Sick.
They were all sick. All of Cathy's friends were sick. Yuma, Caswell, Bronk, Tori, Flip and even Rei. That left Cathy alone with the rest of class, which was pretty much cut in half. Rio was sick too, she'd been sick all week with the flue. She remembered yesterday, when Rei had invited them all -for the first time- to go swim in a pool outside. Cathy had gone with them, however never went in the water, and it had suddenly started becoming really cold and storming and... Well, they got sick. Upon arriving at school, she was alone, just like before she'd met Yuma. It made her pretty sad and made her 'cat ears' drop.
"Hey, where's Yuma?" a voice almost snapped at her. When she turned around startled, she saw it was Shark, which made her relax a bit.
"They're all sick..." her shy voice sounded.
"All of them, what idiots," he said with a snort. He then continued walking, but turned around a couple of seconds later. He looked at Cathy, who was just standing there on her own.
With a sigh, he said: "Come on."
"Huh?" she said, tilting her head to the side.
"Just come here before I take it back!"
She jumped back, once again startled, before overthinking it, and then walking over to him.
As the two entered the building, Cathy said a soft "thank you", which made Shark stop for a second, before continuing. Of course, when the bell rang, they had to go separate ways, but she didn't mind. Class was so quiet with half of the class absent... She didn't know whether to enjoy it or to hope everyone's better as soon as possible. Nonetheless, the morning classes went by pretty fast and before she knew it it was lunch time. Heading for the roof, she met up with Shark again.
Lunch was... Awkward... To say the least, as both weren't very talkative people.
"So... What are you eating?" he tried to start a conversation.
"Rice balls with tunyah and salmon."
"Oh."
"...You?"
"Just sandwiches..."
when Cathy peered over his shoulder, she couldn't even recognize food in it. "Doesn't look like sandwiches..."
The purple headed boy sighed. It wasn't his fault Rio always made the twins' lunches.
"It looks perfectly fi-" before he could finish his sentence, the girl had pushed one of her rice balls into his hands. Surprised, he turned to look at Cathy, who had turned away from him to hide her flushed face. "I always make too much anyway," the grey haired said quickly, her voice slightly panicked. Shark then back to the riceball and carefully took a small bite. It was quite good, really good even.
An almost unhearable "thanks" was muttered.
"My my, such a cute moment, I'm sorry I have to ruin it," a feminine voice said with fake sweetness. The two turned around to see a young woman with long, soft pink hair and pale blue eyes glaring at them. The woman was wearing a white simple dress with a colored belt, the colors orange, blue, pink and green respectively flowing into one another and matching shoes. She also wore a thorny diadem in black.
"What do you want?" the boy snapped angrily, his nose wrinkled.
"Simple: your number," she said, a twisted smirk appearing on her face.
This made Shark jump to his feet. "If that's the case, then let's go!"
the girl closed her eyes, a disappointed look as she wiggled her index finger.
"Tut, tut, tut. The kitty cat has to fight too."
Cathy looked surprised. "What? Me?"
"Why? She doesn't have a number!"
"I still want to fight!" said girl spoke up, surprising the water duelist. He didn't even know the girl could duel in the first place.
With some annoyance in his voice, he nodded.
"Fine, whatever. Just don't hold me back."
Everyone got their duel disks and D-gazer ready.
"Augmented reality link established."
"Duel!" The three shouted in union.
[Yugana: 4000 | Reginald&Cathy: 4000]
"Rules are simple. You two share 1 field and the same life points. I go, one of you goes, I go and the other goes. Anyway... Lady's first!" the woman, named Yugana according to their duel disks, said, drawing. "Draw!" A smirk appeared on her face. "I summon Lonefire Blossom (lv 3/ 500atk) in attack mode!" The small half rotten flower appeared on the field. "But he won't be staying for long, by tributing it, I can summon 1 plant type from my deck! Raise, Cherubimé, Princess of autumn leaves (lv 8/ 2800def)!" This monster, compared the rotten petit flower, was huge and beautiful. It was a tan woman with an orange leafed crown, a body covered in a green leafy outfit and the lower part existed of huge orange and red leaves, as if the woman grew out of the center of the flower. "I'll place two face-downs and that's it."
"My move then, draw!" Shark said, taking the top card of his deck. "I-"
"Tut tut tut, I'll be activating my face-down first; Rivalry of the Warlords!" their opponent interupted. Shark's face paled a little bit, while Cathy was a bit confused.
"No way, you set us up!" the boy exclaimed. She smirked in response.
"Nya? What's wrong?"
"Rivalry of the Warlords allows each field to have only 1 type of monster."
"Indeed water boy! I use only plant so don't have any trouble, but you two..." her smirk grew, while the boy growled.
