Chapter 6: Team Rivalry
The five teenagers stared at Hiniku Kashikoi as she faced them looking utterly serious. Even with her fake elven ears she was still grave enough that they regarded her with wary curiosity. A few other spectators of the Yellow Submarine card shop were also facing their way, clearly a duel had just been played. The fair-haired Yoshimitsu stood blinking at her from one end of a blue table, his cards still set out before him.
"Hiniku-san… what is it?"
She looked aside, tried to make her eyes go glassy. Her lip trembled, then she turned her head and turned it back.
"I see dead people."
"What?" Ryuuji, the spikey red-haired new kid from school sounded appalled. "Is that a movie reference?" Everyone else deflated in annoyance.
"Yes, how clever of you to notice, Ryuuji-san."
"Hiniku-san…" Yoshimitsu began. "I thought you were going to tell me something really serious."
"Well you thought wrong. What I do see in front of me, in fact, is a bunch of noobs at playing card games."
"Okay who exactly is this girl?" A blue-eyed girl with long black hair started, looking like she wasn't too impressed with the newcomer.
"How terribly rude of me! What utter impropriety! Mademoiselle!" Hiniku jumped forward and went to take the girl's hand but she stepped back, away from Hiniku. Instead the small girl settled on giving a respectful bow. "My name is Hiniku Kashikoi, fair maiden. Pardon my inexcusable lack of manners." She kept her head bowed for a good five seconds before raising it.
"What the hell?" The blue-eyed girl was completely flabbergasted. Everyone turned to look at Yoshimitsu for an explanation, except Zappa, he started packing away his cards.
"Hiniku-san!" Yoshimitsu was blushing. "You are kind of embarrassing me in front of my new friends." He looked at the others. "I'm sorry. She can be weird and a bit rude but she's just a harmless nerd… really."
"So I've deduced this table here, and how quickly Zappa seems to be packing away his deck, and it looks like Yoshimitsu won. Didn't he?"
"Next time I'll beat him for sure! I, Zappa Kurosawa, will rise victorious from the ashes!" He raised his fist with determination.
"Well I, Hiniku Kashikoi, think that you, Zappa Kurosawa, are a dumb-ass. In fact, he, Yoshimitsu Hayashi, couldn't hope to beat anyone else in the school I bet."
"Hey girl," Ryuuji started with a frown. "Yoshimitsu has a lot of potential. Don't diss him. Or one day soon you might be eating your words."
"One day…" Hiniku alluded with a smile. Zappa was frowning at her, sad he was made fun of. Yoshimitsu was still flushed with embarrassment. Ryuuji was scowling, but not as hard as the blue-eyed girl. The quiet brown-haired boy with green eyes a few shades different to Yoshimitsu was just gazing at her in surprise that anyone could be so openly bizarre with people they'd just met. Clearly most of them thought she was a crack-pot.
"You sure like acting high and mighty while you tease other players," The blue-eyed girl began. "But are you actually that good?"
"Why my lady…" Hiniku replied with mock-surprise before a dark eagerness overtook her. "I'm better than just good."
"Then why don't you prove it?" She declared. "That's obviously what you came here for, right? To duel?"
"Wow, a girl fight." Zappa could be heard whispering into Yoshimitsu's ear.
"Hiniku-san…" The fair-haired boy sighed again while the three strangers now had their arms crossed. "These guys are professionals at this game. The Sephiroth Tetragram. You shouldn't talk down to them like that."
"Oh…" Hiniku blinked. She had heard of them. They were pretty good. Maybe they might put up a decent fight, she gave them another wide grin and turned back to the girl. "So you must be…?"
"Nagisa Mizushima." She answered tartly.
"But your duel name is Celestia. The beautiful Sea Wyvern who plays with water and light cards? I have heard of you."
"And I'm Ryuuji Yamazaki, but go by Rayearth in official comps."
"Yes, I should've recognized your name in class today. You're pretty good. And that other guy… Windle-"
"Windam." He answered, and didn't seem sure as to how he should consider Hiniku. "Daisuke Hashimoto."
"Well I must say it's such a nice surprise to meet all of you. Maybe you're right, Ryuuji. Maybe Yoshimitsu will advance from a fledgling piglet from the help of your team."
