Yu-Gi-Oh! Skies [IC]

[The Warden]

Celebrity Duelist

 

"They aren't that hard to find.... if you know where to look."

 

Syndri stared at the two Sigil spells on the table, and his face curled into a wide Cheshire cat grin. He laughed silently to himself as he acquired each card, their images reflected in his eyes. "Ah Iago, as dogged as I expected you to be. Clearly I have been looking in the wrong places if you've managed to acquire not one, but two of the Sigils we need" he chuckled good-naturedly.

 

It seemed fairly appropriate, of course, that Iago should acquire two Sigils that Syndri himself could make good use of. Drifting past his guest, the fallen celebrity grabbed his deck, and opened up the Extra Deck. Shuffling through it, he grabbed the topmost card, revealing a fusion monster whose image had a black crystal surrounded in chains, with the form beyond it way too warped to be able to see it. Syndri stared at the card for an awkward amount of time, before he finally replaced his Extra Deck. "So," he began conversationally, "how about some tea whilst you tell me where, and whom you acquired these Sigils from."

[Yui]

---

"I, the man Akira, will join you. I think after this week, even a man as steadfast as I deserve a break. What kind of movie are we questing for?"

 

"I have no clue! But our plan so far has been to find something with explosions. Comedy. Maybe Romance. Maybe all three. The possibilities are endless!"

 

Explosive romantic comedy. Sounded like a fun time, if one were to ask Leona. It sounded like her kind of movie; one where the writer would say "To hell with genres!" and write the movie they wanted to see in theaters.

 

"Alright gang, with the newest addition to Meiko and Leona-chan's party, Akira-man, let us began our hunt for this movie! Forward march!"

 

"Forward march!" Leona repeated, following along in Meiko's footsteps. "If we don't find something like an explosive romantic comedy, how about a horror movie?" she then suggested. Horror movies were very one-and-the-same as far as Leona was concerned. Some supernatural sheet goes down, innocent cast has to not die, and all but two of them die anyway before the horrific entity is dealt with. Then those two become a couple, maybe have some kids, and the movie leaves one last hint that suggests the story isn't really over before the credits roll. Every once in a while, though, something new happened in the formula; something Leona didn't see coming. If she were to find herself watching a horror movie, it would be in search of such a surprise.

---

In the blink of an eye, Salem had already put three synchro monsters on the field. He reminded Kimiko a bit of herself in that regard; start with nothing, and explode into a field full of synchro monsters. Of course, hers were better.

 

“And now I end my turn.”

 

Not a bad start, to be perfectly honest. Those monsters looked small and useless, but low-level monsters had tricks of their own up their sleeves. Not to mention Salem used that Solidarity card to make his monsters just a little bit bigger than they already had been. However, something else was on Kimiko's mind. She was looking at her phone as Roy went about his turn, glancing up from the screen regularly to observe his plays. Summon Sapphire Pegasus and put Ruby Carubuncle onto the field as a spell? How extremely...you. Why don't you marry that horse since you love it so much? It wasn't every day somebody would think such a phrase in a context where it had more than one meaning at the same time.

 

“Next I’ll set a face down. I’ll call it a turn at that, Salem!”

 

Nothing to deal with those Defenders? That's kinda boring. Well, whatever. I don't need you to win in style; I just need you to win.

 

Kimiko looked back down at the screen of her phone again. Any stalkers who had the skill and/or lack of sense of privacy to look over Kimiko's shoulder and at her screen would see that she was sending out a text message.

 

Natsuko, where are you right now?

 

Kimiko! I'm at home. Why? Are you injured?

 

No, I'm fine. I need you to go buy a video camera and meet me at school. Not one of those crummy potatoes either; something that can record high-quality videos. Get here as quickly as possible.

 

I'll be there!

 

"I guess it's Salem's turn now," Kimiko quietly grinned to herself.

[The Warden]

The Champion of Strangeness

 

“Alright then! My turn!” Salem cried geekishly as he drew with all the grace and finesse of a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man. “Okay, he’s not trying to go aggressive, so I’m going to have to. I have my RotA, so I’ll go with King and Guardian, try to beat him quickly.”

 

Twirling a card about, it slipped from Salem’s fingers and fluttered down to the freeway below. The trio of Goyo Defenders discretely hid their faces behind their shields, just so they could hide their looks of shame. “Uhh, could err, heh heh, one of you guys grab that for me?” Salem requested awkwardly.

 

Nudging each other along the row, the Defender on the far right begrudgingly grabbed the card and returned it to its duelist. “Goyo” it muttered grumpily.

 

“Thanks” Salem mutter sourly as he activated his card, revealing it to be a spell card that depicted a pair of Jute Fighters trying to ward off several Flower Wolves while a third was desperately trying to signal for help. “I’m using Requesting Back-Up! This effect first lets me add a Jutte monster from my deck,” Salem explained as he took a Jutte Fighter from his deck, “and then lets me bring back a Jutte as well. So I’ll revive my Jutte Warrior!” he declared as said monster returned from a black portal.

 

“Interesting.” Roy said, having Sapphire Pegasus stay stationary in the air, watching Salem perform his turn in this manner. “Looks like you’ll be doing a bit more synching in this turn.”

 

However, if that’s his plan, things might be looking up for me with my plan. Otherwise… Roy thought, pausing as he looked at the current field. Otherwise me setting up isn’t going to end well.

 

“So, now I’ll normal summon my Jutte Fighter to the field” Salem announced, calling forth a middle-aged asian man holding a Jutte.

 

This made a full field of monsters now. The Juttes nodded to each other and the Goyos. “Okay, next I’m using my Jutte Warrior’s effect, which I’m sure you remember. Now I’m going to make Jutte Fighter’s level three!”

 

Summoning a sphere, Jutte Warrior tossed it at its brethren, where it was added to its level line. “Okay, now this is where things become real. I’m going to tune my level two Jutte Warrior with two level three Goyo Defenders, for a total of eight!” Salem announced.

 

“Jutte!” Warrior cried as it flew into the air, it body erupting into a pair of stars that then became a pair of shining green rings.

 

“Goyo!” two Defenders cried, hunkering behind their shields as the rings surrounded them on the ground.

 

“The call to arms is now, make haste to act in the name of justice! Prepare your baton and strike at the heart of darkness itself! Synchro Summon! King of those who fight with juttes! Come forth! Goyo King!” Salem chanted.

 

Both shields burst aside as the Goyo King emerged from where the Defenders stood, the kabuki warrior’s jutteberd at the ready. “GOYO!” it roared menacingly.

 

Roy’s hunch was correct, another Synchro. Goyo King, a monster with 2800 attack and an effect that was pretty interesting. However, this was the moment his plan would be put into motion.

 

“Pretty cool Synchro, Salem. However it’s arrival is a little short lived!” Roy said, snapping his fingers. “Trap Activate! Crystal Raigeki!!” As he spoke this, the card he set flipped up and there was suddenly storm clouds rolling in above Salem’s monsters. “So, time for the explanation! At the cost of a continuous Crystal Beast spell on my field, I can destroy a card my opponent controls!”

 

Roy held his hand up, before pointing it in the direction of the newly summoned Goyo King. “Ruby Carbuncle...fuel the coming storm and strike down the King!” he said, as the small ruby light orbiting both him and Sapphire Pegasus shot up into the storm clouds and without missing a beat, a ruby bolt of lightning struck down and hit Goyo King, enveloping it in light and completely destroying it.

 

The remaining Goyo Defender and Jutte Fighter looked absolutely horrified as the Goyo King was annihilated in a bolt of lightning. “Goyo!” “Jutte!”

 

Salem’s face was completely blank, although his right eye twitched with mild to serious frustration. “Fine... FINE! You still get to suffer the effect of my Jutte Warrior anyways. Since he was used to make Goyo King, your Sapphire Pegasus’ attack and defence are halved” he announced.

 

The spirit of Jutte Warrior appearing on the field, it flung its jutte at Sapphire Pegasus, striking the monster in its side, halving its stats (for some reason). “Now I’ll tune Jutte Fighter with Goyo Defender, for a level six” Salem declared.

 

Dinging his jutte, Fighter soared into the air, becoming a trio of synchro rings that Goyo Defender leapt into. “Master of the chase, bring your skills to bear as you bind down villainy wherever it may be! Let your aim be true and your actions swift! Synchro Summon! Master of the jutte! Goyo Guardian!” Salem announced.

 

As the card protruded from his extra, Salem’s eyes widened. It was the other Goyo Guardian. But what happened to the normal on- Oh sheet. He had been so caught up with Yushiro’s duel that he had forgotten to reclaim his cards from him. “Goyo!” Defender called in annoyance from the synchro rings.

 

Sighing in defeat, Salem took the Goyo Guardian and played it. A surge of light exploded outwards, and a strange creaking sound-effect played as the monster was revealed. It was wearing a pair of goofy glasses, and had a Hitler style moustache. “Goyo!” it uttered rather effeminately.

 

“Christ” Salem groaned to himself as rubbed his temples.

 

This was...certainly something Roy wasn’t expecting. The Goyo Guardian that was summoned was indeed different than it was supposed to be. Goofy glasses, a Hitler style moustache as well as it speaking in a very effeminate tone. He had Sapphire Pegasus lower him down on the roof of a building as he stared at the monster.

 

“Huh...that’s an interesting looking Guardian.” Roy spoke, scratching his head. “That a new reprint of the card? Or did you get one of those Orica art cards? If it's the latter...I wanna see if I can get one for my deck!”

 

After Roy said this, he felt Pegasus nudge his side roughly. “H-Hey! I’m kidding! I’m only kidding!” he said with a laugh, rubbing the Crystal Beast’s head.

 

“Oh shut up!” Salem snapped angrily as the spirits of Salem’s monsters surrounded the Guardian, their solidarity increasing his ATK by 800 (3600 ATK). 

 

“3600 attack...yikes.” Roy said, looking down at the current field by his Duel Disk. Goyo Guardian had the stats of 3600 attack, but while Sapphire Pegasus equipped with Crystal Release gave him 2600 attack, Jutte Warrior had sliced that to 1300. Damage would be dealt, in the form of 2300 Life Points. Then again...everything right now was working in his favor.

 

"There will be no hesitation now, only winning!” “Goyo Guardian, seek and destroy Sapphire Pegasus!” Salem commanded.

 

The effete Guardian saluted, and it merrily chased after the mythical creature and its rider. Rope spinning threateningly, the monster lashed out, its jutte headed right for Sapphire Pegasus.

 

Roy watched as the Goyo Guardian chased him and Sapphire Pegasus, but a moment of skill, the Pegasus flew upside down and dropped its rider on the roof. “O-Ow...” he grumbled before witnessing Goyo Guardian destroy Sapphire Pegasus.

