Author's Note: I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter up. I had hoped to get it posted by the end of last week, but things got kind of busy for me. Well, as they say, better late than never.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V.
Chapter 12: Warriors of the Commons
"I shall set one card on the field and end my turn," Anastasia announced.
Crow drew his next card. "Hey Stirba. Tell me something. Just what is it that Divine is after? And why are you helping him?"
"I suppose there is no harm in tell you," Anastasia decided. "The reason I'm helping Master Divine is so that I can help to make this a peaceful world for those like myself with psychic abilities."
"Have you guys really had it that bad?" Crow asked.
"In my case… I was treated like an animal," Anastasia revealed. "The meteor strike that hit Japan back in 2012 may have caused more people to awaken their latent psychic powers, but people with psychic powers have existed for thousands of years. In my homeland, my government began a secret project to train those with psychic powers to use as special soldiers. They tested a number of young children to see if they had psychic potential, mainly orphans like myself. When the government found out that I had abnormally strong psychic abilities, they took me away to their facility and put me through intense training.
"The scientists there at the facility saw me as nothing more than a lab rat, and the soldiers saw me as nothing more than a potential tool. I was never shown a single ounce of compassion by anyone. One day when my powers became strong enough, I broke free from the facility and fled to this country. At the time, Japan was still considered to be a taboo place because of the meteor strike, so it seemed like the ideal place to disappear and start a new like. Of course even here, I was treated as nothing more than an animal wherever I went.
"Then one day I encountered Mistress Aki and Master Divine. They had sought me out for my immense psychic powers, but not because they wanted to exploit them. They saw me as an equal and wished me to help them create a utopia. For the very first time, I felt as I had come to a place where I was truly accepted as a person. That is why I'm going to give everything I have to remake this world."
"Dang. I really get where you're coming from," Crow admitted. "A world where psychics aren't treated as freaks sounds like a really great world, but I think you and your pals are going about it the wrong way. Besides, I think Divine really is trying to exploit you. He seems like the type of guy who tries to exploit everyone."
"Shut up!" Anastasia snapped. "You know nothing of Master Divine! Now begin your turn already!"
Crow sighed and shook his head. "I summon Blackwing – Etesian of Two Swords in Attack Mode!"
Materializing beside Crow's D-Wheel was a humanoid bird with a large yellow beak and a head covered in red feathers. He had black tail feathers and large black feathers covering his shoulders. His lower arms and legs were yellow and ended with talons, and his outfit consisted of a blue shirt with baggy blue pants, and a sort of grey apron. On his back was a long pair of Japanese swords.
"I'm not holding anything back in this duel!" Crow declared. "I tune the level five Chidori into the level three Etesian for a level eight Synchro Summon!"
Chidori flashed orange and transformed into five green rings of light. The rings encircled Etesian and changed the bird warrior into three white stars.
"The ebony flames become the wings of resolved home that rise from the ashes of despair!" Crow chanted. "Synchro Summon! Soar, Phoenix Black-Winged Dragon!"
The stars flashed and became a horizontal column of black flames. After a few moments, the flames subsided to reveal a large serpentine dragon with a body covered in black feathers and the head of a bird, complete with a yellow beak filled with small white fangs. It had large red and black wings, and on its underside were six orange blade-like legs almost like the legs of an insect. The dragon's tail was made of six large peacock feathers.
Soon after Crow's feathered dragon had appeared, Anastasia found another Action Card sticking out the side of a dead tree and grabbed it. "I activate the Action Card, Avalanche! This card deals 500 points of damage to the opponent for each monster on the field! Because there are currently three monsters out, Avalanche will deal 1500 points of damage! And since you only have 1150 life points left, this card will be your end!"
Suddenly the side of the mountain began to rumble, and in seconds an avalanche of snow and ice began to fall towards Crow. Just as it seemed like the redheaded turbo duelist was about to be buried though, Phoenix Black-Winged Dragon's body became covered in pitch-black flames. The flames expanded outward and falling ice and snow melted to nothing. Crow's life points were totally untouched.
