"I'M NOT DONE YET!"
Mash slammed his hand onto his Duel Disk, activating one of his set cards. "I'll chain your {Royal Decree} with my {Waboku}!"
In an instant, a trio of priestesses in flowing blue robes materialized in front of his monsters. They extended their hands, forming a glowing protective barrier that shimmered like water in midair.
"Now, my monsters can't be destroyed by battle, and I won't take any battle damage!" Mash announced, voice cutting through the echo of Chazz's laughter. "And since I chained {Waboku}after your {Royal Decree} activation, it resolves first, so it won't be negated."
"Tch!" Chazz clicked his tongue in frustration.
"Also, I activate Lady Labrynth's effect. When a Normal Trap is activated, I can set any one from my Deck. So…"
Mash riffled through his deck and slid one card into his Disk. "I'll set another {Big Welcome Labrynth}."
"Ohohoho~! Thanks, Darling~!" Lovely spun her axe dramatically before pointed it toward the VWXYZ. "Now I'm perfectly safe! Ha! You hear that, you piece of tin junk!? YOU. CANNOT. HURT. ME~~!! OHO HO HO HO~!"
Though, Mash stared blankly at her theatrics and sighed.
"Well played, Mash, well played." Chazz clapped slowly. "You stopped me from my strategy of attacking your Lovely, and then using VWXYZ's effect to banish one of your set cards."
Then his grin returned, sharper than ever.
"So I'll just immediately banish her then."
He extended his hand with command, pointing straight at Lovely. VWXYZ's red eyes glowed.
"Ah." Lovely blinked. "I forgot it has that effec—"
WOOSH
A burst of wind tore through the air as Lovely Labrynth disappear from the field.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Mash dropped to his knees.
"AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!" Chazz threw his head back. "How about that, Mash!? Can you feel it!? That sinking feeling as your hope drains away!? That despair... brought to you by ME, THE CHAZZ PRINCETON! AHAHAHAHA!!"
But as Chazz's voice echoed triumphantly through the arena, Mash slowly stood. His face hardened with determination, his eyes blazing.
"Chazz… You…"
Chazz raised an eyebrow, amused. "Heh. Did watching your Lovely get banished finally light a fire in you?"
Mash raised a single finger to his face.
His gaze locked on Chazz's.
And then…
"Nah," Mash said, shoving the finger up his nose. "I don't mind it."
"WHAT!?" Chazz nearly tripped over.
"Huh!?" Alexis blinked.
"Is Mash for real?" Jaden gawked.
Syrus stared. "He's… fine? With Lovely being…?"
"Well," Mash just shrugged, casual as ever. "I'm certainly hurt that she's been banished. But…"
"Ohohohoho~!"
A very smug, elegant and familiar laugh rang out.
Suddenly, standing not in it's generic pose, but in a smug pose before she twirled two of her silver blade around and around with flair, before Lady Labrynth returned to her smug pose, smirking.
"Miss me, Darling~?" She purred.
Chazz's jaw dropped. "WHAT!? Didn't I just—?!"
"'Banish' me? Yes, you did," Lady replied sweetly. "My Lovely form is the one you banished~ But with that sacrifice, I've evolved into a Lady~!"
She twirled theatrically, crossing her swords before striking a knightly pose. "A knightly Lady~!"
Lovely crossed her arms, raising a brow. "Though… that earlier performance of yours was a little overdramatic, wasn't it~?"
Mash smiled. "Of course not. I did it all for you, dear."
"Aww~ How sweet, darling~"
The crowd cringed, a unified wave of secondhand embarrassment crashing through the spectators.
Everyone, that is, except Chazz.
He was just… really confused.
[Well, in the most simple explanation,] Mash try to explains in his thought. [the moment she got banished, she can just un-possess and then re-possess the hologram of another monster on the field, as long as that is the same monster.]
Chazz then snapped out of his confusion, "Tch, That didn't rattle you, huh? Then let's see how you handle this! I activate D.D Crow from my hand!"
"Damn! He pulled out the grandfather of all handtraps." Mash exclaimed. "Though... what does it do again? (He forgor)"
"Hmph, it seems someone didn't pay attention in class." Chazz mocked, "By discarding D.D crow from my hand, I can target a card in your graveyard and banish it."
"Oh yeah, That's right!" Mash said with a smile, before he paused and relies. "Oh, fuck! You're gonna banish my-"
"Heh! That's right! I'll banish your {Big Welcome Labrynth} in the graveyard! Now you cannot use it's effect to bounce my VWXYZ or Royal Decree!"
