A/N: I'm really surprised to see so many people asking to see the duel between Reiji and Aoi. I was holding it off for a bit since we just came off a bunch of duels, and the plotline wouldn't be coming up in the story for a while. But for you guys, I'm writing a bonus chapter for it. Tbh though, don't get your hopes up; anyone who knows the D/D/D-Trickstar match-up can see that it's ridiculously one-sided.
Fun Fact: Yuri is terrible at typing. He types on a keyboard with one finger at a time.
Chapter Summary: We take a look back at Reiji's duel with the mysterious Links user.
Reiji and the woman stared at each other. The woman's eyes were full of determination, while Reiji's remained cold and observant.
Surrounding them were many LDS agents, forming a perimeter around them. They were there to ensure that the woman would not escape before Reiji was done with her.
"Before we begin, I'd like to know your name," Reiji said to the woman.
The woman raised an eyebrow. "Why would that matter?"
"Contrary to popular belief, I'm not a monster. I'm here to do what I can to create peace between both of our worlds. We can open up discussions and learn from each other."
The woman didn't answer him. Instead, she drew five cards from her Deck and formed a hand with them.
Reiji decided to do the same. He silently drew cards and made a hand.
"I activate Trickstar Lightstage," the woman said to him.
The ground started to light up, and the image of a rising stage lifted both of them up. Large flatscreen monitors floated around them, hiding some of the guards that surrounded the field. Hologram sparkles, hearts and flowers rained down from the sky.
"When Lightstage is activated, I can add 1 Trickstar monster from my Deck to my hand," the woman explained. "I add Trickstar Lilybell to my hand."
The woman placed the card on the blade, and the image of an angelic girl appeared on the field. She held out a large, baton-like bell, which she pointed at her enemy. (DEF 2000)
"I'm Reiji Akaba," Reiji said. "Even if you won't tell my your name, I have no qualms telling you mine."
The woman furrowed her brow. In truth, that was partially what Reiji wanted out of this; to look like the one who wanted peace and civility. The more the woman resisted, the more she would seem like the aggressive party.
He was going to get under her skin by being a good, polite person. She would either break down and eventually relent, or would continue to show that she's unwilling to communicate. Either way, Reiji would have a better grasp of her character. And he already knew how to exploit either outcome.
"I Normal Summon Trickstar Candina!" the woman continued.
Another monster was summoned onto the field, right next to Lilybell. This time, it was an older-looking girl in a yellow outfit. (ATK 1800)
"When this card is Normal Summoned, I can add Trickstar Lycorissica from my Deck to my hand."
"I noticed that this play is very similar to your old one," Reiji commented. "Is this a key strategy for your archetype?"
"What pointless questions," the woman replied. "Stop asking them, and start taking damage."
"Why are they pointless?" Reiji asked. "Humans are social creatures; we want to reach out to each other."
"We're not friends," answered the woman. "I'm here to acts as a warning. We don't want anything to do with you."
Reiji remained steadfast. He simply fixed his glasses on his face and kept watch of the woman, studying her field and movements. He was starting to get an idea of what was going on with her, and he suspected that he struck a nerve when he was able to recognize her strategy.
"I activate the effect of the Trickstar Lycorissica in my hand," the woman announced. "I can reveal it, and then target a Trickstar monster I control; Lycorissica is Special Summoned, and the target monster is returned to my hand."
"Do you, by any chance, have two Lycorissica cards in your hand?"
The woman took a step back, right into the front of one of the bodyguards. She quickly jumped forward to get herself away from the man behind her.
"I see," Reiji concluded. "It was just a guess; I figured you would take full advantage of your cards, so you could summon as many monsters as you could for your strategies."
The woman scoffed. "You talk a lot. I think I'm going to enjoy kicking your ass here."
Twin monsters were summoned on either side of Trickstar Candina. (DEF 1200) Candina then took off into the air with her wings, up high in the air, until her body vanished from sight.
"Any stupid comments about this?" the woman asked.
"No," Reiji replied. "I see no problem or area of concern."
The woman smiled. "At least you're a lot less pushy than my first enemy."
Reiji nodded politely. But inside, he was egao-ing. It was a small moment between him and her, but he was able to see another side to the woman. It wasn't even a calcculated effort by him, she just came to expect a reaction from him.
Were they bonding? Reiji wondered that. The duel, so far, had not been as exciting as his last duel with Yuya. But he could feel himself understanding his opponent more.
"I'd love to see your Link Summon, if you'd be willing," Reiji said to her. "I would appreciate seeing you throw all your strength against me."
The woman shook her head. "That was already the plan. So get ready, kid. I link one of my Trickstar Lycorissica with Trickstar Lilybell!"