"What… what's the meaning of this?" a stunned Anastasia asked.
"Sorry, but as long as Phoenix Black-Winged Dragon is on the field, neither player can take damage from card effects," Crow explained. "And now, because your Alpha White Fang – Desdemona only has 2400 ATK, it makes her the perfect target for my dragon. Black-Winged Dragon! Attack Desdemona of the Bloody Moon. Ebony Phoenix Flare!"
"I activate my Trap, White Howling!" Anastasia announced. "When a White Fang monster I control is attacked, White Howling switches the attacking monster to Defense Mode and cuts its ATK and DEF in half!"
Just as Phoenix Black-Winged Dragon breathed out a stream of black flames, Desdemona let out a loud howl like that of a wolf. A wave of white light radiated out from the wolf priestess's body and caused the stream of flames to shatter apart. Crow's dragon was hit by the shockwave and was nearly knocked out of the air.
"If that was the best of your abilities, then you're as pathetic a duelist as I thought," Anastasia remarked.
"Aw dang it!" Crow cursed. "Guess I end my turn."
Anastasia calmly drew her next card. "And now Crow Hogan… I shall bury you."
"I'll just set one card on the field and end my turn," Matsuri announced.
"And because you ended your turn, the effect of Razzle-Dazzle ends and Javelin's ATK rises to 4400!" Shinji announced before drawing his next card. "And now, I use Javelin to attack Idol Queen Fantasia!"
"Sorry, but I'm afraid you can't," Matsuri told him. "As long as I've got other Idol monsters on the field, Fantasia can't be selected as an attack target."
At this, Shinji scowled. "Fine! In that case, Javelin attacks Idol Girl Ashley! Spear Sting Strike!"
Javelin flew across the battlefield and impaled Ashley through the stomach with his silver spear. The slain idol's body slumped forward before shattering into particles of gold light, and Matsuri's body took a slight drop to 2600. Meanwhile, the ATK points of the other Idol monsters on the field dropped by 500.
"When Javelin destroys a monster by battle, he inflicts that monster's original ATK as damage!" Shinji announced.
The insect warrior raised his spear again and flung it towards Matsuri. The pinkette swerved her D-Wheel to avoid getting impaled, causing the spear to strike an empty spot on the road. Despite avoiding the actual attack though, Matsuri's life points still fell to 1600. Javelin then flew forward and pulled the spear out of the ground.
"And now I activate the other effect of Enraged Battlewasp!" Shinji announced. "Up to two times while Enraged Battlewasp is on the field, when the monster affected by the Trap destroys a monster in battle, I can banish another Battlewasp from my Graveyard to destroy another monster my opponent controls! I banish a copy of Arbalest from my Graveyard to destroy Idol Queen Fantasia!"
The red glow from Javelin's wings intensified, and he flew across the battlefield to impale Fantasia in the chest. Before the insect warrior could strike though, Tanya leapt into the path of the attack and was impaled in the chest instead. Tanya's body slumped forward onto the spear before shattering apart into particles of gold light.
"What the…!" a stunned Shinji exclaimed.
"Sorry, but when Fantasia would be destroyed by an opponent's card effect, I can destroy another Idol monster I control instead," Matsuri explained. "It's a shame Tanya's time in the spotlight had to end, but I just couldn't let anything happen to my star performer."
"Fine then! I set one card on the field and end my turn!" Shinji announced. "You may have protected that Synchro Monster of yours, but with the lose of those other two Idols of yours, the ATK points of all your monsters has dropped by 1000."
"Aw, you don't have to be so bitter about how this turn went, Shinji baby," Matsuri told him. "After all, it was impossible for you to take me down from the very beginning. I am going to be the absolute idol of this world once the Movement finally takes it over. No other duelist will be able to compete with me."
"That's why you're helping that bastard, Divine? For fame?" a somewhat outraged Shinji asked.
