Yu-Gi-Oh! Skies [IC/R-16]

BANZAI!!!! · July 3, 2018

“Hmph,” Hiraku said, barely phased as his field was wiped. The crowd of first years behind Yushiro roared with applause. “Annoying. Looks like I’ll have to stop toying with you. I set one more card and end my turn.”

Hiraku: 7400 LP

Yushiro: 6400 LP

“You shouldn’t have underestimated me in the first place. Draw!”

Despite the bravado, Yushiro knew this would likely be his one chance to shift the game’s momentum in his favor. Hiraku’s field definitely wouldn't stay empty for long. Thankfully, he’d drawn something useful.

“Lets start off by activating my set trap: Re-dyce-cle! It lets me special summon a Speedroid Tuner from my graveyard, and once I do…” Another holographic d6 appeared between Yushiro’s fingers as he spoke. “I roll this, and its level becomes the result. I choose Speedroid Tri-Eyed dice.” He tossed the die, which grew in size as it flew so that everyone present could clearly see the result. It came up 1, and Yushiro deflated some.

“Well, you can’t win em all.”

“Oh I’m sorry, did your chance card not work optimally? Oh that’s really a tragedy, it really is a bother when your cards just don’t do what you want them to.” Hiraku sneered.

Yushiro frowned. “Got a problem with my deck?”

“Maybe take this as a tip you can walk away with when you don’t win: when you run cards that can fail without your opponent doing anything, then maybe you didn’t build your deck very wisely.”

“I run these cards because they’re fun, not because I don’t know what I’m doing. And before you go disparaging someone else’s play style…” Yushiro set a card and continued. “You should be sure you can beat them! I special summon Speedroid Taketomborg from my hand, and tune it with my Tri-Eyed Dice. Synchro summon!”

Once again the summoning sequence initiated, only this time a more humanoid entity emerged from the rings; an odd mix of a killer android and a clown. “This is Hi-Speedroid puzzle, a level 4 synchro monster. And next you’re gonna meet another tuner of mine. Normal Summon: Nitro Synchron!”

“And then you’re going to go into yet another thrilling Synchro monster that does nothing but battle, is that it?”

“Its my best monster, actually. Tune level 6!” For the third time, Yushiro initiated a synchro summon, only this time it came with what duelists liked to call a summon chant: something halfway between a catchphrase and a battle cry that many players liked to call out when playing a key card. Yushiro’s went like this. “Shock! Annihilate! Exterminate! Shoot through everything that stands in your way! Synchro Summon: Nitro Booster!”

As if they had practiced this routine, Nitro Booster slammed its armored fist into the ground as Yushiro called out its name, using the force to catapult itself several feet in the air. When it landed, it kept on moving, skating forward using the wheels on its feet and leaving a trail of blue flames and skid marks behind it. It did a lap around the field before returning to Yushiro’s side. Some of the first years applauded.

ATK: 2300

“Since I summoned Nitro Booster with Nitro Synchron, I get to draw a card, and wouldn’t you know it, its a spell.” Yushiro slipped the spell card into his graveyard. “When I discard a spell, Nitro Booster gains 500 ATK, until the end of the turn.”

ATK: 2800

“One last thing, since he was summoned using Nitro Synchron, Nitro booster inflicts double damage. Now, enter battle phase!”

“Oh no! With this much damage on the board I’m a goner for sure!” Hiraku gasped melodramatically.

“Its enough to make a difference! Go! Nitro Bullet Burst!” Nitro booster clenched its fist again, then charged, hitting Hiraku square in the gut with a punch that, were Yushiro intending to inflict actual bodily harm to his opponent, would surely have shattered most of his ribs. Instead, it merely knocked the wind out of him and sent him back a couple of feet. “Does it hurt? It should. I don’t like people who try to suck the fun out of duel monsters.”

Hiraku watched his lifepoints dwindle down from 7400 to 1800 and made sure to re-read Nitro Booster’s effect, forcing himself not to smile as he made sure this would not be a winning blow. “Was that it? Is amateur-hour done now?”

“Wouldn’t amateur hour mean that both of us were newbs?” Yushiro smirked.

“Do you want to end your turn and find out how tall the mountain really is?” Hiraku said, all humor fading from his face in an instant.

“Rattled are you? Sure. Lets see what you’re made of. Turn end.”

“During your end phase, I activate my first trap card: Craftsmanship of the Crucible. This lets me return a banished light and dark monster to my grave in exchange for summoning a Crucible monster from my deck. I return my Kabeiriko and one of my Kuanoses to summon another Talos from my deck.” The trap lifted up, and after returning those two monsters to the grave, Talos rose to the field once again.

“Some skill it takes when your deck does everything for you. Gonna think about your move at all or just keep playing me on autopilot?” Another taunt, though admittedly not as good as his previous one. Still, it got a snicker or two from the crowd.

Hiraku smiled politely and insincerely. “Next, I activate my second trap: Darklight. By tributing my dark monster with more than 1500 attack, I destroy all monsters that were special summoned this turn.” As soon as it had appeared, Talos vanished as it was sent to the grave and a wave of dark fire washed over the field, devastating Nitro Booster in one blow. “Your best card, huh?”

“He did his job. Your field’s still empty and your life points are still low. Now, if you’re quite finished. i end my turn.”

VCR_CAT · July 3, 2018

“Hmph. I draw,” Hiraku added a card to his hand, and looked at his field, and chuckled. “Autopilot, huh? Realize for a moment which cards I had chosen, and how I have set up my graveyard and my banished cards for such a situation. I activate Monster Reborn Reborn.” Hiraku placed the spell card on his field, and a light began to shine from the card. “Here’s how it works: I choose three monsters in my graveyard, then you pick one. The one you picked is the one I summon to my field, while the others are banished. The monsters I target are the two Kabeiriko’s in my graveyard, as well as the Talos just sent there. Now choose wisely, Midori! This might just decide the game for you!”

“Kabayri-Kaba-Kabeirico?…. did I pronounce that right?”

Hiraku shrugged. “Close enough.” He banished the other two cards, and on his field rose Kabeiriko once more. “Next, I normal summon Keledones, Siren of the Crucible.” Hiraku placed the card on his field, and next to Kabeiriko rose a demonic siren. “Her effect allows me to send a dark Crucible monster to my graveyard, in exchange for 800 lifepoints. But, that won’t be necessary. This duel ends on this turn. Now, do you want to see what my deck is truly capable of?”

“Bring it.”

“By using two Crucible monsters with the same level and different attributes, I construct the Overlay Network,” Hiraku said, as both of his monsters transformed into two bolts of light, one yellow and one purple, as they spiraled towards a galaxy that formed on the ground. “Built from a passion for law and order, rise from the crucible and take form! Xyz Summon! Rank 5, the Will of Daedalus!”

A column of light burst from the ground, and from it rose a pale mass of unformed clay. As the clay reached its apex, the mass reshaped itself into the form of a four-armed demon before bursting into an array of dazzling yellow and purple fire, before its colour and detail all took shape.

“And let’s not forget my field spell. Right now I have three monsters banished, but that’s soon to change.” Hiraku said with a smile as the monster began to glow with an ominous gray light.

(2300 > 2600)

“But the fun’s just begun! Next I activate the spell Forged in the Crucible! This card allows me to fusion summon a fiend monster using monsters from my hand as materials. Or, if I’m summoning a certain monster, I can also use monsters in my graveyard as materials. I banish Talos and Kourai from my Graveyard in order to fusion summon!” A dark portal opened in the ground, and two lights, one yellow and one purple rose from the ground and spiraled in towards each other. “Wrought in bouts in righteous anger, rise from the crucible and take form! Fusion Summon! Level 9, the Fury of Daedalus!”

As the two lights came together, they formed yet another mass of clay that slowly took the shape of a great beast with many heads. Just like before, its body burst into a brilliance of flames as its details came to shape.

“But these two beauties are not just for show. I activate Fury’s effect. By returning up to four of my banished fiend monsters to my deck, he gains 800 attack until the end of your next turn. And would you look at that, you helped me put a whopping five cards just for him! I return all of my banished cards except for a Kuanos.” Each head of Fury let out a deafening roar as four lights collected into its body, its aura growing brighter as its attack raised from 2800 to 6000. “I’ll admit, this duel was cute, but I think it’s time to bring it to an end. Thanks to my field spell, my monsters still gain 100 attack, but that doesn’t really matter right now.”

(Will of Daedalus - 2600 > 2400)
(Fury of Daedalus - 2800 > 6000 > 6100)

“Now, time to show you true damage. I enter the battle phase. Fury of Daedalus? Show him what a monster can really do.”

Each head of the great beast began to inhale, blobs of energy forming at each of its mouths as it prepared to unleash a great attack at Yushiro

“You were right. This duel does end this turn…” Yushiro smirked as Fury was about to fire its blasts. “But not the way you think! Activate trap! Double Down!” Yushiro’s set flipped, revealing a trap card that depicted hands hovering over a blackjack table; the player’s making the hand sign for going double or nothing. At the same instant, the blasts fired, but the resulting explosion was much, much larger than it should have been, quickly engulfing both players in light.

“You activated WHAT?” Hiraku shouted. He had hardly heard of that card before-- none of the professional players had ever used it, and so far as he could remember he had never seen it used in a tournament. From a bad player he had expected something like Mirror Force, but this?!

“It's called Double Down.” Yushiro replied as he wiped some of the resultant dust from his face. “Check your life points.”

Hiraku looked down at his disk, and saw a whopping 12200 damage inflicted to him. His eyes widened as he read the card again and looked at his opponent’s lifepoints. “So what, you can’t win so you’re just going to force a draw?!” Hiraku growled, his face slowly twisting into a deathly glare.

“Nah. I figured you were going to wipe out my field again, so I had that card set for your next attack. Had you swung with something smaller, you would have lost.”

Hiraku growled, fists clenched as the “DRAW” result flashed in the middle of the field before the holograms all disappeared. Hiraku hastily cleared off his disk’s field before the blade disappeared and sorted out his cards. “This isn’t over, Midori. You better watch yourself this year.”

“Hey man, you could have done a lot better if you took me seriously from the getgo. It's your own fault that you held back until it was too late. Maybe next time you won’t be so quick to judge people.” Yushiro shrugged.

Yui · July 3, 2018

Well, the duel certainly was happening. It was probably too soon to call either one a likely winner. Probably. Kyouko wasn't paying that much attention, if she were being perfectly blunt. All the cheering from the crowds was making it hard to focus on anything really. She was only barely able to make out the returning voice of... Marisa? She was asking what she missed. Was there anything that she missed? The guy sitting behind them mentioned Kamen Rider falling into old habits. Was he a fan?

The cheering crowd was really getting annoying.

"I'm gonna go," she said, getting up to her feet. "It's too crowded and noisy in here for me. Enjoy your duel." With that, Kyouko started for the nearest exit. Surely there was something else on campus to do. Perhaps some mindless wandering would get her where she needed to go? Don't think; just let your feet decide.

Not like Kyouko had any particularly amazing options right now anyway.

Kyouko's wandering had brought her to another duel. It made sense. Today was the start of the school year. People were excited. And when people were excited, they were more prone to dueling. Some kid with white hair - he had that aura of someone Kyouko would want to punch in the face - and some other more normal-looking boy. The venue for this one was way less crowded, and not nearly as loud. In fact, most of the noise here came from the duelists.

“You were right. This duel does end this turn… But not the way you think! Activate trap! Double Down!”

