Chapter 51: Battle Royal! (I)

<<Battle Royal engaged. Number of Competitors: 4. Style: Free for all. Duel begins!>>

Drake, Wyvern and Hal were surprised as a fourth competitor had entered the battlefield, what should have been a 2 on 1 team up against Drake had taken a sudden new twist with this last moment addition.

But Drake was even more surprised as he recognised the duellist who had taken it upon himself to disrupt New Orders carefully laid trap.

Nistro. His flaming red hair and uniform of dark maroon and black were particularly menacing in the flickering torch light of the chamber.

The moment Drake saw him he could guess his motivation. Dextra. Like Kite, Nistro was one of Dextra's closest friends and an operative working under Dr Faker. But where Dextra was more a cold and collected ice queen, Nistro was more like a bubbling volcano, impulsive and hot headed.

If he wasn't here on purpose to avenge Dextra then Drake would eat his duel disk.

<<Randomising Duel sequence…>>

"Urgh, activate Skill! First Turn!" ordered Wyvern as she shook off her surprise.

<<Skill: First Turn activated (Consumable). First turn goes to duellist Wyvern. Randomising remaining duellists.>> came the electronic reply.

The skill was self explanatory, when activated at the start of the duel then that duellist would take the first turn regardless of whatever rules or conditions were in play. Even if an unknown third party was interfering Wyvern knew she had to follow with the strategy she and Hal had agree on.

"I don't know who you are but you will regret interfering in our business." Threatened the Silver General as he moved across the chamber to form a rough square shape between the four duellists, giving him and the Black General extra room to duel.

"Oh but I know who you are." Nistro said to the New Order Generals with a glare before turning to Drake.

"I also know who you are, but so long as you don't get in my way we won't have a problem. And one more thing…" he said as he pointed towards the masked Wyvern.

"…She is my target, got it?"

"I am your target? What kind of fool are you! keep out of our way or you will be the one to suffer here." Wyvern angerly replied. Who do this fool think she was? Messing in their business like this.

"I am Nistro! Second Captain of the Black Elite!" he declared with pride.

But if he was expecting a reaction from anyone he was doomed to be disappointed.

"…Who?" Wyvern asked in confusion as the system finally decided the turn order.

<<Turn order locked. Wyvern, Nistro, Hal, Drake. Preparing duel field. DUEL!>>

[Turn 1 – W LP:4000 Hand:5, N LP:4000 Hand:5, H LP:4000 Hand:5, D LP:4000 Hand:5]

"The Black Elite… the security force whose base you and Blue destroyed." Hal helpfully supplied the puzzled villainess.

"Oh, another of those losers..." Wyvern remarked as Nistro snarled.

"Can we get on with this?" Drake asked. Completely unsure whether to consider Nistro an ally or not, after all he was still an operative under Fakers orders which technically made him an enemy.

But at this moment perhaps the age old wisdom of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' applied. Or perhaps not, he could only wait and see.

"Agreed." Said Hal. They were here to finish off Drake, not mince words with a flunky of Faker.

"Fine… by the Power of the Shadows!" Wyvern cried as she lifted a gloved hand to the air, on her finger glinted a golden ring adorned with the sign of the eye of Horus.

Hal also raised a hand to the sky, a similarly adorned bracelet around his wrist. From these items, these Shadow Charms, erupted a flowing mass of shadows that began to flow around the duel field, around and around, faster and faster. It was like the four duellists were standing in the eye of a black hurricane.

The quality of the two Generals shadow charms seemed much higher than the one Alice wanted to use against Kite, their combined powers summoning forth ancient power into the human realm.

Drake could feel the potent Shadow magic surrounding them, while Nistro frowned at this inexplicable event.

"I guess this means you really don't have the Seal on you then?" he rhetorically asked the two generals.

There would be no need to create a shadow game if they had the power of the Seal to use as they pleased.

"Heh, do you have that dragon on you? I draw!" Wyvern said, ignoring the question Drake had asked.

"I activate <Cards of the Red Stone>, by sending a <Red-Eyes Black Dragon> from my hand to the grave I can draw two more cards, then I can send a <Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon> from my deck to the grave as well."

"At this point my skill activate! Insider Information!" Declared Hal.

<<Personal Skill- Insider Information: Whenever a Duellist adds a card(s) to their hand outside of the normal turns draw you may look at those cards. This skill must be activated at the start of the duel.>>

"Quite the draw my dear." The Silver General complimented the two cards Wyvern drew thanks to her spell.

