Yu-Gi-Oh GX: The American Duelists

Chapter 11 - Changing of the Guard

Ran summons Brain-Jacker Wasp - Queen. The red wasp zips circles around the immense three-headed Thunder Dragon, avoiding the beast's tremendous wings of crackling electrical plasma. The huge black and red-striped dragon sways lethargically under the control of Ran's parasitic wasp larvae and queen combo. All that is left is for Ran to attack to seal her victory. While Ran now controls Senkou's immense dragon, she ignores the chance to send it on the attack against its former master, and instead, she turns to her own wasp queen for the final attack. The small red wasp weaves a course to Senkou's side of the field, where it stings the teary eyed girl in the throat. Senkou falls to her knees in the soft white sand of the isolated beach. Her tears fall on the sand beside her hands, while her profanities and curses fall on the deaf ears of her friends and the American duelist Kyle Jones.

With Senkou defeated, Ran turns her attention from the girl's furious tears to the boy sitting in the arms of a deeply tanned Duel Academia girl. Rasing her duel disk, Ran throws the challenge gauntlet once more without needing to repeat herself. Kyle answers her harsh gaze with the same amused smile as before.

Again, the chance to resolve Ran's feelings is put on hold, as the beautiful pale skinned girl, Miako Himatsu confronts Ran. "You still haven't earned the right to be here, insect-pi." She states with a hostile snip. Paying Senkou's dramatic tears no attention, the pale girl side steps her friend to reach a clear area of beach, where she and Ran lock eyes in a fierce stare down. Miako's expressive black eyes project her animosity onto the attractive, if not slightly unusual looking young woman, Ran Kochou. "My deck's cycles will put yours to shame, Kochou-pi." She snips, ending with a tiny bite and a hardy huff.

Ran answers the girl's unbridled disgust with her armed duel disk. "I don't care how many of you I have to sweep aside: I WILL preserve the memory of Kaiser Ryo-sama!" Ran Kochou versus Miako Himatsu; The second duel for the right to challenge Kyle begins. Each of the girl's duel disk orbs cycles between red and blue, until Miako's stops on red, allowing her to choose who will take the initiative. Choosing herself, the lovely pale-skinned girl draws 6 cards.

"Let's do it." Miako starts her turn by recruiting the field spell, The Amazon, from her deck with the spell card Terraforming. The moment she has the card in her hand, she activates it to convert the entire surrounding beach into a lush rainforest, while the duel field is divided down the center by a brown river of mud between the duelists. Miako sets a monster and taunts Ran. "In the Amazon, lurk unseen dangers and a tangled web of nightmares you can't even begin to fathom, insect-pi." After setting a monster, Miako adds in a falsely cute tone, "You had better watch your step." Her turn ends.

"Draw." Ran begins her turn by examining her hand; paying Miako's attitude and last comment no acknowledgment. "Himatsu-san, you've already seen my scorpions, as well as many of my other insects... Not to mention my swarming techniques and combos." Ran slides The Spider's Parlor and another card aside, as she considers her next play. "You haven't seen these yet though." Ran's eyes drift over her hand to where the snow-white skinned young woman awaits impatiently. "A tangled web of nightmares, huh?" Ran repeats with a smirk. With a slight chuckle, Ran summons her first monster, Mistress Spider. A sleek provocative human-like spider woman, similar in style to Insect Princess, appears on the field with its stats revealed at 1200/1800. The spider woman has the distinct appearance of a teacher or librarian with a stereotypical hair bun and 4 smug yet thoughtful eyes. She completes the appearance wearing a 4-armed sweater only fastened at the top button and a dress skirt that reaches the knees of her 4 stream-lined legs. "I'll show you a tangled web of nightmares." Ran breaths her malicious retort inaudibly.

"Mistress Spider attack!" Ran orders aloud. The lovely spider woman casts her stern matriarchal gaze across the river as she produces a whip of webbing and cracks it down over the monster hidden in the murky brown water. The whip snaps on a small fish, which vanishes in a tiny explosive pop. With the monster destroyed, Ran sets 1 s/t card and ends her turn.

"Drawww..." Miako sings. She doesn't show any signs of concern for Ran's monster, even though she hasn't seen it played yet. After glancing over her newly drawn card, Miako takes a card from her hand and reveals it to Ran long enough for the insect duelist to see that it is a monster card. She returns it to her deck and takes a new monster from her deck, which she reveals to Ran as well, before adding it to her hand. "With The Amazon on the field, once per turn, I can swap out any card in my hand for a card of the same type with Amazon in its name in my deck." Miako shows Ran the monster card a second time; this time pointing out Amazon in its name. She calmly sets a different monster before ending her turn again, without any hint of aggressive play.

"What are you up to?" Ran wonders. Miako's passive play style doesn't match the personality of the brash, spoiled, and often childish girl Ran has become accustomed; a girl Ran sees as popular solely for her fair complexion and her died blonde hair with overpriced hair streaks.

Scowling at the girl, Ran draws a card. "I don't care what you're up to, Himatsu-san: I won't be defeated by you. I won't be defeated by any of you." Ran is determined in mind, yet her hand trembles slightly as she adds the newly drawn card to her hand cards. As she begins to cycle through those cards, Ran receives a sharp pinch to her midriff. Her sleek abs tighten as she grits her teeth to the unexpected pain. The pinch is followed by Ran's life points falling from 4000 to 3400, drawing an unexplained snicker of delight from Miako. Ran rubs her exposed stomach and searches for an answer; an answer she finds quickly enough even without Miako's assistance. The small fish Ran thought her Mistress Spider destroyed during the last turn has partially burrowed between Mistress Spider's body joints. Its plumped body hangs out from under Spider Mistress's sweater like a small growth. Being a user of parasitic monsters herself, Ran is familiar with their similar equip and damage effects. "A parasitic fish?" Ran breaths.

"A vampiric catfish..." Miako corrects her.

Ran ignores both the monster that has lodged itself in her Spider Mistress, and Miako's smugness. She seizes the opportunity to strengthen her field presence by summoning another monster, Daddy Long-Legs Spider. "Spell and trap cards are useless against this monster!" Ran declares while pointing to the newly summoned spider bearing the resemblance of an old man, complete with a walking stick insect for a cane. The human-like spider even complains like a senile old man upon being summoned, and he adamantly refuses to accept any orders from Ran until he has completed his nonsensical rant.

Upon finally completing one of his embellished tales of greatness; specifically the time he single handedly defeated 4 Blue Eyes White Dragons in a single turn, the old man accepts Ran's standing order to attack. He springs across the river in a single bound using his 4 still powerful hind legs. The walking insect cane strikes down over the set monster in the water, as the old spider lands with a thud on a log protruding from the middle of the brown river. Miako's creature rises to the surface of the river, revealing itself as an eel. The water around the irritated monster crackles, and a second later, the eel sends a nasty burst of electricity through the old spider and his stick helper. Daddy Long-Legs Spider is hurled back across the river, where he lands hard beside Mistress Spider. His stick follows, striking him in the back of the head, and Ran's life points fall to 2800.

Miako jokes with a nasty cut to her voice, "Even if your monster wasn't so weak, your attack would have failed. At the nominal cost of 800 life points, I can nullify any monster attack against my Amazon Electric Eel, including when it is attacked while set." Showing its stats at 800/1800, the Electric Eel sparks at the surface of the murky river. Miako generously reveals the rest of her field spell's effect. "Oh, and the Amazon boosts all of my Amazon monsters by 300 points, incase you were wondering, insect-pi."

The old spider complains from where he landed and still lies on the ground, "This is no way to treat your elders. Back in my day, we showed our elders respect; and fear - LOTS of FEAR! Or we got ourselves eaten real quick... That set us straight, believe you and me! I, was personally eaten on no less than 3 occasions in my former youth." Ran ignores her old spider's wheezy rambling to give her full attention to the situation at hand. Miako has made it clear that even if Ran summons a stronger monster than Mistress Spider, 1200/1800 and Daddy Long-legs Spider, 1200/600, it's not getting through Miako's electric eel's boosted defenses or effect. "Dammit!" Ran murmurs through her clenched teeth. "What am I doing? Himatsu-san isn't just another weak duelist I can underestimate. Her and the others are all true elites, and I'm already declaring myself the winner like a stupid newbie." Ran watches Miako's lone electric eel float at the surface of the opaque brown river. The water hums, buzzes, and crackles around it.

"I'm letting them get to me." Ran admits to herself. Her eyes drift around the forest created by Miako's duel disk. Senkou Shougeki, the tan girl with unnatural sandy blonde hair kneels on the opposite embankment to Miako's side. While she's stopped crying, she hasn't gotten up to rejoin Kyle, and she now watches intently; obviously rooting for Ran's defeat after her own humiliating defeat at Ran's hands. Ran forces her gaze to drift to the girl holding Kyle in her arms. The girl with a dark tan, light blonde and streaked hair, and pale, almost white lipstick supports his weight contentedly. Ran's eyes narrow at the site of the peaceful looking girl. Again, Ran's hand trembles. She forces herself to look away, and her narrowed eyes finally find their way back to Miako Himatsu, the pale skinned beauty and Ran's current opponent. Another false blonde with overly elaborate hair streaks, Miako is the only girl of the group without a tan, but despite the one outstanding difference, Ran reminds herself unnecessarily, "They're all the same."

Ran's harsh gaze breaks as she catches her hand shaking beside her. She corrects it by clenching the hand tightly into a fist and taking a deep calming breath. "I have to let it go. I have to stop letting them torment me, or else I won't be able to achieve my goal." The self reminder of why she has come restores her confidence. "That's right! I'm not here for them. I came here for him!" Ran's eye lock on to Kyle. She can practically see Ryo Marafugi's image fading away in Kyle's shadow. Ran blocks the three girls out by projecting all of her animosity onto him and his smiling face. "In order to preserve my love's status here, I must defeat you. I won't be side tracked by these insignificant diversions. And that's all you are to me... now." After changing her host Spider Mistress to defense position, Ran enters her end phase. Ran's life points appear behind her at 2800. "No more stupid mistakes. Himatsu-san, I won't underestimate you and hand you the victory. I'll play intelligently and win with this deck I built myself. Then I'll brush you aside like the insignificant obstacle you are."

