Kalin's Penthouse

The home of Kalin Weiss, sitting at the center of Miami City at the top of a skyscraper in the Pendulum Dimension.

## Testing The Dragons' Might

Kalin stared out over the city from the comfort of his home, grinning as he looked down to check his watch. He'd been waiting all day for his guest to arrive, and he was starting to wonder if his message hadn't gone through. " Geez, he sure knows how to keep a guy waiting...."

Turning back inside, Kalin grabbed the glass of water he'd been idly sipping on and off for the past hour, the condensation leaving a small puddle of water behind as he walked over to the couch.

Kalin would notice that Thomas was sitting on his couch with his eyes closed as if he had fallen asleep. He saw himself in once he noticed the door had been unlocked. He seemed to be meditating on a fact or possibly just asleep before he looked up. "Greetings Mr. Weiss." he said standing up his Duel Disk on his arm and his cloth armor on giving him a knightly appearance. "You called for me so I came through, is everything alright?" he asks.

Kalin let out a small yelp, backstepping quickly, before noticing who it was and releasing a breath. "Oh! Hey there. No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to ask you about these Academy people. Those people who are after me an' Odd-Eyes."

Thomas n1ods and folds his arms. "The Fusion Dimension has been around since the United Dimension split. It is a dimension focused strictly on Fusion Summoning and their strongest soldiers lead an army of Ancient Gear monsters spearheaded by a Destiny HERO duelist. The Ancient Gears and wielded by mask wearing students called the Obelisk Force and are graduates chosen specifically for that task. As for their leader, he is my roomate and one of my close friends. He agrees that this war is worthless and that the youth is being wasted but does as he's told because our lives are forfeit." he begins explaining. "Once upon a time there was a powerful man named 'Zarc' who is the combination of those who inherited the four Heavenly Dragons more commonly known as the Dimension Dragons. You'll be absorbed by one another if you lose a duel and simply become the Demon Duelist himself."

Kalin simply blanches, and laughs nervously "hehe, heh...well, I just shouldn't lose, then...heh. But, anyways...if I'm gonna beat these guys, I should probably learn a bit about how they duel. So what do you say? Mind showing me what you've got?"

Thomas looks oddly at Kalin at first but then nods and activates his Duel Disk walking outside. "Please follow me." he says walking out onto the main deck of the penthouse giving them plenty of room. "I'll be using the Honor Student Deck which is the Ancient Gears I warned you about as many Obelisk Force members will attack you in groups of three using these. It will be a good test of endurance." he states taking out a small Deck and plugging it into the Duel Disk removing his normal deck. "Most students make modifications to the Deck as they see fit in order to make it as powerful as possible, which is just what I've done. So be prepared for anything." he states.

Kalin walks after him, a fire in his eyes as he plugs in his own deck, and activates it, the cards shuffling as the city's dueling system connects with them from the roof. "I'm totally pumped! I'm gonna duel a deck from another world! This is awesome!"

Drawing his opening hand, Kalin smirks. "Let's put on a show! I summon Performapal Drummerilla in attack position, and play Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon in my Pendulum Zone!" He calls, His Dragon appearing within a pillar of light as his Performapal stomps onto the field. "Next I'll activate Bubble Barrier, and end my turn, where I'll set my Pendulum Dragon free in order to add another pendulum monster to my hand. I'll choose Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon. Now it's time to see what you've got!" Kalin finished, drawing the monster from his deck.

Thomas draws a card and stares down Drummerilla. "A monster that can increase its attack by six hundred points during the battle phase? Interesting." he says looking at his hand. "I activate Ancient Gear Fortress. This card allows me to prevent you from using any effects on the turn an ancient gear is summoned protecting it. I However don't need this, I activate Ancient Gear Catapult. I target one card on my field and destroy it then summon an Ancient Gear monster from my Deck. I choose Ancient Gear Gadget in defense position. From there, Fortress' second effect activates allowing me to Special Summon Ancient Gear Wyvern." Suddenly monsters that look like they've been made from ancient technology rise up, one being a gear that spins onto the battlefield and another a small wyvern with missing teeth. "I then use Wyvern's effect and search out Ancient Gear Reactor Dragon and Normal Summon it using my monsters as tribute." he states summoning the huge monster. "Go, attack Dummerilla!" he shouts as it breathes a purple mesa.