"Just duel you idiot, I play <Red-Eyes Fusion>! I send Red-Eyes Black Dragon and <Gearfried the Red-Eyes Iron Knight> from my deck to the grave to fusion summon <Red-Eyes Slash Dragon>!"

[Red-Eyes Slash Dragon – Lv7 ATK:2800/DEF:2400]

A black Dragon emerged, clad in black iron armour with great sword like blades sprouting from the side of its arms. Its red eyes menacing glowed against the back drop of the swirling shadow wall behind it.

"Then I set a card and end my turn, your go mister nobody." Wyvern mocked Nistro, seeking to throw the hot tempered man off his game before he even had a chance to play.

[Turn 2 – N LP:4000/H:5, H LP:4000/H:5, D LP:4000/H:5, W LP:4000/H:4]

"Oh honey, just you wait, your tricks don't scare me. Once you fall into my hands you will regret what you did that night, I promise you. Draw! I will start things off with my <Pot of Greed> letting me draw two more cards."

Wyvern scowled beneath her mask, what honey! She already hated this guy as much as she did Hal. Speak of which…

"Don't forget my skill, Insider Information! Now lets see what you have… Heroic Challenger Double Lance and Night Watchman I see." Hal told everyone the cards Nistro had drawn.

Using his skill to provided information about their opponents cards to his fellow general would increase the chances of crushing the two of them. And there was nothing Drake or Nistro could do about it.

"Is that all? Well I activate my face down! The Trap <Return of the Red-Eyes> with this during each players turn I can special summon a normal monster from my graveyard to the field, so return <Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon>!" said Wyvern as her dragon return to the field.

It was the same dragon Drake remembered from their last duel, a red-eyes knock off, a Gemini monster that counted as a normal monster while in the graveyard or face up on the field but had the effect that could allow Wyvern to resummons it during her turn to give her monster the ability damage to her opponent equal to this dragons original attack after it battled.

[Red-Eye Black Flare Dragon – Lv7 ATK:2400/DEF:2000]

Since Wyvern had already filled her graveyard with several monsters thanks to her spells, this continuous trap could summon an army of monsters in a battle royal like this that had multiple Duellists. And fortunately for her, in a battle royal like this no duellist could attack on their first turn.

"Ooooh a feisty one are you?" Nistro asked Wyvern. Unfazed by the potential trouble such a combination of trap and duel style would cause.

"Since an opponent controls a monster and I control no monsters, I Special summon from my hand <Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd> to the field!"

[Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd – Lv4 ATK:1800/DEF:200]

Nistros armoured warrior took to the field. Its halberd blade attached to its arm glinted from the light of the torches as its polished surface reflected the roiling mass of shadows that surged back and forth like a hungry beast waiting for its first victim.

"Next I summon my <Heroic Challenger - Double Lance>! You already know I have this card, but did you know I had two? With Double Lance's special ability I can now special summon the second from my hand to the field in defence mode."

[x2 Heroic Challenger Double Lance – Lv4 ATK:1700/DEF:900]

Two warriors in pale armour, each armed with a pair of short lances, entered the field together.

"Now with these three monsters I build the Overlay Network! To Xyz summon the warrior from a distant land, come forth! Rank 4! <Heroic Champion – Kusanagi>! In attack mode."

[Heroic Champion – Kusanagi – Rank4 ATK:2500/DEF:2500 OU:3]

Dressed in samurai like armour and wielding a blazing sword of orange energy, the Heroic Champion emerged from the vortex of the Overlay Network, its three Overlay Units slowly orbiting it.

"I will then end my turn with a face down!"

[Turn 3 – H LP:4000/H:5, D LP:4000/H:5, W LP:4000/H:4, N LP:4000/H:3]

"Time for me to show my stuff, I draw!" Hal said as he dramatically mimed drawing a card as one normally would in spite of the holographic system each of them was currently using.

"Idiot…" Wyvern murmured.

Such an act may look cool when drawing a real card, but with this virtual system it just looked weird. For Drake it was just more confirmation that Fakers new duel disk system was ascetically stupid.

"I liked your Assault Halberd… Nistro was it? But I have something a bit better than it. Behold! I Special summon <Cyber Dragon> to the field! And by summoning this card I can also Special summon <Cyber Dragon Vier> from my hand in defence!"

[Cyber Dragon – Lv5 ATK:2100 > 2600/DEF:1600 > 2100 ,Cyber Dragon Vier -Lv4 ATK:1100 > 1600/DEF:1600 > 2100]

The iconic mechanical dragon, and ace monster of the GX pro duellist Zane Truesdale took to the field alongside its modern support monster. The metal plated serpent loomed over its smaller ally, its metallic surface lit by the gentle purple glow of its exposed power cores. A glow that began to spread over the larger frame of the original Cyber Dragon.

