Kodoku LP: 1200
Aquabot Power Mech: Machine-Type/Xyz/WATER/Rank 4/ATK 1100/DEF 2300 – 2 OLU
Katie LP: 1200
Katie couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. This kid wasn't even in his teens yet, but he was still throwing everything he had into this duel, and was really giving her a run for her money. In fact, to stand a chance of winning, she was forced to completely rely on whatever card she drew next.
"Hey," Dan muttered to Jad. "This Kodoku kid is really strong. Is he normally like this in class?"
"Oh yes indeed," Jad replied. "Kodoku has always been a very talented duelist. Though I will say that he doesn't usually give as much of himself in other duels. Looks like dueling with his idols has made him fight harder."
"It doesn't matter how hard he fights," James asserted. "He can't beat Katie."
Jad smiled knowingly. "Maybe you're right. We shall see."
Back at the duel, Katie had begun her turn. "I draw!" she gasped as she looked at the card she'd drawn. This card… she had actually drawn this card… the Spell Card, Rekindling!
James noticed her reaction, and immediately realised what she'd drawn. He also knew why she was reacting that way. That card had incredible sentimental value to her, just like Leah's Archlord's Blessing card, value that stemmed from a past experience with the card… not to mention that card was immensely powerful. If she could use it correctly, then it might just help her win this duel. "Go for it babe!" James shouted.
Katie smiled at him, then turned back to her perplexed opponent. "From my hand, I activate the Spell Card, Rekindling!"
"Rekindling?" Kodoku gasped. Judging from his reaction, it seemed that he had heard of the card before.
"With this card, I can revive any number of FIRE monsters from my Graveyard, but all of them have to have exactly 200 DEF." Her Graveyard zone lit up. "And it just so happens that I have three monsters like that. Reappear, all three of my Solstice Armed Mages!" Three spellcasters, all completely identical, appeared on the field standing next to each other.
Solstice Armed Mage: Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 200
Solstice Armed Mage: Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 200
Solstice Armed Mage: Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 200
"To think," Jad muttered, "that Kodoku has been fighting copies of these monsters since the start of the duel, but neither of us registered that monster's DEF, and how much of a threat that could pose." The other Deltas looked at him. "I hate to admit it, but it seems we've underestimated that girl's strength once again."
Dan laughed. "Well that was silly of you. Katie's the last person on earth you want to underestimate."
Kodoku was beginning to look slightly nervous, suddenly faced with three monsters when he hadn't planned for more than one.
Katie didn't dive straight into her next play, but considered things carefully. 'I can't use any of my Numbers,' she thought to herself. 'Number 33: Spheracron the Cyclone Absorber could probably win the duel right here. But Kodoku doesn't have a Number - I can't justify using my Numbers against him… it's too dangerous. Oh well, I have another way...' "Alright, here we go! All three of my Level four Solstice Armed Mages, Overlay!" The three magicians morphed into fully red amorphous masses of light, then shot upwards together. Where they had been, a spiral red portal opened. "I use these three monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" One by one, the three Xyz Material Monsters flew into the portal, which erupted upwards, spewing golden fire above the field. "Arise, Solstice King Goldcaster!" From within the column of bright gold fire, a figure emerged. It was a man wearing a primarily black waistcoat, with black gloves and boots, and a golden cape with a jagged hem. In its left hand the monster carried some sort of wand, and in the other was an orb of pure gold. Two red Overlay Units surrounded it.
Solstice King Goldcaster: Spellcaster-Type/Xyz/Gemini/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2500/DEF 1700 – 3 OLU
"Whoa..." Kodoku breathed, visibly impressed.
Katie smiled. "And this isn't even the best part yet. Goldcaster is a Gemini monster, so I need to Normal Summon it to start applying its effects. So I think I'll do that now. I Second Summon Solstice King Goldcaster!" With a shout, the monster enveloped itself with a brilliant golden aura, which flickered and waved like a slow fire.
