[hider=Exciting Opportunities] Moros got off his bike in front of the impressive looking building. So this was Industrial Illusion hm? It was quite the impressive building, he wondered if any other duelists had come here yet. Well at the very least he could take a look around. Surprised there wasn't anybody here, even though it was just a side entrance, Moros tested the door and found that it was unlocked. Cool. He went inside and wandered around a little taking some stairs up to the next level. Then he heard the sounds of what he thought was someone dueling. Following his ears he made his way deeper into the building and found Xaiver there dueling some guy with silver hair and a black jacket. The two were in some sort of fancy dueling arena, they were inside some sort of glass box and there were a bunch of seats, almost like a tournament style thingy. It seemed Moros got there right as the duel started... and ended. Aiden was thrown back by the blast that came from the 2 swords 'Apprentice' held, and Xavier had the most smug grin on his face. Aiden got up and looked at Xavier, [color=1a7b30]"I'm very impressed. Perhaps we will meet in the finals."[/color] he said, walking away without bothering to introduce himself, as he reached the door, he turned to face Xavier, [color=1a7b30]"You can tell your friend he can stop snooping around now."[/color] "[b]Hey![/b]" Moros cried out, offended. "[b]I wasn't snooping, I was exploring. Besides if you don't want people here the doors should've been locked right?[/b]" Aiden chuckled, [color=1a7b30]"I meant lurking in the seats, it is unkind to watch a duel without making yourself known. But..... oh well, what can be done? The name's Aiden. I assume you have heard of me?"[/color] As he finished, Aiden held up the arm on which his duel disk rested as if posing. "[b]Um...[/b]" Moros's voice trailed off uncertainly as he struggled to recall where he might've seen the duelist with the fancy disk before. "[b]Some commercial thingy right?[/b]" he asked uncertainly. Aiden rolled his eyes at the reference to the commercial he had done a year ago when he had first joined Industrial Illusions, [color=1a7b30]"Close, but no cigar. I am one of the top duelists here at Industrial Illusions. So good that the company printed this deck for me, custom made."[/color] He tapped his duel disk to indicate the deck he was talking about. Xavier looked at the guy with a smirk, thinking of how this guy might be connected to his past. [color=ed1c24]"Have you ever seen me before, Aiden?"[/color] Aiden looked at him and shook his head. Moros almost asked how the man was ranked top if he had lost in a single turn but realized at the last second that that would probably be considered rude. Instead he focused on the deck the high ranked duelist had bragged about, "[b]That's super cool, whats you deck do? From what little I saw it had dragons and stuff. How can I get one, do I have to work here? Can I work here? Will you hire me?[/b]" Moros asked the questions one after the other quickly becoming more and more excited. Aidens head began to spin at the rapid fire questions, then began to methodically answer them, [color=1a7b30]"Ummm..... 1. It abuses Attack boosts that can cause my monsters to have up to 14000 ATK, if I play right. 2. The closest I could see either of you getting to one of these,"[/color] Aiden tapped the disk again, [color=1a7b30]"would be the prize of the tournament. 3. Depends. 4. See number 3."[/color] Moros hmmed thoughtfully. "[b]Thats cool, and super scary. 14,000 is a lot.[/b]" In fact so large that it tied with a fully powered King. He wondered how hard it was for Aiden to get his monster out. "[b]Now you said me working here depends, depends on what exactly?"[/b] Moros didn't have a job and having some spending money could be cool. Maybe he could get Cecile a gift to pay her back for all the help she gave him. Aiden thought for a second, wondering if this boy would be a good tester, or maybe even a mascot for new decks. He lifted a finger to his chin and then snapped his fingers, [color=1a7b30]"I know! Why dont you and your friend here duel, and put on a show. I dont want to see an epic one turn kill, I want to see a dramatic duel. The more entertaining the better. If its amusing enough, I might offer you two kids jobs."