"And what's wrong with that?" Matsuri asked. "Look, I'm not that crazy about Divine myself, but he's the only way I have to become a star. So I'm willing to do whatever he wants to me to in order to make that dream happen. Now, since you're finally done, it's my turn!" With that, the pinkette drew her next card. "I activate the Spell card, Comeback Performance! This card lets me bring back an Idol Girl monster from my Graveyard, but that monster is destroyed at the end of the turn! Retake the stage, Idol Girl Tanya!"
A green spotlight came down from above, and Tanya reappeared on the track with a puff of green smoke.
"When Tanya is special summoned, I can draw one card," Matsuri continued. "Next I summon Idol Girl Jessica in Attack Mode!"
A purple spotlight came down from above, and appearing with a burst of purple smoke was a young woman with tan skin, purple eyes, and long straight purple hair. She had on a glittering purple outfit that was identical in design to the other Idol Girl monsters.
"When Jessica has been successfully normal summoned, her effect lets me destroy one of my opponent's Spell or Trap cards," Matsuri continued. "And of course the card I choose to destroy is your Enraged Battlewasp card!"
Jessica rocked her hips back and forth and twirled her head around a few times before raising her arms forward and firing two beams of purple light from her index fingers. The beams struck the large representation of Shinji's Trap card and caused it to shatter into particles of gold light. Soon after, the crimson glow faded from Javelin's wings and his ATK fell back to 2600.
"I now tune the level two Tanya into the level two Jessica, Kelly and Sherrill for a level eight Synchro Summon!" Matsuri announced.
Tanya did a little dance before changing into two green rings of light. The rings encircled the other three Idol Girls and transformed them into six white stars.
"Ultimate performer of supreme charm and mystique! Take the stage and dazzle the world with your light!" Matsuri chanted. "Synchro Summon! Spotlight! Idol Queen Monica!"
The stars flashed and became a ray of white light that expanded outward, fading moments later to reveal a young-looking woman with fair skin, a large bust, and long almost glittering blue hair that went half way down her back. Her lips were ruby red, and covering her eyes was a pair of purple visor-like sunglasses. The end of a golden headset microphone could be seen from underneath her long hair. The woman had on a sleeveless glittering burgundy top with large white lapels that showed off her midriff, along with a short glittering purple skirt. The rest of her outfit consisted of a pair of white thigh-high boots, white elbow-high gloves, and a white cape with an underside that showed a sea of stars.
"When Monica has been Synchro Summoned, I can summon as many Idol Girl monsters from my Graveyard as possible," Matsuri announced. "Retake the stage, Tanya, Jessica and Kelly!"
The lights inside the stadium dimmed, and the ground became covered in a pink mist as green, purple and red spotlights came down from above. Kelly, Tanya and Jessica rose out of the ground under their respective colors, doing a little dance as the spotlights flashed on and off. When the three Idol Girl's finished their entrance, all five of Matsuri's monsters struck a dramatic pose.
"Now since I have five Idol monsters on the field, Fantasia and Monica both have an ATK of 4000, while Kelly, Tanya and Jessica all have an ATK of 3000," Matsuri continued. "Plus since Tanya was special summoned, I get to draw a card. Now I activate the Trap card, Entrance Blessing! This card increases my life points by 500 for each Idol monster I just special summoned from the Graveyard. Since I just brought back three Idols, my life points go up by 1500!"
A spotlight came down on Matsuri's D-Wheel, and sparkling gold lights started to rain down upon her. In moments, the pinkette's life points rose up to 3100.
"And now I activate Monica's effect!" Matsuri announced. "Once per turn, Monica can return a monster my opponent controls back to the hand. And of course the monster I choose to hit with this effect is Javelin the Strike!"
At that moment, Shinji found an Action Card on the side of the road and grabbed it. "I activate the Action Card, Razzle-Dazzle! This card negates Monica's effect and lowers her ATK by 400 until the end of the turn!"
"Hah! As if I'd let you make a move like that!" Matsuri told him as she grabbed another Action Card that was on the side of the road. "I activate an Action Card of my own, No Action! This card negates the effect of Razzle-Dazzle and destroys it!"
