Chapter 4: Dinner with Mom and Dad.
Leo and Luna's parents spent a lot of time working. Usually, if they weren't working, they were at home sleeping, so either way, the twins didn't get to see them too often. The exception was most Friday and every Saturday night, when the whole family would have dinner together. This was a time cherished by the twins, when they could talk about their week and ask for friendly advice from their parents. So Luna knew she had to be home at or before 6pm.
Looking up at the clock, she saw it was 5:40. She still had 5 minutes before she had to leave. She walked through the living room. "Hey, where did Simon go?" She asked to no one. Roxanne snickered. "Roxanne..."
"Oh, it's nothing." Roxanne giggled. Luna rolled her eyes.
At that moment, the door opened. There was Simon, followed by his neighbor, Talim. She had black-blue hair that would be down to her butt if it wasn't braided so thickly and tied in several places. There were two thick braids hanging over her shoulders and another smaller braid running horizontally all the way across the back of her head. She wore a green tube top with detached white sleeves stylized with green and red. With that, she wore brown shorts and an elaborate red belt.
Simon smiled at Roxanne as he lead Talim toward the kitchen. Roxanne smiled back, then said to Luna, "come on." Roxanne and Luna went outside.
Outside, Leo, Jimmy, and Tammy were still hanging out under the tree. Leo and Tammy lay relaxing in the shady grass on opposite sides of the tree, while Jimmy sat propped up against the trunk. Jimmy was discussing English Class with Leo, while Tammy stared calmly at a bee on the tip of her finger.
Luna waited until Jimmy finished his sentence, then said. "Hey, Leo?"
Her brother sat up and the three loungers looked up to Luna. "Ya?" he asked.
"Just to let you know, we have to get going soon. We have 10 minutes to get home."
Leo stood up. "Alright." He waved at the other twins. "Well, it was nice talking to you. Bye bye!"
"Bye Leo!" The other twins waved back. "Bye Luna."
Then Leo caught sight of Roxanne looking at his bike and blushed.
* * *
The twins put their bikes back in the shed and went inside. "We're home!" The twins chimed together.
"Great. You're just in time. Can you two set the table please?" Their mother call back. She had wavy blond hair and gold-grey eyes. She was still wearing her work suit.
As one, the twins made a sound in the affirmative. Luna grabbed the place mats and plates, while Leo grabbed the forks and knives, typical eating utensils in this new country. After distributing everything across the dining room table, their mother came by with the food.
"Honey, dinner's ready!" She called to her husband, who soon ran down the stairs. He had silver hair and purple eyes. Hey dawned a grey suit jacket and tie over a white shirt.
"And so it is! It smells wonderful."
And so, everyone sat down and had dinner together, a happy family, talking about the week just past.
* * *
It was now Saturday morning. The previous day had been really strange. Both Luke, Roxanne, and Marie had somehow lost their emotions. And the day before that, he lost to Luke in a duel. Leo knew it was time to upgrade his deck.
As he opened the door, a bell chimed.
"Can I help you?" The lady behind the desk asked. She had curly blond hair down to her lower back and hard blue eyes.
"Uh, ya. You sell Duel Monsters cards here, right?" Leo asked her, then started looking around."
"Yes, we do. We have many games here, including Duel Monsters."
Leo made his way across the tile floor to the desk at the back of the store. "Good. Because I need to remake my deck."
"Do you have anything specific in mind?"
"Um... not really."
A man walked out from the back room of the shop. "Joan, I'm going off for lunch break. I trust you'll look after the shop while I'm gone."
Turning to the man, she accepted. "Yes, daddy."
The bell chimed when he opened the front door, and waved to his daughter. Then he was gone.
Leo spent some time looking around at all the things in the store, and Joan just calmly watched him for a while. The bell chimed and another customer came in, yet Leo paid no attention to that. They soon left anyway.
After a while, Joan piped up. "Have you found anything of interest?"
Leo stood up and looked at her. "Um... ya. I still don't know what I'm getting yet though."
"Duel me." She said bluntly.
"Wh-What?" Leo asked, confused.
"I want you to duel me." She repeated herself. "Now."
"But why?"
"You obviously don't know what you're looking for. If you duel me, I can suggest to you cards you can use to play on your strengths and cover your weaknesses. I find it easier than looking through your deck."
She stepped out from behind the glass desk and walked to a table not far in front of it. She picked a chair and sat down, then she pointed across from where she sat.
"That and I want something to do during my break."
Leo obediently sat down and placed his deck in front of him. They both drew 5 cards from their decks and she gave him a weird look.
"How many cards are in that deck?" She asked, surprised.
"Uh, 55. Why?"
