard, I fusion summon 'Evil Hero Malicious Bane'.
"Evil Hero Malicious Bane"
A fiend with dragon-like plates adorning its humanoid body, armored tail, metallic wings, and wearing large claws descended from the skies above Supreme King's Castle.
*8 [ATK 3000/DEF 3000]
...
"It's that monster again," Taro Ito remarked from a distance.
Yes, thought Drozdov. It is an improved form of Malicious Edge, his ace monster. Most duelists from the Duel League facility had problems with getting rid of it thanks to its immunity to destruction in general. And there is still that effect...
...
"A fine card," Yumi recognized. "I heard about it, but I had never seen one personally. It possesses the effect of destroying monsters its opponent controls whose ATK is equal or less than its own, am I correct?" Yugo was unsure whether to answer it. "That is the reason you brought up 'Supreme King's Castle' in the first place. To strengthen its ATK points."
"I imagine how talkative your turn will be" he returned. "I activate the spell card 'Take Over Five', whose effect sends the top five cards from my deck to the Graveyard, and end my turn with a set card on the Spell and Trap Zone."
"No cards left at hand? You are really putting everything yout got against me, Yuyu." Yugo didn't appreciate being called "Yuyu". "Ok. My turn! First I activate the continuous spell "Creator Lab", then, when I control no monsters I can special summon 'CTR-001' from my hand."
"CTR-001"
A little creature of cute yet weird features leaped as a quadruped, swinging its almost metallic tail
*1 [ATK 400/DEF 400]
"And due my spell's effect, I place 1 counter on it for each 'CTR' special summoned on the field."
"Creator Lab"
Counters: 1
...
"'CTR' she said" Xia paraphrased from a distance,"Did you ever hear of such an archetype, Zinoviy?"
...
"When 001 is summoned, I can place or set 1 card from my deck that mentions "CTR" on my Spell and Trap Zone. This card is the continuous spell 'Creature Incubator'."
"Creature Incubator"
An advanced incubator holding a transparent sphere with egg-like structures inside
"From here things start getting a bit serious. With Incubator I can make you take control of my monster in exchange for a card from my deck that mentions 'CTR' being added to my hand."
The little beast was placed next to Malicious Bane
"With this, I can place the new added 'CTR-002' in my Pendulum Zone."
Another peculiar monster sprang, now soaring in a vertical line of energy, as if dragged by the sky
What? Yugo thought. Pendulum Zone? What is that supposed to mean?
...
"Zino.,." Xia drew attention again. "I know I forget things too easily, but what is ..."
"I don't know," he admitted, almost annoyed, "and honestly, I don't think many people know either."
...
"Oh, your confused face is a marvel, Yuyu. This mechanic you are about to witness is called 'Pendulum Summon'.
I would go into details, but as you don't seem to be so pleased with me talking, so ..."
"What have you done for the past year, Yumi?"
She made a self-content face.
"You will see it yourself. I will show you a glimpse of the power of the dimensions." She raised her arm to draw a card. "If 002 is activated as a Pendulum while my opponent controls a 'CTR' monster, I can activate another Pendulum 'CTR' monster from my deck in the other Pendulum Zone. Come, 'CTR-003'!'
Two creatures stood mid air parallel to each other
"CTR-002"
[< 0 0 >]
"CTR-003"
[< 13 13 >]
"With their junction, I Pendulum Summon 'CTR-004'!"
"CTR-004'
A creature larger than the earlier ones
*4 [ATK 1600/DEF 1000]
"Creator Lab"
Counters: 2
"I activate 003's Pendulum effect: if I control two 'CTR' monsters in the Pendulum Zones, I can Special Summon both with their levels doubled, but they cannot attack!"
"CTR-002"
*2 [ATK 800/DEF 600]
"CTR-003"
*3 [ATK 1200/DEF800]
"Creator Lab"
Counters: 4
"Now I remove 2 counters from Lab to add 1 'CTR' monster from my deck to my hand. The next step, though, is another mechanic you don't know. I use 004 as material to Link Summon 'CTR-000' from my extra deck!"
"CTR-000"
A prototype creature of confusing description
[ATK: 800]
"Creator Lab"
Counters: 3
"With these three creatures on my field I activate 006's effect from my hand: I switch control of 'CTRs' from 001 to 009, or in this case 002 and 003, and by accomplishing the requirement of two monsters, I can add the ritual spell "Ultimate Creation" from my deck to my hand. Behold, brother, this mechanic you know! Thanks to my spell, if there are 'CTR' monsters that I don't control whose levels sum 8 or more I can summon my monster without tributing. Appear, 006!"
