Chapter 11: Striker the Earth Duelist
The seventh day of the tournament had been relatively uneventful. All day Jaden had been thinking about what had happened with Saki, the former Miator student he defeated the previous day. Saki’s story had clearly revealed that Tamao was behind the darkness that was consuming Miator, that fact he could no longer deny. But what Jaden couldn’t figure out was why Tamao was spreading this darkness. There had to be a reason other than the fact that the power of the Orichalcos was twisting her mind. Jaden had decided to go out by the lake to clear his thoughts, unaware that he was being watched.
“So we finally meet again Jaden Yuki.” A voice suddenly called, causing Jaden to turn around.
The one who had spoken to Jaden was a tomboyish Spica student with short black hair. An arrogant smirk was on her face. Jaden recognized the girl right away as Kaname Kenjo, a member of the Spica student council. Kaname was one of the few people on Astraea island he did not like, mainly because of her attempts to assault Hikari the previous year.
“I’m really not in the mood to deal with you right now Kaname.” Jaden told the Spica student.
“You aren’t still mad about what I tried to do to little Hikari last year, are you?” Kaname asked, still with an arrogant smirk. “That’s all in the past, and I’ve seen the error of my ways.”
“I find that hard to believe.” Jaden said as he narrowed his eyes at Kaname. “What do you want?”
“Okay, I’ll get to the point.” Kaname told him. “I want to get even with you. You may have pointed out that my attempts to seduce Hikari to try and become Etolie were the coward’s way, but I still want to pay you back for the defeat you handed me when we first met. Plus if I beat you right now I’ll have a spot in the finals.”
“Like I told you before, I’m in no mood to deal with you. So just get lost.” Jaden told her.
“I’m not giving up that easily.” Kaname said confidently. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid to face me.”
“I’m not afraid Kaname.” Jaden replied. “But if you were to duel me right now you’d probably regret it.”
“I’ll take my chances.” Kamane said smugly.
“Not so fast.” A voice interrupted.
Both Jaden and Kaname turned to see Striker standing nearby. Clive was standing behind him.
“Who are you?” an annoyed Kaname demanded.
“My name’s Jason Morgan.” Striker answered, introducing himself. “But you can call me Striker. And before you and Jaden start going at it, I’d like a shot at you.”
“And why should I waste my time dueling you?” Kaname asked.
“Well it wouldn’t necessarily be a waste.” Striker answered. “I heard that you have fifty points, the same as me. If I beat you I’m in the finals. I also heard from a student I beat that you were up to be the Etolie last year, and quite frankly I’d like to see just how good you are.”
“I see, well I’m afraid you’ll have to actually get to the finals if you want to duel me.” Kaname said with an amused expression. “Once I beat your friend Jaden I’ll be in the finals, and I’ll have had my revenge.”
“Not necessarily. Jaden has ten more points than you do.” Striker pointed out. “Even if you do beat him he’ll still have a slim shot at getting into the finals too. Which means you might end up dueling him twice. If you beat me you’ll only have to face Jaden once. So how ‘bout it, you think you can take me?”
“Hmm… okay, I’ll take you on.” Kaname finally agreed. “But be ready to swallow that pride of yours.”
With that, Striker and Kaname prepared to face each other. Jaden meanwhile went over to join Clive on the sidelines.
“You don’t seem to like that girl too much Fusion Master.” Clive commented. “Something happen between you two?”
“It’s a long story.” Jaden answered.
When Striker and Kaname’s life points were both at 4000, the duel began. Striker had the first draw.
“For my first move I summon Giant Rat in Defense Mode!” Striker announced. An oversized and very plump rat appeared on the field in front of Striker. “I’ll finish up by setting one card on the field. That ends my turn.”
“Prepare to change whatever plans you’ve had.” Kaname said as she drew her first card. “I activate the Spell card, Card Destruction. Now we have to discard our hands and draws new ones from our decks. And since three of my monsters were discarded by an effect, I can summon them to the field. So say hello to Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World, Sillva, Warlord of Dark World, and Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World.”