The two monsters were engulfed in blue light. Their bodies ripped apart into pixels, then joined together in a large, spherical mass.
"Link Summon! Link 2, Trickstar Holly Angel!"
Now the sphere broke away, revealing the mesh skeleton of monster. The details and color of its body started to fill in, taking the form of an angelic woman in blue. A blue ring floated around its waist, and arrows jutted out from nine different directions. Two of the back arrows were lit up in pink, with one pointing directly to Trickstar Lycorissica. (ATK 2000)
"Your monster's interesting," Reiji said to her. "It's lacking in ATK now, but your strategy links together in order to make it more formidable."
"So you definitely watched my last duel?"
The woman scoffed. "I bet you changed your deck to counter mine."
"I believe in fair play," Reiji responded. "I didn't change my deck at all to challenge you. I intend to beat you with my own cards and skill, nothing more."
"Really? If that's true, then you have my interest. I set a card face-down, and end my turn."
The woman ended her field with Trickstar Holly Angel in her Extra Monster Zone, and a Trickstar Lycorissica connected to it in her Main Monster Zone. She had the Trickstar Lightstage Field Spell activated, and had one face-down Spell. She had one face-down card in her Spell and Trap Zone, and one card remaining in her hand. Her Life Points were untouched, at 4000.
Reiji drew a card, and already did he start to feel the burn of the mystery woman's strategy. He could feel the burning sensation of Lycorissica's effect damage against him. And then, immediately afterward, Lightstage's effect hit him just as hard. (Reiji: 4000 → 3800 → 3600)
"When you take damage from Trickstar monster's effect, Trickstar Holly Angel gains ATK equal to that damage." (Holly Angel ATK 2000 → 2200)
"That's only a little bit of damage," Reiji said.
"A little bit adds up over time," the woman answered. "Now I activate the Trap Card, Trickstar Revival!"
The face-down card rose up, revealing its body to the world. The art depicted Trickstar Holly Angel, reaching into a bed of spider lillies to grab hold of a human hand.
"I can Special Summon a Trickstar monster from my Graveyard, and summon it at a Link Monster's Link Point."
Holly Angel turned around and grabbed at the ground. A white gloved hand reached from the ground, and Holly Angel pulled it up. Trickstar Lilybell rose from the ground and took her place behind Holly Angel. (DEF 2000)
"Since a Trickstar Monster was summoned at Holly Angel's Link Point, 200 damage is inflicted to my opponent. Trickstar Lightstage also inflicts 200 damage."
Reiji could feel the burn. He kept his composure, only letting out a small grunt of pain. He had to admit, though, that the duel was more painful than the footage made it seem. (Reiji: 3600 → 3400 → 3200)
"And because a Trickstar monster's effect inflicted damage to you, Holly Angel gains ATK equal to that damage." (Holly Angel ATK 2200 → 2400)
"Not bad," Reiji mused. "I haven't even made my move, and you've already started whittling my Life Points down."
"Are you scared? A lot of people start to feel the heat by now."
"No. Because I'm not going to take any more damage for the rest of the duel."
The woman's mouth slacked a bit, and her shoulders tensed up. But she quickly regained her composure and took a more relaxed, neutral stance.
"Do you know the rules of the field?" she asked. "If you think your old strategies will work, guess again."
"I believe I can only Special Summon one monster from my Extra Deck," Reiji said. "So I better make my monster count. I use D/D Swirl Slime's effect..."
Reiji revealed two monsters in his hand: D/D Slime Swirl Slime, and D/D Ghost. He placed the cards above his Graveyard and let them fall inside.
"I can Fusion Summon one D/D/D monster, using D/D Swirl Slime and another monster from my hand."
A swirling vortex or blue and orange formed above Reiji. The spirits of his two monsters rose from the ground and were drawn inside. Their bodies melded together, forming a dark mixture of their bodies.
"Cat of an unknown existence, become one with the primordial slime. Fusion Summon!"
The melded being took the form of a winged, female humanoid. It took off from the portal and flew on its dark wings.
"Come forth, ruler who carries the glory of God! D/D/D Oracle King - d'Arc!"
The monster landed on the field beside Holly Angel, then held its thin sword up to the enemy monster's neck. (ATK 2800)
"I activate the Continuous Spell, Dark Contract with the Gate. During my Main Phase, I can add one D/D monster to my hand."
A card near the bottom of Reiji's Deck was ejected out. Reiji pulled the card out and revealed it to his enemy: D/D Savant Galilei.
"You added a card to your hand. Because of that, Trickstar Lycorissica's effect makes you take 200 damage!" the woman declared. "And because of that, the effects of Trickstar Lightstage and Holly Angel both activate."