"CTR-006"
A giant theropod-like golden creature that would break the floor if it wasn't a hologram
*8 [ATK 3000/DEF 3000]
"Creator Lab"
Counters: 4
Yumi chuckled.
"Due 'Ultimate Creation's effect, 006 can attack thrice in a row each Battle Phase"
Yugo's heart felt dimmed. She knew Malicious Bane couldn't be destroyed, and so she placed three weak monsters on my field just to attack them... No, she placed three weak monsters on my field to win the duel. Their ATKs are...
...
"What the hell is that pretty witch arranging?" Taro finally pronounced himself. "I just blinked and Yugo has three monsters on his field he didn't summon!"
"She knew Malicious Bane couldn't be destroyed,' Zinoviy explained, "so she used the odd effects of those 'CTR' creatures to make the elephant in the room disappear. 001 has 400 ATK, 002 800, and 003 1200; that is: 006 will make 6600 points of damage to Yugo's 4000 life points if he doesn't do anything to prevent its three attacks. It's was an opportunistic strategy, counting that the opponent left no more than two monsters on the field at the end of the turn... no, considering Yugo's ego, his over reliance on one monster caused this. It was the perfect move against her adversary."
...
"I guess your set card might cause some trouble," Yumi returned, "but even if you negate 006's attack with the most damage, the sum of the other two is still 4000. You have already lost, little brother."
"Yumi, can we continue? I hate hearing how you think of yourself better than other people."
...
What a hypocrite! the trio realized together.
...
Yugo cotinued.
"I hate even more the fact you try so hard to gaslight other people to make it seem believeable."
"You still don't recognize me as a better duelist by nature, Yuyu? Very well. Attack 003, 006!"
The golden monster drew its jaws towards its kin, and tore it completely apart with just one bite.
YUGO'S LP: 2200
"Oh, you did nothing," his sister remarked. "Next round, then. The final one. Go, attack 002!"
The beast leaped forward again.
"Not so fast!" Yugo affirmed. "I activate my trap: 'Power Drain'! With it your attack will be negated, and I will gain life points equal to your monster's ATK."
An energy field started involving the attacked "CTR", disabling 006 to continue the attack.
"Too previsible, Yuyu," Yumi rebuked. "I use the quick effect of 'Creature Incubator' and negate your trap's effect."
"Huh?" Yugo made before 006's mandible descended and an explosion erupted from its fiery fangs.
"You see? You couldn't even last a ..."
The smoke dissipated shortly thereafter.
"I activate Evil Kuriboh's effect. If I control only 1 'Evil Hero' monster while my opponent's monster attacks with an ATK higher than my own life points, I can special summon 'Evil Kuriboh' from my deck or Graveyard, interrupt the Damage Step, and then end the Battle Phase."
"Interesting,' his sister admitted. "I didn't know of this card. Fairly well... but I didn't end my turn yet. I activate 000's quick effect! By banishing from the field or Graveyard, I can target 1 'CTR' monster I control, I give up its control, and if able I can special summon 1 'CTR' monster with a lower or higher number except 'CTR-000' from my hand, deck, Graveyard, or Banishment, ignoring its summoning conditions. For you luck 007 and 009 are in the extra deck, otherwise this duel would be already over, but that does not mean another companion cannot be brought. Due 006's effect, if its control is swapped, I can summon 2 of its copies."
"CTR-006"
*8 [ATK 3000/DEF 3000]
"CTR-006"
*8 [ATK 3000/DEF 3000]
"Creator Lab"
Counters: 6
"Either way, the Battle Phase already ended," Yugo reminded her.
"Those two were not meant to attack," she rebuked. "By banishing 'Ultimate Creation' from my Graveyard, I can use the three 'CTR-006' on the field as materials for a Fusion Summon. Arise, 008!"
"CTR-008"
The platinum creature of majestic proportions almost didn't fit on the terrace's surface, and the plate at its head covered the sky
*12 [ATK 4500/DEF 3000]
"Creator Lab"
Counters: 7
"Now I use the spell card "Creature Swap" and handle the control of 008 to you... occasionally. Because of the ultimate creation's nature, it readily returns to its controller after being taken away."
"CTR-008"
*12 [ATK 4500/DEF 3000]
"Creator Lab"
Counters: 8
"For what purpose, then, all of this?"
"You would wish to remain ignorant. 'CTR-008' has a special power: if it is affected somehow by a card effect, at the End Phase it ceases to be so if able, and I can negate the effects of 1 monster on the field while adding them to 008!"
"So you are going to..."
"Exactly. I end my turn by leaving Malicious Bane unprotected."