Anthony Calem whistled to himself as he walked through the camp where the Anti-Totaku Alliance used as their home base. Just recently, he had managed, somehow, to become the supreme leader of the alliance, after he and his peerage had managed to defeat representatives from the other three factions that were a part of the alliance. It hadn't been that long since he was last here, when General Kosonsan had sent out a request for help with dealing with a group of bandits that had taken refuge in Sishui Pass, preventing essential supplies from reaching her territory. Since he didn't stay here for very long the first time, and he was bound to stay longer this time around, he decided to explore the camp while his peerage set up their quarters. He soon came to a tent with familiar looking guards, ones that he recognized as belonging to Kosonsan. It had been a while since he had seen her, and their earlier interaction that day was soured by the clusterfuck that was the decision of who was in charge, so he figured that he would pop in and say hello. As he walked over to it, the two guards blocked his path.
"This area is only for General Kosonsan, and anyone who she allows entry. Please move along."
"What are you talking about? It's me, Anthony Calem, leader of the Kikai Faction. Remember?"
The two guards looked at each other, before Anthony continued. "I helped Pairen take down a group of bandits for her? Me and Choun Shiryu? Ring any bells?"
"We've only been under her orders for a month or so, and we've never seen you before."
"Don't worry, he's a friend."
Anthony turned behind him to see Kosonsan, who was smiling. The guards stepped aside, and the two of them walked into the tent, with Anthony pulling up a chair and the two of them sitting across from each other.
"So what brings you to my quarters, Anthony? Do you need something from me?"
"No, I just wanted to, you know, hang out. Is that a problem?"
"Of course not. So I heard that you managed to become supreme leader?"
"Oh yeah. Me and the girls were awesome! To be honest, I'm kinda surprised that you didn't duel, Pairen."
"Well," she said, tapping her index fingers together, "it's just that, well, I'm not that good at Duel Monsters, remember?"
"What a load of bullcrap," said Anthony in a playful manner. "Sei said that you were really good, and even managed to beat her."
"She did? Well, I suppose, but compared to you, I'm surely no match."
"What!? Come on, that can't be true! Tell you what, why don't we duel, the two of us? I'm sure that you'll make for a fun challenge!"
Kosonsan scratched her left cheek with her index finger. "Are you sure? I mean, I don't think that you'll have that much fun."
"Oh, quit selling yourself short! Just duel me, it'll be a blast!"
Kosonsan smiled at his enthusiasm. "Okay, fine. But only since you asked so nicely." She then went to grab her cards, while Anthony fished his Duel Disk out of his satchel, which he carried on him at all times, and activated it. Kosonsan came out with her Duel Disk firmly strapped to her left wrist, while she shuffled her cards.
"Ready when you are, Pairen!"
"You got it!" said Kosonsan as she placed her deck into her Duel Disk. "Let's duel!"
(Anthony: 4000 LP)(Kosonsan: 4000 LP)
"Seeing as you're the supreme leader," said Kosonsan, "I think that you should go first."
"Thanks! I draw! And I set one monster, and one other card, and that'll do!"
Kosonsan drew, and immediately played a card showing an old spellcaster casting what appeared to be a fusion-based spell.
"I play my Fusion Sage, which lets me add a copy of Polymerization from my deck to my hand!"
As she pulled a card out of her deck, she then slipped that same card into her Spell & Trap Zone, revealing it to be a card with two orange monsters fusing together. "And now, I'll use Polymerization to fuse my Elemental HERO Bubbleman with my Elemental HERO Burstinatrix in order to create my Elemental HERO Steam Healer!"
Two superheroes appeared, one being a man in a blue costume complete with a cowl and a white cape, with what appeared to be hoses on his wrists (LV 4: ATK 800), and one being a pale woman wearing a red leotard and a crown, with long black and white hair (LV 3: ATK 1200). The two monsters then swirled together, and soon, two heroes had become one. This new monster was wearing a bulky suit made of purple metal, with red accents, most notably around the neck, on the hands, and on the bottom of the boots. His hands were somewhat spherical, with three metallic fingers and having holes in the center. On his back was a series of pipes, with steam bursting out of them (LV 5: ATK 1800).
