The lights on Jacob’s casting platform switched from green to red, moving him into the special phase of his turn. Smiling Dewdrop’s defense stat increased to 2200, rising for every wall and surface it covered in the Cyber City. On Cleopatra’s side of the arena Golum of Aratus’ stats also changed, increasing its defense to 1600 while lowering it’s attack to 1000. Jacob’s special phase ended, and Cleopatra drew a card.
“Since we'll be at this party for a while, let's invite a few more guests.” Cleopatra placed a card upon her casting platform, moving into the creature phase “This one gives great hugs.”
On her side of the arena a Cuddlemonster of the Dark Forest appeared next to her malformed Golum of Aratus. The creature was massive and rotund, a round ball of fur and fangs. Two large eyes glowed on its head a fearsome red, and it smiled with a mouth full of sharpened teeth. Two rabbit-like ears stuck straight up out of its head, and it's paws ended in razor sharp claws. It was a terrifying creature, that appeared to perpetually leer out of the shadows.
“I'm not much of a hugger.” Jacob called back to Cleopatra.
“Pity, I'm a big fan.” Cleopatra placed a spell card on the platform, and the sound of thunder crackled overhead “especially on stormy days like this.”
Shimmering Crystalline Rain began to fall from the ceiling, lightly tinkling against the ground of the Cyber City. The strength stat of all creatures on the field lowered by 300 as they were hit by the rain. Jacob’s Smiling Dewdrop decreased in strength to 1200, while across the field the Golum of Aratus dropped to 700. The Cuddlemonster however appeared to be unaffected. The crystalline rain bounced off the buildings around it, but never hit the creature.
Cleopatra moved into her entrapment phase, but didn’t put a card down. She made a curious motion with her hand, and Jacob looked around the cyber city below in confusion.
“I hope you like to dance” Cleopatra called out “You’re about to get a great partner.”
Jacob looked up at her, then heard a shuffling sound behind him. He turned around to find the Mysterious Figure climbing onto the platform. Jacob didn’t hesitate, and immediately slammed the Mysterious Figure with a push kick as soon as it stood up fully. The Figure flew off the platform, falling to the ground below.
“Seems like you have your hands full.” Cleopatra called out “I’ll give you a moment.”
Cleopatra drew her second card, and pressed the blue button on the platform. She moved into her special phase and Golum’s stats changed yet again:
Attack: 600, Defense: 1700
Cleopatra’s turn ended, and Jacob’s platform glowed green.
CYCLICAL ENVIRONMENT ACTIVATED. THIRD CYCLE DEPLOYING.
The field in the Arena flickered as Jacob drew a card, the cyber city being replaced by a massive forest. The trees extended well above Jacob and Cleopatra, the canopy reaching the ceiling of the massive room. Below them a thick layer of shadow covered the ground of the arena, making their creatures barely visible. The line of pirates remained standing, and large pirate flags hung off of several trees like banners. The trees on Jacob’s side glimmered as Smiling Dewdrop coated them, and he saw its defense stat raise to 2500. He glanced down at the ground near the platform, and saw the Mysterious Figure getting up, moving to climb it again.
Jacob glanced at the card he had drawn. Major Water Lord Labubuan. Strengh: 3000, Defense: 2500. Normally Jacob would be pleased; it was a powerful creature, which would be helpful once they reached the stormy seas.
Out of the corner of his eye Jacob spotted the Mysterious Figure reaching the top of the platform again. He turned to face it, but before he could move the Figure flew forward. It slammed into Jacob, sending both of them off the platform. Jacob landed hard onto the shoulder he had injured earlier, hearing a large crack as he hit the ground. The Lost Armor of the Forgotten Warrior he had equipped earlier hadn’t protected him from all harm in the fall, but given how he had landed Jacob wouldn’t be surprised if the armor hadn’t prevented a much more catastrophic injury - if not outright saving his life. Still, he suspected several bones in his shoulder were broken.
The Mysterious Figure landed a few feet away from Jacob, quickly rolling into a crouch. It stood up and began walking towards him, before a large candy cane suddenly slammed into it. It flew back into the arena on Jacob’s side, vanishing from sight. Stan stepped into view, holding the candy cane like a baseball bat. Jacob felt hands hook under his arms, and he was hoisted to his feet.