"My turn again. Draw." Miako states cheerfully. After drawing a card, Miako activates the effect of The Amazon to cycle a monster from her hand to her deck, and to add a new Amazon themed monster to her hand. She makes a point to cover her cards except for the Amazon part of their names. Miako titters at her obvious attempts to prohibit Ran from seeing her cards and strategies. Pushing the newly added card aside, Miako slaps a monster card down on her duel disk. "I summon Amazon Jau Catfish." A huge yellow-skinned catfish leaps from the brown river, thrashes violently in mid-air, and finally comes crashing back down in the muddy river with a huge splash. It's stats readjust from 1400/1200 to 1700/1500.

"Hmmm..." Kyle sits up attentively. "The Jau catfish is a notorious man-killer in the Amazon; something of a legend, really." Kyle explains to the deeply tanned girl at his side. "Local natives claim that adult Jau catfish can and have leapt into fishermen's boats and dragged fully grown men to their deaths on the river bed."

"That would be correct, Kyle-sama!" Miako sings with great pleasure. "Growing to as much as 180 kilograms, and perhaps much more, the Jau has a bad temperament, and is only one of the many feared catfish of the Amazon." Not wasting a moment of her joy, Miako sends the massive catfish on the offense to reveal its power to Ran. "Now my Jau, attack insect-pi's decrepit old spider."

"Activate trap card!" Ran flips the set card over, revealing her continuous trap, The Spider's Parlor. Webs spew from the large raised holographic trap card; ensnaring the massive fish in webbing, while simultaneously erecting a barrier between the two girls.

On the sidelines, Kyle chuckles at the situation. "Call me crazy, but I don't think a spider's web will hold a massive catfish like the Jau." Miako agrees, and she flips the card on her duel disk face-down. The fish tears out of the web and dives into the river once more, leaving the web divider partially mangled.

Miako laughs at Ran's attempt. "It won't do you any good to put up annoying walls between us insect-pi. I'll tear them down and have my way with you all the same." Again she titters like a showboating child. "I have more than enough removal in my deck to deal with anything I don't like on the field." Miako waves to Ran to start her turn.

Again, Ran draws, and she is hurt by the parasitic fish attached to her monster. The Amazon Vampire Catfish sucks her life points down to 2200, leaving it a bloated growth on her Mistress Spider's side. The insect duelist quickly shrugs the damage off and begins her counter-offensive. "I can do more than hide behind barriers," Ran snips. "Activate, Hive Warfare!" Ran activates a spell card from her hand depicting a swarm of giant red humanoid wasps wearing heavy armor and armed with spears. They assault a hive guarded by humanoid honey bees with only light armor and armaments. Ran reveals 3 monster cards from her hand; 2 copies of Giant Desert Scorpion LV 5 and a Disturbed Nest. Ran discards the monsters to draw three new cards from her deck. She reveals the drawn cards to Miako, including a spell mostly hidden behind 2 spider monsters. "By discarding Insect-Type monsters, I can draw the same number of cards. By revealing those drawn cards, if the only monsters I draw with this effect are insects of a different name, I can draw an additional card for each drawn monster." She draws 2 more cards.

Ran takes a moment to examine her cards. After assessing the situation, she summons one of her newly drawn insect monsters, Fishing Spider - 1500/900. Like the other spiders Ran has played, Fishing Spider bears the resemblance of a human in dress and style. The spider wears a fishing hat adorned with lures, rubber wading boots, and rubber wading overalls. His fishing pole consists of a twig with webbing in place of fishing line. The Fishing Spider doesn't waste any time in setting to work repairing the hole in the web across the duel field. Ran begins to remind Miako of the effect of The Spider's Parlor, but she dismisses the insect duelist's attempt. "I saw for myself, insect-pi!" She insists. "I'm not one of your senile creatures."

"Right." Ran agrees to silence the girl. Then, she explains the effect of Fishing Spider. "Fishing Spider. Once per turn, toss a coin 3 times." Ran chooses her duel disk instead of a coin, and the fisherman spider casts his line into the river. The duel disk orb cycles until stopping on red, then blue, and then red again. Fishing Spider's line jerks with the first red, and he begins to fight to drag in his catch with the second. "If at least 2 of the 3 are heads, I can add 1 card that wasn't destroyed from my Graveyard to my hand." Fishing Spider yanks the oversized card from the river, and he holds his catch up proudly for everyone to see, before letting it shrink and zap into Ran's hand.

"Ugh, that card..." Miako complains after seeing Ran's card, Disturbed Nest.

Ran finishes her turn by setting 4 s/t cards. "Your turn."

"My turn indeed." Miako scoffs while pulling a card off the top of her deck. "Reverse." She proclaims, as she flips Amazon Jau Catfish over on her duel disk. The huge fish unexpectedly bursts from the murky brown depths and comes plodding down on the muddy embankment beside Mistress Spider. The huge fish catches the female spider by the hem of her open sweater, and the two slide into the muddy river, where they both vanish; dragged to the depths by the heavy catfish. "When Amazon Jau Catfish is flip summoned, I'll destroy a monster on your side of the field. I thought I mentioned that?" Miako chuckles while holding a hand to her lips.

Again, the pale skinned girl cycles her hand and deck to add the monster of her choosing to her hand. "Now, let's get rid of that obstacle, shall we?" Miako activates Dragged to the Depths, a spell depicting a ship being dragged to the black depths of the ocean by tentacles. "First, I need to discard a water monster." She discards the little pale yellow fish she just added to her hand. "Now the reward. Hmmm, now let's see... Which do I want to get rid of?" Miako scans the field briefly. "I know! that one!" Miako points to The Spider's Parlor. The spider web across the field is consumed in a pillar of water.

"Activate!" Ran shouts out. She flips over her set Emergency Provisions. The Spiders Parlor and 2 of the set s/t cards shatter to increase Ran's life points by 3000 points; bringing her to 5200.

"Nice save." Miako scoffs. "Your traps gone, which IS what I wanted anyways, and in two turns, I'll get my discarded monster back. So its not like I really care." Miako casts her pointed finger towards Fishing Spider. "Now to attack your monster." In response to her own comment, Miako smirks. "Yeah right. We both know you have Disturbed Nest in your hand." Both Ran's and Miako's eyes narrow. "You really think I'm an idiot, don't you insect-pi? You think I'm such an airhead that I haven't been paying attention to your little tricks? Like I really can't tell that web counters and spiders combo together? Or that you've been dumping cards and drawing my attention to your monsters to try and make me miss something while you build up a critical combo?" Miako huffs and turns her massive yellow catfish face-down once. "Turn end."

Ran draws. Once more the parasitic Vampire Catfish deals 600 points of damage to Ran's life points. But this time, after using its effect, the small fish releases itself from Mistress Spider and drops back into the muddy river, where it vanishes. Miako shuffles the small fish into her deck. "Upon using its effect at your Standby Phase, I can return my Amazon Vampire Catfish to my deck to draw a card." Miako draws a card. Then, she sends Ran a playful wave to commence.

Ran takes a deep forced breath before examining her newly drawn card. The insect duelist's large intense eyes narrow at the sight of the new addition to her arsenal. "The time's not exactly ideal," Ran tells herself, as she examines the field full of monsters, but she summons her new monster all the same. "I summon Recluse Spider." The human-like spider appears as an eccentric and irritated, if not mentally disturbed old woman. Dressed in a yarn shawl, the hunchbacked old spider woman is accompanied by the strangest of accessories; an army of caterpillars that look like assorted mangy cats. The swarm of 9 cat-like caterpillars around the crazed women even meow like cats to the old spider woman, while hissing at everything else on the field. At level 3 and with stats at 2700/300, its appeal is obvious. But, the initial basics of the monster are misleading. 4 caterpillars suddenly freak out at the crowded field, and they bolt into the surrounding forest. The old spider woman protests in tears while her stats fall to 1500. When her stats have readjusted, she begins ranting incoherently while pointing a withered appendage at all of the monsters. Ran comments to Miako's disgusted and annoyed expression. "I think she speaks for herself, but I'd be glad to explain her effect to you, Himatsu-san."

"Don't bother!" Miako balks at Ran's offer. The two ranting and rambling old spiders continue despite the obvious effect they are having on Miako's nerves. Ran, however, seems to have learned to tone out their incessant raving.

"I don't think you're an idiot, Himatsu-san, nor do I have to try and distract you." Ran tells herself without saying a word to Miako. "But, you are childish and emotional. You hate me too much for your own good, and that's your weakness. By setting the personality level to the maximum on certain monster cards in my deck, I can let them provoke you into making stupid mistakes." Her old woman spider begins shrieking at the top of her lungs, and her unsociable caterpillar pets meow in tandem.

"Recluse Spider, attack Amazon Electric Eel!" Ran demands. The old spider squeals at Ran and flips her the middle finger before eventually complying. Her attack proves as strange as she: The old hunchbacked spider woman first grabs one of the content purring caterpillars at her feet; sending it into a fit of furious protest. Casting her gray seemingly sightless eyes across the river, Recluse Spider hurls the caterpillar at Amazon Electric Eel. "Activate, Web Shooter!" Ran activates a set quickplay spell. Daddy Long-Legs Spider strikes a dynamic crouched pose, and he extends two of his four arms towards the eel. After positioning his fingers just right, a blast of webbing shoots from the old spider's wrists. It streaks past the tumbling caterpillar in mid flight and splatters across Amazon Electric Eel, wrapping it in a cocoon of spider webbing. The old spider begins to celebrate, until his extended fingers pop loudly, and his hip cracks even louder. He crumples over with moans of pain, which draws a chuckle from Kyle on the sidelines.

Recluse Spider's caterpillar lands in the face of Miako's cocooned Amazon Electric Eel. A second later, it kicks into a typhoon of stinging poison needles and furious hisses. "So you know, Himatsu-san, monsters with web counters are statless delicacies to my spiders." Ran exclaims.

"Yeah, I figured that much." Miako retorts with a hiss. "Amazon Electric Eel's effect activates in the damage step." She pays 800 life points. However, Amazon Electric Eel still explodes, and the old spider's caterpillar is sent sailing back to the safety of its master's possession. After a graceful landing on its feet, another caterpillar returns from the rainforest, raising Ran's Recluse Spider's attack to 1800. "What the hell!" Miako curses.

