YuGiOh GX: The American Duelists

by Romancer

9 American duelists have been invited to Duel Academia for a semester of studies, fun, and dueling. However, their sponsor secretly has his own agenda for them. Rivalries are forged as the tension and pressure builds, and secret agendas come to fruition.

10. Chapter 10

Yu-Gi-Oh GX: The American Duelists

Chapter 10 - Labor of Love

Inferno Flame Swordsman lunges at the small Ra Yellow boy, Sho Marufugi. The muscular warrior swings his enormous magic imbued firebrand. Sho sweats nervously and scans between the monster and his set trap. At the last moment, he activates it - Mirror Force. Flame Swordsman's sword slams down on the barrier of pure white light. Even before the white light begins to consume the warrior, the magic sword takes to the defense of its wielder. The magic ruin glows deep red, forcing The wall of light back with a wall of flames created by the body of fiery dragon-like serpent. The creature of flames breaks apart in the surging white light.

As the flames are washed back by the light, they roll around the barrier, searching for an opening, and finally finding it. Having evaded the barrier of light, the serpent reforms and strikes Sho with its dying drive. Sho is swallowed by the flames, and the body of the serpent follows, crashing down all around Sho and exploding into a rain of embers. Sho falls to his knees screaming, as his life points plummet to 0. Inferno Flame Swordsman stands triumphantly at his side of the field, until the duel ends; allowing him to fade away in the manner most suitable for a legendary victor of battle.

The tall voluptuous blond bombshell and American duelist, Hannah Daniels snickers as she approaches the defeated boy. "It's just punishment for trying to use that hateful card against me." She chimes out truthfully. The tall girl casts a shadow over Sho, as she stands before him. "You didn't even succeed in killing my monster. Had you focused more on only protecting yourself; a tactic more suitable for children, you might have bought that turn you needed to turn the duel around and beat me." Having crushed him in a duel and verbally, she finally lets her intense gaze and competitive mannerisms give way to a compassionate smile. She pats the small spectacled boy on the head. "Maybe next time, little boy."

The crowd murmurs excitedly. Only Sho's closest friends are concerned over his loss. The rest of the crowd is excited over the incredible dueling prowess, and ruthless drive of the beautiful and sexy foreigner. That is, all but one member of the crowd. A beautiful young woman wearing a customized Obelisk Blue girl's uniform stands at the fringe of the campus grounds, watching with disappointment. "Pathetic." She snaps at Sho's failure. "You couldn't even uphold your brother's memory against one of their duelists when she was only playing around." Ran turns her back on the scene, leaving the crowd to cheer over the fantastic duel they just witnessed. "It looks like I'll have to do this all on my own."

The lovely young woman kicks up a cloud of dirt behind her as her leave the paved pathway and plop down on one of the dirt side trails that run across the island. She stops at a fork to think. "Now where is that shameless lecher hiding?" Ran growls to herself. "Damn traitors! How many of them claimed to be in love with him, when he was still here? And now..." She stomps the dirt path repeatedly to let off some of her steam. "Two-faced fakers! If it hadn't have been for all you fakes, Kaiser-sama would have seen how genuine my love for him was, and still is!" She stomps down the trail that circles around to the beach. "But no... He only gave that girl the time of day. Duel Queen? Hmmph..." Ran turns her nose up, even though there is no one around, and she crosses her arms in indignation. "That girl. What was so special about her?"

Ran suddenly realizes that she is getting off track. She slaps herself; sending one of her two small braids swinging over her ears. "No, I have to stay focused. I can't dwell on that now. I have to move forward and do what I can for my love now. I'll never get that time back, but I can preserve his memory here so he is not forgotten like a disposable idol." Her gaze becomes unmovable. "I will defend his memory, until I can join him where he is now. Just wait for me, my love. I'll save you, from the person you've been forced to become."

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On a small section of beach separated from the main beach by a seemingly thick line of trees, Kyle lies on the sand with his head in the lap of an attractive young Duel Academia girl. The lovely tan Japanese girl smiles as she gently pets his short spiked hair. Two more girls lay beside him and chat amongst themselves. Kyle seems uninterested for the most part, but when they think he isn't paying attention, he chimes in on the subject with a delightfully wicked smile. He chuckles as he gives his own take of the events, reciting their conversation point for point; proving he has been listening the whole time. The girls are all visibly impressed by his keen ears and insights.

As he begins to speak his mind once more, his attention is drawn to the tree wall. "What's wrong, Kyle-sama?" One of the girls asks. He watches the trees curiously.

"It seems we have a visitor." On cue, Ran emerges through the hidden trail. The three attractive girls are visibly annoyed by her sudden appearance.

"Ick, it's Ran!" One of the girls points out with a nasty undertone. "Who let you out of your cage, insect-pi?"

"What are you doing here, Kochou-san? This is no place for day dreamers."

Ran ignores the girls and advances on Kyle, who seems thoroughly intrigued by her appearance. She doesn't hide her look of disgust at the sight of the boy surrounded by the three girls.

"Ran, is it?" He asks the girl rubbing his hair.

"Yes. Insect Ran Kochou. She's a self proclaimed elite of the girl's dorm." The attractive pale skinned girl explains. She huffs at the thought. "More like unwanted mascot."

"She's just an overrated freak!" Another girl hisses. "You have no right being here roach! This is Lover's Isle. You delusional singles aren't welcome here. It's depressing."

"Ran Kochou?" Kyle asks with a smile; ignoring the other girls and their vicious comments. His eyes scan her from top to bottom, taking in her appearance. The girl's uniform is heavily customized. Beyond wearing short black tights, her vest has been tailored to be an accessory to her undershirt, which leaves her midriff exposed and her large chest pushed out in emphasis. Her large hair gives her the silhouette of a roach, while two small braids dangle over her ears cutely. "A fashionable pretty girl. It's nice to meet you, Ran-san. And may I ask what you want from me?" Ran trembles at his arrogant demeanor. She wants to ask him why he thinks she came down here for him, but she forces herself to stay the course she planned. She's here for a reason, after all. Kyle however, answers as if she had spoke her mind aloud. "Of course you're here for me. They always come, for me." He snickers at her. The three girls smile at Ran's annoyance.

