Yugioh: Forsaken Legends [IC/PG-16/Not Accepting]

[Yui]

---

"Lyrroth, let me go!"

"Yo, bro. These humans want to head back to the human world."

"I understand. I believe the ritual is almost ready... however... I need the blood of a human. The other humans are... too afraid... can I use one of you...?"

 

"H-human blood? You mean you want to sacrifice one of us!? Isn't that what we came here to stop the Wicked Gods from doing!?" Aika flinched as the girl next to her spoke up, rather loudly at that.

 

"Y'all city folk're too noisy," Aika muttered, rubbing her temples lightly and assessing the situation. Dark Magician was almost ready to complete the ritual. Said ritual could send the humans back home. The ritual required human blood. Helena believed this equated to human sacrifice. At no point did Dark Magician say the ritual involved killing somebody. It could just be like a blood drive for all Aika knew; stick a needle in her arm, draw a little bit of blood, then everyone can go home and maybe get some donuts on the way back. Still, she wasn't about to just blindly offer herself up, just in case Helena was right. Glancing at the magician, Aika asked "Y'all don't needa actually kill someone, right? Just a lil' bit o' blood? We got three humans here and y'all mentioned 'others' so even if y'need a whole human's worth, we got enough. What's the catch then?"

[~Faytl~]

Tycho had been behind the much smaller girls he was with, looking simultaneously ridiculous as he seemed to be trying to hide from everything around him using the two girls as a shield, and terrifying with his wide eyes and hyperventilating. He was barely even processing everything that was happening around him. His entire worldview was shattering inside his poor head.

 

It wasn't until Dark Magician came forward that he seemed to snap back to reality. His eyes rested on the man he had been told could get them back to safety, out of this strange world where monsters lived and flew through the air and-

 

His eyes widened as Dark magician explained he needed blood... and he quickly stepped forward, the bastion of a man bumping his companions aside like bowling pins as he rolled up his sleeve, desparation in his eyes. "Yes, yes, blood!" he exclaimed, holding his arm out, wild-eyed as he looked imploringly at the magician. "Take as much as you need!" His voice was shaking, and he was himself. "I need... I can't be here. I need to find them, yes... destroy the Wicked Gods!" he yelled, perhaps a little too emphatically, his voice echoing through the chamber, several side-eyes moving his way with concern and worry.

[senorchavez]

Seeing the internees being tended to honestly put a smile on Eizar’s face. ‘There's one up to this situation at least,’ he thought to himself. The moment he finished that sentence he heard Blues call them to the jet and was surprised, to say the least. The face of the boy, who generally maintains his composure, has gone pale. Something dire must have happened for a descendant of Seto Kaiba, of all people, to suddenly look like somebody applied white face paint on them. It didn't help that he almost knocked Kuria over on his way into the aerial vehicle. Eizar didn't hesitate to enter after Blues but wasn't expecting him to take off as suddenly as he did, and ended up having to fight G-forces to buckle up.

 

 

"What's this about the Sacred Beasts?" was all Eizar heard before he realized why Blues was freaking out. He didn't know the specifics but they were supposedly second only to the Egyptian Gods in terms of destructive capacity, and that was enough to give put chills down his spine.

 

 

‘First the Wicked Gods and now this?’, he thought to himself melancholically. How could it get any worse?

 

 

"They want to enter the Fortune Cup, summon Wicked God there, and beat yours truly. Then they can have their representative become the new King, sow fear in the masses and make them easy pickin’s all in one swoop,” Kyouji stated, seemingly answering the boy’s internal question to the universe.

 

 

And on top of that, it appears that there are portals to the Spirit World in the other cultist holding areas. And so Blues came up with the idea to split the group up again to fight a proverbial war on two fronts: one in the Spirit World, the other in the tournament. The ones going to the tournament would have to work their way up from their hometowns. That's fine and all but last Eizar checked, there were only two cardholders in Reffo that were capable of duel--

 

 

"Miero wouldn't be suited for the Fortune Cup, considering he hasn't dueled in at least a decade.”

 

 

Okay, one cardholder in Reffo that was capable of dueling. ‘Now that I think about it, have I even seen Miero duel, let alone have Duel Monsters, before?’ Not long after that thought, Miero started coming to, mining about… not letting Kuria make his decision for him? He put his hand on the semi-conscious man reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Miero. I’ll make sure to win enough for the both us.”

[King K. Azo]

Dark Magician sighed to himself. He should have worded this better, as one of the human was acting like the other ones, freaking out and thinking he was going to sacrifice them. He was a magician of the dark arts, not a monster.

 

"H-human blood? You mean you want to sacrifice one of us!?" Helena's voice echoed loudly through the library. "Isn't that what we came here to stop the Wicked Gods from doing!?" So... they knew of the Wicked Gods? That was more than most of the others... were they different?

 

"Y'all don't needa actually kill someone, right? Just a lil' bit o' blood? We got three humans here and y'all mentioned 'others' so even if y'need a whole human's worth, we got enough. What's the catch then?"

 

"The only catch was no one would allow us to use their blood," Dark Magician explained. "Everyone is too afraid, and forcing them to give blood would not help their perception of us,"

 

"Yes, yes, blood!" he exclaimed, holding his arm out, wild-eyed as he looked imploringly at the magician. "Take as much as you need!" His voice was shaking, and he was himself. "I need... I can't be here. I need to find them, yes... destroy the Wicked Gods!" Again with the Wicked Gods... these people were not normal. He wasn't sure why they were here, but for now, he needed to take care of this problem.

 

"Right... Mana, please, take up his offer," Dark Magician stated. From the maze of bookshelves emerged Dark Magician Girl holding a needle. With a nod, the blonde magician stabbed it into Tycho's arm, drawing out some blood, about the same amount a doctor would use for a medical examination. She looked back to Dark Magician and nodded. "Alright, if you want to go home... come with me,"

 

He headed towards the back of the room, where there was an open door leading to another room. On the ground was a giant symbol, although what it meant was anyone's guess. In the far back of the room were about 4 or 5 people, huddled away from the monsters that walked in. When they saw Aika, Helena, and Tycho, their looks began to turn even more hopeless.

 

"They're just stockpiling us, aren't they?" One person muttered. Dark Magician shook his head and took the vial of blood, smashing it over the symbol. It began to glow as the blood was absorbed into it, and the winds began to pick up inside the building. Kuriboh slipped out of Helena's arms to hide behind Buster Blader as they watched a small portal beginning to to form...

 

---

 

At this time, Blues landed the Blue Eyes Jet on the roof of Kaiba Corp, the pilot jumping out of the seat and headed inside, his body language showing he was not pleased in the least. The CEO opened the elevator, allowing the other to climb in before it started its descent to the War Room. The atmosphere was tense in the elevator, so tense you could cut it with a knife.

 

The door opened at last and Blues took a step out, pointing at Wade and uttering two words. "You're fired,"

 

"Ah, goddammit," Wade muttered as he slumped over, defeat in his voice. Blues sighed to himself and dusted off his jacket and walked over to the group.

 

"Change of plans...," He stated, looking at Kyouji and Phantom Falcon. "Falcon, you're going to have to go to the Spirit World for me. I'm expected to appear at the tournament, so I can't skip out to go to the Spirit World," He then looked over to the group. "So what's the roll call?"

 

"Furiko, Yuria, Daichi, Eizar, Kuria, and Yugo have volunteered to do the tournament, while Lyall has volunteered to go to the Spirit World," Kyouji reported.

 

"That's... dangerously unbalanced," Blues muttered. "Daichi, I'm going to have to ask you to go to the Spirit World. I know you want to go to the tournament, but seeing as you've help take down a Wicked God user, you'll be needed for when you face the actual Gods,"

 

"Alright, looks like we have a powerhouse team!" Yugo stated with a smile. "We'll find these users, no problem!" He then grinned at the group. "But hey, just so you guys know. If I run into any of you guys in a match, I won't be holding back!" He said, laughing. Blues nodded before pointing at Wade.

 

"You're rehired. You're helping our Spirit World team,"

 

"Woo!!" Wade called out, leaping up. "Don't worry! I'm sure I'll be amazing asset to the team! Like warning all of you that there is a portal opening on the table at this very second!"

 

"Wait, what---?" Before anyone else could finish a sentence, a portal did indeed open right on the table... and people began to fall through it. Some of the more news savvy people could recognize them as some of the first people to disappear. Blues looked over them before pressing a button on the console.

 

"Katie, prepare some room in the medical wing. We have some people that need help,"

 

---

 

Dark Magician sighed as he looked over the portal, the first humans sent home. He turned and bowed to the three card holders.

 

"Thank you for your help. Now, if you wish to return home, then you may right now,"

 

"Get the crazy one out of here," Buster Blader interrupted, pushing Tycho through the portal. Gaia shook his head.

 

"Well, I'd say that I hope we'd meet again, but I don't. Don't take offense to it, but if you come back here, then the world is really screwed up," The group separated, allowing the two to walk through the portal.

 

---

 

When the two went through the portal, it closed behind them, like it was never there.

 

"Glad to see you back," Phantom Falcon stated. "We're going to split up for now. Some of you will go back to your hometown to enter into the tournament, while others will be heading to the Spirit World,"

 

"I'll be you guide to the Spirit World," Dread Knight piped up. "A lot has happened today though... take some time to yourself... and then come to Cradle," Dread Knight looked to Blues.

 

"Yes, that sounds best. You all know what you have to do for now. You'll receive more information when you get to the tournament or Cradle. We'll see you there... for now, let's go," He said as he walked away. "Good luck to you all,"

 

---

 

[spoiler=OOC]So, for your next posts, the tournament people can do their duels that allow them into the main tournament. As for Spirit World travellers, you can either follow Dread Knight, or go home to for awhile before going to Cradle. The choice is up to you.

 

[Super Chaos Sonic]

-Moonlit Magician-

~Domino City~

 

"So, I'll be signing up for the Fortune Cup as well. Going back to Cradle myself, as well. Can't let my home town down before getting to the main event either."

 

Daichi smiled, seeing Furiko heading his way as well as saying she was going to enter the tournament. "Heh, alright! Looks like it'll be a fun tournament then. Guess this means we'll both have to win!" he chuckled, about ready to leave the war room...when...

 

"That's... dangerously unbalanced. Daichi, I'm going to have to ask you to go to the Spirit World. I know you want to go to the tournament, but seeing as you've help take down a Wicked God user, you'll be needed for when you face the actual Gods."

 

-BGM-

 

Stopping midway towards the door, Daichi heard Blues tell him this. Not really asking, even though he requested of him. No, it seemed more like a demand. He looked at Blues, before just slowly opening his mouth, his jaw dropping.

 

"A-Are...are you serious?!" Daichi said, throwing his hands in the air. "Blues, sir...this isn't JUST a tournament, its THE FORTUNE CUP!!! It's a tournament I've been waiting to enter for a long time now!!"

 

Daichi...Dai, calm down. Haruto tried to calm Daichi down the best he could.

 

"No Haruto! We've been waiting for this for quite sometime!" Daichi snapped a bit, speaking with a bit of a groan. "And if Glaeris is there, I need to kick his ass. So I'm g-" Daichi was cut short, looking back at Blues, who didn't seem quite amused at all. In fact...it was the opposite.

 

Blues tilted his sunglasses down on the bridge of his nose, giving off a stare that would and could turn anyone to stone, straight at Daichi. "Did...I...stutter, Daichi." he spoke, his voice and tone literally dripping with seriousness. If Daichi wasn't exactly aware that Blues was a Kaiba...this definitely proved that he was.

 

Slowly closing his mouth, Daichi slowly rubbed the back of his head, giving off a sheepish smile. "N-Not at all, Blues sir." he said, chuckling nervously. "Go to the Spirit World...on it boss."

 

Wow...I've never seen you literally back down like that before, Dai. Haruto chuckled.

 

Shut up, Haruto... Daichi thought to his Duel Spirit, before finally turning to face Furiko. "Guess I'm sitting the tourney out. But don't for a second think about losing, Furiko. Heh, can't let one of my fellow Entertainment Duelists lose." He extended a hand towards Furiko, wishing her the best of luck.

 

 

With his hopes shattered, Daichi up following Dread Knight, after finding out that literally only two people from the initial group aside from Dread Knight and Wade...only two were going into the Spirit World: himself and Lyall.

 

This seemed like a team that, well, it seemed that no one really wanted to go to the Spirit World...or work with Lyall, he couldn't tell which. Still, he felt a little upset that it was only them two and no one else. But rather than wanting to incur the wrath of Blues even further...he kept his mouth shut.

 

 

-The Starry Experiment-

~Turbo City~

 

The Duel Arena in Turbo City. From far away, you could still hear the roars of excitement as the qualifying Duels for the Fortune Cup tournament began And keeping up with Turbo City tradition, the Duelist's D-Wheels were in rare form today, the Riding Duels showing off quite a bit of talent.

 

"With my Naturia Leodrake, I attack your Crystron Prasiortle!" the one Duelist spoke, as his plant covered lion struck at Jet's defense monster, causing a huge explosion to occur. "That'll do it!"

 

"Oh another successful attack! But no damage done...what will Jet do in response??" the announcer asked, sitting on the edge of her seat.

 

Jet rounded the corner of the Duel Arena, looking up to see Dr. Aichi in the stands. He slowly drew his card before looking at his options. His only option...was that card. He could always deny that thought...but, he had only 2500 Life Points left. His opponent had 3000...he would lose. Jet was driven into a hard place, which wasn't helping at all when he noticed on his visor that a small messaged popped up.

 

Summon Spark this turn...

 

Gritting his teeth, Jet saw that Dr. Aichi had spoken. He had no choice.

 

-BGM-

 

"For my turn, I discard Crystron Citree in order to Special Summon Mermail Abyssteus!" Jet spoke, watching as fish creature emerged from a holographic hole behind his D-Wheel, it covered in armor and wielding a coral tipped lance. "With his ability, I add Crystron Quan to my hand from deck...then I summon him!"

 

Now Jet had Abyssteus and Quan on the field...but to ensure his victory, he needed to take some cuts.

 

"Next I activate Soul Charge. By paying 2000 Life Points, I'm Special Summoning from my grave Prasiortle and Crystron Citree!" Jet said, watching his Life Points plummet down to 500 as Citree and Prasiortle came onto the field as well.

 

"Oh!! Jet has summoned a total of four monsters on this turn!" the announcer shouted, the crowd now getting worked up. "But with only 500 Life Points left, what is he going to do??"

 

Jet exhaled slowly, closing his eyes for a brief second. Take it easy Jet...you can do this...you have to fight through the pain. he thought, before his eyes shot wide open. "First! I tune my Citree with my Prasiortle!" When he declared this, Prasiortle flew into the air, with Citree close behind before changing into two synchro rings that flew in front of Prasiortle, which he flew directly into.

 

"Weaponized arm, descend and grant me your strength!! Synchro Summon! Come forth, Armory Arm!!"

 

From light that came from the two Crystron monsters synching, a huge robotic arm descended above Jet. It was time now...

 

"Next. I tune..." he exhaled deeply. "I tune my Crystron Quan and my Abyssteus!" In the same manner as before, Quan flew into the air to change into a synchro ring, in which Abyssteus immediately jumped through.

 

-BGM-

 

"Your star lights up the escape route for me! Spread your wings and take flight! SYNCHRO SUMMON!! Liberate me from this hell! STARDUST SPARK DRAGON!!"

 

From the light that was once Quan and Abyssteus, came forth a beautiful ivory dragon that exploded into sparkling stardust upon its arrival, captivating the audience.

 

That's when it hit Jet like a ton of bricks in an armored truck. He watched as his right forearm could be seen glowing faintly through his jacket and bandages. Gritting his teeth, he could feel the thunderous throbbing and lightning like pain shooting up and down his forearm. He wanted to fall over off his D-Wheel and hold his arm, but he had a job to do.

 

"N-Next..." Jet managed to speak again, through his gritting teeth. "I equip Armory Arm to Stardust Spark Dragon!" He watched as Armory Arm rocketed its way towards Stardust Spark, before the dragon immediately grabbed it and slammed it down on its own right arm. "Now my dragon will gain 1000 attack points, bringing it up to 3500! Enough to turn your lion into compost!"

 

"W-WHAT?!?"

 

"Stardust Spark Dragon...end his lion's existence!" Jet shouted, turning his D-Wheel slightly, making it now skid in front of his opponent. "GO! SPARKING COSMIC!!"

 

Stardust Spark Dragon threw its head back and roared majestically, before flying directly at Leodrake, before unleashing a strong beam from its mouth, enveloping the Naturia monster before destroying it.

 

"N-Ngh...damnit..."

 

"And to finish this Duel off..." Jet said, breathing slightly heavier at this moment. "Armory Arm's ability. Since Stardust Spark destroyed a monster, while it was equipped with Armory Arm...I inflict damage to you equal to the attack of your monster." he pointed at his opponent, giving him a death stare. "Stardust Spark Dragon...deliver the punishment with Comet Punch!!"

 

Stardust Spark flew towards the opposing Duelist and punched at him with the Armory Arm, knocking the Duelist and his D-Wheel back. With another roar from Stardust Spark, the Duel was over and Jet was declared the winner.

 

As Jet reached the finish line, he slumped a bit and fell off his D-Wheel, causing the medics to immediately rush out to get him.

 

"Did we get any new information, my dear?" Dr. Aichi spoke on the phone, watching the medics carrying Jet away.

 

"We did, doctor. It seems that their sycnhronization rates do almost give off the same as those of the Signers of old."

 

A grin appeared on Dr. Aichi's face, as he stood up and left the arena. "Excellent. This means we're one step closer to the goals of the previous Kaibas. We must prepare to duplicate this...how many other Synchro monsters are ready for this testing?"

 

"Not many, unfortunately. However with this data, we can ensure they'll be finished on time."

 

"Very well. Project Crimson is becoming a success..." Dr. Aichi smiled.

[Alaina]

As Hanae had arrived on the jet with everyone else from Taccoon, she had followed the CEO into the war room. Upon getting there, the girl was only more taken aback by the large assortment of people. The people there were, sort of surprisingly, all around her age with a few stand outs here and there. Like the one man in the weird getup, the older and edgier looking man and the duel king himself. She was briefly taken aback by how large he actually was, being a completely different experience in person than on posters and videos. As the group had decided that they were then going to split off, a portal opened up, with people spilling out of it and leaving Hanae more at a loss for words to the whole situation. "What the f-," this had been a really weird and jarring day so far. 