Kyouko got closer as the duel came to its close, ending in a draw. Most of the audience was nothing special. However, there was one guy. Shockingly, Kyouko had actually encountered someone even taller than she was. Curiosity ensued. Was he a teacher? As Kyouko opened her mouth to ask this distinctly tall person if he was a teacher, the duelists exchanged some words after the duel's conclusion.

“This isn’t over, Midori. You better watch yourself this year.”

“Hey man, you could have done a lot better if you took me seriously from the getgo. It's your own fault that you held back until it was too late. Maybe next time you won’t be so quick to judge people.”

Perhaps as a result, a completely different question slipped out of her mouth. The one that she'd been thinking as the duelists talked. "So what's Snow White's deal? Not disciplined enough as a kid or something?"

radio414 · July 4, 2018

"Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may always know how to answer everyone."

-Colossians 4:6 (NIV)

So, to recap: After nearly hyperventilating herself into unconsciousness in the restroom, Melissa had asked a simple enough question (maybe with a slightly suspicious prelude, but again, she couldn’t think like that!), only to discover that she had sparked a dialog between four different people, each contribution more confusing to parse than the last, even chasing away Kyouko (was she mad or was that just her normal expression?), until finally she was punched in the shoulder (lightly -- Melissa thanked the heavens for that). She hadn’t even sat back down and she was already just barely treading water. She needed to go through everything, one at a time, and hope that everybody understood.

“Nothing much. Just Kamen Rider falling into old habits.”

There was a pattern here. This was the third time that day that some stranger had surprised Melissa, causing either one of them to nearly eat concrete. This time, it was Melissa, whose heart skipped a beat or three when she realized someone was behind her. Was this another thing she was just going to have to get used to as she began to socialize? Tripping over people or even herself at the drop of a hat? She made a quick mental note to always watch where she was going, even more so than usual.

“Oh, and Rose! You should have seen her…”

It wasn’t that Melissa wasn’t paying attention as Yusuji’s summary went from helpful to perhaps less so (though no less enthusiastic), it was just that, with her hands flying around with every “Woosh!” it was a better use of her time to just make sure she didn’t get hit by a stray arm. Still, she figured she should at least nod her acknowledgment that someone had answered her question in more detail than “They’re falling into old habits.”

“I’m Jun! And ‘Lissa here is all our friends, right?”

Oh, Yusuji had introduced herself too. Right. Well, if anything was going to go consistently right for her, it might as well be introductions. “My name is Melissa Ashforth, though I guess my friends call me ‘Lissa,” she said as she turned around. That was a nice thought, that she could embarrass herself in so, so many different ways and still end up part of a group that thought of her as as worthy an addition as any. It probably wasn’t true, but it was good to think about.

The newcomer, well, Melissa wasn’t really sure what to think of him. He was in some sort of costume, which, given her habit of attending mass dressed like a nun (the habit pun had stopped being funny years ago, even if it did require notice), she couldn’t judge too much even if the costume was much flashier than she would have liked. In a way, it reminded her of The Kamen Rider’s, or even Rose’s. “Are you an entertainment duelist too?” she said idly, not even realizing the words had come out of her mouth until she had already said them.

The Frost King · July 6, 2018

"If you want, check out the Community Service Club. Tell Connor that I sent you." Melissa said as the two girls parted ways.

“Will do.” Akari replied with a smile as she sat back down at her table. Having had a conversation with someone reminded her about what she loved about Blue Yonder. It was the fun you could have, the people you could meet, and the friends you could make. Something she had a lack of while living in the Ito household.

With more than half of her burger gone and her water bottle basically empty, it didn’t take long for Akari to finish her meal. Disposing her water bottle in the nearest trash can, she left in search for a club.

. . .

Akari hadn’t realized that Blue Yonder had so many clubs. Honestly, she had thought there were only like 5 or 6 of them but as it turned out there were a lot more than that. Probably should’ve guessed there was gonna be a ton of them, considering that Blue Yonder was one of the most popular dueling academies after all. She still hadn’t run into that club that Melissa had told her about earlier, but that didn’t matter. Akari had made a choice. She wasn’t going to join a club today. After all, it would be a much better idea to wait and see how busy her days were gonna be first. That way, she could decide if she even had the free time to be in a club.

With that decision out of the way, Akari thought about what she could do next. The expedition duel that was going to happen today seemed like it would be a lot of fun to watch. Checking the time on her phone, her mood went from sunny to cloudy. The expedition duel had already started a while ago. It had been pretty hyped up, so the arena was probably packed so much that she couldn’t get in. And even if she could, a pretty good portion of the duel had already gone by. Missing the expedition duel was a major bummer, but oh well. She wasn’t going to let a mess up like that put a dent in her day. There were still many other fun things she could do, like play games, eat some delicious treats, and maybe even have a duel or two.

Speaking of a duel, there was one happening not that far away. As she moved closer to get a better view of the duel, she recognized one of the duelists as a guy who occasionally worked at the food truck. She didn’t know his name, mainly because she had never really asked him for it. Although, she might’ve heard Jo say it before a while ago. It was something like Yoshoro? Yushiji? Yoshi? Whatever the boy’s name was, he was doing a good job at fending off his opponent, whose behavior was nothing short of a bully. While the duel seemed to be leaning in the bully’s favor, it ended surprisingly in a draw because of a single card that (Yoshiru?) used.

With the duel over, Akari was surprised to see Kyouko walk by as she went up to a guy who looked like he could bench press a truck. While the guy did seem intimidating because of his tall stature, he had been cheering for (Yushiro?) during the duel, so he was probably a nice guy.

"So what's Snow White's deal? Not disciplined enough as a kid or something?"

Without really thinking, Akari answered Kyouko’s question. “I think he’s a bully or something.” Realizing that she probably seemed rude for planting herself in the middle of the conversation, she smiled nervously. “Oh, I’m Akari Ito by the way. Sorry if I intruded in your conversation.”

Super Chaos Sonic · July 6, 2018

“My turn. Draw.” the Rider said, drawing for turn. “At this moment, Ocean’s ability activates. Now, open the watery portal, Ocean!”

Ocean twirled his staff, before striking an area beside him, as a small puddle of water began to emerge.

“To my hand, I shall add Shadowmist to my hand.” he said, watching as Shadowmist slowly began to rise from the puddle. “Oceanic Rebirth!” With Shadowmist finally out of the puddle, she was recalled back to her Duelist’s hand.

“Next...I shall activate the Spell Card, Fake Hero!” he declared, revealing the card to Rose. “Care to guess what will be Special Summoned from my hand, miss?”

“Hmm...” She said, before clasping her hands together. “Oh! Shadowmist, yes?”

“Quite observant.” the Rider smirked, as Shadowmist was summoned and once more appeared from his shadow. “As per Fake Hero, it cannot attack this turn and will also return to my hand at the end of the turn. However...now that it’s Special Summoned, I can add a Mask Change to my hand.”

Once again, he held his hand towards his deck and out a Mask Change shot towards his hand.

“I now activate my Mask Change and target Shadowmist!” he declared, watching Shadowmist rise into the air as a helmet began to descend towards her.

“With this mask, those within the darkness shall hear your roar! Bare your fangs towards injustice! TRANSFORMATION SUMMON! HENSHIN!! Let out a war cry within the shadows, Masked HERO Dark Law!”

From where Shadowmist stood, now descended another warrior in ebony armor, this one looking even more odd than Anki did.

“Battle!” the Rider said, pointing at Rose’s face down monster. “Ocean, attack her face down. Torrent Barrage!!”

Ocean simply nodded before summoning the torrent of water and riding atop it, speeding towards the face-down monster.

Rose grinned as she saw her monster flipped over. Out of the card came out a small doll of a bird. “I activate Shaddoll Falco’s effect!” As she spoke, she picked up her Graveyard to look through it. “When my little birdy is flipped over, I get to Special Summon a Shaddoll monster face-down, including...” Once she had found her card, she revealed it to the crowd. “Return to me, Grysta!” She placed the monster face-down on her duel disk. As she said this, Shaddoll Falco was destroyed.

The Rider only smirked towards Rose. “Have you noticed something? About that Falcon of yours?”

“Hm?” She said as she turned to her monster. Her eyes widened when she realized what was going on. “Uh oh...”

“That’s right.” he said, pointing towards Dark Law. “Thanks to my ally here, every single card that my opponent plays that’s supposed to be sent to the graveyard ends up being banished instead.”

Rose sighed, placing the card into the banished zone. “Not bad, Mr. Rider!”

“What can I say? I aim to please and surprise.” he said, before pointing at the face-down Grysta. “Dark Law! It’s your turn! Attack the face-down Grysta with Law Bringer!!”

Dark Law let out a roar before rushing towards the face-down, as it uppercutted the monster and sent Grysta up flying. Now the ebony armored warrior began to slash at the monster, before doing a superhero landing, with his back turned to it and Grysta exploded in quite the flashy manner.

“What a show!” Rose said, applauding before placing her Grysta into the banish zone. “I must say, I quite like your style!”

The Kamen Rider only gave a smile with a small nod. “I’m glad to hear that. It means I’m doing well on my stride to become a better Entertainment Duelist. I end my turn, miss Rose.”

.:Turn 9:.

.:The Kamen Rider:.

LP: 7900

Hand: 4

Monster Zone: M-HERO Dark Law [ATK], E-HERO Ocean [ATK]
S/T Zone: None
Graveyard: Phantom Magician, Polymerization, E-HERO Solidman, E-HERO Blazeman, Storming Mirror Force, E-HERO Nova Master, Mask Change (2), E-HERO Shadowmist, Form Change, Fake Hero

Banish: None

Rose POV

Rose giggled as she drew her card. “Well hopefully both of us can become great Entertainment Duelists one day. Until then, however, it’s my turn.” She took a look at her card, thinking about what she was going to do about this Dark Law. She let out a sigh. “This will have to do...” Quickly, she slammed a card onto her Duel Disk. “I activate Shaddoll Fusion! As I’ve said before, you control a monster from the Extra Deck, I get to use material from my deck!” As she said this, she searched through her deck before grabbing onto two cards. “Unfortunately, I have to banish these two… regardless, I banish Shaddoll Squamata and Nefarious Archfiend Eater of Nefariousness.”

“Your Shaddoll Fusion will also be banished as well, don’t forget.” the Rider reminded the idol

“Sadly, I am aware of this. Still, I had no better option” As she sent the cards into the banished zone, she began to start her chant. “May beautiful flowers bloom from the soil you lay before you! SHADDOLL FUSION! El Shaddoll Shekhinaga!” The dark swirls appeared once again, this time opening wide as an immense feminine doll emerged from it. Alongside it spawned what looked like the remains of a once towering machine, which the doll promptly used as a sort of throne. “Shekhinaga, attack Dark Law!”

The throne the doll sat on slowly made its way forward, close enough to the masked hero for the doll to sheepishly swing its massive leg at him. The ground seemed to crack as the throne moved forward, leaving a trail of dust behind it.

The force from this strike, almost knocked back the Kamen Rider, if it wasn’t for Ocean who grabbed a hold of his arm. “Thanks Ocean...”

Kamen Rider LP: 7900 -> -200 -> 7700 LP

Rose giggled as the throne moved the doll back to her side of the field, the ground still shattered by the sheer movement of it. “And with that, I’ll end my turn!”

.:Turn 10:.

.:Rose:.