"I wouldn't say we're close enough for you to omit the honorifics." Ryuuji said with a firm stance.
"I'm tired of these antics." Nagisa declared. "This girl's just walked in here acting tough. You have to prove it now. Got to duel someone. It might as well be me."
"As much as I would love to humour you, Miss Celestia, I've come here on the look-out for some particular people who play Force of Will. Logically I thought they'd be here, but since they're not I will interject something with Yoshimitsu and then go."
"Sounds a little cowardly after all that tough talk." Nagisa replied. "I don't care who gets to duel you, I just want to see how well you fair against one of the Sephiroth Tetragram."
"Shall we pencil it in for another time and call it a date?" Hiniku suggested innocently before hearing someone walking inside and calling her name. "Dammit…"
"Hey, ah Hiniku-san." Renbo Aichaku approached the group of teens. "Woah, oh hey. Yoshimitsu-kun and Zappa-kun. And ah, you're the new guy right?" He asked and Ryuuji gave a nod, still frowning at Hiniku like the others were doing.
"I told you to wait outside." Hiniku hissed at him.
"That was like five minutes ago… Hey guys, how's it hanging?" He offered his knuckles to Zappa and they did a bro-fist. Guess they both must play the same video games or something. Ren tended to know a lot of kids at their school. Hiniku scowled.
"Yoshimitsu…" She began and he looked at her. "I've been conducting an investigation on a group of Force of Will players who call themselves the Omicron Crucis. They seem to have strange powers and they're responsible for these black gimp creatures that have been showing up around town these last few months. I was just warning you to be careful because I think they're very dangerous."
"Really…?" He blinked at her.
"The Omicron Crucis?" Ryuuji repeated, and suddenly the three Sephiroth Tetragram all had blank expressions.
"You've heard of them?" Hiniku asked him. "I'd expect so."
"Yes. They're also a four-person squad, just like ours. They've been in local tournaments for years, also just like us, but they would always cheat their way to victory. A year or so back they suddenly dropped out and started playing in the underground, illegal duelling circuit, where the games aren't officially regulated and where people gamble. These are rumours, but there are also rumours that they don't cheat anymore but have strange powers and were hired by some mysterious new boss."
"This mysterious boss is probably the one creating all those gimps…" Hiniku mused and watched Nagisa and Daisuke as they gave each other a meaningful glance. "Well whatever." Hiniku turned to go. "I came in here thinking I could get more info on them. Then when I saw you, Yoshimitsu, I supposed that I cared enough – barely – to at least warn you to stay away from freaks with weird magical tattoos on their arms." She went to leave.
"Wait!" Ryuuji called and Hiniku stopped with a frown. "The Omicron Crucis are supposed to be dangerous. Leave that to us. We'll be able to stop them."
"I can take care of myself."
"You're one girl. Their team needs to be taken down by our team. Just like in the good old days. Doesn't matter how much they cheated back then, we were still always able to beat them. Only now rumour is they've got stronger – a lot stronger."
"Well I went up against Soaku just fine."
"Soaku…" Ryuuji blinked. His eyes glazed over as if he was being distracted by a memory.
"Ren, I'm leaving. Or you can stay here. Actually-"
An explosion blew over a card table and chunks of wall and debris went flying across the room. Duellists cried out and scrambled, dust and plaster smoked over the hole before it faded, showing the outside. Hiniku felt her ears ringing as she spun around to gape at it like everyone else. Sunlight poured through the whole and she took a few tentative steps forward as if to investigate. Ryuuji darted past her then and the other two Sephiroth Tetragram hurried after him as well. Frowning Hiniku followed and her school-mates moved behind her as well.
"What is that?" Daisuke muttered and Hiniku couldn't see through them because she was too small. Frustrated she shoved them aside and turned her gaze to the sky. There she spotted Robo-Gimp who was so far up she could only just make him out, the fire beneath his metal feet allowing him to hover.
"Robo-gimp blew a hole in the Yellow Submarine with a missile…?" She realised out loud. Then she lowered her head and there stood two people on the pavement staring up at the robot. One of them was Mazui, the dorky suited guy with the red bow-tie who was a member of the Omicron Crucis. Hiniku expected the other girl to be the fiery Soaku, but instead it was a dark-haired Asian girl who also came from their school. An upperclassman. Hiniku tried to remember the girl's name.