[/color] The look on Aidens face was the most genuine expression he had since Xavier had first saw him. "[b]Awesome its a deal![/b]" Moros said excitedly and his dark duel disk unfolded from his skull watch travel mode and the dueling section formed. Similair to the a spine with the swirling patterns on the disk gleaming with darkness, seemingly prepared for battle, he and got ready to get into the room, before realizing he had no idea how to get inside. "[b]Erm, could you open the... thingy?[/b]" Aiden pressed a button on his disk and the glass dome retracted into the floor, leaving the lighting that hung from the celing to light the stands too. He glanced in Moross direction and noticed his disk, the limited edition skull style disk that I.I. had given to a nearby designer disk shop. [color=1a7b30]"Complements on the disk, it was my idea to release those."[/color] He pointed to the boys wrist. "[b]Really? Thanks for putting the idea out, one of my friends got it for me.[/b]" Moros called out as the dome opened and he eagerly jumped into the battle arena displaying his disk, "[b]You ready to go Xaiver?[/b]" Xavier raised his generic Duel Disk shamefully, clearly disappointed he didn't have a custom disk. [color=ed1c24]"Why not! Lets go!"[/color] The bland disk fanned out to reveal generic card slots and Xavier stepped forward to engage the duel. Aiden jumped out of the arena and sat in the stands, not intending to stick around. He closed the arena with his Disk and pointed to a button on Xavier's side of the arena. Explaining that that opened the arena as well as the button on his disk. He slouched over and tried to look comfortable. "[b]Sweet, since I challenged I'll let you go first![/b]" Moros called out and waited eagerly for Xaiver to make his first move[/hider] [hider=Duel!, CLEVER NAME!] [b][u]Turn 1: Xaiver[/u][/b] Moros 4000 LP, Cards: 6 Xaiver 4000 LP, Cards: 6 [color=ed1c24]"I draw!"[/color] Xavier shouted, pulling his starting hand from the disk. [color=ed1c24]"To start my turn I will summon one monster facedown, then I set one card and end."[/color] [b][u]Turn 2: Moros[/u][/b] Moros 4000 LP, Cards 7 Xaiver 4000 LP, Cards 4, 1 facedown, 1 set spell/trap [i]The defensive game hm[/i]? Well Moros had plenty of experience with that, "[b]I'll think I'll mirror your move and leave it to you.[/b]" Moros called out confidently as he set his cards onto the shimmering black portals. What do this guy use again, wizards or something? The red eyes on his disk gleamed as if in anticipation of the upcoming battle. [b][u]Turn 3: Xaiver[/u][/b] Moros 4000 LP, Cards: 5, 1 facedown, 1 set spell/trap Xaiver 4000 LP, Cards: 5, 1 facedown, 1 set spell/trap Xavier looked at his draw before placing it in a Spell and Trap zone, saying, [color=ed1c24]"I set one card facedown and end."[/color] [b][u]Turn 4: Moros[/u][/b] Moros 4000 LP, Cards: 6, 1 facedown, 1 set spell/trap Xaiver 4000 LP, Cards: 4, 1 facedown, 2 set spell/trap Moros looked at his opponent curiously, normally people were just raring to attack. How unusual, well at this rate it wasn't going to be dramatic at all. As he knew from experience most set monsters were only set when the owner [i]wanted[/i] it to be destroyed so attacking it would be unwise. However next turn he should start something if his foe didn't. "[b]I'll set one more monster, and 1 more card before turning it back to you.[/b]" [b][u]Turn 5: Xaiver[/u][/b] Moros 4000 LP, Cards: 4, 2 facedown, 2 set spell/trap Xaiver 4000 LP, Cards: 5, 1 facedown, 2 set spell/trap Xavier worriedly drew his next card. If he didn't get something soon, it would be over. [color=ed1c24]"I set 2 cards facedown, then I summon Spellsword's Apprentice, banishing all spells from my hand deck and graveyard facedown."[/color] [b]Spellsword's Apprentice[/b] - ATK 1500 [color=ed1c24]"Now I end." [/color]There was a finality to his voice that showed he was confident. [b][u] Turn 6: Moros[/u][/b] Moros 4000 LP, Cards: 5, 2 facedown, 2 set spell/trap Xaiver 4000 LP, Cards: 2, 1 facedown, 4 set spell/trap Moros puzzled over the move, while it was nice for him to leave a monster in attack position that was quite a strange effect that it had. Presumably he could use those cards somehow. Well he would carry on with his plan regardless. "[b]Alright, to kick things off I'll activate my trap card Tyrant's Temper! This allows me to tribute one monster making my monsters unaffected by trap cards. I'll tribute my face-down monster, Wight-prince.