LP: 3950

Hand: 2

Monster Zone: 1 “El Shaddoll Shekhinga” [ATK]

S/T Zone: 1 Face-Down
Graveyard: Shaddoll Hedgehog, Mathematician, Jigabyte, Shaddoll Anoyatylls, Shaddoll Dragon, Shaddoll Hound, Inari Fire, Shaddoll Beast, Foolish Burial, Shaddoll Dragon

Banish: El Shaddoll Grysta, Shaddoll Fusion, Shaddoll Squamata, Nefarious Archfiend Eater of Nefariousness

Field Spell Card: Curse of Shadow Prison (2 Spellstone Counter)

a coffee · July 8, 2018

“Well, I wasn't expecting that.” Ashley crossed her arms, looking rather impressed. Her voice trailed off, and Elizabeth could see an idea forming behind her eyes, if she cared to look.

“What the ****?” Elizabeth cocked her eyebrow, almost looking sort of annoyed, “Playing to a draw? I guess it was his only option, but… what?” She looked over to Ashley, looking for feedback, and saw something cooking back there.

“I don’t ever like that look Ash.” she looked over to the duelists, now jabbering at one another, trying desperately to get the last word in, and looked over back to Ashley. Instead of an answer, Elizabeth got Ashley’s hand around her wrist, and the next thing she knew her friend was dragging her through the crowd and out onto the field, followed quickly by several phrases along the lines of: “Ashley, no. I don’t like whatever this is, Ash, Ashley no, none of this please.” It was no use though, and after they pushed their way out of the crowd, Ashley yoinked Elizabeth up next to her, and addressed both of the players.

“Hey Guys! Ashley Rendleman, Student Council President, and this is my assistant Beth. Interesting game you had here.” After she had gotten their attention with a friendly greeting, her smile twisted into a more mischievous grin. “And I enjoyed watching it, but you do know that dueling on school grounds outside of the designated arenas is against school policy, right?” For his part, the blonde boy looked more confused than anything, then as things sunk in he cracked half a smile and let out a nervous laugh. “Now, I’m going to need both of your names, boys…”

Elizabeth shook her head slightly, was she being brought up here to look like good cop or something? Why did she need to be here for Ashley’s weird disciplinarian act? She looked at the two boys, then Ashley, and nodded, “...Yeah, you knocked my muffin on the ground with your lazers. Major issue…?” she pursed her lips, trying to hide a mostly confused expression; she was just as lost as the boys were, “It was a good duel though, for the most part.”

Ashley shot Elizabeth a sharp look, then went back to her act, pretending to be pondering something for a moment. “But…. We could overlook things… if you do me a favor.”

“Uhhhhh…” was the only noise Yushiro was able to form. At this point he had absolutely no idea what was going on, and worse Akira seemed to be preoccupied by a different pair of girls (both of whom oddly enough had blue hair) who had shown up.

“I need a main event for the Kickoff cup in a couple of weeks, and you two seemed like you were really going at it, so how about this: You guys have a rematch for me on the day of the cup. I’ll bill it as an exhibition game, and we’ll just pretend neither of us ever saw this little scuffle happen, mkay?” All things considered, the boys would be foolish not to accept such an offer. While it was more of a threat from the president than anything, the fact of the matter is it would be a chance for both of them to gain some considerable notoriety; after all, the Cup was a pretty big deal.

Elizabeth tried to hide a scowl, which probably made her look more convincing for Ashley, but the reason she was scowling was because of her friend’s motives. The Cup? Really? First she markets out my duel with Hitomu and now she’s snatching up these two? What’s gotten into her this afternoon?

Ashley caught Elizabeth’s frown, and knew exactly what she was thinking. Of course, what her friend didn't know was that this was only phase one of her actual dastardly plan; getting a crowd pleaser for the cup was just a bonus. “Good? Good. Now then.” She not-so-gently shoved Elizabeth in Yushiro’s direction as she spoke. “Beth would you mind getting blondie’s info for me while I talk to this other gentleman about his earlier activities?” Hook, line, and sinker. Not exactly the best way to get Beth to go out and socialize, sure, but it might just work out, and she had something else to address. She left Elizabeth to it as she pulled Hiraku aside.

“So, am I correct in assuming that you’re the fellow who’s been challenging other students to ante games these past few days? Or is it just a coincidence that you happened to be out here having duels without permission on campus?” This time Ashley was serious. A problem like this so early in the school year wasn’t bound to end well.

Before she knew it, Elizabeth was being shoved into Yushiro’s space. The issue, of course, with wearing sandals is they don’t exactly have the best traction, nor do they have a front to stop you from say, getting stuck on a crack in the pavement below them as you’re being forced into a direction. Elizabeth has started to fall, and instantly went to cover the back of her dress to avoid exposing her backside to the crowd, and put another hand up in front of her reflexively to attempt to break the fall. Luckily enough, depending on how you view it, Yushiro was much closer than she thought, and she instead just sort of bumped into him, with her hand being pressed between their chests as she caught her balance. It took a moment for Elizabeth to gain her surroundings, before realizing the gravity of the situation. Her face was probably no more than a few inches away from this complete stranger. Her face shot red and she quickly moved off of his person, brushing out the folds in her dress and organizing her bangs to their proper spots as quickly as she could. A “sorry” or two was thrown in between clearing her throat and trying to perfect her appearance.

Perhaps to her relief, his face was as red as hers, his composure having been completely destroyed. “S-sorry about that. You alright?” It wasn’t his fault, at all, but good luck trying to convince anyone (especially Yushiro) of that after seeing the look on his face. He took a stutter step back toward her as she regained her balance, instinctively trying to make sure she was alright, but quickly stopped himself as it would have put him back into her personal space. That was until Yushiro realized that he still had his Duel disk active, and her bumping into him had spilled a good half of his deck onto the pavement. He quickly ducked down and started picking up cards, careful not to scratch them on the gravel.

Ashley thought she was so dang clever, didn’t she. Just shove her into some guy and they’ll figure the rest out, eh? Well now look where that got her. Her and this random stranger were beat red, feeling as awkward as ever, and scrambling to pick up cards off of the ground as quickly as possible in the crowd of people dispersing after the duel. Elizabeth squatted by the knees to allow her to get down to the ground without revealing anything, trying to help the poor guy out; she had already made a mess of a stressful situation. The absolute last thing she wanted to do was have him lose cards.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. My friend bumped into me and I completely lost my footing. If any of your cards are damaged or anything I’ll replace what I can.” She felt her face getting hotter and hotter by the second, so much for any sort of getting to know this guy; she would be lucky if he didn’t curse her out for this!

“Hey don’t sweat it.” He looked up from the ground to at her for a moment. “I’m the doofus who left his disk on.” He smiled at her apologetically, then reflexively went back to his cards after he realized he was staring at her. The last thing he wanted to do was make things even more awkward for either one of them, though he had to admit to himself that she was pretty.

Great. He was nice about it too. Now she really felt like a jerk. As she was picking up cards, though, she noticed the blonde getting distracted by her. They met eyes for just a moment before he had quickly gone back to scooping up cards, just as she had done. Finally sure she had gotten everything near her, she stood up, waiting for him to do the same. It took him another couple of seconds to finish gathering cards before he got back up off the ground. Mercifully, the crowd seemed to have dispersed and few if any people were actually there to laugh at them for bumping into one another. “Thanks.” he said, putting the cards he had picked up back into his deck box.

“No, no, it would have been rude of me to spill all your cards like that and not help. Really sorry again.” She handed the cards over to the boy and gave a small bow of the head towards him, “Guess you didn’t get so lucky this time, eh?” she chuckled a little bit, trying to make light of the situation and hopefully wash some of the blush from her cheeks, “Bumping into me and all, anyway. The duel seemed to go mostly your way.”

“You win some, you lose some. Right?” he laughed too, glad to get back a little bit of his composure. “But for real, don’t worry about it. Some people wouldn't have thought twice, after all. And besides, didn’t lose any. “ He patted his deck box to punctuate his sentence. “Soo uhh…” His voice trailed off, not really knowing where to take the conversation next. “Your friend said you needed my name or something?”

Elizabeth looked back, puzzled, and saw Ashley, realizing why this had even started. She quickly turned back over to the boy and started rambling on, “Oh, I’m not sure that’ll be necessary, it wasn’t a big deal anyway.” She quickly realized how rude that sounded and tried to patch it up, “I mean, not that I don’t want your name anyway, you seem like a nice enough guy.” Wait, that’s not helping, “And I don’t want to uhm, get you in trouble with Ashley or whatever it was!” Sure, that’s good enough, “So what was your name, anyway?” She was a hot mess. A flush, clumsy, hot, mess. She just hoped he still found her at all interesting, or at the very least not a total weirdo.

“Its uhh… Y-yushiro. Yushiro Midori.” His face was still red. She probably didn’t care enough to remember his name anyway, judging by her reaction. Maybe it was best to change the subject. “What’s her deal, anyway?"

Elizabeth nodded, “Wish we could have met under less tumultuous circumstances, Yushiro. I’m Elizabeth Hall.” she looked behind her to Ashley once more, who was probably still on about something, whether it be the duel now or the duel later, “Oh, Ashley? She’s always been a bit of a handful. But you know, she’s smart as anything when it comes to student government and cute to boot so, I guess I would be a handful too.”

Yushiro shot a glance over to Akira. “Yeah, I kinda get that… e-except the cute part I mean. N-not that she isn’t cute, but.. Ahhh nevermind.”

She giggled a bit at Yushiro’s nerves, almost as if she hadn’t just done the same, “Don’t worry mate, I won’t tell her. She’s got enough suitors these days as it is.”

“Heh, I probably wouldn’t have a chance anyway.” He laughed. Self deprecation usually worked to soften things over.

“Well, I don’t know I think you’d do alright…” Elizabeth, of course, was making a jab at Ashley, but to a complete stranger like Yushiro, this probably just came off as her calling him attractive. Talk about a train wreck of a situation. Not that he wasn’t, but boy she was striking out here.

Yushiro’s face got even redder. He wasn’t used to… was this even flirting? Nah, she wouldn’t be flirting with him. “Thanks…. I think. I’m probably not her type though.”

She coughed; her blush was most certainly getting worse so she attempted to change the subject away from accidentally flirting again, “So that big duel at the cup, think you’re going to go for it?”

“Do I really have a choice? I’d rather not get in trouble with the faculty. I don’t know if I can actually beat him though… he’s seen more or less all of my good plays.”

“Oh has he…?” Elizabeth may have been flustered and upset with herself a moment ago, but this was something she knew she could offer him. She gestured towards his duel disk, “Well if you want I do a bunch of tutoring down at the coffee shop. They have a bunch of duel tables there, I’d be willing to help you out if you want it. It’s the least I could do for spilling your deck all over the ground. Well, after my duel with Hitomu tomorrow, anyway. You might not want my help after it’s all said and done but the offer’s yours.” she gave him a reassuring half-smile; she wasn’t the type to grin but even with her full smile not in sight it was easy to tell she had beautiful, well-maintained teeth.

“At CoffeeCards? Sure, but really, you don’t owe me anything, Elizabeth… wait, you’re dueling Hitomu? As in Blue Yonder’s top player-and-also-the-barista Hitomu?” He looked surprised. Maybe she could actually help him improve his game, if she was good enough to take on the best duelist at the school.

Elizabeth nodded, “Yeah well, back in our sophomore years we had something of a rivalry, before I took my break from the game. Was hoping he would give me my spark back. Anyway, CoffeeCards or my apartment are always open for lessons, not that you need them, but if you wanted the help.”

“I could use the practice, at least. And uhh… hey, i-if you need a cheering section tomorrow, I’m not doing anything after classes.” Stupid. She probably had people going to cheer her on.

She was taken aback by the comment, had she really made that much of an impression on him? “O-oh! Well, I mean I would certainly enjoy the company. Who knows, maybe I’ll even win!” she chuckled, she knew that wasn’t happening deep inside, “Here, take my number, I’ll text you the details.” She handed him a card with her number on it, as she had usually done for students she was going to tutor, or for potential dates... not that he was a potential date or anything.

