Bonus material.
The next morning arose in a veil of sunlight and a chorus of chirping birds. A few rays of sunlight snuck through the workshop windows to reveal a scattered mess of clothes and a sleeping Yusei and Akiza covered by a blanket. The sounds of the birds were what woke her up first. She rubbed the crust from her eyes and looked down at her newly acquired and snoozing squeeze.
"I'll let him sleep a little while longer," the dancer thought as she lightly kissed his forehead before standing up and hastily putting on her clothes. Plus, just to show she cared, Akiza also gathered Yusei's stuff and placed them on the far end of the couch, just beyond his feet. She gingerly stepped up the staircase to the kitchen and put on some coffee. While the grounds percolated, the dancer noticed a stack of cards next to the sink. She also guessed the stack was upside-down, since the bottom card was face-up. Akiza picked that card up and examined it.
"Stardust...Dragon," she read in her mind. "I think this is Yusei's deck." Then it suddenly hit her: when they first met, Yusei had sort of promised her a duel. Since then, Akiza had shown her mettle against her former boss, held her own against Jack, and clashed with Crow, despite losing just once. When the machine dinged as if to say "done," the light bulb went off over her head. It was time now to see if Yusei was just as good a duelist than a lover.
Downstairs, the dinging of the coffee maker jarred Yusei from his slumber. He donned his trademark muscle shirt and black jeans and wandered upstairs to find the former exotic dancer.
"Good morning," he greeted Akiza.
"Look who's awake," she answered back between sips. "Thirsty?"
"I'll pass," the mechanic waved off. "And what's the mischievous smile on your face?" Akiza didn't answer right away; instead, she handed him his deck.
"I believe you owe me a duel," the dancer requested simply. "You told me before how your deck is made of throw-away cards. I want to see them in action." Yusei stared down at his bottom card and made his decision.
"All right then, let's do this," he hummed confidently.
Once the two duelists cleaned themselves up from the sweat and passion of the previous night, they stood opposite one another, outside the workshop, ready to duke it out.
"'Cause I'm also a gentleman, I think you should go first," Yusei announced.
"Then I'll take that chance," the dancer answered, drawing to hold six cards and accounting 4,000 life points. "I'll start off with Revival Rose." From out of the ground sprouted a life-size rose with an eyeball inside of it.
"I'll set three cards face-down and leave it at that," she said to end her turn.
"In that case, it's my turn then," Yusei mouthed as he held six cards. "I'll start with Rockstone Warrior!" A storm of gravel and rocks combined together to create what resembled a golem that could fight.
"Rockstone, cut down that rose!" the mechanic commanded his monster as it stumbled forward, looking to complete its task.
"I activate Negate Attack!" Akiza countered, flipping one of her three traps face-up. "Now your attack is stopped and the battle's over."
"Then I end my turn right there," he said to conclude his opening move.
"I managed to stop you," the dancer celebrated as she drew to hold three cards. "But let's see you stop Rose Tentacles!" Her current monster folded into a portal, releasing an even bigger rose, equipped with an arsenal of tentacle-like vines.
"I'd like to report a weed infestation," Yusei attempted to zing.
"Very funny," the dancer added with sarcasm. "Here's another kicker: Ivy Shackles!" Her next trap flipped up and created a wrap of vines that ensnared Rockstone Warrior.
"What gives?" the marked man asked out loud.
"Whenever it's my turn, my trap makes all the monsters on your field into plants," Akiza explained. "Which is good news for Rose Tentacles!" The mutant rose swung its vines around without restraint, crumbling Yusei's monster.
"Just so you know, Rockstone doesn't take battle damage whenever it's destroyed," he pointed out from the recoil.
"Then this'll make up for it: Rose Tentacles deals out 300 points of damage when it takes down a plant monster," the dancer chipped in while her monster slapped Yusei a few times, dropping his score to 3,700. "Next up Blossom Bombardment!" Her last trap activated after Rose Tentacles finished its assault and whipped out 1,800 points of damage on Yusei.
"That'll do for now," she winked to end her turn.
"I gotta pick up the slack," her opponent wheezed, drawing to hold six cards again. "By discarding a card from my hand to the graveyard, I can special summon Big One Warrior to the field." A muscular and green tinted superhero burst into play, ready to fight.
"Next up, I play Debris Dragon," Yusei continued, bringing out a young dragon. "Plus, with its special effect, I can bring back a monster with less than 500 attack points from my graveyard, like Tuningware!" Next to the dragon came a small robot with a wok for a head.
"Small monsters," Akiza commented.
"They say big things come in small packages," the mechanic answered back. "And since I called a monster up from my graveyard, Doppelwarrior can be special summoned as well." Next to the wok robot appeared a spy armed with a crossbow.
"Now, watch as my monsters pool their powers together for a Synchro Summon!" he bellowed as his collection of creatures disappeared in a bright green light. "Watch out for Stardust Dragon!" In a sea of sparkles came a frail looking and periwinkle-blue dragon.
"Plus, with the special abilities of Tuningware and Doppelwarrior, I can draw one card and add some defense," he explained, while two smaller token monsters appeared in defense position and his hand count increased to three. "Now go for the gusto, Stardust!" His dragon lined up its maw and blasted Rose Tentacles into oblivion and scratched Akiza's score to 3,700.
"Since my monster was destroyed, Revival Rose can come back to the field," Akiza explained as the smaller plant sprouted up again.
"I'll set one card face-down and call it at that," the black-haired duelist said to finish his turn.
"I'm up then," the dancer interrupted, drawing to hold four cards. "I'll summon Twilight Rose Knight!" The armored warrior swung its sword and let out a battle cry.
"One Synchro deserves another," she added as her monsters flashed away in the green light and made a new force of destruction. "Stand and deliver, Black Rose Dragon!" A gale of petals revealed Akiza's signature beast, vines waving and all.
"I was hoping it would come to this," Yusei smirked. "But only one dragon can come out on top."
This is what I hinted at the end of Chapter 20: Akiza wanted to see how well Yusei fought with weak monsters. Who should win this thing? I figured with the Labor Day weekend being in full force, I may as well dig out one of my recent hits. Review if you choose and stay tuned for the real conclusion. One more thing: for those who have difficulty writing duels, I can help. Just ask.