A pale golden glow illuminated his body, offering a calming presence to the young man. Reiji remained calm, letting himself be filled with peace.
(Reiji: 3200 → 3400)
"D/D/D Oracle King d'Arc prevents me from taking any effect damage," Reiji explained to her. "And any effect damage I would take is instead added to my Life Points."
The woman's jaw hung loose. Her hands fell uselessly to her sides. And it took everything in her power not to give into her buckling knees.
"... FFFFFF-"
Reiji egao'd. "You don't sound too happy."
"Yeah, laugh it up, smile boy," the woman grumbled. "I'm not going to go down easy."
Okay, that made Reiji chuckle. It was a surprise even to himself.
"Let's both do our best," Reiji said to her. "Miss...?"
"... Zaizen," she said hestitantly. "Aoi Zaizen."
Reiji nodded. "It's an honor dueling with you so far."
Reiji lifted two cards from his hand, then revealed them to his opponent. "With my Scale 1 D/D Savant Galilei, and my Scale 10 D/D Savant Newton, I set the Pendulum Scales."
"The Devil's tool," Aoi growled.
The blue pillars of light rose on either side of Reiji, carrying the monsters high above him. A large pendulum appeared in the sky and started to sway in circles.
"Grand power that shakes my very soul!" chanted Reiji. "Arise within me and become a new light that rends the darkness. Pendulum Summon! Come before me, my monsters!"
Two lights fell to the earth, right behind Oracle King d'Arc. The dragon monster rose up and let their black wings spread. (ATK 2600) The other monster floated just a foot off of the ground, letting its crystalline body reflect a brilliant light into Reiji's side of the field. (ATK 3000)
"D/D/D Dragon King Pendragon, and D/D/D Doom King Armageddon have been Pendulum Summoned from my hand. And since I was able to summon both of them to the regular Monster Zones, I think I'm beginning to piece together how your field works."
Although she wasn't so sure about her mission here, Aoi was always confident about her dueling skills, and having an advantage over her enemies. The field she used would be able to confuse and hinder her enemies, while she was aided by it. And she would have knocked her opponents out by this time, anyway.
Now, she had to finally face her mortality. For the first time since she began her training as a vanguard, she had to deal with the likelihood of losing it all. It was always a possibility, but now it was a real chance.
She just wanted to go home.
"... Do your worst," she said to him. "I'm not scared of your little monsters."
"Battle Phase!" Reiji announced. "D/D/D Doom King Armageddon attack Trickstar Holly Angel."
A glowing orb appeared from within Doom King's clear body. The light within it grew larger and larger, until its body could barely contain it. A concentrated beam of light shot across the field, piercing Trickstar Holly Angel's chest. Holly Angel let out a small cry of pain before being destroyed. (Aoi: 4000 → 3600)
"D/D/D Oracle King d'Arc attacks Trickstar Lyrorissica," Reiji went on. "And D/D/D Dragon King Pendragon attacks Trickstar Lilybell."
Aoi kept her eyes open. She watched as her opponent's monsters literally tore through her own. The horror seen on her monsters' faces mirrored her own feelings. But she couldn't look away; she needed to put on a brave face, and now show weakness to the enemy.
"You don't have any more cards," Aoi said to the boy. "Can you end your turn now? I want to get this over with soon."
Reiji nodded. "Right. I'll let you get to your turn now, Miss Zaizen."
Reiji ended his turn with 3400 Life Points, and no cards in his hand. His field consisted of his three D/D/D monsters and his Pendulum Scales. His D/D/D Oracle King d'Arc occupied his Extra Monster Zone.
Aoi stared at her nearly-empty field, almost hesitant to even draw a card. Now, more than ever did, she felt like a flop on her own stage. If her next draw was a dud, she would be in a pinch.
She drew a card. And to her disappointment, it was Trickstar Reincarnation. AKA a card that would not only fail to help her get out of this jam, but would just give Reiji more Life Points.
Still, it could be used to revive Holly Angel. She'd be able to boost her defenses. Or maybe she could hold off on reviving it until her next turn, and use it for a bigger strategy. She had a few options to choose from here; she just needed to make sure she would choose the right one.
Stay strong, she told herself. No matter what, we'll get through this somehow.
Quietly, she uttered the words, "I summon Trickstar Candina to the field."
Her blonde monster was summoned to the field. It fluttered down from the sky and took its place right before her master. (ATK 1800)
"When this card is Summoned, I can add another Trickstar card to my hand."
A card was ejected from the top of the woman's Deck. She slowly pulled it out and presented it to Reiji.
"When this card is added to my hand, I can Special Summon it."