[/b]" His little cackling skeleton flickered and shattered. "[b]Now because of his effect I can send a Lady in Wight and a Skull Servant to the grave with him.[/b]" Moros called out as two more cards were sent to the grave. "[b]Now I'll normal summon, King of Skull Servants to the field![/b]" Moros announced as his ace monster appeared, boasting a reasonable amount of attack [b]King of Skull Servants[/b] - ATK 3000 "[b]And since you were kind enough to place a monster in attack mode I think I'll destroy it with Vengeance Blast![/b]" A ball of swirling, howling, spirits flew from his royal skeleton to Xaiver's monster [color=ed1c24]"Not so fast! I activate my Quick-Play spell, Ancient Blade of the First Spellsword! When you declare an attack on a Spellsword monster with less attack than your monster, This card equips to that monster and it gains ATK equal to the difference."[/color] Xavier called out triumphantly. [b]Spellsword's Apprentice[/b] - ATK 1500 ---> 3000 ATK Moros pondered briefly the worth of activating his King's effect to summon him back to the field, but concluded he didn't want to act rashly and banish cards so quickly. After all zombies never stayed in the grave for long. So when his attack landed it exploded in a display of force that sent both monster's shimmering to the graveyard. "[b]I leave it to you.[/b]" Moros said simply, curious to see his foe's next move. [b][u]Turn 7: Xaiver[/u][/b] Moros 4000 LP, Cards: 4, 1 facedown, 1 set spell/trap, 1 face up trap Xaiver 4000 LP, Cards: 3, 1 facedown, 3 set spell/trap [color=ed1c24]"Draw!"[/color] Xavier yelled, looking into the stands. Upon close examination, he noticed that Aiden was gone, or at least not visible. Regardless, he continued the duel. [color=ed1c24]"I activate one of my other facedowns, Spellsword's Greed. I shuffle my banished pile and take the top card off of it." One card shot out of his disk and into his hand. "Now I summon my Spellsword's Grand Master in attack mode!"[/color] [b][u]Spellsword's Grand Master[/u][/b] - 1800 ATK [color=ed1c24] "Now I equip him with the card I drew from my Banished pile, 'Ketisu - Flaming Blade of the Spellswords'!"[/color] In 'Grand Master's' left hand appeared a long katana with bright red flames along it. [color=ed1c24]"When a monster is destroyed by a monster with Ketisu, it deals piercing damage. Now, Grand Master, Attack his facedown!"[/color] Moros grinned as his facedown monster was revealed to be his Lady in Wight with its fearsome defense she easily blocked the attack with a wave of her hand, deflecting the flaming sword to the side. Now that his lady was face-up it fit right into his next turn. [b]Lady In Wight[/b] - 2200 DEF [color=ed1c24]"Well then, I end."[/color] Xavier said, lowering his arm slightly. [b][u]Turn 8: Moros[/u][/b] Moros 4000 LP, Cards: 5, 1 monster, 1 set spell/trap, 1 face up trap Xaiver 4000 LP, Cards: 1, 1 monster, 1 facedown, 3 set spell/trap, 1 equip spell Moros carefully thought out his next move and eventually decided on what he saw as the simplest and most effective move. "[b]I'll activate the spell card Dark World Dealings, allowing us both to draw, then discard 1 card.[/b]" Moros explained as he did so, his actions following his words. "[b]Now that I discarded Mezuki to the graveyard, I'll activate his effect, banishing him to Special Summon my King of Skull Servants back to the field! His 3000 attack is more than enough to overwhelm your monster so I'll destroy it with Vengeful Rebuke![/b]" Moros said as his monster appeared back on the field and simply pointed its bony finger at Xaiver's spellsword, bones flying forward in a deadly hail. [color=ed1c24]"I activate another one of my facedowns! 'Spellsword's Concealed Blade'! When an opponent's monster declares an attack, I can activate this trap and equip it to one 'Spellsword' monster I control. It gains 500 ATK and cant be destroyed for the rest of this turn."[/color] Xavier said, still holding on to the notion that he was winning. [b][u]Xaiver[/u][/b] - 4000 -> 3200 Moros shurgged, no skin off his back, he still dealt 800 damage right? "[b]Nice save, cant wait to see what you do next.[/b]" He said excitedly. Now the duel was picking up, good, he wanted to make sure that it looked awesome for the duelist guy so he could get a job or an awesome custom deck or something. [b][u]Turn 9: Xaiver[/u][/b] Moros 4000 LP, Cards: 5, 2 monsters, 1 set spell/trap, 1 face up trap Xaiver 3200 LP, Cards: 2, 1 facedown, 1 monster, 2 set spell/trap, 1 equip spell, 1 equip trap [color=ed1c24]"I draw."