“Nice Swing” Jacob grunted.
“Did a film about a Ball player a few years ago.” Stan did a few test swings with the large Candy Cane “Seems like I’ve still got it.”
“You know the match is up there right?” His grandfather placed Jacob’s good arm over his shoulders, helping him to the platform.
“Thank you for coming to my rescue.” Jacob said dryly “If we’re done with the touchy feely nonsense, I’d like to get back to my match.”
“How is your shoulder?” Jacob’s Grandfather looked at him with concern as they reached the bottom of the ladder that lead to the blatform “You should use a heal card”
“Broken in multiple places” Jacob replied, placing his good hand on a tung. He awkwardly started to make his way up to the platform, his grandfather standing at the bottom in case he fell. “I’ll play one during the spell phase.”
“The hooded guy is coming back up!” Stan called from the side of the arena.
“Keep smacking him down onto the field” Jacob pulled himself onto the casting platform with great difficulty, avoiding the use of his broken arm as much possible. “I can deal with him from here.”
“Look who’s back.” Cleopatra taunted “Did you enjoy your little dance?”
“The dance was fine, but the partner was lacking.” Jacob replied “An experience I know you can relate to.”
There was a loud THWACK, and Jacob glanced down. He spotted the Mysterious Figure falling into the arena again, having been hit by Stan. The actor gave Jacob a thumb’s up, placing the candy cane on his shoulder casually. Jacob was glad at least one of them was having fun.
“Fortunately, I have a few partners of my own to dance with.” Jacob placed Major Water Lord Labubuan onto his casting platform and the twelve foot figure appeared in the arena, towering amongst the trees on Jacob’s side. It was twice the size of the pirates guarding the center, with its head reaching above the side walls to be visible from the seats. Jacob heard a few gasps amongst the tour group watching, though he couldn’t hear from the platform what was being said. The tides of the match were slowly turning in his favor, though he doubted he would retain that control for long. He knew his deck had plenty of opportunities for trickery, and he remembered what had happened to Kerl. He had to trust in his cards, and not get cocky. He needed to be prepared for anything.
THWACK!
Like the Mysterious Figure. He couldn’t have Stan spend the rest of the match guarding his platform. Stan could get hurt, or his grandfather. Battlefield Wormhole would be too extreme, and would leave him completely defenseless against whatever was in Cleopatra’s hand. Jacob looked at his own hand and sighed. He had been hoping to save this card for when Pirate Code of Honor had run it’s course, but he saw no other option. He would only be safe through the end of turn 9, but it was a risk the Mysterious Figure forced him to take.
“We don’t want anybody to feel left out.” Jacob placed a spell card from his hand onto the casting platform, moving into the Spell Phase. Wall of Token went into affect, and several small poofy creatures appeared around him. They were dark and mischievous looking; large balls of fur roughly the size of an average house cat. Each token had large inquisitive eyes, and seemed to hover in place around Jacob. They chirped and squeaked as they moved around the platform, wandering inquisitively around the space.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
One of them suddenly called out; a harsh squeal that grated on Jacob’s nerves. Its fur sharpened into thorns, and a mouth appeared full of wicked fangs. Small tentacle-like arms appeared from its sides, and it shot through the air at the Arena Wall. It exploded as it hit the Mysterious Figure, which cried out in surprise. It fell off the wall, disappearing once more into the arena. Several other tokens rushed down the wall after it, and there was a crashing sound as it ran from the barrage of furry missiles. Two tokens poofed into existence next to Jacob as the Mysterious Figure took them out, still retreating to its side of the field. The Figure disappeared behind the wall of pirate soldiers, and the tokens stopped as they reached them. They flew back to join Jacob on the platform, returning to their cute appearance. One of them landed on his good shoulder and nuzzled into his hair lightly. It was soft, and would be cute to Jacob if he hadn’t just seen how vicious they could be when threatened. Jacob raised his good arm up to pet the token, which let out an odd sound between a purr and a trill as it closed its eyes happily.