Ran throws out her fist and armed duel disk. I've come to defeat you and preserve the memories of a great man and duelist; a better man than you!" She adds harshly.

"But not a better duelist." Kyle laughs.

"Forget about it roach girl! You're just a pathetic idol chaser. Kyle-sama can't afford to have his time wasted stomping out pests like you."

"But he can afford to have his time wasted fooling around with you treacherous serpents?"

"Ran! You bitch! Don't you think for a second we won't put you in your place!" One of the girls shouts furiously. Her attractive youthful face contorts, revealing her nastiness in her features. "You're only tolerated here to uphold order in the girls' ranks. But if you step over the line, we'll make the rest of your time here a living hell!"

Ran turns her head away, and gives her braids a little mocking flick, as if to tell her, "Come on then."

Kyle simply smiles at the argument. He doesn't show any interest in interfering with the two girls beside him who take out their duel disks. One of the girls looks to Kyle for permission. "Kyle-sama, allow us..." She doesn't have to finish. He nods; giving them his full consent.

"Give a good show." He chimes in, relaxing in the lap of the third girl once more.

The first girl steps forward with her armed duel disk. The girl is of medium height for a girl; around 5 and a half feet. Her skin is tanned, but not nearly as deeply as the girl playing the role of lap pillow for Kyle. Her hair is a sun beached brown with golden blonde steaks at her roots. "It's time you learn your place on the food chain, Ran. Hideous little insects on the bottom!"

"You're all noise." Ran fires back while raising her duel disk to the girl.

"I'll show you what comes with the noise you parasitic fangirl!" The girl draws out her opening hand and Ran follows. The duel disk orbs cycle, until the light stops on Ran's orb. She draws an extra card and starts their duel.

"Ladies first." Ran exclaims.

"More like fools rush in!" The girl retaliates.

"Reow! Hissss!" Kyle jokes, mimicking a cat fight. "Now now ladies. Lets at least be civilized in our incivilities. I won't ask you to shake hands and play nice, but at least follow some of the formalities. The foreplay's half the fun, after all." When the girls don't respond to Kyle's request, he jokingly adds, "Why not tell the nice folks out there in TV land who you are and where you come from."

The attractive tan girl complies, shouting out her name. "Senkou Shougeki! Thunder mistress of Duel Academia's elite girls!"

"Mistress is right." Ran hisses under her breath, which draws a furious grimace across the beautiful girl's face. Ran sounds out her name only so Kyle knows who she is and why she has come. "I'm Ran Kochou, the elite insect duelist of Duel Academia. And I've come to preserve the memory of the one you've defiled by your presence!" She shouts at Kyle.

"You mean come to attempt to preserve... You haven't done actually anything yet." Kyle points out. It's Ran's turn to cast a dirty grimace at her enemy.

Before the two girls blow up on each other or claw out his eyes, Kyle cheerfully sets them loose, "Duel."

Ran starts her cycle; giving her cards only a brief glance. She knows her routine by heart. "Giant Desert Scorpion Level 1." She proclaims, and the tiny transparent baby scorpion appears. The other girls cringe at the soft shelled, maggoty thing. Ran follows with a quickplay spell, "Killer Swarm." 2 more baby scorpions appear beside the first."

"Disgusting." Senkou Shougeki sneers. "The kind of thing I should have expected an ugly creature like you to play."

"Shows how little you know." Ran retaliates. "Your narrow minded views of beauty could never comprehend the intricacy of such a creature."

"Oh spare me your naturalist bullshit!" Senkou bites back.

"She's right you know." Kyle chuckles lightly, while examining Ran's features. "You shouldn't judge so quickly, Senkou love. Even newborn infants are alien; slimy pink, hairless things - far from cute, if you ask me. But give them some time, and they can mature into something... quite impressive." Kyle continues to smile at Ran, while playing with the hand of the girl he is lying against. Ran doesn't return his glance. Her eyes remain firm and focused on the duel.

"Did you know, scorpions are older than the Dinosaurs?" Kyle asks the girl behind him. "And they have remained virtually unchanged since they first took to the land from the seas. In that time, they've covered the entire globe, just like us humans. But unlike humans, they've built a niche for themselves; serving a purpose in the world, as oppose to destroying it. For millions of years they've roamed, and until the end of time they'll probably continue to roam." Kyle laughs thoughtfully to himself, as he peers up at the tranquil blue sky. "We humans... We probably don't have more than another 2 centuries left to us. How humorous it is, that we, the superior beings, who have the capacity to chart the past, will not be around long enough to catalogue our own failings."

The three girls watch Kyle cautiously. None of them can read his thoughts or mood. He finally laughs out loud. "But I admit, I am partial to scorpions. They glow in the dark under a black light, after all. How cool is that?" He laughs once more, and the dark tan girl supporting his head laughs as well.

Senkou smiles as well. Under her breath, she utters, "fool," in a gentle, thoughtful tone. It doesn't last long though, and she immediately turns her attention back to Ran. Ran continues the duel. She activates a continuous spell depicting a pool skimmer scooping several worn out cartoon-styled insects out of an outdoor backyard pool. She also sets 2 s/t cards and ends her turn.

Drawing a card, Senkou declares, "The sooner I dispose of you, the better." Senkou summons her first monster. "When there are no monsters on my field, I can summon this monster without sacrifice. Come forth my Jovian Thunder Dragon!" The monster descends in a flash of lightning and crash of thunder. The immense black serpent dragon radiates electricity from a row of large red scales running the length of its back. Its black body is streaked in erratic, brilliant red stripes. The monster's roar is nearly drowned out by the deafening crackle of electricity around it. "Remind you of someone, roach girl!" Senkou shouts over the crackling thunder dragon. "His monsters were always over-rated!"