 

As the banana haired boy proclaimed what the tournament team was supposed to do, she felt a sense of normalcy return around her, as well as a slight surge of competitiveness. In response, a girl who wore a similar hat to hers said, "don't worry, I wouldn't expect it any other way." With that, the group segmented into their teams, and further sub divided into their home areas. 

 

Upon noticing what she was about to say, "wait, god damn it, wouldn't it have just been better if I didn't leave in the first place?" After saying this aloud, she then shook her head saying, "whatever." She looked to Blues asking, "oh yeah, you wouldn't like, happen to be able to just vouch for my absence at school. I doubt they'd excuse it if I just told them, 'yeah I was out saving the world.'" After saying that, the girl then thought about it for a bit before muttering, "well then again, there has been a history of students getting involved with some pretty paranormal s***. Hmm." After getting that all sorted out, she had left and found her way back to the great city of Taccoon where she was to enter her preliminary duels. 

 

The first two had pretty much went off without a hitch. She had squared off against a pretty un-notable jurrac user followed by a pretty hammy lightsworn user. And with them both beaten, the girl only had to beat one more person before she had qualified for the main event. Walking to her arena, she got ready seeing her opponent on the other side of her. The person who was her final stepping stone was a plain looking girl, white hair tied into a ponytail and had just about zero threatening presence to her. Hanae simply glared at the white haired girl, who seemed to be slightly unsettled by it before the announcer shouted out, "now for the final round of the preliminaries here in Taccoon. On the left side we have Hanae Hanazawa," the girl was not phased by the announcement. "And on the right we have Haruka Izumi." The white haired girl seemed a bit nervous by the whole thing but steeled herself for the coming duel. "Ready? Begin!" 

 

 

With that, Hanae said, "I'll go first." Looking at the cards in her hand, she didn't really think much of it before taking a single card and putting it face down in her spell and trap zone. "I set one card face down, and with that, end my turn."

 

Haruka looked at the girl, a bit skeptical about the opening move, and yet Hanae's face had remained expressionless for the time being. Regardless she simply drew her card saying, "alright, my turn." Haruka started to look at her cards with a far more pensive look on her face  then her opponent had had, before nodding to herself, not really sure if what she was doing was right but just going with it anyway. "First I summon Sylvan Peaskeeper," as she slapped the card onto the field, a pea-pod filled with peas with faces appeared. "Next, when this card is summoned I can excavate the top card of my deck, and if it's a plant monster, I can send it to the graveyard." Putting her hand over her deck, she then revealed the card, her face lighting up a bit. "I excavated Sylvan Princessprout, and when it's excavated I can special summon it on to the field." 

 

Taking the card from the top of her deck, she then summoned it onto the field, a small sprite with a crown of flowers over her head appearing. "Next, because I special summoned her this way, she can be any level between 1 and 8, and I choose 7! Next," she took the next card from her hand placing it in the spell/trap zone saying, "I activate Super Solar Nutrient. By targeting one level 2 or lower plant monster, I can summon a monster 3 level higher than it or lower. So, by sacrificing Peaskeeper I summon Lonefire Blossom. Next, I activate Lonefire's effect, sacrificing it to summon any plant monster from my deck. And so I summon Sylvan Sagequoia!" As soon as the plant had appeared, it soon erupted into flames, burning to ashes. As the flames started to dwindle, a mighty tree sprouted from them, a stern face on its trunk as it looked towards the opponent's barren field. 

 

As Hanae's expression still hadn't changed, a bit of a frustrated look appeared on her face as she said, "well, next I use my level 7 Sagequoia and Princessprite and Overlay them!" With that, the two plants seemed to turn into two orbs of energy as they flowed into a vortex that appeared on the ground. "Wings of the South, carried by blazing winds of summer, cast your judgement on the world that lives. XYZ Summon! Soar forth! Rank 7; Orea, The Sylvan High Arbiter!" As the summon had finished a large bird ordained in all kinds of greenery, with flames flickering off of its wings had taken center stage. Looking at her opponent with a more confident expression on her face, Haruka asked, "how do you like that?"

 

Hanae's face was still, not at all amused as she simply replied saying, "hurry up already."

 

A flicker of annoyance crossing her face, Haruka simply said, "kill joy." While Hanae's eyes narrowed at the girl, she wasn't all that bothered by it as Haruka said, "alright, now, Orea  attack her directly." 

 

As the bird flapped its wings, ready to let loose a burning wind towards her, she said, "I activate the effects of Predator Plant Sarraceniant. When I'm attacked directly, I can special summon it on to the field." Placing the card on her disk, the plant seemed to appear out from the ground, looking as if it were goading Orea into attacking it. With a smirk appearing on her face, Hanae asked, "well, are you going to continue?" 

 

With a bit of frustration crossing her face, Haruka said, "no. However, I detach one overlay unit from Orea to excavate the top three cards from my deck. And for each plant that I excavate, I can destroy one card on your field." Excavating both Sylvan Bladefender and Flowerknight, she said, "with these, I can target two of your cards on the field, which you only two have." With that, two orbs of flame appeared beside its wings, before firing it at the face down and predator plant on the field, engulfing both in flame and destroying them.

 

"Because Sarraceniant was sent from the field to the graveyard, I can add 1 Predator Plant card from my deck to my hand. With that, I add Predator Planter to my hand." 

 

"Well, because bladefender was excavated I can add it to my hand, and because of Flowerknight, I can put Sylvan Marshalleaf at the top of my deck." With nothing much else to do, the white haired girl simply said, "I end my turn."

 

"Awesome. My turn," drawing her card ,she looked back to the bird before her before saying, "well, guess I'm done here. First I activate Predator Planter, which allows me to summon 1 level four or lower Predator Plant from my hand or graveyard, which of course in this case is Sarraceniant. Next, I activate Polymerization from my hand, fusing the Predator Plant Squid Drosera from my hand and the Sarraceniant on my field." The two nightmarish plant creatures appeared next to each other, starting to meld together as she said, "plant of stalking doom, and plant of vile grasping, create a beast of vile creation and feast upon your prey. Fusion Summon! Devour, Predator Plant, Chimera Rafflessia!" With that, a large plant creature with two maws to its side and giant rafflessia on top of it appeared. 

 

While Haruka seemed a bit spooked by the appearance at first, Hanae continued saying, "now, because Sarraceniant was sent to the graveyard, I can add one Predator Plant card to my hand, in this case Predator Graft. Next, I summon Predator Plant Sundew Kingi, and use its effect to fuse it and Chimera Rafflesia together." As the frilled neck lizard plant appeared, it started melding with the large plant as Hanae chanted, "king of thievery and wretched hunter, merge together to create a dragon of violet poison! Fusion Summon, Starve Venom Fusion Dragon!" 

 

With the purple dragon appearing Hanae then said, "and when this card is summoned I can add the attack of the highest special summoned monster on my opponent's field to it, in this case being Orea." The already imposing dragon seemed to surge with a purple fire as its attack spiked from 2800 to 5600. "Next I activate the spell card, Predator Graft, letting me summon Chimera Rafflessia from my graveyard back to my field." 

 

As the large carnivorous plant reappeared, Haruka's face was stunned as she simply said, "oh I am so screwed."

 

"Now, Chimera Rafflessia, attack Sylvan High Arbiter Orea! And when this card battles another monster, it gains 1000 Attack Points and its opponent loses 1000." As the plant let loose a poisonous mist from its body, causing the bird to grow weaker as the plant became stronger, only for the two vine maws at the side of Rafflessia to shoot out and chomp down on Orea, destroying it. 

 

Haruka LP 8000---->6300

 

"Next Starve Venom attacks you directly." 

 

Haruka LP 6300--->700

 

As the dragon struck the girl, she simply let out an, "ow," before Hanae had continued. "Finally, because you sent my trap to the graveyard last turn, I think I'll use it now. By banishing Predator Planet from my graveyard, I can immediately fuse my monsters. And so, I fuse Starve Venom and Chimera Rafflessia." With the two combining, a plant like dragon came forth from their union as Hanae said, "Fusion Summon! Predator Plant Dragostapelia! Now, with this, I attack directly one last time." 

 

As the dragon was winding up its strike at the girl, who with a defeated expression on her face simply said, "oh come on," before taking one final hit 

 

Haruka LP 700---->0

 

With that, the duel was over, and Hanae simply walked away from it after being declared the winner, not quite seeming to care about the duel that had just transpired at all and getting herself mentally psyched for the coming tournament.

[Yui]

---

"Well, I'd say that I hope we'd meet again, but I don't. Don't take offense to it, but if you come back here, then the world is really screwed up."

 

"Gotcha. Here's hopin' we ain't gonna see each other again. Good luck, y'all," Aika said, stepping through the portal with her parting words. And when the feeling of nausea passed - as it had when she passed through the portal to get here in the first place - she was in a room. With Blues Kaiba and all the other folks who were behind all the planning and stuff.

 

"Glad to see you back. We're going to split up for now. Some of you will go back to your hometown to enter into the tournament, while others will be heading to the Spirit World,"

"I'll be you guide to the Spirit World. A lot has happened today though... take some time to yourself... and then come to Cradle."

"Yes, that sounds best. You all know what you have to do for now. You'll receive more information when you get to the tournament or Cradle. We'll see you there... for now, let's go. Good luck to you all,"

 

The tournament...right! The Fortune Cup! A must-have trophy for any aspiring Pro Duelist, but there were other things Aika wanted to sign up for this time. If she could find any of the people behind this whole Wicked God nonsense, it wouldn't be too hard to tail them - she was pretty small, after all, making her harder to spot in tight places - and find their headquarters. Or capture them and use her psychic powers and Stormlet deck to interrogate them. In general, once she found one of them, it would be easy street. Off to Cradle, then!

FORTUNE CUP: PRELIMINARY DUELS, CRADLE BRANCH

AIKA TAKAKAWA VS LILY RAMOS

Action Field: Urbanopolis

Score: Aika - 6100 | Lily - 8300 | Turn 15

Storm Counters on Stormlet Supercell Zone: 21

"H-Hey!" Lily called out to her opponent. Around the two, torrential rain slammed down on the Solid Vision city's streets and buildings, as the winds of a hurricane fiercely rattled street signs and traffic lights, destroyed windows, blew shingles off the roofs, and sent loose debris hurtling down the roads. Aika's opponent was taking shelter from the weather in an alley between two buildings, and Aika herself stood in the middle of the road, clad in yellow, as if to defy the weather, even if her small body was pushed to the side with every miniscule shift in the wind.

 

"Problem?" Aika asked, wrapping her Duel Disk arm around a nearby lamppost to keep herself from being shoved by the weather in the future. There were two cards in her hand, and five monsters on her field. Her opponent, meanwhile, was wide open. This would be the turn Aika summoned Stormleterror Cataclysm and move in for the win, she'd decided.

 

"Can't you do something about this storm!?"

 

"Well, I'm 'boutta summon up my big monster 'n' end the duel. If yer uncomfortable with this here weather though, maybe y'all're gonna wanna just quit now; it's boutta get a lot worse once I summon this thing."

 

"O-Okay! Sure! I'll forfeit and save us a bit of time! I surrender!" As the Duel Disks and Solid Vision deactivated, the wind and rain around the two quickly faded out into nothing at all, as Aika's monsters disappeared and she returned her cards to the deck slot.

 

"I wasn't bein' serious," Aika groaned. "Ain't nobody toldja y'all ain't supposed to quit right 'fore the end of the game? Just gimme back the spare coat an' go home, m'kay?"

---

BGM

 

FORTUNE CUP: PRELIMINARY DUELS, TACCON BRANCH

Valeria Landi VS Ulfric Wildhand

Action Field: Labyrinth of Trishula

Score: Valeria - 8000 | Ulfric - 8000 | Turn 6

"Battle Phase!" Ulfric roared. "I declare direct attack with Cyber End Dragon!"

 

"Good job," Valeria nodded as the towering mecha dragon came forth, leaping out of the way just in time to avoid its mighty laser beams coming down upon Valeria and causing a whole world of pain. "You finally got a hit in."

 

"Do not mocking Ulfric Wildhand! Turn End! What will puny girl do now?"

 

Turn 7: Valeria - 4000 | Ulfric - 8000

 

"What indeed. My turn! Draw!" Valeria looked at the card she'd just drawn in surprise. Not yet. I can't summon this with the game as it is. I'll have to do this business as usual. "When there are four or more Fiend-Type Cursed Arms monsters in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon Cursed Armsman - The Iron Maiden from my hand!" Behind Valeria, a female warrior appeared, donning light armor, sporting long hair, and boasting a wily smile on her face. "Next, I activate the spell card One For One! By discarding Cursed Arms - Gorehowl, I summon Cursed Armsman's Shieldmaiden from my Deck, causing both her effect and the effect of Iron Maiden to activate!" As the image of a young maiden, face darkened with the grime and soot of the forge, appeared next to the armored woman, Valeria explained her new monsters' effects.

 

"With Shieldmaiden's effect, by revealing a Cursed Armsman in my hand, I can send a Cursed Arms card from the Deck to the Graveyard with a lower level, then summon that monster. I reveal Cursed Armsman - The Aristocrat, and send Cursed Arms - Frostmourne from my Deck to the Graveyard to summon it! And since Shieldmaiden was summoned, Iron Maiden sends a Cursed Arms card from the Deck to my Graveyard. This time, I choose Cursed Arms - Shalamayne!" As Valeria sent the two cards from her Deck to the Graveyard and the image of a rather arrogant-looking nobleman appeared opposite the Shieldmaiden, Valeria exclaimed "Iron Maiden activates for the second and final time this turn, and The Aristocrat's effect is activated! By discarding a Cursed Arms card, I can add another one to my hand. I discard Cursed Arms - Thunderfury, and add Cursed Armsman - Dreaded Blademaster from my deck to my hand! And with the effect of Iron Maiden, I'll send Cursed Arms - Sulfuras to the Graveyard. Now comes the good part."

 

After moving two more cards to the Graveyard and adding her monster to her hand, Valeria explained the circumstances. "There are seven Fiend-Type Cursed Arms monsters. When I have one copy of each in the Graveyard, like I do now, I can summon my ace card! Fallen warrior, pick up your weapon and raze the lands! I summon Cursed Armsman - Dreaded Blademaster!" Behind both Valeria and her other three monsters, a giant of a man appeared, armor in shambles and seeming to decay where he stood. "Dreaded Blademaster's effect activates! I can equip him with any number of Fiend-Type Cursed Arms monsters from my Graveyard, and if I do, he gets the effects granted by all of them! I equip Dreaded Blademaster with Cursed Arms Doomhammer, Sulfuras, Shalamayne, Gorehowl, and Ashbringer!" The titan of a man let loose a bone-chilling howl as a quintet of weapons materialized in the air, before he grabbed each and every one, putting a sword and two maces over his back before holding the other sword and a large axe in his hands. With a nod, Valeria said "Next, I activate the effect of Cursed Arms - Frostmourne in my Graveyard! By banishing it, I can give its effect to one monster until it's targeted by another Cursed Arms card, and I choose Iron Maiden!"

 

In front of the warrior woman, a long, jagged sword appeared. A sword which she took into her hands as her eyes began to glow an eerie blue. "Battle! First, I attack Cyber End Dragon with Cursed Armsman - The Iron Maiden!" With a firm grunt, the warrior woman dashed forward, sword in hand. The mechanical monstrosity she was squaring off against, however, was much stronger, evidenced by the trio of laser beams it fired from its mouths directly onto her, vaporizing her just after she planted her sword into the dragon's body.

 

Valeria: 4000 -> 2000

 

"It is joke, yes?" Ulfric laughed. With a hearty cackle, he followed his question up with "Girl is so eager to lose she even will accept defeat during her own turn!"

 

"I don't think so. Frostmourne's effect activates! The ATK of your Cyber End Dragon is reduced to zero, and for the rest of this turn, it can't be destroyed by battle. Now, I attack your dragon with Dreaded Blademaster, causing the effect of Gorehowl to activate! When a monster with Gorehowl's effect battles, it gains ATK equal to the difference between its ATK and the ATK of its opponent until the end of the turn. And with my 3500-ATK Blademaster versus your 0-ATK Cyber End Dragon, he gains..."

 

"...3500 attack points!"

 

"Very good." The Blademaster roared as it grew even larger in size, as the ATK indicator above its head shot up from 3500 to 7000, before it rushed in and slammed the appropriately gigantic axe down upon a blue and frozen Cyber End Dragon, causing Valeria's opponent to have a sudden drop in Life Points. "We're not done yet! A monster with Shalamayne's effect can attack twice per turn! Blademaster, attack that Cyber End Dragon a second time!" The process repeated, with Blademaster growing to colossal proportions before charging forth and slamming both the sword and axe in its hands down upon the helpless Cyber End Dragon.

 

Ulfric: 1000 -> -13000

 

"Thank you for your time," Valeria politely said, waving off her dumbfounded opponent as the icy Action Field around them dispersed.

[spoiler=Customs Used]Cursed Arms - Frostmourne
Level 1 | DARK | Fiend/Effect | 0 ATK / 0 DEF
You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 Level 2 or higher DARK monster you control; until it is targeted by the effect of another "Cursed Arms" card you own, if it battles an opponent's monster, that monster cannot be destroyed by battle for the rest of this turn, and its ATK becomes 0 after damage calculation.

Cursed Arms - Sulfuras
Level 2 | DARK | Fiend/Effect | 0 ATK / 0 DEF
You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 Level 3 or higher DARK monster you control; until it is targeted by the effect of another "Cursed Arms" card you own, if it destroys an opponent's monster by battle: You can destroy 1 Spell/Trap card on the field.

Cursed Arms - Shalamayne
Level 3 | DARK | Fiend/Effect | 0 ATK / 0 DEF
You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 Level 4 or higher DARK monster you control; until it is targeted by the effect of another "Cursed Arms" card you own, it can make a second attack during each of your Battle Phases.

Cursed Arms - Thunderfury
Level 4 | DARK | Fiend/Effect | 0 ATK / 0 DEF
You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 Level 5 or higher DARK monster you control; until it is targeted by the effect of another "Cursed Arms" card you own, at the start of your Battle Phase: You can reduce that monster's ATK by half until the End Phase, and if you do, it can attack your opponent directly this turn.