"Unzari Taidana!" Ryuuji shouted as he approached the two furiously. "And Mazui Ijirashi! It's been a long time since you snakes have slithered down here."
"Ahhh." The Asian girl turned to him. "Ryuuji Yamazaki. Yawn. How boringly unsurprising that I would find you and your gang here. Funny you should use that snake analogy though, I actually go by 'Viper' now."
"Viper?"
"Yes. Didn't you and your friends also go by silly role-playing names? What was yours again? Rayearth?" The girl had a lazy drawl to her. She looked like someone who was perpetually bored. Hiniku and the others followed Ryuuji out. Her grey eyes zeroed in on the older girl's arm and sure enough visible was one of those weird Spirograph tattoos. She was dressed all in black like a Goth and had dark eye-liner.
"I'm flattered you remember." Ryuuji said with a hard smile. "It has been a year after all."
"Yes it has."
"Hmm yes Rayearth." Mazui began in his pompous way. "How do you do? And, my stars, if it isn't Honey-san as well-"
"Mazui." Unzari or Viper or whatever-her-name interrupted him. "Stop talking."
"B-but…" He frowned, sagged and went quiet. At that moment there was a loud sky-rip sound and everyone looked up to see Robo-gimp shoot away, leaving a trail of white jet exhaust behind him.
"Dammit…" Viper muttered. "He got away again."
"Fiddlesticks." Mazui cursed.
"You two both just damaged private property!" Nagisa scowled. "You could've killed somebody!"
"I don't care." Viper responded, and due to her completely bored tone Hiniku immediately believed her.
"Well you should care!" Nagisa continued. "Because if someone hasn't already, we're going to call the police on you for endangering innocent lives!"
"We will be gone before the police get here." Viper insisted without any concern.
"You're not going anywhere!" Daisuke retorted with a deep frown. He didn't seem like the kind of guy who was used to acting tough, not like Ryuuji.
"You can't stop us."
"Why not?" Ryuuji glared. "There's a lot more of us than there are of you. You guys and your group are a danger to the public. I know you've been scheming. We're taking you in."
Viper just stared and then she smiled. Lifting her arm above her head she snapped her fingers and Hiniku heard a heavy thud and then another, and then another, and then she realised they were footsteps. A black gas mask appeared over the top of the nearby seven-foot-tall brick wall. The figure thudded along on his heavy foot-falls until he entered view and turned around to face them.
An enormous brute of white muscle stood before them, monstrously tall and with green veins criss-crossing on his freaky mutated body. He work black pants, heavy metal boots and the black wheezing gas mask of all gimps. Everyone stopped and stared up at him fearfully.
"What the fuck…?" Hiniku mumbled.
"You've met Robo-gimp." Viper started brightly. "So say hello to Hulk-gimp."
"How many different gimps do you guys have?" Hiniku blurted.
"Just three. For now. The old lady is working on a fourth, so I've heard."
"The old lady?"
"Unzari…" Mazui started nervously. "I don't think we should tell outsiders about that-"
"How many times have I told you I go by 'Viper' now? Got it? Sheesh, no wonder Soaku is always threatening to kill you."
"I got the impression Soaku threatened to kill everyone she met." Hiniku spoke up.
"Yeah, pretty much." Viper couldn't help but agree.
"Still…" Mazui pressed his point nervously, fiddling with his ridiculous bow-tie. "I don't think we should-"
"Shut up, Mazui." This time it was Ryuuji who said it. Mazui scowled but then fell quiet once again.
Hulk-gimp's footsteps started up again, they all turned to him as he wandered off, bored, to a trash dumpster and started pawing through garbage.
"Yeah…" Viper said. "He does that. Modified gimps are a lot better than the average shitty gimps, but because they're smarter they can't be controlled as easily either."
"Like Robo-gimp?" Hiniku suddenly realised. "You can't actually control him, that's why you guys have been trying to catch him all this time."
