So, I'm first? Good. I hate waiting. Akio stepped on his place on the arena, and watched as a short, tomboyish girl made her way to hers. He tried to recall something about this Riley Johnson. He might have taught once or twice in her class, but he wasn't sure he remembered that girl specifically.
Riley arrived on her pad, and broke out her dueling disk. The voice of the Student Council President announced: "Both duelists, get ready and on your positions! The duel is about to start!"
Akio and the girl activated their Dueling Disks, making them automatically shuffle their decks. The President spoke again: "Duelists! Get ready!", and the two assumed their battle pose. Riley said, smugly: "Scared? You should be. Raaawr!"
Akio didn't reply, he just thought: Oh, please... don't be ridiculous.
Kim's announcement interrupted their glaring contest: "The computer has decided! Riley will go first! Draw your hands and... DUEL!"
The two drew their starting five cards, and took a good look at their starting hands. Riley, for one, seemed content enough. Molten Destruction, Evoltiles Westlo and Lagosucho, and Evolsaurs Terias and Elias. "I'll get this duel started by setting one monster face-down, and activating the field spell Molten Destruction! Now all the FIRE monsters on the field gain 500 attack points, at the cost of 400 defense points! Your turn."
FIRE monsters? Damn, this means Core Blaster won't be of any help. I can still try to overpower her, though. Akio's starting hand was already nice enough: Bergzak, Urnight, Crusader, one Iron Core and Core Compression. Nice. Let's see who her face-down monster is... "First, I activate Core Compression! This means that, by discarding one monster from my hand, and revealing Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru, I can draw two cards!" Discarding Crusader from his hand, Akio drew his two cards. Koa'ki Meiru Powerhand and Iron Core Luster.
"Then, I Summon Koa'ki Meiru Urnight!" The audience was surprised. After all, few had even seen him duel, and Koa'ki Meirus weren't much known. And with good reason. "I bet you don't know what's the effect of this monster. Let me explain. Right now, I can show this Iron Core," Akio started, revealing the Iron Core in his hand, "to Special Summon another monster from my deck! And I choose Koa'ki Meiru Crusader!" The hologram of the second monster stomped loudly over the field, and bellowed to the audience. Akio just grinned and shouted: "Now, Crusader! Destroy her facedown monster!"
Riley grinned and shouted: "Not so fast! You fell right into my trap, activating my monster's flip effect! This way, Evoltile Westlo summons a dinosaur monster from my deck!"
Then, she winked and added: "For those of you watching, it's like the evolution of the first living beings, from small lizards to giant dinosaurs!"
"That's... a bit too simplicistic.", Akio replied. "Ah, whatever. Because of your field spell, your monster's defense is lowered, so Crusader can destroy it! And this means that Crusader too activates its special power, which lets me recover the other Crusader I sent to the Graveyard to activate Core Compression!"
Riley grimaced and said: "Don't get ahead of yourself, 'professor'! I can still summon my monster! Go, Evolsaur Cerato!" The dinosaur stepped onto the field and roared.
A 1900 attack monster? Damn, this means that, with the field's effect... I won't be able to fight it without Core Overclock. Damnit.
"And you know the best part? Since my Evolsaur Cerato evolved from its smaller partner, it also gains 200 more attack points, giving me a big dino with 2600 attack points total!"
Oh, COME ON, thought Akio. Looks like I underestimated this one. "...I set one face-down card, and end my turn. My monsters are powerful, but they require a price to be kept on the field. So, I need to reveal a Beast-warrior monster in my hand. And luckily, I just have one: the Koa'ki Meiru Crusader I recovered earlier from my graveyard!
"Alright, my turn," Riley said, drawing her card. Evo-Force. Nice, but nothing she could use immediately if she wanted to get the most out of it. However, Riley wasn't the most patient sort. "I hope you're ready to see how fearsome dinosaurs are, because I summon Evoltile Lagosucho!" The green-and-yellow lizard emerged on the playing field, a hissing and crawling hologram. "On his own, he's not much, but like I said, these little lizards turn into vicious dinosaurs, some faster than others. I activate Evo-Force from my hand by tributing Lagosucho!" The little yellow lizard went up in flames, but before Riley could spout out more about fearsome dinos, Akio stepped in.
"No, you don't. Because I activate my trap card! Iron Core Luster negates the activation of your Evo-Force and sends it to the Graveyard!" Akio's trap card exploded, eliminating the burning lizard, leaving a little lizard-shaped pile of ashes.
"Hmph, one little ball of iron can't save you from these prehistoric predators forever! It's time to do some damage! Evolsaur Cerato, make a late-night snack out of that Koa'ki Meiru Urnight of his!" With a fearsome roar, the holographic dinosaur ran toward its prey, snapping the armor and warrior beneath it clean in half with its mighty jaws. Above it, a big -600 appeared, signifying the 600 Life Points Akio had just lost. Once the dino had returned to its appropriate side of the field with a low growl, Riley proclaimed "That's it for my turn. Go ahead."
"Ok, then... I draw." Reckoned Power? Damn you, deck... how about something useful, for a change? Akio grit his teeth and simply said: "I switch Crusader from Attack to Defense position... and end my turn. Go ahead..."
"I draw!" Evoltile Najasho. That would've been nice in Lagosucho's place just earlier. No helping it, though. All she could do was kill off that Crusader. "Cerato, this buffet isn't over yet! Chow down on that Koa'ki Meiru Crusader!" The process between the dino and Urnight from last turn was repeated, albeit with Crusader this time. "That's all I've got this turn. Go ahead."
"Ok, then... I draw". Akio drew, and looked at the card. It was Core Overclock. Bingo. Akio allowed himself a smirk. "I summon Koa'ki Meiru Crusader in Attack position!". The monster roared and stomped on the battlefield.
Riley scoffed: "Pfft, this again? My dino just thrashed his friend... is this supposed to scare it? If this is your strategy, you might as well hand the victory over to me".
Akio just smiled and said: "It's not supposed to scare your dinosaur... it's supposed to destroy it! I activate Core Overclock!". A glowing orange symbol appeared on the chestplate of Akio's monster, and the holographic tag showed that its attack had increased to 2400 points.
"Then, I send this Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru from my hand to the graveyard, to activate the second effect of Core Overclock! This way, my Crusader's attack increases by another 1000 points until my end phase!" A holographic Iron Core appeared on the monster's chest, and started glowing and humming. The gladiator-like beast roared like an enraged gorilla, and quickly grew in size, a burning light coming out of the eyesockets and mouth of its skull-like face and of the junctures of its armor. The holographic tag now displayed the number 3400.
"Now, Crusader... dispose of that overgrown lizard. Attack!" The monster swung its sword at the roaring dinosaur, shattering its holographic image. Riley's life points dropped by 800. "Then", continued Akio, "Crusader's effect lets me recover one card from my graveyard, and I choose Urnight!" After adding the card to his hand, Akio gestured towards Riley. "And then, I pass my turn. I pay Crusader's maintenance cost by revealing the Urnight I just recovered. Come on... it's your turn.", he said, grinning.