“Good token.” Jacob said softly. He tapped his equip deck, and it spat out one of his last Heal cards. He equipped it to himself quickly, and felt it begin working on his broken shoulder. Jacob grunted under his breath as it did - Heal did little for the pain - then sighed as he felt his bones settle. His wound from the Golum of Aratus’ javelin closed up , though the entire shoulder was still sore. Generic government Heal cards could only do so much good; the rest of the injury either needed standard medical attention, or a more powerful corporate card. Either way, the shoulder was much more functional, and Jacob felt a bit of strength return to him. The shimmering Lost Armor of the Wandering Warrior gleamed a little brighter around his figure, and the dent where he had landed disappeared.
He considered his hand again, then made the decision to set Match Pause on the field. It was risky playing this far ahead of the turn he was most likely to need it - during the stormy seas - but it provided an insurance policy for if he was injured again. He placed it in his snare section, moving into his Entrapment Phase, then drew his extra card. He sighed as he looked at it.
Card Destruct - Spell - The caster of this card may select a single card present and destroy it, regardless of where the card is located.
A very useful card, which would have been more useful earlier in his turn. Drawing this card before would have prevented Jacob from having to use Wall of Token instead being able to destroy Mysterious Figure directly. Such was the nature of matches, the order of the cards was random. Jacob hit the blue button on his match platform and his lights switched from Green to Red. Golum of Aratus’ stats changed as they always did - to Attack: 500, Defense: 1800 - before Cleopatra’s platform glowed green to start her turn.
“Wall of Token, very clever.” Cleopatra drew her first card dramatically, then glanced over at Stan “I see you’ve called in a few of your allies, you’re a clever boy.”
“Allies can be a huge help.” Jacob looked at Stan as he taunted Cleopatra; Stan nodded in acknowledgement “Luckily for me mine happen to be a little better than yours.”
“And yet I am still undefeated.” Cleopatra put down a card on her casting platform to begin her Creature Phase, and the floating form of Carnivorous Island Potato appeared. The creature was simple: A potato the size of a large car floating in the air, with a large mouth on one side. The mouth was perpetually open, and had sharp shark-like teeth arranged in rows inside. Another token poofed into existence on Jacob’s platform in response to the creature. On his casting platform, Jacob saw its stats appear below it:
Strength: 800, Defense: 800
It was the weakest Creature Card in Jacob’s deck. Cleopatra was buying herself time.
“Rama, you don’t happen to have an Octavian card do you?” Jacob looked Cleopatra in the eye as he called to the card company founder.
“Not that I know of, but I can check.” Rama chuckled as she called back. Cleopatra’s seductive facade cracked for a moment as a look of pure rage flashed over her features. It appeared only for a moment, before being replaced by a look of smug approval.
“Playing on my history, touche.” Cleopatra seemed almost mildly impressed by the retort “Perhaps his legions would have found a way around this.”
Cleopatra entered her spell phase by placing Revival of a Lost Soul onto her casting platform. An angelic figure appeared in the trees above her side of the field, its arms folded in front of it. Jacob quickly scanned the listed card effect as it appeared under its icon on his platform:
Revival of a Lost Soul - Spell - When cast this card can revive one thing that has been destroyed; the revived thing is revived with one half it’s original stats or effects.
“Bring back the Unholy Tsunami.” Cleopatra called out. A massive wave again appeared on her side of the field, though this time it was half as tall as the last time. It quickly swept over the field, slamming first into Cleopatra’s own Golum of Aratus and Carnivorous Island Potato. Like before the Golum dug into the soil beneath it, losing a few pieces that cracked off but otherwise appearing unscathed. The Potato quickly lashed out a series of vines from its body onto the nearest tree, withstanding the force of the Tsunami with almost no damage. Jacob couldn’t see the Cuddlemonster anywhere, though its stats seemed to be unchanged on the casting platform. Mysterious Figure was also nowhere to be found, though the icon of its card remained visible.
On his side of the field his own creatures fared significantly better than the first tsunami; Major Water Lord Labubuan grabbed the closest tree to brace itself just before the water hit, and when it did the 12 foot tall creature seemed unaffected. Whether this was due to the creature’s Oceanic nature or scale was unknown to Jacob, but he wasn’t going to question it.