"Well… yes. Robo-gimp is especially taken with insubordination. We were going to take Ninja-gimp, seeing as he can like climb up and jump between buildings quickly, might be able to tackle Robo-gimp to the ground, but Ninja-gimp doesn't always want to follow orders, unless they're hit job orders. Then he gets the job done. We brought Hulk-gimp cause he's the stupid one, follows orders at least most of the time." Viper then turned around to shout out to Hulk-gimp's back "No offense, big guy!" He didn't react, just continued to paw through the garbage. Viper looked back to them. "That was a joke, cause he can't speak. And is too stupid to know what we're saying most of the time."
"I'm surprised at you, Unzari." Ryuuji said to her. "You were always the smart one. Whenever we caught you cheating it was always more elaborate than the others. Mazui would just hide cards up his sleeve and Soaku would swap her deck when you weren't looking… but you'd always come out with all these complicated little tricks, like punching holes in cards and stuff like that."
"Well cheating is beneath me now. It's beneath all of us."
"You don't say?"
"It appears that your glorious leader, the world-famous Leviathan is not with you. He was the founder of the Sephiroth Tetragram right? Well that makes this easier for us. Our founding leader of the Omicron Crucis is not here yet either."
"That guy…" Ryuuji spoke with that far-off recollection stiffening his spine again.
"He also goes by a new name. The underground circuit just calls him 'The Demon'. Maybe soon you'll find out why."
"Enough of this!" Nagisa stepped forward. "We want answers! What are you planning with all these gimps?"
"The gimps? They are just pawns. They are the help, we only use gimps to do simple jobs that will eventually help our ultimate plan. Clearly, they can't do much more than that."
"Who's making them? Where do they come from?" Nagisa insisted.
"I'm not telling." The lazy girl gave a smile.
"Then duel us for it." Ryuuji insisted. "If we win you tell us more."
"Hmmm." Viper pretended to think about it.
"Hey!" Hiniku stepped forward past Yoshimitsu. "The last time I beat one of you guys, Soaku, she was supposed to give me information but she just called me a 'fucking bitch' and left."
"Well that's because she's nuts and has a violent temper." Viper answered. "But either way, I do believe a duel is in order. A duel with you, Honey-san."
"Me?"
"Yes. You beat one of us. Our superiors heard about it. We're supposed to monitor your skills. Consider you for our cause."
"There's no way I'm joining you freaks, you know that right?"
"Orders are orders."
"Fine." Hiniku said and reached into her pocket for her deck. Everyone around her stared at her in surprise. "What? Nagisa here said she didn't care who duelled me so long as I put my money where my mouth is. I might as well duel this smug girl right here."
"Oh no you won't be duelling me." Viper gave a small laugh. "I don't think you're that good. You'll be playing him." As she said it Mazui stepped forward, pulling up his sleeve to reveal his tattoo as it started glowing.
"Don't assume that just because you out-foxed Soaku you will be able to defeat me." He said.
"Shut up, Mazui." Hiniku retorted and he frowned.
"Why does everyone keep saying that to me?" He moped, annoyed, he raised his arm and the two mysterious cobblestone tables appeared.
"Pardon me, hun." Hiniku said to Ryuuji as she walked around to her table with a bit of swagger. She was looking forward to this duel and showing off in front of the others.
"Ladies first." Mazui began in a gentlemanly way after quickly setting out his deck. Hiniku was still shuffling her cards.
"But you challenged me? You get to go first."
"I believe chivalry is an art that should not be left to die."
"Whatever, dork." Hiniku put Trix, the Jester Cat down in front of her and the bizarre illusion of the card appeared giant above her head. The onlookers gasped, impressed. The curly-haired Mazui put his card down and she saw 'Top-Hatted Tailor', yet another Ruler she'd never seen before. Drawing her hand she smiled to herself and looked at the impassive boy opposite.
"Go Hiniku-san!" Yoshimitsu cupped his hands over his mouth to cheer her.
"Beat this creep!" Zappa also chimed in.
"Yeah, you rock at Dungeons and Dragons!" Ren called out and the other two stared at him.
"It's called 'Force of Will', Renbo-kun."
"Yeah that's what I meant."