“Hey, if you do, you’ll have done better than me! All I can do is force a tie.” He joked as he took the card from her hand. “And sure, I’ll come watch.” He smiled at her. “Annnyway, I should probably get going. Gotta get ready for class and work tomorrow. See you around!” He turned around and ran off in Akira’s direction, eager to get out of the heat and the public eye.

Elizabeth blinked as he ran off, she supposed that went well but then again, not many guys just ran away from her at full speed…. She looked towards the ground. Maybe she had been too forthcoming. She began to get upset until… wait, what was that on the ground? Elizabeth took a few steps closer and saw a copy of Nitro Booster on the pavement.

Oh my god, that must be Yushiro’s! She rushed over and picked it up off of the ground and looked around for him, but he was already gone. It was then that she realized he had never given her his number back. She groaned and slipped it into her deckbox; she would have to give it to him another day. Maybe tomorrow, if he was serious about showing up to the duel...

VCR_CAT · July 8, 2018

“Hey Guys! Ashley Rendleman, Student Council President, and this is my assistant Beth. Interesting game you had here.” It wasn't long after the duel was finished that the school's own Student Council President had pushed through the modest crowd of students to introduce herself. “And I enjoyed watching it, but you do know that dueling on school grounds outside of the designated arenas is against school policy, right?” At this, Hiraku's eyes had narrowed. “Now, I’m going to need both of your names, boys…”

“...Yeah, you knocked my muffin on the ground with your lazers. Major issue…?” Ashley had turned to her friend, someone that Hiraku felt he recognized but couldn't for the life of himself remember the name of. “It was a good duel though, for the most part.”

“But…. We could overlook things… if you do me a favor." Ashley cleared her throat, and as Hiraku had finished putting his cards and disk away, he folded one arm across his chest and stroked his chin with his other hand. “I need a main event for the Kickoff cup in a couple of weeks, and you two seemed like you were really going at it, so how about this: You guys have a rematch for me on the day of the cup. I’ll bill it as an exhibition game, and we’ll just pretend neither of us ever saw this little scuffle happen, mkay?”

"So you're blackmailing us," Hiraku muttered to himself. "That's very opportunistic of you."

Ashley looked back at her friend, and then nodded. “Good? Good. Now then.” She not-so-gently shoved Elizabeth in Yushiro’s direction as she spoke. “Beth would you mind getting blondie’s info for me while I talk to this other gentleman about his earlier activities?” She left Elizabeth to it as she pulled Hiraku aside.

"Hey, easy, if you want to talk to me alone you just need to ask!" Hiraku protested as Ashley grabbed hold of his arm.

“So, am I correct in assuming that you’re the fellow who’s been challenging other students to ante games these past few days? Or is it just a coincidence that you happened to be out here having duels without permission on campus?” Ashley's expression and demeanor had changed drastically, from her bubbly and energetic front (which was presented despite the fact that she was blackmailing two students) to a much more serious and intimidating demeanor. At the drop of a hat the positivity was simply shed like a skin to be used later. Or would that be a costume? Either way, there was a complex and devious nature to this girl that Hiraku was steadily finding much more interesting than most other students.

"Is that what those scrubs are saying now?" Hiraku sighed. "Listen, yes, you caught us dueling outside of the sanctioned arenas. Red handed, hook line and sinker. But no, I have not been forcing students into ante duels. Trash talking? Maybe. But they challenge me of their own free will, and I squash them. Besides, what fun is a duel without trash talk? Anyways, no. I would not force a kid into an ante duel. I might be mean, but I'm not heartless."

Hiraku glanced in Yushiro's direction, glaring briefly, annoyed that they were interrupted in such a way. But, this interruption was not without opportunities, and the opportunity to go all-out and crush Yushiro in front of the entire school was not one he wanted to pass up. "My name is Tsukino, by the way. Hiraku Tsukino. I accept your 'invitation' for an exhibition match, but there's something else I want to ask you about, oh Ms. Student Council President." Hiraku pulled out his phone and swiped through his timeline a few times before coming across the message that Ashley had sent to the entire school about the challenge issued to Hitomu. Finding the post, Hiraku held the phone up for Ashley to see it. "I wanted to ask you about this, about the where, the when, and the who. Don't worry, I'm not looking to cause trouble, but let's just say I'm... interested in who's involved with this duel, and its outcome could be very important to me."

Because if anyone's going to squash that bug Hitomu, it's going to be me.

👀 REP 👀 · July 10, 2018

“Hmm...quite the corner with that monster.” the Rider said, drawing for his turn. “Ocean, return to my hand Blazeman. Oceanic Rebirth!” Soon Blazeman emerged from a puddle of water and was sent straight to his Duelist’s hand.

“Next. I switch Ocean to Defense Mode, place a monster face-down and then set one face down.” he said, as Ocean knelt, a new Defense monster appeared to Ocean’s left, and a single face-down appeared.

“I’ll end my turn with that.”

.:Turn 11:.
.:The Kamen Rider:.
LP: 7700
Hand: 5 (1 is E-HERO Blazeman)
Monster Zone: E-HERO Ocean [DEF], 1 Face-Down
S/T Zone: 1 Face-Down
Graveyard: Phantom Magician, Polymerization, E-HERO Solidman, Storming Mirror Force, E-HERO Nova Master, Mask Change (2), E-HERO Shadowmist, Form Change, Fake Hero, M-HERO Dark Law
Banish: None

“My turn!” Rose drew a card, before turning back to the Kamen Rider. “Well, I don’t have much else to do, except...” She aimed her finger at Ocean. “...Shekhinaga, attack the aquatic hero!” This time, the doll got up, almost reluctantly, before slowly walking up to the aquatic hero. Not as slowly, however, she brought her foot up, before dropping it onto her target.

“Trap Card activate now!” Kamen Rider spoke, snapping his fingers as his face-down flipped up. “Battleguard Howling! Since you attacked a Warrior monster, I can now target a face-up monster you control... your Shekhinaga, it inflicts damage equal to its attack and sends it back to your hand... or in this case, your Extra Deck.”

“Not so fast! Quick-Play Spell activate!” The card that had been face-down revealed itself. “El Shaddoll Fusion! With this card, I can make a quick Fusion Summon during your turn for a Shaddoll monster! I’ll be using Shekhinaga and Shaddoll Hedgehog as material!” Suddenly, as another dark portal opened, Shekhinaga seemed to break apart, her remains being sucked into the portal as the idol sent her card into the Graveyard.

“May you cast a beautiful shadow on this stage! SHADDOLL FUSION! El Shaddoll Winda!” Out of the portal came a relatively young looking doll with green hair riding a dragon. “I also activate Hedgehog’s and my field spell’s effect!” More shadows joined the crowd as she said this. “Hedgehog lets me add a Shaddoll from my Deck to my Hand.” She said, quickly picking out a card from her deck. “I’ll add Shaddoll Beast to my hand!”

“Now Winda! Finish what Shekhinaga started!” As she said this, the young doll excitedly pointed at Ocean, her dragon diving into the hero with jaws wide open.

“Damn...” the Rider muttered, bracing himself for the attack on Ocean, watching the azure warrior take the hit.

“Don’t feel too bad! I had hoped to have saved that for later.” She said, winking at the rider. “I’ll end my turn with that!”

.:Turn 12:.
.:Rose:.
LP: 3950
Hand: 1
Monster Zone: 1 “El Shaddoll Winda” [ATK]
S/T Zone: None
Graveyard: Shaddoll Hedgehog, Mathematician, Jigabyte, Shaddoll Anoyatylls, Shaddoll Dragon, Shaddoll Hound, Inari Fire, Shaddoll Beast, Foolish Burial, Shaddoll Dragon, El Shaddoll Shekhinaga, Shaddoll Hedgehog, El Shaddoll Fusion
Banish: El Shaddoll Grysta, Shaddoll Fusion, Shaddoll Squamata, Nefarious Archfiend Eater of Nefariousness
Field Spell Card: Curse of Shadow Prison (3 Spellstone Counter)

“My turn...” Kamen Rider said, drawing as he exhaled slowly. “Alright. Wasn’t expecting that face-down Shaddoll Fusion. A nice move there.”

“Aww… Thank you!” She said, taking a light bow.

“But me and my HEROs won’t surrender.” he said confidently. “The adversity we face, we take on with full force! And this is no exception!” He moved his hand slightly, showing a Spell Card. “I activate Polymerization! I fuse from my hand, Elemental HERO Ocean and from my field, Elemental HERO Woodsman!” The Rider quickly flipped the face-down card face-up and smirked.

Ocean and Woodsman now stood before him side by side, before fist-bumping one another and a huge shine of light appeared around them.

“From earth and metal, you arrive on the battlefield to support your allies! FUSION SUMMON!! Take aim and show everyone the mark of a hero! Elemental HERO Gaia!!”

From the earth below, the ground began to shatter and rupture as a metal warrior began to emerge from the earth with a loud yell.

“Gaia’s skill.” the Rider said, pointing at Winda. “When Gaia is summoned, I can select a monster on your side of the field and it’ll halve its attack and Gaia will end up gaining it!”

“Oh no!” Rose said as she watched Winda seemingly start to get exhausted from Gaia’s effect.

“Battle! Gaia, attack Rose’s Winda with Earth Shatter Shot!!” he shouted, pointing at Winda, as Gaia lifted up it’s arms and struck down at Winda, giving her a one-two punch combination.

The shadowy figures sprung from the stage, many of them jumping and clawing at Gaia. There were far more than before, but despite their numbers they were unable to stop the hero’s charge as Winda was destroyed. Rose braced herself as her monster was destroyed.

Rose LP: 3950 -> -1900 -> 2050 LP

“Very nice, Mr. Kamen Rider!” She said, smiling at the boy. “I use Winda’s effect to return El Shaddoll Fusion to my hand!”

“Of course.” he said, before placing something face-down. “One face-down and my turn ends.”

.:Turn 13:.
.:The Kamen Rider:.
LP: 7700
Hand: 4 (1 E-HERO Blazeman)
Monster Zone: E-HERO Gaia [ATK]
S/T Zone: 1 Face-Down
Graveyard: Phantom Magician, Polymerization (2), E-HERO Solidman, Storming Mirror Force, E-HERO Nova Master, Mask Change (2), E-HERO Shadowmist, Form Change, Fake Hero, M-HERO Dark Law, E-HERO Ocean (2), E-HERO Woodsman, Battleguard Howling
Banish: None

King K. Azo · July 12, 2018

“You were right. This duel does end this turn… But not the way you think! Activate trap! Double Down!” Ah yes, Double Down. It was a card... that did a thing. Honestly, the man Akira wasn't too sure what it did. When the man Yushiro activated it, it just... worked. And if it worked, it was just fine.

The duel ended in a draw, and it seemed that Yushiro had made a new rival. Well, that was alright! All the man Yushiro had to do was train and duel with the man Akira, and he'd be molded into the manly way of life. He wasn't ready for a sudden voice asking a question, so it took him a few seconds to process it.

"So what's Snow White's deal? Not disciplined enough as a kid or something?" Akira went to answer, but another voice called out.

“I think he’s a bully or something.” Akira turned to look, seeing a tiny little girl. Oh, I’m Akari Ito by the way. Sorry if I intruded in your conversation.” Akira and Akari? Well, that was going to be confusing, no doubt. Hmm... thinking about it... she didn't look too bad. Maybe... he could... he looked over to Yushiro quickly, the gears turning in his head.