 

Roy Spectrum’s Life Points: 8000 -> 5700

 

“Tch...alright buddy...ya did good.” Roy sighed, standing up to face Salem atop the roof. “Due to Sapphire Pegasus’ ability...” he began, watching as a sapphire light began to orbit around him. “He’s now a Continuous Spell. And by the effect of Crystal Release, when a monster equipped with it is destroyed, and the equip card is sent to the grave...I get to add another Crystal Beast into the Spell and Trap Zone!”

 

Before him, a hologram of his deck appeared before him. His eyes slowly darted through his deck, before pointing at one. “I’m choosing Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat!” Upon declaration, another slot on his back row was filled and a amethyst light orbited around him with the sapphire one.

 

That’s three so far. I need only four more to bring HIM out… Roy thought, exhaling slightly.

 

Salem sighed in annoyance as his monster came back empty-handed. If there was one insufferable thing about the Goyos, it was their reliance on destroying by battle AND sending to the Graveyard. “I set one card, and end my turn” he announced, his face-down flashing on the field momentarily.

 

.:Salem - 8000LP:.

Field: Goyo Guardian, Solidarity, 1 Set S/T

Graveyard: Jutte Lord, Jutte Warrior, Goyo Defender x3, Goyo King, Requesting Back-Up!, Jutte Fighter

Hand: 1 card

[Super Chaos Sonic]

=Turn Now Goes to Roy=

 

“Not bad at all!” Roy smirked, drawing his next card. “My turn!” Glancing down, he tried to work with the cards he currently had. To his favor, he was doing pretty good.

“First! I activate the Spell, Rare Value!” he flipped the card in hand and pointed at Salem, as the two Crystal Beasts in his Spell and Trap Zone appeared as ghostly apparitions behind Roy. “Decision time Salem! You choose one of my Crystal Beasts in my Spell and Trap Zone...and I send it to the grave. After that, I draw two cards! So...which will it be?”

“Does it matter?” Salem snapped irritably. “Just send the dumb pegasus!”

Roy nodded, not really taking Salem’s snappy response to heart. He snapped his fingers and Sapphire Pegasus was gone, taking the orbiting blue light with it. Quickly drawing two cards from his deck, Roy continued on with his move.

 “Awesome. Now, I activate the Spell, Crystal Blessing!”  he said, smiling. “With this, I add up to two Crystal Beasts from my grave to the field as Spell cards. So return to me, Carbuncle and Pegasus!!” 

A moment passed before a bright light exploded from Roy’s graveyard and both a red and blue light emerged to orbit around the duelist alongside the amethyst one.

“Now, I activate my own field.” Roy said, sliding a card into his Duel Disk. “Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins, rise!!”

The hard concrete of the city trembled, masonry falling from the bridge Salem stood upon as a large and ancient arena erupted from the ground, bright light piercing through the gothic city as it was levelled to make way for Roy’s field spell. A rainbow cascaded down through the dark sky… it was incredibly gaudy.

“Wooooow!” Roy whistled. “This is the first time I’ve seen Rainbow Ruins like this...the rainbow in the night sky is pretty cool!” he said, before returning to the duel. “So, these ruins are tied to the Crystal Beasts...in a LOT of ways. But not going into lore, it has a number of effects that coincide with the number of face up-”

“I KNOW WHAT IT DOES!” Salem testily replied, emphasizing his duel disk. “We have read-outs for a reason, it’s right HERE!” he explained, pointing at the screen, which displayed the recently activated field spell.

Roy just stood there, a little embarrassed that he forgot about the Duel Disk screen and that both players had them. “A-Ah...right...I guess I forgot about that.” he said, sheepishly. “I apologize...” He quickly cleared his throat and continued with his turn. “I summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus from my hand.”

Once again, from the night skies and over the rainbow that was hanging in the sky, a second Sapphire Pegasus descended onto the field.

“By it’s effect, I’ll be adding Amber Mammoth to the Spell and Trap Zone.” Roy said, quickly getting the declared card from the deck and adding it to the field, as an amber light orbited him now. “And now, Rainbow Ruins...I draw one card.” he said, grabbing another card from his deck.

“At that...my turn is done.” Roy said, observing the field. Four down...now only three left. he thought, exhaling slightly.

.:Roy - 5700LP:.
Field: CB Sapphire Pegasus, CB Ruby Carbuncle (Cont Spell), CB Sapphire Pegasus (Cont Spell), CB Amethyst Cat (Cont Spell), CB Amber Mammoth (Cont Spell), Rainbow Ruins
Graveyard: Crystal Raigeki, Rare Value, Crystal Blessing
Hand: 3 cards

[BANZAI!!!!]

You're sitting on a bench doing nothing, last I checked. Or were you waiting for your idiot friend Hoshi to come bail you out of this?"

 

Of course she saw through him. Yushiro had always been a bad liar. Another nervous gulp followed.

 

"I'm not interested in dueling that idiot, he can fight for you some other time... Unless you're too chickensh*t to face a REAL duelist."

 

What even qualified someone as a "real" duelist anyway? Kimiko certainly knew what she was doing, and so did Akira, for that matter. Blythe must have had some really high standards. But then why was she messing with him at al-oh right.

 

"Your win against Hatekayama was a fluke, and you know it. Admit it, Midori... You got lucky. And you're afraid your luck will run out the second you duel someone with actual SKILL."

 

She wasn't too far from the truth. Though it wasn't so much losing that scared Yushiro as it was being beaten in front of the whole school. Why did everyone suddenly need an audience? Couldn't they just play some cards and have fun? And furthermore why did she insist on him wagering one of his favorite cards on the outcome? Yushiro bet cards with Akira all the time, but he'd never dream of trying to take his friend's Benkei away from him.

 

Meanwhile Taketo must have begun to pick up on Yushiro's misgivings, because it took off from his shoulder and began to make what passed for threatening buzzing noises at Blythe. She seemingly took little notice of it though.

 

"Still... Maybe it won't. Maybe you'll be the one to beat me. I've got three others who want to try for that today alone... Why don't we test that luck?"

 

Blythe then suddenly reached forward, snatching Taketo out of the air.

 

"HEY! LET GO OF HIM!"

 

The robot squirmed, trying desparately to free itself as Blythe plucked him up, but she firmly held it in her grasp as she turned to walk away. She shook Taketo by the head some as she did so, which at last got it to stop struggling and deactivate to prevent her from damaging the delicate electronics in its neck.

 

"I'll be taking this for now. If you want it back, you'll have to engage in a duel with me. Don't worry, you'll get him back even if you lose, good as new... I'm feeling generous. You're obviously nervous. Take a week, then meet me for our match. I'll let you know the time and place."

 

Yushiro stood there, stunned for just a moment before he took off after her in an attempt to take his robot back from her, but, to add injury to insult, he tripped instead, rather painfully landing on the cement and cutting his chin, skinning a knee, and his scraping a part of his forehead. Blythe kept walking.

 

"Toodles, Midori."

 

By the time Yushiro had managed to get back up, she was already gone. His face and his leg stung and his mouth began to quiver as he fought back tears, a trickle of blood slowly oozing down the left side of his face.

 

----

 

"Ah Iago, as dogged as I expected you to be. Clearly I have been looking in the wrong places if you've managed to acquire not one, but two of the Sigils we need." Syndri laughed, then began to look through his deck.

 

"I am a man of many talents, what can I say." Iago leaned back and continued twirling a dreadlock around his finger. He waited for Syndri to continue. Best not to interrupt the man's groove. He'd learned that by now.

 

"How about some tea whilst you tell me where, and whom you acquired these Sigils from."

 

"Let's just say... I've got my ways. I don't think that source is going to provide you with any more copies anyway... And tea would be lovely." He inhaled deeply, his eyes wandering to the rare magician cards callously strewn out on the table for a moment before continuing. "That being said, I might have come across another potential source of sigils for you, if you're interested... Oh who am I kidding? Of course you're interested." Now it was Iago's turn to chuckle. "Ever heard of a Blue Yonder Academy?"

 

---

 

It didn't take Yushiro too long to get himself to Blue Yonder's nurse's office, where the kindly young woman promptly helped him clean up and bandage his cuts. Lucky for him, none lf them were serious, simply requiring a little antisceptc and an appropriately sized bandage each. He didn't say much to the nurse, simply stating that he tripped and leaving as soon as he was able.

 

He now found himself sitting on a bench somewhere on campus, hurt and angry. At last, now that the immeadiate necessity of getting himself cleaned up had passed, the tears came. He kept trying to fight them back (men weren't supposed to cry, so Akira said), but despite his best efforts they kept coming, landing on the concrete in little, feeble droplets. What did she have to go and do that for? Cards were cards, but Taketo was Yushiro's friend; a constant companion. What if she broke him? He knew he wouldn't have the heart to replace the little robot. He felt violated, weak... small. He'd never done anything to hurt her, why treat him and his friends with such contempt? All for a Stardust Dragon?

 

He pulled out his deck box, taking the card in question out and giving it a look. Yushiro's was an old copy, its top right corner slightly damaged and folded over, and its holofoil marred with numerous scratches from years of play. It probably wasn't even worth much, not these days. But it was his. The card that had seen him win and lose countless games, been a familiar sight at happy gatherings of friends and failed competitive outings. He toyed with the idea of ransoming it for Taketo for a moment, then put the thought out of his mind and returned it to the box, right behind Cyber Angel Vishnu.

 

Right, someone else was missing something important to them, too. Unlike Blythe though, Yushiro wasn't planning on keeping it. He shakily exhaled, ending the tears and wiping off his face. In the back of his mind he earnestly hoped no one had seen him cry. At the very least, he would make the most of today and return Elizabeth's card to her. A good deed might make him feel a little better.

[~Faytl~]

"Spell Counters, eh?" asked Balthy, adjusting his goggles as Pteran circled the air about Sai...Or rather, Mystigan. "So Sai-san's deck is fueled by Action Cards, eh?" he said to himself. He shouted down: "Not bad... Mystigan, but even the Dark Magician won't be able to stand up to my Pendulum Summon! Draw!"

 

He looked ove rhis hand, eyes contemplative. The Dark Magician was indeed a fearsome card, even with how long it had been around. Could he take it down?

 

It was only when he saw the card he had drawn that a plan started to spark and be born inside his head. Balthy liked to imagine his brain as a great mechanical wonder, golden gears spinning and cogs whirring, and they were truly going quickly now.

 

"Continuous Magic, Dinomist Charge, activate!" A card appeared on the grund in front of Mytigan, and Balthy moved his hand to his deck. "When played, this card lets me add any Dinomist card to my hand. I add Dinomist Stegosaur!" Balthy palmed the Stegosaur, moving another card from his hand over to join it, grinning as he held the two cards high.

 

"Using the Scale 3 Dinomist Stegosaur, and the Scale 6 Dinomist Brachion, I set the Pendulum Scale!" He slapped the two cards on his Disk, and rainbow-colored letters were born upon the blade, spelling out "PENDULUM" as a green stegosaurus and a violet brachiosaurus, both loaded down with weapons and tank threads and hissing steam, appeared in two columns of blue light, a glowing 3 and 6 underneath them.

