What is this? Well, remember two years ago when I said I was goin' to write a WAAPT fic takin' place in a Yu-Gi-Oh AU?

No?

Well that's fine. This is a test chapter of sorts. The characters in this universe are WAAPT characters transplanted into a Yu-Gi-Oh universe, the decks they use are based on things such as their personality, interests, pokemon team, etc. However these characters are not 1:1 across universes and certain things about them will differ from their canon incarnation. For example, Ren's deck does not contain a card that represents Kitsune, though it does feature nicely dressed circus animals which draw from his background as a coordinator and fashion designer.

As I said this is just a test chapter and whether I use this as a jump-off point for a larger fic or leave it as a one-off is up in the air. This is just to test my competency writing duels, my formatting and adapting other people's characters. It is quite long, (~7000 words) but I encourage you to read it and give constructive criticism, and maybe even tell me what characters you would like to see duel.

Oh and if you know nothin' about Yu-Gi-Oh or how it's played don't worry, this chapter acts as a Yu-Gi-Oh primer for newbies.

Enjoy.

Dazzling Ring Master Ren
My performance will knock them dead!
Vs.
Gritty Gambler Des
Lady Luck will always be watchin’ over me.

The stands of the arena were packed with people, their chatter reaching the ears of a man hiding in one of the entrances. He smiled, hearing their anticipation always made him a bit giddy. He struggled a bit to not laugh at the thought at what he was about to show them. Though he had been doing this for years he still felt the excitement he felt when he first stepped into that circus tent all those years ago.

“You’re on, dear.”

He snapped out of his thoughts as a woman tapped his shoulder, signalling it was his queue to start the show. Briskly he walked to the center of the arena, under the cover of darkness, the hundreds of people around him unaware of his presence. Once at the center he straightened up his bow tie and gave his top hat a little tilt.

“Showtime.”

A spotlight turned on and shone down on the man, catching the audience by surprise. The man was young looking, but carried himself with a mature demeanor. He wore a red jacket with turquoise trim and wide opened sleeves, long coattails and three large turquoise buttons going down the chest, each button flanked by two smaller buttons. On his legs were black pants help up by a belt with a piece of jade in a gold setting. On his neck he wore a modest red bow tie that sparkled under the spotlight and atop his head was a matching top hat with a turquoise band and a star-shaped ornament, underneath which one could see strands of brown hair poking out from the back. The Ringmaster twirled his cane and planted it on the ground as he bellowed out to the audience.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! WELCOME TO THE GREATEST SHOW I THE WORLD!”

The sea of people cheered with excitement and elated surprise at the Ringmaster’s sudden appearance and announcement.

“ARE YOU READY TO SEE SOME OF THE FINEST DUELISTS IN THE WORLD ALL UNDER ONE ROOF?”

The crowd returned in kind to the Ringmaster. He put his hand up to his ear.

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”

The crowd cheered back at him louder. A childish smirk spread across his face. He loved working the crowd.

“First act is the Showdown at High Noon. Just a Standard duel to warm them up. The acrobatics will start after. Better to build to that and get the crowd hot then throw so much at them from the get go. Hope Des is ready.”
He lifted his cane above his head.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, OUR OPENING DUEL!”

The green jewel at the top of his cane suddenly shone brightly, the spotlight around him expanding. As the shadows receded the plain grey arena floor was replaced with the harsh, dusty ground of a desert. An old fashioned western town popped up, all the windows on the building boarded up and the doors to the Saloon of their hinges, the clock above its entrance read 11:57. At one end of this abandoned town stood a mighty church, a mass of bleached wood against the tan, desolate landscape. A figure strolled into the town, opposite the church. He wore a tattered, faded maroon cloak and a ten gallon hat that was typical of cowboys. Underneath the cloak he wore brown leather chaps over black pants and a brown jacket over a grey shirt. Across his chest was a bandolier holding several decks. Though his face was obscured by his hat and bandanna his bright green eyes could be seen from miles away. He walked to the other side of town and stopped in front of the church.

“Alright, where is my opponent?”

At that moment the clock struck twelve and a bell tolled.

“Up here.”

A man leapt from the church’s bell tower and landed catlike in front of the cowboy. It was the Ringmaster.

“Oh you lucky people, you get to see Ringmaster Ren in action!”

“Quiet, Tinkerbell, and put your deck where your mouth is.”

The Cowboy’s retorted elicited boos from the crowd. The Ringmaster, now called Ren, chuckled.

“Not one for theatrics, Gambler Des?”

The cowboy, now called Des, replied by lifting his left arm out from underneath his cloak, revealing a weird blade-like device on his wrist. The device was rusted and weathered and had a small screen and a rectangular slot. Ren seemed to understand.

