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Aarikku · Last edited by Aarikku on Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:56 pm; edited 1 time in total

Chapter Ten
Return of Vladimir

“I don’t understand!” Vladimir roared into his cell phone. “Why would I send another employee? I’ll take them on myself.”

“There are more important things than winning each individual game.” The cold voice of Madam Mai replied. “Have Ricardo challenge the redhead. This will be the distraction you need.”

==

There was much celebration a few rooms ahead. “Taking down a God thrice. That is impressive.” Said Kyle.

“The third time was predictable.” Ferali admitted humbly. Then she wrecked her humility by saying, “On the other hand, I am pretty awesome.”

“I can’t imagine we’ll actually finish the tour,” Martin sighed. “We might as well try and find the other HoloMagic employees ourselves.”

“They do seem to like challenging us while alone.” Kyle nodded in assent.

“Anyone else having second thoughts about this whole thing?” Luke wondered. “We’ve got Shmod’s future depending on us.”

“Yeah, and we’re winning!” Tyson replied enthusiastically. “These HoloMagic guys couldn’t win a card game against the wide side of a barn.” A silence.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Linlan shook her head.

“It’s not supposed to. It’s a joke.”

“Jokes are supposed to make sense!” Linlan argued.

“Not all of them. Listen to this one! A priest and a baloney sandwich walk into a bar…”

“Hey guys?” Kevin piped up. “Weren’t there more of us just a second ago?”

“AKA, where did Zywen and Ferali go?” Cassandra scratched her head, looking around.

==

“So you made a deal with Vladimir,” Ferali repeated.

“Right.” Zywen nodded.

“And now you’re pretending to be on his team, to the point of ‘kidnapping’ me in exchange for a bit of self-insurance if we lose.”

“Yep.”

“But if we win, you’re still one of the good guys.”

“Exactly.”

“Nice.” Ferali nodded. “That was a wise decision. Where are we going, anyway?”

“Right… here.” Zywen pointed, and there, in the middle of their current hall, was Vladimir. “What’s going to boggle your mind later is asking yourself if I’m actually on his side, and just trying to gain the confidence of both sides.”

“Eh… what?” Ferali stumbled, trying to balance figuring out whose side Zywen was actually on and the art of walking.

“Thank you, Zywen.” Vladimir bowed his head slightly towards her. She replied with a thumbs-up. “Now, Ferali. I have a challenge for you.” He gestured an S-R on his wrist. “And to sweeten the deal, I happen to have four H-Coins – and I’m all out of employees. Beat me, and you get them all.”

“Oh, you are so on.” Ferali readied her own S-R.

==

Meanwhile, the other group had split up in an attempt to locate Ferali and Zywen. Kyle, Tyson and Martin had gone one way; Cassandra, Linlan, Kevin and Luke – much to Tyson’s worry – had gone another.

“Honestly, I could use a break from Tyson’s jokes.” Linlan was saying, as their quartet turned another hall. “I mean, c’mon… the priest eats the sandwich? That’s not a punchline. That’s just describing a man’s lunch.”

“It’s kinda funny. The sandwich was walking.” Luke defended.

“How is that funny?” Linlan asked.

“I dunno. I think Tyson told it wrong.” Luke cleared his throat. “Okay, so a baloney sandwich and a rabbi walk into a bar…”

“YOU!” A man at the end of the hall pointed a finger dramatically; his voice reverberating throughout the entire room. The finger was gesturing towards Cassandra. He looked otherwise normal; brown hair, a small goatee and sunglasses.

“Me?” Cassandra tilted her head in confusion.

“Yes! The redhead. Cassandra, right? Vladimir has instructed me to take you down. And take you down I shall! My name is Ricardo, holder of the legendary Deck of Lightning.”

Cassandra stood for a moment in silence. “Wasn’t there a time when I was the dramatic one?”

“It’s all in the cowboy hat.” Kevin explained.

“Aw, I left that at home, didn’t I?” Cassandra pouted. “Whatever. Down to business. I accept your challenge, Ricardo.”