"What indeed?" Ran quips. "Recluse Spider doesn't heed any monster's effect. You'd have known that if you'd have asked. The open information disclosure rule IS enforced here, even if not every duelist here follows it."

"I'm aware of the rules, you pest! I don't need to be reminded by someone like you!"

"What rule is that?" Kyle asks to the tan skinned girl supporting him.

"You don't know?" She asks more forcefully than intended, out of surprise. Kyle chuckles at her response.

"I try to keep up with every bit of info I can, no matter how trivial, but a man can't know everything there is to know, you know?" He answers pleasantly with a playful demeanor, but the girl is flustered by his words all the same.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that!" Kyle gives her shoulder a reassuring rub. The tan girl quickly explains, "The rule... It forces, or, more like it states that all duelists must disclose effect monster effects, stats, and all basic information that is open if asked. That includes graveyard data and revealing cards after adding specific cards to hand to prevent cheating." The tall dark skinned girl fidgets. "But, it's a basic rule. Not everyone uses it, or remembers to take advantage of it. And the duel disks already record the information..."

"Which is why I've never heard of it." Kyle hums curiously. "I've been spoiled by the extra features on the new model duel disks, which display open information at the press of a button, so such an old rule is trivial to me." He ponders the rule for a moment. "How clever..." He breaths as Ran proceeds. The tan skinned girl doesn't understand, but she doesn't inquire further either.

"Go fish, Fishing Spider!" Ran shouts. Her duel disk cycles, stopping on blue, red, and then red once more. Again, her Fishing Spider casts his line, then fights to reel in his catch. He recovers a trap from Ran's graveyard, which he displays proudly. Then Ran adds it to her hand. After securing the card, Ran sends Fishing Spider on the offensive. "Attack Jau Catfish!"

The fisherman spider lunges in the water and wrestles with the revealed fish. In the struggle, he tries to slash its belly with his fishing knife, but the massive catfish thrashes just enough to push Fishing Spider back and escape. Ran sets the trap she recovered and ends her turn. Her life points appear behind her at 4600.

The playfulness gone from her white face, Miako draws. The sight of the newly drawn card changes that quickly enough though. Once more, Miako grins like a mischievous kid. "It's over for you, insect-pi." She exclaims. "First, I want to cycle this monster out for another one of these." Miako rotates a card from her hand to her deck and another from her deck to her hand. "Now the fun begins... for me, anyways." The girl brushes her streaked blonde hair from her face. Then, she activates a continuous spell depicting 2 jaguars at a river's banks, fighting over half a dead animal's carcass. Each cat's muzzle is smeared in blood. 2 caimans fight over the other half of the kill on the bank of the river, while several birds squabble over a severed leg in a tree. A swarm of hungry fish fight over the drops of blood landing in the river beneath the branch.

"Now pay attention insect-pi, because I don't want you to feel cheated!" Miako's abrasive tone is obviously meant to guilt Ran, but Ran is unaffected by her opponent's annoyance. Ran listens carefully as Miako explains, "Feeding Frenzy - A continuous spell. This card will remove monsters destroyed by animal-type monsters from play. Also, monsters of the same type as the ones that delivered the kill will gain a compiling 300 attack bonus for each kill by their animal type: Bird, Fish, Reptile, or Beast. No Insects!" She adds forcefully. "Also, for each kill by an animal-type monster I control, I'll gain 300 life points."

Miako removes 3 cards from her hand and sets them one after another on her duel disk. "Keep paying attention. This concerns you." Her comment draws a nasty scowl from Ran, but Miako ignores it to continue explaining her effect. "Amazon Red Piranha - Water, fish, level 2, 800 attack, and 200 defense. When this card is summoned, regardless of what kind of summon, I can special summon any number of Amazon Red Piranhas from my hand." The 3 monsters appear as 3 schools of red bellied fish with mouths of protruding razor sharp teeth. "When an Amazon Red Piranha battles a monster, during the damage step, its attack increases by the original attack of all other Amazon Red Piranhas face-up on my field."

Ran's eyes widen as she realizes what it means against her field of attack position monsters. "That's right." Miako sings while nodding her head. "It means that this turn is your last turn, insect-pi." All 3 piranha schools increase to 1100 attack. "2700, 3000, 3300, 3600, 3900... Their attacks will continue to rise with each kill. Now shall we begin? Or more like end!" She laughs arrogantly as she changes her Jau Catfish to attack position. "Attack, Amazon Red Piranha! Destroy insect-pi's irritating old spider."

The first piranha attacks Recluse Spider and her remaining 3 caterpillars. "It's no good!" Ran breaths, as her eyes scan between the swarm of charging fish and her Disturbed Nest. "11, 5 and a half, plus 16 is 21 and a half. 14, 7, plus 16 is 23..." Ran runs the numbers in her head, but it's no use: Disturbed Nest is useless against these monsters that change stats in the damage step. Just as the fish leap from the water, Ran activates her set trap. "Trap card activate! Cannibalistic Nursery. By destroying an Insect-Type monster on my side of the field, I can draw 1 card from my deck, and I'll gain 500 life points." A massive beetle emerges from the card and devours the old spider woman; possessions and all. The beetle then regurgitates a card for Ran to add to her hand. The piranha swarm is scattered by the loss of an attack target.

"Ick! That card!" Miako cringes at the sight of it. "It won't make any difference in the end. Attack the other old spider." Her piranhas re-target Daddy Long-Legs Spider. As they charge for the spider, Miako repeats what Ran told her earlier. "Spell and trap cards are useless against this monster." She laughs as the piranha swarm leaps from the brown river. The two other schools of voracious fish join in the attack, and the 3 swarms totally devour Daddy Long-Legs Spider. The attack of Miako's fish boosts to 2700, and Ran takes 1500 points of damage to knock her down to 3600. Miako's life points rise to 3500.

"Pocket the old man, insect-pi. Then go ahead and kill that other one." Miako sends her fish to attack. Ran sneers at Miako's orders, but she has to do it none the less. She uses Cannibalistic Nursery to devour her remaining Fishing Spider. After drawing a card, she gains 500 life points to bring her up to 4100. Once Ran has cleared the field of her last monster, Miako's smile returns. "Now I'll take my free shots, and next turn we can finish you off..."

"Not so fast Himatsu-san!" Ran objects. She explains as she cycles through her deck. "When an insect-type Spider is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, and when my field is left clear, I can Special Summon this monster from my hand or deck..." Ran places the card on her field and shuffles her deck. "Widow Spider." Another female human-like spider appears. This one wears a black dress, long black gloves, and a black semi-transparent veil. A large red hour glass shaped bow adorns the back of the dress. The weepy woman pats her closed eyes with a white handkerchief beneath her veil, but 1 eye remains suspiciously dry, open, and aware. Ran points at the Amazon Red Piranha that attacked.

Even before Ran can fully extend her finger, the Widow Spider has begun to make her move; ensnaring the school of fish in a web cocoon. She leisurely reels the pulsating ball to her, and the spider woman administers a kiss to the cocooned ball of fish. An instant later, the white ball stops moving, and she places it behind her for later. "When Widow Spider is summoned, I can equip 1 monster that has attacked during this turn to her as an equip spell. Likewise, when she destroys a monster as a result of battle, the destroyed monster will be cocooned. Once per turn, I can send a cocooned monster equipped to Widow Spider to the graveyard to increase my life points by the highest stat of that monster."

All pretense of pleasantries vanishes. Miako is left positively livid at Ran's foiling of her carefully devised strategy. Her white skin flushes deep pink. Neither remaining Amazon Red Piranha can boost high enough to destroy Widow Spider at 2400/1200, nor can Amazon Jau Catfish. Miako leaves her Battle Phase and flips Jau face-down. She then flip summons the fish, which attempts to drag Widow Spider into the river. Again, the massive beetle devours Ran's monster and regurgitates a card.

Out of frustration of her perfect combo being so thoroughly shattered, Miako activates the quickplay spell, The Draw of Blood as if she had killed all of Ran's monsters. Miako shouts her explanation. "This card can only be activated during a turn a monster is destroyed in battle by an animal-type monster. For each destroyed monster, I'll draw 1 card at the end phase." After explaining the cards effect, she enters her end phase. As she draws 1 card, she complains, "I should be drawing 3 cards right now!" With 2 Amazon Red Piranhas on the field at 1400 each and Amazon Jau Catfish in attack position at 2000 attack, the duel is far from over. Ran's life points have increased to 4600. Miako's life points show behind her at 3500.

Kyle turns slightly to the deeply tanned girl. The sunlight from above gleams off of her glossy pale, almost white, lipstick. "What did you think of her play?"

"It was well played, I suppose... She had all the cards she needed to break Miako-san's combo, so it really is Miako's fault for being so impatient."

"You think so?" Kyle asks. It's obviously hard for the tan girl to acknowledge Ran's worth as a duelist. And despite her point, Kyle is convinced something completely different just transpired. The tan girl doesn't ask, so Kyle doesn't bother explaining himself. Rather, he continues to watch wearing that amused smile of his.

Ran draws. "Amazon Red Piranhas boosts by 800 for each additional copy on the field, so they'll be at 2200. Jau is at 2000. For each fish that destroys a monster, they'll only increase by 300 per kill." Ran analyzes the situation. "While I saved myself last turn, I have to take advantage of my refreshed hand to battle back. This duel isn't over yet, and I have to assume Himatsu-san has a back up plan ready." Ran examines her hand. She has several spells and traps, but only 2 new monsters - Giant Desert Scorpion and Swift Creeper.

Ran summons Swift Creeper. The blur of a flying insect is caught by the wings by the massive beetle from Ran's Cannibalistic Nursery trap. The beetle devours the insect's wings, while Swift Creeper's main body falls into the river. " When Swift Creeper is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon an Insect-type monster from my hand." In spectacular fashion, the field is shaken by the beating of drums while a single bugle sounds out from the forest behind Ran. A massive towering figure slowly emerges from the river. When it has fully risen to the surface of the water, the bugle and drums cut out, and the yet another human-like spider hops back onto Ran's side of the field. This one however is a burly male spider dressed in a green military dress uniform adorned in medals. The thick bodied spider stands at ease, with his 4 thick arms folded behind his back, and his 4 thick legs spread to match the width of his shoulders. For all his prominence and glory, nothing stands out more than his mouth, where 2 impossibly large black fangs hang down to his protruding chest. "Funnel-Web General Spider." Ran introduces the immense and impressive military general. "Level 8, Earth, 3000 attack, and 1500 defense. When this card battles a defense position monster, damage will still be conducted." Ran draws a card to resolve the chain created by Swift Creeper's effect, and her life points rise to 5100.

