Chapter 4 — It’s Showtime!

As soon as Atem drew his card, Yuhan called out his move.

— At this moment, Stardust Dragon effect activates, if it was tributed to negate a destruction effect last turn, I can special summon it again during my opponent's Standby Phase! Revive once again, Stardust Dragon!

Coming back form the graveyard, the shining figure of Stardust Dragon is back on the field!

— I activate, from my side of the field, Dark Magic Curtain! Paying half my life points, I can special summon, Dark Magician!

A shroud of darkness envelops the field as the figure of a magician in purple armor emerges from the shadows.

— Now I activate, Bond Between Teacher and Student! To summon Dark Magician Girl from my deck! Now I can set a card from my deck directly on the field!

One of the set spells on Atem's field was Bond Between Teacher and Student, he only had one card is his hand, and that made Yuhan uneasy for some reason.

— Now I tribute my Dark Magician, and my Dark Magician Girl, to special summon from my hand, Sorcerer of Dark Magic!

A new magician appeared on the field, this time in black armor, it had enough ATK to destroy Stardust Dragon, but Atem was far from over.

— I activate, Eternal Soul! To bring back from my graveyard, Dark Magician! Now we battle!

As the battle phase begins, Atem prepares for his first move.

— Sorcerer of Dark Magic, attack Stardust Dragon, Burning Dark Magic!

An explosion of black flames shots in the direction of Stardust Dragon, but at this moment Atem activates on of his own trap cards.

— And with that I activate, Magicians Circle, with this both of us can summon a Spellcaster with 2000 or less ATK from our hand, deck or graveyard, come back! Dark Magician Girl!

A smile appears on Yuhan's face, as a card flies out of his deck into the field.

— Then I call foward, Peformapal Pendulum Sorcerer! At this moment his effect activates!

A magician dressed in red robes with a pendulum in hand is summoned to the field.

— I can destroy two cards on my field, I choose the field spell, Speed World! and the Field spell, Skyscraper 2 - Hero City!

Speed world was a requirement to summon Crimson Dragon, now that it was already used there was no point in keeping it on the field, Skyscraper 2 was also not needed since almost every Hero card is his deck and graveyard has been banished due to miracle fusion and Devine Neos.

— With that I can add 2 Peformapal monsters from my deck to my hand! When speed world is destroyed with 7 counters or more, I can draw a card from my deck!

Yuhan had one card in his hand, but now he's holding four, but that was not the end.

— You triggered my trap card Atem! Negate Attack! Your attack is negated and the battle phase ends here!

But Atem smiled again having fun at his opponent's response.

— Sorcerer of Dark Magic effect activates, when a spell or trap card is activated, I can discard one card from my hand, and negate its effect! The battle continues! Now, Sorcerer of Dark Magic!

Stardust Dragon is struck down by the attack, but the battle was not over, Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl were still on the field.

— Dark Magician Girl, attack Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer with Dark Burning attack!

There was no response from Yuhan, and now his field was empty.

— It's over, Dark Magician, finish this Dark Magic attack!

Now it was time for one final play.

— I activate, Defense Draw, I take no damage from this battle! And I can draw a card!

Drawing his card, Yuhan managed to survive this battle phase, but this duel was far from over.

— The I'll play, Monster Reborn! To special summon a monster from my graveyard!

Yuhan was confused, Atem's strongest magicians were already on the field, the Egyptian god cards were one way or another banished, who could he possibly summon. Then he remembered, the card discarded to activate Sorcerer of Dark Magic's effect.

— It seems you realized, the monster I discarded was this one! I summon, Dark Magician of Chaos!

A new card, in the all his previous attempts in this match, this card was never played. Something was clearly different, and Yuhan had a strong suspicion as to what it was.

— When Dark Magician of Chaos is summoned, I can set a spell card from my graveyard to the space behind it! It's the end of my turn.

The young man was in a difficult situation, no monsters on the field, two spell cards, one of the spell cards were mostly useless. But at this time, right before drawing his card, he smiled.

— Atem, you are real, aren't you?

There was too much emotion, the speech pattern was different from the AI in his previous attempts, something changed, and Yuhan was suspicious, a GM must have taken control of the npc, or so he thought.

— You are correct, Yuhan, your determination has taken you far enough to overcome the odds and defeat my strongest monsters, I will honor this duel and finish it myself! Now let us conclude this Duel!

