MasakiSora-chan: Fortune Cup Semifinal coming up.
Rua: Who is playing who?
MasakiSora-chan: See for yourself.
Rua: Well, doesn't matter really. Yusei is gonna defeat everyone!
MasakiSora-chan: *sweat drops* Yeah, right. Let's continue, shall we?
Friends or enemies?
After Ruka had managed a draw her duel against Frank, in which both of them seemed to be in trance and where Ruka's arm had began to glow with something claw-like, the second round of the Fortune Cup started the following day.
As Sara looked at the dueling plan the next two matches were between Yusei and Bommer and Sara's opponent was nobody else then Aki.
"This is going to be interesting." She murmured.
But first was Yuseis duel against Bommer, which was going to be a riding duel.
Bommer threw his best monsters against Yusei but in the end the latter was able to win and passed on to the finals.
Who he was dueling next depended on the outcome of Sara's and Aki's duel.
"Everybody listen, we're now coming to the second match of the semifinals. On one side we have the Black Rose Witch – Izayoi Aki!" The MC announced.
Aki was brought into the arena and looked at the empty space on the other side of the field.
The applause was nearly not available because everyone feared her.
"And her opponent is nobody else then the heir of Kaiba Corp. – Sara Kaiba!"
Now Sara was brought into the arena and the two girls were facing each other. The mood between them was tense so that everyone in the stadium had the feeling they could grab it.
"I would have never imagined meeting you again under such circumstances." Aki said with an icy voice that Sara knew well.
"I'm also glad to see you again, Aki."
However Akis face showed that she wasn't pleased at all to meet Sara again.
Sara sighed. "Seems that this is going to be my hardest duel ever."
It was then decided that Aki would have the first turn and she didn't waste any time.
"My turn." She looked at her card. "I summon Twilight Rose Knight and activate his special ablility, which lets me play yet another plant-type monster from my hand and I'm calling Lord of Poison! Then I tune my Level three Twilight Rose Knight with my Level four Lord of Poison to Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon!" [Dragon/Synchro/LV 7/ATK: 2400, DEF: 1800].
Her dragon flapped its wings and the whole stadium trembled.
"Black Rose Dragon on your first move? Not bad, Aki." Sara commented.
"I'm not done. I activate Thorns of Malice and equip Black Rose with it, rising its Attack Points to 3000! Then I play one card face-down and end my turn." [Aki LP: 4000, Hand: 2]
"My turn then." Sara looked at her hand, then at Black Rose Dragon.
Thanks to Thorns of Malice its Attack Points were equal to the strength of Blue-Eyes and Reborn of Blue-Eyes and each time it attacked, Sara's monster wouldn't be destroyed but therefore lost 600 Attack and Defense points. Also it could inflict piercing damage. That wasn't good.
"I activate my Spell Card Ancient Rules! This allows me to Special Summon any Level 5 or higher Normal Monster from my hand, so show yourself Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
[Dragon/Normal/LV 8/Atk: 3000, Def: 2500]
The legendary dragon appeared, spread his wings and roared loudly at Black Rose Dragon.
Aki didn't say anything; she knew that Blue-Eyes wasn't a threat in the moment.
"Also I activate Dragons Treasure, which gives my dragon 300 additional Attack and Defense Points." [ATK: 3300, DEF: 2800]
Aki still didn't look concerned. Sara frowned but nevertheless decided to take the risk.
"Go, Blue-Eyes, attack Black Rose Dragon with Burststream of Destruction!"
Her dragon obeyed but its attack shouldn't go through.
"I activate my trap card: Rose Blizzard!" Aki exclaimed.
Rose petals stroke towards her and before Sara knew what was going on it annuled her attack and Blue-Eyes moved into Defense Mode.
"What have you done?"
"Rose Blizzard can change your attacking monster in Defense when one of mine is targented with an attack." Aki explained calmly and Sara flinched.
"I place one card face-down and end my turn." [Sara LP: 4000, Hand: 2]
Aki drew and put her card into her hand. But she didn't go on with her turn.
"You know, you can't imagine for how long I desired to duel you again. The last time you had overrun me, but that won't happen this time. You will be going down and then I will be finally able make you pay."
"Pay?" Sara asked although she knew exactly what Aki was talking about.
"Yes, you are one of the main reasons that made me become the Black Rose Witch. Because of your selfish behaviour I found myself lost again, just as I thought that I had found real friends. But that was only a dream. If it hadn't been for Divine I would probably not be able to recover from that one. I will never forgive you for abondaning me without any explanation!" Her voice was full of rage and Sara could truly understand her.
"What the heck is she talking about?" Joey asked Catherine on the stands. Except of Cloe everyone looked at her curious, they all did not know of the young psychic duelist.