Ran declares her general spider's attack. The huge hairy spider throws his weight forward in a diving tackle. He catches the heavy yellow catfish in mid-flight and piledrives it into the dirt in front of Miako. Miako guards herself from the sand that is kicked up in her face, even though it is only an effect. After landing, the immense spider stretches the huge fish out in front of Miako, and he plunges his impossibly long black fangs into the fish. They pierce through the fish and penetrate deep Miako's chest, just below her collarbone. She squeals and falls to the ground, where she clasps her hands over chest. Her life points fall by 1000 points, leaving her at 2500. Ran sets 2 s/t cards. Then she ends her turn.

Miako remains on the ground at the start of her turn. She holds herself tightly, while casting a hateful glare through her streaked bangs at Ran and her huge spider monster. She takes a minute to get up, but when she has, she draws and carries on as if nothing happened. "At my second standby phase after activating Dragged to the Depths, my discarded monster returns to my hand, and the spell returns to my deck." Miako shuffles the card to her deck and adds her discarded fish to her hand. Then, Miako cycles her hand and deck to get a specific monster with The Amazon's effect.

"Amazon Red Piranha, attack insect-pi's general spider!" Miako shouts. Ran and the other two girls are stunned by Miako's play. They all watch General Spider counter attack by scattering a cloud of stinging hairs into the swarm of fish. As expected, the attacking swarm is destroyed, and Miako takes another 800 points of damage to bring her life points to 1700. After her suicide attack, Miako reveals a fish from her hand. "I told you insect-pi; The Amazon conceals unfathomable threats you can't even begin to anticipate. Amazon Candiru Asu - This card's effect can only be activated while The Amazon is on the field and only in the battle phase." Miako discards the fish. All of the monsters in Ran's graveyard reveal themselves in front of her. Miako selects Swift Creeper. The flying blur appears in front of Ran, while the river rises until the entire field is obscured in the muddy water of the river.

"What's happening?" Ran asks. The heavy silt of the river makes it impossible to see more than an arm's length ahead of her. Several times, Ran thinks she sees a shadow, or shadows, pass beside her, but she can't be certain. That is, she can't be certain until the water around her begins to churn violently. "What the hell is that?" Ran asks fearfully. She can just barely make out the silhouette of her destroyed Swift Creeper being mobbed by a swarm of fish. "Piranhas?" The swarm suddenly scatters; leaving nothing behind. Unfortunately for Ran, several of the fish find her in the murky depths as they leave the kill. The long voracious fish assault Ran. She screams as they bite into her arms, legs, and body. Once each fish has taken a bite, it begins spinning and fighting to burrow deeper into her flesh. Just as the pain becomes intolerable, Ran finds herself on the embankment once more. She falls to her knees and holds herself while her life points fall by 700 points.

"Now this is interesting!" Kyle states. "To think they'd make those things into a monster card."

"Get up insect-pi." Miako demands. She waits for Ran to stand before explaining, "For each copy of Amazon Candiru Asu I discard, you'll take 700 points of damage, and your monster is removed from play. This is a real monster that can live at some of the deepest depths of the Amazon and whose ferocity and voraciousness rivals the notorious Amazon Red-Bellied Piranhas. They'd be more horrific and infamous if they lived in the shallow waters, seeing as how they eat their kills from the inside out. But, like many poorly understood animals in this world, it's out of sight, and out of mind." To Ran's hurt gaze, Miako states harshly. "That's right, you're not the only one who plays a deck with real life monsters, insect-pi. And it'll only get worse for you. At the end phase of a turn an Amazon Candiru Asu is discarded by a card effect, the monster will return to my hand. Next turn I'll recover another copy to double the damage, and then another, and you'll suffer and take damage each turn without me needing to attack. Call it punishment for breaking my Amazon Red Piranha combo."

Miako leaves her battle phase and tributes her remaining Amazon Red Piranha to set a monster. Then, her turn ends. The discarded Amazon Candiru Asu returns to her hand as her life points show at 1700 against Ran's 4400.

Ran draws. "I have to end this quickly." With only the effects of Amazon Candiru Asu, Miako can beat Ran in 3 turns. Ran glances at her new card. "Sole Survivor?" The spell depicts a single roach standing alone in the middle of a charred city of ruins, while a mushroom cloud hangs overhead against an orange and red sky. "With this card, I can add 1 insect to my hand from my graveyard. It's one less insect in my graveyard for her fish to activate their effects, but that wouldn't be enough." Ran recalls all of the insects she's sent to the graveyard earlier. "I can't stop her like that." Ran eyes the field. "Right now, this is a battle of field power. If I can get out and maintain a field of strong monsters, Miako doesn't have the field presence to stop me, and she'll have to use The Amazon's effect to get other monsters than Amazon Candiru Asu." Ran activates the spell. She takes a moment to choose between Widow Spider and Recluse Spider. "Recluse Spider can be too unreliable, but Widow Spider needs a tribute..." Ran eyes her set card, then she examines her hand cards. "I have this one." Ran chooses Widow Spider to return to her hand.

Ran orders the general's attack. He strikes the set monster by thrusting his huge fangs into the river, but as they come down a massive snake lunges out of the river; catching the huge spider's arm in its mouth. It instantly wraps the Funnel-Web General Spider and binds him on his own embankment. "The Amazon's most famous monster, Amazon Anaconda will negate any attack and subdue the monster totally, leaving it unable to attack or change positions. Each turn it will constrict the life from the sealed monster until the monster is destroyed. At which time, my snake will devour it and heal me by that monster's attack or defense strength."

Ran sets her Giant Desert Scorpion LV 3 as tribute bait to summon Widow Spider next turn. "If I can deal just 700 points more damage, I can finish her with Disturbed Nest." Ran eyes their life points. She has a significant lead at 4400 against Miako's 1700. "I could have summoned Disturbed Nest, but it's too risky to put such a weak monster on the field for anything less than the win. There's no telling what else Miako can pull from her deck with The Amazon's effect." Ran ends her turn.

After drawing a card, the snake constricts the life from her spider. It's level falls by 2. Miako cycles a monster form her hand for another Amazon Candiru Asu. She then summons a an alligator like reptile from her hand. "Amazon Caiman, attack and destroy Ran's tribute fodder!"

The scorpion is destroyed in the crushing jaws of the caiman, but Ran expected it would die. "Trap card activate." Ran reveals 1 of her set cards, a trap depicting a cartoonish insect holding itself in the treads of a boot after being stepped on. "Resilient Pest can only be activated when an insect-type monster is destroyed and sent to the graveyard. I'll special summon it back to my field." The scorpion takes the field once more. Miako's Amazon Caiman's attack boosts by 300 points, and her life points increase by the same amount to bring Miako to 2000.

"Its futile." Miako explains. "Amazon Caiman can flip face-down each turn. When attacked while face-down, I can change it to attack position. During a turn it is flipped face-up, its attack will increase by 400 points. That's 400 with its effect, 300 with The Amazon's effect, and 300 with Feeding Frenzy's effect for 2600. So even if you summon Widow Spider next turn, it will die." Miako activates Amazon Candiru Asu's effect to discard both of them. She removes Ran's Recluse Spider from play.

Once more, the river rises, and Ran is left alone with her dead Recluse Spider. All 9 caterpillars float around it as well. The swarm of amazon catfish come faster than before, and this time, they arrive in larger numbers. Ran braces herself as best she can while the fish ravage her monster. She is the nest target. Again, the fish swarm around Ran and bite into her skin, and they begin to fight to burrow into her body by twisting and spinning. Ran's life points fall by 1400 more points to 3000. After calculating the damage, the river rises, and Ran is released from the pain of their attack. The river's water is fake, but the wet spots around Ran's eyes aren't. She sniffs and wipes her tears away.

Miako laughs. "You should have let my Amazon Red Piranhas finish you in one turn, insect-pi, but you wanted to prolong your suffering. Remember, you chose this." Miako flips Amazon Caiman face-down and ends her turn. Both fish return to her hand.

Ran grits her teeth as she draws. "She tampered with the pain sensors in her duel disk." She tells herself. Her body still aches everywhere she was bitten by the fish. Looking at her newly drawn card, Ran's hurt eyes open wide. The spell in her hand called Devastating Infestation depicts clouds of millions of insects in the sky over a farm. They completely cover the crops and devour it. "Miako's deck relies on the spells and traps to boost her monsters and to cycle the her monsters for the best one for the situation. Devastating Infestation will destroy all spells and traps on the field. Without the Amazon and Feeding Frenzy, Miako is helpless." Ran activates the spell by discarding Disturbed Nest. "It's over Himatsu-san!" Ran shouts confidently. The entire rainforest is engulfed in clouds of indistinguishable insects. Miako's eyes bulge as the horrifying realization sets in. Ran watches the beetle from her Cannibalistic Nursery and her set s/t card get devoured in a matter of seconds. The field shatters, returning them to the isolated beach.

"No! This can't be!" Miako shouts. Even her immense anaconda is devoured by insects. The freed Funnel-Web General Spider stretches his thick hairy legs. After clearing both s/t card zones. The swarm flies off across the island. Ran tributes her scorpion to summon Widow Spider.

"General Spider attacks Amazon Caiman." Miako has no choice but to flip summon it. It's attack boosts form 1600 to 2000, but it's not enough. Funnel-Web General Spider tackles the reptile just as it did to Miako's Amazon Jau Catfish. Miako braces herself. Once more, the General Spider plunges its fangs in and through Miako's monster, and they sink into her. She shrieks as they puncture her arms. Both arms fall limp at her sides. Her life points fall to 1000.

"Widow Spider finish it with your kiss of death!" Ran demands. The spider leaps and lands in front of Miako. She deliberately draws herself up to her full height; towering over Miako. Miako trembles under the spider's shadow, but she can't resist. The spider woman pulls back her veil with a pair of her hands, while she places her other pair of hands on the girl's shaky shoulders. Drawing her closer, the spider purses her lips to Miako's neck, then lets her two long fangs sink deep into Miako's throat. Miako's eyes and mouth gape wide open, but she doesn't utter a sound. Her life points fall to 0.