"Alright!" Hiniku reached down to rest her hero card, the purple jester cat was already on the field licking his paw. "I generate a Light Stone and summon Little Angel of Armalla!" A yellow opal appeared and glowed brightly, a feather-winged child immediately appearing on the field.
"Nice play." Mazui commented.
"Err, thanks?"
"I generate…" His top-hatted ruler squatted to show he was in the rested position. "Oh, a Darkness Stone. This early on in the game? This will simply not do. Oh well. Nothing I can do about it. I end my turn."
"Hmph." Hiniku drew from her deck and added another Light Stone. "I summon Wish Fairy and then attack you with my Little Angel!" A hyperactive chirp and Hiniku's monster fired a heart-shaped arrow, glowing numerals appeared on Mazui's stone table and reduced to 3700.
"Another excellent play."
"Stop being nice. It's weirding me out."
"As you wish." Mazui smiled to himself as he drew another card. "I generate… oh good, a water stone this time."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yes?"
"You Omicron Crucis guys, you all play with darkness in your decks right?"
"Why yes we do. How did you come to that conclusion, pray tell?"
"You're the opposite of the Sephiroth Tetragram. I've never actually competed in the official tournaments but I always kept tabs on them. You guys were rival playing teams."
"Indeed we are. I am the antithesis of Celestia over there, because I play water and dark while she plays water and light. Soaku is the antithesis of Rayearth, because she uses fire with dark. Viper here is our version of your Windam. And of course, our leader The Demon is the opposite and arch-rival of Leviathan, one of the top-ranking duelists in Japan."
"Well I never saw much point in breaking out of my mono-deck element."
"So you only play light? We may need a player to match you who only plays dark. Then again, maybe in time you'll become our mono-light player."
"Shut up and make your turn."
"If you insist…" His eyes glinted. Even with his passive nature there was something unsettling about Mazui… the grey sickening tinge to his skin that Soaku had, that same tinge was tainting that girl Viper's face as well. Something wasn't right with these guys, and their weird powers must have something to do with that as well.
"Now I play 'Cheshire Cat, the Grinning Remnant'." A cat-woman in skimpy clothing appeared on the field. "I may draw two cards when she enters play." He did so and now had eight cards in his hand. "Your move."
Hiniku drew a card and studied what she had. Soaku had been abrasive and rude while this guy was the complete opposite. It was still unsettling and she suddenly wanted to end this already, fast.
"I generate another Light Stone. Wish Fairy, attack!"
Butterfly wings fluttered and she blurred, gathering a mass of yellow light into her open hands. Then she blew them and they fluttered down into sparks like a dandelion.
"Block, my Cheshire Cat!" The woman pounced to intercept the attack and got hit by the raining yellow sparks. She hissed and shattered. "Instead of going to the graveyard she is shuffled back into my deck."
"Attack, Little Angel of Armalla!" Once again, the cute winged child shot a light arrow from its cupid bow and it collided with Mazui's table, reducing his life points to 3400.
"Well done. I am certain that attack almost tickled. I generate another water stone and now I have enough for… Etna, the Snow Queen!" A white-haired woman with fanciful icy attire appeared, humming merrily. She had 700 attack and defence, a lot more than either of Hiniku's resonators.
"Be careful!" Nagisa yelled from the sidelines. "That water card has a really good effect, Honey-san!"
"It's Hiniku!" She snapped and drew her next card, generated another stone. "I activate Light Sword Spell! A chant. By resting my remaining stones and sacrificing resonators, I can increase the attack and defence of one card of mine by 100 each this turn!"
"But you only have two recovered Light Stones." Mazui blinked, observing the two opals that were still glowing brightly, yet to be exhausted. "Even if you sacrifice your Wish Fairy, Little Angel of Armalla will have 600 attack and defence, meaning when Etna blocks it will be destroyed."
"Oh." Hiniku said. "Thanks for pointing that out. I won't play the card then."
"Um."
"Just kidding. Wish Fairy has an activate effect allowing me to add another Light Stone when she goes to the graveyard, meaning my Little Angel is on 700 and can take on your Queen! Go, attack!" Now armed with a glowing sword the angel sped toward Mazui who dipped his head and didn't block. His table was struck and his points decreased to 2700.