[/color] said Xavier, pulling another card from his disk. "[color=ed1c24]I activate the effect of Spellsword Channeler! I can discard her to place one Mana Counter on each Spellsword monster I control."[/color] A white aura began to surround Grand Master. [color=ed1c24]"Then I activate Grand Masters effect, removing his Mana Counter to add any spell from my banished Pile to my hand. I choose Spellswords Grand Blade, boosting him by 1000!"[/color] [b]Spellsword Grand Master[/b] 2300 ATK ---> 3300 ATK [color=ed1c24]"Now, Grand Master, Attack his King!"[/color] Xavier cried triumphantly. His king raised its hands futilely in defense as the overcharged spellsword charged forward slashing him into pieces, traces of power from the combat striking Moros slightly [b][u]Moros[/u][/b]: 4000 -> 3700 Moros grinned as the pieces reformed back into a complete monster, "[b]Thanks to my Lady In Wight's effect any level 3 or lower zombie monster's can't be destroyed in battle, and that in includes my King![/b]" [color=ed1c24]"Now to end my turn I activate one of my facedowns, Spell Recollection. When a spell card is destroyed, it is banished instead. Then I activate my last facedown, which is also my field spell, Spellsword Arena, and end."[/color] Xavier said, flipping the 2 spells over. [b][u]Turn 10: Moros[/u][/b] Moros 3700 LP, Cards: 6, 2 monster, 1 set spell/trap, 1 face up trap Xaiver 3200 LP, Cards: 2, 1 facedown, 1 monster, 0 set spell/trap, 1 equip spell, 1 equip trap, 1 continuous Trap, 1 field spell Moros drew his next card and viewed his hand, his next move was quite simple really. "[b]Now I'll activate the spell card Foolish Burial sending Wightprince from my deck directly to the graveyard. As we both know because of his effect I can send a Lady in Wight and a Skull Servant to the grave with him.[/b]" Moros announced as he sent the three cards to the graveyard and banished his spell card. [b]King Of Skull Servants[/b]: 3000 -> 6000 "[b]Now that my King is all powered up I'll use him to destroy your grandmaster, make him bow before you with Undead Army![/b]" The skeleton raised his hand calmly and the bones beneath him rose into figures and charged wildly at the well equipped grandmaster slashing and swinging. [b][u]Xaiver[/u][/b] 3200 -> 500 [color=ed1c24]"I activate my hand trap, Spellsword Savior. While I control 3 or less monsters, I can discard one Spellsword monster to negate the destruction of a Spellsword monster I control."[/color] Xavier discarded his second Apprentice with a look of anger. He had to draw right next turn or it would be over. "[b]Hm, I'll just set two more cards and turn it over to you.[/b]" [b][u]Turn 11: Xaiver[/u][/b] Moros 3700 LP, Cards: 3, 2 monster, 3 set spell/trap, 1 face up trap Xaiver 500 LP, Cards: 0, 1 facedown, 1 monster, 0 set spell/trap, 1 equip spell, 1 equip trap, 1 continuous Trap, 1 field spell [color=ed1c24]"I draw!"[/color] Xavier smiled. This was exactly what he needed. [color=ed1c24]"I summon my Phase A monster, Spellsword of Light! Now I control both phase A and Phase B monsters, I'm sure you see where I'm going. First I flip Spellsword of Warding into face up defense-"[/color] Xavier was cut off by Moros. Moros grinned, it looked like one of the cards Cecile had gotten for him would come in handy after all. "[b]Yeah I do see where this is going, so I'll activate the trap card Summon Limit! This prevents both players from summoning monster more than twice per turn, and since you've already normal summoned and flip summoned, you can't do any more summons this turn![/b]" Moros said triumphantly Xavier grunted, he couldn't even Overlay never mind Phase Shift. [color=ed1c24]"Damn you're good, pass."[/color] Xavier said with a slight edge to his voice. [b][u]Turn 12: Moros[/u][/b] Moros 3700 LP, Cards: 4, 2 monster, 3 set spell/trap, 1 face up trap Xaiver 500 LP, Cards: 0, 0 facedown, 3 monster, 0 set spell/trap, 1 equip spell, 1 equip trap, 1 continuous Trap, 1 field spell Moros frowned briefly, well cursing should never be part of a duel, no matter which way it was going. He drew his next card and pondered his movements. He could end the duel now unless he was sorely mistaken, but he wasn't sure if this met the criteria for landing a job. Even if he did want to stretch the duel out how would he fake it? There was just no plausible way that he could see making it any longer. Well he would just have to hope that the duel met expectations and finish it off, "[b]King, end it.