“Let us begin!” Ricardo exclaimed. The S-R’s of Ricardo and Cassandra formed a giant coin, which flipped and determined that Ricardo would start. “Ah, lady luck smiles upon me! I draw.” He looked at his virtual cards for a few seconds, and then poked a few. “I charge Banyo Dragon… and tap one for Ironite, on offence.” There appeared a white, frilled dragon. (1800 STK)

“My go.” Cassandra drew. “Let’s make this quick. I scrap Living Bullet in order to play Tora, the Soldier from my hand.” The red-and-gold knight appeared in a blaze of fire, swinging her fiery halberd. (2000 STK) “By the effect of Living Bullet, I can add a second one from my deck to my hand.” A few short holograms showed this taking place. “And now, I charge that Living Bullet, and tap it for Devil Girl.” The demonic girl leapt from her card, landing in a karate stance.

“Now that’s a move!” Kevin cheered.

“By the effect of Devil Girl, all Female fighters gain 500 STK. So Tora’s STK becomes 2500, and Devil Girl’s itself becomes 1000. Furthermore, you can’t attack Devil Girl.” Cassandra explained, as her small army was surrounded with a dark red aura. “Devil Girl attacks Ironite!” The fiend created a small fireball between her hands and tossed it nonchalantly at the small dragon, obliterating it. “And Tora attacks you directly!” Tora readied her weapon like a javelin, and tossed it with deadly accuracy, striking Ricardo in the heart. (Ricardo: 8) “I’ll set one card, and it’s your turn.”

“I am impressed by your techniques!” Ricardo complimented. “But I fear there’s a storm on your horizon. I charge Empress Dragonfly, and tap it to play Fusion Technique. Now, I combine Galia and Electric Coo-Coo from my hand.”

“How many of these guys play chickens?” Linlan asked rhetorically.

“I’ve infused Galia with the powers of lightning!” Ricardo exclaimed, thrusting his arm into the air. “Come forth, Spark Knight – the ultimate warrior of lightning!” A cloud appeared under the ceiling, and from it descended an armoured warrior. Four tendrils extended from its back, creating electricity from the tips. (3000 STK)

“Aw, man,” Cassandra sighed.

“Spark Knight – destroy Tora!” Ricardo’s hand swung to point at the knight, as Spark Knight’s tendrils released an explosion of lightning that focused into a beam and struck Tora; who was then destroyed. (Cassandra: 9)

“My go.” Cassandra drew. “I charge Fiery Ouroboros. It can’t be tapped during the turn it’s charged… but,” She said, accentuating the ‘but’. “It counts as two Fire Mana when I can tap it. In the meantime, I’ll switch Devil Girl to guard mode and set one card.”

“No, Cassandra. Play more monsters!” Kevin hissed from the sidelines.

“Was that first turn all the moves you can make?” Ricardo began his own turn. “Ah, I was hoping for this card. I charge Windmill – a card identical to Fiery Ouroboros, but for Storm Mana instead. I still have two mana remaining, so I tap it both for Thunder Hawk!” A large, black-and-yellow bird flew into the sky, creating sparks with each flap of its wings. (2000 STK) “Thunder Hawk; attack Devil Girl!” The bird swopped down at Cassandra’s card, but stopped in midair with a ‘thwack’.

“Meet Monster Bash.” Cassandra announced confidently. “I can’t tap Fiery Ouroboros during the turn it’s tapped, but this is your turn. So I tap it and my other mana to send Thunder Hawk and Spark Knight back to your hand.”

“This cannot be!” Ricardo cried, as Spark Knight disappeared and Thunder Hawk was flown back into Ricardo’s hand, changing back into a card as it did.

“My turn.” Cassandra drew. “Again, let’s end this quickly. I switch Devil Girl back to offence. Next, I charge Burning Tiger. I’ll tap two – including Ouroboros – for Fireball Sorceress.” Beside Devil Girl appeared a witch with a long, gold staff in one hand and a blazing fireball in the other. (3000 STK) “I’ll use her effect and scrap this other Burning Tiger in order to resurrect a Fire card from my Graveyard. Return, Tora!” The sorceress struck her staff on the floor, and Cassandra’s fallen warrior leapt from the floor tiles.

“Yeah! Get ‘im!” Luke cheered.

“I’m not done yet. I scrap Recurring Forestfire, who’s got 2300 STK, in order to revive the Burning Tiger I scrapped.” Cassandra explained, as the Sorceress created another hole in the floor, from which the golden tiger of fire pounced. “Time for the fun part. Tiger! Devil! Sorceress! Tora! Attack him directly.” Cassandra crossed her arms as the four creatures of fire jumped at Ricardo, slashing with claws and weapons or erupting with fire. “And during the End Phase of a turn in which Recurring Forestfire was scrapped, I can add it to my hand.”