“Very well then.” Ren said as he produced a similar looking device and attached it to his arm. Unlike his rugged counterpart his was shiny new, sporting a metallic red paintjob with gold trim. He took a deck of brown back cards and slotted them into the rectangle. Des did the same, but not before taking a moment to consider what one of his decks to slide out of his bandolier.

“See these?” He gestured to the remaining decks he had on him. “I won all of these from my opponents. Trophies, a reminder of who I beat and a warning to whoever tries to cross me.”

“Well aren’t you a confident one? Since you seem eager I’ll let you take the first turn.”

Des shook his head and placed his hand on top of his deck.

“On my turf we draw for first. Monster with the highest attack wins.”

Ren arched an eyebrow.

“And what if I draw a non-monster?”

“Too bad.” Des replied through a shit eating grin.

Both duelists drew the top card of their decks and revealed them. Ren’s looked like a gorilla wearing a top hat and bowing gloves. There was something odd about the shape of its chest. Des’s monster on the other hand looked like something not of this world. It was metallic grey, had sickly yellow circles on it’s body and sported four nasty looking pincers.

“Drummerilla, 1600 Attack points.”

“Ha! Arcana Force XII-The World, 3200 attack points.”

“That’s a...strong monster.”

The cards were returned to their respective decks and were auto-shuffled. Both Des and Ren drew five cards from the top of their deck.

“DUEL!”

Ren: 4000 LP

Des: 4000 LP

Des looked over his hand.

“Since this is the first turn of the duel I cannot draw or attack. I’ll start by activating Cup of Ace!”

He slotted a green bordered card into his duel disk. A larger facsimile appeared next to him. The artwork of the card featured a large golden cup, as to be expected.

“Now I flip a coin. Heads, I draw two cards. Tails, you draw two cards.”

The cup from the card appeared on the field and a large coin shot out of it. It landed with a thud on the ground, kicking up some dust. The dust settled, revealing heads. Des drew two cards from his next.

“Next, I summon Diceclops!”

In front of him appeared an odd looking creature. It had a blue, mechanical looking body outfitted with purple gems. From where its neck should be sprouted 4 curved horns, all surrounding a die shaped head. The sight of the odd monstrosity got a little reaction from the crowd.

ATK: 1800

“Now I’ll use his effect. Once per turn I can roll a die. If the result is 1, I can look at your hand and discard a card. If the result is 2-5, I’m the one who discards a card.”

“And what if it lands on 6?” asked Ren.

“Then I discard my entire hand.”

Ren gave a little gasp. The audience was equally shocked.

“So your hand must mostly be monsters then. If it weren’t then you could just set everything with no fear of having to discard.”
A cocky smirk spread across the cowboy’s face.

“Actually my hand is mostly Spells and Traps, I just like to live dangerously.”

Ren looked appalled at what his opponent just said as the monster’s head started spinning. It launched up into the air.  With baited breath, Ren and the audience watched as the die descended, waiting to see what the result would be.  Des on the other hand looked rather calm about the whole thing. The die bounced off the ground a few time before finally stopping.

1

“Lady Luck will always be on my side. Now reveal to me your hand!”

Ren reluctantly showed his hand to Des, a look of disbelief across his face. Des pointed to a high level monster.

“I’d rather not see that card this duel.”

Ren slipped the card into his graveyard. Des set a card into his duel disk, a large set card appearing beside him before disappearing.

“Set one and end. Over to you Ringmaster.”

Ren: 4000
Hand: 4       

Des: 4000
Hand: 5                   
Monster(s): Diceclops (1800 ATK)
Spells/Traps: 1 Set

Ren drew the top card of his deck. He wasn’t happy about having to start the duel off with one less card in his hand. Not to mention what card he had lost as well as how he had lost it. He wasn’t worried though. He never worried. Assured of himself he spread his hands out to the audience.

“Ladies and gentleman! It’s time for the fun to begin!”

Ren backflipped onto the archway above the church door and slapped a card onto his disk.

“I summon Performapal Silver Claw!”

A grey wolf with a thick blue mane bounded onto the field. Around his neck was neck was a pink bowtie with yellow polka dots and he had an orange star underneath his left eye. The beast barred his teeth at the opposing monster.

ATK: 1800

“Don’t let his fierce appearance worry you. Deep down he’s a cuddly puppy dog, isn’t that right wolfy?”

Loyally the circus sat on its haunches and panted like an obedient dog, causing the audience to awe.

“I’ll enter my Battle Phase. Silver Claw, attack the Diceclops!”

Silver immediately switched back into “beast-mode” and charged the dice headed monster.

“Wait a minute” Des interjected, “They have the same attack. They’ll crash.”