"Unless you're running some serious draw power, try to keep it under 45, and even then, under 50. If you have too many cards in your deck, how can you expect to draw what you want to draw when you want to draw it?" Joan explained.
"But if I have a bigger deck, I have more options."
"True, you may have more options at your disposal, yet that doesn't mean you'll be able to use them. Your deck's size depends on its consistency, and vice versa. If you don't mind, I'd like to start."
"Ya, sure. Go ahead."
She drew a card and added it to her hand. The duel had started. Leo looked at his own hand and saw Morphtronic Videon, Morphtronic Accelerator, Morphtronic Magnen Bar, Morphtronic Boomboxen, and Break! Draw!.
She set one card horizontally on the table, and another vertically right below it. "You're up Leo."
"You set a monster? Why would you do that?" Leo thought back to his duel against Luke. Though he didn't use it, Luke had also set a monster.
"If you attack it, you'll find out." Joan replied, half-answering his question.
"Hm." Leo drew to start his turn. "I summon Morphtronic Videon in attack position." He claimed as he placed the card on the table. He was used to dueling with a duel disk, so the lack of a hologram made him feel out of his element. "I equip it with Break! Draw!. Videon's attack position effect has it gain 800 ATK for each card equipped to it. That brings it up to 1800."
"It looks like you run a deck based on equip spells." Joan observed.
"Yup. These are my Morphtronics." Leo felt proud of himself and his deck.
"I play the continuous trap Solemn Wishes. Now, every time I draw a card, I gain 500 Life Points." She flipped the card face-up.
"That won't stop my Videon from attacking. Take on that face-down monster!"
"The monster is Arsenal Summoner. Because it's been flipped face-up, I can activate its flip effect. It allows me to add a card to my hand with Guardian in its card name from my deck." She picked up her deck and looked through it.
"The rest of the effect is limitation text, yet Guardian Angel Joan is an eligible candidate." She showed Guardian Angel Joan to Leo and added it to her hand, then casually shuffled her deck.
"Your monster is still destroyed by battle. It only has 1600 defensive points. That means I get to draw a card by the effect of Break! Draw!."
Joan moved her monster to her graveyard. Leo drew a card.
"I end my turn with a face-down."
Joan drew a card. She took a moment to analyze her hand. "If this works, I'll be able to summon my namesake this turn."
"That's not good." Leo started to worry.
"Since I drew a card, I gain 500 Life Points thanks to Solemn Wishes. Now my total is 4500, yet with this spell it's going to get a lot higher. I play the continuous spell card Cards of Safe Return. Now, each time a player Special Summons a monster from the Graveyard, the owner of that monster gets to draw 3 cards."
"So you'll get 1500 Life Points every time you Special Summon a monster, in addition to 3 new cards?!" Leo pointed out, shocked.
"Not quite. Solemn Wishes increase my Life points whenever I draw, yet not for every card I draw. So, since I'm drawing all three cards at the same time, I still only gain 500 Life Points."
"Okay." Leo knew that he rarely summons from his graveyard, so he didn't think he could take advantage of her spell card.
"Now, I play the normal spell card Reinforcement of the Army, which adds a level 4 or lower Warrior-type monster to my hand." She picked up her deck and looked through it. "I choose The Creator Incarnate." She showed the card to Leo and added it to her hand. She shuffled her deck, then played The Creator Incarnate. "I summon The Creator Incarnate from my hand and activate its effect. By releasing it, I'm able to summon The Creator from my hand!" She moved the card to her graveyard and played The Creator in defense position.
"Next up, I play The Creator's effect. Once per turn, I can select a monster in my graveyard. I send a card in my hand to the graveyard, then summon the selected monster." She picked up The Creator Incarnate from her Graveyard and a card in her hand. She placed Guardian Angel Joan in her Graveyard and The Creator Incarnate on the field horizontally.
"Now, because I Special Summoned a monster from my Graveyard, not only do I get to draw 3 cards..." She added the top three cards of her deck to her hand. "my Life Points also rise to 5000." She looked at her hand.
"Ha! I thought I'd draw another one. Once again, I activate the effect of The Creator Incarnate. I release it to Special Summon The Creator from my hand." She moved The Creator Incarnate to the Graveyard and played The Creator from her hand in defense position.
"Now you have two of them." Leo noticed.
"I use The Creator's effect, selecting Guardian Angel Joan in my graveyard." She picked the card up and one card in her hand. She placed Flint Lock in her Graveyard and Guardian Angel Joan on the field.
"I draw three more cards via Cards of Safe Return." She added the top three cards of her deck to her hand. "Now I have 5500 Life Points."
"I send Guardian Angel Joan to attack your Morphtronic Videon."