His Smiling Dewdrop took the wave with less grace, losing half its stats as the lowest layer of dew was washed off the field. The tsunami slammed into the arena wall below Jacob, before the water slowly faded away. Unsurprisingly, the wall of pirates was completely untouched, as was the various pirate flags hanging on the trees. Jacob saw a flash of movement, and looked at Cleopatra’s side of the field in just enough time to see the Cuddlemonster fall from the trees onto the ground. It was quickly joined by Mysterious Figure, who moved back into the shadows of the forest. When you play with Real Cards, you deal with the Real World. They had used that reality to avoid the Tsunami, preventing any damage or destruction. Jacob sighed internally. Those two cards would be a problem. Especially once the pirates disappeared, and Wall of Token was no longer in effect. Jacob quickly checked the stats of the creatures on the field as the Tsunami faded away.
Cleopatra’s Side:
Golum of Aratus - Attack: 200, Defense: 1500
Cuddlemonster of the Dark Forest - Strength: 2000, Defense: 1500
Carnivorous Island Potato - Strength: 500, Defense: 500
Jacob’s Side:
Smiling Dewdrop - Strength: 750, Defense: 1750
Major Water Lord Labubuan - Strength: 3000, Defense: 2000
Jacob was behind in total creatures, but he still had the most powerful on the field - for now. He looked up at Cleopatra.
“I guess one didn’t need the legions of Rome to withstand that wave.” Jacob said dryly
“A siege isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.” Cleopatra placed a snare on her platform, and drew another card. She hit the button on her console and entered her special phase, changing Golum of Aratus’ stats again. Its Strength fell to 100, while its defense rose to 1600. One more turn and it wouldn’t be able to attack at all, serving solely as a line of defense against whatever Jacob cast.
Jacob’s platform turned green, and he drew a card.
CYCLICAL ENVIRONMENT ACTIVATED. FOURTH CYCLE DEPLOYING.
The arena flickered, and the Dark Forest disappeared. A wave of heat hit Jacob as it was replaced by the Magma Fields, a massive stretch of molten and partially solidified rock. His side steamed as Smiling Dewdrop hit the molten surface, the environment slowly leeching away it’s stats. Steam also rose from Major Water Lord Labubuan where it stood on a slightly solidified portion of rock. Jacob pondered for a moment, then remembering the trees came up with an idea.
“Dewdrop, latch onto the Major Water Lord.” Jacob called downwards. A shimmering cloud rose above the fields before latching onto the Major Water Lord, giving it a sparkling coat of dew. Smiling Dewdrop's stats stop plummeting, settling on a strength of 700 and a defense of 600.
“How is that legal?” Stan called up. He was still standing guard where he had been earlier. “Is Smiling Dewdrop an equip?”
“Real creatures interact with the Real world.” Jacob called down. “I’m not equipping the Dewdrop, I’m just moving it. My Major Water Lord is a real surface, therefore it can rest on it.”
“That’s a thing?” Stan looked over at Rama, who shrugged.
“A clever technicality.” Rama took a sip of her soda “If the system allowed it, then it must be legal. Though, I don’t think anyone’s done it before.”
“Just makes it easier to hit once the pirates disappear.” Cleopatra taunted “One location means one target.”
Jacob looked at his hand instead of responding, trying to think of his next move. He had drawn Snare Stop, a simple shadow card from the first pack he had gotten. Alongside Mysterious Figure and Unholy Tsunami he had little he could do for a creature phase, and he was still outnumbered. The Pirate Code of Honor wore off at the end of his turn, so he would be open to any attack from Cleopatra’s creatures. And there were 4 more turns to go before they reached the stormy ocean.
Jacob stared at the flat expanse of magma and rock in front of him. A poor environment for Water Creatures to fight in, with nowhere to hide. There was little to be used for protection, leaving his creatures completely exposed.
Jacob looked at his hand again, then smiled.
He had an idea.
easy. Cleopatra is a difficult opponent, and it’ll take a lot of cleverness (and luck) for Jacob to stay standing.
thank you so much. From the bottom of my heart, I deeply appreciate your support. If you’ve really been liking it and haven’t yet, consider leaving a rating or a review! Deckbuilder’s have a lot of trouble gaining traction on the platform, and every bit of engagement gets the story just a little bit more push from the Royal Road algorithm. I doubt this story will hit the Rising Stars list any time soon (if ever), but even slow growth is really good if we can keep it going! I’m committed to writing and finishing this story regardless, but it would be nice to get the story out there a little further - especially considering the niche genre.
trust in the cards…
What do you think Jacob's Idea is?