Cathy watched, a bit scared. It would mean that she wouldn't be able to summon any monsters unless Shark's got destroyed, but if she did summon a monster, it would mean he wouldn't be able to. They had to get rid of that card, and fast. She looked at her hand, but there was nothing that could help. She had to trust Shark, then.
"Let's move on with this already! I summon Big Jaws (lv3/ 1800atk) in attack mode! And now I can special summon Shark Stickers (lv3/ 200atk)! Now I build the overlay network to summon Submersible Carrier Aero Shark (rnk 3/ 1900atk)!" The two small fish disappeared in the network, the bigger monster taking it's place. "Next I activate Aero Shark's ability! By detaching 1 overlay unit I can inflict 400 points of damage for each card in my hand, which make 1600 points," he said with a smirk as the sharks send its missiles towards the older girl.
Yugana, however, held up her index finger, wiggling it once again, as if to show him a lesson. "I activate my other face-down, Spell of Pain. It reverses the damage, sending it to you instead." The missiles changed direction, hitting the duo instead. Agonizing yells were heard as they were thrown back and hit the ground.
[R&C: 2400]
As Shark got up, he looked both annoyed and expectantly at Cathy, who took a bit more time to get to her feet.
"I'm not done yet! I activate Aqua Jet! This gives my monster an extra 1000atk boost, now destroy that flower!" Cherubimé was destroyed and a huge amount of autumn leaves started raining down.
"I activate Cherubimé's effect. It allows me to summon a plant type from my deck. So rise, Talaya, Princess of Cherry Blossoms (lv 8/ 2800atk)!" The creature rose from the leaves, spreading her arms as if awakening from a sleeping form. The monster was similar to Cherubimé, however this lady was paler and wore a kimono, raising out of a cherry blossom. She wore a crown of said flowers and was holding a fan. "But that's not all, my Talaya gains 100atk points for each plant monster I control, which is another extra 100."
"I just killed one and she simply replaced it by a stronger one..." the boy muttered to himself. "I set one card face-down and it's your move. Aero Shark's attack points return to normal..."
"Alright kids, play time is over. Draw!" she said. Her eyebrows raised a bit when she saw her card, followed by an all so sly smile. "I'll kick things off with my good friend monster reborn to call back my sweet Sherubimé, Princess of Autumn Leaves!" The princess rose once again, much to the duo's horror. "Next I'll be playing Miracle Fertilizer, which allows me to summon a plant from the grave. I'll call back lonefire blossom, to activate its effect once again." the rotten flower did a familiar act, disappearing for another princess. This one had a sunflowered theme and looked a bit younger and freckles. "Meet Mariña, Princess of Sunflowers (lv 8/ 2800atk)!"
"Oh meow..." Cathy said out loud, fear starting to strike her.
"But I'm not done yet, kitty cat. I build the overlay network with my 3 level 8 flower princesses! Xyz summon! Appear, rare flower of the desert, bloom at night and day and cause destruction! Appear, Number 87: Queen of the Night (rnk 8/ 3200atk)!"
This monster was just like her others, just bigger and more dangerous. The long pink haired woman rose from a beautiful pink flower, a queen of the night, and was simply mesmerizing. This one was armed as well with a double-edged blade.
"Her number!" Cathy said trembling, and once taking a good look, she realised the monster looked a lot like her owner, almost identical even.
Shark's eyes narrowed, both at the monster as his partner.
"Now that my sweet dear finally arrived, I activate her effect. By detaching one unit, I can select one set card, and as long as my queen's on the field you can't activate it. Paralyzing flower!" flowers started blooming on Shark's trap, rendering it useless.
"And next, I'll attack your little fish. Go, storm of all seasons!" A big rainbow colored tornado, made out of flower petals, destroyed Earo Shark without any effort. Once again Shark and Cathy were hit for a big amount of damage, hitting the ground.
[R&C: 1100]
"Lastly I'll play 2 cards face-down and it's up to kitty cat."
"Me, nya? Alright... Draw!" Cathy said, getting back to her feet. She looked at her hand, not finding anything that's useful. Wait... maybe this!
"This storm scares every pet away, I activate Lightning Vortex!" She send a card from her hand to the grave and lightning struck. Queen of the Night however, was still on the field. She was surrounded by some sort of machine. 'Safe Zone' was shown on her duel disk, a continuous trap.
"My trap protects my monster from destruction by both battle and effects," Yugana said.
Now Cathy started to panic mentally. It's indestructible! How are we ever going to win this?! I.. I'm just useless, I don't even have a number... "I'll just-"
"Don't you dare! Listen up Cathy, I can't beat her without your help," as much as I'd like to, "so get your butt moving and do something useful!" Shark snapped, having predicted her movements. Cathy reacted shocked, staring into the distance for a moment before recollecting her thoughts.