"Now to join him, I summon my Elemental HERO Stratos!"
A blue-skinned man appeared, wearing a blue, black, and gray superhero outfit, consisting of braces, an aegis, knee pads, a winged helmet with a visor, and most notably, two metal wings with propellers in them (LV 4: ATK 1800).
"And when he's summoned, I can either add a HERO monster from my deck to my hand, or destroy Spell and Trap Cards up to the number of other HERO monsters that I control! So now, I can destroy your face-down!"
Stratos then blasted a whirlwind from the wind turbines in his flight pack, which shattered the card. Suddenly, a large garage appeared, and one of the doors on the top opened, with a monster flying out of it before landing beside Anthony's face-down monster. It was a red fighter jet with large cartoon eyes and arms and legs made from the landing gear (LV 4: ATK 1200).
"Nice try, but you actually helped me out there! That was Wonder Garage, a card that can only be activated when it's destroyed. Now I can Special Summon a level four or lower Machine-type Roid monster from my hand. Say hello to my good friend Jetroid!"
Kosonsan bit her lip, but she moved past her mistake, instead planning to make up for it.
"I activate a second Polymerization, fusing Stratos with my Elemental HERO Sparkman, to create my Elemental HERO Great Tornado!"
Another hero appeared beside Stratos, this one being in gold and blue, with a metallic blue visor, golden "wings," and sparks coming out of his hands (LV 4: ATK 1600). Both HEROes then fused together, creating a new hero. The new Fusion Monster had a green and yellow striped outfit, with a black cloak around his torso and fans on his shoulders (LV 8: ATK 2800).
"And when Great Tornado is Fusion Summoned, his effect, Downburst, reduces the attack and defense of all of your monsters currently on the field by half."
A whirlwind appeared around Jetroid, as its strength was sapped (ATK 1200-600).
"And now, to attack! Great Tornado, destroy his face-down monster with your Super Cell!"
Her monster aimed a hand at the card, which was surrounded by a powerful twister. The monster was revealed to be an express train that was white with purple accents, having two wheels for hands and green eyes below the front window, known as Expressroid (LV 4: DEF 1600). Expressroid was soon destroyed by the wind funnel, shattering into yellow shards of light.
"Steam Healer, destroy that Jetroid with your Steam Blast!"
Her WATER monster aimed his hands at the Machine-type, and fired a burst of white-hot steam, as Anthony suddenly slipped a card into his Duel Disk, showing itself to be a yellow cartoon car that was revving up its engine.
"When Jetroid is declared as an attack target, I can play Trap Cards from my hand! And seeing how you declared an attack while the only monsters that I controlled were Machine-type Roid monsters, I was able to play my Supercharge, letting me draw two new cards!"
As Anthony drew, his plane was cooked by the steam (Anthony: 4000-2800 LP).
"Sorry, Jetroid. And Expressroid, for that matter."
"But it gets better for me! When Elemental HERO Steam Healer destroys an opponent's monster in battle, I gain life points equal to its original attack points!" And sure enough, Kosonsan gained a fair amount of life points (Kosonsan: 4000-5200 LP).
"I end my turn!"
"Sweet, then I begin mine! I draw! And since it's clear that you're a big fan of Fusion Monsters, I think that it's time that I introduced you to one of my own! I activate my Polymerization, to fuse my Steamroid with my Gyroid, in order to make my Steam Gyroid!"
Two monsters soon fused together, one being a gray and red steam train with wheels for hands and big eyes (LV 4: ATK 1800), and the other being a blue and tan helicopter with wheel hands and large eyes as well (LV 3: ATK 1000). The result of their fusion was a gray steam train with a large eyes and a determined grin, with a white propeller coming out of its back. It had the blades of a helicopter as arms, with a smaller pair of arms in the form of two black wheels, and it stood on six black wheels (LV 6: ATK 2200).
"But he's not alone! Next, I summon my Patroid to the field!"
His next monster was a black and white police car, with metal arms and legs, having tires for feet. It had a police cap on its hood, and its headlights were replaced with eyes (LV 4: ATK 1200).