 

"Using this scale, I can Pendulum Summon monsters from my hand with Levels 4 to 5! Mobilize, my monsters!" Balthy called out, holding two cards in his hand as he placed them on his Duel Disk, two jets of steam issuing from the air behind him and screaming down to the ship deck, one slamming into it, the other shooting off the side into the water. "Dinomist Ceratops! Dinomist Plesios!"

 

The first monster was a bright green monstrosity, standing before Mystigan and bellowing loudly enough to ruffle his cape. The second was blue, and drove through the water with it's propellor driving it around, letting out a high-pitched screech.

 

Dinomist Ceratops

Level 5, 2100/400

 

Dinomsit Plesios

Level 4, 1700/1400

 

"Impressive!" laughed Mystigan, applauding magnanimously. Dark Magician copied his applause, though his face kept the same stern expression. "You've Pendulum Summoned some very powerful cards. I hope you have something else up your sleeve, though, because neither of them beats the 2500 attack power of my Dark Magician!"

 

"Oh yeah? Plesios's monster effect, go!" Plesios's propellor spun even harder, the loud drone echoing across the ship. It raised it's head,opening its mouth for a missile to issue forth, one that flew high above the ship and exploded, embers raining down in the field. Dark Magician raised his arms over his head, grimacing as the embers struck his arms. Mystigan looked puzzled.

 

"What did you do to my monster?" he asked.

 

"Plesios's effect  holds the key to defeating Dark Magician! It reduces the attack power of all monsters my opponent controls for every Dinomist card on my field!" Balthy explained chipperly, holding up his Duel Disk to show that the cards upon it were pulsing with blue light. "Counting the three monsters I have, the two cards in my Pendulum Zones, and Dinomist Charge, Dark Magician loses 100 attack points for every one!"

 

"That means it'll have only 1900 attack!" Mystigan muttered to himself, his tone slipping and sounding more like Sai. He turned, running across the ship, eyes out for-

 

"Don't think you can find an Action Card now!" Balthy called playfully, flying above Sai with Pteran. "Ceratops attacks Dark Magician!" He leapt down off of Pteran, trying to land in front of Sai, but his ankle caught a gun barrel and he flipped in midair, landing atop a turret, letting out a groan. 

 

Mystigan, meanwhile, had swiped an Action Card from the turret base, placing it in his Duel Disk as Ceratops fired a giant saw blade through the air at Dark Magician. "Action Magic, Steadfast! My Dark Magician isn't destroyed!" THe Magician raised his rod, the saw blade rebounding off it and shattering into motes of light. Mystigan's Duel Disk vibrated as his Life Points decreased. "I'll still take battle damage, though," he admitted.

 

"Geez, Sai-san, you're makin' it difficult for me, ain't ya?" asked Balthy, sitting up on top of the turret, rubbing his chest that he had landed on. 

 

"You okay, Balthy?" asked Mystigan, hs voice again sounding a bit more like Sai than it had been.

 

"Peachy! Look what I fell on!" Balthy raised a hand to show a familiar Action Card, grinning. "Artillery Burst, go!" He yelled a bit in surprise as the turret he as on swiveled, tossing him off onto the ship deck as it unloaded on Mystigan, who raised his arms to shield himself from the brunt of the blast.

 

"I think... I'll just quit while I'm ahead," Balthy groaned from his spot on the ground. "Turn over."

 

Balthy: 8000/Sai: 6800

[a coffee]

 

It had been a rough day, so far. Her searches had come up almost completely fruitless, and she had cancelled nearly all of her lessons for the day, so she would have to cut back on her typically rather frivolous spending for at least the week until she had an opportunity to get more lessons in. And to make matters worse, she lost a duel to damn Pat! He would never let her live that one down if she managed to find her card, he liked to bust on people for that kind of thing, once the serious threat was gone. Elizabeth found herself near the center of campus again, walking up the road towards the dance studio once more. She figured that if she couldn't find her card, she might as well do what always made her feel better: dancing. It was one of the only passions in life she still held with fierce conviction, ever since dueling and socializing had fallen off of her radar, at least to some degree.

 

Elizabeth pulled out her phone on the way up the road, deciding to text her friend Emma once more, "Hey Em. Any luck finding Vishnu yet? If you didn't look you can be honest, I wouldn't judge. Just wanted to let you know that I'm giving up for now. Going to head up to the dance studio and work out, get my mind off things. Coffee tomorrow maybe??" Elizabeth's had just closed her phone as she noticed a figure coming in hot in her direction, they were just about to collide with her, only this time she put her hands up, grabbing the person who was about to run into her by the arms. Just as she was about to scorn them for not watching where they are going, she looked at the face of who had caused her so much issue, and lo and behold, it was Yushiro! His eyes were puffed, maybe even a little bit red; as someone rather familiar with that look herself, she had deduced he must have been crying recently. Her heart softened a little bit, she couldn't scorn him now.

 

"Goodness, looks as if we've got quite the knack for running into each other, don't we? I just wish it happened a little less literally." Elizabeth giggled softly, only now realizing she had been holding Yushiro's arms for what was probably a little too long, "Oh! Sorry, then. Should probably let you have those back." She let go, awkwardly putting her hands up and then returning them to her sides, what in god's name was she doing right now? "Hey, are you okay? You look like you've been crying a bit. Something happen?" It was rather uncharacteristic of her to pry on things like these, she was fairly reserved in most situations, but curiosity had definitely gotten the better of her here, and Yushiro was a nice enough kid, plus he was rather young. People his age should be having fun! Hell, she should be having more fun, but she was often too caught up in her own nonsense to even entertain the thought. She looked at Yushiro, patiently awaiting an answer.

[Alaina]

As the group had continued to walk down the streets, Leona had brought up the idea of another type of movie to see. Horror, hm? Meiko wasn't exactly that big a fan of horror. They were generally either boring to her or they were actually scary. And if they were scary that meant she would be scared. And being scared was not fun. Though there was the other brand of horror movies that were funny, even if unintentionally, so thinking more on it, they could probably find something like that. With a joyous expression on her face, Meiko replied, "sure thing, Leona-chan!" Meiko paused for a bit, thinking more on it before having an expression of revelation, saying, "unless there's a horror romantic explosive action comedy!" Thinking more on it, even Meiko started to realize that that sounded a bit much. Regardless, she continued to walk through the town in search of the theater. 
 
Walking around the town, there were very many different kinds of buildings that lined the street. With many different kinds of small stores around, Meiko felt her attention span waning as she looked from place to place. There were many shops selling all kinds of knickknacks that she didn't actually need but just seeing them made her want them. There many kinds of restaurants and smaller food places that made her feel slightly more hungry passing by. But she was on a quest! One to find a movie theater! And nothing would stop her from that. As such she decided to distract herself from her surroundings with idle chatter. Turning to the rest of her party, she said, "so Leona-chan, Akira-man, how've classes gone for you all so far?" Now granted they had only been going to classes for a few days, but who knew what could have happened during that time?

[BANZAI!!!!]

 

 

Yushiro hadn't been out looking very long before he decided to take a break. What were the odds that he was just going to randomly run into one girl out of hundreds at Blue Yonder? On campus? On a Saturday? It felt rather pointless, and worse still it was his decision to spend the day on campus that had caused him to run into Blythe. Taking a seat on yet another bench, Yushiro let out a heavy sigh. Perhaps it would be better if he just went back home. He could talk to Akira about it in the morning, after all.... No, that wouldn't be the right thing to do. Just because he was feeling down didn't mean he should give up. He'd already kept this girl's card for far too long, and his own similar sense of loss from Taketo's theft compounded his growing resolve. He stood back up, and began barreling down the path, much more intent on making headway than looking where he was going.

 

A few seconds later, something stopped him. He felt hands around his arms, gripping his biceps firmly... too firmly. Before he had a chance to full process this though, the owner of the hands spoke to him with a familiar voice.

 

"Goodness, looks as if we've got quite the knack for running into each other, don't we? I just wish it happened a little less literally."

 

It was Elizabeth! Of all the dumb luck. She let go of his arms as he looked up at her. He must have looked pitiful, bandages on his face, his eyes still watery. He dearly hoped she didn't notice.

 

"Hey, are you okay? You look like you've been crying a bit. Something happen?"

 

Of course she noticed. Wonderful. He emphatically shook his head no, hoping a nonverbal lie would work better than a spoken one. Then, remembering why he was out here in the first place, quickly grabbed his deck box and fished Cyber Angel Vishnu out of it. Handing it to her, he spoke, trying his best to not seem distraught. "A-actually, I've been looking for you. You uhh, left this behind the last time we ran into each other. I hope you weren't missing it too much." He took a slight step back, trying to ignore the pain on his face and the awkwardness of the moment.

 

 

[a coffee]

 

Yushiro would only shake his head no in response to her inquiring about his apparent issue. Fair enough. She though to herself. If he wants to lie to me about it I won't prod him for information. We hardly know each other anyway. Still, I feel bad...

 

Elizabeth's internal musings would have continued, and perhaps she would have forced the issue just a little more, except it was in that moment that Yushiro handed her what she had been driving herself crazy looking for all day: Cyber Angel Vishnu! 

 

I hope you weren't missing it too much. Yushiro seemed to barely stammer it out. Understatement of the millennia! She thought to herself.

 

Without thinking about it, she snatched the card out of his hand and examined it carefully. Still in good condition, he had even remembered to take good care of it! In an instant, a warm wash of exaltation ran down her body and bubbled up through her stomach and into her heart; how nice it was to finally have Vishnu back, she would have died inside if she had managed to lose it. She looked to Yushiro, the boy who had saved her entire day, maybe even the week, and Elizabeth instinctively wrapped her person around his in a tight embrace, closing her eyes and thanking her lucky stars he had returned it.

 

"Thank you so much Yushiro, I can't tell you how much it means to me to have this back." it hadn't really dawned on Elizabeth that Yushiro might not have reciprocated her embrace, if anything, she was partially expecting him not to. After all, she was a dancer with a fantastic body, there have been plenty of guys vying for her affection before, and there was no way someone like Yushiro had had an experience like this with a girl like her. At some point, Elizabeth realized this may have been a bit weird, and finally disconnected. She cleared her throat awkwardly and removed her deckbox from her sweatshirt pocket, slipping Vishnu inside of it. Determined to not let this situation melt down into a pool of awkwardness, as she was sure he would allow it to, she spoke out.

 

"On a sincere note, if there is anything that can be done to help you, please let me know. I owe you so much more than I can offer for this favor, but I have a very favorable reputation within the school for my tutoring classes and... prior performances. I'm sure I can help you somehow." Elizabeth cleared her bangs to the frame of her face; goodness, was she feeling flush? How embarrassing. 

[Yui]

---

“Uhh, could err, heh heh, one of you guys grab that for me?”

 

...Is this butterfingers for real?

 

“The call to arms is now, make haste to act in the name of justice! Prepare your baton and strike at the heart of darkness itself! Synchro Summon! King of those who fight with juttes! Come forth! Goyo King!”