Cursed Arms - Gorehowl
Level 5 | DARK | Fiend/Effect | 0 ATK / 0 DEF
You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 Level 6 or higher DARK monster you control; until it is targeted by the effect of another "Cursed Arms" card you own, if it attacks or is attacked, it gains ATK equal to the difference between its current ATK and the ATK of the opposing monster until the end of the Battle Phase.

Cursed Arms - Ashbringer
Level 6 | DARK | Fiend/Effect | 0 ATK / 0 DEF
You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 Level 7 or higher DARK monster you control; until it is targeted by the effect of another "Cursed Arms" card you own, if it destroys an opponent's monster by battle, that monster is banished instead of being sent to the Graveyard.

Cursed Arms - Doomhammer
Level 7 | DARK | Fiend/Effect | 0 ATK / 0 DEF
You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 Level 8 or higher DARK monster you control; until it is targeted by the effect of another "Cursed Arms" card you own, while it is face-up on the field, your opponent cannot activate cards or effects during the Battle Phase.

Cursed Armsman's Shieldmaiden
Level 1 | DARK | Warrior/Effect | 100 ATK / 100 DEF
If this card is Summoned, you can reveal 1 Level 2 or higher "Cursed Armsman" monster in your hand; send 1 "Cursed Arms" monster with a lower Level than the revealed monster's from your Deck to the Graveyard, and if you do, Special Summon the revealed monster.

Cursed Armsman - The Aristocrat
Level 2 | DARK | Warrior/Effect | 500 ATK / 500 DEF
If there is a Fiend-Type "Cursed Arms" monster in your Graveyard, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. If this card is Summoned, you can discard 1 "Cursed Arms" card; add 1 "Cursed Arms" card from your Deck to your hand. You can only Summon "Cursed Armsman - The Aristocrat" once per turn.

Cursed Armsman - The Iron Maiden
Level 5 | DARK | Warrior/Effect | 2400 ATK / 2000 DEF
If there are 4 or more Fiend-Type "Cursed Arms" monsters in your Graveyard, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. Up to twice per turn, if another monster(s) is Summoned: You can send 1 "Cursed Arms" card from your Deck to the Graveyard. You can only control 1 "Cursed Armsman - The Iron Maiden".

Cursed Armsman - Dreaded Blademaster
Level 9 | DARK | Warrior/Effect | 3500 ATK / 3500 DEF
Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Can only be Special Summoned from your hand while there are 7 or more Fiend-Type "Cursed Arms" monsters with different names in your Graveyard. When this card is Summoned: Target up to 5 Fiend-Type "Cursed Arms" monsters in your Graveyard; equip those targets to this card, and if you do, treat this card as having gained the effects provided by the activated effects of any of its equipped monsters.

 

---

[Alaina]

As the groups were getting ready to leave the area, after getting over the shock of people literally falling from nowhere, the duo was stopped on their way out the door. With Blues telling Daichi that he would have to go to the Spirit World, she already knew how he was going to take this. When he, understandably, seemed to lash out against Blues, the CEO gave a look that gave off such intensity it would stop even a runaway car, preventing her from even attempting to aid Daichi's case. As he seemed defeated, he soon got over it, looking to the girl and wish her luck. Shaking the hand he offered out she said, "don't worry, I'll be sure to show Cradle just what I've got. So I won't dream of losing." Looking to the rest of the tournament crew she said, "that goes for the rest of us right?" With that, she waved to Daichi saying, "good luck with the spirit world," and looking to the tournament crew saying, "and I'll be sure to see all of you in the main event." With that, the girl exited the scene and went back to Cradle. 
 
Before the preliminaries had started, Furiko had simply been meandering about, watching local duels that had been going about. She had always wanted to see different styles of entertainment and dueling, though at the moment it was more to kill time then anything else. She knew that in order to provide entertainment to all kinds of people she would have to become the duel king. In order to do that, she would need to get much stronger than she was now, and would need to shine brighter than any of the lights that littered this city. Yet, she had already struggled against a single psychic duelist, which made her only wonder what kind of power those that used the Wicked Gods were carrying. The thought of it did make her worry slightly, yet she was able to steel her nerves, looking at her Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon card. It didn't matter what power they had, she knew she could surpass it. All she needed to do was continuing to bare her soul in each duel, and evolve with each passing match. If she simply did her best and got better each time than, arduous as it may be, she wouldn't just become a duel king. She'd become the King. One that could make people across the world smile, no matter of where or who they were. "Maybe I should give you a name too," she said, looking pensively at the dragon card. Chuckling a bit she said,"nah. Alright, come on boy, we got ourselves a tournament to win." With that, she holstered the card, and walked forward towards dealing with the preliminaries. 
 
While her first two matches had been against people she recognized, they still didn't go by without much incident. The third one was a bit different than the rest though. As she went to the designated arena, the crowds all around looking in anticipation for the finals of this qualifier section, Furiko saw her opponent walk forward. A man with white hair, adorned entirely in blue apparel walked forward, and looked to her. With a wave he said, "oh are you my opponent for today? Well then, I hope you can help put on a dazzling performance."
 
Looking at him curiously she said, "yeah, lets." Furiko knew a good deal of people, in fact most of the people from Cradle who attended tournaments consistently tended to know each other due to just seeing each other so often. Yet she was sure she had never seen this man before in her life. So she couldn't help but ask,"excuse me but, are you new to Cradle?"
 
Pointing to himself, his smiling face looking as if he had forgotten something important.as he said, "oh yes. I had an old acquaintance who lives in the Greater Domino Area and hearing of this tournament, I couldn't help but want to partake in it myself. Alas, my friend is likely in Hearthome, but I could not resist the allure of Cradle, and thus I am here." He was certainly an interesting individual, and he definitely seemed to fit right in with the whole crowd that Cradle attracted in general. Yet, she could tell just by looking at him, he was likely not just some shallow man masquerading as an entertainer. 
 
As she got her duel disk ready, as he did as well, a female voice echoed across the entire arena, as she spoke into the microphone. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Here we are at the Cradle Fortune Cup Preliminaries with I, Ishihara, as your commentator to give you the run down between these two duelists gunning for a spot in the Fortune Cup's maaaaaiiiiiin event! In this corner over there," over where? "We have long time regular in Cradle and fedora wearing pendulum user, Hoshizora Furiko! And in the opposite corner," they weren't even in corners to begin with. "We have the man who has a thing for the color blue and appeared right out of it, Arud Vann!" Vann waved to the cheering crowd, as Furiko wore her own smile and looked around her. "Now without further ado let's have both participants...DUEL!" 
 

Turn 1

 

Putting one hand behind his back and one hand forward, Vann bowed as he said, "I shall take the first turn." Standing back upright he took three cards from his hand before placing them onto his disk. "First I shall set two cards face down and set one monster in defense position. With that, I shall end my turn." Gesturing to his opponent with an expecting look on his face he said, "now show me how you will shine, Furiko." 
 

Turn 2

 
With a smirk forming across her own face she said, "gladly. Draw!" Looking at her cards she said,"alright, I set the Scale 1 Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon and the Scale 8 Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon."As she placed both cards into her pendulum zone, the pink and green dragon had appeared on opposite sides of Furiko before she continued. "Next, I summon Performapal Skullcrobat Joker and with its effect, I can add one Odd-Eyes, Magician or Performapal pendulum monster from my deck to my hand. And so I choose, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon." As the clown man appeared, he took off his hat, rummaging through it only to pull out a card that he then tossed to Furiko. 
 
"Now then, sway pendulum of my soul and dance across the aether. Pendulum Summon!" With that, a rift appeared above her as a beam of light streaked down from it, crashing into the ground and revealing the vessel inside of it to be Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. "Now Odd-Eyes, attack his face down Monster." With that, the crimson and black flames formed in Odd-Eyes' mouth as  it shot forward towards the man's face down. Flipping up, it was an adolescent looking mermaid girl that was quickly engulfed in flame as it was destroyed.
 
Vann closed his eyes momentarily as a smirk formed across his face. Looking back towards her he said, "when Mermail Abysshilde is sent to the graveyard its effect is activated. I can summon one Mermail monster from my hand, and so I chose Mermail Abysspike." Where the flames were starting to settle down, suddenly a geyser of water shot out as an adult mermaid male with long blond hair appeared from it. "Next, when Abysspike is summoned, I can discard 1 card from my hand to add one Level 3 water monster to my hand. And so I discard Mermail Abyssguinde from my hand and in its place, I add Atlantean Infantry to my hand." As the card went to the graveyard and new one to his hand, another geyser of water erupted next to Abysspike, with Abysshilde shooting out from it. While Furiko look confused by the appearance again, Vann simply said, "ah right, when Abyssguinde is sent from my hand to the grave, I can special summon one Mermail monster from my graveyard other than herself. And so, I chose Hilde." 
 
Seeming to not be outwardly phased, Furiko kept her poker face up as she said, "hm, well int that case, I attack Abysshilde with Skullcrobat Joker." With that, the jester monster pulled out a bunch of bowling pins, starting to juggle them before pelting the mermaid girl with them. With that, she said, "I set 1 card face down and end my turn."
 

Turn 3

 
"Well you'll need to shine brighter than that to win here Furiko," he seemed to be shaking head as he said, "my turn, draw!" Taking the first card he played, "first, I summon Deep Sea Diva." A pale Naga like creature appeared on the field, letting out a small song as water seemed to bubble next to it. "When this card is summoned, I can then summon one level 3 or lower Sea-Serpent monster from my deck. And so, I special summon another Atlantean Marksman." From the water burst forth a small fish man with a large crossbow in hand. "Now with everything set up, let's have the show begin proper." 
 
The naga turned into two green rings as the merman turned into four floating orbs of light in it. Lightning sparking between it he said, "scaled beast of the ocean depths, ravage those that would carelessly pass through your waters. Synchro Summon! Arise, Level 6, Coral Dragon!" In a flash of light, the orbs and rings had turned into a large red scaled dragon like creature, with two fin like wings in front of it, letting out a bestial roar. "Next, with Coral Dragon's effect I can discard one card from my hand and destroy one card you control. Furthermore, because I'm using Atlantean Infantry to use this effect, I can target one face up card you control and destroy it as well. And so, I choose Odd-Eyes Mirage and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Sundering Tide!" As he yelled out the effect's name, the dragon devoured a fish man armed with two large shield before glowing a deep blue color. Letting out a roar, a large torrent of water erupted from it, destroying both dragons. 
 
As the crowd let out an applause at Vann's monsters effect he said, "but this is only really the beginning. Now, Coral Dragon attack Skullcrobat Joker. Beaching Bite!" The dragon lunged forward at the joker, chomping down on it and destroying it. 
 

Furiko LP 8000---->7400

 

"Now then, with your field empty, Atlantean Marksman attacks you directly." The fish man loaded its crossbow, taking aim and firing at Furiko, her grimacing a bit as the solid vision bolt struck at her. 
 

Furiko LP  7400----->6000

 

"This act of the show isn't finished quite yet, though. When Marksman deals damage to my opponent, I can summon a level 4 or lower Sea-Serpent Monster from my deck. And I choose, Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince." With that, bursting from a torrent of water next to Marksman was a young looking male clad in blue and wielding a trident. "Now for one final scene, Neptabyss attacks you directly." The prince lunged forward, striking Furiko with a trident, causing her to be pushed back a bit.
 

Furiko LP 6000---->5200

 

"Now that the battle is done, I shall use Neptabyss's effect. By sending one atlantean monster from my deck to my grave, I can add one level 4 or lower atlantean from my deck to my hand. And so I send I send Atlantean Dragoon to the grave." As he declared this, Neptabyss struck his trident to the ground, causing a ripple to appear in the ground and two bubbles to come up with it. "Next, because Atlantean Dragoon was sent to my grave from Neptabyss's effect, I can add an atlantean monster from grave to my hand. And so, I add both Atlantean Infantry and Atlantean Tridon to my hand." With the bubbles floating over to him, they burst into two cards that Vann caught. "And with that, this act is finally over. The stage is now yours Furiko," he said he did a slight bow to her. 
 
"Whoooa," the commentator announced. "In just one turn Vann has managed to rip apart Furiko's field and fill his own! How will Furiko react to th-" 
 
"The act isn't over just yet." Furiko looked up at Vann, her eyes full of confidence with a similarly confident smile on her face. "So, why don't you say we end it on a cliffhanger then?"
 
"Oh?" Vann raised an eyebrow, intrigued. 
 
"You aren't the only one who can summon during the opponent's turn after all." As she said this, Persona Dragon appeared to be out of its pendulum zone, floating next to Furiko."During the end phase of a turn that an Odd-Eyes monster was destroyed, I can special summon Persona Dragon from my Pendulum Zone and replace it with another Odd-Eyes from my Extra Deck." In the pendulum zone that Persona had inhabited, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon had taken its place."Now, during the end phase I can destroy Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and add one Pendulum Monster with 1500 or less attack from my deck to my hand. And so, I choose Tune Magician." As the dragon blew itself up, a new card appeared in her hand. 
 
The smile on Vann's face grew slightly as he said, "how interesting. Well, don't keep me waiting Furiko, let's see your performance next." 

[Yui]

---

FORTUNE CUP: PRELIMINARY DUELS, HEARTHOME BRANCH

As the two duelists stepped onto the dueling field opposite one another, each bowed politely before the other. "Iwaki, eh?" Raiko asked. "Any relation to--"

 

"No." Nodding to her opponent, Hiromi replied with "You own that steadfast dojo, right? It so happens my deck also has a defensive playstyle. Let's see whose defenses hold out better, shall we?"

 

"Sounds good to me." Pulling forth the Action Field Card given to her by the tournament arrangers to use for the duel, Raiko exclaimed "Activate Action Field: Shrine of Solitude!" The stadium around them faded behind the Solid Vision field, as landscapes and details came into shape. Only catch being that there wasn't much detail to be had. All around the two was a bleak, gray, desolate wasteland. The only thing worth noting in the plain landscape around the two - looking rather out of place - was a single Shinto shrine off on the right, not obstructing either duelist's vision of the other. "They said you're supposed to have the first turn, so have at it."

 

"Understood."

 

 

Turn 1: Hiromi - 8000 / Raiko - 8000

 

"My turn. Draw!" Hiromi glanced over her hand, and wasted no time with her first choice of moves. "I summon Sorahone Kyonshi!" In front of Hiromi, a ghoulish creature clad in Chinese garb with a large talisman concealing its face entered the battlefield, letting loose a blood-curdling shriek as it appeared. "Kyonshi's effect activates! I special summon Sorahone Nukekubi from my hand in Defense Position!" Next to the Kyonshi, the floating head of a woman appeared, laughing a haughty laugh as it appeared. "Nukekubi's effect activates! By discarding one card, I can add a Sorahone card from the deck to my hand! I discard Sorahone Kuchisake, then add Sorahone Mortuary from the deck to my hand, and activate it!" Behind Hiromi, a small mausoleum erected from the ground beneath the duelists' feet, before she declared "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Nukekubi: Level 2 - WIND - Zombie/Effect - 800/600

Kyonshi: Level 3 - WIND - Zombie/Effect - 1900/400

 

Turn 2: Hiromi - 8000 / Raiko  - 8000

 

"My turn! Draw!" Without skipping a beat, the Steadfast Duelist exclaimed "I summon Superheavy Samurai Magnet!" In front of Raiko, a large blue robot with plus and minus signs on the ends of its stub hands appeared. "Then I activate its effect, allowing me to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Superheavy Samurai from my hand, then switch Magnet to Defense Position! I Special Summon Superheavy Samurai Flutist from my hand, then activate its effect! By tributing Flutist, I can Special Summon any Superheavy Samurai monster from my hand!" As the bigger robot switched to a defensive position, a smaller one - with oddly-shaped hands and fingers, carrying a shakuhachi - appeared next to its parter. Just as quickly as the smaller robot appeared, however, it was about to disappear. The smaller robot blew firmly into its instrument, releasing a single, powerful note. The Flutist began to fade away, but in its place, the silhouette of a much larget machine began to appear. "I summon Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei in Defense Position!"

Magnet: Level 4 - EARTH - Machine/Effect - 900/1900

Benkei: Level 8 - EARTH - Machine/Effect - 1000/3500

 

Where once the Flutist stood, a massive machine appeared, equipped with a large, two-pronged naginata, and assuming a defensive stance. "Big Benkei allows all of my Superheavy Samurai monsters to attack while in Defense Position. Battle! First, I attack Sorahone Kyonshi with Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei!" The giant of a machine slammed the hilt of its weapon into the ground with force to spare, shaking the ground and creating a fissure starting at the weapon, spreading toward Hiromi's monsters.

 

"When a Sorahone monster is targeted for an attack, I can activate the trap card Sorahone Digging Fusion! Now I can Fusion Summon using the attack target and at least one Sorahone monster in my hand, then force your monster to attack it. I fuse my Sorahone Kyonshi and the Sorahone Akago in my hand to summon Sorahone Kodama in Defense Position!" The ground beneath Kyonshi's feet began to crack, when suddenly, a large tree shot up from the ground, swallowing up the zombie-like creature and standing defiantly in the wake of Benkei's incoming fissure.

Kodama: Level 6 - WIND - Zombie/Fusion/Effect - 2200/3000

 

"Now I activate the effect of Sorahone Kodama! By banishing a Sorahone monster from my Graveyard, I can prevent one of my monsters from being destroyed by battle this turn. I banish Sorahone Kuchisake to protect Sorahone Kodama!"

 

"Not too shabby," Raiko commented, rather impressed with the sudden turn of events. She watched with surprise as Benkei's fissure stopped at the roots of Hiromi's Kodama, before the ground closed itself back up.

 

"In addition, the effect of Sorahone Kuchisake is activated. If it is banished, I can destroy one monster on the field, and I select Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei!"

 

"Oh no you don't!" Raiko countered once the ghastly image of a slit-mouthed woman - baring horrific fangs - appeared. "I activate the effect of Superheavy Samurai Soulfire Suit in my hand! By discarding it, one Defense Position Superheavy Samurai monster can't be destroyed until the end of this turn, and I select Benkei!" A cuirass of fire materialized around Raiko's Benkei as the spirit of Hiromi's monster flew forth, absorbing the bite of its vicious fangs without so much as a scratch to show for the incident. "Now then...I attack Sorahone Nukekubi with Superheavy Samurai Magnet!" The relatively-small blue robot put its stubs of hands together, causing lightning to crackle around them. The arcs of electricity spread, soon covering the robot's entire body, before it separated its hands and firmly shoved them forward, directing all of the charged-up electricity forward with them, straight toward the floating head, which exploded into little Solid Vision particles upon impact. "I end my turn."