Under his breath Yuhan gave a little laugh.

— Role playing huh? Fine by me.

He said putting on his own persona. Yuhan was an entertainment duelist, usually performing in demonstration duels before championships, his own character was a showman with flashy moves and a confident attitude.

— The let this duel be one to remember! Draw!

While drawing, Yuhan went into the setting changing his player skin to his Stage Skin, a custom skin he designed himself, a masked magician with a long white cape, a top hat and a tuxedo.

— From my hand, I activate the spell card, Terraforming! With it I activate the field spell, Action Field — Circus Stage!

As the field transforms, a new scenery unfolds, replacing the egyptian throne room with a circus themed field, an explosion is heard in the middle of the field, as a shower of light rains around the players. A spotlight shines on the side of the field, right above Yuhan.

— What a turn of events, I found myself in a corner! No spells or traps, no monsters to protect me, but the duel is not over, until the last card is played!

Atem was watching the perfomance with a little smile on his face, indeed the duel was not over, until the last card was played.

— From my hand, I use Timegazer Magician and Stargazer Magician, to set the pendulum scale! Swing! Pendulum of the souls, and draw an arc of light through the sky, Pendulum Summon!

A rain of light comes down to the field, as a number of monsters are summoned at the same time.

— From my extra deck, I special summon, Peformapal Pendulum Sorcerer, Peformapal Dag Daggerman, Peformapal Odd-eyes Synchron, Peformapal Odd-eyes Minitaurus, and Peformapal Trump Witch!

From my hand, come foward! Odd-eyes Pendulum Dragon!

As the monsters rain down on the field at once, the performance was about to begin.

— Look closely, as Odd-eyes Synchron and Dag Daggerman are about to make their number.

As the spotlight shifts, both monsters appeared on opposite sides of a tightrope, walking towards each other. As they got closer and closer, Dag Daggerman slips his daggers and cuts the rope, as both monsters start falling down.

— Oh now what a pinch! And now for the grand number, using the Tuner monster Odd-eyes Synchron, and Peformapal Dag Daggerman! Welcome to the stage, Peformapal Odd-eyes Warrior!

As the monster were falling, Odd-eyes Synchron becomes a line of rings, as Dag Daggerman passes through, a ray of light shines down, revealing a new monster, that spins on the air before landing on the field.

— Now for a Magic show! Keep your eye on our little apprentice, Trump Witch! She is about to perform her dissapearing act.

As the little witch steps on the stage a cloth falls down from the sky, as it lifts a new card took her play, the magic card Polymerization, as the card places itself on the field, two new monster appear in a trapeze perfoemance, Pendulum Sorcerer and Odd-eyes Minitaurus, as both of them let go of their ropes, both monsters collide in the air i a spinning animation.

— Welcome to the stage, Peformapal Odd-eyes Metal Claw!

The three monsters were standing on the field, as Yuhan called his move.

— Battle! Odd-eyes Warrior, attack the Dark Magician Girl!

But Atem was ready for it, as he used the spell card set by the effect of Dark Magician of Chaos.

— I activate the quick-play spell card, Dark Burning Attack! All cards on your field are destroyed!

But that was not enough, as Yuhan had his own move.

— Stargazer's Pendulum effect activates! When a spell card is activated, once per turn I can negate the activation and set the spell back, the attack continues!

But Atem had more tricks up his sleeve.

— Then I activate the my trap card, Magic Cylinder!

But again Yuhan was prepared.

— Timegazer Magician pendulum effect activate, Magic Culinder is negated and set back on the field!

The attack lands and the Dark Magician girl is destroyed, the battle intensifies.

— Odd-eyes Metal Claw, Attack his Dark Magician of Chaos!

Atem was not done yet, as he activated his spell card.

— I activate, Dark Magic Expanded! Dark Magician of Chaos gains 1000 ATK, your monster will be destroyed!

Yuhan flies on the field, his cape swinging free as he jumps on a trampoline picking a card on top of a platform.

— Action Magic! Take Flight! Until the end of this turn, one of my monsters gain 600 ATK! And now, Metal Claw effect activates! All Peformapal and Odd- eyes monster gain 300 ATK!

Only 100 ATK difference, but it was enough for Metal Claw to destroy Dark Magician of Chaos.

— Action Magic?!