"Worry not," Akira said in his usual boisterous way. "I, the man Akira, was not able to yet engage, she, the woman I know not, in conversation. So you, the woman Akari, was not interrupting. But it seems that the man Yushiro had to fight for a cause he deemed just, and had managed to overcome the obstacle in front of him!"

Yeah, with an epic introduction like that, there was no way the girls wouldn't at least notice the man Yushiro. The man Yushiro might actually get a girlfriend by the end of this year! Wait... where was the man Yushiro? Akira looked around, realizing his friend was gone. Wait, did he waste that great speech about Yushiro's manliness? Son of a jabroni!! Grumbling, he reached into his pocket and began to text away.

Yushiro was gonna an earful for this one, the man Akira style!

“Oh, and Rose!” Right, right, that was the person that Souji was dueling. “You should’ve seen her magnificent Fusion Summons, cool Spell plays, and that oh so beautiful Anoyatyliss! Grysta’s cool too, but I’m more of a water person myself, you know? More whoosh and less WHOOSH!” This girl could have made a decent entertainment duelist. “Anyway, it’s gone now, but she can still bring it back! Fingers crossed.” She then actually addressed Sai, which he was almost sure wouldn't happen. “Hi! I’m Yusuji by the way, and this is my friend Melissa! Well, Jun’s friend I think, or was it Kyouko? Also my friends, sitting here and here!" She paused briefly, then remembered there was a duel going on. “Oh, do you think this Kamen guy has any chance?”

"Hey there, I'm Jun. And 'Lissa here is all of our friends right?" Jun paused as she considered the duel. "Nah, Rose has definitely got this in the bag, 'Suji."

"I'm gonna go," The tall one said, getting up to her feet. "It's too crowded and noisy in here for me. Enjoy your duel." Sai sighed internally. He wasn't doing his job too well if someone was leaving the duel. Then again, he wasn't the one dueling, so it wasn't so much his responsibility to make sure everyone was having a good time.

"That's too bad. Hope you find a place more suited to your liking," Sai commented as the girl left. The girl that actually inspired him to come here finally spoke.

“My name is Melissa Ashforth, though I guess my friends call me ‘Lissa,” she said as she turned around. “Are you an entertainment duelist too?” she said idly. Sai nodded as he gave a small smile.

"You'd be correct, Ms. Melissa. I'm the magician known as Master Miracle," He introduced himself with a small bow. "I'm an... acquaintance of Kamen Rider. I frequently duel with him," He then looked up, seeing the duel continuing without them. "It seems Ms. Rose is at a severe disadvantage. I hope she can turn it around...," After all, it's not too entertaining to watch Souji dominate a poor girl.

Alaina · July 12, 2018

As Kyouko made her way out of the duel area, Jun merely waved to her and said, "aww, okay, have fun elsewhere Koko." Jun refocused her attention to the duel before her. With Rose having made her move in bringing down Divine Wind, Souji didn't seem any bit deterred as he then proceeded to bring out yet another of his Masked Heroes. Yet, despite the countering nature of Dark Law to Rose's deck the idol managed to bring it down without any real issue, which prompted Jun to join in the cheers saying, "wooo, yeah! Kick his butt Rose!"

From there, the two duelists continued to bring out more of their extra deck, seemingly able to bring out one fusion monster to answer the other. While it appeared that both players were able to take down the other's monsters, the life point advantage was clearly in the favor of Souji. Jun had, somehow, ended up being more invested in Rose's victory then when the duel had started, hoping the girl could turn the duel around. However, this focus she had on the duel was broken as she chortled again after hearing the name "Master Miracle." Entertainers certainly were a different bunch.

Yui · July 12, 2018

“I think he’s a bully or something.” That was the girl... Mary(?) had helped at Fast Food when she spilled her drink. Kyouko remembered this other blue-haired girl introducing herself, but the name escaped her. It started with a K, right? “Oh, I’m Akari Ito by the way. Sorry if I intruded in your conversation.”

Close enough.

"Worry not. I, the man Akira, was not able to yet engage, she, the woman I know not, in conversation. So you, the woman Akari, was not interrupting. But it seems that the man Yushiro had to fight for a cause he deemed just, and had managed to overcome the obstacle in front of him!"

Akira... Akari... Kyouko began to make an active effort to forget names for once, rather than trying to remember them. With two names so similar, it wasn't worth the headache of trying to keep it sorted out properly. That aside, the big guy spoke in a pretty weird fashion. Was he also an entertainment duelist? There were a lot more of them around here than Kyouko remembered. "Not sure if I'd call a card game fighting, but okay." She stopped talking, only to speak up again a short moment later. As if it were more of an afterthought, she added "Name's Kyouko, by the way."

radio414 · July 16, 2018

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

-Matthew 7:7 (NIV)

Of all the last few minutes’ cheers and conversation, of all the people the “Miracle Miracle” could have responded to -- and there were at least four! -- of all the honorifics he could have used (“Ms.”? Like, “marital status unknown Ms.”?), well, she didn’t really have a conclusion to that thought outside of maybe a little doom-saying. It wasn’t like anyone else had noticed how he’d pointedly singled her out of the group of fo- well, three now, anyway. The point was, “Master Miracle” had only vaguely answered Yusuji’s question, almost entirely ignored Jun, and given Kyouko the slightest of passing comments on her way out, leaving only Melissa with an actual response.

She wondered if she was blushing. Maybe it was the bow, maybe it was the honorific, but Melissa definitely felt more uncomfortable than normal, so her burning cheeks were either that or the blistering heat. Hopefully, it was the latter. She could deal with that sort of pain.

“Wooo, yeah! Kick his butt, Rose!”

There was a chuckle hidden in Jun’s cheer. Melissa could only hope that it wasn’t because she was stuck inside her own head again. If it wasn’t about her, it was either about Master Miracle or the event itself. The duel didn’t seem to be going in Rose’s favor, which meant the options were down to two. If -- and to her, this was a big if -- she ignored, or at least tried to ignore, the idea that Jun was laughing at her, that only left Master Miracle with something to answer for.

“Do you have another name or is this a ‘magician never reveals their secrets’ sort of deal?” Melissa said it only partly out of curiosity; she also felt a certain obligation to ask, like she wasn’t sure who was sitting behind her until her question was answered. There was a reason it was called a Christian name, after all.

Super Chaos Sonic · July 16, 2018

Rose POV

Rose nodded, drawing a card. She took a glance at her Life Points - they were getting dangerously low., and she was running out of options. “I think it’s time for my last resort...” She said, placing the card she had just drawn onto her Duel Disk. “I activate Shaddoll Fusion! I’m sure you know where I can get material if you have an Extra Deck monster by now.” She said, searching through her deck. “I send Shaddoll Falco and Rainbow Kuriboh to the Graveyard!” As she says this, another portal opened up from the ground. “May your radiant beauty shine as bright in the night sky! SHADDOLL FUSION! El Shaddoll Construct!” Out of the portal came a relatively large and divine looking doll, regally glancing at its opponents.

“Falco’s effect trigger! I get to Special Summon the bird in face-down Defense Position!” As she said this, a face-down monster appeared on the field. “Now, Construct! Shine your beauty upon my enemy!” The doll raised her arms, before aiming them at Gaia. Suddenly light burst from her palms and onto the hero.

“Quite the spectacle...however, I’m going to have to give Gaia some help.” Kamen Rider said, snapping his fingers. “Quick-Play, activate! Form Change! Gaia will now change from this form...to another!” Gaia was enveloped in a bright light as a new helmet descended down on him.

“With this mask, your justice is burning a bright blazing fire! Your hands burn away the corruption that this world has to offer! TRANSFORMATION SUMMON! HENSHIN!! Burn those who oppose you to ash with your flames of justice! Masked HERO Goka!!!”

Now where Gaia stood, stood a new warrior clad in red armor, striking a pose with a burning fire behind him was seen.

“Goka arrives on the battlefield. And with Goka, comes his ability. For every HERO in the grave, he gains a 100 attack.” the Rider said, glancing at his grave. “And from what I count, there’s seven. Meaning Goka gains 700 attack!”

Masked HERO Goka -> 2200 -> +700 ATK -> 2900 ATK

“I see I’m not the only one changing monster mid-battle!” Rose said, clasping her hands again. “In that case, I’ll end my turn by setting a card face-down.”

.:Turn 14:.

.:Rose:.

LP: 2050

Hand: 0

Monster Zone: 1 “El Shaddoll Construct” [ATK], 1 Face-Down

S/T Zone: 1 Face-Down
Graveyard: Shaddoll Hedgehog, Mathematician, Jigabyte, Shaddoll Anoyatylls, Shaddoll Dragon, Shaddoll Hound, Inari Fire, Shaddoll Beast, Foolish Burial, Shaddoll Dragon, El Shaddoll Shekhinaga, Shaddoll Hedgehog, El Shaddoll Fusion, Shaddoll Fusion, Rainbow Kuriboh, El Shaddoll Winda

Banish: El Shaddoll Grysta, Shaddoll Fusion, Shaddoll Squamata, Nefarious Archfiend Eater of Nefariousness

Field Spell Card: Curse of Shadow Prison (4 Spellstone Counter)

Man...this girl is working me a lot more than I was expecting. What’s even worse...this damn field spell. It’s got 4 counters and that’ll hinder my monster’s attack. the Kamen Rider thought, drawing for his turn.

“Well this is quite the situation. Even more than the previous one.” he chuckled, looking through his cards. “I set one monster face-down. I’ll end my turn there...cause this Prison of yours, miss Rose, is quite the pain to my monsters.”

.:Turn 15:.

.:The Kamen Rider:.

LP: 7700

Hand: 4 (1 Blazeman)

Monster Zone: M-HERO Goka [ATK], 1 Face-Down [DEF]
S/T Zone: None
Graveyard: Phantom Magician, Polymerization (2), E-HERO Solidman, Storming Mirror Force, E-HERO Nova Master, Mask Change (2), E-HERO Shadowmist, Form Change, Fake Hero, M-HERO Dark Law, E-HERO Ocean (2), E-HERO Woodsman, Battleguard Howling, Form Change

Banish: None

Rose POV

“Aww, I’m sorry.” Rose said, completely genuinely, as she drew a card. “We’ll start by Flip Summoning Falco!” She said, flipping her monster face-up. The bird flew up into the air, chirping. “Using this little birdie’s effect, I can Special Summon a Shaddoll monster from my Graveyard! Return to the field, Shaddoll Beast!” Next to the bird, a wolf appeared from shadow. “There’s one other thing I haven’t mention about my little birdy, Rider!”

“Really? And you’ve waited for this moment in particular to mention it, miss Rose?” the Rider asked, legitimately curious at this point.

Rose giggled. “Of course! Gotta have drama for the show!” She said, pointing her finger at the bird. “My little birdy happens to be a special type of monster; specifically, a tuner!” She said, shifting her hand towards the beast. “And using my two beautiful assistants, I shall perform a Synchro Summon!” As she said this, a blinding light surrounded both of the Shaddolls.

“A Synchro Summon?” he asked, rubbing his chin slightly. “Now this is quite the surprise. Didn’t expect to see a Synchro Summon in a deck such as this. Color me surprised and impressed, Rose.”

“I’m glad you like it!” She said, before turning to the still shining light. “May your arcane wisdom fill our minds with beauty! SYNCHRO SUMMON! Arcanite Magician!” As she said the chant, the light burst, leaving in its wake a magician in white robes. “When my magician is Synchro Summoned, I get to place 2 Spell Counters on him, giving him 1000 attack for each one!” Two orbs appear around the magician, circling him.

