Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V.
Chapter 13: Curse of the Black Rose
"Ms. Aki, what the heck is all this about?" a confused Rin asked. "What's this about a test?"
"Divine wants to find out if you actually have psychic powers," Aki explained. "To that end, he wanted me to challenge you to a duel to see how you did against me. If you really do have powers like me and everyone else here in the movement, you belong with us."
"So to get to me, you turned all my friends into mind controlled zombies?" Rin asked. "That's no better than what Iliaster did to Neo Domino!"
"Your friends were under the influence of Mortimer's mind control," Aki told her. "I didn't like that they were being used like that any more than you do, but it was necessary. Right now though, it's just you and me."
"Well you and Divine are barking up the wrong tree," Rin told her. "I don't know where you got the idea that I have these powers you're talking about, but I'm just a normal girl."
"Maybe that's what you've always thought, but after what I saw when I rescued you and your friends from Iliaster, I'm certain that you're special," Aki told her. "Your friend, Yugo might be as well, if that mark of his is any indication."
Rin looked at her bracelet, recalling how it had shined during the Battle Royale that Yugo and Aki were both in. Ever since the incident Rin had wondered what the light meant, but she didn't think that it signified that she had any sort of psychic powers like Aki's.
"I'm certain that you have some kind of psychic power, Rin," Aki continued. "And if you really do, then they need to be explored. That's why were going to have a duel down here in this arena."
With that, the lights in the vast room came on to reveal a giant underground racetrack that was colored a drab grey.
"The only way out of this room is to defeat me," Aki told her. "Now, shall we get started?"
Rin sighed and put on her helmet. "Fine! If the only way out of here is to duel you, then let's go!"
With that, Rin mounted her D-Wheel and pulled up next to Aki. The two of them moved their vehicles to the start of the track.
"Action Field on!" Aki called. "Rose Labyrinth!"
In a matter of seconds, the drab metal stadium transformed into a giant garden with hedge walls covered in red roses that were all connected together to form a giant maze. A tan dirt road winded through the maze. An explosion of white light went off in the blue sky above, causing cards to rain down all over the maze. A second after the explosion went off, Rin and Aki sped off into the maze.
Aki ended up taking the first corner of the maze. "My move! First I set two cards on the field. Then I summon Rose Empress Alexandra in Defense Mode!"
Materializing beside Aki's D-Wheel was a young woman with fair skin and long green hair tied into a braided ponytail at the back. A glittering green mask covered the top of the young woman's face, and she had on a low-cut black short-sleeved shirt with a crystal broach pined to the front that resembled a green rose blossom. She also had on black elbow-high gloves with green frills at the top, and hanging around her waist was a short emerald skirt that looked as though it had been made of rose petals. Black stockings covered her legs, and on her feet was a pair of green high-heeled shoes. In her right hand, the young woman carried a dagger decorated with emeralds.
"That ends my turn," Aki announced.
Rin drew her first card. "I summon Windwitch – Cloud Bell in Attack Mode!"
Materializing next to Rin's D-Wheel was a girl with deep sapphire eyes and long white billowing hair that resembled a cloud. Atop her head was a dark-blue conical had with a wide brim and a large pink bow on the front. She had on a light-green bodysuit that had dark-green trim and an attached short skirt that was open at the front. The girl also had on sapphire rain boots and white gloves, and on the front of her chest was a large pink bow decorated with a blue crystal broach. She was riding on the back of what looked like a blue crystal broom, only had a large gold bell at the end instead of bristles.
"When Cloud Bell has been Normal Summoned, I can summon a Windwitch Tuner monster from my deck!" Rin announced. "I summon Windwitch – Glass Bell!"
Cloud Bell flew a circle around Rin's D-Wheel, and a large puffy white cloud blew out of the bell at the end. The cloud soon broke apart to reveal a girl with short green hair with purple locks that covered her right eye, while green hair covered her other eye. She had on a large blue conical hat with a wide brim and blue and pink bows decorating the front. Her outfit was a white bodysuit that had frilled shoulders, blue trim, and an attached short skirt that was open at the front. She also had on white and blue gloves, and blue shoes. A large pink bow with a blue crystal broach decorated the front of her chest, and on her lower back was a pair of white-feathered wings. The woman was riding a blue crystal broomstick with a colorfully decorated bell at the end instead of broom bristles.