Solstice King Goldcaster: Spellcaster-Type/Xyz/Gemini/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2500/DEF 1700 – 3 OLU
She nodded in satisfaction. "All good so far. Now I'll activate Goldcaster's effect. By detaching one of its Overlay Units, I can destroy one face-up card on the field, then inflict 100 damage to you for each Gemini monster in my Graveyard. I target Aquabot Power Mech!" Goldcaster absorbed one of its Overlay Units into the golden orb in its right hand, which flared with light.
Solstice King Goldcaster: 3 → 2 OLU
Kodoku was stunned for a moment, then responded as quickly as he could. "I'll use the effect of Aquabot Power Mech. If it would be destroyed, I can detach one of its Overlay Units instead." Goldcaster launched a ball of blazing gold fire at the gelatinous sphere. In response, one of Power Mech's Overlay Units broke orbit and shot out to intercept the fireball. The two of them collided in the centre of the field and exploded, well clear of both monsters.
Aquabot Power Mech: 2 → 1 OLU
"Fair enough," Katie said. "Since your monster wasn't actually destroyed by that effect, no damage is inflicted. But, since your monster lost an Overlay Unit, it loses some of its ATK and DEF as well."
Aquabot Power Mech: ATK 1100 → 800/DEF 2300 → 2000
"Also, Goldcaster has another effect. Whenever an Effect Monster on the field activates its effect, Goldcaster gains 200 ATK."
"Hold on there," Kodoku interrupted. "I remember this from one of my lessons. Aquabot Power Mech's effect is continuous. That means it doesn't actually activate, so Goldcaster doesn't gain ATK."
"Well you're half right," Katie grinned. "It's true that Power Mech's effect doesn't activate, so I can't gain any ATK there. But, on the other hand, Goldcaster's effect does activate."
Kodoku gasped. "You mean that monster can gain ATK from activating its own effect?"
"You betcha." Katie said. Goldcaster's aura blazed a little bit brighter.
Solstice King Goldcaster: ATK 2500 → 2700
"Now I'll activate Goldcaster's effect a second time, detaching another Overlay Unit to destroy Power Mech!" Goldcaster caught another Overlay Unit with the orb in its right hand.
Solstice King Goldcaster: 2 → 1 OLU
Kodoku gritted his teeth. "I guess I'll use Power Mech's last Overlay Unit to protect it again." Goldcaster fired off another fireball, and the Aquabot fired off its final blue orb to intercept it.
Aquabot Power Mech: 1 → 0 OLU
Aquabot Power Mech: ATK 800 → 500/DEF 2000 → 1700
Solstice King Goldcaster: ATK 2700 → 2900
"And now," Katie declared, "I'll use its effect one more time. And since you have no more Overlay Units to protect your monster, you'll actually be taking damage this time." For the third time that turn, the golden magician absorbed a red orb into its gold one.
Solstice King Goldcaster: 1 → 0 OLU
"So let's count them up," Katie said, looking at her Graveyard. "I have Phoenix Gearfried, King Pyron, Evocator Chevalier, and three Solstice Armed Mages in my Graveyard. That's six monsters, so you'll be taking 600 damage as well as losing your monster!" For the last time, Goldcaster fired. This time, Power Mech was helpless, and could only sit there as the brilliant golden fire consumed it. Its circuitry was fried, its liquid coating hissed and steamed, and the monster dissipated. Kodoku covered his face, protecting himself from the heat of the flames as they fell on him.
Kodoku LP: 1200 → 600
Solstice King Goldcaster: ATK 2900 → 3100
"This is it, Kodoku!" Katie said. "Battle! Solstice King Goldcaster, attack him directly!" Goldcaster raised its left hand and pointed its wand at Kodoku. The wand began to shine with a piercing yellow light. Then, a crackling blast of pure energy shot from the end of it and struck Kodoku square in the chest. He cried out in pain and was thrown onto his back.
Kodoku LP: 600 → 0
Katie LP: 1200 [WINNER]
The finishing buzzer sounded and the augmented reality descended around them. The few spectators that had been watching gave a light spattering of applause, then turned away to find other duels to watch. Katie removed her D-Gazer with a proud smile, then went over to Kodoku, where Jad was already helping him up. "Are you alright?"
Kodoku nodded and looked at her. "That was fantastic," he said. "You're a great duelist. I'm really glad I got to duel you."
