July 6, 2003
Early in the morning, Ichigo awoke from bed, well-rested after a peaceful night in bed. As she rubbed her eyes and yawned, she looked at her phone and then opened it up. Inside was a text from Ryou and a missed call from Retasu. She said to herself tiredly, "What's the deal with her?" She then called Retasu, seeing that the call was only half an hour prior.
"Hello?"
"Retasu," Ichigo asked her. "What's up? You called while I was asleep."
"It's Minto and Zakuro," Retasu worryingly replied to her. "Minto's mom called me and Ryou, and she didn't come home last night. Keiichiro also got a call from Zakuro's servant. She didn't come home either."
Immediately, Ichigo woke up more and replied to her, "What?! Do you have any clue where they are?"
"No," Retasu replied. "We don't."
"I'll be right over to the cafe," Ichigo replied as she sprung from bed and hung up the phone. As she was about to run out of the room, she suddenly stopped in her tracks as she looked down at herself. "Ugh, I forgot, I didn't wear a top last night to bed. It was too hot." She then stood and wondered to herself. "Would anything change if I just transformed right now and didn't bother getting a shirt or bra?" She then sighed and grabbed her pendant from her dresser.
"Did you forget you slept naked?" Dark Ichigo then emerged beside her, laughing. "Well, you were wearing pants, at least."
Ichigo blushed a bright red as she realized that Dark Ichigo was also topless. "Look who's talking, other me!"
"I don't really care," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Only you can see me. Are you gonna act like this if Masaya walks right through that do-?"
"Ichigo," the boy himself yelled as he came running in. "There's a- WOAH!" He then stopped dead in his tracks as he awkwardly looked over her body, and then right into her eyes.
Ichigo froze in place, her face reddening more and more by the second. "Uhhhh..."
As her boyfriend slowly backed out, he told her, "I'm... Uh... I'm gonna wait for you to get dressed..."
"Well," Dark Ichigo said to herself. "Looks like I'm more prophetic than I thought."
"Screw it," Ichigo declared as she whipped out her pendant and kissed it. "Mew Mew Strawberry! Metamorphose!" With a flash of light, Ichigo was now fully dressed in her Mew Ichigo outfit. "Okay, Masaya, you can come in, and yes, I know about Minto and Zakuro already."
"Alright," Masaya replied as he walked back in. "I saw everything above the waist, by the way."
"I know, I know," she embarrassingly said. "Anyway, you got any more info on this?"
"No," Masaya shrugged. "Only that they're missing. For all I know, this is the work of Deep Blue." Then, his cellphone rang. As he looked at it, he saw that it was Noda's number. "Hello, Noda?"
"Masaya," Noda explained to him over the phone. "Hime just started a duel with a Ghoul who says he knows where Zakuro and Minto are."
...
Indeed, Hime had just begun a duel in her civilian clothes against a cloaked Ghoul in the heart of the famous Shibuya Crossing, which had been one of several areas closed off to motor traffic for Battle City 4. As scores of spectators watched and as the famous moving advertisement screens of the crossing kept showing bright advertisement after bright advertisement, the two of them turned their duel disks on and declared together, "Let's Duel!"
The Ghoul went first, drawing a card to begin. "I summon Giant Rat, with 1400 attack! I then activate Messenger of Peace! With this card, as long as I pay 100 life points on each of my Standby phases, any monster on the field with 1500 or more attack points cannot attack at all! With that, I end my turn."
"Oh no," Hime thought to herself with worry as she looked over her cards. "I don't have many monsters with 1400 or less attack. Only one monster in my hand has enough attack to actually do anything, and it doesn't have enough attack points to match Giant Rat. I can still summon stronger monsters to form a wall, but they won't be able to do anything else." She then drew a card to begin her turn. "My turn! I discard one card to Special Summon The Tricky, with 2000 attack! I then summon Magical Exemplar, with 1700 attack! Its special effect allows me to place 2 Magic Counters whenever a Magic Card is activated and resolves successfully. Once per turn, I then can remove any number of Magic Counters to Special Summon a Spellcaster-type monster from my hand or graveyard whose level is equal to the number of Magic Counters I removed."