Three demonic creatures appeared on Kaname’s side of the field. The first one, Goldd, was large and very muscular. Most of his body was gold in color like his name and he had a pair of bat-like wings on his back. In his hands Goldd carried a gigantic axe. The second demon, Sillva, was almost as muscular as Goldd and had a pair of bat-like wings on his back that hung like a cape. A sliver blade was attached to the sides of both his hands and he had a skeletal face. The third demon, Beiige, was also muscular and had a metal band over his eyes. In his hands Beiige carried a bladed spear.
Upon seeing these monsters Jaden had a brief flashback to the time when he and his friends from his old academy went into the Duel Monsters dimension to save Jessie, a trip which resulted in his friends being sacrificed in a ritual by Brron, the Mad King of Dark World, and Jaden himself becoming the Supreme King. Yubel appeared behind Jaden with an expression of concern on her face.
“You okay?” Yubel asked.
“I’m fine Yubel.” Jaden whispered.
“You say something mate?” Clive asked.
“Huh? Oh, just talking to myself.” Jaden told him. “I’m just not a big fan of Dark World monsters.”
“Yeah, those things give me the creeps too.” Clive agreed, not knowing that Jaden had a bigger reason for disliking the Dark World monsters.
“Beiige, pierce that rat with Dark World Spear!” kaname commanded back in the duel.
Beiige charged forward and drove his spear into the Giant Rat’s chest. The rat collapsed to the ground and burst into triangles of golden light.
“Pretty good move.” Striker commented with a confident smile. “But when my Giant Rat is destroyed in battle I can summon an Earth Attribute monster with 1500 ATK from my deck in Attack Mode. So say hello to Alligator’s Sword!”
Appearing in place of the Giant Rat was a humanoid alligator wearing black armor and carrying a sword and shield.
“A lot of good that thing will do you.” Kaname said smugly. “Goldd, cut that thing to shreds with Dark World Axe!”
Goldd began charging at Alligator’s Sword and raised his axe high in the air.
“I activate my Trap, Magic Arm Shield!” Striker announced. “Since I have a monster being attacked, I can grab one of your monsters and make it the target. So I choose Sillva, Warlord of Dark World!”
The shield of Alligator’s Sword transformed and a mechanical arm popped out of the center and grabbed Sillva, pulling him in front of the warrior alligator. Just as Goldd brought down his axe, Sillva reacted by slashing Goldd in the chest with one of his blades. Both attacks hit and the two demons were destroyed as a result, shattering into triangles of gold light.
“Since your Dark World twins both had 2300 ATK points, they ended up destroying each other.” Striker pointed out. “I just killed two birds with one stone.”
“You’ll pay for that!” Kaname declared with a very irritated expression. “I set two cards on the field and end my turn!”
“Striker certainly is confident.” Jaden commented.
“He’s a pretty laid back duelist.” Clive told Jaden. “He usually likes to lets his opponents get a bit of a lead, but when he sees a weak point he strikes right at it. That’s why every one calls him Striker.”
“You know, I really like this island.” Striker commented as he drew his next card. “This lake, the trees, the fields that go on for miles, it’s all beautiful.”
“Are you some sort of nature lover?” Kaname asked, still sounding irritated.
“I guess I’d have to say yes to that question.” Striker answered. “I love the outdoors. There was a huge forest around the Duel Academy I went to. Usually when I wasn’t dueling I’d spend my time outside in that forest. It was a major change from where I used to live. I grew up in the city, a real poor part. My mom walked out on me when I was five, and my dad wasn’t exactly an ideal father figure. I pretty much had nobody, and I was mad most of the time. I took out my anger on the streets, sometimes in duels, sometimes in fights. But day a guy came along and changed all that…”
* * *
Five years before on a rainy day in the city, a young Striker was standing over a young and rather scrawny young man with glasses he had defeated in a duel and knocked to the ground.
“A bet’s a bet you little twerp, now hand over that card.” Striker demanded. “Otherwise the next time you duel will be from a wheelchair.”
“Please, my grandmother gave me that card for my birthday.” The young man begged.
“Then you shouldn’t have lost.” Striker told him in an impatient tone. “Now fork it over.”
“Hold it right there!” a voice interrupted.