Atem was confused and a little intrigued. Only Dark Magician and Sorcerer of Black Magic were left on the field, but Yuhan was on his move again, rushing through the field in acrobatic moves, as he seem to pick something up again.

— Action Magic, Wonder chance! A monster I control can attack once again this turn, Go! Odd-eyes Metal Claw! Attack his Sorcerer of Dark Magic!

At this moment, Yuhan heard Atem's respond, with something that he did not expect.

— Sorcerer of Dark Magic effect activates, once per turn, by discarding a card from my hand, I can negate a spell or trap card effect, Wonder Chance's effect is negated!

Atem was supposed to have no cards in his hand, but looking closely, he was discarding a Action Magic card.

— I might not know how to use these cards, but I can still discard them as a cost!

A trap card flips up on Yuhan's side of the field. He did not want to use this card, but it was his last option.

— You activated my trap card, Trick Box! When a monster effect is activated, I can send a Peformapal monster from my field to the graveyard and return that monster to the deck!

As Odd-eyes Metal Claw and Sorcerer of Dark Magic enter the box, an explosion of glitter occurs as the box opens, and none of the monsters are left inside.

— Vanishing Act!

Only Odd-eyes Pendulum Dragon and Dark Magician are left on the field, Atem still had 1300 life points left, and on his next turn, exodia would be summoned, Yuhan had to finish this now, at this moment, Atem called his attention.

— Then let me show you a magic trick of my own! Activate! Magical Hats! Using three cards from my deck and Dark Magician from the field, I summon 4 Magical Hat decoys, choose your target wisely, anything could be under the other 3 hats.

It became even more difficult, but Yuhan hade no choice other than take a guess. As he held onto a trapeze, looking for an Action Magic, he made his choice.

— The second hat to the left !

As Odd-eyes rushed to crush the hat, he was met with a green box, trapping it inside.

— You activated, Mystic Box, your monster and one of the Magical Hats were trapped inside the box, but only one will get out! As I activate Thousand Knives!

The boxes spinned fast, until Yuhan couldn't guess wich one had Odd-eyes and wich one had the Magical Hat.

— Now, pierce the box! Thousand Knives!

At this moment, Yuhan got hold of a Action Magic.

— Action Magic, Miracle!

The green box full of knives shook, and turned, exploding in a cloud of smoke, and from inside came jumping back on the field, Odd-eyes Pendulum Dragon.

Looking inside the box, it was The magical Hat revealing the trap card, Widespread Ruin.

— A miracle indeed.

Said Atem with a little smile on his face, since the target for attack disappeared, Yuhan's monster could still attack, with two magical hats, it was only up to luck.

— Odd-eyes, attack the Magical Hat to the right!

Atem's smile disappeared a little bit, because the magical hat revealed the trap card, Draining Shield

— The attack of your Odd-eyes Pendulm Dragon is negated! And I gain 2500 life points, it's over Yuhan.

But at the last second, Yuhan activated the last trap card from his side of the field.

— You activated my trap card, Performapal Curtain Call, Odd-eyes Pendulum Dragon gains 1200 ATk points until the end of this turn!

Atem was curious, Odd-eyes couldn't attack, so why raise his attack again. A spotlight appeared above Yuhan. At the top of the field.

— Ladies and Gentlemen! It's time for the grand finale, this magic show is coming to an end, but what is this I hear? The crowd is calling for one last act! Hold onto your seats, because here it comes, the Encore!

The action Magic appears on the field.

— Encore allows me to play a spell card from my graveyard, here it comes! Double-Up Chance!

Yuhan jumps from his position, falling to the ground, while in the air his move goes on.

— A monster that got his attack negated, can battle again, but his ATK is doubled! Odd-eyes! It's time for the Curtain's Call! Attack the last Magical Hat!

As Odd-eyes moves to attack the magical hat, the falling Yuhan lands on his back.

— Odd-eyes ATK is 4900, impressive indeed, but Dark Magician still has 2500 ATk, the damage will be 2400, It's not enough Yuhan!

At this moment, Odd-eyes and Dark Magician's attack collided, and Yuhan made one last call.

— When Odd-eyes battles a level 6 or higher monster, the battle damage, is, DOUBLED!

A massive colorful fire envelops the field and Atem.

The pharaoh was holding one last card, while the flames came in his direction, an Action Magic, Evasion.

— I guess it was enough.

The pharaoh says, as he lets the card go and watches it get burn by the flames, while his life points go down to zero.