“Oh no they won’t.” Ren winked “My Silver Claw has an effect. When he attacks, all of my Performapal monsters gain 300 attack until the end of the Battle Phase.”

As he said this, Silver claw became outlined in orange energy. It leapt at Diceclops. At this moment Des’s facedown sprung up.

“You activated my Trap card; Ordeal of the Traveler.”

Silver Claw crashed face and eyes into a massive Sphinx that manifested in-between it and its target. Cartoonishly it slowly slid down the monument, gently landing on the ground with spirals in its eyes.

“Here’s how it works” Des began to explain, “You select one random card in my hand and declare a card-type; Monster, Spell or Trap. If you call right the attack goes through. Call wrong and your monster is bounced back to your hand.”

Des fanned his hand out for Ren, showing he had five cards to pick from. He carefully considered, remembering something Des had said earlier...

“That one.” He gestured to the second one from the left. “As you indicated earlier most of the cards in your hand are spells and traps, and since you didn’t set that one it’s mostly likely a spell. I call spell.”

Des smirked as he slowly turned the card, revealing an orange border.

“What?! But you said-“

“Really? You’d trust the word of a gambler?”

The Sphinx’s eyes glowed red and Silver Claw was blown off the field, returning to Ren’s hand, then slowly sunk back into the ground. Ren looked over his hand before setting three cards.

“Your move.”

Ren: 4000       
Hand: 2           
Monster(s): 0       
S/T(s): 3 set       

Des: 4000
Hand: 5
Monster(s): Diceclops
S/T(s): Ordeal of the Traveler

Des drew for his turn.

“I’ll activate Diceclops effect again.”

“And I won’t let you take that chance. Fiendish Chain!”

One of Ren’s facedowns lifted up revealing the purple-pink border of a Trap card. Massive chain sprung out of it and ensnared the dice fiend.

“This negates your monster’s effect and immobilizes it, preventing it from attacking.”

Des grimaced as he looked over his hand.

“Fine, I tribute my Diceclops...”

Diceclops disappeared into motes of light.

“In order to tribute summon the level six warrior, Maximun Six!”

Replacing his previous monsters was something that didn’t look to impressive. It was a skinny, mutated humanoid.

ATK: 1900

“And when he’s summoned, I rolled a six sided die.”

He took a die from his pocket and chucked it. The die grew to an immense size and bounced a few times before resting.

5

“Five s’not bad. Now he gains attack points equal to five times 200.”

Wires suddenly came out of the number dots of the die and attached themselves to Maximum Six. The audience gasped in horror as the creature screamed and writhed in pain as it was injected with...something. The monster grew and sprouted three additional arms, becoming a monstrous hulk.

ATK: 1900 -> 2900

“Battle Phase, attack Ren directly!”

The multi-armed brute bellowed as it charged at Ren, still standing on the archway. A gasp went over the crowd as the monster drove its fist deep into the face of the church.

“Guess he forgot his fancy moves...”

Maximum Six drew its fist out of the whole it created, only to reveal it had hit nobody.

“Over here."

Ren was casually leaning against the side of the church, checking his nails and completely unscathed.

“How?!” Des barked angrily.

“Simple, my trap card.”

A set card flipped up.

“Performapal Call negates your monster’s direct attack then lets me add two Performapal monsters from my deck to my hand whose combined Defense are equal to or less than the attack of your monster.”

Two cards slipped out of Ren’s deck, which he quickly added to his hand. Des...actually didn’t looked upset over this recent development.

“Well that’s just fine. Actually that’s perfect, because I happen to have this in my hand. Activate Quick-Play Spell; Double or Nothing! Since my monster’s attack was negated it can attack once again...”

Maximum Six flexed its muscles doubling in size. The crowed shrieked as the monster soon towered over the buildings of the town.

“With double the attack power.”

ATK: 2900 -> 5800

“Make like Goldberg and Squash ‘em”

Maximum Six lifted up one of its now massive feet and brought it down beside the church where Ren was standing. Slowly it lifted its foot. Des’s jaw hit the floor.

“I missed again?!”

“Yoohoo!”

Angrily Des turned his attention to the source of the sound, the saloon. The crowd cheered at the sight of Ren sitting atop the saloon’s clock.

“My other trap card, Performapal Pinch Helper. It’s a continuous trap that lets me negate one direct attack per turn, then I can special summon one Performapal monster from my deck, provided its effects are negated. I’ll call upon my Parrottrio.”

A trio of dapper looking parrots, one blue, one green and one yellow, appeared on the field and sung a little tune.

DEF: 500

“I don’t suppose you have any more copies of Double or Nothing in your hand, do you?”

Maximum Six returned to its slightly-smaller-but-still-huge size as Des looked dejectedly at his land.

