Chap Along, If You Feel Like A Room Without A Roof!

     'Shit! I've got to calm down. Let me think, I've stalled my monsters for now and he doesn't seem to be attacking. That seems to be his style. He lets me do the attacking, leaving his monsters exactly where he wants them and then executes his counter attack.

     'Since I more or less have to attack Flame Wingman, perhaps I can use his trap to my advantage. Yeah, I'll turn his trap into my trap. He's probably planning on trying to attack [Mr. Bandit Man] when it's distracted with attacking Flame Wingman. But... I have two other monsters in my formation. They don't stand a chance against Flame Wingman but they don't need to.

     'If I set the running speed of all three of my men to lowest common denominator and have them run in a perfectly spaced circle around Flame Wingman, I might be able to bait him into attacking one of my weaker monsters. As soon as he attacks, I'll stop the group's movements and then position one monster in between Shining Flare Wingman and Flame Wingman, while simultaneously attacking him from the other side. This way, even if he doesn't attack first and I have to take the initiative, there will at least be a barrier protecting [Mr. Bandit Man] while he goes for the kill. Not to mention, at that range, Flame Wingman is unlikely to be able to evade.

     'Yes, I think this just might work!'

     "Go, Bandits! Make that Flame Wingman work for his kills!" He yelled out, hoping Jaden would bite.

     'Hmmm? Was that supposed to be bait? Geez, could you be any more obvious!' Jaden thought, as he patiently waited for Mr. Bandit Man to get into position. 

     'Interesting! I didn't see that strategy coming but I'm not sure that it's going to be as effective as you might think, Mr. Bandit Man. I mean, honestly, they're so many holes in a plan like that.' He silently critiqued, as he witnessed three Bandits running circles around his Flame Wingman.

     This time around Mr. Bandit Man wasn't focusing exclusively on one battle. He made sure to keep Shining Flare Wingman on his radar at all times. 

     Flame Wingman continued to stand motionlessly inside the encirclement, waiting for Jaden's orders. Suddenly, he turned around and dashed towards [Bandit Camp Guard], the slowest of the bunch, while [Mr. Bandit Man] was running behind him and thus in between him and Shining Flare Wingman. Snatching up [Bandit Camp Guard] into his dragon's mouth arm, he immediately took to the skies before [Mr. Bandit Man] could monopolize on his movements.

     Crushing [Bandit Camp Guard] in his dragon's mouth, he began flying towards Shining Flare Wingman. Shining Flare Wingman had just grabbed Mariner by the back of the neck and was ready to throw him, while [Mr. Bandit Man] was looking at [Bandit Man Zack] and thinking of the same thing. Shining Flare Wingman threw Mariner towards the incoming Flame Wingman. 

     Flame Wingman snatched Mariner out of the air and turned to block the [Bandit Man Zack] that was flying in his direction. [Bandit Man Zack] held his fist forward over his head and impacted with Mariner, sending him to the Graveyard.

     As soon as Shining Flare Wingman had released Mariner, he immediately gathered an attack in his hands in the form of a ball of light. He then unleashed that light ball in the form of a beam attack headed directly towards [Mr. Bandit Man], who was mid bandit toss and watched, as [Mr. Bandit Man] attempted to dodge entirely too late and burst into a thousand particles of light that reformed as a card in the real Mr. Bandit Man's Graveyard. 

     Not wanting to waste, this opportunity Jaden ordered Shining Flare Wingman to target [Bandit Man Zack], who soon met the same sparkly end shortly after landing.

[Mr. Bandit Man LP: 1284]

     ""I activate my Trap Card!"" The two dueling opponents called out almost simultaneously. 

     On the field, one holographic projection of a card could be seen on either side. The pictures featured on both were the same.

     "Hahahaha! I see! It seems we both have that card, huh." Jaden remarked, as [Call of the Haunted] activated on both sides of the field bringing back Mariner and [Mr. Bandit Man] respectively.

     "However, unless you can stop this next move, this might get ugly for you, seeing as how I have one DP left."

     Jaden drew his next card and immediately activated its effects. "I activate the Spell Card [R- Righteous Justice] and, in doing so, I can destroy spell or trap cards on the field equal to the number of [Elemental HERO] cards I control. Since I have three Elemental Heroes, say goodbye to [Call of the Haunted], [War Chief's Banner], and [Honor Among Thieves.]