 

"During the End Phase, Sorahone Kodama returns to the Extra Deck, and I can Special Summon up to two banished Sorahone monsters. I summon my banished Sorahone Kuchisake in Defense Position!" The tree standing before the two descended back into the ground, but in its place now stood a girl. At first glance, she was rather ordinary - quite beautiful, in fact - but a quick glance at her face revealed something much more sinister. Her mouth was a large slit that ran across her entire face, and was full of razor-sharp fangs. "Kuchisake's effect activates, forcing me to discard one card, then draw one card. However, since I don't have a card to discard, I just get to skip that part and draw one card."

Kuchisake: Level 4 - WIND - Zombie/Effect - 2000/1600

 

Turn 3: Hiromi - 8000 / Raiko - 8000

 

"My turn. Draw!" Looking at the two cards that now made up her hand, Hiromi nodded to herself. "I activate the spell card Dark Hole, destroying all monsters on the field." A black hole emerged between the duelists, pulling in and crushing Hiromi's Kuchisake and Raiko's duo of Magnet and Benkei. "You're wide open," she smirked.

 

"But so are you. What's the point of using that over a card that won't destroy your own monsters?"

 

"It lets me use this card! While I control no monsters, I can activate my face-down Quick-Play Spell: Forced Sorahone Fusion! It's unfortunate that I can only summon Sorahone monsters for the rest of this turn, but this lets me use monsters straight from my Deck as Fusion Materials! I fuse from my Deck, Sorahone Kuchisake, Ayakashi, and Kyonshi, to summon Sorahone Gashadokuro!" A faint rumbling was heard beneath the duelists. Suddenly, a massive skeletal hand, easily the size of either duelist, shot up from the ground, followed by another arm that erupted from the ground. As the two hands set themselves on the ground with a deep crashing sound, a massive skeleton, bigger even than the Benkei from just moments ago, slowly emerged from beneath. "Next, I activate Gashadokuro's effect! By banishing the Kyonshi I just sent to the Graveyard, I'll make Gashadokuro unable to be targeted or destroyed by card effects this turn. Which in turn activate's Kyonshi's effect, increasing Gashadokuro's attack by 1000!" The chilling shriek of the Kyonshi resounded a second time, as a bloody red aura surrounded the giant skeleton.

Level 8 - WIND - Zombie/Fusion/Effect - 3800/3600

 

"Next, I summon Sorahone Karakasa from my hand!" Gently descending from the sky and landing in front of the monster of a skeleton, what would normally look like a harmless umbrella had arrived. However, it didn't take much observation to spot an eye and a tongue on it, as well as a pair of arms. Its handle was a leg too! "Sorahone Karakasa's effect activates, allowing me to summon a Sorahone monster from my hand or Graveyard. I summon Sorahone Kyonshi from my Graveyard, which activates his effect, letting me summon another monster. I choose Sorahone Nukekubi, causing HIS effect to activate!" In short time, standing near the umbrella monster, the familiar shrieking zombie-man and haughty head of a woman appeared. Hiromi unceremoniously discarded the one card in her hand, and revealed the one she pulled from the deck to Raiko, stating "I add Sorahone Fusion to my hand!"

 

"That's quite a field."

 

BGM

 

"There's still more. I activate the spell Sorahone Fusion, allowing me to Fusion Summon a monster using monsters I control as the materials, or by banishing a monster from my Graveyard. I use the Nukekubi I control and the Ayakashi in my Graveyard to summon Sorahone Kodama again, this time in Attack Position!" The disembodied head was soon met with the spectral image of a nightmarish sea serpent. The serpent and head then flew and collided into one another, becoming a glowing white orb. The orb flew to the ground next to the oversized skeleton, prompting the great tree from earlier to shoot forth from the ground, its pink petals in full bloom.

Level 6 - WIND - Zombie/Fusion/Effect - 2200/3000

 

"I then activate the effect of Sorahone Kodama, banishing Nukekubi to make itself indestructible by battle, and also triggering Nukekubi's effect. If it gets banished, I can Special Summon it! I summon Sorahone Nukekubi in Attack Position, and immediately use the effect of Sorahone Mortuary! I can Fusion Summon a Sorahone monster by using monsters I control as materials. I fuse Nukekubi, Kyonshi, and Karakasa to make a second Gashadokuro!"

 

The doors of the mausoleum behind Hiromi opened wide, sucking in the three monsters like a vacuum, and shutting themselves once the monsters were in. A bright glow emanated from the building, which moved down into the ground beneath it. The glow crept along the ground, before stopping at the unoccupied side of the Kodama, before the glow increased in size. Before long, a second - just as massive - skeleton emerged from the ground, staring intently at Raiko.

Level 8 - WIND - Zombie/Fusion/Effect - 2800/3600

 

"Battle! I'll start with a direct attack from the bigger Gashadokuro! Flatten her." The red-glowing skeleton reached out with a single colossal arm, reaching Raiko all the way from its position as its hand came down with might and mass alike. Raiko raised her Duel Disk up to block the hand, planting herself into the ground with all her might as her Life Points began to drop down before the skeleton got the better of her for just a moment, causing her to fall into the ground as deep as her knees.

 

Raiko: 8000 -> 4800

 

"When I take Battle Damage, I can Special Summon Superheavy Samurai Prepped Defense from my hand, and he can't be destroyed this turn!" As Raiko made her statement, she stepped out of the small holes in the ground and placed her card down, conjuring forth the image of a bulky-looking green robot, standing boldly between Hiromi's monsters and Raiko.

Prepped Defense: Level 3 - EARTH - Machine/Effect - 100/2100

 

"I activate the effect of my second Gashadokuro! By banishing Karakasa, I'll render it unable to be destroyed or targeted by card effects, and triggere Karakasa's effect! By decreasing my second Gashadokuro's ATK by half, it can attack directly!" A blue aura surrounded the second Gashadokuro, and it seemed to be lighter.

Gashadokuro: 2800 -> 1400

 

"I attack directly with the second Gashadokuro!" The blue-glowing skeleton reached out toward Raiko, its giant arm of bone passing over Raiko's monster entirely as it pressed down on her. This one was much easier to ward off than the other one, but there was nothing Raiko could do about her decreased Life Points.

 

Raiko: 4800 -> 3400

 

"I end my turn. Sadly, my Fusion Monsters must return to their Extra Deck now, but I'll be able to summon back Karakasa and Kyonshi, both in Defense Position!" As the two skeletons and the tree returned to the ground below them, the pair of shrieking zombie and umbrella monster returned to the field, both in a defensive stance as they glared at Raiko's monster, also in a defensive stance. "Your move, Steadfast Dojo owner."

---

[Alaina]

 

Turn 4

 

"My turn, draw!" With the look of confidence still in her face she played her first card of the turn. "First, I activate Amazing Pendulum. While I have no cards in my pendulum zones, I can add two Pendulum Magician monsters from my deck to my hand. And so I add Beast Blood Magician and Dragon Descend Magician from deck to my hand."As the two cards shot out from her deck, she added them to her hand. "Now, I set the scales with my Scale 8 Tune Magician and Scale 1 Beast Blood Magician." As the two cards were placed in their zones and the rainbow words of PENDULUM lit in her disk once again, a young pink haired looking female appeared in one side with an old brown haired man, wearing a large bear pelt, appeared in the other zone.
 
"Now then with my scales set, I can pendulum summon monsters between levels 2 and 7, so let's put my ensemble onto the stage this time. I summon, Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Performapal Skullcrobat Joker and Descend Dragon Magician."A hole in the sky opened once again as four streaks of light rained down from them, bringing forth the monsters alongside them.  
 
"Uwaaahhh!" The commentator's voice rang out again. "In just a single moment, Furiko has gone from having an empty field to one almost completely filled!"
 
Despite this, Vann's face had not changed from its calm, seemingly expecting more. "The setup for the next act isn't over just yet though. With the effect of Beast Blood Magician, while I control another Magician or Odd-Eyes monster in my pendulum zone, I can turn one monster on the field's attribute to Beast. And so, I choose Performapal Skullcrobat Joker."As she said this, the shaman looking man channeled an orb of green energy in his hand, before tossing it to the joker. "Next, when I have a Beast and Dark Dragon monster on the field, I can tribute both of them to fusion summon for a monster." As the joker and Persona Dragon started to merge together she chanted, "Dragon of the self and Jester to the pendulum, merge together and form a beast that tramples over all! Fusion Summon, Roar! Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"
 
As the fusion had finished, the feral looking dragon took center stage among the other monsters. "Now, let's move onto the main event. Beast-Eyes attack Coral Dragon. Feral Spiral Stream!"Letting loose a gout of orange flame from its mouth, the Coral Dragon was engulfed in, being destroyed. 

 

Vann LP 8000---->7400

 

As the explosion caused a gust of wind to blow into Vann, a wave of leftover flame came at him as well. "Next, when Beast-Eyes destroys a monster by battle, I can inflict damage equal to the Beast-Type fusion's attack to you. Which means, 1800 more points of damage." The flames fully engulfed Vann, dealing more damage to him. 
 
As the flames passed, Vann then said, "marvelous, but not quite enough yet. When Coral Dragon is destroyed, I can draw 1 card. Furthermore, I activate my trap card Torrential Reborn. When a Water Type monster is destroyed, I can summon it from my graveyard and deal 500 damage for each monster summoned this way. Come back to the stage Coral Dragon!" As the trap resolved, a large wave of water blew past the flames, striking into Furiko.
 

Furiko LP 5000---->4500

 

"Apologies for the interruption, but please, continue."
 
"Alright, Odd-Eyes," the dragon roared in response, the girl smirking as she said, "let's have you take down that dragon again. Spiral Strike Burst!"The dragon let loose its torrent of flames again, destroying the recently revived Coral Dragon. "Furthermore, any battle damage taken from Odd-Eyes is doubled."
 

Vann LP 5600---->5400

 

"Now, to put the curtain down on my turn, I'll attack Neptabyss with Descent Dragon Magician. Dragonfire Blaze!"The magician twirled its staff about before letting loose a dragon shaped flame that struck the Atlantean Prince.

 

Vann LP 5400---->3800

"And now, I end my -"

"I think I'll take a page from your book and leave you on a cliffhanger here," Vann interrupted. "I activate Abyss-Sphere. When this card is activated I can special summon one Mermail monster from my deck to my field, however its effects are negated. And so, I summon Mermail Abysslinde. Furthermore, during the end phase, the card summoned by Abyss-sphere is destroyed." Just as soon as the pale mermaid creature had appeared, so too had it seemed to be enveloped in a large sphere of water, disappearing entirely. "But, my actor leaves with a parting gift, for when Abysslinde is destroyed I can special summon one Mermail monster from my deck. So come forth Mermail Abyssturge."
 
In another erupting splash of water, an armored merman wielding a spear had appeared in place of the recently destroyed mermaid. "Next, when Abyssturge is summoned I can send one monster in my hand to the graveyard, to target one level 3 or lower monster in my graveyard and add it to my hand. And so, I discard Atlantean Infantry and then place Infantry back in my hand. However, when Atlantean Infantry is sent to the graveyard due to a water monster's effect, I can destroy one face up card you control. In this case, I shall get rid of Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon." The merman charged his spear with a blue energy before throwing it straight at the dragon, destroying it instantly, leaving Furiko a bit shocked at the turn of events. "Now that I have felled one beast, it is time to fell the rest. My turn, Draw!"

Turn 5

 

"Now, I'll introduce the first major character to this scene, By discarding two water monsters from my hand, I can summon Mermail Abyssmegalo from my hand. Furthermore, when summoned this way, I can add one Abyss spell or trap to my hand, and so I choose Abyss-Scale of the Kraken. Furthermore, because Abyssguinde was sent from my hand to the graveyard, I can summon one Mermail monster from my graveyard to the field. And so I choose Abysspike!" As the giant crimson shark clad in golden armor, wielding a large spiked crescent blade appeared, soon enough the blond haired merman from earlier appeared alongside it. "And because Infantry was used as cost to summon Abyssmegalo, I can destroy one face up card you control, Descend Dragon Magician."
 
As the sharks blade charged with blue energy, sending it straight towards the magician, Furiko interceded. "I activate my trap card, Wonder XYZ. With it, I can use the two monsters I control as XYZ materials and XYZ summon." As the blade of energy was about to strike the magician, it faded into a swirl of energy, joining Odd-Eyes into the overlay network. "Frozen heart and wall of ice, come forth and rend all offense. XYZ Summon, Rank 7. Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon!" With that, the dragon of dichromatic eyes with crystals of ice coating its entire body had been summoned, two golden orbs orbiting it. 
 
Giving a small clap, Vann said, "absolutely wonderful. Yet, this act won't end with just that. To bring out my next performer, I need to bring in someone smaller first. And so, I summon Atlantean Tridon." As the card was played, a small sea serpent with a trident tail appeared on the field. "Next, I tribute both it and atlantean marksman in order to summon my second main performer from my deck. Poseidra, The Atlantean Dragon!"  As the small serpent and fish archer vanished, a much larger serpent dragon appeared in its place. "Furthermore, because it was summoned via Tridon's effect, all of your monsters lose 300 attack points. But there's still one more person to call to the stage before things can get started." 
 
As the two level 4 Mermails turned into swirls of blue energy, merging together, he said, "I overlay my level 4 Abyssturge and Abysspike. Terror of the deep and harbinger of storms, tear through all currents. XYZ Summon, Rank 4. Bahamut Shark!" In a flash of blue light, the large winged shark had appeared, two orbs of light orbiting it as well. "Now, all that's left is to add a prop as well. I activate Abyss-Scale of the Kraken and equip it to Abyssmegalo. Now, let us begin. I attack Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon with Bahamut Shark. Torrential Rend!" 
 
As the dragon sharks claws were coated in pressurized water, lunging at the frozen dragon, Furiko said, "I activate Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon's effect. By detaching one overlay unit I can negate one attack. Absolute Power Stop," as she declared the effects name, one of the orbiting lights absorbed into the dragon, creating a small blizzard around it, absorbing Bahamut Shark's attack. "Next, I can special summon one Odd-Eyes monster in my graveyard after the effect resolves, and so I bring back to the stage, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon." With that, the dragon had appeared back onto the field, looking to the rest of the creatures. 
 
"Oho, wonderful response, yet still not enough. Abyssmegalo, attack Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon." As the shark charged at the dragon, its blade swept across the body destroying the dragon instantly. 

 

Furiko LP 4500---->4200

 

Recovering from the attack, Furiko said,"when Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon is destroyed I activate its effect, allowing me to summon one Odd-Eyes monster from my extra deck."
 
"Not quite," Vann interjected. "I activate Abyss-scale of the Kraken's effect. When a monster's effect is activated I can destroy this card and negate that effect." As the equip spell left the field, Furiko's face had a look of surprise as Absolute's effect was stopped. "Sorry, but with no further interruptions, I believe I have one last attack to make. Poseidra, attack Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Ocean King's Deluge!" Starting to bring in a large collection of energy to its mouth, the beast let loose a large torrent of water, striking Odd-Eyes and destroying it. 
 

Furiko LP 4200---->3900

 

"Now, to set the stage for our final act. I use my Level 7 Poseidra and Level 7 Abyssmegalo to overlay. Emperor of the seas, ascended from untamed beasts, take your rightful throne. XYZ Summon! Rule the depths! Rank 7, Mermail Abyssgaios!" As the two had disappeared into the overlay network, a large man with an equally large beard and holding a golden trident appeared in place of them. "Next, I activate Bahamut Shark's effect. By detaching one material I can summon one Rank 3 or lower Water XYZ monster from my extra deck. And, I summon Mermail Abyssprite in defense mode." As the man's field was now filled with three XYZ monsters he looked to Furiko saying, "this is my grandest display to offer you right now. Either you will be able to overcome it or be overtaken by it. So show me young Furiko, show me what you can do." 
 

 

Turn 6

 

While the field looked dire, she knew she could still win here. While she wasn't strong enough like the first king to simply have one monster that she could use to remain undefeated against her opponents, she was always able to adapt. Her strength lied in always being able to mold her soul into whatever could win in the situation. In order to constantly keep the crowd entertained, being able to evolve past whatever obstacle was in her way. As she took one deep breath, she said, "my turn, draw!" Looking at the card, she knew just how to win now. 
 
With her expression of confidence on her face, the girl declared, "using the already set scales, I pendulum summon, Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon, Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Skullcrobat Joker. Return my monsters!" With that, the hole of light opened once more, calling all of her monsters down from it and bringing them back to the field. "Next, I activate Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon's effect. I can target one monster special summoned from the extra deck and negate its effect, so of course, I choose Mermail Abyssgaios!"
 
As Persona Dragon attempted to subdue the ruler of the depths, Vann said, "hah, wonderful start, but I activate Abyssgaios's effect. Once per turn, I can detach one XYZ material from it and negate the effects of all monsters with attack lower than it, which in your case, is all of your monsters. Sovereignty of the Sea!" As the XYZ material was absorbed into Abyssgaios, the ruler struck the butt of his trident to the ground, sending out a large pulse of golden energy, stopping Persona's effect. 
 
"Next, I activate my spell card, Pendulum Fusion. With it, I can use monsters on my field as well as in my pendulum zone to fusion summon. So, I'll use my level 7 Beast Blood Magician and Level 7 Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Sorcerer of primal magics and dragon of dichromatic eyes, merge together to form true arcane power. Fusion Summon! Level 8, Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Furthermore, because Beast Blood Magician was sent to my extra deck, Tune Magician increases the attack of all of my monsters by 100."
 
As the runic dragon was called forth to the field, Vann stated, "even better! To bring such a beast out like that even now, absolutely wonderful. Yet even that is not enough. So long as Abyssgaios has material, monsters of level 5 or higher cannot attack. So, what is your answer Furiko?" 
 