“Reversal Quiz is useless right now, but I’ll set it as a bluff. He still has to get around my Ordeal of the Traveler.”

“I’ll set three and end.”

A large slot reel appeared beside him along with two set card.

Ren: 4000               
Hand: 4                   
Monster(s): Parrotrio (DEF: 500)       
S/T(s): Performapal Pinch Helper, Fiendish Chain   

Des: 4000
Hand: 1
Monster(s): Maximum Six (ATK: 2900)
S/T(s): Ordeal, 3 set

Ren drew. What he drew excited him.

“Alright Ladies and Gentleman, strap in for a real treat. I’m going to demonstrate the secret art of Pendulum Summoning!”

He held up two monsters in his hand. Unlike other monster cards half their border was organge, the other was green, like a spell card.

“I can place these two monsters into my Pendulum Zones as face-up spells. I’ll set the scale the Scale 2 Swingcobra, and the Scale 7 Momoncarpet.”

The audience who were reacting with confusion were suddenly awed by the performance of a pair of monsters as they entered the field from either side. One on the left was a friendly looking cobra on a trapeze swing, comically wearing a jacket over its hood. A top hat was atop its head and its tongue was shaped like a heart. The other monsters glided in on its wing-like flaps. It looked like what someone would get if they crossed a purple rug with a flying squirrel. Both monsters stopped in midair to either side of Ren, suspended in a column of light, a large stylized number underneath each of them, a 7 underneath Momoncarpet and a 2 underneath Swingcobra. Ren called out to the audience and corkscrewed off the saloon and landed in the middle of the street.

“Ladies of gentleman! It’s time to swing into action!”

A large, spectral pendulum appeared between both of the columns of light that were holding the monsters.

“With the scales set I can now Special Summon any number of monsters from my hand, provided their levels fall between two and seven.”

The pendulum began swinging.

“Swing Pendulum of the soul, draw an arc of light across the sky!”

“Pendulum summon, level 4 Silver Claw and level 5 Drummerilla!”

Bright colours covered the field, wowing the audience as a massive portal opened up before the pendulum and two streaks of light flew out, crashing to the ground. One of them was Silver Claw, seen earlier in the duel. The other was the card Ren drew from his deck before the duel began, Drummerilla. Now in full view of the audience it was immediately apparent that its chest was in fact a pair of drums. Des couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the display.

ATK: 1800

ATK: 1600

“Next I’ll switch my Parrotrio to attack mode.”

The trio of parrot singers chirped in unison.

ATK: 500

“Finally, I’ll activate the card I just drew. Performapal Band Hurricane! This lets me target cards you control, up to the number Performapal monsters I control, and send them back to the hand!”

Des thought for a minute. Ren was definitely going to bounce Maximum 6 and Ordeal now doubt, leaving only one other card to send back to his hand. Of the three options left only one could save him from taking massive damage.

“I’ll blow back your Maximum Six and Ordeal as well as the middle set card.”

Parrotrio started singing as Drummerilla started beating its chest drums, creating a cacophonic sound that forced Des to cover his ears.  Maximum Six and the two back row cards were blown back to his hand. Ren himself couldn’t help but grimace a bit at the sound.

“You guys are bit off key. Anyways, battle phase, Silver Claw attacks first. As you know he gives all of my Performapals an extra 300 attack.”

The same aura that had surrounded Silver Claw earlier now surrounded all three of its Performapal companions.

ATK: 1800 -> 2100

As the wolf bounded its way up to Des a weird whack-a-mole game popped up in the middle of the street.

“Once again Lady Luck has blessed me by letting this remain untouched by your Hurricance. Whenever one of your monsters attacks I can flip a coin and call it. Call right and that monsters attacks is reduced to 0 for the rest of the Battle Phase.”
Ren growled a bit in frustration, but not enough for the audience to see. Des took a out from his jacket and flipped it.

“Heads!”

The coin hit the ground and bounced, landing Heads up.

“Yes!” Des gave a little fist pump as Fairy Box worked its magic, Silver Claw being weakened to the point where all it could do was nudge Des’s leg a little. Des let out a hearty chuckle at the wolf’s efforts. Defeated, Silver Claw dragged its tail back to its Ringmaster.

“Any of your other carnies want to take a shot at me?”

Now Ren let out an audible growl.

“They are not carnies, they are performers.”

“Oh he spits fire now. You sure you’re the Ringmaster and not the Flame Swallower?”

Ren took a few controlled breaths, visibly calming down before he issued his next command.

“Drummerilla. Crush him.”

The gorilla pounded its chest and charged the cowboy.

ATK: 1600 -> 1900

Des tossed the coin again.

“I feel tails this time.”