Shark's right... I need to help out... but how? That number can't be destroyed in any way...
"I'll... I'll set a monster in face-down defence position, that's it."
"Then it's my turn again, draw! I activate Queen of the Night's second effect! Be sacrificing one overlay unit, my monster gains 300atk points (3500atk)!" Another unit disappeared, making the monster stronger. "Now attack, my beauty!"
Cathy's face-down monster, Dark Cat with White Tail, was destroyed instantly.
"I activate my trap, Blossom Bombardement! Now you take damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack points!"
[R&C: 300]
That seemed to knock Cathy back to her senses. While her partner stood firm from the damage, she had been blown away. She stood up too, her legs were a bit wobbly and everything hurt, but she ignored it, just like she ignored the monster.
That's it!
"I'll end my turn with a new face-down," Yugana said, her expression confident as if she had already won the duel.
"Shark!"
That was Cathy's voice, much to the other's surprise. He turned to see her face, full with cuts and bruises, yet it was her expression that caught his attention. It was... pleading. But more than that it was confident.
All I need is a little help... please understand...
Got it.
"Now, before you draw, I'm activating my face-down, Imperial Costum. This protects my continuous traps from getting destroyed, aside from the card itself. I don't know what you two are planning"
"I draw!" the purple haired boy exclaimed. "I'll start by summoning Deep Sea Diva (lv 2/ 200atk) and activating its effect, which makes me able to summon Imairuka (lv 2/ 1000atk)," he said as the pink mermaid and little shark dolphin hybrid appeared. "Now I'll build the overlay network to xyz summon, I summon Cat Shark (rnk 2/ 500atk)!" It was a furry little cat monster with fins instead of front paws and a shark tail.
"I admit it's pretty cute, but it still is useless," Yugana commented.
"I'll finish my turn by activating One Day of Peace. This allows each player to draw one card, and no one takes damage until your next end phase."
This is all I can do, Cathy.
"Then it's once again my turn again. I draw! I activate my Thornes of Malice, which gives my Queen of the Night another 600atk boost. (4100atk) But since my attack would be useless, I'll end my turn with this." the pink haired woman said a bit annoyed, before laughing. "You've put your partner in quite the position, now she can't summon any monsters!"
"I draw!" the youngest girl said. "I summon Cat Girl (lv4/ 1200atk)!" A lady in a brown cat costume took the field.
"But how?!" Yugana asked.
"That's simple, Cat Shark is a beast type," Shark explained with a smirk. "Everything's up to you now, Cathy."
"I can do that! I activate Cat Girl's effect! It lets me summon the Stray Cat Girl I send to the grave!" As she summoned the monster, a small girl with cat ears wearing a trench coat and an umbrella appeared.
"Now it's my turn to build the overlay network and xyz summon my Cat Girl Magician (rnk 4/ 2000atk)! Next I activate the field spell Cat World! This doubles every cat monster's attack points!"
"That's still not enough!" the woman said, slightly panicked.
"Yes it is, because now I can activate Cat Shark's effect, by detaching an overlay unit I can double the attack points of all rank 4 or below monsters!" Shark jumped.
"That's not all, now I activate my Magician's special ability, by halving my monster's attack points, she can attack you directly!" Cathy exclaimed.
"But that's..."
"Exactly 4000. Now attack, Cat Girl Magician!"
Cat Girl Magician sent a huge beam of light, resembling a cat, towards Yugana, her life points instantly hitting zero. She screamed as she was sent flying, hitting the ground harshly.
[Y:0 | R&C: WIN]
Everything went fast after that. Once the woman had recovered, they had to come up with something as to why she was on the roof of the school and what she was doing here. She ended up calling her manager saying she was completely lost (which wasn't a lie). After he arrived and some apologies for the trouble, they took their leave for the next photoshoot. It had surprised the two that Yugana ended up being a model, though from her looks they could've expected it. Fortunately Yugana's manager had also fixed everything with their teachers so they didn't have trouble that they were late.
Now it was past school time, and Cathy was just about to leave when she heard someone say: "Hey, wait up a sec."
She turned around to see it was Shark, much to her confusion.
"Hi..." she said shyly.
He then softly ruffled his hand through her hair. "You were pretty good today, Cathy."
She blushed very brightly, yet a smile was present on her face.
Well, maybe was today not so bad after all...
The others may get sick more often.
AN: That's it!
So... I made this entire thing just because, when I saw Cat Shark, I noticed how it fits both decks and how cool it would be if they got into a tag duel. And I wanted to write something fluffy so outside the duel we have fluff.
No romance intended, but if anyone wishes to see it that way, be my guest.
Also, all of the cards used in the duel are real or from the anime/manga.