Cold Smiles

I got to the warehouse and found him waiting for me. A man in a black mask was sitting patiently on a crate in the back of the warehouse.

“You're Rictor, right?” I asked.

“That's me, yes,” he said.

“Well, you're acquainted with Gordon Tayler, aren't you?” I asked, approaching him.

“Yes,” he said. “And you wish to know how to get to the Board, where he's waiting for you.”

“That's right,” I said. “You know, don't you?”

“Of course I do, but I can't tell you for free,” he said, strapping a duel disk to his arm. “You have to earn that information.”
“So I juat have to beat you in a duel, right?” I asked.

“Not quite,” said a voice from behind me. I heard the warehouse door slam shut, and I spun around to see a man in a denim jacket with blue hair standing there.

“We have orders from Gordon to give you a challenge,” Rictor said.

“So it's a two on one duel?” I said. “Alright. I can handle both of you. What's your name, anyway?”

“Name's Veis,” the blue haired man said.

“Okay then,” I said. “Let's get started.”

“Yes, let's,” Rictor said.

“Show time!” Veis said.

“I'll go first,” I said. “I summon SlenderProxy Knave in attack mode!”

A level 2 man with 800 attack appeared beside me.

“And when I summon a SlenderProxy card, I can special summon SlenderProxy Thug!” I said.

My muscular thug appeared, with 1800 attack points.

“Now, I tune my level 2 Knave to my level 4 Thug to synchro summon my level 6 SlenderProxy Dark One!” I said.

A 2200 attack point fiend appeared on my field.

“Next, since Knave was used in a synchro summon with another SlenderProxy, I can draw one card,” I said. “Then, I set 2 cards face down and end my turn.”

“I'll go next!” Veis said. “First, since there's no monster cards in my graveyard, I can special summon Cold Eatos to the field!”

A level 8 monster with pale blue skin and tribal clothing, including a bird mask, appeared on his field. It had 2500 attack points.

“I activate Dark One's effect!” I said. “Now, I can have him gain 300 attack until the end phase!”

“Won't matter,” Veis said. “In a battle royale duel, no one can attack on their first turn, so raising your monster's attack a bit won't be a problem for me. Now, I use Cold Eatos' effect, so I can add an equip card from my deck to my hand, so I'll add Cold Wings to my hand. Next, since I control a level 8 water monster, I can normal summon Cold Parsec to the field without tributes!”

An alien looking dragon appeared on his field. It was level 8 with 800 attack and defense.

“Now, I activate Cold Mirror!” he said. “Since I control a water monster, I can have a look at your face down cards!”

A mirror made of ice appeared on the ground beneath my cards, reflecting them for Rictor and Veis to see. My face down cards were Appropriate and Demotion.

“I see, so that's what you've got,” he said. “Now, I build the overlay network with these two level 8 monsters to xyz summon Cryo Cross!”

A giant cross made of ice and wrapped in beads appeared in the air and jammed into the ground. A large man in samurai armor appeared and lifted the cross up, resting it on his shoulder. He was rank 8 with 2800 attack and 2600 defense.

“I activate Cold Parsec's effect!” Veis said. “When it's used for an xyz summon with another water monster, I can draw one card!”

“I activate the continuous trap card Appropriate!” I said. “As long as this card is in play, each time my opponent draws cards through a card effect, I can draw two cards from my own deck!”

He drew one card and I drew 2.

“You idiot!” Rictor shouted. “You knew he had that card face down!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Veis said. “It was worth it, because the card I just drew is Cold Gift! Using this card, I can increase your life points by 2000 and then summon a Cold monster from my hand!”

My life increased to 10000.

“Why are you increasing his life points!?” Rictor demanded. “In a battle royale duel, you and I are treated as opponent's, so you could have used that effect to increase my life points!”

“I know,” Veis said. “We have him outnumber, so I felt like it was fair. Besides, I like giving my opponent's a bit of an edge starting out. It makes it more fun later on.”

“You're an idiot!” Rictor said.

“And you're bossy,” Veis said. “Using Cold Gift's effect, I special summon my Fear card, the Cold Boy!”

The temperature in the room suddenly dropped. A small child with blue skin and hair appeared on his field. It was level 8 with 2400 attack points.

“Next, I equipped him with Cold Wings,” Veis said. “Since I'm activating this card, Cold Eatos' effect will deal me 800 damage, but now Cold Boy will gain 400 attack points!”