Ran doesn't fall for Senkou's provocation. Even though Senkou's monster has a similar summoning condition and has a higher attack at 2200, the monster is still inferior. "Just a pale imitation." Ran tells herself.

Senkou points at Ran's helpless scorpions. At 100/0, they don't stand a chance at stopping Senkou's monster. "Attack, Jovian Thunder Dragon!" The massive black dragon sends arcs of electric current soaring in every direction.

Ran activates one of her set cards, the continuous trap, Prolific Insects. She chains to its activation with a second continuous trap, Cannibalistic Nursery. A large beetle like insect emerges from the card and devours two of Ran's scorpions. Ran reaches up, and it regurgitates 2 cards from her deck. "By destroying my own insects, I can draw the same number of cards. And I'll gain 500 life points for each card I draw with this effect." She explains. Ran's life points increase to 5000. "In addition, as long as Pool Skimmer is on my field, my insects will return to my deck after being sent to my graveyard." Ran shuffles the 2 scorpions back into her deck.

Senkou is unhindered by the revolting act, and she repeats her order. This time the black serpent dragon's attack finds its mark. The small helpless thing pops instantly under the surging currents, and Ran's life points fall to 2800. Senkou's chance to celebrate is cut short though, as Ran points at her raised trap cards on the field. "The cycle has begun." She proclaims. "Prolific Insects - As long as this card is on the field, when my insect-type monsters are destroyed as a result of battle, I can special summon another insect of the same name from my deck." Ran summons another copy of her Giant Desert Scorpion LV 1 to her field. "When an insect goes to the graveyard, it will return to my deck." She returns the destroyed scorpion to her deck.

"Stall all you want, roach. Your stupid cycles aren't going to save you this time." Senkou declares. She ends her turn without setting any s/t cards. Her life points flash behind her at 4000, versus Ran's 2800.

Ran draws, and she immediately sends her scorpion to the graveyard, then back to her deck. She special summons Giant Desert Scorpion LV 3. The tan and brown scorpion is no longer defenseless. It's shell has hardened, and its stinger has developed into a formidable weapon. However, its stats pale in comparison to those of the black dragon. Again, Ran gives her hand a brief glance, before continuing. "Attack!" Ran shouts over the crackling electricity. Senkou is caught off guard by Ran's choice to smash her 900 attack insect into her 2200 attack dragon. She's shocked again, when she realizes her dragon isn't moving to intercept the scorpion's attack.

"What are you doing?" She shouts to her beast futilely. The small sand colored scorpion scurries across the beach to the base of the massive black serpent dragon, where it unceremoniously stings it. The limbless dragon roars furiously, sending electric arcs skyward in protest. The little scorpion scurries back to Ran's side of the field.

Ran snickers. "You're dragon's just been poisoned."

"What?" Senkou examines her monster's body. The small spot where it was stung has become pale, white, and dead. "What the hell have you done to my dragon, roach?" Senkou shouts.

"All in due time, Senkou love." Ran hisses back sarcastically. Ran sets 1 s/t card and ends her turn. As soon as Ran states, "Turn end," the monster rears up once more and shrieks. Senkou is horrified as her monster's attack drops to 1900.

"AHHH!" Senkou screams, clasping her hands over the right side of her hip.

"Did I forget to mention, you've also been poisoned, Senkou love." Ran snickers once more. "At each end phase, you and your monster will degenerate, until you're both... No more. You can make all the noise you want. It's not going to save you."

Ran's words draw a furious open mouthed snarl from Senkou, at the same time her life points readjust to 3700. Senkou tears a card out of her duel disk. She immediately summons another Jovian Thunder Dragon beside her first. Both red striped black dragons bellow as electricity crackles around them. "Attack, Jovian Thunder Dragon!" She screeches over the crackling and pops. The poisoned dragon sends arcs of lightning into the sky once more, but halfway into its attack sequence, it doubles over and cries. Senkou's eyes widen, as her monster degenerates from 1900 to 1600. Again, she is gripped by a stinging pain in her hip, and her life points drop to 3400. Ran smiles as she watches Senkou writhe in agony. "Bitch..." Senkou hisses. Her dragon fires its electric bolts at the scorpion.

Ran's duel disk orb begins cycling from blue to red. "Red." Ran states coolly. Her disk stops on red, drawing a smirk from the lovely young woman. The lightning bolts strike all around the scorpion but fail to hit the small target. At the same time, the small scorpion rolls its tail back and gives it a quick flick. Several poison droplets sail across the field and strike the dragon in its eyes. It rears up and squeals. Senkou reaches out for her hurt dragon, but there is nothing she can do for it. The dragon's eyes are left blank, and the areas around them are white and dead. The small spot at its base has grown from the previous turn as well.

Without hesitation, Senkou orders her second attack. "Jovian Thunder Dragon. Kill her disgusting creature!" The second dragon's attack fires at full strength. Again, Ran's duel disk cycles between red and blue, and again, Ran declares red. When the disk stops on blue, Ran activates her set quickplay spell, Killer Swarm. Two more scorpion's appear on the field. The dragon destroys its target, knocking Ran's life points down to 1500. Pool skimmer lets Ran cycle it back to her deck. Senkou sets a single s/t card, and she ends her turn. Once more, the dragon squeals as the poison spreads; killing the affected skin. Its attack falls to 1000, and Senkou's life points fall to 2800. Senkou clenches her teeth to the spreading pain in her hip and face.