Drummerilla got right up to Des and swung a hook...then suddenly lost balance and fell face flat. The coin had landed on tails.

“Fine, Parrotrio, try to get some damage in.”

The parrot singers rushed Des in formation. There was a third coin toss.

ATK: 500 -> 800

“C’mon heads.”

However the coin landed on tails.

“Uh-oh.”

Des was bombarded by three adorable singing bullets.

Des: 4000 -> 3200

The parrots flew back to Ren, chirping with satisfaction.

“First blood goes to me! Now Swincobra’s Pendulum effect activates.”

The cobra swung down and grabbed the top card of Des’s deck, swinging up towards the roof.

“Hey! Give that back!”

Swingcobra swung back down and placed that card into Des’s graveyard.

“You see, Des, once per turn when a monster I control inflicts battle damage to you, Swingcobra mills the top of your deck. I hope you didn’t need that card.”

Des looked in his graveyard. Time Wizard was in there.

“Damn. One of my favourite cards.”

Ren: 4000
Hand: 0
Monster(s): Parrottrio, Drummerilla, Silver Claw
S/T(s): Pinch Helper
Pendulum: Swingcobra, Momoncarpet

Des: 3200
Hand: 4
Monster(s): 0
S/T(s): Fairy Box, 1 set

“Draw!” Des announced as he ripped the top card of his deck. “And during my Standby Phase I’ll pay 500 lifepoints to keep Fairy Box.”

Des: 3200 -> 2700

“Don’t really need this now, so I’ll go ahead and summon Gambler of Legend!”

The monster that appeared was essentially an ordinary human dressed in cowboy garb. He was casually flipping a coin in the air.

ATK: 500

“Now his effect, I toss a coin three times. Get three heads and I destroy all the monsters on your side of the field.”

The Gambler of Legend took a coin from his pocket and flipped it. He caught it and slapped it on the back of his hand. Slowly he lifted his hand off revealing heads. He flipped again, and a second heads came up. Ren gulped a bit as the coin was flipped a third time. The result came up tails.

“Looks like your luck is running out. You only have two heads.”

“Oh yeah, well two heads means you have to discard a card from your hand.”

“Yes, my non-existent hand.”

Des cursed under his breath, realizing Ren had used up all his cards the prior turn.

“Alright, fine. How about this, I activate the spell card Monster Slots.”

A green monster head appeared with a three slot reels embedded in its head.

“First I target one monster on my side of the field...”

Gambler appeared in the first reel.

“Then I banish a monster with the same level as that monster from my graveyard.”

Diceclops slipped out of his grave and an image of it appeared on the second reel.

“Now I draw a card and reveal it. If it is a monster whose level equals the level of my monster on the field I can special summon it.”

He drew the top card of his deck and smirked as he looked at it. The final reel stopped, showing a picture of something that looked like a cybernetic dinosaur with a gun for a face.

“I special summon Twin-Barrel Dragon!”

The cybernetic dinosaur with a gun face took to the field, letting out a mechanical roar.

ATK: 1700

“Now, when it’s summoned I can target one card you control and flip a coin twice. If I get two heads I can destroy it.”

The gun dragon cocked itself and scanned Ren’s field.

“Hmmm. I think I will target...that!”

Des pointed to Swingcobra. Ren gave him a puzzled look.

“Why? You could take out my strongest monster yet you choose an inconsequential spell?”

“Oh don’t give me that, you and I both know that card is not inconsequential. Besides, there’s a few things I know about your deck. Also I’m still sour about Time Wizard.”

Des flipped twice, both results coming up heads. Twin-Barrel fired upon the cobra, atomizing it. Des looked at Ren expectedly.

“And now....?”

Ren sighed, “And now Momoncarpet’s effect destroys itself since my other pendulum zone is unoccupied.”

The purple flying squirrel disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“Continuing my turn, since I have two monsters on my side of the field with the same level, I can construct the overlay network and perform and Xyz Summon!”

A swirling mass of stars appeared between Gambler and Twin-Barrel Dragon, sucking both of them in.

“Lone gunman from a dusty land, rise and unleash the hounds of justice. Xyz Summon, Rank 4, Gagaga Cowboy!”

From within the swirling vortex arose a cowboy, dressed exactly like Des, only brandishing a nasty pair of guns. Interestingly a pair of glowing orbs was orbiting around it, like a pair of small moons.

ATK: 1500

“Yes, I know, it’s weaker then one of the monsters I just had on my field, but it has a powerful effect. Battle Phase, Gagaga Cowboy, attack Dumberilla.”

“Drummerilla!”

“Whatever.”

The Cowboy leveled its guns at the gorilla.

“Now I’ll detach and Xyz material to use its effect.”

One of the orbs suddenly flew into Cowboy’s right gun.