After delivering her bite, the surprisingly attractive Widow Spider wipes her mouth with her white handkerchief once more and readjusts her black veil before bounding back to her side of the field and vanishing along with General Spider.

The duel ends with Ran as the victor, but Miako refuses to accept it. She shouts furiously while opening and closing her hands to pump feeling back into her arms. "I don't care if you did beat me! You don't belong here, you disgusting pest! This place is off limits to your kind!"

"Move aside." Ran demands coldly.

"Never!" She retorts.

"I guess it's my turn?" The final of the three girls states. "Don't worry Kyle-sama. I'll deal with our pest problem."

"No, that won't be necessary." He answers. "She came all the way down here to challenge me, and after seeing everyone else play, I'm in the mood to give it a go."

"I didn't come here to play!" Ran snaps at him. But, he ignores her. After rising to his feet, Kyle stretches and gathers his custom black duel disk from its protective bag.

"Sorry, but any grievances you have with our guest will have to wait until after I've met her challenge." Kyle tells the dark skinned girl. She wants to argue with him, but instead, she joins the other girls in pointing out to Ran that now she'll get what she deserves. Miako finally willingly steps back to let Kyle deal with Ran.

"So, Miss Ran Kochou, is it? Before we play... Duel," He corrects himself, "Why don't you tell me about this man you once idolized? Kaiser Ryo, was it?"

"It's love, not idol worship!" Ran huffs irritably.

"He must be quite the man for such a fashionable pretty girl as yourself to put her precious young life on hold to wait for him. So where is he now?" Kyle asks rhetorically. "Somewhere beyond this tiny island? Somewhere where he is no longer forced to choose between a such a small selection of foolish little girls who fancy him a celebrity, but they don't know anything about him or care to find out what drives him through life?"

"Enough talk!" Ran snaps. She refuses to accept Kyle's smug attitude any further. Unfortunately for her, Kyle is more interested in chatting with her than jumping straight into a duel with her.

"I was in his position once; a king among paupers. It grows tiresome quickly. The idolization is novel and even fun for a bit, but it never forms any lasting rewards." Kyle shakes his head while holding his hands out to expose his open palms to Ran. "The emptiness we face while in numbers rivals that of truly being alone. Of course, you understand that, don't you... Ran?" Kyle smiles smugly as he recites a famous quote about loneliness in crowds to Ran. Afterwards, he shakes his head and laughs. "You should give up your pursuit of idols and dreamy idealistic love for something real, even if it isn't perfect. Just have some fun in life."

"I refuse to abandon my love to be like you and these loose women!" Ran retorts. Her comment draws the cross gazes of the three girls, but Kyle defuses the situation with a smile and a light shake of his head.

"Now, now. Don't judge them so harshly for enjoying their youth." Kyle tells her, adding a gentle wave of his hands. "They're not something dirty or evil for trying to get the most out of life that they can. If anything, you're the ugly thing here that deserves contempt. The way you live your life; you're like one of those insects you fancy so much; ugly like a spider which waits its entire life to live." Ran's eyes narrow at his harsh criticism, but even her intense gaze isn't enough to halt Kyle's verbal assault. "Humans aren't insects, and they have the capacity for greater rewards in life than surviving by waiting for a chance to live. Insect Ran," He states her nickname forcefully. "If you wait too long, lost in your dreams of a wondrous life and romance, you're going to wake up one day in an old age, still alone and waiting like one of those things you love so dearly. Dreams are nothing more than dreams."

"Shut up!" Ran screams. Her body trembles under the soft and almost sympathetic gaze of the young man. Being pitied by someone like him is more than Ran can handle. She has grown thick skinned to the cruelty of other girls who don't understand her, but she has no defense against this kind of treatment from a member of the opposite sex.

Despite her protest, Kyle continues in a soft voice. "Ugly, and alone; still waiting for something that was never truly yours to obtain..."

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!" Ran raises her duel disk, and her voice, in challenge. But still, Kyle continues. His compassionate eyes hold over Ran; eating away at her from the inside out.

"Don't waist this fashionable pretty girl."

"Dammit! I said shut up! Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" Ran demands; screaming at the top of her lungs.

To her protests, this time, Kyle sighs and silently shakes his head. "Very well. If you won't listen to reason, as stupid infatuated women seldom do, I'll have to play the role of the villain and force you to use that gray matter between your ears for something other than preventing your skull from caving in." Kyle arms his duel disk. As he opens a deck box, he tells Ran, "I'll accept your duel challenge under one condition." He pauses to let what he is saying sink into Ran's head. "You must ante the thing you hold most dear to you." Again, he gives her a moment to let it register. Ran's eyes flicker at the notion, but she reserves herself, letting her nasty retort build at the tip of her tongue, until she has heard more. Kyle continues, "If you lose, you must become my new play thing, my toy, and my own personal number one fan." The details of the proposition draw shocked and irritated glances from the three girls, but none compare to the incredulous look on Ran's face. She is positively livid at the preposterous proposition.

None the less, Kyle continues. "In exchange, I will offer more than the chance to preserve the memory of your love's idol status here; which IS what you said you desired, isn't it? If I lose, I will take you to be with your love at the pro-league level."

This time, Ran can't contain her reaction. "What?" She breaths inadvertently.

"I haven't told anyone else, but I got the news before coming here, to Duel Academia. My pro-league application has finally been accepted." All three of Kyle's fangirls sigh in shock. He shrugs at their surprised reaction. "Even if it hadn't been accepted this time, I'd have been accepted by the talent scouts upon defeating Duel Academia's entire student body while using my self-sacrificing duel style." He waits to see how Ran will respond. When she doesn't, he pushes forward to convince her. "When I go to the pro-league, I will negotiate a chance for you to enter the pro-league as well. I am a several time world champion whose dueling record exceeds that of this man you claim to love, after all. It gives me a negotiating platform. And from seeing your duels today, it's obvious that your duel style would be a popular crowd draw, which makes the negotiation that much easier."

Ran is uncertain of how to answer Kyle's proposal. She wants to accept. The chance to see her love again is worth the risk of being stuck as Kyle's arm candy for awhile. Ran is confident she can win, but Kyle's reputation as a master of summoning Exodia is already a school legend. If he can truly draw all of the pieces of Exodia in his first turn consistently, like she's heard, then this whole proposition is a trap. Kyle sees her thoughts in her eyes, and reacts to them accordingly. "I can see your heart struggling with your head. To close the deal, I'll offer you one last advantage; something I've never done for anyone." Pausing a moment to make sure he and Ran meet eye to eye, he states, "I won't run Exodia in our duel."

His choice of advantages delivers the shock value he intended for it to. Ran and the other three girls all gasp at his offer. The three girls immediately break into shocked whispers."

"This extra condition will come with an extra risk, though. If I win, Ran Kochou, you will not only be my willing toy for as long as long as I feel like keeping you, but you will also become my only toy. That means that your life, your freedom, and your dreams will all belong to me, as my exclusive property. You'll have no choice but to willfully do your best to take the place of these three."

The three girls protest fiercely, but Kyle merely answers them with an indifferent laugh. "Like I said, I've done this song and dance before. It's been fun, but I've grown tired of your constant bickering, and scheming, and general nastiness towards your peers and each other. Like all bad marriages of fun and flaws, it must come to an end eventually." Again, he snickers.

They cry and protest that they can change or stop, but he tells them seriously, "Don't disgust me with such a lowly act. We all have to face our fates someday, and you three will stand their and accept this fate with your heads held high; not like the nasty vicious children you have been." They cry, but the deeply tanned girl quickly silences herself. She stands angrily behind him, saying nothing more. Kyle replies to her example, "That's good." His eyes turn to the others. Senkou has difficulty not crying, but tries to bite her lip. Miako trembles with fury, and she can hardly keep her furious eyes off of Ran. "Thanks you for your time." Kyle exclaims sincerely. "Only mankind can choose how it will face fate. To die as cowards, or to die on our feet with pride. Even to face small losses in such a way, shows the strength of humanity. We can't challenge fate, but we can accept it on our own terms."

After a momentary silence, Kyle tells the girls, "I'm not so cruel as to dismiss you or ask you to stay. You may each do as you please." Miako turns her back on Kyle and Ran, and the pale skinned beauty storms off. Senkou chases after her; finally balling. The last girl bows as graciously as she can, despite her objections, and she quickly follows the other two. When all three have left, Kyle turns to Ran once more. "So how shall it be, Miss Kochou?"

Ran holds her disk to her heart. "I'll accept your challenge, and I'll force you to reunite me with my love."

"I'm sorry, but I'll do no such thing." Kyle replies sternly. "Even without Exodia, it's my fate to win." Kyle reveals the 5 pieces of Exodia. Once Ran has seen them, he slides the cards back into his deck box. He rearranges several cards in his deck with his extra cards, and after a moment, he returns the left of extra cards to his deck box and inserts his deck into his duel disk.

Ran also exchanges several cards in her deck. The quickness of both of their deck change ups shows that they have their decks and back up strategies memorized by heart. "Ladies first." Kyle offers. Ran merely huffs at his comment and draws. Their duel begins immediately with Ran accepting the initiative.

"What will you use without Exodia?" Ran asks to Kyle's choice in her head. His calm demeanor shakes her confidence, but she catches herself hesitating. "No, this is how he plays. The game is as much of a mind game as it is a physical game for him." Ran forces herself to stare him down eye to eye. "If I hesitate, I'll lose."

Ran summons Giant Desert Scorpion LV 3 and uses Level Up to summon LV 5. With the fully grown scorpion at her command, she activates Killer Swarm to summon forth 2 more fully grown Giant Desert Scorpions. The insect army awaits its chance to strike. "While they can't use their effects immediately, he'll be hard pressed to deal with 3 monsters in a single turn." She examines her hand, where she holds the huge centipede, Devil Dozer atop her remaining cards. "And if he attacks, he'll only be playing into my hand." With her field set up, Ran sets 1 s/t card, and she ends her turn.

Kyle nonchalantly draws. After giving his hand a look over, he sets 1 monster and 2 s/t cards. Then, he ends his turn.