Ran draws. She sends both scorpions to the graveyard, and then back to her deck. She summons 2 larger sand colored scorpions in their places. "Giant Desert Scorpion LV 5. This is the end of the line, for both of you." Ran states; referring to the end of her level series and Senkou's monsters. Before attacking, Ran summons a new insect, Swift Creeper. The card depicts a blur of flapping insect wings and an insect moving too fast to identify. The moth or beetle-like insect takes the field. Despite the appearance of the creature on the card, the insect is not fast by any stretch of the imagination. Rather, it hovers in place, only drifting to either side by an inch or so under its own weight. It's wings, however, beat as fast and hard as any humming bird's, making it near impossible to tell what the insect truly is. The beetle from her Cannibalistic Nursery appears once more. It catches the contradictory insect and attempts to devour it. However, it only manages to catch a wing. The insect falls into the sand. Again, the massive beetle regurgitates the meal to Ran, in the form of a new card and 500 life points; bringing Ran's life points to 2000. Ran summons Howling Insect from her hand with the destroyed monster's effect, and shuffles the Swift Creeper back into her deck. Howling Insect emerges from the sand, where the unidentifiable insect fell.

"Giant Desert Scorpion LV 5, attack her worm!" Ran barks. Both hand sized scorpions march swiftly across the field and sting the healthy dragon without retaliation. The newly stung dragon bellows. Both stings wounds are white, but they now pulsate and bubble slightly. With a calm smile, Ran sets a s/t card and utters, "Turn end." Both dragons rear up and roar over the erratic snaps of electricity. The first dragon's stats fall to 400/0, and it collapses on the field, where it pops in a pile of white puss. Senkou's life points fall to 2200. Her other dragon's stats fall from 2200/1600 to 1200/600, and Senkou's life points drop another 1000 points; leaving her at 1200 against Ran's 2000. Senkou falls to her knees shrieking over the electric crackle. She clenches her left hand over her right shoulder, while her right arm trembles uselessly beside her.

"GOD DAMMIT RAN!" She screams over the screams of her monster.

Ran calmly explains, "When a stat of a monster with a poison counter from a Desert Scorpion falls to 0, that monster will die. And their poison concentration only increases with each level."

Gasping furiously, Senkou draws. "You'll pay for this, you repulsive girl..." Senkou breaths hard through her clenched teeth. Examining her hand, Senkou activates a spell, Transmission Medium. A metal wire fires from the front and back of the card. One end of the wire lands in Senkou's Graveyard, while the other lands in her hand. A burst of electricity runs the course of the wire back to Senkou's hand. She reveals her Thunder Dragon that Ran destroyed in the previous turn. "Pay back's a bigger bitch than you, Ran!" She snarls. Activating her own continuous spell card, Thunderclap. She chains to its activation with her set continuous trap, Kill-o'-ampere. "Again, Jovian Thunder Dragon!" The black serpent dragon takes the field in silent flash of lightning. A moment later, Ran is thrown to the ground by a deafening crack of thunder. Everyone else is knocked back. Kyle whistles while twisting a finger in his ear. All of Ran's monsters change to defense position, and their stats fall by 600 points each; leaving Ran's scorpions and at 900/0 each and Howling Insect at 600/700. "Are you ready, roach girl?" Senkou hisses. "Attack, Jovian Thunder Dragon!" The healthy dragon fires arcs of lighting into the sky, and they come crashing down over the scorpions.

"Go!" Ran shouts, feeding her massive beetle both scorpions. She cycles the destroyed cards to her deck and draws 2 cards. Her life points rise to 3000. The electric bolts slam down on the field, eventually connecting with Howling Insect. The insect squeals, sending a high pitch whine into the air, before popping. The electric current tears through the monster and strikes Ran repeatedly. She convulses in the sand until the attack dissipates. Her life points fall from 3000 to 800. To Senkou's delight, Ran is left choking for air. She doesn't stay down long, but it's long enough to appease the hot blooded girl, Senkou Shougeki. Still gasping, Ran promptly replaces her destroyed Howling Insect with a second and third Howling Insect in defense position, leaving the poisoned dragon unable to attack through her monsters.

"It's not enough to save you, roach." Senkou utters under the crackle of her monsters. She activates a quickplay spell and shouts its name over the noise. "Lightning Fusion!" Her two monsters become huge bolts of electric plasma in the form of dragons, then snap together. Again, there is a moment of silence, as the lightning creature takes its solid form of a massive black serpent dragon. It's body is adorned in intricate red streaks, and it's back is lined in huge razor sharp rows of spiny red scales. The dragon's sleek knife like head now bears two mouths; one above and behind its eyes, and the second below and under its eyes. Before it has fully developed, the sonic boom of its Thunderclap hits Ran in another deafening explosion. Ran is hurled back by the surge of air. She lands on her feet, but comes sliding to a stop on her knees on the white sand beach. The Howling Insects's wings cease beating, and their stats fall to 400/500.

The newly summoned black serpent dragon rises to its full height; casting an immense shadow over the downed Ran. Electric plasma rolls off its back like hundreds of malformed and mutating wings of pure energy. Senkou shouts over the dragon's deafening crackle, but her voice is drowned out under the noise. The 2800 attack dragon sends the wings of plasma arcing in all directions, and they fork back towards Ran's helpless insect. Ran screams to her monster, revealing her last set card, Emergency Provisions. Pool Skimmer, Cannibalistic Nursery, and Prolific Insect shatter behind her to feed the spell. Ran's life points rise to 3800 as one of her Howling Insects is decimated by the rain of electric plasma. Again, Ran is consumed by the overflowing electricity. Her screams, along with all sound over the beach, are drowned out in the deafening crackle and pops of electricity. Ran's life points fall to 1500.