Katie smiled at the praise. "Aw, thank you. You know, you did really well out there. If I hadn't gotten lucky with that last draw, you might've beaten me."
Kodoku nodded in response. "Next time?"
"Next time." Katie agreed, offering a hand to help him up, which he gratefully accepted.
"Well, that was quite the duel from both of you," Jad added. "You both did extremely well; you should be proud." Kodoku looked between Katie and his teacher, beaming happily. "Alright," Jad said, once again clapping his hands together, "so who's next?"
"Eh?" James said as the other Deltas came over to join them. "You're going to have Kodoku duel again? He's probably exhausted after that duel."
Jad laughed. "No, young man, I'm not going to make Kodoku duel again. Rather, the duel I just witnessed has gotten me all fired up, gotten my blood pumping. I'd like to have a duel against one of you personally."
Leah grinned and took a step forward. "So you're looking for a rematch, are you?"
"A rematch?" Jad asked curiously. "I don't remember having duelled you before..."
Leah let out a small gasp as she remembered – when she'd extracted Number 10 from Jad's body, all of the memories of his possession had disappeared. Which meant that Jad didn't remember their duel. "No... sorry, I was thinking about something else."
Jad nodded in understanding. "So, which of you feels lucky enough to take me on."
For a while, no-one said anything. Kodoku looked on anxiously. Leah was beginning to think that she would end up dueling him again after all, but to her relief another one of the Deltas stepped forward. It was Dan. "Sure, why not? I'd like to have a duel against the man who taught Kodoku about dueling." 'And the man who gave Leah quite a run for her money,' he thought to himself.
With a confident smirk, Jad nodded. "Very well, then let us begin." Katie and Kodoku retreated to a safe distance as the two duelists prepared their equipment. Dan's duel disk was fashioned after the Battle City disk from the old days, and was coloured a dark blue on the border and Main Deck holder, with light blue used for the Monster Card Zones and other components. Jad's duel disk was a solid piece of grey metal which tapered to a sharp point at both ends, and was covered in yellow lines that all glowed as the duel disk was activated, forming strange and intricate shapes. Seven sets of D-Gazers all linked at once, and the augmented reality rose up around them.
"AR Vision – link established."
"DUEL!"
Dan LP: 4000
Jad LP: 4000
Author-made cards:
Solstice Armed Mage
Spellcaster-Type/Gemini/FIRE/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 200
This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is face-up on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it treated as an Effect Monster with this effect: ●This card's original ATK becomes 2400.
Aquabot Power Mech (credit to Superjad)
Machine-Type/Xyz/WATER/Rank 4/ATK 500/DEF 1700
2 Level 4 "Aquabot" monsters
Face-up "Aquabot" monsters gain 300 ATK and DEF for each Overlay Unit attached to this card. If this card would be destroyed, you can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card instead.
Solstice King Goldcaster
Spellcaster-Type/Xyz/Gemini/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2500/DEF 1700
3 Level 4 Gemini monsters
This card is treated as a non-Effect Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is face-up on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it treated as an Effect Monster with this effect: ●You can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card, then target 1 face-up card your opponent controls; destroy that target, then inflict 100 damage to your opponent for each Gemini monster in your Graveyard. Each time a face-up Effect Monster activates its effect on the field, this card gains 200 ATK.
Fun Fact #11: If anyone is familiar with Katie's real-life counterpart's dueling style on DN, then you will know how much she loves abusing Rekindling. She was determined to fit Rekindling into her fanfic Deck somehow, and was overjoyed when we found a way.
Fun Fact #12: If any of you have been paying close attention to the previous chapter, you'll have noticed that it has gone through several changes in the short time it has been up. In fact, it has already been modified three times in a single day since being posted. The first time was to fix a couple of spelling errors. The second time was because we'd completely forgotten about Katie's Field Spell, and needed a way to supress its boost for a little while (hence, Plate Salvage). At this point, we thought we'd gotten it perfect, but then Superjad contacted us and told us that we'd made an error in Aquabot Dimension Armour's effect, so we had to redo Kodoku's entire turn. Needless to say, our editor had a mental breakdown.