     "Now, Mariner, send that [Bandit Brakk] packing."

     Bandit Brakk went down with ease, leaving Mr. Bandit Man's LPs completely open.

[Mr. Bandit Man LP: 1192]

     'Shit! What can I even do now? Even if I draw my five cards, all of my most powerful monsters are in the Graveyard. Even if I could revive [Mr. Bandit Man], without [Honor Among Thieves] and [War Chief's Hammer] he wouldn't stand a chance even against Jaden's weakest monster.

     'God! This situation really is helpless! It looks like hope is all I've got now. Let me… wait… Jaden doesn't have any BP left and, if I draw only Spell and Trap Cards, he won't gain any DP to reset his monster's free attacks. Hmmm, maybe I can draw this out until something unexpected happens. Seeing as how it's my best option, here it goes.'

     Mr. Bandit Man drew his five cards and placed three of them face down on his field. "I activate the Spell Card [New Tents] x2. This allows me to increase my life points by 16 for each card on your side of the field. Since there's two, it becomes 32 points per card."

[Mr. Bandit Man LP: 1416]

     Just as he was going to ask Jaden what they were supposed to do now that the rules of the game seemed to have them stuck in a stalemate, that strange voice resounded in his head again.

[Critical Juncture Detected]

[Critical Juncture Protocols Activated]

[Increasing the BP, DP, and SP of each player by five]

[Field Imbalance Detected]

[Player: Jaden Yuki cannot attack until Player: Mr. Bandit Man has made three consecutive non combat plays, if Mr. Bandit Man commits to a combat play before completing his three non combat plays the restriction on Jaden Yuki will be removed]

[Last Draw Rule Now In Affect]

     'What? Seriously? Is this gonna happen every time it ends up like that? No, didn't it just say Last Draw Rule? I see so, from now on whenever the rules prevent further progression, one DP will be given to whichever player didn't make the last play.

     'I suppose it's a good thing I took that opportunity to pull some spells and traps. Normally, even thinking about pulling anything other than a monster is immediately discarded whenever the ones on your field are being destroyed left and right.

     'Alright! Well, I was hoping for something unexpected and this definitely counts. So, let's try this again.' After thinking this, he proceeded to draw five more cards.'

     Jaden meanwhile could only smile at this development. It was precisely what he needed and he knew just how to take full advantage of it.

     'Not being able to attack doesn't mean I can't summon.'

     Drawing his first card, he immediately summoned it to the field.

     "I summon [Elemental HERO Ocean] and, due to his effect, I can remove one [Elemental HERO] monster from my Graveyard or field each time I draw a card and add it to my hand."

     He then proceeded to draw three more cards, while also removing three cards from his Graveyard and adding them to his hand. He held off on drawing the last one until he'd made a certain play.

     "I lay down a trap card and then activate the special effect of [Elemental HERO Vaporia.] Sending her to the Graveyard in exchange for a [Polymerization], I can now summon [Elemental HERO Flame Wingman] in Attack Mode. I'll then summon [Elemental HERO Lady Heat] and [Elemental HERO Knospe.] Finally, I'll draw my final card, summon [Elemental HERO Neos Alius], activate my trap card [Skull Invitation], and then play a little favorite of mine called... [The A-Forces!] Now, we're just waiting on you."

     'What the absolute fuck?' Mr. Bandit Man thought as he looked at his hand, looked at Jaden's side of the field and back again several times.

     Whenever Jaden had first arrived in this world, the Shadow Game allowed for only five monsters or spells and traps. Now that he had increased not only his own rank but also that of his deck, the current limit was at eight.

[Elemental HERO Flame Wingman] AP: 592

[Elemental HERO Flame Wingman] AP: 592

[Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman] AP: 752

[Elemental HERO Mariner] AP: 536

[Elemental HERO Knospe] AP: 432

[Elemental HERO Lady Heat] AP: 488

[Elemental HERO Neos Alius] AP: 576

[Elemental HERO Ocean] AP: 504

     Soon, he began sweating because, this entire time playing this game, he had always had a faint voice in the back of his mind telling him to just bear with it and push through and maybe everything would be alright. That voice was no longer there!

     As he continued to inspect the various effects of the cards Jaden had played, he became more and more certain how this duel was going to end. However, all of his life he had been a warrior. He might not have been a good man but he lived his life fearlessly. He faced down his challengers and would fight to the last breath, if the situation required it.