"My turn, draw!" Ran shouts. "Standby, all of my scorpions will gain 1 poison counter." Each scorpion's tail collects a single drop of poison at its stinger. Despite what should be an intimidating situation, Kyle still stands comfortably awaiting Ran's actions. Uncertain of how he'll respond, Ran plays it safe for the turn, at least until she has seen a card from his deck. "Attack, Giant Desert Scorpion!" She orders. The first scorpion marches across the field and delivers its sting to the set monster. The monster is revealed.

"You've attacked my set Persecuted Magician." Kyle explains as the dark attribute monster flips over. The tortured kneeling man is bound in heavy chains, and his stomach is cut open. Having sustained already fatal wounds, he can't handle even 1 more, which is reflected in his stats of 0/0. "So, what now?" Kyle asks. Will you destroy my monster by battle to clear the way to my life points, while risking my set card, or will you squander your battle phase playing cautiously and deliver poison counters to my magician?"

Ran grits her teeth. She knows he is trying to bait her into acting according to his agenda, but she still doesn't know which choice he'd prefer. While she can deal 1500 points of damage with poison counters, she can deal 3000 points of damage in battle. "He set that 1 monster knowing I'd have 3 or more monsters, so that card has to be a trap to protect his life points from battle damage." She nods slightly; certain that is the case, but at the moment she raises her hand to choose to not use her scorpion's effect, another thought pushes its way into her head. "He's bluffing. He has no means to stop my swarm tactics, so instead of setting several cards as bluffs, he's set just one to make it look like it is the answer he needs." Again, she nods slightly, but this time, she's not as confident in her conclusion.

"I'll get my effect no matter how he dies." Kyle points out.

His comment seems to be meant to make her decision easier, but instead, it further complicates the choice. "Why would he mention the effect?" Ran asks herself. "Unless he wants to draw my attention to it..." In her attempts to decide, Ran forgets to act confident. Her eyes reveal her uncertainty like flashing neon signs in the dark. It draws a slight snicker and a sigh from Kyle.

"No, I have to act! What would I have done if he was anyone else?" She asks herself. She lets her actions answer. "Destroy him!" She demands. The scorpion kills the chained half naked man with a single sting. Kyle sends it to the graveyard. Then, he sends 2 more dark attribute monsters to the graveyard, including a strange level 3 Magic-User. Ran recognizes the play style. She's heard how he uses these monsters to thin his deck and to draw out key cards. "I won't fall for it." She insists silently before sending her remaining scorpions on the offense.

Kyle shakes his head as he activates his set trap, Hallowed Life Barrier. "They were both wrong answers." He states to Ran, who hasn't uttered a single word regarding her uncertainty to him. Kyle discards a card to activate the effect. Ran's scorpions fail to deliver a single sting through the impenetrable barrier of light. Ran ends her turn; flustered by his comment and her failure to expect this.

As Kyle draws, he explains to Ran, "You think too much. That'll cost you everything just as quickly as not thinking at all."

"Psssh! I don't need your lectures." Ran exclaims.

"But you need the last word?" Kyle asks. To his comment, Ran is forced to bite her lip. Kyle passes the chance to further criticize Ran, and he reveals the card he discarded for Hallowed Life Barrier. "Masked Executioner - Makyura. By removing this card in my graveyard from play, I can activate trap cards from my hand during this turn. Those traps will also be removed from play after activation." Kyle pockets the card. Then, he reveals a spell depicting a war ravaged town, seemingly from WWI. Several tanks patrol a small ruined town, while several young allied troops fresh to the conflict join several weary veterans behind a debris wall. The young troops bring fresh supplies which the vets use to plot their offensive. Kyle explains that this card allows a player to equalize the field disadvantage, which makes it ideal in drawing answers for devastating swarms. He will draw 1 card for each monster Ran has over him. He draws 3 cards.

From his hand, he activates a continuous spell called Ghosts of Nostalgia - Jacks. The card depicts several kids, seemingly from the early 1900's in America, playing jacks on the sidewalk outside an old storefront. Their feet and legs become more transparent the farther down on their bodies. Several semi-transparent children play behind Kyle like ghosts from a generation past, still frozen in a world that hasn't changed. The image sends a chill down Ran's spine. Something about the scene of ghostly children playing so innocently haunts her.

"He's a grim history buff, so why would he play such an innocent card?" She asks herself while rubbing away the goose bumps on her bare arms.

"Ever played?" Kyle asks. When Ran doesn't answer, he shrugs and admits, "Me neither. But it looks fun doesn't it? In a throw back to the good old days sort of way." Still, Ran says nothing, so Kyle resumes his play without trying to force her to chat with him. He uses his duel disk to roll a virtual die. After the die is cast, he activates a continuous trap from his hand. This trap depicts several young men playing a RPG board game. The boy at the head of the group sits confidently as he watches two die spinning on their corners in front of him. A bubble over the table shows beneath the table where the boy holds the leg of the table and shakes it. "The Game Master's Critical Roll Technique." Kyle answers her inquisitive gaze. "To make things simple, lets just say it converts any die roll's success rate to 5 to 1, rather than 1 to 5, at the cost of 600 life points per use."

The die lands on 3. Kyle uses the pre-paid effect to tip the die over once so 1 faces up. Again, Kyle explains. "Jacks allows either player to play a game of Jacks on their turn, during their Main Phase. It's rather simple. Onesies, twosies, and so on, and so forth, until we reach sixies. For each successful roll, we get to draw 1 card, and we get another chance. Botch a roll, and you must discard a card while your turn simultaneously ends. When a player wins, the card is destroyed."

A red semi-transparent ball falls eerily slow in front of Kyle. After bouncing once at the same slow speed, Kyle swipes his right hand beneath the ball. His motions too appear as if in slow motion, giving him a ghostly air as well. When the ball drops again, he extends his right arm and reveals the jack in his hand as a card between his two forefingers. "When?" Ran asks. She was so mesmerized by the slow speed of Kyle and the falling ball, she never saw him draw.

Kyle simply responds with a quiet smile. "Still my turn." He reminds Ran. He rolls again using his duel disk and pre-pays as insurance. The die lands on 1. Once more, he tips it with his trap's effect to get the necessary 2. Again, Kyle swipes under the ball's bounce and ends up holding 2 cards. He continues to roll and adjust until he has rolled all numbers from 1 to 6. Each time, Ran looks closer for the answer. She finally catches it, in the brief moment after catching the ball, his hand meets his duel disk at his side and he draws the precise number of cards he needs. Even as a needless trick with no baring on the game, it shows once more that he is not playing on the same level as other duelists. With the final number rolled, The card destroys itself. "That was a fun diversion wasn't it?" Kyle jokes. He fans out his hand of 10 cards. "Now..."

Kyle activates his continuous spell, Overstock. "With this effect, when I cycle a card from my hand to my deck, shuffle, and then draw, I'll draw 1 additional card." He follows the play with a Magical Mallet to cycle 3 cards from his hand to his deck. He draws 3 new cards and an additional card. A bead of sweat runs down the side of Ran's face. She knows he is getting closer and closer to completing the combo he is striving for. Even though Exodia is not in his deck, his play stye moves cards at an alarming rate. Between his hand, his graveyard, and his field, he has gone through half of his deck in a single turn. Kyle activates yet another Magical Mallet. He sends 2 cards away and draws 3 new ones. In the most confident and emotionless voice Ran has ever heard, Kyle states bluntly, "And now my fashionable pretty opponent, you die."

From his hand of 9 cards, Kyle reveals an effect monster, the Head of Exodia. "What the hell is this?" Ran protests.

"If this was a real duel, this would be your defeat." Kyle answers bluntly. Kyle summons the monster. The head of Exodia takes the field as only a phantasm of its true self. "But even in this farce of a duel, without the true Exodia, you're defeated. This is the Spiritual Embodiment of Exodia, the essence of all otherworldly energies of the great sealed god. Each piece is so great it exists even on this plain of existence." Kyle casts his stern gaze over Ran. "It was always you fate to lose, just as it is mine to not lose." Kyle activates the effect of the Spiritual Embodiment of Exodia. The head bellows. It's chilling cry freezes Ran's skin. From his hand, Kyle summons the remaining 4 pieces of the sealed monster. Each ghostly semi-transparent limb takes the field in its proper place. "Attack." Kyle declares.

"No! That's impossible! The pieces... They aren't powerful enough!" Ran looks pleadingly to her monsters which stand ready to intercept.

"There's no negotiating. This is fate." The ethereal god reveals that even as it stood as a whole on the field, it is still nothing mote than 5 segregated pieces in spectral form. The right hand attacks first, delivering a direct attack on Ran's life points. The ghostly hand passes right through her monsters and over her like a chilling wind. The hand is followed by a foot from above that passes through her and the ground. The other hand and foot follow, and the assault is completed by the head. It screams at Ran, and her life points fall by 1000 points more. Her life points recalculate to 2200.

Kyle rubs his chin, as he examines the trembling girl. "I see. I expected a reaction." After delivering 1800 points of damage to Ran's life points without resistance, Kyle activates a quickplay spell from his hand, Centrifugal Evacuation Device. The field begins spinning rapidly, and all of the cards on the field are pulled away from the field. "This card will return all cards on the field to our hands in this order. Kyle points to the head of Exodia, which is torn from the field and returns to his hand. "My card, then your card." Ran looks to her field where she has 2 s/t cards set and her 3 level 5 scorpions. She returns Resilient Pest to her hand. Kyle sends another piece of Exodia to his hand, and Ran is forced to return her other set s/t to her hand. The field continues to spin, and Kyle returns all of his Exodia pieces to his hand to clear Ran's field. The final cards to be returned are Kyle's The Game Master's Critical Roll Teshnique trap and his Overstock spell. Ran has nothing more to return, but the card forces all of Kyle's cards to return to his hand. Once the field has completely cleared, the card destroys itself, and the field stops spinning.

"It's even exchange and then some." Kyle tells Ran, but he quickly reminds her, "With the summoning of the Spiritual Embodiment of Exodia - Sealed Exodia, all pieces are summoned in at that time." He activates a trap card from hand depicting a stage magician appearing on stage with a poof of smoke. "The Magician's Summoning Illusion. By removing from play 1 magic user in my graveyard, I can summon a magic user from hand with the same level." Kyle reveals the Spiritual Embodiment of Exodia - Sealed Exodia, once more. All of its pieces follow. "Attack." Kyle states once more. Again, Ran takes 1800 points of damage. She is left with only 400 life points against Kyle's 400 life points.