"And I play my Limiter Removal, in order to double the attack power of all of my Machine-type monsters!"
A card appeared with an image of a speedometer that had been tampered with, as blue sparks danced around Anthony's monsters (ATK 1200-2400)(ATK 2200-4400).
"And now, it's time to do battle! Steam Gyroid, blow that Elemental HERO Great Tornado away with your Train Twister! And Patroid, subdue her Elemental HERO Steam Healer with Siren Smasher!"
The Fusion Monster spun around its propeller, sending a huge silver tornado in Great Tornado's direction, sending him flying until he was destroyed (Kosonsan: 5200-3600 LP). Afterwards, Patroid sped towards the remaining Elemental HERO and sent him flying with a powerful punch (Kosonsan: 3600-3000 LP).
"And that's it for me, although unfortunately, Limiter Removal destroys my monsters during my End Phase." And sure enough, both of his monsters suddenly exploded into pixels. Kosonsan was surprised by this, but she couldn't help but smirk. Now she had an opportunity!
"I draw! And I play The Warrior Returning Alive!"
A card appeared with Marauding Captain looking rather beat up, using his sword to balance himself. Kosonsan then added a card from her Graveyard to her hand, smiling as she held it between her index and middle fingers. "With this card, I can add one Warrior-type monster from my Graveyard to my hand! And since I don't have any other cards in my hand, I can Special Summon him! Come on out, Elemental HERO Bubbleman!"
The monster in question appeared with his cape in front of him, before he threw it behind him, pointing his bubble shooter at Anthony (LV 4: ATK 800).
"And it gets better! When Elemental HERO Bubbleman is summoned when I don't have any other cards on my side of the field or in my hand, I can draw two more cards!" And as she drew her next cards, she couldn't help but smile. "And now I equip Bubbleman with Bubble Blaster!"
Bubbleman was soon holding a massive weapon on his shoulder like a bazooka. It was gray in color, with a red end and three fins like a torpedo, a large transparent canister on top filled with a colorless liquid, a blast shield, and a red screw, similar to the propellers used on some submarines (ATK 800-1600).
"Now Elemental HERO Bubbleman gains eight hundred attack points, and if he would be destroyed by battle, I can destroy this card instead and reduce the damage I would take to zero! Now I summon my Elemental HERO Voltic!"
Her new monster was, surprise, another superhero. This one was wearing purple spandex, with yellow lightning bolts running down the thighs. He also had a marigold and white collar with two spikes, yellow spikes shaped like lightning bolts on the shoulders, a white belt and codpiece with a lightning bolt on it, white knee pads, and two white bracelets around each arm, with a purple cowl that had a lightning bolt on it (LV 4: ATK 1000).
"And now, both of my monsters will attack directly! Bubbleman, attack with your Bombarding Bubble Barrage! Voltic, attack with your Vortex Thunder!"
Bubbleman fired a huge stream of bubbles at Anthony, while Voltic unleashed a spiral of bolts of yellow electricity, with Anthony taking the full force of the attacks, the resulting shockwaves making his knees buckle (Anthony: 2800-200 LP).
"And you say…you're not that good?" said Anthony as he regained his balance. "Those attacks were awesome!"
"Um, thank you, Lord Anthony. I end my turn!"
"Sweet! I draw! And I play One Day of Peace!"
The card had a picture of Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan recharging his armor with a look of guilt on his face. Anthony then drew a card from his deck. "With this card, we both draw one card, and until the end of your next turn, neither of us take any damage!"
"Quite generous of you, Lord Anthony!" said Kosonsan as she drew.
"Anytime, General Pairen! I end my turn with one card face-down."
"Then I draw! And I tribute Elemental HEROes Bubbleman and Voltic to summon my Elemental HERO Bladedge!"
Her heroes disappeared, and in their place came a huge figure in bronze armor with massive blades extending from his wrists (LV 7: ATK 2600). She then played a card showing two heroes, one red and one blue, fusing together with a large "H" in the foreground.