     Although the rules were different here and it seemed far less glorious than some epic battlefield, he wouldn't go down without a fight even if that fight to him was an unsatisfying tossing around of some magical cards.

     Mustering his resolve, he took a moment to form a strategy that would cause as much damage to his opponent as possible before his inevitable loss.

  ===== Three Jaden Draws Later =====

     Mr. Bandit Man was standing in front of a Shining Flare Wingman staring up at the massive ball of light it held over its head, Spirit Bomb Style, powered by more than 800 AP.

     Jaden smiled and said, "You did remarkably well, Mr. BanditlMan! I was legitimately surprised, when you managed to hold me off for three more Last Draws. It was an impressive last stand, to say the least. Do you have any last words before you depart the mortal plane?"

     "Fuck you! Fuck your mother! Fuck your life!..." Mr. Bandit Man continued to curse Jaden throughout it all.

     "Alright! Well, if that's all, then it was nice duelin' ya!" Jaden commented offhandedly, as he drew a Shadow Card with a dramatic flair.

     "I, The King of Games, claim ownership over your soul!" He announced, as he flicked the card towards Mr. Bandit Man, while simultaneously commanding his Shining Flare Wingman to attack.

     This time, after the Full Seal was completed, instead of just one, an entire train of cards flew into Jaden's hands forming a small deck of eighty one Full Seal cards in the palm of his hand. This was the benefit of Shadow Dueling human leaders of any type.

     So long as the people following the leader were doing so freely and willingly, they would all become subject to the Shadow Contract and thus be sealed along with their boss upon defeat. Most of the time, like this time, those subordinates would turn into playable cards for the duration of the Shadow Duel. If Jaden was defeated, they would all return to normal afterwards. If not then they would simply be permanently sealed as per the usual procedure.

     Thus, the small deck Jaden had acquired had no spell or trap cards that were played against him during the duel. Only the men that had been Full Sealed as Shadow Cards remained.

     Another aspect of the Shadow Game that was upgraded as he grew in power, was the size of the field. It had started off being a little less than a quarter the size of a football field. Now it was just slightly larger than a whole football field.

     The way the bandit camp was structured there was quite a bit of space in the middle portion leading to the exit. Thus, there were very few obstructions for the purpose of dueling. However, if the size of the field had been the same as when he'd first arrived, he might not have been able to snag all the bandits in one go. Some inevitably would have been left on the periphery of the camp and thus he would've had to duel again, unless they ran away.

     Jaden was quite satisfied with the winnings from his first Shadow Duel with a Human opponent. It would've taken him months of grinding to score this much loot back around his base cave.

     He really wanted to get at least one of his monsters up to IL 5 just to see how capable such a monster would be but it would take all 81 of his Full Seals plus nine more for that. To increase an IL to one required ten Human Full Seals. Two required twenty and so forth. In order to get one of his IL 3 monsters to IL 5, required 40 Full Seals for IL 4 and 50 Full Seals for IL 5. Thus, his dreams of a full IL 5 Elemental HERO deck were stuck far away in the future.

     His system certainly was amazing in many ways and gave him a great many benefits but, one thing it didn't do, was to make increasing his deck's power easy. Acquiring high level monsters and spells was already pretty expensive. Trying to get all of his Ultra Rare monster's ILs just up to three was already proving far more expensive than merely acquiring them.

     Now, however, wasn't the time for worrying over the distant future when the immediate future was so...well, immediate.

     "Come to think of it, can't I just use this place as a new base of operations. I mean it's already built up and the leader's tent at least is reasonably durable. 

     "It seems unlikely these bandits would wander too far away from civilization. They would naturally want to be close enough to some form of city or village in order to purchase supplies whenever their efforts at thievery weren't as successful. Also, recruitment and certain maintenance services are other reasons not to hole up too far from lawful society.

     "As long as the nearest settlement isn't too far, I can just view this as having a countryside estate. Hmmm, yeah, the more I think about it the more I like it. As soon as I've taken stock of all the loot I've hauled in today, I'll set off to see just how well my new estate is situated. Hehehe!

     "Whaddya say, Sprite?"

     "Well, I do declare Mr. Beauregard! That sounds like a mighty fine idea! You wouldn't happen to have room in there for little ole me, now would you?" Sprite responded facetiously.

     "Hahahahahaha! Of course, there's always room at my place for my cute little Sprite!"