“Now when he attacks, your monster loses 500 attack, and he gains 1000.”

Cowboy fired its right gun, bringing the gorilla down it one knee.

ATK: 1600 -> 1100

ATK: 1500 -> 2500

“There’s no way I can avoid damage, but I can mitigate the damage by using Drummerilla’s effect to increase its own attack by 600.”

ATK: 1100 -> 1700

Defiantly the gorilla stood back up and beat its chest mightily before being gunned down.

Ren: 4000 -> 3200

Satisfied with his handiwork, Des set two cards and passed.

Ren: 3200
Hand: 0
Monster(s): Silver Claw, Parrotrio
S/T(s): Pinch Helper

Des: 3200
Hand: 3
Monster(s): Gagaga Cowboy
S/T(s): Fairy Box, 1 set

“How did he know about Momoncarpet’s weakness? More importantly how did he know about the true strength of my pendulums?”

Ren looked at the card he just drew.

“I have no way of dealing with his Fairy box or his facedown Ordeal. Attacking him once will let me know what one of the cards in his hand is, and I already know he has Maximum Six in his hand, but he can still get lucky off of Fairy Box. Last time he didn’t have any monsters in front of him. Now that he does I could potentially take more damage then I need to. Tribute summoning this will give me a strong monster, but he’ll just attack over it on his next turn and I currently don’t have scales. I’ll have to turtle up and try to recoup some resources.”

“In the pendulum zone, I set the Scale 7 Performapal King Bear.”

A massive appeared in a column of light beside Ren. He was dressed in a rather spiffy purple suit adorned with a red mantle. On top of its head rested a crooked crown.

“I’ll switch both of my monsters to defense mode and end my turn. During my end phase, King Bear destroys itself and I can add a level 7 or higher monster from my graveyard to my hand.”

The bear disappeared and Ren added a card back to his hand.  Des drew for his turn and payed for Fairy Box.

Des: 2700 -> 2200

“I hope you’ve been paying attention, Ringmaster, cuz I have a question for you.”

Des activated the aptly named spell card, Question.

“Here’s how it works, when I play this card you’re not allowed to look at my graveyard. Then you’re supposed to guess to name of the monster at the bottom of my graveyard. Guess right, it gets banished. Guess wrong and I get to special summon it.”

Ren gave Des a baffled look. What kind of card was this? The audience murmured amongst themselves.

“Let’s see. He tributed Diceclops for Maximum Six so that must be the first monster. No, wait, he banished it for Monster Slots. Gambler is still under Cowboy so it’s either Twin-Barrel Dragon or whatever Swingcobra milled. What did Swingcobra mill?

“C’mon Ren, time’s a wastin’. Tick-tock, tick-tock.”

Ren was currently racking his brain. Des had said something the previous turn.

“He destroyed Swingcobra because...”

“Time’s up Ren. What’s your guess“

“...Time’s up. That’s it!”

Confidently he pointed at Des and exclaimed “Time Wizard!” Des looked taken a back a bit but carefully took out his graveyard and flipped through it. One of the boys backstage saw it fit to add a dramatic drum roll to the reveal. Good man. Ren would have to give him a raise. Des flipped past Time Wizard then flipped past Monster Slots and finally the first card he had played, the spell card, Cup of Ace. A massive image of Time Wizard was projected up into the air accompanied by a fanfare.

“Nooooo! Time Wizard!” Des sadly cried as Time Wizard slipped out of his grave.

“Anything else you’d like to quiz me on.”

Des shot daggers back at Ren.

“You’re dead. I shift my Cowboy to defense mode, then I detach its last overlay unit to use its other effect, inflicting 800 points of direct damage to you!”

The Cowboy crouched down and took aim with his guns. Only he wasn’t aiming at either of Ren’s monsters, he was aiming at Ren himself.

“Ice ‘em!”

Ren leapt off the saloon as the front of it was riddled with bullet holes. The gunman tracked him, keeping a steady stream of bullets on his trail as the Ringmaster dove for cover behind a barrel, only to have the barrel shredded in seconds. Everyone watching gasped and shrieked as dodged the hail storm of bullets. He held up in inside the saloon, trying to catch his breath while his attacker paced around outside, taunting him.

“Ooooh Ren! Come out come out wherever you are. I’d tell you to come out to play but I’m done with games for today.”

Des kicked the saloon doors off of its hinges as rushed in and pointed at Ren.

“There!”

Gagaga Cowboy burst in and fired, forcing Ren to run and dive behind the bar. Every single glass and bottle sitting on that pair shattered as Cowboy sprayed the place.

“Alright, alright, ease up on that trigger finger.”