Striker turned to see a man standing not too far away who looked to be in his mid twenties with long blond hair wearing a black jacket, light-blue t-shirt, and blue jeans. A brown bag was sling over his right shoulder.
“I don’t know who the hell you are, but get lost!” Striker told the stranger. “This is none of your business!”
“I’m making it my business.” The stranger told Striker. “I don’t like seeing guys picking on people who’re weaker than them.”
“Then get lost and you won’t have to see it!” Striker told the stranger.
“I don’t think so.” The stranger said defiantly as he approached. “I’m not the type of guy who walks away when he sees someone being picked on. Now lay off him.”
“Or what, you’ll beat me up?” Striker said in a tone that indicated he wasn’t afraid.
“Well I could, but I don’t think you’d like going to the hospital.” The stranger said with a confident smirk. “Plus I don’t think you’d learn anything from it. I have another idea. I notice that you have a duel disk on your arm.”
“Yeah, I got it in a Kaiba Corp giveaway, so what?” Striker demanded. In response the stranger pulled a duel disk of his own out of his bag.
“How ‘bout this? You and I duel right here, right now.” The stranger suggested. “If I win you leave that kid alone.”
“And what happens if I win?” Striker asked.
“Well let me see.” The stranger said as he stroked his chin in thought. “I have a few rare cards in my deck that most people would pay an arm and a leg for. If by some unlikely chance you actually beat me, I’ll hand one over to you.”
“Wait, just one?” Striker said sounding insulted. “I should get all of those cards for wasting my time with you.”
“Okay, if you insist.” The stranger confidently replied. “So what do you say kid, think you can take me on?”
“You’ve got yourself a bet.” Striker told the stranger. “And by the end of this duel you’ll learned that your mouth shouldn’t write checks you can’t cash.”
“Funny, I was thinking that you’re about to learn the same lesson.” The stranger said smugly as both of them activated their duel disks.
Five turns into the duel, Striker had no cards on the field and only 1900 life points left. The stranger on the other hand had summoned a large slender back dragon with piercing red eyes.
“Attack this chump directly Red-Eyes!” the stranger commanded. “Inferno Fire Blast!”
The dragon reared back its head and then shot a massive red fireball from his mouth. The attack hit Striker and reduced his life points to zero. Striker stood there with an expression of shock on his face. The young man that Striker was threatening to beat up earlier had an expression of awe on his face after seeing the duel. The stranger meanwhile walked up to Striker.
“That wasn’t a bad duel.” The stranger commented. “You’ve got some potential kid. With a little training you could actually become a good duelist.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Striker grumbled.
“What I’m saying is that there’s a place where they can teach you to become a good duelist.” The stranger told him. “You’ve heard of Duel Academy, right?”
“Yeah, why?” Striker asked.
“Well my sister works at one here in the states.” The stranger explained. “It’s not as fancy as the one that jerk Kaiba owns, but it’s pretty good. I told her and the guy who runs the place that I’d send some new talent their way if I found any. I think you’d do well over there. What do you say kid?”
“…Why would you help me get into some academy?” Striker asked him after a moment.
“Because I was kinda like you at your age.” The stranger answered. “I went around looking for people to beat up because I thought it’d make me feel better about myself. I hated myself, but one day this kid who I used to pick on took a beating for me and called me his friend. At the time I didn’t think anyone would waste time standing up for me, but I started to like myself after that. I figure if I showed you the same kind of kindness you might learn to like yourself too.”
“…Fine, I’ll try this Duel Academy thing for awhile.” Striker finally agreed.
“Great! Oh, here’s a consolation prize for dueling me.” The stranger said and then pulled a card out of his pocket and tossed it to Striker. “I already have a few other copies of that card, so feel free to use it.”
Striker examined the card closely. It was a Trap card called Metalmorph.
“Who are you anyway?” Siriker asked the stranger.
“Oh yeah, forgot to introduce myself.” The stranger realized. “The name’s Joey Wheeler.”
* * *
“…After that day I packed my bags and headed to West Road Academy.” Striker continued. “My dad wasn’t sorry to see me go. After settling in, the homeroom teacher I had took my class on a little camping trip to a large hill out in the forest. One morning I got up early and saw the sun rising over the trees and in that moment I felt like I had come home. So yeah, I guess you could call me a nature lover.”