“Making it roughly 2400.” the Rider surmised, nodding slightly. “Interesting...but if that’s the extent of it, then it won’t work.”

“Of course!” Rose said, giggling. “Luckily, this magician has a bit more up his sleeve than that. I will activate it’s other ability! By removing a Spell Counter from him, he can destroy a card you control. And I choose…” She aimed her hand at Goka, before moving it to the other face-down card. “...your face-down card!” The magician lifted his staff and aimed it at the face-down card, before one of the two orbs crashed into it.

The face-down flipped up and revealed a mechanical canine frame as it let out a small howl before it was destroyed. “Damn...didn’t expect you to get rid of my Wroughtweiler that quick. Especially with Goka still on the field..” he sighed.

“Oh don’t worry, I’ve got plans for Goka!” Rose said, before pointing at the flaming hero. “Construct, attack Goka!” As Rose commanded the giant doll, she lifted her arms up again, aiming them at Goka and firing off another beam of light.

Goka let out a blazing fire strike at Construct, but alas, it wasn’t much of anything done as Construct struck at Goka. The effect of Construct was greater than Goka’s will to continue fighting. Kamen Rider braced himself as the explosion occurred, his red scarf blowing in the wind from the blow back.

“And now… Arcanite Magician, attack the Rider directly!” The magician brought up his staff again, this time firing off a green blast directly at the boy, the single orb around him glowing.

The Rider started running towards his left, trying to see if he could dodge the attack. Unfortunately, it was no use. The orbs struck at him and beneath his feet, as he was knocked back.

Kamen Rider LP: 7700 -> -1400 -> 6300 LP

“And with that, I’ll end my turn!”

.:Turn 16:.

.:Rose:.

LP: 2050

Hand: 0

Monster Zone: 1 “El Shaddoll Construct” [ATK], 1 “Arcanite Magician” [ATK] [1 SC]

S/T Zone: 1 Face-Down
Graveyard: Shaddoll Hedgehog, Mathematician, Jigabyte, Shaddoll Anoyatylls, Shaddoll Dragon, Shaddoll Hound, Inari Fire, Shaddoll Beast, Foolish Burial, Shaddoll Dragon, El Shaddoll Shekhinaga, Shaddoll Hedgehog, El Shaddoll Fusion, Shaddoll Fusion, Rainbow Kuriboh, El Shaddoll Winda

, Shaddoll Falco, Shaddoll Beast

Banish: El Shaddoll Grysta, Shaddoll Fusion, Shaddoll Squamata, Nefarious Archfiend Eater of Nefariousness

Field Spell Card: Curse of Shadow Prison (4 Spellstone Counter)

a coffee · July 17, 2018

Ashley blinked as Hiraku, now apparently known as Hiraku Tsukino, scrolled to her blast about the Elizabeth/Hitomu duel on his phone. Admittedly, amidst all the excitement and her booking another duel for her other big event she had sort of forgotten about that duel entirely. This unfortunately brought back the feeling of guilt Elizabeth and Hitomu both had laid on her in spades, but now was not the time to think about that one. Besides, she had a duel to promote!

"Well, it's going to be at the end of the first day of classes, right at the Dueling Grounds! As for the competitor, well that's the one and only Elizabeth Hall! Former rival and #1 overall student" she leaned and whispered, "although it changed a lot between the two," before coming back up to her proud stance, "Elizabeth is ready to challenge for the throne of Blue Yonder's top duelist again! I think she could even win!" Ashley looked behind herself to see Elizabeth surveying the crowd, before motioning her over, "She's actually the assistant I was just talking about!" she turned around completely and started shouting, "Hey Elizabeth! Come here! Hiraku wants to talk to you about your big duel tomorrow!"

Elizabeth was snapped out of her frantic search for Yushiro to the sound of Ashley beckoning her over about the duel with Hitomu. Her head was already clouded with tons of emotion from the previous encounter, and now she had to think about the single most pressing thing on her agenda at the moment again. What's worse is the kid that appeared to have drawn the ire of the crowd looked irritated. Had she drawn his ire somehow? Was it the interaction with Yushiro? How much did he hear?

Elizabeth walked over, uneasily trying to get a feel for the conversation she was about to walk into. She started off with the talk of the duel; if that was really what he was asking about she should probably play it cool by just talking about that and nothing else. She cleared her throat and fixed her bangs before talking,

"What about the duel with Hitomu? It's just a duel between some friends. He's always brought out the best in me, and vice versa. I figure if I'm going to get back into dueling full time I should go after the person who always gave me the greatest challenge." She looked up and down Hiraku; something about his body language seemed hostile, but Elizabeth was never a good judge of that stuff and she didn't want to assume.

"Why, are you two friends or something? I don't want you to think I'm trying to sabotage him or anything."

VCR_CAT · July 17, 2018

"Well, it's going to be at the end of the first day of classes, right at the Dueling Grounds! As for the competitor, well that's the one and only Elizabeth Hall! Former rival and #1 overall student" Ashley leaned and whispered, "although it changed a lot between the two," before coming back up to her proud stance, "Elizabeth is ready to challenge for the throne of Blue Yonder's top duelist again! I think she could even win!" Ashley looked behind herself to see Elizabeth surveying the crowd, before motioning her over, "She's actually the assistant I was just talking about!" she turned around completely and started shouting, "Hey Elizabeth! Come here! Hiraku wants to talk to you about your big duel tomorrow!"

Hiraku stood with his arms crossed and a mild scowl on his face as Elizabeth approached them. "What about the duel with Hitomu? It's just a duel between some friends. He's always brought out the best in me, and vice versa. I figure if I'm going to get back into dueling full time I should go after the person who always gave me the greatest challenge." Elizabeth paused and looked Hiraku over, who simply raised an eyebrow "Why, are you two friends or something? I don't want you to think I'm trying to sabotage him or anything."

"No. Not at all," Hiraku said bluntly, and gave a sigh. "I have a score to settle with that scrub, and the idea was that I would be the one to dethrone him." Hiraku's body language spoke nothing but distaste and anger, however none of that was directed towards Ashley or Elizabeth; at least, nothing past his annoyance that someone else had gotten that challenge before him. "I'm not gonna ask or try to get that challenge stopped-- you go right on ahead. But let me make one thing clear: if you get lucky and beat me to that punch, then don't think I'm just going to let it slide."

Hiraku turned and began to walk away, in a doubly irritated mood thanks to how much he was sure he missed of the exhibition duel for the first day. Only after a few steps, however, he stopped and turned his head to the side to make himself heard. "It's nothing personal, at least for you two. But I have a goal to be number one at this school, and I intend to hit it." With that, Hiraku turned back to make his way towards the opening ceremonies.

👀 REP 👀 · July 18, 2018

Drawing for his turn, the Kamen Rider looked at his cards and exhaled slowly. “Saved by you...here’s hoping we can do something.” he said, moving to play a card.

“Allow me to introduce you to my friend, miss Rose.” he spoke, placing a monster on the field. “Straight from a world beyond our own, I call upon the power of my friend: Neo-Spacian Grand Mole!”

The moment he said this, a small mound of the ground ruptured and out popped a drill and then a furry body. The drill broke in half and revealed a small mole as he landed and did a small pose, trying his best to make a “grand” entrance. At the same time, some of the girls in the audience started awing over the adorable mole creature.

Rose awed alongside the audience. “I didn’t realize you had such a little cutie in your deck, Mr. Rider.”

Grand Mole started blushing a bit from the praise Rose gave, as the Rider smirked. “Well, it’s called a surprise.” he said, pointing at Construct. “And let me tell you, my buddy here hasn’t failed me once. And now... battle! I’ll have Neo Spacian Grand Mole attack the El Shaddoll Construct!”

Grand Mole gave his Duelist a thumbs up, before making his way towards the Construct, only beginning to run as his drill reformed around his head as he now flew towards the monster.

“Curious, am I right?” he asked Rose, watching Grand Mole heading towards Construct. “I have a monster with low attack. How can it possibly do anything to Construct? That’s what’s going through your head, am I wrong?”

“What can this little cutie possibly do, I wonder.” She responded, half paying attention to the Rider and more so focused on the mole and how cute it was.

“Heh, he can do this.” the Kamen Rider said, snapping his fingers. “Grand Mole! Activate your ability now!”

At this, Grand Mole collided with Construct and it forced itself and Construct back. However, they both reeled back before returning back to cards that made it back to their owner’s respective hands... or in Rose’s case, the Extra Deck.

“A-Ah!” She was caught off-guard by the sudden disappearance of both of the monsters, slightly upset the mole didn’t stick around longer. “Quite an impressive little card you’ve got there, Rider!”

“Indeed. Grand Mole well send itself and an opponent’s monster that it battles back to the owner’s hands and this is all before damage calculation.” the Rider said, putting Grand Mole in his hand. “However, that’s all I can do for now. My turn is over.”

.:Turn 17:.
.:The Kamen Rider:.
LP: 6300
Hand: 4 (1 Grand Mole, 1 Blazeman)
Monster Zone: None
S/T Zone: None
Graveyard: Phantom Magician, Polymerization (2), E-HERO Solidman, Storming Mirror Force, E-HERO Nova Master, Mask Change (2), E-HERO Shadowmist, Form Change, Fake Hero, M-HERO Dark Law, E-HERO Ocean (2), E-HERO Woodsman, Battleguard Howling, Form Change, M-HERO Goka, Wroughtweiler
Banish: None

“And what a turn it was!” Rose said, drawing a card from her deck. “Hmm…” She thought for a bit, as if contemplating something, before apparently deciding against it. “There really isn’t much else for me to do at this point, except...” Rose extended her arm and pointed at the Rider. “Arcanite Magician, attack him directly!” Upon her commands, the magician fired off another magic blast at the boy.

The Kamen Rider brought his arms up to block the magic blast, but was pushed back nevertheless.

Kamen Rider LP: 6300 -> -1400 -> 4900 LP

“And with that, I’ll end my turn.”

.:Turn 18:.
.:Rose:.
LP: 2050
Hand: 1
Monster Zone: 1 “Arcanite Magician” [ATK] [1 SC]
S/T Zone: 1 Face-Down
Graveyard: Shaddoll Hedgehog, Mathematician, Jigabyte, Shaddoll Anoyatylls, Shaddoll Dragon, Shaddoll Hound, Inari Fire, Shaddoll Beast, Foolish Burial, Shaddoll Dragon, El Shaddoll Shekhinaga, Shaddoll Hedgehog, El Shaddoll Fusion, Shaddoll Fusion, Rainbow Kuriboh, El Shaddoll Winda
Shaddoll Falco, Shaddoll Beast
Banish: El Shaddoll Grysta, Shaddoll Fusion, Shaddoll Squamata, Nefarious Archfiend Eater of Nefariousness
Field Spell Card: Curse of Shadow Prison (4 Spellstone Counter)

“My turn.” the Rider said, drawing as he glanced at the hand he had. “Seems like things are moving in my favor now.” he said, moving a few cards from his hand. “From my hand, I activate the card: A Hero Lives! If I control no monsters, as I do now, I pay half my Life Points to Special Summon a Level 4 HERO from my deck.”

Kamen Rider LP: 4900 -> -2450 -> 2450

“I now summon to the field, my second Shadowmist!” he said, watching his ebony hero emerge from his shadow yet again. “And from her, I add Mask Change to my hand. Then I summon to the field once more, Neo Spacian Grand Mole.”

Once again, the tiny mole creature returned, striking another pose as he flashed a thumbs up and an adorable smile.

“This might just be the finale, miss Rose.” the Rider smirked. “Unless you can pull off a miracle. Battle! Grand Mole! Attack Arcanite Magician! Grand Rebound!!”