On the side lines, the two other girls cover their ears to the noise. Kyle however, twirls stray bolts of electricity around his fingers in the manner of an amused child. When the attack has completed, Ran staggers to stay on her feet. She replaces the destroyed insect with another of her Giant Desert Scorpion LV 3s. Senkou ends her turn with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Ran draws. The crackling is so loud, she can't concentrate. She knows her deck by heart, but the noise drives her memories from her head; leaving her sorting through her hand for answers she should know. She suddenly realizes she is in her standby phase. She sends the scorpion to her graveyard to level it up. Senkou looks content to see Ran's composure and calculated planning break down under the pressure of a duel with a true elite girl. To everyone's surprise, Ran slaps herself hard enough to leave a red mark across her cheek. Afterwards, she takes a deep calming breath. She examines her cards slowly; ignoring the crackling electric wings of the black dragon. "It's nothing more than a pale imitation." Ran reminds herself.

"It's not nearly as impressive as my love's." Ran envisions the Cyber Twin Dragon in place of the massive black dragon. Her mind drifts to a day long since past.

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Younger and more brash, Ran stands at the end of the duel field during a graded duel with the Kaiser himself. Ryo stands calmly on his side of the field, with his Cyber Twin Dragon sitting ideally at his side. The young Ran simultaneously compliments and insults the mechanical monster. "This is it, huh? Finally... You don't know how long I've waited for this chance; a chance to duel the legendary Kaiser Ryo-sama." She blushes slightly, despite trying to keep up her tough act. "You're a beautiful man, Ryo-sama, but your monster is a lackluster trump card, at best. Look at it..." She gives Cyber Twin Dragon a mocking wave. "It has no intimidating presence, no dominating attack power, and its effect has no intricacy! It's a big non-threatening paper weight."

Ran gives a wave to her field, sending a stray card in her hand to the graveyard, and she summons Ultimate Insect LV 5. The massive insect spews a cloud of mist at Ryo. It clanks its heavy spear-like legs against the hard metallic floor of the duel field. "This is a truly impressive monster, even before completing its cycle." Ran professes. Cyber Twin Dragon's attack falls to 2300. The Ultimate Insect snarls and drools with anticipation. Ran declares her attack. Behind her, Prolific Insects stands ready to let her replace her suicidal insect upon killing Cyber Twin Dragon.

Ryo gives his 2 set s/t cards the slightest glance. He chooses not to activate them, and accepts his monster's destruction. The newly summoned Ultimate Insect attacks Ryo directly. His life points fall to 350, against her 3100. Ran ends her turn. She's thoroughly pleased with herself, and proud that she will finally reveal her full strength to her love.

Ryo draws, and he activates the newly drawn card by sending both of his set s/t cards to the Graveyard to return his 2 Cyber Dragons from his Graveyard to his hand. Before going to the Graveyard, Ran sees the 2 cards. She realizes he could have used them, Defusion to break Cyber Twin Dragon apart and the other card to refuse them with his Cyber Dragon in hand to summon Cyber End Dragon, but he chose not to. Ryo summons a Cyber Dragon from his hand. Then, he raises his hand, revealing Polymerization. The two Cyber Dragons in his hand combine once more, resummoning the monster Ran just insulted. Ryo calmly orders his attack. Cyber Twin decimates her monster, and Ran's life points fall to 2600. A final Ultimate Insect LV 3 emerges, only to be destroyed by Cyber Twin as well. Her life points fall to 2100. Ryo orders his final attack, and Ran is beaten by his Cyber Dragon.

When the duel has ended, the crowd erupts into cheers, and Ryo marches down the steps from the stage. He pauses on the steps to spare Ran a momentary glance over his shoulder. She blushes even deeper under the gaze of the handsome young man. "Don't mistake simplicity in design for lack of intricacy. In its simplicity lie endless possibilities. Therein its non-threatening guise lies its true terrifying power." Ran nods slightly at his thoughtful words, and Ryo walks off of the stage.

Senkou and a mess of other girls watch from the front row. Senkou touts that Ran's the biggest idol chaser on campus. "Too bad she's so creepy that no normal guy will have anything to do with her." The girls laugh. Ran hears their hurtful words, but doesn't turn her gaze away from Ryo. Even if their nastiness is true, nothing can take this precious moment away from her.

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Ran awakens from her day dream. Senkou shouts at her through the electric crackling, but Ran can't hear her. "That's right." She reminds herself. "These monsters may look threatening, but in the end, they are inferior to his monsters." Her eyes shift to the ugly twisted expression on Senkou's face as the usually lovely girl screams furiously at Ran for day dreaming in the middle of their duel. "And that's right..." Ran utters to herself with a newfound drive. "This girl is also inferior to him. They all are."

Ran gives her hand a quick glance. Senkou's life points stand at 1200 against Ran's 1500. Ran can deal a minimal 500 damage with her scorpion, but she is certain Senkou will not hold back next round. Ran has a parasitic insect she can use to destroy Senkou's trump monster, but Senkou will certainly reveal it with her Thunderclap spell. "She's a bitch, but she's not stupid." Ran admits. "Or is she?" Ran gives it a second thought. "It's too simple." Ran thinks, but it is worth a shot.

Ran sets her parasitic insect and sends her scorpion marching for the massive dragon. The dragon goes wild upon being stung, but it can't make more noise than it already is. The scorpion promptly retreats. With scorpion back safely, Ran activates a spell depicting a person's hand giving an unsuspecting cartoon-styled insect a flick. The hand descends and flicks Howling Insect right into Senkou. Her life points fall by 250 points to 950. Ran chuckles haughtily at the useless, but insulting gesture, which draws Senkou's nasty scowl once more. Ran sets 2 s/t cards, and she ends her turn with a dismissive wave.