On cue, the large representation of Shinji's Spell card shattered into particles of gold light.
"Did you really think I would let you use one of my own tricks against me?" Matsuri asked. "I know this Action Field like the back of my hand. I know exactly which Action Cards are on it and where each one of them is. In other words, I can predict whatever Action Card you might grab and know exactly what card I can use to counter it. Now then, I use Monica's effect to send Javelin back to your Extra Deck!"
Monica blew Javelin a kiss, and a blue heart-shaped light flew from her hand across the field. The heart struck Javelin in the head, causing him to blush before vanishing with a flash of blue stars.
"Monica gains the ATK of the monster she returns to the hand with her effect until the end of the turn. Which means her ATK is now at 6600," Matsuri announced. "Monica, attack him directly! Midnight Grand Finale!"
"I activate my Trap, Negate Attack!" Shinji announced. "This card cancels Monica's attack and ends the Battle Phase!"
Monica spread her arms and fired an intense blast of blue light across the battlefield at Shinji. Before the attack could hit, a small vortex appeared in front of Shinji's D-Wheel and sucked the blast in. After a few moments, the light from Monica's attack finally faded and the vortex disappeared.
"Have to admire your persistence," Matsuri admitted. "Still, you'd make it a whole lot easier on yourself if you just gave up now. After all, there's no shame in losing to the world's greatest idol. Play your cards rights, and you'll have an easy life in the new world as my boyfriend."
"You know Matsuri… you really are the kind of person I can't stand," Shinji remarked. "You're nothing more than a sellout, willing to do anything to get to the top. You're worse than Jack Atlas! I'd rather throw myself off a cliff than be the private boy toy of a cheap wannabe celebrity like you."
"How dare you!" Matsuri shot back. "Okay, like I said before, I don't entirely agree with Divine's methods, but I've got no other choice here! When these crazy psychic powers of mine flared up, my family wanted nothing to do with me! They treated me like some kind of freak and threw me out on the street! You have absolutely no idea what it feels like to be treated like a less than human piece of trash, so you can take your lecture and shove it!"
"…You shallow arrogant bitch!" Shinji snapped. "You say I have no idea what it feels like to be treated like trash? I grew up in the Commons! Every day of my life I've been treated like garbage!"
"I, uh…" Matsuri responded, caught off guard by Shinji's reply.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this from someone from the Tops," Shinji continued. "You and your kind have always looked down on people like me! Well now I'm going to give you what you deserve!" With that, he drew his next card. "I activate the Spell card, Battlewasp Nectar! By banishing a Battlewasp from my Graveyard, I can draw a card for every specially summoned monster my opponent controls! Then, if any of the cards I draw are Battlewasps, I can special summon them to the field! I banish the second copy of Arbalest in my Graveyard to draw five cards!"
The five cards that Shinji pulled from his deck seemed to give off a feint white light as they were drawn.
"I've drawn five Battlewasp monsters, so now I special summon them all to the field!" Shinji announced.
"Seriously?" a stunned Matsuri exclaimed.
"I summon Battlewasp – Sting the Poison, three copies of Battlewasp – Pin the Bullseye, and Battlewasp – Twinbow the Attacker!" Shinji announced.
Five new monsters appeared to fly alongside Shinji's D-Wheel. The first, Sting the Poison, was a large mechanical-looking wasp covered in orange armor. It had two large pinkish wings on its back, and on the front of its head was a single large yellow eye. The insect's neck was black, and a grey metal collar was attached to the armor covering its torso. Its abdomen was a large pink tank with slender orange stripes. The inside of the tank was filled with some sort of liquid. The very end of the metal wasp's abdomen was grey and had a gold stinger.