The Ghoul looked over her field and laughed. "Wow! You've summoned two monsters who can do you no good! What good will that do beside clog up your field, you ignorant child?!" He had a rather condescending tone, thinking that it would be easy to defeat a teenage girl.
Hime immediately reacted with anger at his remark. "Don't you dare call me a child! I'm 16 years old!" She then selected another card from her hand. "I set a card and end my turn. I suggest you don't insult me anymore."
"My turn!" The Ghoul then drew a card. "On my Standby phase, I lose 100 life points."
GHOUL: 3900
HIME: 4000
"I activate Dian Keto the Cure Master," the Ghoul then declared. "I gain 1000 life points as a result, and your Magical Exemplar gains two Magic Counters!"
GHOUL: 4900
HIME: 4000
"Then," he continued. "I remove from play my Dian Keto the Cure Master from my graveyard to Special Summon Spell Striker from my hand, with 600 attack! From there, I then summon Jinzo #7, with 500 attack! Now, you may wonder why I've summoned these two low-power monsters. Well, you see, these two monsters can attack you directly, even if you have monsters on your side if the field!" Hime gasped as she realized his plan. "Now, Spell Striker and Jinzo #7, attack her directly!" Both monsters then charged at Hime, attacking her. She blocked Spell Striker's blow with her duel disk, but was sucker-punched by Jinzo #7 immediately afterwards, causing her to fall to the ground in pain and drop the cards in her hand. The punch was audible, and caused many in the audience, including Noda, to wince or cringe in response. "Master Deep Blue's energy allows every duel one of us Ghouls gets into to have real pain and real injuries if we wish, which serves to intimidate our opponents more. I hope you enjoy being attacked like that again."
GHOUL: 4900
HIME: 2900
Hime staggered up after picking her cards up, blood running from her mouth from the hit to her face and dripping onto her shirt, and screamed at him, "Are you serious?! You're gonna get someone killed if they lose!"
"In some cases," the Ghoul rather disturbingly said. "That's the idea. I end my turn!"
"My turn!" Hime then drew another card. "I set another card and then end my turn!" She thought to herself, "This next card should throw him in for a loop."
"So," the Ghoul asked her. "You choose to not summon any monsters of use? Fine then. I draw!" He then looked at the cards in his hand. "Hmmm... How about this? Jinzo #7 and Spell Striker, attack her again!" Both monsters jumped forward, charging at Hime once more.
This time, Hime was ready. "Reverse Card Open! Scrap-Iron Scarecrow! I negate Jinzo #7's attack, and set Scrap-Iron Scarecrow back onto my field!" As with before, she was able to block Spell Striker's physical attack with her duel disk.
GHOUL: 4900
HIME: 2300
"I then activate my second card," she declared. "Secret Barrel! Since you have four cards on your field and three in your hand, I can inflict 1400 points of effect damage to you!" Secret Barrel then appeared on the field as a cannon, firing seven shots at the Ghoul and striking him down in pain.
GHOUL: 3500
HIME: 2300
"Damn you," he shouted at her in anger. "I end my turn!"
"My turn," Hime then shouted. "Aha! I've found it! I summon Blast Magician, with 1400 attack! As with Magical Exemplar, I place Magic Counters when you activate a Magic Card, but this time, I only get to place one on Blast Magician. However, this effect also applies when I activate a Magic Card as well. I can then remove any number of Magic Counters from Blast Magician to destroy one monster on the field with an attack that is less than or equal to 700 times the number of Magic Counters I took off. Now, Blast Magician, attack Jinzo #7!" Blast Magician then swung its bladed staff and sliced right through Jinzo #7, destroying it with ease as Hime wiped away the blood from her mouth with her shirt cuff.
GHOUL: 2600
HIME: 2300
"I end," Hime told her opponent. "Remember, I still have Scrap-Iron Scarecrow on my side of the field."
"I know that," the Ghoul bitterly replied. "You don't have to remind me. I draw!"
GHOUL: 2500
HIME: 2300
He then looked at his hand. "I summon Leghul, with 300 attack! Now, Spell Striker and Leghul, attack her directly!"