Cowboy obeyed, twin trails of smoke coming out of the muzzles of his guns. Des dragged Ren out from behind the bar and threw him back out into the street. His nice clothes were tattered and ripped and he was covered in every kind of rum, whiskey, and spirit imaginable.

Ren: 3200 -> 2400

Although he was still ahead in life points he certainly didn’t feel like a winner at this point. Des contemplated summoning the Blowback Dragon in his hand or even Maximum Six again but decided against it.

“Turn end. Pick yourself up and fight.”

Ren: 2400
Hand: 1
Monster(s): Silver Claw, Parrotrio
S/T(s): Pinch Helper

Des: 2200
Hand: 3
Monster(s): Gagaga Cowboy (DEF: 2400)
S/T(s): Fairy Box, 1 Set

The arena was silent as they saw Ren lying there motionless. Then a slow clap started up. First it was just a handful of people, but it caught on, to a few dozen then the entire arena. Everyone was shouting for Ren to get up. Slowly, the Ringmaster picked himself up to a massive ovation and dusted off his tarnished clothes. He started at Des, not with a scowl, but with a big goofy smile.

“Well now, we certainly know how to put on a show.”

He took a card from his hand and set it into his Pendulum Zone. A pink monkey in a purple suit and top hat balancing on a ball appeared. It opened its mouth to reveal it’s teeth were actually a set of keys.

“When Monkeyboard is activated I can add one level 4 or lower Performapal monster from my deck to my hand.”
A card slipped out and he immediately played it. A green unicorn with a pink mane, wearing a blue vest and red bowtie with yellow polka dots appeared across from Monkeyboard. Oddly, one of its eyes were green while the other was red.

“I set the scale 8 Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn.”

Des backed off a few steps.

“Wait a minute, but that means...”

“Yes. Pendulum Summon, but before I get to that I would like to direct your and audience’s attention to my graveyard.”

Ren projected the contents of his grave to the crowd. What they saw made them and Des collectively gasp.

“W-wait, hold on. Where are all your monsters?”

Indeed, there was not one monster in Ren’s graveyard.

“I thought you knew my deck. Well let me reveal to you and the world the secret of my Pendulums. When they are destroyed they don’t get sent to the graveyard, they get sent to the Extra Deck.”

Des scratched his head at this piece of information.

“Ok but...for what?”

Ren smiled and shook his head.

“The hand isn’t the only place I can pendulum summons monsters from.”

The whole arena could see the whites of Des’s eyes when he heard this. The massive pendulum appeared again and swayed between both columns of light. A bigger portal appeared this time and three flashed of light shot out, the third being massive.

“I Pendulum Summon from my Extra Deck, Drummerilla!”

The first to materialize was Drummerilla, who pounded his chest happily.

ATK: 1600

“Also from the Extra Deck, King Bear! Who gains and extra 100 attack for each Performapal card I control!”

The regal bear took to the field and let out a massive roar as it was powered up by the presence of its comrades.

ATK: 2200 -> 2700

“And last, but certainly not least, I Pendulum Summon from my hand the star of my deck...”

The large flash of light dulled down, revealing a massive bipedal form. It was mostly red and white, with horn like protrusions jutting out of its back. Adorning the left horn was a single red orb; on the right one were two, smaller green orbs. Its neck was long and serpentine, ending in a sharp beaked face flanked by two large horns. The back of its head ended in single spike, creating a trident of sorts, and most striking of all was its eyes, one red and one green. The beast let out a mighty roar that shook the entire arena. The crowd scream and cheered for what was admittedly a ridiculous looking dragon.

“LEVEL 7, ODD-EYES PENDULUM DRAGON!”

ATK: 2500

The sight of the creature made Des fall on his butt. He quickly picked himself up and prayed no one saw his moment of embarrassment (most people in the arena did).

“Well that’s very impressive and all but I have the strongest ally of all, Lady Luck. Your lifepoints are exactly 2400, and my Cowboy’s defense points are exactly 2400. Even if one of your monsters gets past Ordeal of the Traveler, you still risk losing if I call right on Fairy Box.”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take! I switch Silver Claw to attack mode and enter battle phase! Silver Claw attacks first, and as you know he boosts all of my other Performapals”
Silver Claw howled to the roof, and orange aura covering him and his fellow circus animals.

ATK: 1800 -> 2100

“I know what that gorilla of yours can do. I’m not gonna risk calling wrong on Fairy Box. Ordeal of the Traveler, go!”
The Sphinx reappeared and Des held out his hand of three. He was visible sweating. Two of his cards were monsters. Ren pointed to the card on the left.

“Monster!”

Des breathed a sigh of relief as he revealed the spell card, 7. Silver Claw was blown off the field. Ren gestured for Drummerilla to go next. The ape ran towards the cowboy.