"And if you didn't notice my Dragon Vier's abilities not only treat this card as Cyber Dragon while its on the field, but it also gives all Cyber Dragons I control a 500 ATK/DEF point boost." Explain Hal.

"I again activate the effect of Return of the Red-Eyes so return-!" Wyvern began.

"Not so fast honey! Heroic Champion – Kusanagi activates it special ability, by using one Overlay unit I can negate a trap card one per turn and destroy it, then my monster gains 500 ATK!" Interrupted Nistro with a smug grin.

[Heroic Champion – Kusanagi –ATK:2500 > 3000 OU:3 > 2]

Absorbing an Overlay unit into its blazing sword the blade was super charged and expanded to pierce the celling before the champion slashed out at Wyverns trap card, cutting it into pieces.

*SLASH*

"Tch!" Wyvern hated this guy even more as he dismantled her trap after only a single turn, but it wasn't over. As the smoke cleared a <Red-Eyes Black Dragon> appeared on the field after the destruction of Wyverns trap card.

*Roar!*

"But I negated its effect!" Nistro complained. So how had Wyvern managed to summon this beast?

"When you destroyed my trap its second effect activated, allowing it summon a Red-Eyes monster back from the Grave." Wyvern explained. She wasn't exactly smug, after all she had planed to summon many more monsters with this trap, but something was better than nothing.

[Red-Eyes Black Dragon – Lv7 ATK:2400/DEF:2000]

This gave Wyvern three black dragons now!

"This is still my turn you know? Next I will summon the <Cyber Dragon Herz> to the field, like Vier so long as it is on the field or in my grave this card is also treated as Cyber Dragon." Hal continued his turn.

[Cyber Dragon Herz - Lv1 ATK:100 > 600/DEF:100 > 600]

This cyber beast was even smaller than the others, its body made up of a series of round metallic cells linked together. Each one was emitting a blue energy from hexagonal shaped openings. Its eyes were mere slits that glowed with the same blue light.

"Now go <Polymerization>! Fuse my three Cyber Dragons together to fusion summon the mighty <Cyber End Dragon>!"

[Cyber End Dragon – Lv10 ATK:4000/DEF:2800]

A classic ace monster that Drake was familiar with. Its three metallic heads roared as it flapped its oversized wings. In some ways Drake considered that Cyber Dragon and Cyber End Dragon was one of the first monsters in the anime to be created as a weakened copy of the original Blue-Eyes. And its own Fusion the Cyber Twin Dragon might have inspired the later creation of his own Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon.

"Oh, and when Herz is sent to the graveyard I can add another Cyber Dragon from my deck to my hand." Hal continued, ignoring the slight flinch of his monster as its out stretched wings brushed against the shadow barrier behind it.

"Finally I end with two face downs. Time to see what you have Atlas."

[Turn 4 –D LP:4000/H:5, W LP:4000/H:4, N LP:4000/H:3, H LP:4000/H:1]

"I Draw!"

Looking at his hand Drake was unsatisfied, this was his first turn and already his opponents had busted out powerful monsters like the Red-Eyes Slash Dragon, Cyber End, even Nistros Heroic Champion had some punch to it. But this hand wasn't quite up to snuff, if only… wait… he still had that thing which he could do.

"Personal Skill Activate! Dragon Evolution! By sending the <Totem Dragon> in my hand back to the deck I can add a random level 5 or higher dragon from my deck to my hand."

<<Drake Atlas Duel Points: 785 > 285.>>

Only Drake could see this notification as his duel points dropped, Drake assumed it was the same for other Duellists personal skills. In a duel any duellists could use both one consumable skill and one permanent skill a duel. So for example Hal, who had used the consumable skill Battle Royal and his personal skill Insider Information, could no longer use any other skills. All personal skills were by their nature Permanent Skills.

To activate his personal skill it cost him 500 duel points, but thanks to the trails of the maze he had overcome so far he had managed to replenish his points enough to afford it after almost wiping out his points at the secret duel vendor earlier.

Returning the Totem Dragon to his deck his new card was drawn.

"Don't forget! My-"

"We know alright, your personal skill lets you see his card, which you will tell your partner. Just get on with it already." Nistro complained as he interrupted the smug Silver General.

"Brute! Fine, the card he drew was his famous Blue-Eyes White Dragon." Hal continued.

"You didn't need to tell them that, in fact let me show everyone. By revealing the Blue-Eyes I just drew I can special summon <Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon> to the field!" Drake continued.

[Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon – Lv8 ATK:3000/DEF:2500]

"I use my Alternative White Dragons effect. Destruction Burst! Destroy that Cyber End Dragon!" Cried Drake.

His dragon began to gather up its energy, brilliant blue lightning crackled in the air, flowing towards the dragons maw. When it had gathered up enough power the dragon unleashed a deafening roar as it blasted the ball of destructive power towards the towering metallic beast.

"My Cyber End couldn't even last a turn? Fine, go <De-Fusion>, this card will split my dragon back into the monsters I used to originally summon it." Hal complained as his spell split his dragonic machine back into three, dodging the fatal lightning.

[Cyber Dragon – Lv5 ATK:2100 > 2600/DEF:1600 > 2100 ,Cyber Dragon Vier -Lv4 ATK:1100 > 1600/DEF:1600 > 2100, Cyber Dragon Herz - Lv1 ATK:100 > 600/DEF:100 > 600]

"Now I activate the spell <Trade-In>, by discarding my Blue-Eyes White Dragon I can draw two more cards. Go ahead fancy boy, tell them what I just drew." Drake continued, knowing that the Silver Generals skill would activate.

Even now Drake did not actually know the name of the Silver General.

"My name is Hal Mercrius, remember it Drake Atlas for what little time you have left. Wyvern, he just drew that Blue-Eyes Kuriboh of his along with the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon."

"So annoying." Drake complained. Bad enough just having one of them be aware of his cards, but for him to keep telling everyone was quickly getting very old.

"I activate <Silver's Cry> to special summon the Blue-Eyes I just sent to my grave back to the field."

[Blue-Eyes White Dragon – Lv8 ATK:3000/DEF:2500]

Drakes signature monster entered the field along side it's Alternative counterpart. Their white scales bright against the wall of shadows.

"Since I control a level 8 monster, I can now normal summon <Parsec, the Interstellar Dragon> without the need of a tribute."

[Parsec, the Interstellar Dragon – Lv8 ATK:800/DEF:800]

A small purple dragon with spindly… legs? Wing spurs? and neon green highlights emerged from a spatial rift.

"Three level 8's?! Blast!" Wyvern complained. She knew what was going to happen next.

"With these three monsters I now Xyz summon, my faithful servant, messenger from beyond the void, Dragon of stars that brings forth destruction. Appear Rank 8 <Blue-Eyes Starlight Dragon>!"

[Blue-Eyes Starlight Dragon – Rank 8 ATK:3000/DEF:2500 OU:3]

*ROAR!*

Drakes crystalline like dragon cried out as it descended from the black vortex, its brilliant inner starlight seemed to pulse and push back against the rotating wall of shadows, cries of pain seemed to come from it as it was burned by the light.

"Time to dish out a bit of destruction, go Starlight Dragon! Using one Overlay Unit I now destroy Wyverns Red-Eyes Slash Dragon! Star Fall!"

[Blue-Eyes Starlight Dragon –OU:3 > 2]

"And since I sent Blue-Eyes to the grave to activate this effect, you take 1000 points of damage."

Swallowing an Overlay Unit Drakes dragon blasted out a giant flaming meteor towards Wyverns monster. An unstoppable explosion ripped the armoured dragon apart, its shockwaves blasting into Wyvern and threatening break through the black vortex.

*Boom!*

[Wyvern LP > 3000]

Wyvern could only look grimly on, a drop of blood staining the edge of her mouth.

"The second shot! This time I will destroy Hals Cyber Dragon Vier, and since I am using Alternative White Dragons which treats itself as Blue-Eyes White Dragon while in my grave that means you also take 1000 damage. Star Fall!"

[Blue-Eyes Starlight Dragon –OU:2 > 1]

*BOOM*

Again Drakes monster unleashed a flaming meteor of destruction against the purple hued machine.

[Hal LP > 3000]

Hal staggered backwards, coming dangerously close to stumbling into the shadow barrier before he steadied himself. With Cyber Dragon Vier's destruction his other Cyber Dragons then lost their power boosts.

[Cyber Dragon – ATK:2600 > 2100/DEF:2100 > 1600 , Cyber Dragon Herz - Lv1 ATK:600 > 100/DEF:600 > 100]

"The third strike! Destroy that Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon!"

[Blue-Eyes Starlight Dragon –OU:1 > 0]

*Boom!*

This time Drakes monster could not deal damage through the use of its effect, but it didn't stop it from eradicating the black dragon from the field.

"And I will finish this turn with a face down. Your move!"