Grand Mole nodded and rushed towards the Arcanite Magician, striking at it and returning itself and the magician back to the hand and Extra Deck.

“Shadowmist, attack the idol directly!” he said, watching Shadowmist moving towards Rose. “Striking Shadows!!”

Shadowmist made her way towards the Duelist, preparing to strike her with her fists, covered in quite the dark energy.

“Guess I’m a miracle worker then!” Rose said, swinging her arm across. “From my Graveyard, I activate Rainbow Kuriboh’s ability! Come to me my cutie!” She shouted, before a rainbow seemed to shoot out of her duel disk, landing onto the field. Rainbow Kuriboh appeared onto the field, between the idol and Shadowmist. “You’re not the only one with strong, adorable monsters!”

“Seems like it.” the Rider nodded, before pointing at Rainbow Kuriboh. “However, this triggers a replay in Battle! Shadowmist, direct your Striking Shadows at the Rainbow Kuriboh!”

Shadowmist nodded, before returning to moving towards Rose and the Rainbow Kuriboh, as she struck the adorable creature, knocking it back quite a bit with a few punches. The Kuriboh flew into the idol’s arms, before disappearing into an explosion of light.

“And this... is the finale.” he said, holding up Mask Change. “I send Shadowmist to the grave, calling forth Masked HERO Anki once more.”

This time, Shadowmist disappeared within the Kamen Rider’s shadow and from where it descended, Anki ascended from his Duelist’s shadow.

“With Masked HERO Anki, I attack your Life Points directly.” he said, pointing at Rose.

“Not quite!” Rose said, flipping over her face-down card. “I activate Shaddoll Core!” As she activated the card, six smokey serpents emerged from the face-down card, almost like a hydra made of shadowy smoke. “I get to summon Shaddoll Core as a monster in Defense Position!” The heads of the smoky hydra glared at Anki, the necks connected to a large ebony stone.

This caused the Kamen Rider to begin to laugh a bit. “Seems neither one of us wants this Duel to end.” he said, nodding firmly. “Fine then. ANKI! Attack Shaddoll Core with Dark Rider Kick!!”

Anki rushed towards the monster, before leaping in the air and coming down in a fast manner, his Rider Kick making contact as he landed with his back facing the monster as it was destroyed in a glorious explosion.

“And... Anki’s effect activates.” he said, taking a card from his deck, holding it up to reveal it was Form Change. “I add and then play Form Change. Meaning I gain one more attack, miss Rose.”

Rose smiled. “I see. Impressive!” She said, smiling at the boy.

“Anki is switched out...” the Rider spoke, bringing forth another Masked HERO to the field. “With this mask, you shine brightly for the future! Incapacitate evil with your blessed light! TRANSFORMATION SUMMON!! HENSHIN!! Burn your light down upon the battlefield, Masked HERO Koga!!”

From where Anki was, now stood a warrior clad in ivory and gold armor, with arm blades on his arms. He arrived in quite the light show, worthy of his little summoning chant.

“With your field empty, Koga will attack your Life Points directly, miss Rose.” he said, pointing his finger towards the idol. “Go! Solaris Punishment!!”

Koga rushed towards the idol and it’s blades began to shine brightly along with himself as he struck at the idol in one of the most flashy ways possible before returning towards his Duelist’s side.

The shadowy audience attempted to hold Koga back, but it wasn’t enough as the hero charged towards the idol, Rose holding her arms up to brace herself. Despite the shadows weakening Koga, the hero still had just enough attack to deplete the rest of Rose’s life points.

Rose LP: 2050 -> -2100 -> 0 LP

Super Chaos Sonic · July 20, 2018

With the brilliant light show provided by Koga finally dying out, the audience saw that Koga was now standing beside the Kamen Rider, while Rose seemed to be in her defensive stance. The outcome was decided... The Duel Space had a declaration banner of the winner shown: The Kamen Rider. The idol had lost to the masked warrior. Cheers erupted from the audience in response to such an amazing Entertainment Duel and an amazing Exhibition Duel to start the school year off.

Kamen Rider and Koga looked at each other, before bumping fists with one another, as the latter vanished in a bright light. In quite the dramatic fashion, he pointed his right hand upward and smirked, in quite the victorious pose. After a few moments of this pose, he began to make his way towards Rose, his red scarf flying in the air behind him. Finally he reached towards Rose and held out his hand. "Curtain call, miss...best thank the audience for coming." he simply said with a smile. Without much of anything else left to say, both Duelists took a bow.

"Aside from one other Duelist I know..." the Rider spoke, moving back towards his dirtbike. "You, miss Rose, seem to be quite interesting. I look forward to our next Duel." With a revving of the engine, he gave a two finger salute to Rose. "Until we meet again!" And like that...he rode out of the arena. Was an interesting Duel...shame she wasn't able to get my Duel Skill activated... he thought, smirking. Perhaps next time...

After all...school just started now. There would be ample time to Duel the idol again...this, Souji knew for certain.

a coffee · July 21, 2018

Elizabeth was merely left in shock as Hiraku snipped at her inquisition, met by a threat of some sort of revenge, were she to pull off the impossible the next day against an old friend of hers. Blood rushed to her face for a second, but she quickly recoiled internally, unable to lash out the way she wanted to. This guy seemed pretty serious, and she didn't want to get cross with him after he had already given her some sort of vague threat.

Ashley merely shrugged and turned to her friend with a look of excitement, "Wow! Looks like you're really gonna get some attention for this one Beth! What great luck; everyone is gonna be watching when you win!"

... That's what she got from that? is all she could think as her friend seamlessly revved up her hype engine for the duel tomorrow. In contrast to her friend's endless excitement, though, came Elizabeth's mood dropping like a rock. She hadn't even actually had the duel yet and it appeared she was already making enemies. What was even the point of the duel? Why was she doing this in the first place? For her parents? For her brother? For herself?

Maybe I should just drop the whole thing together. I'm sure Ash could find some other, more qualified opponent to run her little advertisement on. Hitomu is going to crush me anyway. She looked around, watching the crowd disperse, before answering her friend, "Yeah, Sounds like a lot of people care."

"Uh oh." Ashley put her hand on her hips and looked into Elizabeth's expression, inquisitively, "Somebody is getting a case of the sad Elizabeths. Are you nervous about the duel or something? You'll be fine! I'm sure of it." Elizabeth looked up at the sky and let out a soft sigh in response. Ashley, refusing to let Elizabeth give up on this one, pushed forward, "Why don't you go back to your apartment and work on your deck. You've been talking about it all day, and it was literally the first thing you did on campus after you got here. If you've come this far there's no reason to be quitting now! The only thing you should be quitting is those cigarettes; otherwise, it's gonna be go, go, go for Elizabeth all year this year, because I know that YOU know you want this for yourself. So go. Go shape up your deck and get your game face on; that duel is going to be the hit of the summer and the start of something really good for you. I believe in you." Ashley simply nodded and gestured towards the path that led to Elizabeth's apartment.

After a moment of standstill, Elizabeth finally relented and nodded in agreement, "Yeah, yeah. You're right. I gotta stop smoking, and I gotta start getting out of my own head. I think I'm gonna go pull a pint of that ice cream that my parents sent me with out and go be ugly with my cards for a little bit."

Ashley clapped to herself in excitement, "That's the spirit! Besides, if you don't show up tomorrow, how's your new slice of ass gonna get with all this woman here?!"

Elizabeth completely ignored the last statement and turned away, beginning her walk up to her apartment, "Love you Ash, going to pretend you never said that and I'm no longer talking to you bye!" Elizabeth drew out the "e" sound on "bye" for some time after she finished to drown out the sound of her friend talking, which sounded something like "Okay love you Bethy save me some ice cream for later!"

--

Yet again, Elizabeth's walk was largely spent in mental silence. Most of the time this was simply a shell to keep herself out of her own body. Keeping herself empty was the easiest was to keep content; however, as she approached her doorstep, one thought permeated her brain: What happens if I win? The thought stopped her in her tracks; it was something she had not really considered when crafting this plan, and it was a troubling thought indeed. The keys lay frozen in her hand as she came up with what she believed to be an answer: Nothing. It all stays the same. Elizabeth shook her head and unlocked the door, opening it and walking inside, dropping her clutch at the door on her coat rack.

"!#*@$. sakes Elizabeth. Get your life together, would you? You're beating Hitomu to get your life back onto the dueling track, just like it was before Todd died. It's that simple. Don't worry about class, or the smokes, or the friends, or that Yushiro guy.." Elizabeth stopped again for a second as she was walking to her bedroom, "Yushiro? Why did I even mention him? I met him for like 5 minutes and it was really awkward. Definitely don't worry about Yushiro." She shook her head and took her dress off at her dresser, slipping into dark magician girl pajama pants and a loose fitting Blue Yonder tank top. She snatched her box of decks off of her desk and tucked her dress into the laundry bin, heading into the living room where she would pull out her Lunalights deck.

Alright you... where to begin. Her gaze ran slowly over the deck, which she had laid out in 8 rows of 5 across her coffee table. She groaned and took out a few cards, putting in substitutes and examining the deck again. This process would repeat itself a seemingly endless amount of times: Look at the deck, replace a card or two, put the deck together, shuffle, play a hand out once or twice to test combos and speed, find something dissatisfying, pick up a cigarette occasionally, perhaps a spoonful or two of chocolate ice cream, repeat. She was making similar mistakes on turn 3, regardless of the combination of cards.

--

Some hours later, Elizabeth had a small graveyard of water bottles, 3 burnt out cigarettes, and a half of a pint of chocolate ice cream next to her. She let out a long, angry groan/scream combination and snatched the pint of ice cream off of her couch. Angrily pacing to the freezer, she ripped open the door and quite literally threw the pint inside, slamming the door behind her.

"If you wait until turn 4 to make this thing a game you might as well just concede now Elizabeth. Those toons are going to steamroll you in 4 turns." she paced back over to her deck, all while fixing her ponytail for the 9th time tonight. She looked at her phone: 3 missed calls (2 from Ashley, one was from her mum), 4 texts of varying annoyance, all from Ashley, and several social media notifications, which she assumed was related to the challenge that had been issued on her behalf by Ashley. She went through her contacts and called her mum; she didn't get to see her all day, and had grown tired from looking at her deck all day.

"Hi Mum. You called? No, I went out with Ashley for a bit today. We caught a duel on the street. Hitomu? Oh he's been a bit of a swot all day; working at the coffee shop and such. Him and I are having a match tomorrow; I'm a bit shocked Ash didn't tell you. Seems she's been on everyone's ears today." she chuckled and giggled a bit here and there; Elizabeth and her mother had a great relationship. Her and her brother had always joked that Delia was Elizabeth's mum and Broderick was Todd's father, but not the other way around. As a matter of fact, Delia was the only person Elizabeth ever felt fully comfortable speaking in full British slang with; she was worried her accent was enough of a turnoff for most, she felt the slang would just leave most people lost.

Elizabeth talked with her mum for some time before looking back to her deck, and sighing. She cut Delia off, "Ah, hey Mum? Do you mind if we talk a bit more another time? It's getting late and I've still got to finish preparing my cards and all. Call you tomorrow then? Okay. Love you mum. What? No, of course I'm not smoking. Mum. I told you. Mother, I'm going to quit by December, I already told you. It'll be fine. Yes, I mean it. I'm hanging up now Mum. Yes, okay, Love you Mum goodnight." She looked at the clock on her wall again. Sheesh. It really was getting late. She hadn't even had time to look at her Extra Deck fully. She never touched it much, so she assumed it was fine, but it was still unsettling that she had barely had any time to look at it.