ATK: 1600 -> 1900

“Drummerilla will boost itself with its own effect.”

ATK: 1900 ->2500

“You going to use Ordeal this time and risk revealing the third card in your hand I don’t know, or are you going to bank everything on Fairy Box.”

Des bit his lip. He could let Drummerilla’s attack go through and use Fairy Box, but if he called wrong he would be wide open for an attack. However, if he called right he would win.

“Uh....Ordeal!

The Sphinx reappeared and Des gave his hand a good shuffling before fanning it for Ren.

“Monster!” Ren once again pointing to the card on the left. Hanging his head, Des turned the card around to reveal...Reversal Quiz again. Drummerilla was blown off the field.

“You only have two more attackers Ren, and either one could spell defeat for you.”

“Trying to get into me head won’t work, I will soldier on. King Bear!”

With a roar the massive bear rushed the cowboy.

ATK: 2700 -> 3000

The Sphinx arose for a third time that turn. Ren picked the left card again. He smirked before he gave his guess.

“Monster.”

Des’s hand trembled as he slowly revealed the card to be....Blowback Dragon.

“Ha! Now I know your entire hand!”

“It doesn’t matter; you will lose to the Fairy Box.”

As King Bear approached the crouching cowboy, the Fairy box popped up in front of it. Des flipped a coin.

“C’mon heads!”

The coin bounced on the ground before landing on...tails. The cowboy was ripped to shreds by the massive paws of the bear king. It let out a triumphant roar. Seeing Ren’s tormentor atomized brought much elation to crowd. Ren bowed before dashing over to Odd-eyes, leaping from its leg to its back before taking position on its. He lifted up his cane and pointed it down at the Gambler.

“It looks like Lady Luck has abandoned you. Your luck has run out.”

“I’m not down and out yet, pretty boy.”

Ren decided to ignore that last desperate insult and address the crowd. It had been a good opening act with lots more to come for them. Maybe he could tell Des to ease up a bit. This opener was a bit too exciting. They didn’t want the crowd to be tired out before the second act.

“Now for my climatic finish. Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Gambler Des directly!”

The dragon roared and let out a burst of firey red energy loose from its mouth. The flames were buffeted by the Sphinx who stood in between the dragon’s deadly flame and its intended target.

“Choose, Ringmaster!”

This time Ren chose the middle card.

“That one is a monster.” Indeed, it was Maximum Six.

The Sphinx was scorched and crumbled by the fires of the dragon. Odd-Eyes let out another stream directed towards Des.

“Go Fairy Box!”

A coin was flipped. Heads was called. With a metallic ring the coin hit the dusty ground. This was it. Could a coin slay a dragon? A stream of hellish fire barreled towards Des. He could feel the immense heat coming from it. The stream of fire scorched its way right up to Des. He grit his teeth and braced himself for the attack to hit.
Then the flame fizzled inches in front of him. He stood there, eyes shut for a good half a minute before peeking at what exactly was going on. He looked down at the coin. Heads.

ATK: 2500 -> 0

“....YEAAAAAAH! I told you! I told you Lady Luck was always at my side! And she’ll bless me with this miracle draw, giving me the perfect card to finish you off with.”

Des placed his hand on his deck and was in process of drawing a card when he was interrupted by a klaxon.

“Hey what gives!”

“I wasn’t finished my turn yet. As a matter of fact, my monster is still attacking.”

The dichromatic unicorn in Ren’s Pendulum zone started glowing with a brilliant green light. It’s blue horn shone brightly, lighting to entire arena. The crowd looked on in awe at the beauty and the majesty.

“Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn can empower my Odd-Eyes Dragon with the original attack power of another Performapal monster, such as my Bear King.”

Bear King let out a roar as red aura shot out of it into Odd-Eyes Dragon.

ATK: 0 -> 2200

Des didn’t have time to turn and run. He blasted by the stream of flame and swept back through the town, landing with a crunch on his face.

“...ow.”

Des: 2200 -> 0

WINNER: RINGMASTER REN

A fanfare played and the crowd cheered and whistled as Ren took a bow. Odd-Eyes gently set him on the ground and disappeared as the western town around them vanished bit by bit, leaving the plain arena floor. With singed clothing Des dragged himself over to Ren and shook his hand in a show of good sportsmanship. Underneath the crowd’s ovation they snuck in a little chat:

“Not bad for my first day.”

“Don’t get cocky, kid.”

“I almost beat you.”

“Yeah, on a coin flip.”

“Still better odds then Vegas.”

“Try dialing it down a bit. You gave a real main attraction performance, but I don’t want to detract from the real main attraction.”

“Or you could put me in the main attraction now.”

“As I said, don’t get cocky.”