"When Glass Bell is summoned to the field, I can add another Windwitch monster to my hand!" Rin announced. "I now tune the level four Glass Bell into the level two Cloud Bell for a level six Synchro Summon!"
Glass Bell flashed orange and changed into four green rings of light. The rings encircled Cloud Bell and transformed her into two white stars.
"Elemental wind, gather lightning and thunder to become a raging storm!" Rin chanted. "Synchro Summon! Appear! Level six! Windwitch – Storm Bell!"
The stars flashed and became a massive bolt of lightning that shot across the track, punching a hole through one of the maze walls. The light from the flash soon faded to reveal a large creature that almost resembled a hood ornament from a car. Its upper half resembled a slender woman with chalk-white skin, long dark hair and a dark-grey mask with red eyes that covered her entire face. She had on a large conical hat with a wide brim and a blue band with a silver buckle on the front. The rest of her outfit consisted a dark-grey shirt with long baggy sleeves and a high collar, and a piece of blue armor covering her chest. On the creature's back was a pair of large dark-blue metal wings that crackled with sparks of blue electricity. The monster's lower half meanwhile was a rumbling dark-grey storm cloud.
"I activate Storm Bell's effect!" Rin announced. "Once per turn, Storm Bell lets me destroy up to two of my opponent's Spell or Trap cards! I use Storm Bell's effect to destroy the two cards you set on the field!"
Storm Bell raised her long narrow arms forward and fired bolts of blue lightning from her fingertips. The lightning bolts struck the large representations of Aki's two facedown cards and caused them to shatter apart.
"That's not all!" Rin continued. "When Storm Bell destroys cards using her effect, she deals 400 points of damage for each one! I destroyed two cards, which means you take 800 points of damage from Storm Bell's effect!"
Storm Bell brought her hands together and created a ball of lightning between her palms. As the ball got larger, Aki saw an Action Card sticking out of the hedge wall up ahead on her left. The redhead grabbed the card right as Storm Bell launched her attack.
"I activate the Action Card, Acceleration!" Aki announced. "This card negates the damage from Storm Bell's effect!"
Just at the ball of lightning was about to strike, Aki's D-Wheel sped up and turned down the next corner of the maze. The ball of lightning ended up hitting the empty ground behind Aki's vehicle. Rin turned the corner and quickly sped up to catch up to her opponent.
"Storm Bell! Attack Rose Empress Alexandra!" Rin commanded. "Wrath of Lightning!"
Storm Bell pointed her right hand into the air and fired a small bolt of lightning from her index finger. A second later the sky darkened, and a massive bolt of blue lightning came down from above and vaporized Alexandra. The shockwave from the blast nearly knocked Aki into the wall of the maze, but the redhead quickly recovered and straightened out her D-Wheel. After a few more moments, the sky returned to normal.
"As a duelist, you're not bad," Aki remarked. "But in this fight, it'll take more than what you've just shown me to win."
Rin scowled and examined her hand. She was fairly certain that Aki was going to try and summon her dragon on the next turn to try and move in for the kill. Fortunately, Rin had a couple of cards in her hand that she felt confident could stop that particular move.
"I set two cards on the field and end my turn!" Rin announced.
Aki calmly drew her next card. "Get ready Rin. This is where the real test begins."
Yugo, Ushio and Crow followed Anastasia thought the dark underground corridors under Castle Arcadia. It seemed like they had been walking for almost half an hour, and Yugo was starting to get very impatient. As the four reached a three-way intersection of the labyrinth, they encountered Shinji and Matsuri coming from the opposite direction.
"Shinji! Boy, am I glad to see you!" Crow declared.
"Same here," Shinji replied.
"So, looks like you lost to your opponent too, huh Asuka?" Matsuri deduced.
"Unfortunately," Anastasia confirmed with a sour look.
"You know, you can drop the whole 'Asuka' thing now," Crow told Matsuri. "We know who Anastasia really is."