 

“Pretty cool Synchro, Salem. However it’s arrival is a little short lived! Trap Activate! Crystal Raigeki!!” So, time for the explanation! At the cost of a continuous Crystal Beast spell on my field, I can destroy a card my opponent controls! Ruby Carbuncle...fuel the coming storm and strike down the King!”

 

The back-and-forth continued between the boys for a bit, with little interest from Kimiko. That is, until Salem synchro summoned another monster. Goyo Guardian; not exactly a monster to take...lightly...perhaps not most Goyo Guardians. Whatever Salem had done to his card, the monster he summoned forth with it was interesting, to put it politely. To instead put it in Kimiko terms, Wow! Am I watching a comedy act? Kimiko audibly laughed at the synchro that had come up onto the field. However, the damage it dealt to Roy wasn't so funny.

 

Okay, maybe a little funny.

 

"I set one card, and end my turn."

 

It was then Roy's turn. He didn't waste any time recovering some of his lost Crystal Beasts and setting up his field spell. The Spectrum heir put some more Crystal Beasts on the field, and promptly ended his turn. Can he not beat over the Comedy Guardian somehow? This is exactly what I'm talking about when I bring up the differences in our dueling.

 

She'd have to see how this developed. And to make things all the juicier, her hunch told her it wouldn't be long before her faithful ninja arrived with a camera. The Comedy Guardian was one piece of history Kimiko intended thoroughly to immortalize, and the longer it stayed up the better (despite her having just now wondered why Roy couldn't destroy it).

"Sure thing, Leona-chan! Unless there's a horror romantic explosive action comedy!"

 

The sights of Ambrosia were many. Lots of buildings of all sorts lined the streets the trio walked along, housing many stores that sold many wares. Meiko seemed interested in the trivial little knick-knacks and food. Leona couldn't blame her on the latter count; food was good. It was hard to tell if she was interested in the goods lined up along the different shops in town, but it wasn't hard at all to tell that she was definitely looking at them.

 

Maybe if I get the red and blue ones at the same time, I can try talking the price down a bit? I don't want to only get one...

 

"So Leona-chan, Akira-man, how've classes gone for you all so far?"

 

"PE is okay; I get to run around and keep in shape, and that's good. The rest of the classes...eh, I do pretty well when I show up," Leona shrugged. "Haven't seen much of Underdog since his big win at the start of the school year, but I know he's been around. I wonder how he's holding up..." Calling it an idea would be too generous; it was more of Leona putting two and two together before deciding on a simple and effective decision. Turning to Akira, the white-clad girl asked "You're his buddy right, Big Guy? How's school treating the two of you?"

[Draconus297]

Emma Pathos

 

So . . . this was happening.

 

A wry smile marked the young psychoanalyst's face as she continued to take notes on every action, every reaction, everything that went said and unsaid . . . as well as the existence of Goyo Comedian, as she'd dubbed it in her notes.

 

Despite herself, however, Emma found her blood pumping. An interesting and funny Duel, between two people that were both legitimately worth studying- it happened less frequently than one would think- and there was the weighty possibility of the infamous Rainbow Dragon dangling over it all like a fabulous feathery Sword of Damocles.

 

"Let's go!" The little redhead cheered, not even sure who she was cheering for.

 

======

 

Dee Skize

 

As engrossed as she was in this interesting Duel, Dee was just unbelievably uncomfortable.

 

Incomplete, incorrect cosplay . . . it's a crime against the craft!

 

However, it wasn't like she could just call Akira and complete her duplication right now . . . she squirmed, inadvertently making herself even more like the real Yushiro.

[The Warden]

The Champion of Strangeness

 
Salem grit his teeth as he drew his next card. ”He’s got that dumb Ruins up now, so if I try to use my face-down, he’ll just negate it, and then halve Guardian’s damage if I attack. Plus he’d negate this Burden of the Mighty I drew too. But maybe he’s also dumb? He has no face-downs, so he’d probably try to halve my first bit of damage. So, yeah, this plan might work” he thought. ”But wait, he’s put four cards into his backrow, so unless he wants to clog it, he’ll have to send Pegasus to the grave, then Guardian can take it. I’ve got him!” he thought giddily.

“I enter my battle phase, and have Goyo Guardian attack and destroy your next Sapphire Pegasus!” the young man commanded.

“Goyo!” the effeminate monster nodded, going after the flying horse, it's jutte spinning like a propeller.

Roy watched Goyo Guardian heading towards Sapphire Pegasus. He only closed his eyes, exhaling slightly as he heard the sounds of the two monsters making contact...and Sapphire Pegasus falling to the Guardian. However, to Salem’s surprise...a second sapphire light began to orbit around Roy with the other four lights.

“Hunh?” Salem grunted in confusion. “Why would you…? OH sheet!”

“I take it you see what I was planning now.” Roy said, opening his eyes with a smirk.

“Yeah, well, what about the damage? Feel like taking eighteen-hundred?” Salem retorted.

Roy was silent, just casually watching the 1800 points of damage from that attack get deducted from his Life Points.

 

Roy Spectrum’s Life Points: 5700 -> 3900

“You didn’t halve it?” Salem uttered in surprise.

“I like to keep my opponents guessing.” Roy said calmly.

“You forgot you could, didn’t you?” Salem guessed.

Roy looked at Salem and rolled his eyes. “Just because I forgot about the Duel Disk having that function doesn’t mean I’d forget that!” he said quickly. Buuuuut...he isn’t wrong. he thought. Then again...I’m worried about that face down he has. So taking the full force of the attack now might pay off in the long run.
 
“Well, just as well you did, I activate my face-down” Salem announced, revealing Call of the Haunted. “It’s a good thing lightning doesn’t strike twice, as someone’s coming back to say hello to you” Salem boasted as Goyo King returned via a dark portal, and it looked incredibly pissed off. “Goyo King, it’s still the battle phase. So let’s show Roy what happens when he messes with the law!”
 
“GOYO!” Goyo King roared, priming his jutteberd.
 
The monster sailed through the air, its look of rage intensifying the closer it got to Roy. With a mighty swing, it lashed out at him.
 
Roy tried to back away, snapping his fingers quickly. “Rainbow Ruins!! With the strength of my Crystal Beasts, aid me!!” he said, watching the amber and ruby light move out, generating a barrier around him. Goyo King wasn’t phased by the barrier, striking it as hard as it could, the jutteberd striking hard against  the barrier, the resulting shockwaves of the attack rattling Roy as damage was dealt, forcing him to a knee. “B-By the effect of Rainbow Ruins...your King’s swing...is halved...” he said as he got back up.
 
 

Roy Spectrum’s Life Points: 3900 -> 2100

 
“Yeah, but you still took the equivalent of one of my monster’s full attack anyways” Salem shrugged as his monster returned to his side, the Guardian bro-fisting King. “So, I activate Burden of the Mighty, set one card, and end my turn” he announced.
 
.:Salem - 8000LP:.
Field: Goyo Guardian, Goyo King (w/ Call of the Haunted), Solidarity, Burden of the Mighty, 1 Set S/T
Graveyard: Jutte Lord, Jutte Warrior, Goyo Defender x3, Requesting Back-Up!, Jutte Fighter
Hand: 0
 

---

 

Celebrity Duelist

 
"Ever heard of a Blue Yonder Academy?"
 
Syndri looked up from the pot of tea he was brewing, an unrecognizable storm of emotions battling behind his eyes. "Everyone has. It's the premier duel school around" he answered stiffly, tray in hand.
 
Placing it on the coffee table on top of the new cards, Syndri poured himself a cup of milky amber tea. Blowing on it gently, the celebrity duelist didn't take a sip, but instead chose to take the Ebon High Magician he had pulled, and dunked it into his cup. "Why Blue Yonder? What's happening there?"

[BANZAI!!!!]

 

Elizabeth's reaction instantly put a smile on Yushiro's face. After the day's events, it felt good to accomplish something he'd set out to do. She eagerly snatched the card out of his hand, the expression of relief and happiness on her face growing as she inspected Vishnu and discovered that it was in pristine condition. It was actually kind of cute, seeing Elizabeth, who until now Yushiro had taken for a stern, reserved girl, so overcome with emotion. This was normally the sort of reaction he would expect to see from... well... himself. He was used to others being much more adept at hiding their emotions, especially someone who seemed so well put together like Elizabeth. After all Yushiro had just been in a similar situation, and he'd-

 

"Thank you so much Yushiro, I can't tell you how much it means to me to have this back."

 

Yushiro's train of thought not only came to a screeching halt, but careened off the proverbial rails and exploded into a ball of fire as Elizabeth wrapped her arms tightly around him. He was absolutely unprepared for something like this to happen, especially right now. It took him a solid few seconds to fully process the visual and physical input, but at last came to the instinctual realization that it would be incredibly awkward for the both of them if he didn't respond in some way. So, without much thought, he reciprocated the embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling the two of them a bit closer together. As awkward a person as Yushiro was, physical affection was something that actually came naturally to him, the lack of language helping him to more easily convey his emotions. In other words, Yushiro gave really good hugs; good enough that Elizabeth would notice if she thought about it at all.

 

After another few moments, Elizabeth disconnected, with Yushiro rapidly, perhaps even a little fearfully, following suit. He couldn't bring himself to say anything, even had he had something to say, and his face had turned a very embarrassing shade of pinkish red. Yushiro was obviously, hilariously not accustomed to receiving affection from girls, and for the life of him, he couldn't think of a way to respond, to continue the conversation. Wonderful. Here he was ruining things for himself.... whatever these things were. All he could really do was turn his head to the side and look away, bringing the large bandage on his chin into Elizabeth's view as she put her card away in it's proper place.

 

Thankfully, Elizabeth broke their awkward silence. "On a sincere note, if there is anything that can be done to help you, please let me know. I owe you so much more than I can offer for this favor, but I have a very favorable reputation within the school for my tutoring classes and... prior performances. I'm sure I can help you somehow."

 

Yushiro turned his head back around and looked Liz in the eyes. The cut on his chin throbbed, and some of the leftover water in his eyes had begun to escape. He sniffled, not sure whether to smile at her or attempt to keep a straight face, and eventually settling on a tiny half-smile. The look on his face was a dead giveaway that he was emotionally drained, maybe even a little overcome, by both whatever had happened to him before they met up and what had gone on just now. After much too long, he finally spoke up.

 

"Sorry..." He wiped his eye. "Its been a really rough day... didn't mean to make things weird..." He shook his head a little and cleared his throat, desperately clinging to what composure he'd been able to regain. It was only then that he actually began to focus on what she had said, both now, and, if memory served, the last time they'd met. Blythe's taunts still fresh in his head, he decided to take a chance. "But uhh... now that you mention it... would you mind, maybe... giving me a hand with my dueling? I-if you have time that is!" Yushiro put a hand up, adding emphasis to his insinuation that she was in no way obligated to help him. "I have... I've a match coming up a-and I don't think I'm gonna be able to win unless I improve... And I really need to win, you know?" He was bending the truth again, but this was easier than telling Elizabeth that a bully had stolen his toy robot and he'd fallen on his face trying to get it back. He'd already embarrassed himself enough today, and was probably continuing to do so, what with his misty eyes and rosy cheeks. At least this time she'd probably believe what he was saying.