“Look, I didn’t ask for your life story.” Kaname said in a very inpatient tone. “Will you just start your turn already?”
“Oh yeah, sorry. I tend to ramble on sometimes.” Striker said with a slightly embarrassed smile. “Let me see… oh yeah. It’s time you feel the power of the Earth! I play the Field Spell, Gaia Power!”
With that card the trees surrounding the area grew three times larger than they were before. The branches and leaves became so thick that they blocked out the sun.
“Gaia Power gives all Earth monsters on the field 500 extra ATK points.” Striker explained. “Now I equip Alligator’s Sword with the Spell card, Invigoration!”
Alligator’s Sword glowed with a faint yellow aura and became slightly more muscular.
“Now Alligator’s Sword is 2400.” Striker pointed out. “Alligator’s Sword, attack Beiige with Alligator’s Sword Slash!”
The alligator warrior raised his sword and charged at Beiige.
“Not so fast Nature Boy! I activate my Trap, Hate Buster!” Kaname announced. “Both our monsters are destroyed and you take damage equal to the original ATK of your monster!”
Beiige suddenly exploded, taking Alligator’s Sword with him. Striker’s life points dropped to 2500.
“I figured it wouldn’t be that easy.” Striker commented. “For my next move I summon another Giant Rat in Defense Mode! Then I set two cards on the field and end my turn!”
A second Giant Rat identical to the first appeared on the field in front of Striker. Kaname drew her next card; a sinister smirk was on her face as she did so.
“I’m going to enjoy defeating you.” Kaname declared. “Since I now have exactly three Dark Attribute monsters in my Graveyard, I now Special Summon Dark Armed Dragon!”
Appearing on the field was a pitch-black and very muscular dragon with well-developed arms, small wings, and a large chin.
“Now it’s time to put an end to your little nature walk! I remove Goldd from my Graveyard to activate Dark Armed Dragon’s effect and destroy one card on my opponent’s field!” Kaname announced. “And the card I choose to destroy is Gaia Power!”
Dark Armed Dragon’s right fist began to glow with a black aura. With a move of its arm the dragon fired a beam of black energy into the ground. The whole area was engulfed in an explosion of white light. When the light cleared the area around them had returned to normal.
“That was probably a good move in the long run.” Clive commented on the sidelines. “A lot of Striker’s monsters have pretty low ATK points on their own, but they’re all Earth monsters, so Gaia Power would give them a major boost.”
“It doesn’t seem necessary though.” Jaden commented. “Kaname looks like she’s about to move in for the kill.”
“Don’t count Striker out just yet Fusion Master.” Clive told him. “He still has quite a few tricks up his sleeve.”
“Now I activate my Trap, Escape from the Dark Dimension!” Kaname announced. “With this card I summon Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World back to the field!”
A large portal that looked like it lead to a pitch-black realm appeared on the field. Goldd emerged from the portal carrying his axe. The portal closed up once the demon fully appeared.
“And now I summon Brron, Mad King of Dark World!” Kaname announced.
Appearing on the field was a slender grey demon with its arms chained together. A mad grin was on the demon’s skeletal face. Jaden had yet another brief flashback when he saw Brron appear. He once again remembered dueling the Mad King, a duel in which most of his friends were sacrificed.
“You okay Fusion Master?” Clive asked with a tone of concern. “You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine, I just really don’t like the monster Kaname just played.” Jaden said with a reassuring smile.
“After this duel you’re going back to the guest house to rest.” Yubel told Jaden. Jaden did not feel like arguing with her.
“Dark Armed Dragon, crush that annoying rat!” Kaname commanded. “Dark Crusher!”
The dragon reached out and grabbed the Giant Rat with its right claw. With a squeeze of Dark Armed Dragon’s claw, the rat was crushed.
“Just like before, when Giant Rat is destroyed I can summon an Earth monster with 1500 or less ATK from my deck!” Striker announced. “So I summon Warrior Lady of the Wasteland!”