The three identical monsters that were all known as Pin the Bullseye were small blue missiles, each with a large yellow head on the front. The heads of these missiles all had large blue insect-like eyes, a pair of black feelers, and a long narrow orange stinger on the front like a nose. The back of each missile had a pair of blue transparent wings like those of a wasp. Meanwhile the underside of each of these projectiles had two small black legs. A short stream of yellow jet flames projected out of the back of each missile.
The final monster that Shinji had summoned, Twinbow the Attacker, was another large wasp colored dark-yellow and purple. Its large eyes were purple and it had a pair of yellow wings on its back. The insect's two front legs were short, while its two pairs of hind legs were quite long and slightly bowed. Its abdomen ended with two yellow stingers.
"I activate the effects of all three copies of Pin the Bullseye to inflict 200 points of damage for each one!" Shinji announced.
The three wasp missiles fired the stingers on the front of their heads like darts. New stingers popped out to replace them as soon as they were launched. Meanwhile, the stingers struck the back of Matsuri's D-Wheel and took her life points down to 2500.
"I now tune the level two Sting the Poison into the three level one Pin the Bullseyes and the level three Twinbow the attacker for a level eight Synchro Summon!" Shinji announced.
Sting the Poison flapped its wings even faster before transforming into two green rings of light. The rings encircled Shinji's other three monsters and changed them into six white stars.
"Primeval dragon of revolution! Answer the cries of the people and rise up to smite the arrogant tyrants!" Shinji chanted. "Synchro Summon! Awaken! Assault Wasp Spear Dragon!"
The stars flashed and became a horizontal beam of white light that expanded outward, fading a few moments later to reveal a large almost insect-like dragon. Much of its body was blue, with a long neck ending with a brownish-yellow head with two pairs of small dark-grey horns, a long snout and two large dark-blue insect-like eyes. The dragon's mouth was filled with sharp white fangs, and the end of its snout had a long dark-grey metal blade on the very front. The dragon's torso was covered in brownish-yellow armor, and it had large dragonfly-like wings on its back. It had two pairs of long narrow blue arms and two thick double-jointed legs. The dragon's long tail ended with a brownish-yellow wasp abdomen with narrow green stripes and a long curved grey metal stinger.
"What… what the hell kind of dragon is that?" a startled Matsuri asked.
"Spear Dragon gains 400 ATK for each Wind monster currently in my Graveyard!" Shinji announced. "Since I have six Wind monsters in my Graveyard right now, his ATK goes up from 2800 to 5200! Spear Dragon! Attack Idol Girl Jessica! Justice Stinger!"
Spear Dragon flapped his wings rapidly, filling the air with a loud buzzing noise. The insect-like dragon flew across the battlefield and impaled Jessica through the chest with the blade on the end of his snout. Jessica's body slumped forward before shattering into particles of gold light. Meanwhile, Matsuri's life points plummeted to a mere 300.
"Nice shot, but not good enough!" Matsuri declared. "The moment your turn ends, I'll just use Monica's effect to bounce that freaky dragon of yours off the field and finish you off!"
"There isn't going to be a next turn!" Shinji told her. "When Spear Dragon destroys a monster in battle, he deals 500 points of damage for each special summoned monster my opponent controls! Since you have four specially summoned monsters out on the field, you take another 2000 points of damage!"
Spear Dragon opened his jaws and fired a stream of blue flames down at Matsuri. The attack struck the pinkette in the back and dropped her life points to zero. The attack had also knocked Matsuri off of her D-Wheel. With the duel at an end, the monsters that were still on the field vanished and the stadium returned to its original drab grey form. As Shinji brought his D-Wheel to a stop, he saw Matsuri on her knees crying. Suddenly he was overcome with a wave of guilt.
Shinji let out a heavy sigh before dismounting his D-Wheel and walking over to the pinkette. Matsuri noticed Shinji's presence and looked back at him with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"All I wanted… was to become this world's idol so I could show everyone a better way to act," Matsuri told him. "I wanted to use my stardom to make a world where people like me weren't discriminated against. Was that so wrong?"