Kalin lets out a breath of relief as the first attack rolls over the suddenly appearing bubble that protects his Drummerilla. "Phew, that was close!" Thomas smiles. "After Ancient Gear Reactor Dragon attacks, he destroys one spell or trap card on the field. I choose Bubble Barrier. With that, I must also mention that he can attack twice per turn." he states as the monster breathes out another mesa and burns Kalin. The flames almost feel as if they're real. "I end my turn with that."

Kalin grunts as the flames rush past him, shrugging off the lost life points as he draws his next card. "I place Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon and Performapal Dan Daggerman in my Pendulum Zones, and Pendulum Summon my Pendulum Dragon, and Drummerilla from my extra deck!" he calls, as the two monsters decend onto the field. "Next, I'll attack your dragon with my Odd-Eyes, and with a hand from Drummerilla, He's got everything he needs to take your monster down!" as Kalin points at the mechanical beast, his dragon fires a blast of energy the incinerates it. "Next, I attack with Drummerilla!"

Thomas takes the damage from the blast and seems mildly unimpressed with the damage. "Seems you've grown attached to your dragon, that's good. You need to know how powerful yuo can get before handling these kinds of monsters." he says looking at Kalin with a smile.

"Me and these cards have been with me for as long as I could remember. Theyve never fauled me, and I'm not about to fail Odd-Eyes! I set one card face down, and tribute my monsters to summon Beast Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

Kalin sets his card, and waves. "That's all for now!"

Thomas draws a card and smiles. "I place one card face down and summon Ancient Gear Hunting Hound. When this monster is Normal Summoned I can inflict six hundred points of damage to my opponent." as he says this Kalin has fire breathed on his body past his large dragon. "Next I activate Scrap Fusion and Cybernetic Fusion Support from my hand! When I would Fusion Summon a monster I can banish materials from my field and graveyard as well to summon them! Come forth, Level 10! Chaos Ancient Gear Giant!" he shouts. The monsters looks gigantic in comparison to the building they're on. A monster who's form simply taking shape looks like it's taller than the building they stand but in the end it appears as a small robot. "I can't have any panic in the streets so I modified my duel disk to keep my monsters a certain height. I feel the cartoony aspect will help keep the panic to a minimum." he explains. "Now, I attack." The monster rushes forward and due to his effect Kalin's face down is sealed and Beast-Eyes is destroyed dealing fifteen hundred points of damage. "This is the strongest monster they control. If you can overcome this, then you'll overcome the bulk of their forces." he says with a calm smile. "I believe you can do it. Turn end."

Kalin smiled as he drew his next card, uncertain whether or not he could succeed, but excited at the prospect of trying. "I'll pendulum summon once again, summoning Performapals Pendulum Sorcerer and Drummerilla, and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, all in defense mode! Next, I use my Sorcerer's effect to destroy it and my Drummer, in order to add Silver Claw and Laughmaker to my hand! With that, I'll end my turn."

Thomas draws a card and examines the field. "Leaving your Dragon out there all by himself wasn't a good idea but I'm not going to judge you. I use Chaos Giant to attack your monster." he states with the monster charging up a blast.

Kalin watches as his Odd-Eyes is destroyed once again, and sighs. " don't worry, pal, we'll turn this around..."

Thomas nods and ends his turn. "While the monster is formidable you should know that you opponent will not always be as kind as I. The Obelisk Force attacks in pairs of three and if they are not Obelisk Force their Deck could be anything involving Fusion." he says informatively.

Kalin draws his next card, as his pendulum zones light up once more. "Once again, I Pendulum Summon, bringing Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Performapal Silver Claw, Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer, Performapal Drummerilla, and Performapal Ringmaster to the field, and tribute my Sorcerer and Drummerilla to summon Performapal Laughmaker from my hand! Then I activate Performapal Pinch Helper. WIth all that done, I attack with Performapal Silver Claw!" As his monster explodes, and his life points drop just short of the critical zone, Kalin simply smiles. "With Silver Claw's effect, all of the monsters on my field gain an additional 300 attack until the battle phase is over. and when he's destroyed, my Ringmaster's effect activates, allowing me to summon a "Performa-" monster! I choose Performapal True Star! Now, Performapal Laughmaker! Attack Chaos Ancient Gear Giant!"