Appearing on the field was a woman with long blond hair wearing a dark-brown hat and tattered cloak, knee-high green boots, a short green skirt, and a tight green shirt that showed her mid drift. A sword was slung over her back.
“That’s the best you can do?” Kaname laughed mockingly. “Brron tear her apart with Dark World Frenzy!”
The mad king broke the chains binding his arms together and lunged and the female warrior.
“I activate my Trap, Kunai With Chain!” Striker announced. “Not only does Warrior Lady gain an Equip card that gives her an extra 500 ATK points, but your Mad King of Dark World get switched to Defense Mode!”
Appearing in the Warrior Lady’s hand was a chain with a three-pointed blade attached to the end. The warrior swung the blade around and whipped it around Brron’s legs. With one strong yank Brron was pulled to the ground.
“Fine, but your little blond friend isn’t safe yet.” Kaname told him. “Goldd, slash her in two with Dark World Axe!”
With one swing of his massive axe, Goldd cut the Warrior Lady of the Wasteland in half. The two halves shattered into triangles of gold light. Striker’s life points dropped to 1900 as a result.
“It’s not over yet! When Warrior Lady of the Wasteland is destroyed, I can summon an Earth Attribute Warrior monster with 1500 or less ATK from my deck!” Striker announced. “So say hello to Obnoxious Celtic Guard!”
Appearing on the field where the Warrior Lady of the Wasteland was an elf warrior with light-green hair wearing a green helmet, a brown shirt under green armor, tan pants, and a blue cape. In his hands he carried a long sword.
“You’re really starting to annoy me.” Kaname said with an irritated expression. “I end my turn!”
“For my first move I play Pot of Greed and draw two more cards!” Striker announced after drawing his card. “Now it’s time to take a trip back to nature. I play the Field Spell, Gaia Power!”
Again the forested area around them became overgrown with gigantic trees that blocked out the sun. Kaname’s expression showed more irritation than before.
“Kaname is starting to lose her cool.” Jaden commented on the sidelines. “She’s bound to make a mistake if this keeps up.”
“Now I activate a Trap, and it’s a favorite of mine, Metalmorph!” Striker announced. “I equip this card to Obnoxious Celtic Guard!”
The elf warrior’s green armor turned to a shining chrome, while his shirt turned black and his pants dark-grey. His cape turned white and gained a sparkling quality to it.
“Metalmorph gives Obnoxious Celtic Guard 300 extra ATK.” Striker explained. “That plus the power boost from Gaia power makes his ATK 2200.”
“Am I supposed to be impressed?” Kaname asked.
“You will be in a moment.” Striker replied confidently. “But before that I activate Mystical Space Typhoon and destroy Escape from the Dark Dimension! And with that card gone, Goldd goes with it!”
A small twister appeared behind Goldd and destroyed the large representation of Kaname’s Trap card. With the card gone, Goldd simply faded off the field.
“And now for the part that supposed to impress you!” Striker announced. “Because of Metalmorph, Obnoxious Celtic Guard gains half the ATK of whatever monster he attacks. So now he attacks Dark Armed Dragon and gains half of its 2400 ATK during the battle!”
The elf swordsman jumped into the air and slashed off the dragon’s head. The attack reduced Kaname’s life points to 3200.
“Well, since I don’t have any cards left in my hand I end my turn.” Striker announced. Kaname drew her next card.
“I set a monster and end my turn.” Kaname announced. Striker drew his next card.
“I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior in Attack Mode!” Striker announced.
Appearing on the field was a grey robotic warrior with a sword and shield. Horseshoe magnets made up parts of its armor, including a section that covered its face.
“Alpha, destroy Brron with Magnet Slash!” Striker commanded.
The magnet warrior charged and cut the fallen Brron in half with its sword. The two halves of the demon shattered and vanished.
“Obnoxious Celtic Guard, attack that set monster with Heavy Metal Sword!” Striker commanded.
The elf swordsman charged and brought down his sword on the other monster. As he swung the monster was revealed to be nothing more than an old clay pot. But when the pot shattered, a black specter with one giant eye came out and vanished into mist.
“The monster you destroyed was my Morphing Jar.” Kaname explained. “Because you flipped it we now have to discard our hands and draw five new cards.”