“You fiendish witch!” Ricardo shouted. “I’ll put an end to you.” He began his turn. “I charge Thunder Hawk, and tap three – including Windmill – for Lightning Rex.” In front of the man appeared a large, purple dinosaur with yellow horns. From each horn shot sparks of lightning. (4000 STK)

“Okay.” Cassandra shrugged.

“To continue, I tap one in order to play Level Up! Watch!” The dinosaur grew, and its main horn split to become two. Lightning-bolt designs appeared down its body, and its tail now ended in a trident. (4500 STK) “I create Hurricane Gigantosaur!” Ricardo yelled over his creature’s roar.

“No way!” Kevin cried from the sidelines.

“So it’s a horned Barney.” Luke shrugged.

“Wrong, you ignorant child.” Ricardo protested. “During the turn it comes into play, Hurricane Gigantosaur allows me to destroy a number of fighters my opponent controls equal to the amount of Storm Mana I have… at the small cost of this turn’s Battle Phase.” Ricardo’s dinosaur roared again, and from its twin horns shot millions of volts of electricity. An arc struck each of Cassandra’s monsters, and each one exploded. “As I said, I can’t attack this turn, so I’ll set a card, and it’s your move.”

“Ouch,” Linlan muttered.

“She’ll play out of it. Believe me, Cassandra will win,” Kevin replied with determination. I hope. He considered silently.

==

Ferali stumbled back and struck the wall behind her. “Your coin, please.” Vladimir stretched out his hand.

“That wasn’t fair!” Ferali retorted. “You can’t use those cards! It’s against the rules.”

“They’re official cards,” Vladimir shrugged. “They worked with the S-R, didn’t they?”

Ferali grumbled something, reached into her pocket and tossed the ‘S’ coin to Vladimir. “You son of a – ”

“Just let it go, Ferali.” Zywen shook her head. Then she stepped forward. “I’ll avenge you.” And she turned on her S-R.

“What?” Ferali and Vladimir asked simultaneously.

“Sabotaging your only chance to get those Sin cards?” Vladimir scoffed, and turned his own S-R on again. “You kids don’t make any sense.”

“I don’t need the Sin Demons to win. It’s time I proved that,” Zywen replied. “Let’s begin.”

==

Cassandra looked across the room at the giant dinosaur. “Okay. Now it’s personal.” She cracked her fingers. “I charge Recurring Forestfire, and tap one for another Devil Girl. But she won’t be here for long… I tap three, including Ouroboros, to play Princess Bakua!” An orange monarch with a physics-defying crown and two sabres appeared beside Devil Girl. (3500 STK)

“Your princess has nothing compared to my dinosaur!” Ricardo declared.

“I disagree. I tribute a Female monster – Devil Girl – to activate Bakua’s effect – letting me destroy all other cards on the field. Say goodbye to your dinosaur, as well as that facedown there.” Bakua rushed at Ricardo’s field, slicing through the facedown card and the dinosaur. “Furthermore, Bakua can attack twice this turn. So do so!” Bakua ended her rampage with two strikes on Ricardo. (Ricardo: 2)

“Our battle is like a game of tennis. And it’s my serve.” Ricardo poked some holograms. “I tap three – well, one and Windmill – for Lightning Dragon!” The great serpentine dragon hovered in midair behind Ricardo. (3200 STK) “Next, I tap one for Cliffs of Heaven!” All around Cassandra and Ricardo rose giant mountains, and the ceiling was replaced with a sunny sky. “Now, Storm and Light fighters gain 500 STK.” Lightning Dragon roared. (3700 STK) “Lightning Dragon! Reclaim this game for me!” The dragon swirled in the air, releasing a ball of lightning from its mouth. The orb struck Bakua, who fell to the floor and exploded. (Cassandra: 8) “And now, by the effect of my leviathan, you must scrap one card from your hand.”

“One problem,” Cassandra commented, combining mock worry with actual worry. She wiggled her fingers. “I don’t have a hand.”

“Then you have done my deck’s job for it!” Ricardo laughed. “Make your move.”