"She was once a friend of Sara's." Cathrine explained to them.
"She was – what? My daughter is befriended with such people? It seems I have to talk some sense into her." Seto frayed but Cathrine gently placed her hand on his arm.
"Don't blame her, Sara is trying to help this girl."
Seto still looked doubtful at his wife but didn't say anything else.
Meanwhile on the duel platform:
"Go, Black Rose Dragon, attack her Blue-Eyes!" Aki ordered. That moment that red mark on her arm glowed again, something Sara had already seen at Duel Acadamy, only that it had not been glowing at that time.
But as Black Rose attacked with his rose whips Sara felt weird inside. It just felt wrong to battle with Aki.
However, she firstly had to counter the Attack of Black Rose Dragon.
"I also have a trap card for you, Aki. Negate Attack!" The card stopped her attack end immediately ended the Battle Phase.
"I place one card face-down. Your turn."
Then suddenly Sara heard screamings from the stands:
"Go, defeat that witch!"
"Yeah, defeat her!"
The crowed cheered for Sara and she looked at Aki.
Her head hung down then she began to mutter.
"Yeah, just go on. You're right, I'm just a fearful witch that has to be destroyed."
Aki looked up again, a crazy grin in her face. Sara knew she had to do something and really, really quick.
"My turn. Draw." [LP: 4000, Hand: 3] "There it is." She thought. She then turned back to Aki. "I activate my Spell Card: Fusion!"
"Fusion?" Aki asked surprised.
"That's right, I fuse my Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the field together with the other two in my hand to bring forth: Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
[Dragon/Fusion/LV 12/ATK: 4500, Def: 3800]
Her dragons merged into one white dragon with three heads. It roared loudly and Aki stepped back in fear.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! There it is, the legendary Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" The MC shouted out loud and everyone watched the dragon with awe.
"Go, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack her Black Rose Dragon!" Sara ordered and with one attack Aki's Dragon and Spell Card were destroyed, leaving her with 2500 Life Points.
"I end my turn." [LP: 4000, Hand: 0]
"Then I continue." [LP: 2500, Hand: 4]
"It seems your attack just now was useless."
"What do you mean?" Sara asked her.
"I activate my trap 'Wicked Reborn'! By paying 800 Life Points I can Special Summon any Synchro Monster from my graveyard and I'm choosing Black Rose Dragon!" [ATK: 2400, Aki LP: 1700]
Her dragon came back with a spread of its wings, which made most of the stadium again tramble in fear. "But that's not all." Aki went on. "I activate Black Rose's Special Ability. Because I Special Summoned it, I can destroy every card on the field."
Sara greeted her teeth. She didn't have anything else to protect her, so if Aki had another monster in her hand she would be able to attack her directly.
"Next I summon Phoenixian Seed in Attack Mode and activate it's Special Ability. This let's me release this card to Special Summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis!" [Plant, Effect, LV 8, ATK: 2200, DEF: 0]
Sara growled, she had known that something like that would happen.
"Go, Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis – direct attack!"
Sara took the hit, and it hurt. While she stepped back a few feet Aki's monster returned to her side and Sara's Life Points dropped down to 1800.
"After Damage Calculation Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis destroys itself and deals additional 800 points of damage to you."
Sara held up her duel disk to shield herself from the effect, which was also painful and let her Life Points go down to 1000.
"During the End Phase of this turn I get my dragon back, thanks to the effect of Wicked Reborn and in addition I remove Phoenixian Seed from the game to Special Summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis in Defense Mode." Aki stated while her monsters came back again and finally she ended her turn.
"My – turn." Sara stated a bit weakly and drew. [LP: 1000, Hand: 1]
"My dear spectators, it seems that Izayoi Aki is giving Ms Kaiba a hard time. Facing against Black Rose Dragon and Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis with no monsters on the field and only one card in her hand? How is she going to get out of this pinch?" The MC called through the stadium.
Sara looked at the card in her hand. Without changing her face she said "I activate my Spell Card Pot of Greed. Then play Masked Dragon in Defense Mode and end my turn."
[LP: 1000, Hand: 1]
"That's not going to help you in any way." Aki said and drew. Without looking at her hand she called: "First I switch Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis in Attack Mode and then I activate the Special Ability of Black Rose Dragon! By removing Lord of Poison from my graveyard from play I can change your monster into Attack Mode and make it's Attack Points zero!"
Lord of Poison vanished and Black Rose Dragon's Whips forced Sara's Monster up from it's crawled position.
"Go Black Rose Dragon, attack her monster and end this!"
"Not so fast Aki! I activate my Quick-Spell Card Book of Moon from my hand. With it I can change my Masked Dragon into face-down defense position!"