A pair of ice wings appeared on the Cold Boy's back, and his attack rose to 2800.

“Now, I end my turn,” he said.

“Which means it's my move!” Rictor said. “I activate the continuous spell card Language Of Flowers. Now, during each of my draw phases, instead of drawing as normal, I can add a random plant type monster from my deck to my hand. Next, I use the spell card Polymerization! Now, I fuse Chaos Flower White Rose and Chaos Flower Black Rose to fusion summon Chaos Flower Cypress!”

A large flower appeared on his side of the field. It was level 6 with 2300 attack and 1200 defense.

“Cypress is a symbol of death and sorrow,” Rictor said. “As long as Language OF Flowers in on my field, I can destroy any monster it battles after damage calculation. Next, I play the spell card Fear Summoning! By banishing the two dark monsters in my graveyard, I can normal summon a Fear card without tribute. I now summon The Smiling Man!”

A man with an oversized smile and terrifying eyes appeared. It was level 7 with 2100 attack points. Ice began forming around his monster, restricting its movements.

“That Fear card of yours is extremely troublesome,” Rictor hissed at Veis.

“Oh well,” Veis said. “It's not like you can attack this turn any way.”

“What's going on?” I asked. “Why is your monster frozen?”

“Cold Boy's effect,” Veis said. “Monster's can't attack the turn their normal summoned.”

“Unfortunately, it effects all of us,” Rictor said.”

“Don't forget, Rictor,” Veis said. “You now have the chance to use Cold Wing's effect. Since you have no card's in your hand, you can pay 500 life points to draw two cards.”

“An extremely risky strategy, considering he has Appropriate,” Rictor said.

“Letting him draw a couple new cards won't hurt,” Veis said.

“Fine,” Rictor said. “I pay 500 life points to draw 2 cards from my deck.”

“I use Appropriate's effect,” I said. “Now, I can also draw 2 cards.”

“I set two cards face down and end my turn,” Rictor said.

“My turn!” I said, drawing. “I summon SlenderProxy Dahlia The Poisoner in attack mode!”

Dahlia appeared, but was immediately frozen by the Cold Boy's effect.

“Now, by tributing these two SlenderProxy cards, I can special summon Slender Knight to the field!” I said.

A faceless man in black armor wielding a longsword appeared. He was level 8 with 2500 attack points.

“Slender Knight gains 200 attack points for each SlenderProxy in my graveyard, which is currently 4, so he'll rise to 3300!” I said. “Also, since Dahlia was sent to the graveyard, I can target one monster on the field, and destroy it during the end phase. I'll choose The Cold Boy. Next, I activate the spell card Slender Veil, which allows me to negate the Smiling Man's effect this turn! Now, I'll have Slender Knight attack it!”

“I activate the continuous trap card Invincible Petals!” Rictor said. “I select one attribute, and as long as I control this card, plant type monsters can't be destroyed by that attribute! I know all about your deck. The only non-dark monsters you own are the Vision and the Crow, so by selecting dark, I can protect my monsters from most of your deck!”

“You still take damage though!” I said.

He lost 1200 life points. I was at 10000, Rictor was at 6300, and Veis was at 7200.

“I set 2 cards face down and end my turn,” I said. “Now, Dahlia's effect activates, destroying the Cold Boy!”

The Cold Boy was destroyed.

“My turn,” Veis said. “I activate the spell card Cold Reborn! This card revives a Cold monster from my graveyard, so I'll bring back The Cold Boy!” Veis said.

“Shit!” I exclaimed.

“Next, I'll use his effect, so by discarding one card, I can seal one of your face down cards. I know one of those is Demotion, so I'll seal the other one!”

My Miracle Locus was frozen.

“Now, I'll use Cryo Crosses effect,” he said. “By detaching an overlay unit, I can reduce your monster's attack power by half!”

Slender Knight had his attack power reduced to 1650.

“Now, I'll have Cryo Cross attack!” he said.

His warrior lifted the cross up and swung it hard, crushing my Slender Knight and dealing me 1150 damage.

“Now, Cryo Cross's second effect deals you 1000 damage,” Veis said. “Now, I attack directly with the Cold Boy!”

“I activate the quickplay spell card Fires Of Doomsday!” I said. “Now, I can summon two Doomsday tokens to protect me!”