 

---

 

"Why Blue Yonder? What's happening there?"

 

Iago's brow furrowed as he watched Syndri attempt to destroy a perfectly good card. He was such a child sometimes. Before it could get too damaged, Iago quickly snatched Ebon High Magician from the sweet, steamy jaws of death, flicking the droplets of tea off of it and drying it on his shirt, successfully minimizing the damage to it. "I'm going to hold onto this, seeing as you obviously don't have any use for the poor thing. Consider it payment for the information I'm giving you." Iago blew on the card in a vain attempt to dry it out a little more, then shrugged his shoulders and stuck it in one of the deck boxes on his waist. Then he continued. "My... lets call him my source, has it on good information that more Sigils are going to start showing up there. I figured you might want to pay the place a visit. Besides, I'm sure the kids would love to meet a professional duelist such as yourself, right? What say I get you in there for a few days?"

[King K. Azo]

Balthy: 8000/Sai: 6800

 

Sai, AKA Mystigan, sighed in relief. He had managed to survive Balthy's onslaught of Dinomists, but with that Plesios on the field, it was going to make this an uphill battle.

 

"It's my turn, draw!" He stated as he did just that. He looked down and smiled. This would work. "I summon Mythical Beast Cerberus in attack position!" A ferocious beast with wild flaming blue fur, gold rings around its limbs, and the likeness of a dolphin on the armor it wore appeared, roaring at Balthy.

 

Mythical Beast Cerberus

Level 4, 1400/1400

 

"That's a pretty cool monster, but due to Plesios's effect, it'll lose attack, just like Dark Magician!" Balthy reminded, Plesios firing its missile once again, reducing the beast down to 800. Sai just smiled.

 

"Earlier, you claimed that Plesios was the key to defeating Dark Magician. I now make the claim that Cerberus is the key to overcoming your field!" Sai had a confident smirk on his face as he said this.

 

"Ah, Sai-San! Even if you can beat my Dinomists, the power of Pendulum Summon will bring them right back! They're tenacious that way!" Balthy stated with a grin. Sai just grinned back in response.

 

"Well, consider these small steps to overcome you!" He stated as he began his move. "I activate my Spell Card Spell Power Grasp! Just like Skilled Dark Magician, my Cerberus can hold spell counters, and gain them when a spell activates! Now, the difference is, Cerberus can hold more than three, and for every one he holds, he gains 500 attack! So due to the effect of Spell Power Grasp, he gains two spell counters and 1000 attack!" (ATK:1800) Two black orbs suddenly appeared around the wolf, each one with a triangle symbol printed on them, glowing with a golden aura. They surrounded the Cerberus for a few seconds before they were absorbed into the wolf, and it let out a mighty roar as it gained a golden aura, its demeanor becoming more vicious. "After doing so, I can add my final Spell Power Grasp to my hand! And now, I activate the Spell Card Pendulum Call! I discard 1 card which allows me to add two Magician Pendulum Monsters from my deck to my hand! I discard Tuning Magician from my hand to add Dragonpulse and Dragonpit Magician to my hand!"

 

"Sai-san, you can Pendulum Summon to?" Balthy said in surprise, a grin spreading across his face. "You should of told me! This is going to be awesome!"

 

"Oh, you have no idea," Sai said as he retrieved the two cards. "Using the Scale 1 Dragonpulse Magician, and the Scale 8 Dragonpit Magician, I set the Pendulum Scale! Using this scale, I Pendulum Summon Monsters from Levels 2 through 7! Appear, my monster!" A pillar of light crashed into the ground, the silhouette of a monster glowing within it.

 

When the light died down, a knight was standing in place. He stood tall, dressed in a blue and gold robe, which was tucked into blue and gold steel boots. His upper legs, his torso, and his shoulders were covered in thick armor that matched his robe, which kept all but the front piece of ornate fabric pressed to his body. He held a small dagger in his right hand, obviously not made for attacking. In his left hand was a somewhat rectangular shield that looked almost as big as his body. It was much like his armor, accented by a ruby in the center. He glared at Balthy from behind a gold visor, which was part of an incomplete knight's helmet attached to a traditional Spellcaster's hat.

 

"Say hello to Defender, the Magical Knight!" Plesios did its job, reducing the knight down to 1000 attack. "And guess what, Balthy? As you well know, Pendulum Monsters are considered spell cards in the Pendulum Zone, so because of Pendulum Call and the scales, Cerberus gains another 1500 attack! (ATK: 3300) I'm not done yet though!" Sai ran, grabbing a nearby Action Card, quickly activating it. "I activate my own Artillery Burst, allowing me to dish out 500 points of damage!" A turret spun, facing Balthy and firing, forcing the boy to raise his arms to block it.

 

Defender, the Magical Knight

Level 4, 1600/2000

 

Balthy: 7500/Sai: 6800

 

"And because of this, Cerberus gains yet another 500 attack points!" (ATK: 3800) "And now, Battle Phase! Cerberus attacks Plesio!" The large beast with the wild golden aura roared and charged headfirst at Plesio, the spell counters coming out of its body and spiraling around the monster as it went to attack.

 

Balthy immediately went to work, taking off on Pteran and looking for an Action Card. "Come on, come on," He muttered before his keen eyes spotted one stuck between two turrets. His mechanical dinosaur dived towards the ground as Balthy reached out, cleanly swiping it from its spot. "And now I activ---," Before Balthy could finish his sentence, Pteran suddenly curved upwards, so it wouldn't wreck into the ship's deck. The sudden movement caused Balthy to lose his grip on his card, which daintily floated into Sai's waiting hand.

 

"I activate Sneak Shot!" He stated as he slapped the card into his disk. "I can pick one monster on the field, and it can attack directly! I choose Defender, the Magical Knight!" He then smirked. "And because I activated a spell, Cerberus gains another 500 attack points!" (ATK: 4300) Another spell counter began to swirl around Cerberus as it crashed into Plesio, tearing it to tiny pieces.

 

Balthy: 4900/Sai: 6800

 

"After it battles, Cerberus losses all his spell counters and returns to normal... However, because Plesio was destroyed, the rest of my monster return to full strength!!" Sai pointed his finger at Ceratops. "Now Dark Magician, take it out with Dark Magic Attack!" The magician nodded in response, twirling his staff once before thrusting it at the robot dinosaur, launching a sphere of dark magic. Balthy flew off, quickly snatching an Action Card.

 

"Action Magic, Shrapnel Gift!" Balthy called out. "For this battle only, when my monster is destroyed, I can draw one card!" As the sphere caused the machine to explode, Balthy drew one card.

 

Balthy: 4500/Sai: 6800

 

"But because you activated a spell card, Cerberus gains another 500 attack!" Sai retorted. "And now, Defender, attack Balthy directly!" The knight took its shield, aiming it carefully before throwing it, the defensive weapon flying threw the air and hitting Balthy, the force of it knocking the boy off his steed. Before he could hit the ground, however, his robot dinosaur swooped down and caught him, saving him from harm.

 

Balthy: 2900/Sai: 6800

 

"Are you alright?!" Sai called out as Defender caught his shield. He didn't expect Defender to become a superhero on him... he was thinking like a magic blast or something! Balthy nodded.

 

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" He assured with a smile. Sai sighed in relief.

 

"Alright, I now activate my trap Pitch-Black Power Stone and end my turn!"

 

---

 

Sai: 6800LP

Field: Dark Magician (ATK:2500/DEF:2100), Mystical Beast Cerberus (ATK:1900/DEF:1400), Defender, the Magical Knight (ATK:1600/DEF:2000)

Graveyard: Spell Power Grasp x2, Skilled Dark Magician, Tuning Magician

Hand: 1 card

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Burden of the Mighty? Sheesh...this kid ain’t playing around. Roy thought, dusting himself off before smirking. “Yeah...you definitely have Pro Duelist in your blood. But this is far from over!! DRAW!” he drew his next card and smirked. “First...I draw again by the effect of Rainbow Ruins!” he declared, drawing once again.

“Next! I activate the 5th and final effect of Rainbow Ruins!” Roy said, smirking. “With it...I can Special Summon 1 Crystal Beast from my back field. Care to take a guess who it is, Salem?”

“Sapphire Pegasus” Salem replied with an eye roll.

Roy chuckled with a nod. “Yeah that would be an easy move...BUT...the guess would be wrong.” he said, before snapping his fingers. Suddenly the ruby light left his orbit and smashed onto the field, where Ruby Carbuncle stood in Defense Position. “I Special Summon Ruby Carbuncle!”

“Now comes for the fun!” Roy said, moving to reach down and pet Carbuncle’s ears some. “At this time, I activate Carbuncle’s effect.” He smirked, watching the orbiting lights around him fly and crash down onto the field, bright lights blinding the field until Salem was now staring at a full field of Crystal Beast monsters.

“Yeah, that’s great and all, but considering the strongest you have is a pair of Pegasi with fourteen-hundred attack, it doesn’t really amount too much when you killed all of Ruins’ effects. All you’ve done is make a wall for me to bash down” Salem pointed out.

Roy grinned as he slowly stood up. “Salem...tell me, how many Crystal Beasts are there in this game? Not this Duel...but this game as a whole?” he asked, grabbing Emerald Tortoise and Topaz Tiger from his deck due to the abilities of his Pegasi, placing them in the Spell Zone.

“Those two make six, don’t they. So you’re going for Rainbow Dragon then?”

“Perhaps...but again I ask.” Roy said shaking his head. “In the game of Duel Monsters, how many Crystal Beasts are there?”

“Seven, which you need on the field and/or grave. You just filled all your monster zones, and your two backrow. So, got any plans on getting Cobalt Eagle to the grave when you don’t have the means to put it into your spell and trap card zone?” Salem questioned. “More to the point, where do you even have the space to summon Rainbow Dragon anyways?”

Roy chuckled a bit as he shrugged. “Hey, you let me worry about that. But more to the point, you answered my question...partially.” he said. “There are seven of them...but, that was before the discovery.”

“...what?”

“You see, currently in the lore of the Crystal Beast...there were new beasts found. However, unlike the ones we’re accustomed to, these seem to have been around when the Rainbow Ruins WEREN’T ruins.” Roy said, walking around the roof some. “And with that...another piece of lore is around. It’s called...the Crystal Guardians.”

“You’re not some creepy LARPer, are you?” Salem inquired with a mild shudder.

Roy let out a laugh as he shook his head. “I’m not. But, instead of telling, I may as well show.” he said, exhaling slightly. “Now! Crystal Sapphire Pegasus! Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth! With these two Level 4s...I construct the Overlay Network!!”