Upon hearing this, Furiko only answered with a smirk. "This." Taking the last card in her hand she said, "I summon Xiangsheng Magician. Next, I activate its effect, allowing me to target one monster I control and make its attack equal to that. And so I choose Rune-Eyes." With that, the pink haired archer magician had a blue aura glow around them as their attack raised to 3100. "Now then, with a monster with more attack than Abyssgaios and less than level 5, the performance is coming to its end. I attack with Xiangsheng magician!" The pink haired magician charged their arrow with the blue energy swirling around them, firing it at the large ocean ruler, destroying him in one fell swoop.
 
"Because of Xiangshen magician's effect, though, you take no battle damage from attacks with this card. However, with Abyssgaios no longer on the field Rune-Eyes is free to attack. Go, Arcane Spiral Burst!" With that, the the dragon gathered a large swirl of blue energy in its mouth, before firing it off towards Bahamut Shark, destroying it instantly. 
 

Vann LP 3800---->3300

 

"Because Rune-Eyes was summoned with a level 7 monster as its spellcaster material, it can make up to three attacks this turn. Go, attack Abysspirte!"Similarly to what happened against Bahamut Shark, Abyssprite was destroyed by a torrent of arcane energy from Rune-Eyes. 
 
"When Abyssprite is destroyed I can special summon 1 Mermail monster from my graveyard. And so, I summon Abysslinde in defense mode."
 
"That won't be enough though. Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon, attack Abysslinde."
 
As the dragon destroyed the mermaild monster Vann stated, "when Abysslinde is destroyed I can summon one Mermail Monster from my deck. Come forth, Mermail Abysslead." Appearing in attack position, a much larger armored shark than the one before had come forth, letting out a roar.
 
"With my third and final attack on Rune-Eyes, I attack Mermail Abysslead. Runic Spiral Burst!" The dragon let out another roar, firing off its arcane flare and completely destroying the shark. 
 

Vann LP 3300--->2900

 

"Now, it's over Vann. Performapal Skullcrobat Joker and Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon, attack him directly."With the last two attacks going through, Vann had no more to defend himself against the onslaught with,simply accepting the attacks and letting his life points reach zero.
 

Vann LP 2900--->0

 

With that, the crowd roared in applause at the victory just pulled off. "I can't believe it folks! In one fell swoop, Furiko had managed to bring down all of Vann's field and win herself the duel. Well I hope you enjoyed yourself today folks, I know I did. Sorry I couldn't have my co-commentator here, but I'm sure they were off having fun elsewhere. Anyway, for now, this is Ishihara signing off and I hope to see you all at the main event of the Fortune Cup in Dominooooo Ciiittttyyyy!" 
 
Despite having lost, Vann still had a smile across his face as he walked over to the girl. Extending out a hand he said, "that was a spectacular performance young Furiko. I can see now that coming to this city was the right choice after all." 
 
Letting out a large sigh of relief, the girl then shook the man's hand saying,"thanks. You didn't make it all that easy for a win though, so I hope to be seeing you around again after all this."
 
Letting out a bit of a chuckle, the man started to walk away saying, "one can only hope so." With one final wave goodbye he said, "and best of luck in the upcoming tournament."

[Tesability Black]

~Miero's POV~

Miero was somewhat on autopilot as he stirred from his forced unconsciousness, Kuria having to help him out of the jet to get down once they came back to Domino.

 

"Furiko, Yuria, Daichi, Eizar, Kuria, and Yugo have volunteered to do the tournament, while Lyall has volunteered to go to the Spirit World."

"...tournament?" Miero winced at the sound of his own voice hurting him before glaring at the cause of it, now that he recognized the pain from where it was sourced on his head. "What was that for, a$$hole?"

Kuria turned his head towards him, the right eye thankfully the one in view. "Hey, you were panicking and I had to move you ASAP. We wouldn't have gotten the chance to wait for you to calm back down."

A scowl left him, before shaking his head, which he regretted instantly.

 

"Don't worry! I'm sure I'll be amazing asset to the team! Like warning all of you that there is a portal opening on the table at this very second!"

Another echoing with his voice the same thoughts in his head, Miero turned towards the supposed portal...and both dropped his jaw and immediately moved back out of his chair as people fell out of it, eyes widening upon getting a good look at them.

He saw these people on the news!

"You are needed, young one," he suddenly heard while the portal was open, causing Miero to look over his shoulder. "Come to the Spirit World." Miero strained his brain, the feeling that he had heard this voice crawling under his skin. Shaking his head, he opened his eyes in time to see something transparent and circular...red...glowing...

Isn't that the Headless Horseman's pumpkin?! He wasn't sure if anyone else saw it, but it disappeared as soon as the portal closed. ...and was that the Bloody Mary's voice? "...I have to get somethings first...but I will join the Spirit World team."

Trying and failing to grab Kuria's arm and pull him after, Miero was thankful his friend got the hint and followed afterwards.

Miero was driving his green truck back, Kuria sitting in the passenger seat beside him. The pair had, for the most part been quiet. In fact, neither of them really spoke until Miero finally stopped in front of the Tammabukku Public Library within Reffo. "...Kuria," he spoke with a questioning tone as he heard Kuria opened the door, his own gaze still on his steering wheel.

"...yeah?"

"...I want you to promise me something."

A few moments of silence fell before Miero felt the truck slightly shift, followed by the sound of the door closing. "What's up?"

"..." Miero stared at his hands on the steering wheel, covered in white gloves as they were. With a tight squeeze on the wheel, Miero made himself look up towards his long-time friend. "It's been a rough road between then and now. I'm pretty sure that if someone told me back then that we'd be good friends, I'd probably laugh in their face."

He saw Kuria's face contort into a worried look before opening his mouth. "What's wrong?"

A deep sigh fled through his nose before continuing. "There's...there's a chance that whatever caused my father to develop Duel-MPD may end up happening to me because of this. If that happens and I wind up either dead or no longer fit to take care of him...promise me you'll make sure to either take care of Malin yourself or find him a loving home and stay in his life as 'Uncle Kuria'."

"...dude." Kuria looked up towards Miero, the pair looking at each other in the eyes. "You will be alright. You're not going to---"

"Just promise me, dammit." Miero felt momentarily guilty as the fleeting feeling of victory became felt as Kuria instantly shut up upon his words.

"...I promise." Without another word, Kuria left the truck, closing the door behind him before heading for his Duel Runner. Miero didn't turn back on the truck until Kuria rode off towards Turbo City, taking a brief detour towards his home first.

Miero and little Malin lived in a rather small one-story home within Reffo, dark and light browns working together to make for a calming and earthy exterior. Leaving the truck and closing the door behind him, Miero walked into the house after unlocking the door, his sight greeted by the sight of a light-blue sky upon the walls decorated lightly with clouds. Within each room, the walls were painted the same...

...except for one.

Every time he walked into this one toy-filled room, he finds himself feeling as if the Clear Nebula Dragon was around, due to the black paint that was completely riddled with stars, nebulas aplenty, and planets of varying sizes and appearances. "...Malin, I will get you back somehow."

Moving away from the room, he moved over towards his admittedly-sparsely bedroom, a few pictures of a group of three, the three being himself, a woman and an infant, on top of a computer desk. The woman had golden hair that reached down to her waist behind her back and a slender form. Hazel eyes with a hint of gold were clearly visible from the pictures and in most of them, she was smiling gently. In one picture, with her and him at the alter of a wedding, with himself wearing an earthy brown wedding suit and her in a sky blue wedding dress, kissing each other.

"I wish you were still here, Accalia," he muttered to himself before looking towards a golden staff almost his height, two emerald spheres near the top and one near the bottom. Grabbing it near the middle, he spun it in his grip with expertise before landing the point onto the floor without piercing the wood. "Both the deck he used and the staff he would appear to channel his power in duels through. I really am going into this like my father." He looked down towards near the screen of the computer, seeing the picture of a pair, a younger version of himself and an older man in his late 30s that looked similar to him.

His father, a year before he died.

"I wonder if you had a hand in all this," he muttered to himself before finally walking out of there with the staff in hand, locking the door after himself and heading to the truck.

After taking a quick stop to buy himself a new duel disk, Miero arrives back with the right sleeve of the trenchcoat pulled up to allow for the hooking up of the duel disk to it. "I guess it will soon be time to go."

 

 

~Kuria's POV~

Alright, this duelist was beginning to p!ss him off. Clear World could do nothing to Earth monsters like the Qliphorts if none of them are placed into Defense position. And every time he got rid of one or more of them, they reappeared in almost the next turn with a godsdamned Pendulum Summon.

Whomever thought of the mechanic of Pendulum Summoning, Kuria hoped got fired and fast.

"You still haven't touched me, weakling," he heard his wench of an opponent, Kimiko Shiranuis, shout ahead from a considerable distance. "What are you waiting for, an invitation?" Without response, Kuria glanced down at the LP totals at the top of the screen that showed both the field and his current hand.

Kimiko Shiranuis: 7200
Kuria Bijorn: 3700

I'm gonna need to pull off a miracle at this rate, Kuria thought to himself before looking over the field. These Qliphorts come close to hard-countering my deck.

The opponent had three monsters on the field, Qliphort Carrier, Qliphort Helix and Qliphort Disk. She had a pair of face up Continuous Trap Cards, both of them Life Absorbing Machine, to help balance out the cost of the Qliphort Scout that's been used to search for cards. The only reason she had lower than 8000 was because her next Standby hadn't come about to recover the 800 she just spent. She had only one card in hand, which she gained through Qliphort Scout's effect. She also had a face-down she placed down. That card made him the most uneasy, simply due to not knowing what it was.

He only had the Clear World field out, but he had a near full hand. He just needed something to break through this utter b!tch.

"Oh, well. You're lucky I just used my Attack Phase for the turn, for I have one more monster to have enter the field with." Kuria gulped quietly as the three monsters disappeared from her side. "I Tribute Qliphort Carrier, Qliphort Helix and Qliphort Disk to summon Apoqliphort Skybase!"

A shadow fell over his opponent, a large one, as a flying mechanical fortress emerged from the sky. He could see the shell designs that decorated most of the other Qli monsters around the bottom edges. "Your turn, peasant! Skip your turn and I'll make this quick for you!"

"...I draw."

Kuria tapped the top of the deck once on the touchscreen built into his Duel Runner, causing it to automatically send the top of the deck to the hand.

Pot of Greed.

"Here goes," he muttered to himself before double-tapping the card in question to enlarge it and bring up the menu related to it and then once more upon the 'activate' option to confirm playing it. "I play Pot of Greed! Let's see what I get, shall we?"

Upon the card's resolution did the top two of his deck move from the represented deck on his screen to his visualized hand, taking advantage of the fact that his goggles make seeing his eyes difficult to not have to resist widening them.

Clear Wall and Clear Whelp.

"I Normal Set a monster and activate Clear Wall from my hand," Kuria announced as he did both actions in rapid succession, seeing the opponent with no possible way to react to such. "Now, I activate Soul Charge! I pay 2000 Life Points to Special Summon from my Graveyard both of my Clear Soul Dragons!"

Kuria Bijorn: 3700 ---> 1700

"A risky move by Kuria, but will it pay off," he heard the announcer declare with a question in his voice.

If this works the way I think it will, yes, he thought to himself. "I place two cards face-down in the Spell/Trap zones and end the tur---"

"If this is your way of committing suicide, I would be more than willing to do help!"

Kuria had to resist the urge to smirk. After she drew, to which she gave a disgusted look, his opponent pointed towards one of the two Clear Soul Dragons. "Apoqliphort Skybase allows me to take control of one of your monsters until the end of turn. So, I will take one of your precious dragons!" One of the two transparent, near-invisible dragons gave a pained roar before being pulled to the opposing side. "Standby Phase and both Life-Absorbing Machines activate to bring be back to full health! Now, just to make sure, like last turn, I tribute Carrier, Helix and Disk to Tribute Summon---"

"I halve my Life Points to the grave to activate Solemn Judgement!"

Kuria Bijorn: 1700 --> 850

"...how dare you prevent me from summoning Apoqliphort Towers!"

"In a stunning move, Kuria managed to keep Kimiko from summoning the largest of her monsters! But he's gonna need more than that to get out of this jam!"

More than aware of that, Kuria thought to himself, the mechanical eye glowing through the lens of his goggles.

"Fine, then! The monster you have can still attack directly! Battle Phase! Clear Soul Dragon attacks---!"

"I choose to negate the attack! Draw your card!" Confirming the action on the touchscreen of his Duel Runner, Kimiko's D-Wheel suddenly offered the top of her deck to her.

"...argh! Damnable man!"

"...should you even be old enough to know that kind of language, little lady?"

"I'm not little!"

She's losing her sh!t, he thought to himself. Here's hoping she'll make more mistakes.

"Argh, Pendulum Summon! Qliphort Disk! Carrier! Helix! Take your turn already! End turn!"

"I draw." Kuria looked back down on the touchscreen in front of him, wincing in pain as the toll from Clear World took hold while thinking on his moves as the Clear Soul Dragon once stolen from him returns to his side.

 

Kuria Bijorn: 850 ---> 350

 

"Show time." Looking up towards the field as a whole, he nodded to himself. "First, I sacrifice the face-down Clear Whelp to Tribute Summon Clear Vicious Knight. Since you control a monster, I only need to tribute one monster!" The small dragon under the face-down card poked its head out for a moment before it and the card disappeared, the darkened knight surrounded by dark crystal appearing into view. "Since you control a monster that was summoned from the Extra Deck, I can Special Summon Clear Whelp! Upon his summon, I activate Double Summon to allow myself a second Normal Summon! I'm using that to activate from my hand Clear Sacrifice, sending a Clear Maiden in my grave into Banishment to Normal Summon with one tribute, that being Clear Whelp, Clear Vice Dragon!"

As Kuria made his declarations, the speed he was submitting the various actions through his unique duel runner was matched only by the speed of the declarations themselves. The actions matching them actually lagged behind slightly. He waited a moment to let them catch up, the sight of the Clear Vice Dragon surrounded by crystal entering view. "I also banish from my hand Clear Cube to summon from Banishment Rising Ideal Dragon...Now, you think you all have seen some serious size so far, none of you have seen this next monster!"

Finger on each of the Clear Soul Dragons after the greenish dragon from beyond reality emerged into view, he forcibly brought the pair together on top of one another before bringing a third card over them. "I call upon the wisdom of the endless void, the clarity granted by the ability to see all. May the great wyrm of the stars emerge! XYZ Summon! I call upon you, my Herald of Clear Vision! Clear Nebula Dragon!"

The entire stadium went black for a moment, despite being daytime. The skies were covered, the sun no longer visible, but the entirety of above it was covered by the dark sight of far out of space. A spiral nebula was high in view, and a gigantic winged creature shimmering of the colors of space flew from the center of the spiraling lights. As it approached, the size of the new serpentine creature became more and more apparent until it finally broke through the surface of the seeming portal to space, wrapping itself around the entire arena from the outside before it reached in with its long neck.

Its head alone was far larger than the Skybase ever dared to be.

"...wha...how is it so big?!"

"To survive in outer space, you have to be huge." Kuria looked up towards the head of the large wyrm, catching one of its eyes. "I remove Clear Vicious Knight from Clear Nebula Dragon! Clear Nebula Dragon, Roar of Clarity! Destroy all of Kimiko's Earth Attribute monsters!"

An echoing roar magnified throughout the arena as it lifted its head towards the starry sky above, multiple pitches sounding at once as a unified chorus as one of two stars floating near it disappeared. The Qliphorts, one after another shattered from the roar alone...but the Skybase stayed sturdy and whole. "...heh, as mighty as you make it out to be, it still can't take out my Skybase! Your Clear Nebula Dragon will be mine next turn!"

"You assume I'm done."

"Huh?"

Kuria turned towards the dragon to his side sleeping within blackened crystal. "Clear Vice Dragon, become Apoqliphort Skybase's mirror! Shattering Reflections!"

The dark dragon opened its eyes from under the crystal it resided in, which faded from around it to allow it to stand tall before it changed in appearance...to become a dark greyscaled version of the targeted monster.

Clear Vice Dragon: 0 ---> 5800

Kimiko visibly paled. "Nononono! Don't you dare!"

"Yes, I dare." The Clear Vice Dragon, under its new guise, aimed every single cannon upon itself towards its target, taking fire and destroying the last monster in the others way.

Kimiko Shiranuis: 8000 ---> 5100

"Rising Ideal Dragon, Eternity's Storm! Clear Nebula Dragon, Spiral of Stars!"

Sparks surrounded the Rising Ideal Dragon and stars surrounded a lifted claw now held over the arena. The spiraling stars soon fired themselves towards Kimiko, though even Kuria had to duck around a few accidentally flung his direction.

Kimiko Shiranuis: 5100 ---> 2150

After the shower of stars, the Rising Ideal Dragon swooped through its target, its damage enough to finally shut off her D-wheel.

Kimiko Shiranuis: 2150 ---> -700

She almost flipped out of her D-Wheel when it suddenly stopped, apparently unused to uncontrolled shutoffs of her vessel. Her language escalated, causing Kuria to stop and stare at her.

He made the mental note to slap the absolute sh!t out of whomever taught her such vulgar creativity across the face...with the metal hand.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

 
Yuria Kaneko vs Sirius O'rion
[spoiler=Status at Initiation of Final Turn]
Active Action Field: Cosmic Sanctuary
Yuria's LP: 2100
Sirius' LP: 4200

Field State: Yuria has Xicserata Eremoba (Scale 4) on the Right Pendulum Zone and 1 face-down ST (Limiter Removal)

Sirius has Stellarknight Delteros, Stellarknight Triverr (w/ 1 Xyz Mat) Stellarknight Constellar Diamond (w/ 1 Xyz Mat), Stellarknight Vega in Attack Position and 1 face-down ST (Stellarnova Alpha)

Cards in Yuria's Hand: 2 (+1 for the Draw Phase)

Cards in Sirius' Hand: 1

 

"It's over, lady!" Sirius O'rion exclaimed, "My side of the field loaded with powerful Stellarknight monsters, and in my hand is the last Action Card in the whole field. Any last choice of words before I put your chances of qualifying out of their misery?"

 

Yuria scanned her surroundings to see if she could confirm or deny what Siruis was boldly saying. There was certainly some element of truth to that claim, that being that the Action Field looked to be completely barren of Action Card. But out in the far yonder was a very faint glint. Deciding that would be worth checking out later, Yuria returned her attention to the duel at hand, feigning frustration so that Sirius wouldn't catch on to what she was planning.