"Anastasia?" Matsuri repeated with a raised eyebrow. "What the heck are you talking about?"
"Oh come on. Your friend admitted that she's really Anastasia Stirba," Crow explained.
All the color drained from Matsuri's face upon hearing her friend's real name. "Are… are you serious? Asuka is really the girl who was said to have defeated Sergey Volkov? That lady's supposed to be a psycho!"
"No kidding!" an equally shocked Shinji exclaimed.
"Wait, you really didn't know about this?" Crow asked Matsuri.
"Master Divine and Mistress Aki were the only ones in the Movement who knew my true identity," Anastasia told Crow with a glare. "They knew that most of the other members would be frightened of me if they knew who I really was."
"Oh… whoops," Crow responded. "Sorry 'bout that. But hey! Anastasia here is really an okay person."
"We don't have time for this!" Yugo interrupted. "While you guys are standing around talking, Rin is fighting for her life! Now let's go!"
Anastasia let out a heavy sigh. "Of course. Come this way."
With that, Yugo and the others followed Anastasia down the other corridor. The six of them walked in silence for several moments.
"So Shinji, from the looks of things it looks like you got your little girlfriend to help us," Crow quietly deduced.
"I wouldn't call her my girlfriend, but she is willing to help," Shinji confirmed. "Turns out she's not all that crazy about Divine either. I guess your opponent felt the same way."
"Actually, she still seems pretty devoted to that son of a bitch," Crow told him. "She's only helping us right now because I managed to beat her."
"Hey. Anastasia or whatever your name is," Yugo spoke. "Why the heck is Divine having Aki duel Rin? What's the point of all this anyway?"
"Haven't you been paying attention?" Anastasia asked. "Master Divine wishes to see if your friend has psychic abilities like the ones Matsuri and I possess. He's ordered that all of your friends be tested, including Crow Hogan and Shinji Weber."
"So… since Shinji and I managed to beat you, does that mean we're psychic duelists?" Crow asked.
"Nah. You guys are definitely above average duelists, but you don't have an ounce of psychic power," Matsuri answered. "If you were psychic duelists, the attacks from your monsters would've done a lot more damage to us."
"Our helmets were also equipped with sensors to detect psychic energy from our opponents," Anastasia added. "The meter in my helmet did not go off even once during my duel."
"Neither did mine," Matsuri responded. "Your friend Rin on the other hand might be a whole other story though. Divine and Aki both seem pretty convinced that Rin has powers. It has something to do with a light coming from her bracelet or something like that."
"You talking about that weird thing that happened when Aki saved us from Iliaster?" Crow asked. "If it's because of that, I would've thought Divine would want to test Yugo too. After all, Yugo had that weird glowing mark on his back."
"Master Divine is well aware of Yugo Sakaki's mark," Anastasia informed them. "However, he believes that Yugo may be a threat to us. He never explained why though."
"I don't care about any of that," Yugo told them. "All I care about right now is making sure Rin is okay."
"Then you had better hope that your friend has powers that she can use to defend herself," Anastasia told him. "Otherwise, she may not survive."
"I activate the Spell card, Seeds of Enchantment!" Aki announced. "By banishing up to three Spell or Trap cards form my Graveyard, I can summon an equal number of Mystic Rose Tokens to the field. I banish Acceleration and the two Trap cards destroyed last turn to summon three Mystic Roses!"
Three large roses appeared in the air beside Aki's D-Wheel. Each rose had bright blue petals that seemed to give off an unearthly light.
"Now I activate the Spell card, Garden of Blessings and draw a card for each Plant Token on the field!" Aki announced. "Next I summon the Tuner monster, Rose Empress Cassandra in Attack Mode!"
Materializing next to the roses was a young-looking woman with long wavy blue hair and a glittering blue mask covering the upper half of her face. She had on a low-cut black long-sleeved shirt with frilled blue cuffs. A crystal broach pinned to the front of the chest that resembled a sapphire rose blossom. Her skirt appeared to be made of blue rose petals, and covering her legs was a pair of black thigh-high boots. Tucked under the woman's right arm was a blue large crystal jug that seemed to be made of water.
"I now sacrifice one Mystic Rose Token to summon Rose Empress Alexandra from the Graveyard!" Aki announced.