 

-BGM-

 

From the field, Sapphire Pegasus and Amber Mammoth rushed forwards and were immediately taken into a swirling galaxy-esque hole in the ground.

That’s Dirk’s summoning method. Salem recalled.

“From what was seven, emerge one from the days of old! Rush into battle at my call! Xyz Summon!!” Roy shouted, as he swiftly took a card from his Extra Deck slot, slamming it on the Duel Disk. “Roar!! Crystal Beast Citrine Lion!!”

A bright light emerged upon the rooftop Roy stood as now a massive black lion with a citrine gemmed mane roared out against Salem.

“Eeep!”

“That’s not all!” Roy said as he pointed at Salem. “I now choose to activate Citrine Lion’s ability! By detaching a Material from him...I target 1 Continuous Spell that I control...AND 1 card that my opponent controls, and destroy them!” he said, holding up Topaz Tiger. “I choose Topaz Tiger! And...Burden of the Mighty!!”

At this, Citrine Lion roared loudly, consuming one Material (Sapphire Pegasus), sending a soundwave directly towards Burden of the Mighty, the spell card exploding. Salem shielded himself from the exploding particles. “Okay, so what? Xyz monsters aren’t even affected by Burden anyways.”

“Correct, however, by Citrine Lion’s ability, you take 800 points of damage due to it. And more to the point, my other monsters here currently are free from the curse that is Burden.” Roy explained.

Citrine Lon roared loudly as several shards of citrine formed around Salem, before exploding violently, scattering crystalline shards everywhere. “ARGH!” he cried, shielding himself from the effect damage.
 

Salem Noir’s Life Points: 8000 -> 7200

 

“Now...remember what I said about the lore and legends of the Crystal Beasts?” Roy asked, taking another card from his hand, “well...here is the other.” he said with a smile, glancing out into the direction of the audience, knowing Kimiko was watching now. “By the power of Polymerization, I fuse, Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus and Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle!!”

At this moment, Ruby Carbuncle jumped on the Pegasus’ back, as it flew up into the air, the two bright lights shining.

And that’s Syndri’s summoning method….

“With blades in hand, protect the beasts that the great dragon blessed with its gems! Fusion Summon!! Protect your allies, Crystal Guardian Jasthyst!!”

From the bright light above their heads, descended a strange warrior-like creature made of pure crystals, with two swords for hands. Quickly checking the read-out, Salem sighed in relief. Okay, it’s no real threat to me, since it couldn’t possibly destroy either of my monsters by battle. he thought. “Okay, what do you plan on doing something with a thousand less attack than my monsters, and an effect that requires it to win by battle?” Salem asked pointedly.

He’s right. Roy thought, looking at the current readouts for Salem’s Goyo monsters. Guardian has a base attack of 2800 and so does King. Solidarity gives them 800 more, for a total of 3600. He looked down at his hand again, before nodding.

“Thankfully...I have more to do.” Roy said, flipping a card from his hand. “I summon from my hand, my third Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!” he said, watching his third Pegasus come forth. “And with it, I add to my Spell Zone, Cobalt Eagle.”

And like that, another Crystal Beast appeared in the Spell Zone and began to orbit around the Duelist.

“Four monsters on the field now, two Continuous Spells in the back.” he said, before flipping up another card. “Now there will be five! I activate Crystal Promise, and with it, I Special Summon Emerald Tortoise! But...he won’t be staying long. I know none of my monsters can’t hit yours...for the moment.”

“Unless you ACTUALLY have Rainbow Dragon, which I doubt despite your amazing ability to keep pulling Sapphire Pegasus, then nothing can hit me even IF you get rid of Solidarity. Goyo monsters just have more attack than your Crystal Beasts.” Salem pointed out, his two monsters nodding in agreement.

 

-BGM-

 

Roy nodded. “I won’t lie, you actually put me in quite the predicament Salem.” he said, before holding another card. “But I won’t give up. And this card...is going to help me. I ACTIVATE POLYMERIZATION!! Amethyst Cat! Emerald Tortoise! Sapphire Pegasus!! Fuse together!!”

At his command, the three Crystal Beasts took to the skies, converging into one location as a bright golden light shone down onto the dark city below. “Are you fracking kidding me?” Salem mouthed quietly as he watched the fusion take place.

“Not yet the true protector, but a keeper of the sacred treasure. Emerge from your dragon’s hoard and heed my call!” Roy said, looking at Salem with a huge smirk. “Fusion Summon. Descend…Rainbow Treasure Dragon!”

From the golden light above, descended a pure gold dragon, that looked very similar to Rainbow Dragon. It landed behind Roy and let out its loud roar.

“Okay, that’s kinda better, but still not enough” Salem remarked.

Roy smirked as he began to walk towards the edge of the roof he stood on, stopping near the edge. “But it’s all I need for the edge.” he replied. “Now, I choose to activate Rainbow Treasure Dragon’s ability! At the cost of one of my Continuous Spells...I can take a face up card, and negates its effect.”

“So you’re targeting Solidarity, aren’t you?” Salem sighed.

“That I am.” Roy said, as Cobalt Eagle was sent to the grave. At this, Rainbow Treasure Dragon opened its mouth and let loose a beam of golden light onto Solidarity, encasing it in crystal. “With that, your monsters are back at 2800. Just enough for Rainbow Treasure to attack.”

Taking a breath, he looked at Rainbow Treasure Dragon before looking back at Salem’s field. He knew what needed to be gone, and now was the time. “Rainbow Treasure Dragon, time for battle. Attack Goyo Guardian with Rainbow Riches!!”

Rainbow Treasure Dragon took to the sky, making its way towards Goyo Guardian before opening its mouth once more and letting another golden beam of light strike the monster.

Salem swallowed hard, knowing his face-down Reinforce Truth would be completely useless for it. His Goyo Guardian grimly awaited its fate, eyes closed and accepting. “Goyo” it whispered, its form exploding violently, a single particle of it scratching Salem’s cheek.
 

Salem Noir’s Life Points: 7200 -> 7000

 

“You did good” Salem whispered solemnly.

Roy exhaled slightly, seeing his dragon return to his side of the field. “I enter my End Phase. And by Citrine Lion, I add a Crystal Beast from my graveyard to the Spell Zone. Of course, I only have Citrine Lion so I can only take one.” he said, taking Ruby Carbuncle and adding it to the Spell Zone.

“With that...I end my turn, Salem.”

.:Roy - 2100LP:.
Field: CB Citrine Lion (w/ Amber Mammoth), Rainbow Treasure Dragon, CG Jasthyst, Rainbow Ruins, CB Ruby Carbuncle (Cont Spell)
Graveyard: Crystal Raigeki, Rare Value, Crystal Blessing, CB Sapphire Pegasus x3, CB Amethyst Cat, CB Emerald Tortoise, CB Cobalt Eagle, CB Topaz Tiger, Polymerization x2, Crystal Promise
Hand: 1 card

[VCR_CAT]

-Katsu

The campus was fairly quiet that day, and Katsu felt a little uncomfortable walking down the academy's empty halls typically. Katsu had spent her day there in the practice fields mostly, although not until after she was done being tutored on history and mathematics. Walking out into the campus, she spotted Yushiro and... some other girl with him at the moment. Katsu didn't hear what was going on, and judging by Yushiro's appearance he looked like he might have tripped, although he looked a little too rough for just a trip. All she could hear approaching them was Yushiro saying that he had a match coming up, and that he absolutely had to win.

 

"Who are you going against?" Katsu asked, approaching the group. "I don't really remember anything important in class coming up; did someone threaten you or call you out?" Even a simple betting duel never held this much importance to one person, at least with how it appeared. The students weren't ready for any pro qualifiers, and the exams weren't for a while. Part of her felt like it might be something bad, but part of her hoped it wasn't, and knew that maybe he was given a great opportunity that he couldn't mess up. Either way, if he needed help, Katsu wanted to make sure she could do what she could.

[a coffee]

 

The scene was peaceful, yet there was a pervasive aura of emotional intensity surrounding them still. While this moment, in particular, had created a feeling of elation for the late adolescent, it was apparent Elizabeth that Yushiro was hurting. Call it experience with emotional pain, call it being a female, who are innately more receptive of emotion, call it whatever you like, she knew, and she was having trouble standing idly by and pretending she didn't notice. This internal struggle was further exasperated by the large cut on his chin, what had happened to this boy? She gasped slightly, but softly; she had caught herself before making too much noise, but the truth was it had shocked her a bit, to see him so busted up. She hardly knew him, but she did owe him big time, and she always had a soft spot for people having trouble. Hell, that's why she had become such a great tutor.

 

It was when Yushiro had begun to cry that she could no longer keep her poise, and let him get away with lying to her about what was going on. However, just as she had opened her mouth, Yushiro had come back with a comment of his own.

 

"Sorry..." He wiped his eye. "It's been a really rough day... didn't mean to make things weird...But uhh... now that you mention it... would you mind, maybe... giving me a hand with my dueling? I have... I've a match coming up a-and I don't think I'm gonna be able to win unless I improve... And I really need to win, you know?"

 

Elizabeth felt a fire in her stomach; something about the way he had approached her had touched her so dearly emotionally. It was so sincere, so innocent. It had really appeared to her as if Yushiro seriously felt like he was completely out of options, and that he needed her help for something important. How could she possibly turn him down? She began to open her mouth just as another girl had approached the scene, and had instantly approached Yushiro, to assault him with questions of course.

 

"Who are you going against?" Katsu asked, approaching the group. "I don't really remember anything important in class coming up; did someone threaten you or call you out?"

 

Of course. Elizabeth thought to herself, Yushiro is a pretty popular kid these days it seems, I, of all people, should know what that's like... He's probably got a much better support system than whatever I could offer him. 

 

Elizabeth felt her mood deflate, like a sad bounce castle at a child's birthday party. The overbearing sense of self-loathing that seemed to continually loom over her invaded her thoughts once again, just as they always had. What could otherwise be considered a good day had been instantly soured by the fact that perhaps she didn't really find a connection with Yushiro, that he only felt he needed her out of an emotional crisis, instead of genuinely seeking knowledge or camaraderie.

 

It was about then that the swirling grips of addiction wrapped around her stomach. Her thirst for nicotine, the soothing presence of a vice that had quelled all sorrow before it, inched its way up her tongue and into her mouth. She instinctively reached for her pocket; her lighter was in there, forming a bulge in her skinny jeans pocket, but stopped herself before reaching into it and immediately lighting up.

 

No. It's not healthy to think this way! Elizabeth thought to herself, How on earth am I supposed to get over this if I always run away? Not this time.

 

She wasn't entirely sure how long she had been standing there, or if anything else had been said, but she was sure that nothing of major importance had happened. She straightened out, and fixed the bangs to the sides of her face, as they typically were. She pulled out her wallet from her sweatshirt pocket, and pulled out a small piece of paper, quickly handing it to Yushiro,

 

"Don't be ridiculous, Yushiro. I would be honored. On that paper is my number, where you can reach me. Oh, and-" Elizabeth quickly retrieved a pen from that same pocket to scribble some additional information on the paper, "That's my room number. I live uphill in the Azure dormitories." her light, Bristolian accent sung over a mostly professional, but somewhat shaky tone. After all, she had just given a man her information, in front of another woman. If she were to get the wrong idea about the information it could be rather awkward for the entire group.