Senkou cringes, as her life points and her monster's attack and defense both fall by 500 points. Even though her life points stand at 450 to Ran's 1500, she shakes it off and draws. Her patience is all burnt out from waiting on Ran. Senkou swiftly summons another monster, which appears in a flash of lightning. The vaguely defined gaseous monster barely holds a recognizable human form. While human in general shape, it's entire body resembles a universe trapped in a wall of impenetrable blue sparking plasma. The monster's thunderclap is almost drowned out by the deafening crackle of electricity generated by the Jovian Two-Mouthed Thunder Dragon. Ran holds her ground to the air pressure. Her scorpion however, is knocked to defense position, and her set parasite is revealed. Senkou spares the newly revealed creature a glance of disgust. She immediately orders her attacks on the monsters, targeting Ran's scorpion first with her newly summoned monster, Lightning Nebula. Ran discards an insect from her hand to activate its effect. Lightning Nebula is consumed by a cloud of flies. The insect cloud is promptly vaporized on the creature's plasma aura, but not before achieving their job. The monster's attack falls from 2400 to 1200. It's attack through the scorpion, dealing 1200 points of damage to Ran's life points. Ran cringes, but holds firm. Senkou follows with the attack from her dragon on Ran's parasite.

"She bought it!" Ran thinks in amazement. She activates one of her set cards, the continuous trap card, The Spider's Parlor. A massive web blasts out of the dank and grim, yet cartoonish room with a style straight out of the 1800s. The web builds up into a massive web wall between Ran and Senkou, and the huge dragon becomes tangled in the web. Its electric wings are nulled out in the non-conductive silk strands. The web gets partially torn up by the dragon, but holds firm enough to stop a few more creatures.

"What is this?" Senkou shouts indignantly over the crackle of the partially silenced dragon.

"This, sweet creature, is a trap, and you've fallen into it. By attacking my insect which I left as obvious bait, you activated it. If any of our monsters attack, they'll be sealed by a Web Token. This parlor has 2 tokens left to give and gains a token whenever I summon a spider. Needless to say, you don't have another turn."

"Filthy creature. I didn't fall into your trap!" Senkou retaliates. "I just don't give a damn about your pathetic tricks!"

Ran is unconvinced by her declaration. She's certain Senkou wouldn't have attacked so carelessly had she have only set s/t cards and left Howling Insect and Desert Scorpion to the field on their own, but she uses Senkou's position to her amusement nonetheless. "So you admit to being too stupid to be bothered to account for set traps being a threat, but not too stupid to charge directly into one? Bravo. You must be very proud of yourself."

Senkou hisses. She activates a spell from her hand, sending a thunder monster to her graveyard from her hand as its payment. "Jove's Judgement!" She screams. The field explodes into a apocalyptic lightning storm. Every card on the field is destroyed, including her own thunder monsters. She draws a card for each of her destroyed Thunder monsters and activates the effect of her fallen dragon. 2 Jovian Thunder Dragon's emerge from her graveyard. Both drown out the field in the crackle of electricity. Ran is shocked at the site of her open field and Senkou's 2 monsters. When Senkou has calmed down some, she explains, "My turn ends if I activate this card without Jove on the field." Ran exhales a breath she hadn't realized she was holding back. Senkou sets 2 cards and ends her turn. "Next turn will be your last, roach."

Ran draws. Many of her resources where decimated by Senkou's tantrum last turn, leaving her with only a couple of cards to work with. Thankfully, they are all the cards she needs. She sets a monster and the remaining s/t cards. Then, Ran ends her turn.

Senkou draws and summons The Light-Hex Sealed Fusion. She sends her two thunder dragons and the rock to the graveyard. The three fuse in a pulsing orb of radiating light and electricity. The orb finally explodes, giving birth to hundreds of immense branching wings of electric plasma. The crackling wings spread, covering the entire isolated beach in deafening lightning. The other girls retreat to Kyle's side where they cover their ears and partially avert their gazes from the erratic flashing. Even Kyle covers his ears, but he watches the duel intently. The light of the orb fades to reveal the huge black serpent dragon that can only be compared to a cross between Cyber End Dragon and the god card, Osiris. Where the beast once had a single head with two mouths, it now has three two-mouthed heads fused together at the bottom jaw. It's heads merge into its body, which now has a 3-leaf clover shape until the halfway point of its body. Each head has a spine lined in the razor sharp rows of spiny scales now. The creature opens its three main mouths as a single mouth. This time, its cry pierces the deafening crashes of millions of bolts of lightning. The chilling red striped creature is Senkou's supreme monster. Pointing at Ran, she silently declares its attack. It unleash its full 4000 points of attack power on the set monster. This time, Senkou backs her monster up with a quickplay spell card. The immense black dragon becomes a being of pure energy that is immune to spell and trap effects.

"It's not enough." Ran thinks to Senkou's actions. Her set parasite is revealed in the attack. The small Brain-Jacker Wasp - Larvae leaps through the rain of plasma, and it burrows inside the ears of one of the tree heads. Senkou doesn't understand what's just happened, but she tries to activate the effect of her dragon, to allow it to attack again; unaware that the parasitic larvae is burrowing deep into her supreme dragon's brain. By the time Senkou realizes she didn't destroy Ran's monster in battle, it's too late. The massive plasma wings fall limply and crash all across the ground. Senkou trembles at the sight of her Jovian Supreme Thunder Dragon turning on her. It sways lethargically as it awaits Ran's command.

Senkou screams into the crackling lightning that her turn is over. She bites her lip in an attempt to hold back, but nothing can stop the tears streaming down her tanned cheeks. Ran draws. As she thought, it was enough. Ran summons Brain-Jacker Wasp - Queen. With the queen in her control, the zombified dragon is also in her control. But Ran doesn't use it. She gives her queen the final attack order. Within seconds, the small red wasp has flitted to Senkou's side of the field, and it stings her in the throat, falling the pretty girl in the sand. Senkou breaks down in an uncontrollable fit of tears. Her screams are as loud and dramatic as her play style, but after so much noise, all that anyone can hear are muffled cries of profanity.

Ran turns her attention and duel disk to Kyle, who continues to smile. He can't and doesn't even try to contain his amusement with Ran.