One of the large roses exploded into a twister of green rose petals. After a few moments the twister subsided to reveal the green-haired Rose Empress.
"When Alexandra is summoned to the field, I can banish one Spell or Trap card my opponent controls!" Aki announced. "Alexandra, remove the card on the left!"
Alexandra threw the jeweled dagger in her hand towards one of the large cards that Rin had laid out on the field. The card was revealed to be a Trap called Lost Wind before it was shattered to pieces.
"Lost Wind. That card could've negated my Black Rose's effect and cut her ATK points in half," Aki observed. "That was a good countermeasure to have against me, but clearly I'm one step ahead of you. I now tune the level three Cassandra into the level four Alexandra for a level seven Synchro Summon!"
Cassandra's body flashed orange before transforming into three green rights of light. The rings encircled Alexandra and changed her into four white stars.
"Pitch-dark Flower of chilling flames! Bloom and purify this poisoned land!" Aki chanted. "Synchro Summon! Awaken now, Black Rose Extinction Dragon!"
The stars flashed and burst into an inferno of purple flames. After a few moments, the flames died away to reveal Aki's infamous dragon.
"At this moment I activate the effect of Windwitch – Rain Bell from my hand!" Rin announced. "When my opponent special summons a monster, I can send Rain Bell from my hand or the field to the Graveyard to negate that monster's effects and reduce its ATK by 1000!"
A large dark cloud suddenly formed right above Black Rose. Rain fell from the cloud, and the dragon roared in pain as bolts of blue electricity shocked her body. After a few moments, the rain stopped and the cloud vanished.
"Now you can't use Black Rose's effect to wipe out my field," Rin declared. "And since her ATK points have dropped by 1000, she's no match for my Storm Bell's 2300 ATK."
"Not bad, but quite good enough," Aki told her. "I sacrifice my second Mystic Rose Token to summon Cassandra back to the field!"
Another one of the giant roses shattered apart into a twister of blue rose petals. After a few moments, the twister died away to reveal Cassandra.
"When Cassandra has been special summoned, I can use her effect to change the level of another Plant monster on the field to a level from one to four!" Aki announced. "I change the level of my remaining Mystic Rose Token from level one to level four!"
Cassandra uncorked the crystal jug and poured out the liquid inside. The remaining Mystic Rose absorbed the liquid through its stem and grew to four times its original size.
"I tune the level three Cassandra into the now level four Mystic Rose for a level seven Synchro Summon!" Aki announced.
Cassandra's body once again flashed orange and changed into three green rings of light. The rings encircled the giant rose and transformed it into four white stars.
"Pitch-black Flower of the underworld! Blossom now and bring ruin to the living!" Aki chanted. "Synchro Summon! Arise, Rose Goddess Persephone!"
The stars flashed and became a horizontal column of black flames. After a few moments, the flames subsided to reveal the pale masked woman that Aki had summoned when she had saved Rin and the others from Iliaster.
"When Persephone has been Synchro Summoned, she inflicts 200 points of damage for each Rose monster I have out on the field!" Aki announced. "Because I currently control two Rose monsters, you take 400 points of damage!"
On cue, Persephone cracked her whip and a ball of black flames shot from her body up into the air. Just as the ball exploded into a barrage of fiery black petals, Rin found an Action Card sticking out of the hedge wall and grabbed it.
"I activate the Action Card, Acceleration!" Rin announced. "This card negates the damage from Persephone's effect!"
Rin's D-Wheel suddenly accelerated and allowed her to dodge the flaming rose petals. The green-haired girl managed to speed ahead and Aki and took the lead on the track.
"I now activate Persephone's other effect!" Aki announced. "By reducing her ATK to zero, I can double the ATK of another Rose monster I control until the end of the turn! I use this effect to double Black Rose's ATK to 2800!"
Persephone's body gave off a black aura that began to flow into Black Rose. As the aura left her, Persephone's hair turned from black to white. Black Rose meanwhile let out a loud roar as she finished powering up.
"Black Rose! Attack Windwitch – Storm Bell!" Aki commanded. "Black Rose Apocalypse!"