“Fine with me, I don’t have a hand to discard.” Striker pointed out.
“This is far from a good thing!” Kaname told him in a very annoyed tone. “Because one of the cards I have to discard is Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World, which allows me to destroy one of your monsters. And the monster I choose is Obnoxious Celtic Guard!”
A grey barrel-shaped demon suddenly appeared and lunged at the elf swordsman and destroyed him in an explosion.
“That’s not all though!” Kaname announced another one of the cards I have to discard is Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World, which means he gets summoned to the field!”
The spear-wielding demon reappeared on the field.
“Okay then, I guess I’ll set two cards on the field and end my turn!” Striker announced.
“I’m going to end this right now!” Kaname declared. “First I summon Zure, Knight of Dark World!”
Appearing on the field was a grey skeletal faced demon in a dark-blue cape wielding a sword.
“Now I activate Dark World Lightning!” Kaname announced. “I destroy one of your set Spell and Trap cards and then discard a card!” A bolt of purple lightning came down from the sky and destroyed one of Striker’s two set cards. “The card I discarded was Gren, Tactician of Dark World, which lets me destroy an opponent’s Spell or Trap card. And the card I choose is Gaia Power!”
An explosion of white light once again covered the area, and when the light cleared the forest had returned to normal.
“Now the ATK of your Magnet Warrior is back to 1400, making it weak enough for my monsters to destroy.” Kaname pointed out. “Zure, attack the Magnet Warrior with Sword of Dark World!”
Zure raised his sword and charged at Alpha.
“I activate my Trap, Mirror Force!” Striker announced. “Now all of your monsters get destroyed!”
Just as Zure’s sword was about to hit Alpha, it hit a barrier that caused a bolt of energy to reflect back and hit both Zure and Beiige. The two demons were blown to bits. An expression of shock appeared on Kaname’s face.
“You know you could’ve used Gren’s effect on my other Trap card.” Striker pointed out. “But then I guess Gaia Power still would’ve been on the field and Alpha would’ve been to strong for either of them. You had to take a gamble, but too bad for you it didn’t pay off.”
“I… end my turn.” Kaname reluctantly announced. Striker drew his next card, and a smile appeared on his face when he saw what it was.
“This duel has been fun, but I guess it’s over now.” Striker declared. “I combine Alpha the Magnet Warrior on the field with Beta the Magnet Warrior and Gamma the Magnet Warrior in my hand to create Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!”
Appearing on the field next to Alpha was a yellow robot with the two halves of a horseshoe magnet for horns, and a pink robot with wings. The three robots disassembled and the pieces recombined into an even larger robot.
“Valkyion has 3500 ATK, which is more than enough to wipe you out!” Striker announced. “Valkyrion, attack Kaname directly with Magnet Saber!”
Valkyrion flew forward and slashed at Kaname with his sword. The attack reduced Kaname’s life points to zero. Valkyrion then vanished and the number on Kaname’s point counter dropped to zero, causing it to beep. At the same time the number on Striker’s point counter rose to one hundred and flashed green.
“That was a good duel.” Striker said as he went over to Kaname and offered his hand. Kaname slapped Striker’s hand away.
“I make you pay for this one day!” Kaname spat before storming off. Striker shrugged and walked over to Jaden and Clive.
“That was an awesome duel.” Jaden told Striker.
“Yeah. Hey, sorry if I stole your opponent.” Striker said to Jaden.
“I didn’t want to duel Kaname anyway.” Jaden reassured him. “It’s a long story.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the noise of a loud horn that could be hard over the island.
“Attention all tournament participants!” announced a voice over what the three deduced to be an intercom. Jaden immediately recognized the voice as Amane’s. “We now have two people who have made it to the finals. The first is visiting pro duelist, Jason Morgan, better known by many as Striker. The second is a member of Miator’s student council, Jane Hawthorn. There are now only six spots left in the finals, so the rest of you better get moving. That is all.”
“Well, it looks like I’m not alone.” Striker commented. “Isn’t that Jane girl part of that group they call the Four Witches?”
“Yeah, and we better be ready to face her.” Jaden told both of them with a serious expression.