Kyle holds up 1 of the cards from his hand. "This card is your future Ran. Just as I'm above winning and losing, this duel and the fate revealed in this card will determine more than a win or loss for you. Are you ready to accept your fate, or will you resist it to the end?"

Ran doesn't answer, Kyle's question, but her eyes show what's on her mind. She is badly shaken by the massive damage she's suffered in one turn, but she is determined to win. Kyle elaborates, "This card is your fate. If you resist fate and loose, this card will be the evidence of your futile struggles; your misguided belief in love with a school idol, and your dream that you will someday be noticed and accepted by him will be forever crushed. However, if you accept your fate, this duel will end immediately with you as the loser. While you must accept the consequences of losing either way, if you submit, I won't force you to see this card, and then you may continue to dream and believe in your futile love." Kyle holds the card out firmly. "Now choose, Ran. How will you end this?"

Ran's body shakes uncontrollably. The incomplete god fills her with a terrible sensation, but more so, the fate of the card turns her stomach. "No, this is a stupid trick he's using!" Ran protests in her head. "This is the kind of unfair man he is; to try and make me give up hope and to shake my confidence." Despite her firm protests in her heart, the scenario Kyle described hasn't been lost on her. In that card lies Ran's fate according to Kyle. He has proclaimed his victory, and with her field cleared, she cannot deny she is helpless to react to anything he pulls. Still, she can't give up her will to fight, or her belief that she can win. Ran shouts her answer. "I won't let your stupid games shatter my confidence! And, I won't let you trick me into forfeiting as long as there is the chance that card can't defeat me." Ran points at his weak monster. "Next turn, you're going to lose."

"Do you really believe that?" Kyle asks.

"I won't forfeit."

Kyle watches her sternly. Her expression is completely serious. She has staked everything on her belief that he is only playing mind games. Kyle can't help but laugh slightly. Watching Ran, he smiles with a slight air of amused nostalgia, if not a bit of sadness. "I forgot what it was like to be stupid and in love." To Ran's surprise, Kyle returns the card to his hand. "It's too cruel a fate to shatter a maiden's dreams of futile love." With those words, he tributes all 5 monsters to summon 1 of the monsters he pitched to the graveyard by the effect of Persecuted Magician in the first turn. "The Illusionary Magician is summoned by offering all magic user-type monsters on the field. Its attack is equal to the sum of the attacks of all tributed monsters."

Ran is faced down by a cloaked monster with an attack of 1800. "Illusionary Magician, finish it." Kyle orders without a hint of emotion. Ran can't stop the cloaked monster's attack. In the last second, Kyle reminds her, "It's only an illusion." The monster vanishes and Exodia's head is summoned once more. This time it charges forward, opening its mouth to consume Ran. She clenches her eyes closed tightly, but the vision of terror finds her even in her head, as she is devoured by Exodia's disembodied head. When she opens her eyes, she finds her life points have depleted, and the duel is over.

"I lost?" Ran utters. The defeated girl falls to her knees.

Kyle approaches her and kneels before her. Lifting her chin, he tells her, "Don't make that pouty face. It ruins your unusual beauty." He runs his thumb over her lips and tells her, "Now you must own up to your loss." With a deviant smile, Kyle states, "I'll make you forget all about Kaiser what's his name."

Ran pulls her face from his hand. "I won't forget him."

"Sure you will. And you're face agrees with me." Ran's cheek flush deep pink. It draws an amused chuckle from the young man. "I wonder how close you came to your idol? Did you ever get to be this close to him?" He asks as he brings Ran's face back to his. Their eyes are so close that their reflections are all that show. "Did you ever get to touch him, to hear his heart beat, and feel his breath on the back of your neck?" Kyle blows softly against the small braid hanging over Ran's ear.

The flustered girl shakes her head and protests. "Kaiser Ryo-sama is the only one for me. Even if I have to play your stupid game..." Ran clenches her teeth tightly.

Kyle flicks the small braid, then turns her head to face him once more. Even though Ran resists, she's not nearly as strong as him. She tries to keep her eyes off of him, as it is all he can't control, but his confident eyes draw her in. "Reality is so much more pleasant than a fantasy, especially a fantasy that can never come true. Let go of the fantasy that's only causing you needless pain and isolation, and live in the moment. Enjoy what you have right in front of you."

Ran tries to resist, but she's taken in by his confident eyes that tell her body to surrender, while her mind screams to her to fight. She apologizes to the memory of Ryo as Kyle steals her first kiss. A single tear builds at the corner of her closed eyes.

Whispering to her lips, Kyle utters. "From now on, you'll be my insect-pi." He chuckles. "I'll make you as tainted and dirty as me."

Chapter End

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Author Cards

Ran Kochou's 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.

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.

Hive Warfare

Spell

Effect: Discard any number of Insect-Type monsters from your hand to the Graveyard. Draw the same number of cards you discarded for this effect. If the only Monster Cards you draw are Insect-Type monsters with names other than those of the discarded monsters, reveal all drawn cards to your opponent, and draw 1 additional card for each drawn Insect-Type Monster Card.

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.

Mistress Spider

Earth, Insect, LV 4, 1200/1800

Effect: While this card is face-up on your side of the field, face-up Spell and Trap Cards on your side of the field cannot be destroyed by your opponent's card effects. When this card battles a monster with a Web Counter on it, the ATK/DEF of that monster becomes 0 for the damage step. This card cannot have a Web Counter put on it.

(Art: A human-like spider, similar in style to Insect Princess, in the form of a woman school teacher. The 4 eyed spider woman wields a whip made of webbing, and her hair is tied in a stereotypical librarian bun.)

Widow Spider

Earth, Insect, LV 6, 2400/1200

Effect: Special Summon this card from your hand or Deck when an Insect-Type monster on your side of the field with "Spider" in its name is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, and you have no monsters on your side of the field. Shuffle your Deck afterwards. When this card is successfully Summoned, select 1 face-up monster on the field that has attacked during this turn, and equip it to this card as an Equip Spell Card. When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, equip it to this card as an Equip Spell Card. Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can send 1 monster equipped to this card to the Graveyard to increase your Life Points by an amount equal to the ATK or DEF of that monster. When this card battles a monster with a Web Counter on it, the ATK/DEF of that monster becomes 0 for the damage step. This card cannot have a Web Counter put on it.

(Art: A human-like spider in the form of a widowed woman. The 6-eyed spider woman wears a black partially transparent veil to hide her face, while dabbing at her 1 wide-open eye beneath the veil with a white handkerchief. Her black dress has a red hour glass shaped bow on its back.)

Fishing Spider

Water, Insect, LV 4, 1500/900

Effect: Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you may toss a coin 3 times. If 2 of the 3 results are heads, select 1 card that was sent to your Graveyard without being destroyed, and add it to your hand. When this card battles a monster with a Web Counter on it, the ATK/DEF of that monster becomes 0 for the damage step. This card cannot have a Web Counter put on it.

(Art: A hairy white human-like spider in the form of a male fisherman. He wears a large fisherman's vest, thigh-high rubber boots, waterproof overalls, and a hat full of lures. His fishing rod is a twig with webbing as the line.)

Recluse Spider

Earth, Insect, LV 3, 2700/300

Effect: Decrease this card's ATK by 300 points for every monster on the field other than this card. This card is unaffected by the effects of Monster Cards, other than this card. When this card battles a monster with a Web Counter on it, the ATK/DEF of that monster becomes 0 for the damage step. This card cannot have a Web Counter put on it.

(Art: A tan human-like spider in the form of an extremely old shut-in woman. Her 6 grey eyes stare in opposite directions, and her mouth hangs open in a crazed grin. She's surrounded by a bunch of mangy caterpillars that look like cats.)

Daddy Long-Legs Spider

Earth, Insect, LV 4, 1200/600

Effect: This card is unaffected by the effects of Spell and Trap Cards. When this card battles a monster with a Web Counter on it, the ATK/DEF of that monster becomes 0 for the damage step. This card cannot have a Web Counter put on it.

(Art: A grey human-like spider in the form of an extremely old man. His 8 eyes are foggy and gray-white, as is his beard and the sparse hair line around his bald head. He stands with the aid of a walking stick insect which he uses as a cane.)

Funnel-Web "General" Spider

Earth, Insect, LV 8, 3000/1500

Effect: When this card attacks with an ATK higher than the DEF of a defense position monster, inflict the difference as battle damage. When this card battles a monster with a Web Counter on it, the ATK/DEF of that monster becomes 0 for the damage step. This card cannot have a Web Counter put on it.

(Art: A hairy brown human-like spider in the form of a burly, highly decorated military general. He wears a green military dress jacket as well as matching dress cover hat. Stands at ease; with his hands behind his back. His two enormous black fangs hang out of his mouth.)

Web Shooter

Quickplay Spell

Effect: You can only activate this card while you have a face-up Insect-Type monster with "Spider" in its name, on your side of the field. Select 1 face-up monster on the field that can have a Web Counter put on it, and put 1 Web Counter on it.

Devastating Infestation

Quickplay Spell

Effect: This card can only be activated by discarding 1 Insect-Type monster from your hand. Destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on the field.

(Art: A crop is ravaged by an unfathomable swarm of insects.)

Resilient Pest

Trap

Effect: You can only activate this card when an Insect-Type monster on your side of the field is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. Special Summon the destroyed monster to your side of the field.

(Art: A cartoonish insect hides in the groove between the treads of a man's boot after being stomped on.)

Sole Survivor

Spell

Effect: Select 1 Insect-Type monster in your Graveyard, and add it to your hand.

(Art: A single roach stands alone in the middle of a charred city of ruins, while a mushroom cloud hangs overhead.)

Miako Himatsu's Cards:

Feeding Frenzy

Continuous Spell

Effect: Increase the ATK of all Bird, Fish, Reptile, or Beast-Type monsters on the field by 300 points times the number of monsters destroyed as a result of battle by a monster of the same type (Bird, Fish, Reptile, or Beast). When a Bird, Fish, Reptile, or Beast-Type monster destroys a monster as a result of battle, increase its controller's Life Points by 300 points, and the destroyed monster is removed from play.