2 tokens appeared, one of which took the hit from his Cold Boy. I didn't lose any life points.

“Next, I activate Cryo Shield!” Veis said. “This card equips to the Cold Boy, and prevents him from being destroyed by card effects up to twice per turn. Then I end my turn.”

“My turn,” Rictor said. “I use Language Of Flowers to add a random plant type monster to my hand. The card I got was Chaos Flower Rosemary, which I'll summon in attack mode.”

Another flower appeared. It was level 4 with 1200 attack and 0 defense.

“Rosemary is a symbol of remembrance,” he said. “If I summon it while I control Language of Flowers, I can return a spell card from my graveyard to my hand, so I'll choose Polymerization. Also, Rosemary is unaffected by monster effects the turn it's summoned, so I'll have it attack your token.”

my token was destroyed.

“Now, I'll attack directly with Chaos Flower Cypress,” e said. I took 2300 damage.

“I'll attack you again with the Smiling Man,” he said. “And any damage he deals gets doubled!”

I took 4200 damage from that attack, reducing me to 1350.

“I end my turn,” Rictor said.

“I draw!” I said. “I activate the spell card Slender Walk, so by banishing SlenderProxy Thug and SlenderProxy Dark One, I can special summon Slender Man from my deck!”

slender Man appeared before me.

“So you finally summoned him, huh?” Veis said.

“That's right!” I said. “And now I activate the trap card Miracle Locus, so he'll gain 1000 attack, and can attack twice this turn. However, he can't deal any damage, and my Rictor has to draw one card.”

Rictor drew a card.

“Now, Appropriate's effect kicks in, so I draw 2 cards!” I said. I got just what I needed.

“I summon Slender Dragon in attack mode!” I said. “This card can be summoned without tributes if I control Slender Man!”

My level 10 dragon appeared, but was frozen instantly.

“I activate my face down card Demotion!” I said. “This card becomes equipped to Slender Dragon, reducing its level by 2. Now, I overlay my two level 8 monsters to xyz summon Chaos Slender Man!”

My horrible eldritch fiend appeared, looming over all of us. It had 3300 attack, making it the strongest monster in play.

“I use Chaos slender Man's effect!” I said. “By using one overlay unit, I can convert Cryo Cross into a Hallowed and gain control of it, but its effect will be negated. Then, I play the spell card Hallowed Fury, so Cryo Cross will gain 1000 attack and can't be destroyed by card effects! Now, attack Chaos Flower Cypress! And since Cryo Cross is a water attribute, your Invincible Petals won't work!”

Cypress was destroyed, and Rictor took 1500 damage, bringing him down to 4800.

“Now, I'll have Chaos Slender Man attack the Cold Boy!” I said. Veis took 900 damage, bringing him down to 6300.

“If a monster equipped with Cryo Shield is destroyed in battle, I can return it to my hand instead of sending it to the graveyard,” Veis said.

“I set two cards and end my turn,” I said.

“My turn,” Veis said. “I activate the effect of Cold Wanderer from my graveyard, so by removing it from play, I can normal summon a cold monster without tributes. Come on out, Cold Boy!”

The cold Boy reappeared on his field again.

“Then, I pay 1000 life points to equip him with Cold Hammer, increasing his attack points by 1000. Now, attack his Chaos Slender Man!”

“I activate the trap card Collision Of Fear!” I said. “When two Fears battle, this card ends the battle phase and cuts all of our life points in half!”

My life points were reduced to 675, Rictor's were reduced to 2400, and Veis's became 2650.

“I end my turn,” Veis said.

“My turn,” Rictor said. “I use Language Of Flowers to add a random plant type monster to my hand. I got Chas Flower Lobelia. Next, I play Polymerization to fuse Rosemary from my field with Lobelia and Balsamine from my hand to fsion summon Chaos Flower Love Lies Bleeding!”

A new flower appeared. It was level 8 with 2700 attack points.

“Love Lies Bleeding is a symbol of Hopelessness,” he said. “So if I control Language Of Flowers, any monster it battles has its effects negated and loses 600 attack until the end phase. I also use the trap card Malicious thorns, so when I fusion summon a plant type monster, I can reduce one of your monsters attack points by 1000 until the end phase. I choose Chaos Slender Man. Now, I'll have Love Lies Bleeding attack Chaos Slender Man!”

This attack would finish me if I didn't do something.