 

"You're full of sheet," she growled as she drew her card... and immediately slapped it down on the field, "I activate Soul Exchange!"

 

"And I counter with Stellarnova Alpha," Sirius smirked as he said this cooly, "I know you've seen this before, but let's recap for the audience, shall we? At the cost of sending a Stellarkinght I control to the Graveyard, which in this case will be Vega, I can negate any Spell or Trap Card, or the effect of any monster, and destroy the card completely. I even get to draw a card on top of that, just to sweeten the deal."

 

'Good; that's that card out of the way,' Yuria thought to herself, "Now I'll activate Eremoba's Pendulum Effect; this lets me excavate the top 7 cards from my Deck and Summon a Xicserata among them, although the rest go down to the bottom of the Deck. And it looks like I can bring out... Xicserata Neobis! Perfect!"

 

Placing the Tuner monster on the field in Defense Position, Yuria returned the other cards where they belonged before continuing.

 

"Now I'll bring back Lycanthrope and Helix Sweeper from the Graveyard with Soul Charge! This in turn lets me bring Acari back from the Graveyard as well. And then I tune Acari with Neobis and Lycanthrope to Synchro Summon Xicserata Widowmaker in Attack Mode!"

 

The crowd that had watched in awe as a portal formed above the battlefield, a gargantuan eight-legged mechanized unit falling through it and crashing onto the ground and causing a shock-wave to ripple through as it made contact.

 

"And now I activate Widowmaker's eff-..."

 

"I...!" Sirius intervened, about to trigger his Constellar Diamond's effect to try and negate Widowmaker's, but realizing that Helix Sweeper could change that so it'd only give her Life Points instead; sighing in defeat, he laid his hand off the Xyz Monster in question, "Continue."

 

"Huh... didn't think you'd go through with it," Yuria said, "Now, as I was about to explain, I can target an Xyz monster you control, and either take complete control of it or bounce it back where it came from, depending entirely on... you guessed it, good old fashioned RNGesus."

 

Here, Yuria pulled out a coin and had been tossing it in the air and catching it again as she mulled over what to call.

 

"Either way, I've had enough of that damned Diamond. And leeet's goooooooooooo... I'm feeling Tails," she flicked the coin one last time, caught it and slapped on the back of one hand, before slowly peeling the other one away so she could see the result, "Heads... Oh well, it gets bounced back. Now I activate Limiter Removal, doubling the Attack of both my Widowmaker and my Helix Sweeper(!)... for a very specific purpose."

 

"You do realize you can't conduct your Battle Phase the turn you use Soul Charge, right?" Sirius queried, having raised an eyebrow to that play.

 

"Tch, that's not it, you goon!" Yuria scoffed, "This is the point where I finally use my Normal Summon for the turn."

 

"Oh yeah? And what could you possibly Summon that would defeat my mighty Stellarknights or touch my Life Points?"

 

"Oh you'll find out; I'm about to Summon it! I sacrifice my Widowmaker to summon Xicserata Surrel in Attack Mode!"

 

Suddenly, another portal appeared to suck Widowmaker up, and in its place, a small like critter sneaked out, holding a special device in one claw. Pressing a button on this caused something to happen to the portal, and it was something that was very ominous as well.

 

"And then Surrel's effect activates; when I sacrifice a monster to Summon it despite not normally having to, you take half the Attack Points that monster had at the time I sacrificed it as direct damage to your Life Points," Yuria explained, "So say sayonara and GG!"

 

The portal slowly started to drift towards Sirius and then, without warning, it accelerated right toward him, blowing back the monsters and erupting into a bright light. The explosion sent Sirius soaring backwards into the air and sprawling across the ground. He was reasonably quick to recover, but he could see that the Cosmic Sanctuary they were dueling in had already dissipated as he did, as did his and Yuria's monsters.

 

"Welp... I know a loss one when I see one," rising to his feet, Sirius moved some muscles to ensure he didn't break any bones, "Still, that was a good game,"

 

"Hell yeah it was," Yuria replied, "Until next time, then,"

 

Sirius nodded, and with that, Yuria waved goodbye to the crowd as she departed. A spot in the tournament secured, she now began to reflect on the mission at hand; to try and find Glaeris and the other Wicked God wielders at the tournament.

 

'OK, that's the easy part done. Now we just gotta find these bastards and put them down towards the hell they came from!' she thought to herself.

[Krein]

Lyall’s decision to go to the Spirit World had been quick and without hesitation. He had no interest in attending a mundane tournament, even if the Cult of the Wicked Gods was planning something there. As far as he was concerned, the tournament was just the stage for their finale, while the major preparations for said finale would be happening in the Spirit World. If there was any hope for them to deal with two crises involving the spirits of powerful monsters, it would be in their true abode. Lyall also had a high profile (not to mention some notoriety) in the GDA, so calling attention to himself and the others in the process would not bode well for anyone. All the technical details aside… who the hell would pass up the chance to see a completely new world anyway? There could be so many new things to learn and see, and there were indeed certain things that Lyall wanted to see if he could learn. The magic that Glaeris and the Cult were using, for example, as well as the secret history of Duel Monsters.

 

Since he’d been one of the first to answer, Lyall thought he’d have some time to think and ask about other things while waiting for the others to decide. However, it didn’t take long for the others to decide. Pretty much all of them… had surprisingly chosen to go to the tournament. Oh well, not many would see things from his point of view, and a fair few of them seemed blinded by the chance for fame and revenge. He would be venturing to the Spirit World alone, then, but despite this, he was prepared to face its challenges alone. Or at least, he would have been had Blues not seen to relocating some of the tournament goers to the Spirit World group. Daichi and Wade would be joining him, though Daichi had to more or less be forced into the group by Blues. A small smirk had formed on Lyall’s face as he witnessed the rough exchange between the two. He was no stranger to needing to rough up subordinates to keep them in line and ensure they understand the importance of some things, so he knew Daichi would get over it. He might have offered some words of consolation if he hadn’t already decided to keep himself distanced from the others… and if a portal hadn’t opened in the middle of the room. A small band of disheveled looking people fell through it, one whom Lyall recognized almost immediately. It was Tycho Bosko, and the man seemed quite… frantic.

 

“… There’s a portal on the other side,” was all Lyall said in response to this happening. With that, he headed for Dread Knight.

“Dread Knight. You mentioned that the Cult has a portal to the Spirit World. Do we also have one, or are we going to have to steal theirs? Do we have a connection on the other side, for that matter? Because considering what just happened, someone or something has a connection to us."

[~Faytl~]

Tycho was a visible weck when he emerged from the portal. His arm was bleeding from where he had been stuck, and he was still wild-eyed and disheveled. He had slumped into a chair, empty-eyed, seeming oblivious to the people around him. He was shaking slightly, and didn't react to anything tht was said. Not until Dread Knight spoke.

 

His eyes alighted on the man who he considered an ally. He stood abruptly, placing a hand heavily on the man's shoulders, leering into his masked eyes.

 

"Don't go," he said simply. "That world is... not something natural. Our hopes for Hearthome don't lie there." He clenched a fist, raising it over his heart as he glared righteously at the Knight. "The importnt thing is finding those who hold the Gods... and defeating them. Otherwise our home will be like this... forever." He scowled. "Can you condone that?"

 

The knight gazed at him for a few seconds before he took a deep breath, placing a hand on Tycho's shoulder himself. "I condone nothing about the state of Hearthome," he stated solemnly. "But this is how I choose to help it. Goodbye, Tycho. Best of luck in the tournament."

 

He turned, walking from Tycho's sight. The man growled in horrid anger, shouting after the man: "You call yourself a defender of our city? Go on and leave for some fantasy world, then!" He rounded on Blues, eyes apoplectic. 

 

"You think this stupid plan of yours has any HOPE of saving our city?" he barked, looming over the kid like a deranged mountain. He looked around the room at everyone else who was assembled, lip curled. "You follow this... boy in something as important as this?" he asked accusingly. "I was right... I never should have come... Kaibacorp has given me nothing, and it never will." 

 

He turned, storming from the room. Just before he reached the door, he paused, looking over his shoulder and calling back to them. 

"I know we fight for a similar cause... But my alliegance lies with my home. If I have to duel any of you to defend it... I'll crush you, and you'll know the life of a Hearthome citizen." He stepped forward, pulling the door behind him with a definitive slam.

 

- - - - - - -

 

Tournament Preliminaries - Turbo City

 

Hibiki was not in a good mood. He had been badgered and criticized ever since his duel with Furiko had gone south, Kyouji and his girlfriend leaving him crumpled and beaten in the warehouse to slink back to his superiors. Theyhad been less than pleased.

 

"Stupid jerk... intruding on our duel like that..." He looked up at the computer screen that was displaying his first match in the preliminaries, taking in the name of his first opponent. "You'll get your rightful turn Kyouji... When I win this tournament and the right to be Duel King." He leered up at the nearby poster for the tournament (they were plastered everywhere), Kyouji's face silhouetted behind the image of the trophy. "You'll get yours... Nobody's better than me, Kyouji. Nobody." He reached up and ripped at the poster, tearing off the section that was his adversary's face as he headed towards the arena.

 

It was as he neared the arena that he spotted something out past the main doors. A boy arguing with an official, likely over the poor job of parking the boy had managed, clad all in white, astride a white D-Wheel. A D-Wheel he recognized. 

 

That's the one that was with Kyouji, he realized, remembering the machine that had accompanied the Duel King into Turbo only to split off and go its own way. He leered out at the kid from behind the windows of the main building, contemplating. 

 

"Hibiki." He cursed, holding up his helmet and snapping into the repaired com inside it: "What?"

 

"Your match is in five minutes. Be sure not to dissapoint."

 

He snarled as he slammed the helmet onto his head, storming towards the arena. He glared over his shoulder at the white-clad kid. He would bear watching. 

 

- - - - - - -

 

"Mr. Bosko, sir... Your first preliminary match is in a few minutes here. Are you ready?"

 

Tycho gazed up blearily at the attendant, shifting on the broken bench he was sitting on. The Hearthome arena had been spruced up for the tournament, but the air of general shabbiness was nevertheless palpable. Dust lingered on most surfaces, and people shuffled through to get to their business quickly, not looking each other in the eye. 

 

"I've been ready for decades," he said shortly, standing wearily, a touch unsteady. He had drank only a little, to try and revitlalize himself, but it hadn't worked. He had seemingly been in a deep hole, surrounded by darkness and doubt ever since he had walked out of Kaibacorp. He belived what he had said, every word... but something about his actions had cut him to the core afterward. The thought of him screaming at the Knight, threatening to crush Helena, Aika, or even Yuria if they crossed paths... It had left a poor taste in his mouth that had persisted since.

 

"And the next match is between well-known public figure Tycho Bosko-" The announcer was temporarily drowned out by a mix of cheers and boos, mainly the later from the gang members lounging in the shabby stadium stands, having largely occupied the front rows. "Facing him is the duelist of the silent backalleys, Cato Maxwell!"

 

A young man dressed all in black with a long ponytail stepped into the arena to face Tycho, smirking as he fired up his Duel Disk. "Would you look at that... It's the old windbag Bosko, out on the town for a duel!" His taunt was met with varied laughs of approval or grunts of noncomittal agreement from the select gang members who were eyeing him with distaste.

 

Tycho took in the four long red dashes tattooed on his opponent's arm, nodding his head wearily. "A member of the Red Deaths, I see," he commented, not without some distaste. Cato frowned, drawing his cards from his deck as the display screen flickered into life awkwardly, lighting up with pictures of the field and his and Tycho's faces. 

 

"Shut it, gramps... I came here to duel, not conversate."

 

"What a coincidence," Tycho stated dryily, holding up his own Duel Disk. "So did I."

 

"DUEL!"

 

"I summon Heraldic Beast Aberconway! That's my turn for now." Tycho declared, a giant dragon-like monster rearing up, even taller than he was, screeching as its white armor plates rattled agressively.

 

Heraldic Beast Aberconway

1800/900

 

Cato smirked as he drew the card for his turn. "Pretty fancy monster you have there for someone so pathetic. I summon Earth Armor Ninja, and Air Armor Ninja!" 

 

Two armor-clad ninjas appeared from thin air, one striking the earth with its fist, the other leaping through the sky, both finishing in elegant poses that didn't belay the obvious power they could unleash.

 

"Earth Armor can be Special Summoned without release if my opponent is the only one that controls a monster," Cato explained. "And Air Armor can lower it's level to 4!"

 

"An Xyz Summon..." Tycho observed, watching intently as the opposing monsters dissolved into the appearing galaxy that exploded to reveal the silhouette of a new ninja... one bearing twin blades upon its back.

 

"Xyz Summon! Blade Armor Ninja!"

 

Blade Armor Ninja

2200/1200

 

Cato laughed as his monster descended upon the feld, arms crossed and staring Tycho down. "My Ninja monsters are like nothing you've ever seen, Bosko... And they'll kill you where you stand, here and now!"

 

Go ahead, Tycho thought, watching the opposing monster without the slightest hint of a facial expression. My home may be on the brink of death... But I've already thrown myself off.

[Yui]

---

BGM

 

Turn 4: Hiromi - 8000 (Hand: 0) / Raiko  - 3400 (Hand: 1 -> 2)

 

"My turn! Draw!" Raiko boldly drew forth the top card of her deck, glancing over it only briefly. "I don't really like sitting around with no hand, but it doesn't look like I have a choice. I Normal Summon Superheavy Samurai Gigagloves, then Special Summon Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter in Defense Position!" Side-by-side, next to the green machine already on the field, two red robots appeared. The first to appear was a dark red, sporting a bird's face and possessing massive gloved hands. The second appeared to the sound of a hollow instrument being blown into, and was smaller, carrying its instrument with pride.

Gigagloves: Level 3 / EARTH / Machine/Effect / 100/1000

Trumpeter: Level 2 / EARTH / Machine/Tuner/Effect / 300/600

 

"And now, by tuning my Level 2 Trumpeter with my Level 3 Gigagloves and Prepped Defense, I'll summon a Level 8 monster in Defense Position!" As her three monsters ascended off the ground, Raiko's Trumpeter became a pair of green rings, which Gigagloves and Prepped Defense passed into, becoming a sextet of stars in the process. "Synchro Summon! Stand your ground, Superheavy Samurai Ninja Sarutobi!" Seemingly out of nowhere, a large blue robot appeared before Raiko, emitting clouds of steam from the holes on its fingers and shoulders as it appeared.

Sarutobi: Level 8 / EARTH / Machine/Synchro/Effect / 2000/2800

 

"The effect of Gigagloves activates, too, allowing me to look at and rearrange the top five cards of my deck!" Raiko looked at the top of her deck briefly, before moving around the cards into a more suitable order. "Now then, battle! I attack your Karakasa with Sarutobi!"

 

"I activate the effect of Sorahone Mortuary, allowing me--"

 

"Not this time! I activate Sarutobi's effect to destroy one spell or trap on the field, then deal 500 damage to you, and I choose Sorahone Mortuary!" The blue robot aimed its fingers forward, before firing a volley of large shuriken-like projectiles out of them at Hiromi's mausoleum. Upon impact, the projectiles exploded, and the building behind Raiko's opponent crumbled and fell. Mere fractions of a second later, the same robot's arms began extending forward, before crashing down on a relatively helpless umbrella.

 

Hiromi: 8000 -> 7500

 

"I end my turn."

 

Turn 5: Hiromi - 7500 (Hand: 0 -> 1) / Raiko - 3400 (Hand: 0)

 

"My turn. Draw." Hiromi looked at the card in her hand, a look of disappointment on her face. "I activate the spell card Terraforming, which lets me add one Field Spell from my Deck to my hand. I add Sorahone Mortuary to my hand, and activate it!" Where the previous one had stood, a second mausoleum formed behind Hiromi. "Tch. I end my turn."

 

"During the End Phase, I activate the effect of Sarutobi, and destroy your face-down card!" Another volley of exploding shuriken fired from Sarutobi's fingers, impacting the Solid Vision hologram of a face-down card and revealing it to be a sole copy of Twin Twister, before the card was sent to the Graveyard. Hiromi's Life Points, meanwhile, decreased by another 500 points.

 

Turn 6: Hiromi - 7000 (Hand: 0) / Raiko  - 3400 (Hand: 0 -> 1)

 

BGM

 

"My turn!" Raiko drew the top card of her deck, immediately placing it on the field with a confident "I Normal Summon Superheavy Samurai Battleball!" Standing next to its companion, the big blue Sarutobi, a small brown sphericall robot appeared, wielding an equally small spear.

Battleball: Level 2 / DARK / Machine/Tuner/Effect / 100/800

 

"Next, I activate its effect! When all of my monsters are Superheavy Samurai monsters, I can target one monster you control, then use it as a Synchro Material with Battleball! I tune my Level 2 Battleball with your Level 3 Kyonshi to summon a Level 5 monster!" As Battleball became two green rings, Hiromi's sole monster was forcibly turned into a trio of stars, passing through the rings to create another synchro monster. "I summon Superheavy Samurai Swordmaster Musashi in Defense Position!" A red and yellow machine, small compared to Sarutobi but still quite large, appeared next to the bigger synchro, brandishing dual katana that it carried confidently. "And now, Musashi's effect activates, allowing me to return one Machine-Type monster from my Graveyard back to my hand. I choose Trumpeter, and then Special Summon it from my hand!" Just as quickly as Raiko recovered her monster, she slapped it down onto the field.

Musashi: Level 5 / EARTH / Machine/Synchro/Effect / 300/2300

Trumpeter: Level 2 / EARTH / Machine/Tuner/Effect / 300/600

 

"Next, I activate Sarutobi's effect to destroy your Mortuary!"

 

Hiromi: 7000 -> 6500

 

"And now...I tune my Level 2 Trumpeter with my Level 8 Sarutobi to summon a Level 10 monster! Come forth, Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo!" Behind Raiko, a colossal green robot appeared, sitting firmly on the ground beneath it as if part of the earth itself. In its hand was a monster of a naginata, and before it was an eager-looking duelist.

Susanowo: Level 10 / EARTH / Machine/Synchro/Effect / 2400/3800

 

"Battle! I attack directly with both Musashi and Susanowo!" As if in unison, the red and yellow robot swung its swords, creating a wave of energy, while the green one did the same with its own giant weapon. The projectile attacks shot forward, bound for Hiromi, who only at the last second jumped out of the way of the attacks, watching the slash attacks continue onward down the landscape behind her.