 

"Stop by anytime outside of lecture hours. Chances are I'm either there or at the studio dancing, so don't be a stranger." she nodded one last time, and looked over at Katsu, she was worried how the other one would take the scene in, and whether or not she should continue standing there. Beyond all reason, she felt compelled to stay, after all, Yushiro was there to talk to her, and return her card. She wasn't going to let some random appearance from another student ruin this moment, one where she was actually the focus... well, for now, she was. Things would clearly be shifting to Yushiro soon, but that should be important to her too! He was her student! And... well, her mother always told her not to look a gift horse in the mouth. At some point, the rate in which Yushiro and Elizabeth had been running into each other had to be considered more than just good luck... right?

 

It was at this moment that Elizabeth found herself unconsciously trying to discretely adjust and perfect her appearance; what in god's name was she doing that for? Someone with her looks shouldn't have anything to be worried about... she hoped. She mentally shook it off; this was ridiculous to even get into. She had to look attentive to the conversation! It was bad enough that her insides were practically aching for a cigarette after all that mental gymnastics she had performed just to actually give Yushiro her information in front of another person, but she was positive someone as green as Yushiro would not appreciate her smoking in their presence, and if this girl was friends with him, then both of them would dislike it! What rotten luck! Elizabeth, instead, just tucked her hands inside of her sweatshirt pocket, gently wringing them to try and sort out the internal anxiety without bringing attention to herself.

[VCR_CAT]

-Katsu

The other girl decided to just give Yushiro her information on where to find her, for help in dueling. The manner of which she did so was... awkward, but despite how much Katsu often read into things and/or butted into people's situations without their wanting, this didn't seem like something that was her business (although she would be hard-pressed to deny that her interest was piqued).

 

"Anyways, is everything alright? Because it seems like someone's causing you trouble," Katsu went on to press. "We don't have any tests or anything coming up, and you didn't seem this stressed dueling Kimiko." The more Katsu thought about what was going on, the more that Yushiro's state seemed to lean towards someone picking on him, and even entertaining the thought riled her up more. "If someone's messin' with you and got you all scuffed up, then just show me who it is; I'll teach 'em a lesson to pick on people." Absentmindedly, Katsu was cracking her knuckles; although she had no intention of actually fighting them (if she didn't need to). Kats glanced down and noticed what she was doing and sighed and noticed that such a simple act was making Yushiro look a little more stressed out.

 

"Aw jeeze, sorry, I'm not gonna beat anyone up. Look, if someone is messing with you, I don't want you- or really anyone- to feel alone. Bullies suck, and I don't want anyone here to get picked on by them." Katsu's history of taking care of her many younger brothers has given her a very protecting personality towards others. She hadn't hung out with Yushiro much beyond the few times he's been around to witness a spat between Akira and herself, so they weren't very familiar with each other. Yet, if someone was going around hurting others and forcing them into duels for reasons bad enough to get someone like Yushiro stressed over it, she wanted to put a stop to it. If anything, she wouldn't be doing it just for Yushiro; this would be for anyone else that she might pick on in the future.

 

Of course, that's if someone was picking on Yushiro at all; but the more that Katsu thinks about it, the less any other alternative seemed possible.

[King K. Azo]

As Akira waled with Meiko and Leona, he suddenly felt odd. It was a nagging feeling in the back of his head... You are needed, you are needed it kept nagging. Was Yushiro in trouble? It suddenly went from a nagging to a full on siren, making him feel sick... well, sicker, to the pit of his stomach. He looked towards the school. Was it Yushiro...? Suddenly though, it vanished. Huh. That was odd... he shook his head, turning, before he felt a shiver down his back. Okay, now that was weird. He usually only got that when Katsu was mad or frustrated...
 
"so Leona-chan, Akira-man, how've classes gone for you all so far?" Meiko's voice brought Akira back to reality. He looked over to the two as Leona started to answer.
 
"PE is okay; I get to run around and keep in shape, and that's good. The rest of the classes...eh, I do pretty well when I show up," Leona shrugged. "Haven't seen much of Underdog since his big win at the start of the school year, but I know he's been around. I wonder how he's holding up..." She then turned to look at Akira. "You're his buddy right, Big Guy? How's school treating the two of you?"

Akira nodded and stroked his chin. "Well, the man Yushiro takes to school better than I," He stated. "I, the man Akira, am good in P.E., and that's really about all. The man Akira may have to ask the man Yushiro for math tutoring... again...," He shook his head. "Let's hope it sticks this time," he then looked to Meiko. "How about you, the woman Meiko? Is school treating you well?"

[~Faytl~]

Balthy was breathing hard in the clutches of his monster, his great pteradactyl placing him upon the deck yet again. The boy rested his hands on his knees, letting out a slow  breath. He straightened, stretching, grinning at Sai.

 

"Sai-san, your use of Pendulum Summon is great! I give it A+!" he called, raising his gloved hand in a thumbs-up.

 

"Eh, thanks, Balthy," Sai said, a little bit of embarassment in his voice as he rubbed the back of his head. "Er, do you mind calling me Mystigan? It's... well, part of the thing I have going, you know."

 

"Thing? I got it, Sai-sa- Mystigan-sama!" Balthy corrected himself, bowing venerably and overdramatically to Sai. "Your Pendulum Summon is worthy of a master magician like yourself!"

 

"Uhhh... Yes! Thank you, Balthazar, my friend!" Sai said, a bit hesitantly at first, then slipping back into the Mystigan role. "Now, show me what yours is capable of!"

 

"My turn: Draw!" Balthy looked at the card he had drawn, face splitting into a grin. "It's here! Using the set Pendulum Scale, I Pendulum Summon! Mobilize, my monsters! Dinomist Plesios, DInomist Ceratops... and now, Dinomist Rex!"

 

Plesios and Ceratops reappeared, wreathed in steam as they let out echoing cries that rang out across the ship deck. But even Ceratops was dwarfed in size and volume by the giant green tyrannosaurus rex that raised its metallic head, bellowing and releasing steam and bolts of lightning from vents that ran all across its body.

 

Dinomist Rex

Level 5, 2400/2200

 

Mystigan took a step back, pulling his cape around himself protectively as Rex turned its glowing eyes on him. "That's quite a powerful beast," he conceded. 

 

"Sure is!" Balthy replied, jumping up onto its tail and running along its back, finally coming at a stop just below the head as he grabbed onto an armor plate. "Not powerful enough to beat Dark Magician..." A missile shot up over the boats side, exploding into jets of fire that rained down on Sai's field as Balthy gave a triumphant smile. "But Plesios will fix that by lowering the attack power of all your monsters by 100 points for every Dinomist card I have in play. That number is now seven with Rex on the field, and all your monsters lose 700 attack points!"

 

"I need an Action Card now!" Mystigan yelled, turning on his heel and taking off across the deck of the ship, diving onto the back of Cerberus as the beast raced around, Mystigan peering out from behind his mask for an Action Card, finding one quickly. "I see it!" he called, turning his monster towards it as Dark Magician and Defender floated through the air behind him, weapons raised protectively.

 

"Go, Rex! Attack Defender, the Magical Knight!" Defender raised its shield, wedging it in the mouth of Rex as the red stone in the center began to glow, the descending jaws halted in place. Balthy blinked in confusion. "Eh?"

 

"Defender's effect!" Mystigan responded, his monster reeling to the side as Pteran descended to block the way. "By using one of the three Spell Counters on Pitch-Black Power Stone, I prevent Defender's destruction, or ANY Spellcaster's destruction! I will still take battle damage, though."

 

Balthy 2900/Sai 5300

 

"Constant protection, eh? Rex's effect activates! I release Pteran!"

 

"What?!" asked Mystigan in bewilderment as Pteran vaporized into steam, flying towards Rex and jetting into the monsters joints. Gears whirred and mechanisms spun, and Rex's jaws began to slowly close, the shield cracking audibly.

 

"What kind of effect is that?" Mystigan asked, taking advantage of Pteran's absense to send Cerberus sprinting towards the Action Card again, grabbing it off the ground and turning it to look, gritting his teeth. This was no help!

 

"By releasing any Dinomist monster after Rex attacks, I can either attack once again, or shuffle a monster into its owner's deck!" The shield splintered, vaporizing as Rex opened its jaws again, a burst of steam jetting out and enveloping Defender, the steam clearing to show it was gone. "Defender is returned to your deck!"

 

"I can't protect my monsters anymore," Mystigan realized, eyes turning to Balthys other monsters. Balthy smiled with satisfaction as he pointed at Cerberus. 

 

"In addition to that, my Rex will gain an additional 100 attack points from using that effect. Plesios, attack Cerberus now!" With a shriek, a torpedo was launched in the water below, quickly surfacing and spiraling upward as it streaked across the ship, headed for Cerberus. Mystigan jumped off, somersaulting across the deck as he played the Action Card, already looking for a better one. 

 

"Artillery Burst! Take 500 damage, and Cerberus gains more power! It and Plesios are tied!" Cerberus roared in challenge, leaping off the ship as the torpedo followed it, landing on Plesios' back as it made contact and exploded. Simultaneously, Balthy was blown off his feet by another turret.

 

Balthy 2400/Sai 5300

 

"Nice try, Balthy, but my Dark Magician is safe! With Plesios gone its attack power will restore to normal, putting it out of reach of your monsters!" Mystigan stopped to take a quick breather, relief spreading through his body. "So long as I have Dark Magician, I can-"

 

He was interrupted by one more explosion. He looked up, surprised. Had Balthy found yet another Artillery Burst?! But no, he wasn't being hit, and the sound had come from up high... 

 

He looked up, and saw one of the columns holding Balthy's Pendulum Scale a wreck of steam, parts falling from the fading column of light to the earth around Balthy, who was looking much happier than he should have been. Like usual, of course.

 

"Mystigan-sama, have you underestimated the power of Pendulum? My favorite part is it does't just let you use flashy summons... it also gives you the powers of the cards that are your Scale!"

 

"What in the world?" Mystigan asked as he saw Dark Magian's attack power hadn't bounced back up, walking to the side of the ship and looking down where the last battle had taken place. From the smoke, Plesios shrieked defiantly at him. "How..."

 

"Dinomist Stegosaurs' Pendulum effect," Balthy explained. "I've waited to spring it till now, when it was most important! If any of my Dinomist cards would be destroyed, I destroy it instead!"

 

"At the expense of your Pendulum Scale!" Mystigan reminded him.

 

"Dinomist Charge's effect!" Balthy's spell revealed itself for the first time since the duel began, as the scrap that had fallen from Stegosaur became awash with sparks as it floated into the air, glowing as it formed and compacted into a small, rectangular shape.