I'll just get up early and work on it with tea. I'm going to go barmy if I look at this thing for too much longer." With that prompt exclamation into the empty apartment, Elizabeth switched off the television, turned off the lights, and left whatever was left of the ashes in her ash tray to smolder and eventually snuff itself out, finally getting some rest after a long day of intrigue.

Long day tomorrow Elizabeth. Gotta make Todd proud; he always loved watching me duel Hitomu the most.

Alaina · July 21, 2018

With the duel having finished up, the girl made a small sigh as she saw Souji claim the victory. It was pretty clear for the entirety of the duel that unless Rose pulled out something amazing she was going to lose, but both due to her own personal feelings on the matter and her friends, she was sad to see the idol lose the duel. After rolling her eyes at Soujio's exit, she gave a pat on the back to her friend, she said, "sorry 'bout that 'Suji. But hey, Rose has an entire year of duels left to have so maybe she'll have something way cooler to show us later on. And hey maybe you can still go after that autograph, especially after a loss!"

Looking over to the others she said, "well, I guess that's that. Crowd's' clearing out now so we probably should look for something else to look to do today. Maybe meet back up with Koko. So let's get going!" The girl gave a hearty pat on the back to both Melissa and Yusuji to punctuate this. Looking over to the man in costume she said, "oh, and you're free to come along with us, too, Mira." Once their plans were set, Jun was all ready to leave the duel arena and get a move on for whatever was next on the agenda.

Hakima · July 22, 2018

Turn three; that was the turn that the duel was decided. Hitomu smirked, shook his head, and returned to his sketching. Rose was no push-over but she hadn’t fully grasped what tempo was yet. “Alright I’m gonna go ahead and call it now. Let no one say Hitomu Amaya doesn’t know when he’s beaten,” he laughed. “Do you ever think about using those powers for good? Or better yet, bet you could make a ton of money with just those scratch and win tickets from the gas station since you’d always win.”

The bell above the door rang again. A tall, scraggly kid in a baggier version of Hitomu’s uniform walked in. “And that’s my relief.” Hitomu snatched up his bag from the ground and began piling his stuff into it. “It was nice talking to you all though. Swing by again sometime, alright? And--oh! Before I forget…” he flipped the deck box on his belt open and pulled out a card. “Since you won our little bet, you can have this. I pulled it out of a booster a couple of days ago and I don’t have any use for it.”

Regardless of her response he hustled out of CoffeeCards shortly after. Elizabeth had given him more than just a lot to think about, she had given him a lot to prepare for, and there was only one way he knew how to do that.

The Warden · July 22, 2018

Alison smiled serenely as the decisive play was made. The Shaddoll girl was good, but there was little sense in just being reactive. "Well, it would seem-"

“Alright I’m gonna go ahead and call it now. Let no one say Hitomu Amaya doesn’t know when he’s beaten,” Hitomu laughed, cutting her off. “Do you ever think about using those powers for good? Or better yet, bet you could make a ton of money with just those scratch and win tickets from the gas station since you’d always win.”

"That would be cheating" Alison answered, earning another short laugh from Hitomu before the bell jangled, and someone rather unkempt walked in. “And that’s my relief.” Hitomu snatched up his bag from the ground and began piling his stuff into it. “It was nice talking to you all though. Swing by again sometime, alright? And--oh! Before I forget…” he flipped the deck box on his belt open and pulled out a card. “Since you won our little bet, you can have this. I pulled it out of a booster a couple of days ago and I don’t have any use for it.”

The card was practically pushed into Alison's hand, her focus on the boy as he left so hastily. Looking down at it, Marcus and Toni followed suited. "Did he just give you a Watapon?" Marcus remarked.

BANZAI!!!! · July 25, 2018

“God dangit where is that stupid thing?!”

A few hours later, Yushiro was in his room. He was shirtless, clad only in a worn pair of black sweatpants, his deck strewn haphazardly across the floor. What had started as a idle look through his cards had turned into a manic, desperate struggle to locate his Nitro Booster, and after the nth search, he had finally conceded defeat. His best monster, undoubtedly the only thing in his deck that stood a chance against any of Hiraku’s massive extra deck plays, was gone. He must have missed it when he spilled his cards earlier. With a groan, Yushiro fell backward, most of his body landing firmly on his bed. The perfect capstone to a crappy day.

Well… not entirely crappy. He hadn't lost the duel, at least, but Yushiro didn’t like the thought of making an enemy. Worse still, he’d have to face him again in a few weeks, this time in front of the entire school. Just the thought of the stage fright that was sure to come made him shudder. He’d been alright during the game today, but after he’d gotten home the toll all the socializing had taken on him became apparent. He felt the need to lock his door and stay far away from other people for the night. The duel at the kickoff cup was bound to be thousands of times worse, made all the more unbearable by the fact that he was likely to lose next time.

This train of thought brought him back to his missing monster card, and then to Elizabeth: the girl who had precipitated him losing the card in the first place. She was supposed to duel Hitomu Amaya tomorrow. “I wonder if she’s as nervous about her game as I am about mine….” He mused. “I doubt it. I’m sure she’s used to attention.” Yushiro shot a glance over to his desk, where he’d put the duel monsters card with her number on it. Harpy Lady 2. Cute. He laughed to himself, realizing that this was the first time a girl had ever given him her number. Maybe after her game tomorrow he’d take her up on that tutoring offer, if she was serious about it, anyway. Either way, it was getting late, and if he didn't get to sleep soon he was likely to be late for class the next day. So, reluctantly, he cleaned up his deck, walked down the hall to brush his teeth, and went to bed.

----ED----

~Fin~

----OP----

Episode 2: Don't Call it a Comeback

Monday afternoon was, mercifully, much less warm than the previous day. There were clouds in Ambrosia's "sky" today, giving the 1 pm air some much needed moisture and the people below pockets of shade every now and again. Though many students were still in class, Yushiro was finished for the day; one of the pleasant side effects of having to plan his class schedule around his part time job. Syllabus day was as pointless at Blue Yonder as it had been at learning institutions throughout human history, and so Yushiro was glad to be out of the boring, stuffy classroom and in the open air. He was sitting on a bench located strategically in the shade of a tree, waiting for Akira to meet him. Yushiro had offered to spend a few hours hanging out with him, as a kind of apology for disappearing yesterday afternoon. He knew he'd get an earful from the big guy, but after that a trip into town to grab something sweet or hit up CoffeeCards sounded like a welcome diversion. Yushiro pulled out his phone to check for a text, but his inbox was empty. For a moment, he entertained the idea of texting Elizabeth, but decided against it and instead chose to people watch: a favorite activity of his.

The last remnants of the Fast Food lunch rush were making their way to various spots around campus, but other than that there really wasn't anything particularly interesting in his field of vision. That was, of course, until he sensed the presence of someone in his peripheral vision. Reflexively, he stood up, expecting Akira, though if it wasn't his friend, Yushiro had just made a big show of blocking a stranger's path.

Yui · July 25, 2018

Episode 2: Don't Call it a Comeback

Syllabus day. That one Monday at the start of the school year that was even more boring than the rest of them. Because Kyouko already had most of the credits she needed to graduate at the end of the school year - Kyouko may have been a delinquent, but she'd be damned if she wasn't a smart one - she was able to end her school days early this year. When her last class let out, she even went to the nearest Tito's Tacos. It was the start of the year, and she wanted to get herself something nice. Two tacos, plus some fries, to go. She'd rather slowly - especially for Kyouko - eaten her way through the fries on her way back from Tito's, and now it was time for the tacos themselves.

Kyouko wanted to enjoy these in the shade, and had found a perfectly good spot too. However, just before she got to the bench, somebody suddenly stood up, nearly causing her in her state of half-attention to walk into him and drop the taco. She abruptly stopped in her path, eyeing the boy over. He looked familiar...

Now she remembered. His face at least. Not his name. "You're the Double Down kid, right?" she started. She sat down at the bench. "Unless you're going somewhere, might as well sit." Then she took the first bite of her taco. A massive bite; the type that most people would try only to find that they've bitten off more than they could chew. It didn't seem to bother her though.

Hakima · July 27, 2018

Episode 2: Don't Call it a Comeback

“Three… Two… One… Duel!”

Hitomu’s living room was dark. The furniture had been cleared out and replaced with three sturdy looking tables that—upon closer inspection—would be recognized as outdated models of the hologram tables that CoffeeCards used to have. Upon command all three came to life, bathing the room in soft greys-and-blues as each simulator constructed miniature duel stadiums and dealt Hitomu his hand. A timer appeared in the top right hand corners, displaying five minutes, but already ticking down.

Hitomu leaped into action. He bounced from table to table rapidly, eyes raking across the field and then his cards for mere seconds before he would make his play and move on.

“You forgot to activate your Duel Skill.”

“Didn’t forget. Baiting.”

He had bricked in the duel at the first table. He was stalling, reaching for a play, while the A.I.’s much faster deck relentlessly assaulted him. The second duel was closer; he had played Toon Kingdom but both of them had presence on the board. He was stomping the third duel. It was over by turn four.

“Running out of time, Hitomu.”

“It’s not fun unless you cut it close.”

Hitomu grinned as the cutesy form of the apprentice wizard, Toon Dark Magician Girl, popped into existence in a flash of pink smoke on the second table. She flew over the head of the costumed-gymnast she opposed and blasted the A.I. directly for game, then giggled, freeing him up to focus solely on the first duel. It wasn’t looking pretty, what with less than a minute left on the clock and his only only monster being the Toon Celtic Guardian. He had Toon Kingdom up to protect it which was how he was currently stalling. Meanwhile, on the other side of the board, his opponent had a small army of high-powered monsters beating his poor Guardian into submission and milling his deck in the process.

“Two out of three isn’t bad.”

“C’mon Tess, have a little faith!” Hitomu whined, looking away from the table long enough to fix his long time girlfriend with his patented puppy-dog eyes.

Teresa ‘Tess’ Oliver rolled her own. She was standing on the other side of the tables, watching the duel closely. “You’ve got a way to win. Figure it out and we can go out for lunch, my treat. Forty-five seconds, Champ.”

Hitomu smirked. “In that case…” He activated Comic Hand and took control of Lunalight Panther Dancer, then played Toon Rollback. The clock came to a stop with six seconds to spare. “Told you to have some faith, babe. I’ve never dropped a duel when you came to watch.” He wiped his brow with his sleeve and sucked down over half a bottle of cold water. “You’ll be there this afternoon, right?”

Tess scooped up her purse from off the couch, not meeting his eyes. “I’ll try to make it. Evanders wants me to do some extra work for the class…”

Hitomu’s face fell but he made sure she didn’t see. “Yeah, okay. No worries babe. I know how important school is for you with college applications coming up.” Tess was a straight A student with a near perfect GPA; she was looking to go to a good university to major in mathematics. “I think you owe me lunch though. Lemme jump in the shower real quick and then we can go.”

He started to head toward his bathroom but two arms snaked around his waist, stopping him. “Hey. I know how big this duel is for you, too. I’ll try my hardest to make it, alright?” Tess whispered into his ear.

Hitomu nodded. He wasn’t trying to get his hopes up but there was a happy swelling feeling in his chest regardless. “Thanks.”

Tess smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Of course.” She laughed and pushed him toward the bathroom. “Now go take your shower while I figure out where we’re going --- I have no idea how you manage to get so sweaty playing a card game!”

Hitomu waved her off and headed into the room to get ready, fighting off the tell-tale upward tug at the corners of his mouth. He was going to marry that girl one day.

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Yu-Gi-Oh! Skies [IC/R-16]

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