"And next I play my Miracle Fusion, letting me banish monsters on my field or in my Graveyard to Fusion Summon an Elemental HERO monster! So I banish both my Elemental HERO Sparkman and my Elemental HERO Voltic to make Elemental HERO The Shining!"
Both of her LIGHT monsters were seen fusing, and the result was a man in a white costume with white lines and red gems on it. His face was completely concealed, although there was a red gem on it that somewhat resembled an eye. In his back were two golden curved pieces of metal that almost became a full circle, with eight brilliant triangular pieces of metal floating around it, making it look like the sun (LV 8: ATK 2600). It then began to glow even brighter, and Anthony had to pull down his sunglasses (ATK 2600-3200).
"And as you can see, each of my banished Elemental HERO monsters grants it an extra three hundred attack points! And since I can't deal damage this turn, I end my turn."
"Then I draw!" And as soon as Anthony saw the card that he had drawn, he knew that he had won. He then played a Spell Card showing one of the two monsters on the art of Polymerization escaping the card.
"I play my Fusion Recovery! This lets me add Polymerization and a Fusion Material monster from my Graveyard to my hand, like my Steamroid!"
He then took his Steamroid and Polymerization out of his Graveyard, and then activated his face-down card, which had a large machine that was unleashing blue electricity into a base, as his life points were cut in half (Anthony: 200-100 LP).
"And now I play my Cybernetic Fusion Support, and by paying lets me use monsters from my hand, field, and Graveyard when I Fusion Summon a Machine-type monster this turn! And now, to face the future! I use my Polymerization to fuse Steamroid, Expressroid, Jetroid, Gyroid, and Patroid together, to create my ultimate monster!"
All five of his Roids appeared, before the swirled together, and Anthony moved all of them into his banished cards pocket, and took one monster out of his Fusion Deck. "By combining my Machines, I'm able to make a mechanical titan that's a master of all forms of combat! A machine that will never die, its engine going until the end of time! Rev your engines, Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine!"
The new monster was huge, and quite the sight to behold. It was almost entirely made out of red metal, with three cylinders on its head, which had a single eye. Its head was attached to a cylindrical segment that had two massive cutting wheels, which was attached to a spherical segment with two large blasters, and finally, its base had five pipes sticking out, and two enormous drums (LV 12: ATK 4000).
"I bet that you've never seen a level twelve monster before, huh?" said Anthony, as Kosonsan's jaw hung open as she took in the massive metal monster. "Barbaroid, it's time to unleash your power! External Combustion!"
His monster began to charge energy in its blasters, before it launched two explosive blasts that decimated Elemental HERO Bladedge (Kosonsan: 3000-1600 LP).
"And whenever my Barbaroid destroys a monster in battle, you take a thousand points of damage!"
The two turbines on the huge Fusion Monster began to rapidly spin, until they fired two spinning disks of energy that cut through the air and flew right through Kosonsan, startling her (Kosonsan: 1600-600 LP).
"But I'm not done yet! Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine can attack twice per turn!"
Kosonsan had her eyes shrink to the size of pinheads as the massive Machine-type set its sights on The Shining, and blew it to kingdom come as she fell backwards (Kosonsan: 600-0 LP)(Winner: Anthony). She stared blankly at the ceiling of the tent in awe, before Anthony came over to her, sunglasses back up, and held out his hand to help her to her feet, as she took it graciously.
"Well, that was fun, although I'm not sure if you had as much fun as I did," said Kosonsan with an unsure smile, as Anthony laughed.
"Are you kidding? That was awesome! You're way better than you give yourself credit for, Pairen! Hell, you nearly beat me!"
Kosonsan's eyes lit up at this string of compliments. "Really? You mean it?"
"I mean it, Pairen. I'm sure that once this whole Totaku thing is over, you'll go on to become a fantastic lord." Anthony then began to walk towards the exit, and before he left, he turned back towards the imperial general for a second. "Oh, and don't forget, come to the Kikai tent tonight. There's something I want to talk about." He then left the tent, leaving Kosonsan alone with her thoughts. She then looked at her left hand, the one with her Duel Disk, and made a fist, a smile creeping onto her face.
'I will be a great lord, just wait and see.'