Black Rose opened her jaws and fired a stream of purple flames at Rin's monster. Storm Bell exploded upon being hit, and Rin's life points dropped to 3500.
"I'll set one card on the field and end my turn," Aki announced. "And with the end of my turn, Black Rose's ATK returns to 1400."
With that, the black aura that had been emanating from Black Rose's body faded away to nothing.
"Hold on! If you had used Persephone to attack Storm Bell instead of powering up Black Rose, you could've done a lot more damage," Rin realized.
"I wanted to give you a chance to show me what you can really do," Aki explained.
"Okay, but… it seems like you've left yourself wide open," Rin pointed out.
"If you think I'm that vulnerable, then come at me with everything you've got," Aki told her.
Rin took a breath and drew her next card. "Because I have no monsters on the field, I can special summon Windwitch – Ice Bell!"
Appearing next to Rin's D-Wheel was a young woman with long dark-blue hair, with locks of light-blue and purple hair at the front. Locks of the girl's purple hair covered her right eye, while dark-blue locks covered her left. Atop her head was a large purple conical hat with a wide brim, purple trim and a large pink bow on the side. The young woman's outfit was a lavender bodysuit with a short light-pink skirt and a large pink bow with a round blue crystal decorating her chest. She also had on purple and pink boots, and light-pink bows were tied to her wrists. In the girl's right hand was a blue crystal wand. She was sitting atop a blue crystal broomstick with a multicolored bell at the end in place of broom bristles.
"When Ice Bell is special summoned using her effect, I can special summon another Windwitch monster from my deck!" Rin announced. "I summon another Windwitch – Ice Bell!"
Another young woman identical to Ice Bell materialized on the battlefield. The only difference that Ice Bell's twin had was that her hair was light green instead of blue.
"I now activate the second Ice Bell's effect!" Rin announced. "When Ice Bell has been summoned to the field, she can inflict 500 points of damage!"
The green-haired Ice Bell fired a bolt of blue light from her wand at Aki. The attack struck the front of Aki's D-Wheel, and her life points fell to 3500.
"Since I have two Wind monsters on the field, I special summon Windwitch – Snow Bell!" Rin announced.
Appearing next to the two Ice Bells was a large ball resembling a Christmas ornament. The sphere was colored ice blue in color and had gold trim. Adoring the front of the ball towards the top were two sapphires shaped like raindrops. On top of the sphere was a sort of gold stem with two large white-feathered wings on the sides and a sapphire orb at the very top. Atop the sapphire crystal was a small gold crown with tiny red gems.
"I tune the level one Snow Bell into my two level three Ice Bells for a level seven Synchro Summon!" Rin announced.
Snow Bell flashed orange and changed into a single ring of green light. The ring encircled Rin's other two monsters and transformed them into six white stars.
"Midwinter wind, harness ice and snow and blow a storm!" Rin chanted. "Synchro Summon! Come forth! Level seven, Windwitch – Winter Bell!"
The stars flashed and became a blast of ice and snow, dying away moments later to reveal a metallic-looking creature almost resembling the hood ornament of a car. The upper half of the creature appeared to be feminine, with a blue chest and a white midriff. In place of arms, the creature had a pair of light blue wings. The creature's head had a white face with red eyes, along with a long pointed blue helmet with glowing blue lines decorating it. Its lower half meanwhile was a green sphere with glowing blue lines, and underneath the sphere was a large blue blade that resembled a wing and also had glowing lines.
"I activate Winter Bell's effect!" Rin announced. "Once per turn, Winter Bell lets me target another Windwitch monster in my Graveyard and inflict 200 points of damage times that monster's level! I target Glass Bell to inflict 800 points of damage!"
Winter Bell fired bolts of blue lightning from her eyes that struck the front of Aki's D-Wheel. Aki's vehicle wobbled and her life points fell to 2700.
"I attack Black Rose Extinction Dragon with Winter Bell!" Rin announced. "Winter's Wrath!"
"I activate my Trap, Thorn Lashing!" Aki announced. "When a Rose monster I control is attacked, Thorn Lashing negates that attack and deals damage to my opponent equal to half the attacking monster's attack!"