"I activate the trap Morphtransition. You attacked a Morphtronic monster, so I can negate your attack and change its Battle Position. While Morphtronic Videon is in Defense Position, it gains 800 defensive points for each card it's equipped to, giving it 1800 points."
"Had Guardian Angel Joan destroyed your monster by battle, I would have gained Life Points equal to that monster's original attack points." Joan explained. She placed the continuous spell Card Trader on the field and set a card beside it. "That's it for now."
"My move." Leo proclaimed, determination in his voice. He drew. "I play the spell card Morphtronic Accelerator. By returning a Morphtronic monster in my hand to my deck, like this Morphtronic Magnen Bar, I can select a card on the field and destroy it. Since The Creator can't be Special Summoned from the Graveyard, that's the target."
Leo pointed and Joan moved her monster to her graveyard.
"After that, I draw a card." Leo looked at the monster he drew and summoned it. "I summon Morphtronic Remoten from my hand. Next I tune my level four Morphtronic Videon into my level three Morphtronic Romoten to Synchro Summon Power Tool Dragon!" Leo announced. "Docking strength with courage to protect world peace! Synchro Summon! Envoy of love and justice, Power Tool Dragon!"
At this time, he sent his 2 monsters and the equipped spell to the graveyard and played a card from his extra deck.
"I activate the effect of my Power Tool Dragon. From my deck, I add 1 random equip spell to my hand." From his deck, he chose 3 equips spells and presented their card-backs to the opponent. Joan pointed at one of these cards. The 3 cards were revealed. Her choice was added to the hand, while the rest were shuffled back into the deck.
"I remove from play The Creator Incarnate to equip Power Tool Dragon with Power Pickaxe. Now it strength is increased by half that of your banished monster."
As Joan banished her monster, she said "Half of 1600 is 800. Power Tool Dragon has 3100 now."
"I attack Guardian Angel Joan with Power Tool Dragon. Crafty Break!"
Joan flipped a trap. "I activate Draining Shield. Not only is that attack negated, I also gain life points equal to what you attacked with. This brings me up to 8600."
Leo gritted his teeth, then looked at his hand. In it were Pain to Power, Rocket Pilder, and Morphtronic Boomboxen He had already normal summoned this turn, and he knew he would need those spells for later. "I end my turn."
"Draw. 9100 Life Points." There was a pause as she studied her hand, field, and graveyard. "Trade." Using the effect of her continuous spell Card Trader, she returned a card from her hand back to her deck and drew a new card. "9600 Life Points."
"I play the normal spell Terraforming, adding a field spell to my hand." She searched her deck for a field spell, showed it to Leo, and added it to her hand. "I activate the field spell Sanctuary in the Sky." She declared, playing the card added to her hand by Terraforming. Now I take no Battle Damage involving Fairy-type monsters. Now, by The Creator's effect, I select Arsenal Summoner in my Graveyard, then send 1 card from my hand to my graveyard from my hand and summon it." The monster was summoned horizontally, as before. "This allows me to draw 3 cards due to the effect of Card of Safe Return, then I gain 500 Life Points from Solemn Wishes." She added the top 3 cards of her deck to her hand. "I now have 10100 Life Points."
"Now I play the spell card Ancient Leaf. This card has 2 different effects that I can use depending on my Life Points. If I have 9000 or more Life Points, I pay 2000 Life Points to draw 2 cards. While I have 2000 or less Life Points, I return 2 cards from my hand to my deck to gain 2000 Life Points. Since I currently have more than 9000 Life Points, I pay 2000 Life Points to draw 2 cards." She adds the top two cards from her deck to her hand. "Because I drew, Solemn Wishes gives me 500 Life Points. I now have 8600 Life Points."
"I release my Arsenal Summoner for the normal summon of my level 5 Air Knight Parshath." She sent Creator Incarnate to the Graveyard and played a new monster from her hand vertically. "Airknight Parshath inflicts piercing battle damage, and whenever it inflicts Battle Damage, I get to draw 1 card."
"I set one card and end my turn."
Leo now knew how her deck ran, yet he had no idea how to get around it. Still, Power Tool Dragon was on the field, and he knew he could win this duel. "Draw."
Leo drew a monster that he thought could help break her strategy. He grinned. "I activate Power Tool Dragon's effect, adding a random equip spell from my deck to my hand." He chose the equip spells and presented their card-backs to Joan. She chose 1 and he added it to his hand, shuffling the rest into his deck. This time, it was Morphtronic Cord.
"Power Tool Dragon, attack!" Leo declared.
Joan flipped a trap. "I play Dimensional Prison. Because your monster declared an attack, it is removed from the game."
As if playing against an opponent with twice his own Life Points using a monster capable of piercing wasn't bad enough, he now had to do it without his best monster.