Cassandra slowly pressed the ‘draw’ button. C’mon… god-draw! She looked at the holographic card. “This qualifies. I tap one for Replenish!” She then drew two more cards. “Oh crap.” Demon Mountain and another Fiery Ouroboros. I’ll play Demon Mountain, of course, but what of Ouroboros? If I leave it in my hand, it’ll get scrapped. Probably. If I play it, it’ll get destroyed. So that leaves… “I charge Fiery Ouroboros, and tap one for Demon Mountain.” The cliffs of heaven exploded into brimstone volcanoes. The largest took on the appearance of a face with a clawed hand.

“Cassandra! That’s the worst move ever!” Kevin yelled.

“She’s got 8 Health to his 2. She’ll be fine.” Linlan shook her head.

“Not against a Storm deck! Wasn’t anyone paying attention during Tyson versus Johnny?” Luke asked.

“Oh yeah.” Cassandra stroked her chin. “Take back?”

“No,” Ricardo replied, and he began his turn. “I, unlike you, have enough cards to make an army! I tap three for Swarm of Bees and two Spiderstorms!” Two living thunderclouds and a hive’s worth of bees appeared, flying beside Lightning Dragon. “When Spiderstorm comes into play, I can select one other Storm monster, and that card can attack twice this turn. So I select Lightning Dragon and Swarm of Bees. Now – I attack with everything!” Ricardo yelled. Lightning Dragon fired two of its lightning orbs, the bees surrounded Cassandra and the Spiderstorms released small bolts of lightning. All these attacks struck Cassandra, who tried to remain looking confident. (Cassandra: 2)

“Okay. Bad move on that one.” Cassandra began her turn, and she drew her only card. God-draw again! “Mulligan!” Cassandra announced, playing the same card. She tapped a mana, and drew her last card. This is it. C’mon, deck. What do I need to win? She poked the draw button, eyes closed.

==

“And down you go,” Vladimir chuckled, as Zywen’s Life dropped to 0. “Coin, please.”

“I can’t find it.” Zywen patted down her pockets. “Seriously. I play by the rules. Where’d it go?”

“I have it.” Explained a voice, dropping from the ceiling and landing neatly crouched. It was Johnny. “When you were talking with Vladimir, I figured I’d even the odds for Team Shmod Co.”

“I’m not too concerned with why as opposed to how!” Zywen cried in confusion.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you. Vladimir! If anyone can take out… whatever I saw… it’s me. Bring it on.” Johnny readied his watch.

Madam Mai didn’t predict this… Vladimir noted mentally. And I’ve actually heard of this kid. But on the other hand… He looked down to his pocket where the physical copy of his deck sat. I made this card invincible. “Accepted,” Vladimir replied.

==

Cassandra opened her eyes. “This qualifies. I tap five in order to play Combustiploder Cannon!” A red, metal orb rose from the ground. A slot appeared, producing a giant cannon nozzle, and the structure caught fire. “It gains 500 STK for being in Demon Mountain, making it the strongest card in play.”

“Nice,” Kevin nodded sagely.

“Combustiploder Cannon! Attack!” Cassandra pointed at Lightning Dragon, and a giant fireball vanquished the beast. “By its effect, you take one damage per Fire card in my Graveyard. Living Bullet! Tora! Devil Girl! Burning Tiger! Fireball Sorceress! The other Devil Girl! Princess Bakua!” Faded images of each appeared alongside seven additional bullets from Combustiploder Cannon. The bullets struck Ricardo. (Ricardo: -5)

“I have met my match!” Ricardo admitted, and he tossed a coin from his pocket across the room to Cassandra. “You truly are strong!”

==

“Can Johnny really win?” Ferali asked Zywen.

“May…be?” Zywen replied. “I hope so.” She looked back towards the game; a blue Chimera was already in play. “I really hope so.”

Card of the Chapter is Princess Bakua

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Naardaas · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 12:21 pm Post subject:

Nice piece, but I have one question:

Aarikku · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:56 pm Post subject:

...Whoops.

In my original plans, it musta been on Guard, and then I changed it to Offence when I realized that defending with an 1800/800 on the first turn is dumb.

(By the way, I'ma finish Shmod Saga II and Timeline on this Shmod Forum before I head off to the second one for good; I don't want to leave an empty forum behind with a bunch of unfinished projects on it.)

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