 

Hiromi: 6500 -> 400

 

"Next, I activate the effect of Susanowo, to set a spell or trap card from your Graveyard to my side of the field. I choose Twin Twister!" With a haughty grunt, Susanowo raised its naginata before slamming the end of it into the ground, cracking it and creating a thin fissure just at its side, from which rose the Solid Vision projection of Hiromi's Twin Twister, before going face-down and fading from the naked eye. With a grin on her face, Raiko declared "I end my turn."

---

[Wind Rider]

"Y'all don't needa actually kill someone, right? Just a lil' bit o' blood? We got three humans here and y'all mentioned 'others' so even if y'need a whole human's worth, we got enough. What's the catch then?" Helena looked at Aika for a second, was... Was she just misunderstanding Dark Magician right now?

 

In the end, Tycho in his panicked state offered his blood, a Dark Magician Girl came with a small syringe and took some blood for the portal. "Alright, if you want to go home... come with me," Dark Magician took the blood vial and lead the group to a room in the back of the library. A group of humans were huddled together and seemed panicky when they saw Helena and the others.

 

There was a large symbol on the floor of the room and when Dark Magician smashed the vial of blood on it, the symbol began to glow as the blood was absorbed into it, forming a large portal. Kuriboh had slipped out of Helena's arms and hid behind Buster Blader, despite being their way home, the portal was a bit intimidating.

 

The group of humans rushed into the portal, Aika seemed more calm about it while Tycho was pushed right into it by Buster Blader, leaving Helena by herself. Dark Magician and the others seemed to be waiting for her to leave, but... She couldn't just leave, someone had to try and help from the spirit world, even if it was just her.

 

"I... I'm staying here..." Helena said looking up at Dark Magician. "I... I may not look strong... But I need to help in some way, I can't just go back knowing there is also trouble here in the spirit world..." She stood by what she said, though she wouldn't blame them if they just sent her back anyway, as it stands, she is the weakest link in this group.

[Krein]

“What a sad and frail old man,” Lyall said inwardly as he silently listened to Tycho plead with Dread Knight and rant some guilt-tripping rhetoric about Hearthome. He couldn’t help but feel a tinge of pity for the man. Lyall remembered a time where Tycho was prouder, resolute and with a strong vision for the future. Unfortunately, it seemed that years wasted trying to change Hearthome’s dreary and ruthless condition had weakened him, leaving a hopeless husk of a man who had finally cracked under the pressure of current events. To think he could have turned out differently had he accepted his offer years ago… No matter. Lyall had plans, old and freshly conjured during these dark times, that he would hopefully see completed in due time. There was still… “hope” for Hearthome’s renewal, and that hope would be found in the Spirit World.

 

“If things go as smoothly as I want them to go, at least.”

 

Plans like these rarely go smoothly, Kerykeion interjected, intrigued by Lyall’s musings. Lyall looked around for the spirit, but he was nowhere to be found. Unlike the other spirits in the room (which Lyall could now see and hear more clearly ever since he gave up his skepticism regarding the supernatural), Kerykeion preferred to remain hidden and speak personally with Lyall via telepathy. It made sense, given who Kerykeion was and how he looked.

 

It seems you and I are more alike than I initially suspected. I know what you’ll be looking for in the Spirit World, but I hope you haven’t forgotten your main objective so soon.

 

Lyall smiled as he pulled out his blank card from his coat pocket.

 

“I haven’t. You tipped me off to this earlier, but part of the reason you urged me to go to the Spirit World was because of this card, right?”

 

Yes. Like how you thought the solution to these crises would be found in the Spirit World, I can say as a fact that the literal keys to unlocking the power behind your blank card and the others like it will be found there as well. The quest to unlock your particular card will inevitably guide you to the knowledge you’ve resolved to seek out.

 

“Good to know. There’s plenty more for us to discuss, but we’ll save that for another time.”

 

I’ll be seeing you soon.

 

Lyall then turned back to the general direction Dread Knight and the members of the Spirit World group. Tycho was long gone, but there was a newcomer to replace him. The man had a similar style of dress, old fashioned and elegant, but carried himself with much more posture and pride. With Wade and Daichi idly standing by, Lyall thought it best to save introductions for later. First, he needed to get an actual rundown of things from Dread Knight. He hadn’t been able to answer his question due to Tycho interrupting them, but it looked like there’d be no more interruptions for now.

 

“About this portal… how and where are we going to find something like that?” Lyall asked. It was slightly odd to be working together with someone he’d had issues with before, technically being a crime boss in Hearthome and all, but the two seemed able to put their differences aside.

 

“We know where one is, but we’ll have to steal it from the enemy if we’re going to be using it anytime soon.”

 

“Would we even know how to operate it? Portal-making technology seems like it’d take specialized care to use.”

 

“Operating the device seems easy enough, actually. Still, it is curious that this cult would have both the money, materials, and knowledge needed to create this kind of technology. I suspect there’s a third party involved, though who that might be is beyond me.”

 

“I see… Let’s get on our way then, the tournament goers have been long gone, yet we’re still here for some reason.”

 

Lyall approached Wade, Daichi, and Miero. He briefly surveyed them, then began speaking.

 

“Seeing how I’ve barely talked to any of you, I might as well introduce myself. My name is Lyall. I’ll be going to the Spirit World as well. According to Dread Knight here, we have a means of getting there: a machine. Our cultists friends are in possession of one, so we’ll obviously need to steal it from them to do anything. We’ve lingered here long enough, so let’s move on before things get any worse."

 

Dread Knight wasted no time in responding.

 

"Lyall, some people need to go home and prepare. It's been a long day, and rushing into this is a bad idea. We'll meet in Cradle in front of the main stadium at dawn.”

 

Lyall paused, then nodded. Dread Knight was right. All the adrenaline and thinking had rendered Lyall unaware to just how much time had passed, and he was slowly starting to feel the fatigue now that the vigilante mentioned it.

 

“You’re right. Fine then,” he said before taking one last look at the others and walking away.

[King K. Azo]

"I... I'm staying here..." Helena said looking up at Dark Magician. "I... I may not look strong... But I need to help in some way, I can't just go back knowing there is also trouble here in the spirit world..." The group looked at each other, before Buster Blader spoke up.

 

"She's going to get hurt by staying here," Buster Blader said. "We don't even know if she can help. And if she dies, that's on us,"

 

"Yes, but she's no ordinary human," Dark Magician countered. "She knows about the Wicked Gods. She has to have something special about her,"

 

"Uh, yeah, I don't think we get a choice in the matter," Gaia piped up. "The portal's closed," The group turned to see the portal had indeed closed. Dark Magician sighed before Stardust Dragon spoke up.

 

"Can't Maho like... make another one?" He asked.

 

"I had to use rare materials... ones that were used up in making the portal," Dark Magician sighed before he looked over the group. Buster Blader just grunted and folded his arms, leaning against the wall as Gaia rubbed his head. What would they do with the human? There was only one thing he knew for sure... "It's getting late. Azaelle, Drake, why don't you show our guest to your room? You're the only ones with the extra bed...," Dark Magician fell silent at that. Silent Magician nodded in response and grabbed Helena's hand.

 

"C-come on. Let's get some rest, okay?" She asked cutely. Drake just sighed and looked at Buster Blader.

 

"Will you be here tomorrow?" He asked hopefully. Buster Blader shrugged.

 

"Kind of stuck here now that Helena is. I have to make sure she doesn't get hurt, after all," Drake just grinned before heading off, Azaelle dragging Helena along. They traveled through the halls of the massive tower, passing many spellcasters that could be found in Duel Monster cards, and some Helena would have never seen before. After about a ten minute walk, the two small children lead Helena into a room.

 

It was a average side room, seemingly divided into three parts. One was messy, covered in clothes and armor, another was nice and tidy, and the final one was... strangely empty. Silent Magician laid down on the neat bed while Silent Swordsman flopped on the messy bed, yawning. They seemed to be waiting for Helena to lay down in bed.

 

---

 

Dawn cracked over the horizon, the busy city of Cradle quiet as the residents slept. In front of the stadium stood Wade, yawning and rubbing his eyes. The stadium was obviously highly damaged, with construction going on. When Wade noticed the team, he waved his arms.

 

"Heeeeeeey yoooooooooou guuuuuuuuys!" He called out. "We've been waiting for you, c'mon, c'mon! We going to see the monsters, and meet the giant floooooooaaaaating head. And if we're super lucky, we will get some boobies as well! Good thing I'm a level 17 bard! I can bang anything without damage!" He said as he headed to the stadium. There was a path craved through the rubble, heading downstairs. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, they could see Phantom Falcon and Dread Knight working on the portal. It would soon be time to go...

 

---

 

Blues sighed to himself as he sat in the special seat prepared at the Fortune Cup. He was guaranteed a spot in the tournament due to his position, but he didn't like it. He would have done the preliminaries himself, but there was too much at stake to risk it. Still, he didn't like it.

 

---

 

Kuriboh was lost and afraid. He had accidentally been sucked into the portal, and he was stuck in the world of the humans. However, a lot of people seemed to think he was a 'hologram', so he made it through without any trouble. Still, he wanted to go home.

 

All night he wandered, until he came to a run down town that looked like it was visited by Gladator Beasts. He flew around, avoiding contact... That was... Until he saw him. The crazy old man from yesterday! He was facing someone else and talking, about what, he knew not. All he knew was that now he might have a way home! He flew over to Tycho, making happy sounding noises.

 

---

 

Yugo sighed to himself as he waited for his turn. He was getting bored! He wanted to duel and prove to everyone that he could stand as his own as a duelist, that just because he was Yusei Fudo's grandson didn't mean he inherited his skills. He earned it. With a yawn, he stretched and cracked his neck. He then felt something weird... it was like a burning in the back of his skull. Was it...? He quickly slapped the back of his head. Yeah, it was a mosquito. Why the hell was...

 

"Next up is Yugo Fudo vs Hope Kibu!" The announcer called out. Yugo grinned as he hopped on his D-Wheel and drove off to the starting line. His opponent was a woman dressed in a black jumpsuit and riding a black D-Wheel.

 

Yugo Fudo vs Hope Kibu

 

"Fudo?" The woman asked, causing Yugo to grit his teeth. "Are you related to...?"

 

"So what if I am?!" Yugo snapped. "This is a duel, and we're gonna give it our all! You can have the genealogy report later!" And with that, the duel started, Yugo driving off with a cloud of dust. It was his time to shine!

[Super Chaos Sonic]

-Moonlit Magician-

~Cradle City~

 

“We know where one is, but we’ll have to steal it from the enemy if we’re going to be using it anytime soon.”

 

“Would we even know how to operate it? Portal-making technology seems like it’d take specialized care to use.”

 

“Operating the device seems easy enough, actually. Still, it is curious that this cult would have both the money, materials, and knowledge needed to create this kind of technology. I suspect there’s a third party involved, though who that might be is beyond me.”

 

These were the thoughts Daichi had as he sat in the dining room of his home, his cards spread out on the table again. This mission, that he was dragged into for the most part, would be an interesting one. Not many Duelists could say they would be going to the Duel Spirit World. Then again, the cool stuff was happening as he spoke...well, the qualifying rounds were, anyway.

 

Daichi, you know Furiko's match will be on soon, right? Haruto asked, leaned up against the wall, behind his seated partner.

 

"I know...but I'm not watching it just yet." Daichi replied, rubbing his chin. "There are combinations here that I can make use of...just trying to figure out what."

 

About this time, Daichi noticed his father walking into the room. It looked like he just got out of the card shop, but even if he looked tired, he still was smiling. "So, preparing for that little mission of yours?" he asked, seeing Daichi's face look floored. "Your mom mentioned it to me. Honestly, since you got Haruto, nothing surprises me anymore."

 

"Yeah well...I really wanted to be in the Fortune Cup." Daichi shrugged. "I mean...a great audience of that magnitude! It's a performers dream come true!"

 

Daichi's father chuckled. "True. But, you were chosen for a reason. And well, honestly I think you can do it, son." he said, before handing Daichi a total of four cards. Both of them being sets of two: Number 11 Big Eye and Number 104 Masquerade.

 

"D-Dad...where did you?"

 

"Came in last shipment." his father smiled, winking at him. "Thought the Moonlit Magician could use some more performers in his magic show. And I know you can handle them with no problem."

 

"Dad..." Daichi said, before smiling and nodding. "Thanks dad. I'll put them to the best use I can!"

 

After adding the cards to his deck, Daichi's preparations were finished...so that meant he had to watch Furiko's Duel. After all, what sort of rival and friend would he be if he didn't at least keep tabs on her win streak?

 

 

"Now, it's over Vann. Performapal Skullcrobat Joker and Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon, attack him directly."

 

Atlanteans vs Odd-Eyes. It was a high paced Duel, but it was obvious Furiko was going to win. Nevertheless, it was still a performance that struck a cord with Daichi. It built up a determination to not be beaten and to win against those in the Spirit World.

 

So tomorrow is it...are you ready?

 

Daichi looked at Haruto, who after getting excited about the Duel, returned to his normal crossed arm position. He chuckled and gave off a smile. "You bet I am! I finally get to see your old home."

 

With that, the pair went to sleep in preparation for the next day's journey...

 

 

-The Next Day-

 

"Heeeeeeey yoooooooooou guuuuuuuuys! We've been waiting for you, c'mon, c'mon! We going to see the monsters, and meet the giant floooooooaaaaating head. And if we're super lucky, we will get some boobies as well! Good thing I'm a level 17 bard! I can bang anything without damage!"

 

Daichi walked towards an upbeat Wade who was sprouting some nonsense which sounded like some Dungeons & Dragons terms, to which he sort of chuckled at. "I wonder...would that make me the white mage then?"

 

Dai, that's not how that works.... Haruto sighed.

 

"Hey! It's relevant to me, though!" Daichi laughed, before made his way down the stairs, seeing Falcon and Knight working on the portal. He sighed a bit. "So...when do we leave?"

[Wind Rider]

Helena stood in silence as the monsters discussed about her choice to stay, apparently she couldn't go back to the human world even if they told her to since the portal had already closed. After a few minutes, Dark Magician turned back to the Silent Duo. "It's getting late. Azaelle, Drake, why don't you show our guest to your room? You're the only ones with the extra bed...," Azaelle, the Silent Magician, took Helena's hand. "C-come on. Let's get some rest, okay?"

 

Helena nodded slowly as Azaelle lead her through the halls of the citadel, Helena could recognize a few spellcaster monsters as they walked along, but a group of magicians with pendulum like objects with them seemed unfamiliar to her. After a minute or so, they arrived at Azaelle and Drake's room. One third of the room was messy, while two thirds were kept tidy, with one bed that was empty.

 

Both the young monsters headed to their beds and seemed to be waiting on Helena. "U-uhh... Thank you for... Sharing your room." She said as she sat on the end of the empty bed. She took the little baggy of candy from her pocket and popped a little piece of butterscotch into her mouth before laying it on the side of the bed. Staying in another world, that wasn't something she would ever expect to happen.

 

As Helena was about to lay down in the bed, she realized that a certain fluffball wasn't floating around. "Hey... Have either of you seen Kuriboh?"

[King K. Azo]

Yugo gritted his teeth as he drove past Hope. He needed to be fast, a Master of Faster, and get the first turn! He hugged the inside of the track, trying to outspeed his opponent. He needed to go, faster... faster...

"And Yugo turns first!" The announcer called out, causing Yugo to grin. 

"Alright, my turn!" Yugo called out. "I summon from my hand Speedroid Bamboo Horse!"  A monster that resembled a rocking horse appeared in the field, neighing. "When it's normal summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Speedroid from my hand! And I choose Speedroid OMK Gum!" A small robot that resembled a transformer appeared on the field, floating next to the horse. 

"A Synchro user, huh?" Hope stated with a smile. "This will be interesting!"

 

"Thousand-face possessing shadow of the labyrinth. With that sharp blade, render chaotic darkness! Synchro Summon! Level 4, Hi-Speedroid Puzzle!" The two monsters went through the traditional synchro summoning method, a larger and more humanoid machine stood, a small scarf wrapped around its neck. "And now OMK Gum's effect activates! I send the top card of my deck into the graveyard, and if it's a monster, Puzzle gains 1000 ATK points!" Yugo looked at the card that was sent, and grins. Tri-Eyed Dice was sent. Perfect. "And with that, I end my turn!" Hope just smiled as she sped up to drive right next to Yugo.

"My turn! Draw!!" she called out, drawing her card. "I activate the Continuous Spell Xyz Change Tactics! When a Utopia monster is Xyz Summoned to my side of the field, I can pay 500 lifepoints and draw one card!" She smiled as she cracked her knuckles. "I now summon Goblindbergh in attack position!" she said as a red airplane flew on the field, a small goblin piloting it. "When he's summoned, I can turn it to defense position and special summon a Level 4 monster from my hand! I summon Star Drawing!" a small bean looking magician appeared on the field. She then smiled and raised a hand in the air.

 

"I am feeling the flow like you would not believe! I'm high-fiving the sky baby! I'm not just in the zone, there's like, another zone inside the zone and that's the zone I'm in! Now check me out as I Xyz Summon Number 39: Utopia!" The two monsters were sucked into a black hole, merging and forming a white warrior with wings wielding a sword. Yugo just blinked.

"What was with that summoning chant?" He muttered.

"When Star Drawing is used as an Xyz material, I can draw a card!" She stated with a smile. "And I pay 500 lifepoints to draw a card!"

Hope: 7500

 

She looked at her cards and smirked. "And now I perform a Xyz Change!" She called as she raised her hand in the air. "Chaos Xyz Change! Show yourself, Chaos Numbers 39. The power of hope, the messenger that changes chaos into light, King of Wishes - Utopia Ray!" Utopia folded his wings and lowered himself into the black hole, coming back out as a black armored angel. "And because of this, I can sacrifice 500 lifepoints to draw a card!" She smiled as she drew her card.

 

Hope: 7000

 

"And now, I activate the spell card Rank-Up Magic - Limited Barian's Force! I can now summon a "Number C" monster that is one rank higher than Utopia Ray! Rank Up Xyz Change!" The black angel lowered itself to the black hole once again. "Come forth, Chaos Numbers 39! Crimson conqueror who unifies chaos, release the eternal seal, and in one flash blow away the darkness! Descend, King of Wishes - Hope Ray V!"   What came out could only be described as a metal demon flew out from the black hole. "And now I play the spell card Rank-Down-Magic Numeron Fall! I can now Special Summon one Utopia monster one rank lower than Ray V! I choose Utopia!" The black demon shed its armor, turning back to the white angel.