"That doesn't matter. Resume your attack, Black Rose!" She called.
Her dragon destroyed Sara's dragon and just as Aki was about to call her second attack Sara cut in: "Don't forget the Special Ability of Masked Dragon! When it is destroyed by battle, I'm allowed to special summon any Dragon-type monster from my deck with 1500 or less Attack Points and I'm deciding on Decoy Dragon and of course in Defense Mode!"
"Stop your attack, Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis!"
"Uh-oh! Sara Kaiba successfully summoned Decoy Dragon which means each time Izayoi-san attacks it, it can change the attack to any Dragon-type Monster in Sara's graveyard with a level of seven or more. And as we all know there lies Level 12 Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon with an Attack of 4500!"
"I end my turn." Aki announced through greeted teeth. [LP: 1700, Hand: 4]
"I place one card face down and end my turn." Sara told her. [LP: 1000, Hand 0]
"I'll pass." Aki proclaimed. Seemingly she was pretty mad at Sara for having Decoy Dragon on the field as she had no card to destroy it. [LP: 1700, Hand 5]
Sara drew. "I activate my Spell Card Graceful Charity! That allows me to draw three new cards and then I have to discard one."
Aki just looked at her coldly while Sara drew her cards. There were Darkblaze Dragon, Dragon Ice and Monster Reborn. "I have to wait for Monster Reborn. Now is not the right moment to use it." Sara thought. Then she discarded her Darkblaze Dragon and Dragon Ice and ended her turn.
"I play one card face down and end my turn." Was all Aki said and Sara went on.
The moment she saw the card in her hand she couldn't hide a smirk.
Aki who had seen it raised her eyebrows. That couldn't be good.
"I activate my Spell Card Monster Reborn! Therefore I call Dragon Ice back from my graveyard!" [Dragon/Effect/LV 5/ATK: 1800, Def: 2200]
"What does that do you any good?" Aki asked curious.
"You'll know that as soon as I summoned my White Stone of Legend in Attack Mode!" [Dragon/Tuner/Level 1, ATK: 300, DEF: 100]
"No way, you're going to Synchro Summon 'Reborn of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon'?" Aki called out loud slightly paniced.
"Yes, that is the plan, so come forth, Reborn of Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Sara could feel how her second soul formed beside her and immediately gave a loud roar.
"And I persume you didn't forget about it's Special Ability. After halfing my Life Points I can Special Summon from either players hand, deck, grave, out-of-the-game zone or extra deck four Blue-Eyes White Dragons!" [LP: 500]
Another roar and all five White Dragons were on the field.
Akis face changed to terrified and Sara could hear the cheers from the crowd getting louder.
"You know Aki, I wish we could be friends again but this time I have to teach you a lesson. I didn't intend you to use your powers that way."
"What are you talking about?"
"I want you to remember what I tried to tell you back in the Acadamy and you should also realize that we can still be friends."
Aki shook her head. "Stop it! You turned on me like everyone else. I'm just a fearful witch but for you I was a project you grew tired of!" To show what she meant, she longed towards her jacket and put on her mask which let no more doubts that she really was the Black Rose Witch.
"That's not true and you know it! You're not alone and I am your friend that will be there to give you the strength you need!"
"Nonsense! Don't you see that I don't need you anymore? I have Divine who thinks for me and that is all I need!"
Now Aki was really mad. Sara could feel her power rising but she had never felt it that strong, especially after her hair clip fell off and let her whole powers free.
"Obviously I have no other choice then to show you. I activate my trap: Aqua Chorus! This gives every monster with the same name additional 500 Attack Points!" [5 White Dragons ATK: 3500]
"And don't forget that you can't activate your face down card. Now go my White Dragons, show Aki what I mean!"
All five Dragons launched their attack together destroying Aki's monsters and her mask in the process. Her Life Points dropped to zero and she herself went down on her knees.
Sara's duel disk went off but before she could make one step towards the girl on the ground, someone laid his coat over her shoulder.
"You did well Aki. Let us go." Divine told her softly and helped her up.
"AKI!" Sara shouted. Then she blinked in surprise as she saw the tears on the other girl's face.
"Help … me." She whispered while being escorted from the platform and being screamed at from the spectators.
"Aki." Sara muttered to herself.
She didn't really hear as the MC announced the result and that the final of the Fortune Cup would be a Turbo Duel between her and – Yusei.
MasakiSora-chan: That got pretty long but it's one of my favourite chapters so far.
Aki: Why did I cry? I hate her!
Sara: No, you don't! Face it Aki.
MasakiSora-chan: If you want to argue go somewhere else! Meanwhile don't forget to click below and leave a review, please. ; )