Lilybell materialized on the field. She hovered to the right of Trickstar Candina, and held her large bell in her hands. (DEF 2000) Judging by the egao on her face, she seemed unaware of the uncertainty Aoi had for this fight.
"I set a card, then end my turn."
Aoi placed a card on her Disk's blade. A face-down card appeared directly behind Candina.
And that was it. Aoi's turn ended there, much to her own sadness. The best she could do was to create a wall and stave off as much damage as she could, in the hopes of surviving another turn.
Aoi his her face in her hands. She couldn't bare to have anyone see her if she cried.
While Aoi was facing down her own defeat, Reiji kept calm and collected. He simply drew a card from his deck and added it to his hand.
"During my Standby Phase, Galilei's Scale increases by 2, and Dark Contract with the Gate inflicts 1000 damage to me," he said casually. "Of course, Oracle King d'Arc converts this damage into Life Points."
The golden glow returned once more. Reiji could feel himself invigorating by its cleansing light. (Reiji: 3400 → 4400) (D/D Savant Galilei: Scale 1 Scale → Scale 3)
Aoi let out a small gasp. He's stronger than when he started. It's like I never did anything to him!
"I want peace between us," he said to her. "I'm willing to call this duel a DRAW, if you agree to come with me without a fight. I feel like that would be more polite than attacking you now."
"... If you really want peace, then why did you trap me?" the woman asked.
"If you wanted our worlds to be left alone, then why did you attack one of my men?" Reiji countered.
Aoi huffed. "I-I'm not going to give up. Go ahead and attack, if you dare."
Reiji observed the field. His eyes squared down right at the card. Walking into a trap wouldn't hurt him too much; he could Pendulum Summon a monster next turn. And with Aoi down to next to nothing, it would be nearly impossible for her to mount a counter strong enough to defeat him.
"Pendulum Summon!" Reiji declared. "From my hand, I summon D/D Proud Ogre!"
Another light fell from the pendulum. This time, it became a monster covered in black-and-red armor, with large, demonic horns on its head.
Aoi's hand fell from her face. Reiji's hand was empty now. It was too late; she couldn't activate Trickstar Reincarnation now. (ATK 2300)
And all that was left was to watch Reiji destroy her monsters and defeat her.
(Aoi: 3600 → 2600 → 0)
Aoi's head hung low, and her hair fell over the sides of her face. She stared at her own two feet. She struggled. Struggled to recover.
It was over. She lost. And that meant she lost her freedom. And she likely lost any chance of seeing her brother or friends again. Who knew if her people would even come for a loser like her?
She looked up to the sky and took a deep, long breath. Now, she wasn't going to cry. She was a Charisma Duelist, after all; composure and charisma were always important. She couldn't let her emotions get to her, in front of everyone. She had to keep the show going.
"You got me, Reiji," she said quietly. "You can take me away now."
Two guards put their hands on her shoulder. She could feel them as they pulled her arms behind her back, then slap on some heavy handcuffs. Her Duel Disk was pulled from her arm, much to her displeasure.
Reiji approached her, calm as ever. Aoi could admit that his demeanor was intimidating, although she didn't fear him. She saw him as dangerous, but not as a threat to her.
"You'll be joining us at the Leo Corporation," he told the girl. "As long as you behave and don't cause us trouble, you will have the finest living arrangements I can manage, I promise you."
"You still won't get any secrets out of me," Aoi sadly chuckled. "I'm a loser, but I'm still loyal."
"We'll get what we need from you, even if you refuse to talk," Reiji informed her. "But don't you want peace?"
"I want peace. I'll talk to you about that. But if you think I'll let you steal our Link Summon away from us, you're going to be empty-handed."
Reiji shook his head. "First things first; let's bring you to your temporary home, so you can rest. After, we'll start talking."
A/N: Trickstar Revival is basically a Trickstar-exclusive Call of the Haunted, except it isn't a Continuous Trap, and it involves Links. I could have easily just used CoTH and absolutely nothing would have changed here, but I thought I'd make an original card to supplement the current lack of Trickstar Cards.
HunterHQ asks, "Also how did you find Vrains? Are the new bad guys the Knights of Hanoi?"
I'm liking it so far. It's pretty atmospheric, and the aesthetic is very nice. I didn't appreciate the lack of duels, and I'm still not sold on Yusaku yet. But it has a lot of promise. I doubt it'll replace ARC-V as my favorite series, but I think it could still be a really good show. What about you? You liking it so far?
In my fic, the Knights of Hanoi will have a surprising role. How they fit in might change as we learn more from VRAINS, but I already have a set plan for their role in the endgame. As for them being the new bad guys, it's a secret.