"I must say this is disappointing. I'm more level-headed than Soaku, don't think you'll beat me easy."
"So far you haven't even beat one of my resonators. When you want to start playing seriously let me know."
Mazui drew and generated yet another Water Stone.
"Ah… look. An old friend. I summon Cheshire Cat, the Grinning Remnant." The woman appeared and Mazui drew more cards from his deck. He was now holding ten. "Is she the one from before? Or is she a completely new one? It's hard to say. And now… Etna the Snow Queen will attack you directly!" The woman weaved her hands until a giant glacial snowflake appeared, she hurled it with magic like a giant shuriken and it struck Hiniku's table, frosting it over and sending a flurry of cold snow whipping past her. Hiniku frowned, her nose going red from the chill. Her points went down to 3400. A glint caught her eye and she noticed that Little Angel of Armalla was frozen over, the glowing sword no longer in its grip.
"Hey! What happened to my resonator?" The angel-child looked almost peaceful in its tomb of ice.
"When Etna enters play one of your resonators can not recover so long as she remains on the field. Also when she deals damage to you, you must discard a card."
"Shit…" Hiniku didn't like losing cards while her opponent had so many. She dropped one into the discard pile before starting her next turn. "Ha! I bet you remember this card. Come on out 'Divine Queen, Ruler of Heaven'!" The glowing woman appeared in blinding glory, easily trumping Mazui's snow queen with 1000 power. "I used her to beat Soaku, remember?"
"I recall."
"Then you must also recall that by sacrificing an angel in play she gains Swiftness. So keeping around my Little Angel wasn't such a bad thing after all." Hiniku put her card in the graveyard and assessed her opponent. "Also, she can't be blocked by resonators with below 500 attack. Go!" A burst of radiant light that had Mazui and everyone else shielding themselves. Hiniku could've launched the attack at Etna, but she didn't trust all those cards in her opponent's hand. She needed to end this quickly. His life points decreased to 1700.
"And now you'll lose." Mazui began sinisterly. He generated his second Darkness Stone. "I now have enough magic stones to summon… 'Hamelin's Pied Piper'!" A caped man in a witch's hat immediately began playing his pipe, Hiniku's Divine Queen seemed to dim in light, lowering herself to one knee.
"When that card enters play he can make one of your resonators unable to recover!" Nagisa called out.
"That seems to be his go-to strategy."
"And every time he attacks he can pick another resonator of yours and also have it unable to recover!" The blue-eyed girl pressed.
"Not good…" Hiniku muttered to herself. That card had 1000 attack and defence, on top of those effects it seemed too much.
"Yes, and now… Etna, my fair Snow Queen… attack her directly!" Mazui pointed and another snowflake-disc sailed toward her and she was buffeted with snow cold enough to make her shiver. "Don't forget to send another card to your graveyard, elf-eared girl." He reminded with a smile.
Hiniku narrowed her eyes and tossed away a chant. She had four cards – now five – while her opponent stood smugly in his ridiculous bow-tie and was still holding ten.
"Light Stone, you know the drill. Let's see. I play Maiden Seamstress and Little Angel of Armalla!" Her two female resonators appeared and stood proud before her, even though they were technically piss-weak. "That'll do for now."
"My dear it seems that's all you can do." Mazui smirked and added his eleventh card to his hand. "I play a field addition called 'Austere Aquarium', as he put the card down they became surrounded in a glass case, alien marine life drifting about them. Their onlookers gazed around at it cautiously. "Now whenever one of us discards a card we lose 200 life points. I think it's pretty straight forward." As he said it Hiniku frowned. She would have to block his Ice Queen so she wouldn't lose life points along with another card. However his Piper had 1000 points and she couldn't afford to let him get to her either. "I also summon the Tipsy Port Watchman." What appeared to be a drunken old sailor appeared clutching a bottle of rum – only 300 attack and defence. "Attack my Pied Piper!"
"I block with Little Angel!" Hiniku watched her little critter lunge daringly forward, getting kicked into oblivion by the flute-playing man. Then she noticed her Maiden Seamstress twitching at the sound of the flute and falling to one knee beside her glowing power house. Dammit! She forgot about the effect. She couldn't use Maiden Seamstress's ability to draw more cards. She'd been relying on that. So many decent cards on her field and she couldn't even use them.