The Draw of Blood

Quickplay Spell

Effect: You can only activate this card during a turn a monster on the field is destroyed as a result of battle by a Bird, Fish, Reptile, or Beast-Type monster. At the End Phase of the turn this card is activated, draw 1 card from your Deck for each monster destroyed as a result of battle by a Bird, Fish, Reptile, or Beast-Type monster.

(Art: The card centers on a single drop of falling blood. Animals of all types swarm from every edge of the card; running for the drop of blood.)

Dragged to the Depths

Spell

Effect: This card can only be activated by discarding 1 WATER monster from your hand. Destroy 1 card on the field. During your second Standby Phase after activating this effect, if this card and the monster discarded to activate this card are in your Graveyard, return the WATER monster discarded to activate this effect to our hand, and return this card to your Deck. Shuffle your Deck afterwards.

(Art: A ship is dragged into the inky black void beneath the water by tentacles. The creature is obscured by water bubbles and the darkness.)

The Amazon

Field Spell

Effect: Increase the ATK/DEF of all monsters on the field with "Amazon" in their names by 300 points. Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can reveal 1 card in your hand and return it to your Deck, to reveal and add 1 card of the same type (Spell, Trap, or Monster) with "Amazon" in its name, to your hand from your Deck. Shuffle your Deck afterwards.

Amazon Vampire Catfish

Water, Fish, 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 damage calculation is conducted.) During each of your opponent's Standby Phases, your opponent takes damage equal to half the ATK of the equipped monster. While "The Amazon" is active on the field, at your opponent's Standby Phase, after using this effect, you can shuffle this card back into your Deck to draw 1 card from your Deck.

Amazon Electric Eel

Water, Fish, LV 4, 500/1500

Effect: When this card battles a monster, by paying 800 Life Points at the start of the damage step, negate the attack and change the attacking monster to defense position.

Amazon Jau Catfish

Water, Fish, LV 4, 1400/1200

Effect: When this card is successfully Flip Summoned, destroy 1 monster on your opponent's side of the field. This monster cannot attack during a turn this effect is activated, unless "The Amazon" is active on the field. You can flip this card into face-down defense position, once per turn, during your Main Phase.

Amazon Red Piranha

Water, Fish, LV 2, 800/200

Effect: When this card is successfully Summoned, Special Summon any number of "Amazon Red Piranha" from your hand in face-up attack position. When this card battles an opponent's monster, increase this card's ATK by the original ATK of all other face-up "Amazon Red Piranha" on your side of the field, for the damage step. At the End Phase of a turn this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent's Life Points, return this card to its owner's hand.

Amazon Caiman

Water, Reptile, LV 4, 1600/1400

Effect: When your opponent's monster attacks this face-down defense position monster, you may flip this card to face-up attack position before damage calculation. During a turn this card is flipped face-up, increase the ATK of this card by 400 points. You can flip this card into face-down defense position, once per turn, during your Main Phase.

Amazon Candiru Asu

Water, Fish, LV 2, 700/300

Effect: You can only activate the effect of 1 "Amazon Candiru" per turn, and only while "The Amazon" is active on the field. During your Battle Phase, send any number of "Amazon Candiru" from your hand to your Graveyard, and select 1 Monster Card in your opponent's Graveyard. Remove the selected monster from play, to inflict 700 points of damage to your opponent's Life Points for each "Amazon Candiru" sent to the Graveyard by this effect. At the End Phase of a turn this card is sent from your hand to the Graveyard by a card effect, return this card to your hand.

Amazon Anaconda

Water, Reptile, LV 6, 2000/1800

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 damage calculation is conducted.) While "The Amazon" is active on the field, this effect may be activated whenever this face-up card battles a monster. The monster equipped with this card cannot attack or change its position. During each player's Standby Phase, decrease the level of the equipped monster by 2. At a player's Standby Phase, when the effect of this card would decrease the level of the equipped monster to a number less than 1, destroy the equipped monster, and increase your Life Points by the original ATK or DEF of the destroyed monster. When the monster this card is equipped to leaves the field, Special Summon this card to your side of the field.

Persecuted Magician - Trial by Evisceration

Dark, LV 1, Magic User, 0/0

Effect/FLIP: When this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, select up to 2 DARK monsters in your deck and send them to your graveyard.

(Art: 17th century. A beaten half-naked man bound with chains, has his stomach cut open and intestines strewn across the ground by a mob of outraged peasants.)

Masked Executioner - Makyura

Dark, Warrior, LV 4, 1600/1200

Effect: By removing this card in your Graveyard from play, you can activate Trap Cards from your hand during this turn. This effect can be activated during either player's turn, during any Phase. During the turn you activated this effect, a Trap Card that would go to the Graveyard is removed from play instead.

(Art: A redemption series Makyura variant in a dynamic attack pose.)

Dark, Magic User, LV 3, 800/800

Effect: This effect can only be activated while this card is in your Graveyard. When your opponent activates a Spell or Trap Card, you must remove this card in your Graveyard from play. At this time, if you remove from play a card of the same type as the one activated by your opponent from your hand, negate the activation and effect of your opponent's Spell or Trap Card, and destroy it.

The Magician's Summoning Illusion.

Trap

Effect: Remove 1 Magic User-Type monster in your Graveyard from play to Special Summon 1 Magic User-Type monster from your hand with the same level.

Illusionary Magician

Dark, Magic User, LV 1, x/0

Effect: This card cannot be Special Summoned except from your Graveyard by Tributing face-up Magic User-Type monsters on your side of the field. This effect can be activated during either player's turn, during any Phase. The ATK of this monster is equal to the sum of ATKs of all monsters Tributed to Summon this card. When this card attacks, is attacked, or is targeted by a card effect, remove this card from play, and Special Summon any number of monsters Tributed to Summon this card to your side of the field from your Graveyard. The effect of a monster Summoned by this effect is negated.

(Art: An unfocused picture of a shadowy semi-transparent man/woman in a black cloak. Shrouded in a heavy mist.)

Emergency Reinforcements

Spell

Effect: You can only activate this card when there are more monsters on your opponent's side of the field than are on your side of the field. Draw a number of cards from your Deck equal to the difference of monsters on the field.

(Art: Several tanks plow through the ruins of a devastated town. Several young clean soldiers join a group of veterans along with supplies behind some building debris as they prepare a counter attack on the enemy.)

Centrifugal Evacuation Device

Quickplay Spell

Effect: You cannot activate this card if you have any Spell or Trap Cards set on your side of the field (excluding this card). Return 1 card on your side of the field to its owner's hand. Then, your opponent must return 1 card on his/her side of the field to its owner's hand. Repeat until you have no cards left on your side of the field (excluding this card). This effect continues even if your opponent has no card(s) to return to a player's hand.

Ghosts of Nostalgia - Jacks

Continuous Spell

Effect: Either player may use this effect, once per turn, during their Main Phase. Roll 1 six-sided die. The result of the die roll must be a number in this order, starting at 1: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. If the die roll is successful, that player draws 1 card from his/her Deck, and that player may use this effect once more during this turn. Also, the result needed for a successful die roll increases by 1. If the result is any number other than that player's next number in the order, that player must discard 1 card from his/her hand at random, and the player's turn ends. After a player successfully rolls all numbers in order, this card is destroyed.

(Art: Early 1900's in America. The ghosts of several children still play a game in front of a run down storefront that no longer is in business.)

The Game Master's Critical Roll Technique

Continuous Trap

Effect: Pay 600 Life Points, when an effect that involves a die roll is activated. You may negate the result of 1 die roll, and use any adjacent die face as the result. You cannot activate this effect more than once per die roll.

Overstock

Continuous Spell

Effect: Each time your cards are shuffled into your deck, and you draw cards afterwards by the same card effect, draw 1 additional card.

(Art: Two ancient Roman soldiers looks baffled at a supply order form. A soldier on a wooden cart behind them is equally baffled as he holds an armful of spears.)

Spiritual Embodiment of Exodia - Sealed Exodia

Light, Magic User, LV 3, 1000/1000

Effect: This card returns to the owner's hand during the End Phase of the turn that this card is Summoned or flipped face-up. When this card is successfully Summoned, Special Summon up to 4 monsters from your hand with "Spiritual Embodiment of Exodia" in their names. (Only 1 copy of each monster may be played). Monsters with "Spiritual Embodiment of Exodia" in their names can attack your opponent's Life Points directly. When this card attacks your opponent's Life Points directly and inflicts battle damage, send this card to the Graveyard to add 1 "Exodia the Forbidden One" from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand. While this card is in your Graveyard, its name is treated as "Exodia the Forbidden One".

Spiritual Embodiment of Exodia - Sealed Left Arm

Light, Magic User, LV 1, 200/300

Effect: This card returns to the owner's hand during the End Phase of the turn that this card is Summoned or flipped face-up. When this card attacks your opponent's Life Points directly and inflicts battle damage, send this card to the Graveyard to add 1 "Left Arm of the Forbidden One" from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand. While this card is in your Graveyard, its name is treated as "Left Arm of the Forbidden One".

Spiritual Embodiment of Exodia - Sealed Right Arm

Light, Magic User, LV 1, 200/300

Effect: This card returns to the owner's hand during the End Phase of the turn that this card is Summoned or flipped face-up. When this card attacks your opponent's Life Points directly and inflicts battle damage, send this card to the Graveyard to add 1 "Right Arm of the Forbidden One" from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand. While this card is in your Graveyard, its name is treated as "Right Arm of the Forbidden One".

Spiritual Embodiment of Exodia - Sealed Left Leg

Light, Magic User, LV 1, 200/300

Effect: This card returns to the owner's hand during the End Phase of the turn that this card is Summoned or flipped face-up. When this card attacks your opponent's Life Points directly and inflicts battle damage, send this card to the Graveyard to add 1 "Left Leg of the Forbidden One" from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand. While this card is in your Graveyard, its name is treated as "Left Leg of the Forbidden One".

Spiritual Embodiment of Exodia - Sealed Right Leg

Light, Magic User, LV 1, 200/300

Effect: This card returns to the owner's hand during the End Phase of the turn that this card is Summoned or flipped face-up. When this card attacks your opponent's Life Points directly and inflicts battle damage, send this card to the Graveyard to add 1 "Right Leg of the Forbidden One" from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand. While this card is in your Graveyard, its name is treated as "Right Leg of the Forbidden One".