"You still haven't earned the right to be here, insect-pi." The tan girl beside him states. As beautiful as either of the others, and much more so than Ran, the girl's pale skin stands out from the others who are tanned considerably. She raises herself to her full height in the sand. There is no compassion towards her defeated friend, however, she has plenty of animosity for Ran. "Miako Himatsu." Her eyes drift over Ran with a new found cautiousness towards the girl; the only thing gained by Ran's unexpected victory. "My deck's cycle will put yours to shame, Kochou-pi."

Ran raises her duel disk, and the duel begins.

Chapter 10 - End... To be continued...

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Author Notes

Lots of notes this time. And lots of cards.

Firstly, I'd like to point out that someone pointed out to me that honorifics are separated from their names by a hyphen (-). I was going to stick with what I'm using for the rest of the fic, but I think I'll switch over to the hyphens from here on out.

On my contradictory card, Swift Creeper, it has an interesting story behind it. I came up with the idea from an experience I'm sure we've all had once. An insect zips by your ear and sounds like an Apache Gunship, and you don't know if it was a harmless but annoying fly, a dragonfly, a beetle, or a bumble bee the size of a gorilla's knuckle. The typical response is, you swat at it, and sometimes, you actually ground the damn thing, giving you the chance to see what it was before it takes off again or you smash it. Or you lose it in the grass, and in the case of bees, it flies off and stings you while you still hunt for the damn thing. That's what this monster was meant to represent. You can't see what it really is, and once swatted down, it reveals itself (the newly summoned monster), or it scurries off back to your hand to fly and annoy again. Of course, it helped that Pinch Hopper, the same effect mostly, loses its timing when you so much as look at it wrong, which forced me to come original so to speak (yes, more obscurity).

Some of you may remember my CAC scorpions and sting counter mechanic. Well, I've upgraded all of them and refined them to the non-specific poison counter mechanic. All of my fanfic cards using this mechanic use a poison counter which gets its effect based on the monster that delivered the poison. Hurray for science, or something.

The Jovian Thunder Dragon fusions have a specific summoning requirement that should only restrict their summoning by cheap ass cards like Cyber Stein and Instant Fusion. I made sure my rock fusions got the love they deserved and the dragons didn't get nomi-fied.

I used a lot of references to a bunch of obscure things in this chapter. Enjoy finding them, lol.

As for honorifics, one of the girls, Miako, refers to Ran as -pi, which is generally only used with pets. I thought it would be suitable as a good nasty burn in the context she uses it. Ran's only a pest in their eyes, and she's something nasty, like an insect as far as they are concerned.

Lastly, I gave the girls Japanese names which I more or less pulled out of a dictionary. Senkou Shougeki was what I came up with from using something like Flash and Crash, while Himatsu, I believe was Splash. Lol. Good times, and hurrah for multi-parters.

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Author Cards

Killer Swarm

Quickplay Spell

Effect: This card can only be activated by selecting 1 face-up Insect-Type monster on your side of the field that contains its name in its effect text or flavor text. Special Summon all copies of that monster from your hand or Deck in the same position as the selected monster. Shuffle your Deck afterwards.

Prolific Insects

Continuous Trap

Effect: When an Insect-Type monster on your side of the field is destroyed and sent to the graveyard as a result of battle, Special Summon 1 Insect-Type monster of the same name from you hand or Deck to your side of the field.

Cannibalistic Nursery

Continuous Trap

Effect: This effect can be activated during either player's turn. Destroy Insect-Type monsters on your side of the field, to draw the same number of cards from your Deck. Also, increase your life points by 500 points for each card drawn with this effect.

Pool Skimmer

Continuous Spell

Effect: When an Insect-Type monster is sent to the Graveyard, return it to its owner's Deck afterwards, and its owner shuffles his/her deck.

Swift Creeper

Wind, Insect, LV 4, 700/1400

Effect: When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, Special Summon 1 Insect-Type monster, other than a "Swift Creeper" from your hand. If you do not have an Insect-Type monster in your hand, reveal your hand to your opponent, to return this card to your hand from your Graveyard.

Disturbed Nest

Dark, Insect, LV 3, 1000/500

Effect: When your opponent's monster attacks, send this card from your hand to the Graveyard to halve the attack of the attacking monster. During a turn this card is Summoned, this card may attack your opponent's Life Points directly.

Giant Desert Scorpion LV 1

Earth, Insect, LV 1, 100/0
Effect: During your Standby Phase, send this card to the Graveyard to Special Summon a "Giant Desert Scorpion LV 3" from your hand or Deck. Shuffle your Deck afterwards.

Giant Desert Scorpion LV 3
Earth, Insect, LV 3, 900/300
Effect: During your Standby Phase, put 1 Poison Counter on this card (3 Max). This card is unaffected by the effect of a Poison Counter from a "Giant Desert Scorpion". When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "Giant Desert Scorpion LV 1", put 3 Poison Counters on this card. When this card attacks a monster, you may skip damage calculation and move 1 Poison Counter from this card to the attack target. When this card is attacked, toss a coin and call it. If you call it correctly, skip damage calculation and move 1 Poison Counter from this card to the attacking monster. During each player's End Phase, for each Poison Counter from a "Giant Desert Scorpion LV 3" on a monster, the ATK/DEF of that monster is decreased by 300 points, and its controller takes 300 points of damage. Also, when that monster attacks or changes positions, decrease the ATK/DEF of that monster by 300 points, and its controller takes 300 points of damage (for each Poison Counter). When the ATK or DEF of a monster with a Poison Counter on it from a "Giant Desert Scorpion" is decreased to 0, that monster is destroyed. During your Standby Phase, send this card to the Graveyard to Special Summon a "Giant Desert Scorpion LV 5" from your hand or Deck. Shuffle your Deck afterwards.