Mash gritted his teeth, he's is now in a really bad spot, [If it wasn't for Chazz being able to draw the perfect cards EVERY. GODDAMN. TIME!]
Chazz can see his victory in sight, "Now... I'll end my turn-"
"Not so fast," Mash interrupted, raising a hand. "Since a Trap card was activated this turn… I can Quick Effect, Special Summon this Lady Labrynth from my hand in Defense Position."
A second Lady Labrynth emerged from a silver door, stepping forward before raising her blades in a defensive stance.
{Chazz hands: 0 card, Field: 1 monster, 1 continuous trap.}
Mash closes his eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled. [This is bad.]
He reached toward his deck, only for his hand to stop midair, hovering above the top card, trembling. He couldn't draw even a single card.
From the spectator seats, Jaden and the others watched in growing concern.
Jasmine furrowed her brows. "What's he doing? Why's he taking so long just to draw a card?"
"He can't. He's hesitating." Bastion spoke in a grim tone.
Syrus blinked. "Huh? But… isn't Mash winning right now?"
Alexis nodded. "Yeah, he's got two monsters with 3000 Attack. Even if he sacrifices one to defeat the VWXYZ, he still has another."
"That's true. On paper, it is a winning position. But what Mash is feeling right now… it's something we call 'running cold.'"
"Running cold?" Syrus tilt his head.
"It's when a duelist, usually a gambler, starts believing they've hit a 'running' streak of 'cold' luck. Even if they have the advantage, that belief infects their decisions. They start second-guessing and assuming the worst that more misfortune will befall on them. And honestly… I can't blame him. Chazz has been drawing counter after counter to his plays."
Jaden clenched his fists, eyes fixed on the trembling hand above the deck. "Mash…"
High above, in the VIP viewing box, Kaiba's eyes narrowed.
He spoke with ice in his tone. "This is the duelist you called 'special'?"
Counselor Sheppard said nothing. He was sweating through his collar.
[C'mon Mash...! what are you doing!!?? I'm sure that mind of yours is able to make some sort of comeback... Right?]
But, Mash's mind is currently churned.
[Tch! If Chazz hasn't used that damn crow, I could've use the big welcome effect to bounce his VWXYZ, and just attack for game.
I could sacrifice one of my Lady Labrynth, then direct attack with the other Lady, and I would still have atleast a 3000 Attack beat stick that can't be destroyed by effect and is also untargetable. (When there's a set card on the field, Lady Labrynth becomes untargetable.)
But... again. I can't gamble it. Chazz will probably draw a bullshit crap like a {Call of the Haunted}, and then when I attack with Lady, he will use it to revive the VWXYZ, and get both of them destroyed.
Even if Chazz also lost his VWXYZ, I am now at a disadvantage since I have no Lady or Lovely Labrynth, the highest attack monster currently in my deck is Ariane with 1800 Attack, and 70% of the cards in my deck, which are traps, are now basically useless.]
"Hey…" Chazz's voice rang out across the field.
Mash flinched.
"This is the longest Draw Phase I've ever seen," Chazz said, almost casually. "What's wrong? Can't bring yourself to pull a single card?"
"Shut up!" Mash snapped. "You're acting awfully smug for someone in a losing position!"
"What can I say? I've been feeling real lucky lately." Chazz's grin widened. "What about you? you're acting awfully hesitant for someone in a winning position."
"Ugh...!" Mash can't reply to that comeback.
Mash hands still hover on top his deck, [It's fine Mash... Just draw!]
His hand still hovered.
[It's fine… Just draw. Just draw!]
Still frozen.
[Draw…!]
Nothing.
[Please…!]
"Darling…" Lovely look at him with growing concern.
[JUST DRAW GODDAMMIT!] And Mash hand still wouldn't budge, and then—
"Sigh… Do you need 'my' help?"
"What?" Mash heard a mysterious voice whispering on his ear, "Who said that-!" Mash looks around, but found nothing.
Until suddenly, a sharp pain erupted in his chest. His hand clutched his ribs as he fall down to his knee groaned. "Urgh...!"
"Oi! Darling!" Lovely shouted. "What's wrong, hey!?"
Chazz's eyes widened. "W-What the…?"
"MASH!!" Jaden leapt up from his seat.
"Hey, what happened to Mash!?" Syrus stood up in panic.
"Is he going into shock?" Bastion's face paled.