"What's the point of that?" Yugo muttered. 

"Simple! I get to draw another card!" She said as she did so, losing another 500 lifepoints.

 

Hope: 6500

 

"And now I Xyz Change back into Utopia Ray!" She called out, summoning the monster and losing 500 to draw a card.

Hope: 6000

 

"And now I play the spell card---!"

"Oh my god, it's like you're playing with yourself!" Yugo groaned. Hope ignored him, instead going through the cycle one more time, coming back to her third copy of Utopia, drawing 3 more cards and losing 1500 lifepoints.

Hope: 4500

 

"And now, I'm summoning my ace monster!" She called out as she raised her hand over her head. "Solitary glimmer of hope become a streak of lightning and leap from the darkness!! Rank-Up Xyz change!! Come forth, Shining Number 39!! Utopia the Lightning!!" The angel fell into the hole once more, becoming a armored being, and to which she drew a card.

Hope: 4000

 

"And now, I activate Lightning's effect! By detaching two materials, its attack goes up to 5000!!" Yugo's eyes widen as his opponent's monster gained a giant lightning aura. "And now, it attacks!"

"I activate Tri---," Yugo began, holding out his hand, but Hope interrupted him.

"Nope! When Lightning attacks, you can't activate any effects!" 

"That's stupid!" Yugo yelled as Utopia dashed forwards, slashing Puzzle to bits, the explosion nearly knocking Yugo off his D-Wheel. 

Yugo: 5300

"The best part is, even you attack me, you can't activate effects, and I can boost to 5000 again!" Hope stated. "This duel is in the bag for me! Yugo grunted as he straighten his D-Wheel and drove to catch up to her. He had to beat her... but how would he get over this beast?!

[Tesability Black]

~Miero's POV~

Miero was actually one of the earliest to wake and had been practicing with his staff in a secluded and empty location nearby, making sure that he could efficiently fight with it in a pinch. While he knew he would eventually be forced to duel at some point, it made him feel better to have a way of fighting that the others did not seem to consider.

As he saw others began to head out towards where the portal would be open, he stopped his early workout before sighing to himself. Pulling back his green trenchcoat, he pulled out of an inner pocket the blank card that had been sleeved with a clear sleeve. Turning it over, he could see another card instead of the typical backing one would see.

However, this other card was faded, extremely faded. You had to strain your eyes to see the faint colors remaining, but Miero didn't need to do that, due to knowing exactly what this old card was.

Harpy's Pet Dragon.

"I haven't used you since the rest of the deck was burned in front of my eyes," he repeated to himself in a mumble before closing his eyes. The image of him being significantly younger and in a wartorn town, with a bunch of others attacking and harming him greatly flashed in front of his eyes as well as the sight of one of that number trying to take his deck away from him, the Harpy's Pet Dragon being the only one that stayed in his hand. Shaking his head, he lowered his hand, cards still gripped tight as he looked up towards the still-rising sun. "Maybe a time will come when we can fight together again."

Sliding the sleeved cards back into the same pocket he pulled him from, Miero set himself up in his truck and got to driving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

"Heeeeeeey yoooooooooou guuuuuuuuys! We've been waiting for you, c'mon, c'mon! We going to see the monsters, and meet the giant floooooooaaaaating head. And if we're super lucky, we will get some boobies as well! Good thing I'm a level 17 bard! I can bang anything without damage!"

 

Miero had been opening his truck door when he heard the outburst, prompting him to look up towards the source.

"Is it me...or is he a little too cheerful?" Pulling the staff out of the passenger seat, he closed and locked up the truck before running after the oddball, finally catching up to him at the bottom of a set of stairs. He saw at least one other already here, though Miero sighed to himself, mumbling about wishing that he at least paid more attention to folks that could be considered important in one way or another.

[Yui]

---

Turn 10: Hiromi - 400 (Hand: 2) / Raiko  - 1200 (Hand: 1 -> 2)

"End of the line," Raiko said. "My turn! Draw!" A brief glance at her hand and the field before her conveyed all the information needed to make the winning play. "I don't like winning like this, but I don't have much choice. I Normal Summon Superheavy Samurai Scales, and activate its effect to summon Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter from my Graveyard! Then, I Special Summon another Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter from my hand!"

 

"More Synchro Summoning?"

 

"Of course! First, I'll tune my Level 2 Trumpeter with my Level 4 Scales to make the Level 6 monster, Superheavy Samurai Ogre Shutendoji! I won't activate its effect though. I have other things in mind. Next, by tuning my Level 2 Trumpeter with my Level 6 Shutendoji, I'll summon the last monster of the duel! Level 8, Superheavy Samurai Ninja Sarutobi!" As the blue machine appeared before Raiko, she nodded toward her opponent and asked "You know what happens next, right?"

 

"Do what you will," Hiromi shrugged.

 

"You're taking this pretty well. I activate the effect of Sarutobi, to destroy your facedown card and inflict 500 points of damage!"

 

Hiromi: 400 -> 0

 

"And that's the end of that."

---

[~Faytl~]

Hibiki hadn't bothered to remember his opponent's name. There were far more important matters overtaking his mind. He didn't need to know his opponent's name to beat him.

 

The opponent in question was called Sei, not that Hibiki knew that. He was wide-eyed and repeatedly glancing back over his shoulder at the encroaching Hibiki, who was leering at him over the top of his D-Wheel. Sei had to keep swerving to avoid the various gouges in the track Hibiki had caused. The audience was in a murmuring mass, nervously watching every move they made.

 

Sei: 2400/Hibiki: 4400

 

"I tune my level 6 Vajrayana with my level 2 Phalanx!" His dragons lined up as the Synchro Wings formed, a bright white flashing as a new, long sinuous dragon with a lone figure riding atop it appeared. "Synchro Summon! Dragunity Knight - Barcha!"

 

Dragunity Knight - Barcha

2000/2100

 

Hibiki smirked as he saw this new beast. "Your Barcha isn't anywhere near as powerful as the Reptillane Vaskii I have on my field," he pointed out, nodding to the snake-bodied woman who hovered in the air beside him, demurely staring down Barcha.

 

Reptilliane Vaskii

2600/0

 

Sei clenched a fist emphatically. "Barcha's effect equips all my Dragon-Type Dragunity monsters that rest in the Graveyard to it! And it gains 300 attack points for every one!"

 

"I see..." Hibiki mused as five lights rose up from Sei's duel disk, splashing onto Barcha with a blast of luminescence.

 

"I equip Phalanx, Javelin, Aklys, Gae Dearg, and Vajrayana! Barcha's attack points increase to 3500! Attack Vaskii!" The dragon lurched forward, the knight riding it swiping its sword through the air and slicing it through Vaskii, who exploded in a shower of shards that peppered Hibiki.

 

Hibiki: 4400 > 3500

 

"Your Vaskii can't destroy my monsters anymore!" Sei proclaimed triumphantly. "And now you have no more monsters on your field at..." He paused, seeing something lurking in the smoke around Hibiki. "What is..." He blanched as he saw a levitating turtle shell, a pair of eyes leering out from within. "What is that?!"

 

"Reptilliane Gardna," Hibiki explained, a card revealing itself on his field. "When I took damage, I activated my Damage = Reptile card. It summons a Reptile monster from my deck with attack power less than the damage I took!"

 

Sei swore, looking at Gardna with worry. It has Attack power of 0... Does he mean to summon Vaskii again?! he thought to himself.

 

"I set one card face-down, and end my turn!" he yelled. He looked at his display screen, at his set card. This will prevent the rebirth of Vaskii! he thought with conviction.

 

"My turn. Draw!" Hibiki yelled, drawing and playing the card he had drawn. "I summon Reptilliane Stheno!" The snake-bodied gorgon slithered out on the track, hissing loudly at Sei.

 

Reptilianne Stheno

1300/1700

 

Stheno can banish itself from the graveyard to reduce a monster's attack power to 0, Sei thought worriedly. If he somehow returns Vaskii to his hand after letting Stheno destroy itself to reduce Barcha to 0 attack... Now is the time!

 

"Reveal Trap! Safe Zone!" He hit a button on his disk. A sphere of blue light closed in around Barcha, the dragon roaring defiantly. "Now it can't be destroyed by battle or targeted by any effects!" He pointed at Hibiki, scowling. "I won't let you revive Vaskii, Hisakawa!" 

 

Hibiki's response was a chuckle. "Do you think that's what I wanted?"

 

"What?!" 

 

"Vaskii's served her purpose... she's useless to me! I tune my level 4 Reptilliane Gardna with my level 3 Stheno!"

 

"Stheno's a Tuner?!" asked Sei with surprise as the Synchro Summon began. 

 

"Silent fangs dwelling in the Tataran depths," Hibiki chanted as a great, sinuous silhouette appeared coiled around his D-Wheel, a humanoid body rising up high above him. "Pounce and strike, and sever the unworthy from their lives! Synchro Summon! Reptilianne Lamia!" 

 

Reptilianne Lamia

2400/2100

 

The gorgon-haired woman flexed her golden claws as she dived forward, wrapping around Barcha and constricting it tightly, moving right through the sphere of light.

 

"What's going on?!" asked Sei, alarmed. "Barcha should be protected by Safe Zone!"

 

Hibiki cackled. "When Lamia is Synchro Summoned, your strongest monster has its attack power reduced to 0! It doesn't target at all, you idiot! Lamia attacks Barcha!" 

 

"What?! AAAAAGH!" Sei was sent flying as Lamia suddenly ripped Barcha into two pieces, the dragon's head flying at Sei and knocking his D-Wheel askew, the opponent skipping across the track, several horrified yells sounding out.

 

"Don't scratch the paint job, boys," Hibiki drawled, walking away from his parked D-Wheel, the shocked pit men looking as paramedics swarmed around Sei. "I've got a duel to watch."

 

- - - - - - -

 

"Utopia can't be defeated in battle," he mused, watching the track below, eyes on Yugo. "And it can reset its attack power even if it's reduced. Even I would have a hard time with that... Who am I kidding," he chuckled. "No I wouldn't. Let's see how the descendant of Fudo Yusei duels against these circumstances."

 

- - - - - - - -

 

"Blade Armor Ninja, attack Bosko directly!"

 

Tycho grunted with effort as he raised his duel disk to block the sword blade, sliding back several feet, breathing hard as his Life Points fell.

 

Cato: 8000/Tycho: 5800 > 1800

 

"And Tycho loses almost all of his Life Points on Cato's first turn!" the announcer shouted as Tycho leaned back, steadying himself against the arena wall that he had been knocked back against. "Cato has suited up his monster with two Fuhma Shurikens and Big Bang Shot, raising its atack points to 4000 and granting it the ability to inflict piercing damage! Can Tycho overcome this?!?"

 

Cato laughed. "He wishes! The idiot can't get anything here accomplished. The Red Deaths are here to stay, and all the guys you call hoodlums! I set a card! Turn over!"

 

Tycho stood straight, stepping forward. "I'm getting more accomplished than you realize," he said emphatically, the shadow of the Wicked Gods in his mind. "My turn. I dra-"

 

A sudden cry of glee sounded in his ear. He jumped up, whipping his head around to see Kuriboh floating behind his head, eyes happy and the creature bouncing. Tycho's eyes widened, his head going in eight different directions. He instinctively leaned back against the rena wall, squashing Kuriboh behind his broad shoulders, a muffled cry of discomfort sounding from the creature. Tycho was panicking, hoping against hope nobody could see it.

 

"What's wrong, Tycho?" asked Cato scathingly. "You too old and weak to stand on your own?"

 

Tycho grimaced, unable to think of a clever comeback. "Draw!" he yelled forcefully, feeling Kuriboh squirm against his back. He had to end this quickly. "I activate summon Heraldic Beast Antelope!" A long-legged beast with long, curled horns appeared on his field, stomping a hoof on the ground.

 

Heraldic Beast Antelope

1200/1000

 

"When this card is summoned, I can play any Heraldic Beast monster from my hand! Appear, Heraldic Beast Unicorn!" A white unicorn decked in armor appeared on the field. 

 

"Two level 4 monsters? You're trying to Xyz Summon! Activate Trap: Armor Ninitsu Art of Rust Mist!" From below Blade Armor's feet, a silver mist spread out across the field, Unicorn neighing in pain as it lapped around its hooves. "All monsters you Special Summon have their attack points reduced by half as long as I control a Ninja!" Cato smirked. "Anything you summon won't be able to come near the power of Blade Armor-"

 

"I won't let you taint my struggle for peace in Hearthome!" Tycho roared suddenly, stepping forward and interrupting, Kuriboh peeping out from behind his shoulder, Cato stepping back in dismay. "My conviction defeats your power! I overlay Antelope and Unicorn!" 

 

"He's doing it anyway?!" Cato asked in surprise as Tycho's monsters streamed into the galaxy portal that exploded to reveal a four-legged beast, strange yellow tendrils of hair shooting off from the white-masked head it bore. "What the hell is that?!"

 

"Fire with fire, deceit with deceit," Tycho chanted as his monster rose from the portal. "Stand tall above the wicked, and take their power as your own! Xyz Summon! Heraldic King, Genom-Heritage!"

 

Heraldic King Genom-Heritage

2400/1800

 

"Rust Mist activates! Heraldic King is reduced to 1200 attack point-"

 

"Genom-Heritage activates its effect!" Tycho roared even as his monster spasmed in pain from Rust Mist touching it, Kuriboh shying away from the livid Tycho. "Each turn, I reduce the attack power of any Xyz Monster to 0, and take its attack points as Heraldic King's own!"

 

"What?!" Cato blanched as Heraldic King reached out with the tenrils of hair, wrapping them around his Ninja, coild of red energy shooting off from the groaning ninja as it fell to the ground, gasping for breath as the energy flowed into Tycho's monster, the beast's form fluctuating until it was a mirror image of Blade Armor, with the same white mask covering its face.

 

Genom-Heritage: 1200 > 4000

 

"What a reversal! Tycho has circumvented Rust Mist and and allowed himself to take out half of Cato's life points all in one turn!" the announcer yelled. "But it's not over yet; Cato's Fuhma Shurikens will reduce Tycho to a mere 400 Life when Blade Armor Ninja is destroyed! Even with no cards left in hand, Cato can still turn this around!"

 

"Is that right?" asked Tycho righteously. "Heraldic King absorbs the effects of all Xyz monsters it affects!"

 

"The effect as well?!" Cato asked, horrified. "Then that means-"

 

"I use the absorbed effect of Blade Armor Ninja!" Tycho yelled, one of the yellow orbs of light circling his monster flying into its mask in a flash of light. "Heraldic King can attack you twice this turn! Battle! Destroy Blade Armor Ninja!"

 

The mirror copy of the ninja jumped forward, unsheathing one of it's blades and throwing it down like a boomerang. The sword plunged into Blade Armor's back, the monster exploding in a blast of light, Cato howling as he lost Life Points.

 

Cato: 8000 > 4000

 

"Battle!" Cato looked up from where he had fallen in fear as the ninja copy unsheathed its other blade, then at Tycho, who didn't even flinch as the two shurikens Blade Armor had wielded at its waist flew at him, exploding into twin plumes of fire at his feet, sending his hair into a windblown fenzy.

 

Tycho: 1800 > 400

 

"Everything you throw at me..." Tycho said bitterly, staring down with burning eyes at Cato, "I'll return to you with all y power behind it! Direct attack!"

 

Cato: 4000 > 0

 

The crowd went into an uproar, gang members yelling and booing both sides as Tycho strode forward, Kuriboh staying back by the wall, out of sight, looking at Tycho with wide eyes as he loomed over Cato. "I didn't need to stand to defeat you," he hissed, finally coming up with a good response to Cato's earlier taunt. He then turned, oblivious to the thrown bottles and insults from the crowd as he walked somberly out of the arena, snatching Kuriboh and stuffing it under his jacket as he walked. 

[Krein]

Staying around Cradle City would have been preferable, but Lyall hadn't exactly planned to stay away from Taccon for so long when he went to Blues' meeting. He could have easily bought some new clothes and then have rested and freshened up at a hotel, but carelessly spending money like that was stupid. On the bright side, returning to Taccon meant he could personally ensure that everything in his business was in order, as well as make some private calls to his associates in Hearthome to check and see how everything was going. As hoped for, everything was alright, although Hearthome's respective Fortune Cup preliminary had whipped many of the citizens into a frenzy, meaning that some of them had to be cracked down on. Nothing surprising there.

 

After that, Lyall had briefly watched some of Hearthome's duels while sorting his deck out. Ophion's absence made it feel different, less powerful and collected, and Lyall frowned at the fact that its potential would likely be hindered. He knew the effects of his other cards well, though, so playing around this honestly wouldn't be much trouble. Still, missing one of his ace cards and knowing that the monster's spirit was somewhere having God knows what done to it was... unsettling. Even Kerykeion felt disturbed by this; Ophion in the wrong hands, in this case the hands of the Cult, could spell tremendous trouble. They would now have to find some way to locate its spirit in the Spirit World, or at least draw it out to them to be "cleansed".

 

...

 

The drive to Cradle City had been used to mentally prepare himself for what was to come. Lyall had surprisingly gotten a restful sleep despite everything on his mind, and even if he hadn't, the inner excitement for the new world he was about to see would have made up for it.

 

"Heeeeeeey yoooooooooou guuuuuuuuys! We've been waiting for you, c'mon, c'mon! We going to see the monsters, and meet the giant floooooooaaaaating head. And if we're super lucky, we will get some boobies as well! Good thing I'm a level 17 bard! I can bang anything without damage!"

 

That was the first thing he heard after stepping out of the car. He had no idea what the hell any of what Wade just said meant, but it was good to know he didn't have cold feet. The same could be said for the others who had arrived shortly before he had.

 

"Good morning," he told all of them while walking past them to follow Wade. The stadium looked like it hadn't been used in a while, and despite the repairs being done to it, he doubted anybody might accidentally stumble upon them here. Downstairs, he approached Dread Knight and Phantom Falcon.

 

"Nice to know we won't have to go out of our way to get this. I trust it's ready for us to use."