"She's wide open my Snow Queen! Go!" Etna fired another icy chill that reduced Hiniku's points to 1800 (including the loss from the Field Addition). They were even. Looking at her hand in frustration Hiniku discarded her Somniferous Spell Sage. She had two of them in her deck, one with a little bend in its corner and frayed edges that she had since childhood, and another she found in a booster pack a year ago and added it straight into her playing deck. She threw away her nice, neat one and hoped she made the right decision. She had only two cards left.
"I don't usually resort to this… but oh well! Here goes!" Hiniku turned her light stones. "I'm performing judgement to transform Trix into a J-Ruler!" The others peaked in curiosity, including Viper. Mazui smirked.
"Hmm. Interesting."
"Trix, Furry Funny Monarch!" Her rotund purple cat stood tall and proud, bigger and more tiger-like. He entered the field now wearing a crown and regal cape, atop the crown his jingling bells remained. "When he enters play a roulette occurs. If it lands on me, you can choose and destroy one of my resonators, but if it lands on you I can choose and destroy one of yours."
Mazui frowned but then his arrogance returned.
"Let's hope this time your gamble will pay off." As he said it his field flickered with yellow light, switching on and off, the sides blinking in turn before it slowed down enough and stopped on… Mazui.
"Yesssss!" Hiniku cheered.
"Fiddlesticks."
"I destroy your Pied Piper, obviously. And now my resonators are free to recover next turn. But before I end, I'll attach a regalia to my J-Ruler. I play 'Juggling Batons'!" Three dangerous bats the colours red, green and blue appeared and the Furry Funny Monarch began immediately juggling them. "It grants my J-Ruler with Target Attack, First Strike and Swiftness! Go, attack Etna the Snow Queen!" The card on 1100 would've easily destroyed its target, if not for…
"I block with the Tipsy Port Watchman." The drunken man heroically charged and was flattened by a juggling baton. "I'm sorry to say he also has an effect that activates upon being sent to the graveyard. You must discard your final card."
Hiniku hesitated. And then relinquished her last card. Her points dropped to 1600. Her opponent still had nine cards.
"I guess you beating Soaku was a fluke." Viper observed and Mazui seemed to inflate with pride.
"Hey, snake bitch, it aint over til it's over."
"Believe me," Mazui drew from his deck. "It's over. You're not the only one who can perform judgement. Come forth, 'Gentlemanly Renegade Rag-Ripper'!" His top-hatted Ruler transformed into a fiendish blue-suited villain, beneath his fluttering cape he lugged out a chainsaw. It began whirring and sputtering black smoke. "My J-Ruler may not be as strong as Soaku's, that's true, but with 1200 attack and defence he will never be destroyed by yours. On top of that, at the beginning of my turn I may now draw an extra card for each resonator I have on the field. It appears I have all the cards in the world while you, my dear, have none. This game is over. I won't attack this turn because you will block with your Queen and kill mine. But it matters not, with so many different strategies to choose from in my hand you have no way of beating me! It all happens next turn. Make your final move."
Grimacing Hiniku drew her card and then stared at it. She kept staring. Her mouth twitched upwards. She couldn't believe it.
"Oh my God. You idiot. You complete dumbass. I completely forgot I had this card in my deck."
"What? What did you just draw?"
"This is so… wow. I mean. Really?"
"What?" Mazui whined, annoyed. Viper's interest looked peaked. Did she suspect an elaborate bluff?
"I play a chant: 'Glimmering Toadstool Gate'. We must both discard all cards in our hand and draw the same number of cards we discarded." Hiniku watched Mazui tilt his head in confusion while Viper dead-panned.
"But you have no cards in your hand to discard? You won't draw anything?"
"Yes, and that also means I won't lose any life points from your Austere Aquarium. You on the other hand, must discard all ten of your cards and that totals to 2000 points of damage."
Mazui's face went slack as he realized it.
"Oh! Oh…" His life point counter reduced to zero. Everyone stared at him. He once again sagged in defeat.
"Idiot…" Viper shook her head.
"Fiddlesticks."