In the viewing box, "Someone get down there and—!" Sheppard screamed.
Kaiba raise a hand in front of sheppard, "Don't"
"Sir!? What are you—?!"
But Kaiba's eyes didn't move. They were locked on Mash.
He slowly stood up, letting his arms fall to his sides.
When he raised his head, the entire arena fell silent.
His eyes... were silver.
Chazz froze.
[Those eyes… turned into silver! Just like that time!]
Mash hand reach out to his deck.
And with a single, fluid motion, he drew a card.
Mash looked at it… and smiled.
"...You're welcome," he muttered softly.
And just like that, his eyes returned to normal and everything seems to go back to normal-
"BLUUARGH—!!"
Mash promptly vomited onto the floor.
"…Dude." Jaden grimaced.
"Ugh..." Syrus flinched.
"Disgusting." Alexis remarked.
Chazz stared. [What is wrong with this guy...]
Mash wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, staggering slightly. His eyes flicked over to Lovely.
"…Lovely. What the hell just happened?"
She offered a hesitant shrug. "Uhm… Long story short? Your eyes turned silver, you drew a card, and now you're back. And now the card that you drew is in that puddle..."
"What!?" Mash stared. "I don't remember drawing a card- Oh."
He looked down and sure enough, there it was.
A single card lay in a puddle of his own vomit.
"…Ugh." His face twisted in disgust. Still, he crouched and picked it up, wiping the slime off on his pant leg without hesitation.
"What did I even draw…?"
Then as he flipped the card, his eyes lit up.
"I SEE!"
He grinned.
"This… THIS IS THE KEY TO MY VICTORY!"
Across the field, Chazz scoffed. "Hmph. Doesn't matter what you drew, Mash. It won't change a damn thing."
Mash looked up with a smirk cutting across his face.
"You sound just like an NPC, Chazz." He pointed across the field. "The kind that's about to get Obliterated! Get ready, Chazz. I'm ending this duel, right here, right now!"
Chazz's expression faltered.
[…I've got a bad feeling about this.]
Mash raised the card up high above his head.
"Behold! I now... Normal Summon!"
He slammed the card into his Duel Disk with force.
"{Labrynth Stovie Torbie}! In Attack Mode!"
A strange orange stove, shaped like a grinning cat, materialized onto the field with a metallic purr.
{Labrynth Stovie Torbie|2 Star|Dark|Fiend/effect| ATK: 0 DEF: 2000}
Chazz stared in stunned silence for half a beat.
And then burst into laughter. "Pffft—HAHAHAHA!! A 0 attack monster? In Attack Mode?! THIS is your big game-changer!? This is what you drew from your little silver-eye vomit trance!?"
His voice cracked into a shout. "Are you joking, Mash?! This isn't funny!"
Mash didn't flinch. His smirk only deepened.
"…You still don't get it, do you?"
Suddenly three glowing green rings appeared and spinning rapidly above Lady Labrynth and Stovie Torbie.
Energy surged, enveloping both monsters in brilliant emerald light.
Lovely's eyes went wide. "No way… Darling, you're going to—!"
Chazz leaned forward. "What is that… animation!?"
From the VIP box, Kaiba lurched to his feet.
"…Impossible."
Sheppard turned toward him, startled. "Kaiba, sir…?"
Kaiba's eyes were locked on the field, his hand even touched the glass. "How is he able to...!"
Mash threw his head back and laughed, "AHAHAHAHAHA!! Look closely, Chazz!"
He pointed to the sky.
"This… this is the beginning of chaos!"
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Hey guys IG here.
Yes this whole arc, is just an excuse for me using the 'title card' joke.
There's a lot of thing I want to talk about so first all, Mash silver eyes thingy? Past me added that in because it would be "oooh cool aura moment." And present me here, is the one dealing with the "HOW SHOULD I PUT THIS IN" Bullshit. It's all good, I atleast already have the idea on what to do with it, and it's very n̷̼̠͛ó̸̪̲͌t̷̗̺̩͐ ̵͍̟̼̿͝ẗ̷͈̭́̃h̶̘̣̉a̷̛̠͉̐t̴̡̾͘ ̸̳̬̝̿i̵͙͙̓̂m̵͈͒͑̓p̴͔̎̕ͅo̶̧͎͗r̸͍͝t̵͎̓̿ȧ̷̬̯̆n̵̘͉̱͠t̵͈̋͌̊
Also guess what monster Mash is summoning next, because I'm gonna Chiao!
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