Shinji put a hand on Matsuri's shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to change the world for the better, but working for someone like Divine isn't the way to go about it. I'm sure if Divine gets his way, it'll people without psychic powers who will be mistreated just like you were. I know that's not the kind of world that you want."
"Then what the hell am I supposed to do?" Matsuri asked.
"I don't know," Shinji answered. "But maybe we can find that answer if we work together."
Matsuri gave him a small smile as she wiped away some of her tears with her wrist. "You sure you wouldn't mind working with a shallow bitch from the Tops like me?"
"Hey. After everything that's happened with Iliaster, I've found out that not everyone from the Tops is a bad person," Shinji told her. "I think you and I might end up being a pretty good team."
With that, Shinji held out his hand. After a moment's hesitation, Matsuri took it and Shinji helped her to her feet.
"Well, I suppose the first thing we should do is go find your friends," Matsuri decided. "Your buddy Crow probably has his hands full with Asuka."
"Then let's go get him," Shinji replied. And with that, Matsuri led Shinji out of the stadium.
"I attack Phoenix Black-Winged Dragon with Orion!" Anastasia announced. "Axe of Cruel Frost!"
Orion lunged across the track and cut Crow's dragon down the middle with his massive axe. The two halves of Phoenix Black-Winged Dragon became frozen in ice and shattered to pieces.
"And now Desdemona's effect activates to deal your dragon's original ATK points as damage!" Anastasia announced. "This is the end!"
Desdemona raised her staff in the air and fired a beam of crimson light from the orb at the top. Before the beam could reach its target though, Crow and his D-Wheel once again became shrouded in pitch-black flames. The flames sucked up the red beam and rose into the air, taking the form of Crow's fallen dragon. At the same time, Crow's life points had risen to 3950.
"What… what's the meaning of this?" a stunned Anastasia asked.
Crow smirked. "When I would take effect damage while Black-Winged Dragon is in the Graveyard, I can negate that damage and summon him back to the field. Then, I gain life points equal to Phoenix Black-Winged Dragon's ATK."
"You're really starting to try my patience!" Anastasia told him.
"That's not all though," Crow continued. "When Phoenix Black-Winged Dragon is summoned from the Graveyard using this effect, all of my opponent's special summoned monsters lose an amount of ATK equal to his own ATK points. Which means both your monsters now lose 2800 ATK!"
Black-Winged Dragon flapped his massive wings and sent a tidal wave of ebony flames across the field, striking Anastasia's two monsters. When the inferno died away, both monsters had turned totally grey and their ATK points had dropped to zero.
"This… this can't be…" a stunned Anastasia spoke.
"Since I'm guessing you're out of moves, I'll just go ahead and make my turn!" Crow decided as he drew his next card. He then saw an Action Card sticking out of a rock on the side of the road and grabbed it. "I activate the Action Card, Ruthlessness! This card allows a monster I control to attack twice during this turn. And of course the monster I choose to use this effect on is Phoenix Black-Winged Dragon! Black-Winged Dragon! Take out both of Stirba's monsters and end this! Ebony Phoenix Flare!"
Phoenix Black-Winged Dragon breathed out a massive blast of black flames that struck both of Anastasia's monsters, causing them to shatter into particles of gold light. Anastasia's life points plummeted from 4000 to zero in an instant. With the duel finally at an end, Crow's dragon vanished and the stadium transformed back into its original drab grey form. Both duelists brought their D-Wheels to a halt.
Crow dismounted and went over to Anastasia. "Hey Stirba, I kinda get why you're helping Divine to create a new world. I don't know what it's like to have psychic powers or anything like that, but I do know what it's like to be treated like you don't matter. Everyone who grew up in the Commons knows what that's like. You can argue with me if you like, but I think that the world Divine is trying to create is not the one you're after, because I'm guessing that the world he wants is on where people without powers who'll be treated like dirt. I think if we work together though, we might have a shot in making a world where everybody's treated right. What do you say?"
Anastasia simply glared at Crow. "I have no interest in joining your cause. However… since you just defeated me, I will help you reunite with your friends."