Winter Bell fired a barrage of icicles across the battlefield at Black Rose. Aki's dragon roared and knocked the icicles away with her thorn-covered tails. One of Black Rose's tails then extended forwards and lashed Rin across the back. Rin cried out as her life points dropped to 2300.
"Surly that isn't all you've got," Aki spoke as Rin tried to catch her breath.
"I… I activate Winter Bell's other effect!" Rin announced. "During either player's Battle Phase, I can target a Windwitch monster on the field and special summon a monster my hand with the same level or less! I target Winter Bell herself and summon Windwitch – Breeze Bell!"
Appearing next to Winter Bell was a young woman with long sky-blue hair that had a lock of green hair covering her right eye. Atop her head she had a large pink conical had with a wide brim and a large green bow decorating the front. Her outfit was a mint-green bodysuit with dark-green trim and a short pink skirt that was open at the front. On the front of the girl's chest was a large pink bow decorated with a round blue crystal. She also had on pink elbow-high gloves and pink shoes. The girl was sitting atop a blue crystal broomstick, with a silver bell at the end in place of bristles. In her right hand, she carried a blue crystal wand with a star at the end.
"I now activate Breeze Bell's effect!" Rin announced. "When Breeze Bell has been special summoned to the field, I can special summon another Windwitch monster from my Graveyard! I summon Windwitch – Rain Bell!"
Materializing next to Breeze Bell was a large sapphire-colored object resembling a Christmas ornament in the shape of a raindrop. It had gold trim, and a round ice blue gemstone on the front towards the top. At the very top of the object was a sort of gold stem with white-feathered wings on the sides and an ice blue crystal at the very top. Atop this gemstone was a tiny crow decorated with emeralds.
"I activate my Trap card, Urgent Tuning!" Rin announced. "With this card, I tune the level one Rain Bell into the level four Breeze Bell for a level five Synchro Summon!"
Rain Bell flashed orange and transformed into a single green ring of light. The ring encircled Breeze Bell and changed her into five white stars.
"Early springtime wind, swirl together and become an unstoppable storm!" Rin chanted. "Synchro Summon! Appear! Level five! Windwitch – Tornado Bell!"
The stars flashed and became a massive light-green twister of wind. After a moment the tornado became smaller, and rising out of the top was the upper half of a woman with chalk-white skin and a light-blue mask with red eyes covering her entire face. She had on a cone-shaped green helmet resembling an upside-down tornado. Green armor covered her chest, along with a dark-blue shirt with long baggy sleeves. On her back was a pair of small grey-feathered wings.
"Tornado Bell is able to make two attacks each turn, and any monster she attacks loses 400 ATK and DEF during the battle!" Rin announced. "Tornado Bell! Attack Persephone! Raging Twister!"
"I activate Persephone's final effect!" Aki announced. "During either player's turn, I can sacrifice Persephone to send all monsters on the field that were special summoned back to the hand! Or in this case, back to the Extra Deck!"
Persephone's body gave off a silver flash before transforming into a massive twister filled with black rose petals. The twister quickly expanded to envelope the entire field and blew away Black Rose and Rin's two Synchro Monsters. When the twister finally subsided, the battlefield was totally bare.
"I'm pretty disappointed in you, Rin," Aki told her. "I was expecting a whole lot more from you, but you've let me down. Now I have no choice but to finish you off."
Author's Note: I hope everyone enjoyed the first installment of the duel between Rin and Aki. A duel like this is kind of a big deal, so I'm hoping I've done a good job with it so far. This duel actually kind of makes me wish we had seen something like a duel between Serena and Alexis Rhodes in the ARC-V anime. Of course I can think of one thing that might've been better than that. Three words: BRACELET GIRL FIGHTS! And by "fights", I of course mean duels.
So obviously I had to make up a whole bunch of new Windwitch monsters for Rin to use in this story. I decided to try and base some of them on weather conditions rather than just the weather of the winter season. Windwitch - Storm Bell is actually the creation of my friend, Firebolt the Blazing Saint. Cloud Bell, Rain Bell, Breeze Bell and Tornado Bell meanwhile are cards of my own design.
Please review and let me know what you think.