“I activate the trap card Hallowed Interception!” I said. “Now, the attack target is changed to my Hallowed and I draw one card from my deck!”

My Hallowed blocked the attack. His monster's effect reduced its attack by 600, so I took 500 damage from that attack. I drew one card.

“I end my turn,” he said.

“My turn!” I said. “I use Chaos Slender Man's effect, so by detaching an overlay unit, I can convert Chaos flower Love Lies Bleeding into a Hallowed and gain control of it!”

I gained control of Rictor's Chaos Flower.

“Next, I use the next effect of Chaos Slender Man. Since Slender Man was used to xyz summon him, I can normal summon Slender and SlenderProxy cards without tributes, so I summon SlenderProxy Ozalia The Illusionist! Then, using the spell card Tune Down, My Hallowed loses two levels, and any monster xyz summoned with it gains 600 attack points! I now overlay SlenderProxy Hallowed and SlenderProxy Ozalia The Illusionist to xyz summon Unleashed O'Zalia!”

Unleashed O'Zalia was summoned, and had his attack power increased to 3000.

“Now, by using both of his overlay units, I can destroy the Smiling Man and Cold Boy, leaving you both wide open!” I said. “Attack you both directly with Chaos Slender Man and Unleashed O'Zalia!”

Both of their life points dropped to 0. I won the duel.

“I win,” I said. “Now, you have to tell me how to get to the Board.”

“Fair enough,” Rictor said. The est way to get there is the same way Malkator did.”

Of course. Malkator got there using the Streams of Destiny. Unfortunately, there was still that presence there. I guess I would have ton take my chances.

“Thanks,” I said. I turned and left. I need to prepare for this. There's no telling what's in the Streams Of Destiny.

Rictor

I arrived at the cafe a bit early. I figured whoever this was would recognize me and approach me. So, I waited, and sure enough, this girl sat across from me a few minutes later.

“Hello, Kallaway!” she said.

“And you are?” I asked.

“Cecilia Zeak,”she said.” think you and I might be able to help each other.”

“And what information do you have that could help me?” I asked.

“You're looking for Gordon Tayler, aren't you?” she asked.

“I know where he is, I just don't know how to get there,” I said.

“I bet his lackeys do,”she said. “And I just so happen to know where one of them is!”

“Where!?” I demanded. This was exactly the lead I needed.

“Not so fast!” she said. “Before I tell you where he is, you tell me where she is.”

She handed me a photo of a girl I've never seen before.

“And how would I know where she is?” I asked.

“You're a Scion, aren't you?” she asked.

“I suppose so,” I said.

“Then you should have like, super eyes or something,”she said. “This girl is somewhere in this city, so those eyes of yours should be able to locate her.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “I'll give it a shot, but don't expect any results.”

I don't use the Vision's eyes very much. I honestly don't like to. I'm not used to being able to see ten times as far as other people, or being able to see through walls. But I used them anyway, and scanned the city. I tried focusing on every face I could, looking for one that matched the picture. I found some close matches, but no one identical. Until I noticed some one running through an alley. She was acting pretty panicked, glancing over her shoulders. She eventually calmed down, seeming to realize that whatever was chasing her was gone now. I got a look at her face, and sure enough, it was exactly who I was looking for.

“Found her,” I said. “Not far off, either. But before I tell you where she is, where is Gordon's little friend.”

“His name is Rictor,” she said. “Former servant of the Glitch, wheres a black mask with a scar shaped mark over the left eye. He and one of Gordon's other mooks are based in a warehouse a few miles away. Here's the address.”

She gave me a card with an address on it. I gave her the location of the other girl in exchange and left.

Okay, Rictor. Looks like you're the one who's gonna help me get to the Board.

Contact

Daniel and I have gone our separate ways. He had to go help his friends. Me? I have personal business to settle with Gordon. I intend to finish him off. For good, this time. I know where he is. The only problem is, how the fuck do I get there? If he knows a way to get there, than the people who work for him may know as well. However, finding them, or any one else who knows the way, is easier said than done. However, I did find someone willing to help. Or they found me. I found a note slipped under my door when I got home today.

I know what you're looking for, and I can point you in the right direction. However, I'll need you to help me with those magic eyes of yours. Meet me at (Not posting the name here) cafe tomorrow at 7 P.M. Be there.

Not sure who this person is, but if they have intel, I guess I can hear them out.