"That's uh… that's good enough, I guess," Crow replied as he rubbed the back of his head.
Yugo had been pacing back and forth impatiently as Ushio continued to fiddle with the electronic lock of the large metal door they had found. The security officer had spent several minutes trying to crack the lock and had been having zero success.
"Dang it!" Yugo cursed. "Ushio, how much longer is it gonna take you to open that door?"
"Will you just chill out kid? This sort of thing isn't easy you know!" Ushio told him. "Of course Saiga seemed to make it look easy."
"Well hurry it up! I think Crow might be in trouble inside that room," Yugo told him. "Or at least he was in trouble. I don't know about now."
"Wait, what makes you think that Crow's on the other side of that door?" Ushio asked.
"I don't know… just a feeling, I guess," Yugo answered as he looked at the Clear Wing Synchro Dragon card in his hand.
"Does this have something to do with that magic skin rash of yours?" Ushio asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's not a rash!" Yugo snapped. "That doctor said the thing was more like a birthmark. And I don't know if it has anything to do with what I'm feeling or not."
Ushio shrugged and turned his attention back to the lock. Just as he was about to start fiddling with it again, the door opened upwards and Crow walked out with Anastasia.
"Whoa! Hey Ushio," Crow greeted. "From the looks of things, you're no longer a mind control zombie. Glad to have you back."
"Uh, thanks," Ushio responded as he scratched his head.
Yugo meanwhile noticed Anastasia and stormed up to her. "Okay you! Where the hell is Rin? If you won't tell me, I'll duel the answer out of you!"
"Hey Yugo! Take it easy," Crow told him. "My new friend here agreed to help us get back to the others. Besides, Asuka isn't an opponent you can just take on recklessly. Her real name is Anastasia Stirba."
All the color drained from Ushio's face upon hearing the name. "S-Seriously? She's the woman who defeated Sergey Volkov?"
"I don't know who either of those people are," Yugo told them. "Now tell me where Rin is?"
"If I am right, Rin Akaba should be in the central underground stadium," Anastasia answered. "Mistress Aki should be dueling her at this moment to see if she has any psychic powers."
"Wait, Rin is really going to be dueling the Black Rose Witch?" a stunned Ushio asked.
"Yes, and she is perhaps the most powerful duelist in the Movement," Anastasia confirmed. "She was even able to defeat me, so Ms. Akaba's chances are not all that great."
"Well hey, let's not be negative here," Crow interjected. "I mean I just beat you too, so maybe Rin's chances aren't that bad."
"You only won because you got lucky and I underestimate you! So hold your tongue or I'll rip it out!" Anastasia warned.
"Uh, right! What do I know?" Crow responded as he went pale.
Anastasia let out a small sigh and composed herself. "We should probably get to Ms. Akaba as quickly as we can. If Mistress Aki decides to use her full power against her, she may not survive."
Rin awoke on the floor of a vast dark room and noticed that someone had changed her into her pink and white riding suit. As she sat up, she noticed that her D-Wheel was only just a few feet away.
"Glad you're finally awake," a familiar voice spoke. A spotlight came down a few feet away to reveal Aki sitting atop her D-Wheel. "Now we can finally begin."
"Ms. Aki?" Rin responded as she stood up. "What's going on here?"
"Divine asked me to test you to see if you have any psychic powers like me," Aki explained. "You had better give me everything you've got in this duel, Rin. Otherwise, you'll only get hurt."
Author's Note: I hope everyone enjoyed these two duels. The hardest part of writing Crow's duel was figuring out a new version of Black-Winged Dragon. I never got why Crow never got an alternate version of his ace card in the ARC-V anime. The name for this new version of Black-Winged Dragon came together pretty quickly, but the effect was a little bit harder. As for Shinji using a dragon of his own, that had been something I had been debating with myself about since before the beginning of this story. In the end, what made me decide to make a dragon for him was because I couldn't think of a level eight Battlewasp monster he could use to defeat Matsuri.
Please review and let me know what you think.