Chaos Giant is destroyed leaving Thomas' Deck with only eight hundred Life Points left. "This has been fun but I'm afraid I'll have to stop you here by activating Unfinished Ancient Gear." he says activating the trap card after his giant goes to the graveyard. "I can Special Summon one Ancient Gear monster from my hand ignoring its summoning conditions and halve its attack and defense but in return it cannot be destroyed by battle this turn. I summon Ancient Gear Wyvern in defense position. Due to his effect I can add Ancient Gear Box from my Deck to my hand and then thanks to box I add Ancient Gear Knight." he says adding the cards as they come.

"Heh, well then, I guess I'll end my turn." Kalin replied with a smile. "Your move, Thomas."

Thomas nods and draws. "I could honestly surrender this duel with a smile knowing you have the potential to defeat the Obelisk Force but there'd be no fun or lesson in that. Here, let me show you." he says placing a card into the Field Spell zone. "This is Geartown. Thanks to this card I'm able to summon Ancient Gear monsters from my hand for one less tribute. I tribute my Wyvern and Normal Summon Ancient Gear Golem - Ultimate Pound." he states. The huge mechanical behemoth stands tall and looms over Kalin's monsters. "I attack using my Golem to destroy Ringmaster." He says destroying the monster. "Next I attack Laughmaker by using my Golem's ability and discard Box." crushing the star of the show. "Next I destroy Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon with a final consecutive attack." he says cleaning Kalin's field. "I end my turn."

Kalin drew another card. "Well, mine's just getting started! I activate the field spell Dueltainment, and Pendulum Summon Performapal Ringmaster, Odd-Eyes Dragon, Silver Claw and Drummerilla to the field, and attack you Ancient Gear Golem with Silver Claw once again, only this time I send my pinch helper to the grave to negate the damage! now, I attack with Odd-Eyes Dragon, and increase its attack with Drummerilla's effect!"

Thomas closes his eyes and smiles. "When Ultimate Pound is sent to the graveyard I add Polymerization from my Deck to my hand and add Ancient Gear Box from my graveyard to my hand which lets me search Ancient Gear Knight."

Kalin smiles as his Odd-Eye's blast of energy washes over the giant monster, blowing it away as the duel system shuts down. Kalin bows to Thomas, a sign of respect. "Thank you for indulging me with this, Thomas. I hope the show was up to your standards."

Thomas smiles and chuckles. He hadn't had a genuine smile in a very long time outside of being with Samantha. He let out his laugh for a moment before returning his cards back into the Deck and putting it away in one of the Deck Holsters. "That was excellent. A little rusty in some spots but as you have seen, just one of those Decks brought you down to a dangerous level." he begins.

Yeah, those monsters are tough. I'm not positive I could handle three of them, so I should probably brush up on my skills..." Kalin said, taking off his duel disk and removing the cards. "This was quite the educational experience."

Thomas nods and a small helicopter floats by with a reporter hanging halfway out with a microphone and someone with a camera right next to them. "Look here folks! A secret sky top meeting with an armored individual! This is phenomenal, what kind of entertainment does the Shining Weiss have planned for his next show?" the reporter shuts looking back to the camera and then towards Kalin and Thomas. Thomas sighs and shakes his head. "I think I best be going." he says.

Kalin waves to the reporters, smiling brightly as he stepped in front of Tom to hide him as best he could. "Oh, this gentleman's just an old friend, my wonderful audience. We were working on a new performance for all of you, but we wouldn't want anyone ruining the surprise now, would we?" He finished, waggling a finger at the chopper.

Thomas chuckles and pats Kalin on the shoulder before heading inside and leaving a card with a blank face on his dresser. It was the card to show he was part of the United Dimensions and could be trusted. He left a note explaining the card and how to use the doors. Thomas slid his Standard Dimension card through the door's underside and opened up heading back to the refugee camps before closing it behind him making the doorway normal again.

Kalin waved as the reporters headed off towards their offices, he assumed. As he stepped back inside, he cocked his head, surprised to find that Thomas was already gone. He picked up the card and instructions left behind, looking them over for a moment before slipping them into his pocket.

"Hmm...well, I guess my day is free from here. What should I do now..."