 

"A card?" Mystigan asked as Balthy grabbed it out of the air, placing it in his hand.

 

"Dinomist Charge lets me retrieve a DInomist card thats destroyed and placed in my Extra Deck once each turn, placing it back in my hand," he explained. "With this, my Stegosaurus can defend my monsters and be returned constantly to do so and preserve my Scale!" He clapped his hands together, exultant. "It works so GREAT, doesn't it, Mystigan-sama? And the best part is, Plesios is still around to keep your monsters weakened! Go, Ceratops! Attack his Dark Magician!"

 

Mystigan set off again, running raggedly as Ceratops lumbered forward, Dark Magician shadowing him every step of the way. He jumped up onto the prow of the ship, running along the thin metal pole and grabbing the Action Card at the end of it. Balthy perked up. "He found another one?" he asked, just as Ceratops launched its attack.

 

The saw balde went through the staff this time. Dark Magician shattered into motes of light, the gust of wind from the passing blade nearly blowing Mystigan off the prow. He gripped on, feet nearly slipping, watching regretfully as Dark Magician's remains floated away in the breeze.

 

Balthy 2400/Sai 5000

 

"I place one card face-down, then return Stegosaur to my Pendulum Zone. Turn end!" Balthy looked up now, seeing just how precarious a balancing situation Mystigan was in. "Sai-san!" he called, quickly turning Rex towards the prow as Stegosaurus returned in the air above, the beast lumbering forward. He jumped off as they reached the prow, stretching his tall body out over it as he reached out.

 

"Need a hand?" he asked, using his free one to slide his goggles up atop his forehead like usual, beaming like a loon.

[King K. Azo]

"Need a hand?"  Balthy asked, grinning like an idiot. Sai just shook his head.

"A master magician can escape any situation," He said as he let himself fall over the edge. Balthy reached out to grab his hand, but barely missed. Why was he doing that?!
 

 
"Don't fail me now," Sai muttered. "My turn! Draw!" He drew his card, quickly looking at it before slapping it onto his Duel Disk. "PENDULUM Summon! Help me in my time of need, Oafdragon Magician!" A magician wearing a tattered cape with ragged clothes and shackles on his wrists appeared, his spiky yellow hair flowing in the wind. He reached out, grabbing Sai's hand and throwing him back onto the ship.

 

Oafdragon Magician

Level 6, 2100/1400

 

"And now, for my next trick!" He stated with a smile, raise his finger to point at the two Magicians in his scales. "When two Magician pendulums create my scales, I can special summon Tuning Magician from my graveyard! However, if she leaves the field after this, she'll be banished from the game. And on top of this, if she's summoned, I lose 400 lifepoints while you gain 400!" A small pink haired girl appeared through a portal, dressed in a white robe with light blue streaks, holding a staff in the shape of a tuning fork. With a cute giggle, she slapped the staff, sending out sound waves, one healing Balthy, as the other hurt Sai.

 

Balthy: 2800/Sai: 4600

 

"And now, I tune the level six Oafdragon Magician to the level one Tuning Magician!" He then closed his eyes and began to chant. "Oh magician filled with arcane magician, gather your spells and obliterate my enemies! SYNCHRO SUMMON! Level Seven, Arcanite Magician!" Tuning Magician flew into the sky, turning into a ring while Oafdragon turned into six stars that flew through the ring, causing a beam of light to shoot through. Descending from the beam of light was a lavander skinned magician in white robes with blue streaks. She had prominent shoulder pads and horn shapes coming out of her cap. She floated next to Sai, gripping her green staff.
 

Arcanite Magician

Level 7, 400/1800

 

"A 400 attack monster?" Balthy asked, confused. Something was definitely wrong... "Well, Plesios takes her down to 0!" He stated. 

"Oh? You may want to look again," Sai grinned, as two spell counters began to orbit around Arcanite's staff and increase her attack to 2000. "You see, when she's summoned, Arcanite gains two spell counters, and each one equals an extra 1000 attack for her!" Sai explained. Balthy watched closely. 2000 wasn't enough. What was he going to do? "And now, I play the Action Magic...,"

Sai paused and looked at the Action Card in his hand. Last turn, it wasn't able to help him, and Dark Magician was still destroyed. However, he could use it now. "I activate the Action Magic I was unable to use last turn, Reserve Shot!" He smiled. "This allows me to activate an effect of a monster without paying the cost! Not only that, you can't activate effects in response to the effect!" He grinned. "I activate Arcanite's Magician's effect to destroy Plesios!"

The white robed magician held her staff as a spell counter was beginning to be absorbed into it, but the Action Card turned into a orb of light and dashed into the staff, being absorbed and causing the staff to glow a bright green. "Arcanic Discharge!!"

 

Arcanite Magician smiled and tapped the tip of her staff on the ground. As soon as she did, the hull under Plesios began to crack, and a pillar of green light erupted into the sky, engulfing it and destroying it instantly. As the light died down, Sai smiled as Arcanite grew back to 2400 attack.

"Whoa, that was impressive, Sai-san!" Balthy said with a hand clap. "But Rex is still 100 points stronger than your magician!"

"For now, but watch me as I weave my magic!" Sai held up his spell card Spell Power Grasp. "I'm sure you know what this does by now! I place a spell counter on Arcanite Magician, raising her to 3400!" A new spell counter began to orbit the staff, and a magic aura surrounded her. "And now I activate my Pitch Black Power Stone! I can move a spell counter from it to another card, that card being Arcanite Magician!" The process repeated itself, and Arcanite's attack rose to 4400. "Battle! Arcanite, attack Dinomist Rex! Arcanic Magic Attack!" The female magician charged up a green magic blast, firing at the mechanical dinosaur.

Balthy immediately ran off, looking for an Action Card. Sai, seeing his opponent doing this, dashed off after him, intent on stopping him. Balthy, unaware of this, bolted for the nearest Action Card. He reached out, hope almost in his grasp, but then Sai swooped out of nowhere to grab it. "Nice try Balthy, but you aren't getting out of this!" The orb of magic struck the dinosaur, which exploded so violently, the boat began to shake.

 

Balthy: 900/Sai: 4600

 

"And with that, I end my turn!" Sai stated with a grin. Victory was his!  

[Yui]

---

Things weren't looking good for Roy. Goofy though the synchro may have looked, Goyo Guardian wasn't messing around. And it had friends, too. She winced a bit as Roy's Life Points plummeted to only 2100.

 

"Don't just stand there and take that!" Kimiko exclaimed. "Turn the tables! Show him what you're made of!" If you lose, it won't be a big deal at all if I win! You'd better win this, Roy!

 

“So, I activate Burden of the Mighty, set one card, and end my turn.”

 

The onslaught of Goyo monsters was over, even if just for a moment. Not a moment after Salem's turn ended, Kimiko felt a small hand on her shoulder. Turning to the source, Kimiko saw a small girl carrying a camera. Natsuko had arrived, and not a second too late. Just like her.

 

"Sorry for the delay. Finding a good one wasn't easy."

 

"You're just in time," Kimiko grinned, taking the camera into her hands and turning it on. With the lens focused on filming the duel unraveling before the spectators, Roy's turn was about to begin. She had high expectations for the Spectrum heir. After some pointless back-and-forth about lore and LARPing and how many Crystal Beasts there were, Roy began putting monsters from his Extra Deck onto the field. First an Xyz monster, which knocked out Burden of the Mighty (People still use that?) followed by a Fusion that didn't really do much. It was Roy's next move that caught her interest.

 

"I ACTIVATE POLYMERIZATION!! Amethyst Cat! Emerald Tortoise! Sapphire Pegasus!! Fuse together!! Not yet the true protector, but a keeper of the sacred treasure. Emerge from your dragon’s hoard and heed my call! Fusion Summon. Descend…Rainbow Treasure Dragon!"

 

It wasn't much, but Roy was able to hand out just a little bit of damage. The momentum was swinging in his favor. "Keep it up!" Kimiko cheered.

[Draconus297]

Emma Pathos

 

The redheaded psychoanalyst could only smile. Not the Ultimate Gem God, then, but a fun-sized Fusion facsimile of the fabulously feathery 4000-ATK fighter. The capacity to get rid of the two bigger threats, Burden of the Mighty and Solidarity, in a single turn proved that Roy was considerably intelligent and capable, especially considering he was using the famously mediocre Crystal Beasts.

 

This had been an absolute roller coaster ride, a sublime back-and-forth that was decidedly what Duels were meant to look like. Still, it had to end, and soon- either Salem would get a decisive turn, or Roy would finish him off with Rainbow Treasure Dragon and his Crystal Guardians next turn.

 

Still, she couldn't help but cheer giddily. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Her excited voice startled the person next to her, but honestly she didn't care.

[The Warden]

The Champion of Strangeness

 

This wasn’t looking good, but at least Solidarity was freed from those damn crystals. But that damn dragon appeared to be a quick effect, which meant it could negate it at its leisure. It could negate anything, actually. “I DRAW!” Salem announced.

 

It was Enemy Controller, something that would have been A LOT more useful than Reinforce Truth a turn ago. Wait, crap, he forgot to use Reinforce Truth during Roy’s end phase. This is just going from bad to worse. “I go to the battle phase! And now, Goyo King, attack and destroy that damn Citrine Lion!” Salem commanded.

 

“GOYO!” King answered, flying straight towards the beastly crystal creature.

 

“Knew it!” Roy said, before holding up his last card. “I’m sorry Salem, but this attack isn’t going through! I activate the ability of Rainbow Kuriboh!”

 

“WHAT?!?!?!”

 

Roy smirked as Rainbow Kuriboh materialized on the field, in an adorable spark of rainbows. This obviously got the attention of the females in the audience, the collective ‘aws’ and sighs being heard in the audience.

 

“Rainbow Kuriboh, hey buddy. Think you can stop that monster over there?” Roy asked with a smile.

 

“Kuri, Kuri!!” Rainbow Kuriboh said happily, as it leaped into the air, only to attach itself to Goyo King’s shoulder. The monster looked vaguely uncomfortable as it tried to flick the technicolour nightmare off of it.

 

“And now...Goyo King is unable to attack.” Roy announced calmly.

 

“Of all the stupid, desperate techs…. Did you choose it because it was just pretty or something?” Salem jabbed angrily.

 

Roy looked at Salem and furrowed his brow. “No. Rainbow Kuriboh is in my deck because it was a gift from my parents.” he said, before shaking his head. “To be completely honest...it was the last one they gave me before I attended Blue Yonder.”

 

“Well isn’t that nice?” Salem icily responded. “Tch, because King can’t attack, I end the battle phase. I set one card, and end.”

 

.:Salem - 7000LP:.

Field: Goyo King (w/ Call of the Haunted), Solidarity, 2 Set S/Ts

Graveyard: Jutte Lord, Jutte Warrior, Goyo Defender x3, Requesting Back-Up!, Jutte Fighter, Burden of the Mighty, Goyo Guardian

Hand: 0