Giant Desert Scorpion LV 5
Earth, Insect, LV 5, 1500/500
Effect: During your Standby Phase, put 1 Poison Counter on this card (3 Max). This card is unaffected by the effect of a Poison Counter from a "Giant Desert Scorpion". When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "Giant Desert Scorpion LV 3", put 3 Poison Counters on this card. When this card attacks a monster, you may skip damage calculation and move 1 Poison Counter from this card to the attack target. When this card is attacked, toss a coin and call it. If you call it correctly, skip damage calculation and move 1 Poison Counter from this card to the attacking monster. During each player's End Phase, for each Poison Counter from a "Giant Desert Scorpion LV 5" on a monster, the ATK/DEF of that monster is decreased by 500 points, and its controller takes 500 points of damage. Also, when that monster attacks or changes positions, decrease the ATK/DEF of that monster by 500 points, and its controller takes 500 points of damage (for each Poison Counter). When the ATK or DEF of a monster with a Poison Counter on it from a "Giant Desert Scorpion" is decreased to 0, that monster is destroyed.

The Spider's Parlor

Continuous Trap

Effect: This card can only be activated when your opponent's monster attacks a face-up Insect-Type monster on your side of the field. After activation, put 3 Web Counters on this card (3 Max) When a monster attacks, move 1 Web Counter onto the attacking monster. A monster with a Web Counter on it cannot attack or change its position. When you successfully Summon a monster with "Spider" in its name, put 1 Web Counter on this card. When this card has no Web Counters on it, this card is destroyed.

Brain-Jacker Wasp - Larvae

Wind, Insect, LV 1, 100/0

Effect: When your opponent's monster attacks this face-down defense position monster, this card becomes an Equip Spell Card, equipped to the attacking monster (no battle damage is calculated). Take control of the equipped monster. The equipped monster cannot attack, change its position, or be Tributed.

Brain-Jacker Wasp - Queen

Wind, Insect, LV 3, 900/0

Effect: While this monster is face-up on your side of the field, you may attack with, change the positions of, and Tribute monsters on your side of the field that are equipped with a "Brain-Jacker Wasp - Larvae". Send this card from your hand to the Graveyard to destroy all monsters on the field equipped with a "Brain-Jacker Wasp - Larvae", and Special Summon the destroyed "Brain-Jacker Wasp - Larvae"(s) face-up to their owner's side of the field. They are destroyed at the End Phase of the turn they are Summoned by this effect.

Jovian Thunder Dragon

Wind, Thunder, LV 6, 2200/1600

Effect: If there are no monsters on your side of the field (excluding face-up Thunder-Type monsters), you can Normal Summon this card without Tribute.

Jovian Two-Mouthed Thunder Dragon

Wind, Thunder, LV 8, 2800/2200

"Jovian Thunder Dragon" + "Jovian Thunder Dragon"

Fusion/Effect: This card can only be Special Summoned from your Fusion Deck by a card effect using at least 1 "Jovian Thunder Dragon". When this card is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard, Special Summon up to 2 "Jovian Thunder Dragon"(s) from your Graveyard to your side of the field.

Jove's Supreme Thunder Dragon

Wind, Thunder, LV 10, 4000/2800

"Jovian Thunder Dragon" + "Jovian Thunder Dragon" + "Jovian Thunder Dragon"

Fusion/Effect: This card can only be Special Summoned from your Fusion Deck by a card effect using at least 2 "Jovian Thunder Dragon"(s). When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, by decreasing this card's ATK by 600 points for the Battle Phase, this card may attack once more during this turn. This card can only attack your opponent's Life Points directly once per turn.

Lightning Nebulous

Wind, Thunder, LV 6, 2400/1200

Effect: This card can be Normal Summoned without Tribute. If it is Summoned this way, it is destroyed at the End Phase of this turn. When this card is targeted by a card effect, destroy that card.

Thunderclap

Continuous Spell

Effect: Each time a Thunder-Type monster is Summoned, change all face-up monsters on the field to defense position (excluding Thunder-Type monsters), and flip all face-down monsters on the field face-up. (Effects are not activated at this time.) Then, decrease the ATK/DEF of all face-up monsters on the field (excluding Thunder-Type monsters) by 100 points times the level of the Summoned Thunder-Type monster.

Transmission Medium

Spell

Effect: Select 1 Thunder-Type monster in your Deck or Graveyard, and add it to your hand. Shuffle your Deck afterwards.

Kill-o'-ampere

Continuous Trap

Effect: When a Thunder-Type monster attacks with an ATK higher than the DEF of a defense position monster, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points. When a Thunder-Type monster battles a Machine-Type monster and inflicts Battle Damage, increase the damage amount by half the ATK of the Thunder-Type monster.

Lightning Fusion

Quickplay Spell

Effect: The activation and effect of this card cannot be negated. Send Fusion Material Monsters listed on a Thunder-Type Fusion Monster Card from your hand or side of the field to the Graveyard. Special Summon the Fusion Monster Card from your Fusion Deck. This is treated as a Fusion Summon.

Jove's Judgement

Spell

Effect: This card can only be activated by discarding 1 Thunder-Type Monster Card from your hand. Destroy all cards on the field, except a "Jove, God of Thunder". Players draw 1 card from their Deck for each Thunder-Type monster they controlled that was destroyed by this effect. You cannot conduct your Battle Phase during the turn this card is activated, unless you control a "Jove, God of Thunder".

Jove's Rule

Quickplay Spell

Effect: Select 1 face-up Thunder-Type monster on your side of the field. Until the End Phase, the selected monster is unaffected by the effects of Spell and Trap Cards.

Jove, God of Thunder

Light, Thunder, LV 8, 3000/2200

Effect: When this card is successfully Summoned, decrease the ATK/DEF of all face-up monsters on the field by 800 points (excluding Machine and Thunder-Type monsters). If your opponent activates a Spell or Trap Card when this card attacks a monster on your opponent's side of the field, the attack becomes a direct attack. Decrease this card's ATK by 800 points until the End Phase of the turn, and this card is unaffected by your opponent's card effects.