[/b]" Moros said simply and his skeleton raised his arms one last time, conjuring a whirling sphere of destruction and hurled at the grandmaster. His disk glowed with a malicious light as the last of his opponent's LP faded. [b][u]Xavier[/u][/b] 500 --> 0 [/hider] [hider= Post duel] Xavier was sent flying back into the button that opened the arena by the force of the blast. He cried out from the pain of the metal guard digging into his back. He stood and the glass began to peel back, revealing the stands in a blinding glow that illuminated every inch of them. Xavier scanned the seats for the face of the Duelist that had encouraged the duel. [color=ed1c24]"Huh?"[/color] he muttered as he realized that the man was nowhere to be seen. "[b]Hey![/b]" Moros called out, confused when he saw that they were alone. "[b]Where'd he go!?[/b]" He looked slightly annoyed, how was he supposed to know how well he did if the judge wasn't here! Xavier turned to Moros, [color=ed1c24]"What kind of guy promises to watch a duel and leaves?!"[/color] The annoyance in his voice was more apparent than the despair in his final turn had been. He dashed up into the stands and out the door he had come in through. [color=ed1c24]"Hey! Get ba-"[/color] Two large security guards stood nearby the door, one on each side. "What were you doing in there?" one said, grabbing Xaviers arm. Moros followed Xaiver, though somewhat more slowly. When the guard apprehended Xaiver he spoke up, "[b]We were just dueling, your top duelist or whatever said we could and that if we make it good enough he would give us a job. Now where'd he go?[/b]" Moros asked the guard. "Aiden left here a while ago, saying two kids might be in the building causing trouble. You seen em?" The guard said, raising an eyebrow. [color=ed1c24]"Nope, never heard of em, now can we go?"[/color] Xavier pleaded, preparing to gnaw his arm off in case of emergency. The man let go of Xaviers arm and nodded, confirming that he was allowing them to leave. Xavier began to walk quickly around a corner, pulling Moros by the sleeve of his shirt. [color=ed1c24]"You think Aiden was talking about us?"[/color] He asked just as they rounded the corner, angered at the man. Moros pondered the question, "[b]Well he could've I suppose. But why would he tell us to duel then leave? If he just wanted to sic the guards on us he could've sent them in there while we were dueling.[/b]" Moros scratched his head confused. He didn't get this at all, but mostly he wanted to know whether he could get hired or not. "[b]Maybe we can go down to the lobby and ask if we can see him?[/b]" Moros offered. [color=ed1c24]"Yeah, we can try that."[/color] Xavier agreed, nodding and looking around. [color=ed1c24]"Do you remember how to get there? I didn't really pay attention when he brought me here..."[/color] Moros shrugged, "[b]I assumed you knew where the lobby was. I came here through some back door, but I don't know where anything else is.[/b]" Xavier examined the halls more closely, further down the one they were standing in he recognized a painting, then began to rush down the hall, calling back to Moros to follow him. After a few more corners and a flight of stairs, they were in the main lobby of Industrial Illusions. Moros smiled, "Awesome." and walked up to the person at the front desk. "[b]Hey, I was wondering if we could talk with Aiden? He said he was going to watch our duel and talk to us afterward but then he left early and we don't know where he is.[/b]" The receptionist lifted the phone next to her and dialed some sequence of numbers, but after a few seconds she turned and said, "I'm sorry, it seems like Aiden is out right now. Maybe if you come back later than he might be here to give you that information." Xavier put his hand on his forehead, this whole situation was getting on his nerves. He looked at Moros and walked out the front door. "[b]Well alright, thank you lady.[/b]" Moros said and turned to explain the situation to Xaiver but to his surprise Xaiver had already left. "[b]Aw, I didn't even get to say good game.[/b]" Moros said under his breath disappointed. Guess he would just look for some more people to duel. How many wins did he need for this tournament anyway? [/hider]