"Reverse Card Open! Scrap-Iron Scarecrow! I negate Spell Striker's attack!" Hime braced herself for Leghul's physical attack, which ended up being a rather painful bite to her right arm that tore through her shirt and drew blood. "Agh, son of a bitch!"
GHOUL: 2500
HIME: 2000
"I end my turn," the Ghoul informed her.
"It's too early in the morning for this crap," Hime muttered to herself. "I draw! Now, I activate Monster Reborn, and I choose your Jinzo #7! Hand it over!"
The Ghoul, annoyed, walked over to her side of the field, drawing Jinzo #7 from his graveyard. "Here," he told her as he handed her the card. "Take it. It won't be of much use to you anyway."
"We'll see about that," she replied as she placed it on her field and the Ghoul walked back to his side of it. "Now that I have Jinzo #7 on the field, I can take advantage of your strategy! Additionally, Blast Magician gains a Magic Counter, and Magical Exemplar gains two Magic Counters! I then summon Witch Of The Black Forest, with 1100 attack! Now, I'll have Witch Of The Black Forest attack your Leghul!" The witch then cast a spell with a chant, causing Leghul to explode in front of the Ghoul.
GHOUL: 1700
HIME: 2000
"Now," Home instructed her monsters further. "Jinzo #7, attack him directly!"
GHOUL: 1200
HIME: 2000
"I end my turn," Hime declared. "Give up already!"
GHOUL: 1100
HIME: 2000
"As if," the Ghoul defiantly declared. "My turn! I set one monster! Then, I'll have Spell Striker attack directly!" Hime again blocked Spell Striker's physical attack with her duel disk.
GHOUL: 1100
HIME: 1400
"I then switch Spell Striker to defense position and end my turn.," the Ghoul said to end his turn. "I still have time to win," the Ghoul thought to himself. "The cost of Messenger of Peace won't be enough to make me lose before I can drain all of her life points."
As Hime drew her next card and looked at it, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally, I can take care of that annoying Continuous Magic Card you have! I activate Magic Cylinder to destroy Messenger of Peace, leaving you wide open!" As the Ghoul screamed in terror, Messenger of Peace was blown up. "Now, I'll use the Tricky to attack your Spell Striker, which will end this duel!" The Tricky then cast a spell upon Spell Striker, blowing it up.
GHOUL: 0000 (LOSES)
HIME: 1400 (WINS)
"I...," the Ghoul whimpered to himself as he realized what would come next. "I lost... No... Master Deep Blue, please, forgive me!" Then, he suddenly collapsed onto the street with a loud thud, surprising Hime.
"Huh?" Hime then carefully began to walk over to him to grab his D-chips. "Hey, dude, are you okay?"
Then, the Ghoul shot right up, an Eye of Wdjat on his forehead, and with Deep Blue's voice bellowing through, scaring Hime. "I'm rather fine! This servant of mine has lost, though, so he is no longer of use in his current form! As we speak, I have managed to wipe his mind of all traces of his life before this very moment, and he shall now be a mindless zombie, free only to do whatever I command of him! You can have his D-chips for all I care, seeing as he no longer needs them. Just be warned, Azumi Hime, that this does not mean that you will succeed! In fact, I can already imagine your defeat at my hands!" He then bellowed in laughter through the Ghoul's body as he made it jump and dance around like a rag doll, disturbing the shocked crowd. "How do you like the little show I'm putting on for you? Do you find it exciting? Scary? Frightening? Entertaining? Well, believe me, there will be more like this very soon! Come down to the Port of Tokyo at noon time and you'll see what I mean!" The Ghoul then suddenly disappeared and vanished from sight, leaving only his duel disk, his cards, and his D-chips.
Hime grabbed all of them and quickly rushed back to Noda, deeply disturbed by the display. Noda asked his girlfriend, "Hime, are you alright?"
"Yeah," she replied to him, handing the duel disk and deck to him. "Take this. Use it for your own protection if these creeps challenge you to a duel. Just because you're not officially in the tournament doesn't mean they won't. Anyway, we gotta tell the others about Deep Blue's warning. We have to be at the Port of Tokyo by noon."