Unable to back down from a challenge, Kazuhiko's date is interrupted by a challenge from Suzy Q. Can he overcome her newly powered up Kozmo deck and, most importantly, impress his date while doing so?
Despite still being quite warm, temperatures in Chiba had finally begun to decline now that summer had truly ended. September was always somewhat of an irritating time for Yumi. Not cool enough to feel nice, not hot enough to enjoy, and smack in the middle of that point where you're over the initial high of coming back to school but not yet to the point where you've settled into the daily grind. It was just a very in-between month overall.
To make matters worse, she was on her own for the time being. A track meet was coming up so both Ami and Suzy were preoccupied by club activities. Sakuya seemed busy, too, having not responded to her last message for several minutes (though they might still be fighting over which season of Kamen Rider was actually the best). She initially thought of going to an arcade or a bowling alley, though actually making the effort to walk to either of them and spend all that time alone destroyed any enthusiasm she might have had for these activities.
Not all hope was lost, though, as there was Kazuhiko standing on the corner by a convenience store, checking his watch over and over and looking uncharacteristically anxious. Hideo wasn't with him for some reason, obviously meaning he could use a friend. Doing her best to quietly sneak up behind him, Yumi blew her cover by screaming, "Kazuhiko!" and latching onto his back with a hug.
With a scream nearly shrill enough to shatter glass, he shook Yumi off himself and stomped his feet. "Don't sneak up on people like that! I could have killed you moving on instinct!"
She found this amusing, laughing at his outburst and saying, "You looked lonely and needed a hug."
"You're like a damn monkey," he said while smoothing out his jacket. Running a comb through his hair, he added, "Well, I'm fine now, so you can get lost."
Yumi pouted and put her hands on her hips. "Trying to get rid of me now? Let me guess." She tried to make her face look as stern as possible and pulled a chunk of hair forward on her head. "It's not cool to hang out with a little kid after school," she said while imitating his voice.
"No, it's just-" He stopped what he was saying to pat his pockets. "Damn it, I forgot. Do you have a mirror or something on you?" Yumi's expression stayed neutral to demonstrate just how absurd that question was. "Right." Kazuhiko took out his phone and tried to position himself with enough light to properly see his reflection in the darkened screen. "Tell me if my hair looks right."
"It's fine," she said. "You're really weird today. Did something happen?"
He pressed in what he thought to be a single hair out of place in his pompadour before combing through it for security. "No, just got something happening soon. Have to look good for it."
Yumi crept up behind him and tried to push herself into the reflection by standing on her toes and stretching as tall as possible, still being at least a head shorter than her friend. "Ooh, like a date?"
Kazuhiko put his phone away to avoid eye contact even through a reflection, turning away and clearing his throat. "Well, you could say that," he said with a shaky laugh, clutching his comb inside his pocket.
With a gasp, Yumi hopped up and down. "Really? Who is it? Have we met? Where are you going? Can I come?"
"No, you can't come!" he shouted. "That would just be weird. I can't be chaperoning while I'm taking a guy out." Composing himself, he answered, "I don't think you'd know each other. Be kind of surprising if you did, but you do seem to know a lot of people."
"Like Shoeless George!"
"Yeah, like him. Anyway, I'm going to be kind of busy here, so I can't hang out right now. I'll talk to you later."
"Fine," she said with a huff. "Where's Hideo? We'll just have our own adventure while you're on a date."
He gave her a thumbs down with a shake of his head. "No go there. They're at this martial arts exhibition in the north part of town. Better be doing good after kicking my ass all week to practice."
With a loud sigh, Yumi leaned against the wall of the building. "Everyone's busy," she moaned.
"Sorry," he said. "I'll tell you how things go later. Nothing's going on tomorrow if you want to do stuff then."
"I can't," she said while spinning in circles. "I start training for the regional tomorrow. I'm going to start being a lot more busy after that, so I was hoping we could do something before then."
"Damn, that sucks. Well, not sucks since you get to learn about new strategies and duel a whole bunch, but you get what I mean. Sorry things didn't work out." He gave her a pat on the head and pulled her goggles down. "I'll introduce you when he shows up. How's that?"
"I accept your pity," she said while adjusting her goggles on her face. As Kazuhiko primped, Yumi remembered something she'd been questioning for a while. "Hey, I've always wondered something. Why's your hair like that?"
"What, you got a problem with it?" His forehead vein could pop on demand these days.
"No, it's cool. I'm just wondering why you always have it styled the same like that. Not many people do that anymore. That was like the style in the 90's, right?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." He thought for a moment, suddenly looking a great deal more introspective than normal. "Well, I guess it's just been that way ever since I was a kid. It's kind of a weird story, so you probably don't care."
"Tell me," she insisted with a flap of her hands.
"Fine, fine, just don't break out the hands like that." He rubbed his chin, remembering the moment from all those years ago as clear as if it happened yesterday. "Well, when I was younger – like, younger than you – I was a real dick. Like, I guess I could blame my father and how he left us before I was born, but that's just passing the buck."
Kazuhiko had never spoken to her about his father before. It was always the assumption among the group that something had happened, what with his only being raised by his mom and having a half-sibling and all, but this was the first time Yumi was getting any details on the matter.
"But anyway, I was real pissed off all the time because I kind of thought maybe it was my fault he left and not, you know, he was just a bad person. And lots of other kids would spread rumors about me or my mom, so I'd get in fights or act out. And then my mom always had to come and apologize for me, which just made me even more mad. And then she'd apologize to me for not being a good enough mom, and it just..." He cleared his throat before he continued.
"Yeah, so, it was just a lot of stuff. And one day I'm just walking home from school and I stop in this store." He looked behind himself before laughing. "Almost thought it was this exact one, but nah. Anyway, I'm looking through the manga they got on sale and I just happen to see this one volume of one. It was from 19-something, or whatever, but I guess they just had a copy to sell. The art looked cool on the cover, so I pick it up and start reading."
Though he tried to hide it, it was clear from his smile that even just remembering this story filled him the purest sense of joy. "The protagonist was this really cool dude with special powers. He stood up to jerks and wouldn't let anyone hurt animals or people who were weak. But he also really polite and caring, you know? And I just kind of liked that about him. And when I kept reading, apparently he had some issues with his dad, too, since he wasn't in his life, either."
He scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed about what was coming up next. "So I bought it and I had to look around to find the other volumes. I even went to the library. And the more I read, the more it just...takes me. And I get to this one chapter where they explain his hair, how he was saved as a little kid by a high school guy with a pompadour, and so he started styling his hair like that to honor that guy.
"I just thought that was the coolest thing I'd ever seen, so I...well, I did the same thing. Since..." He cleared his throat again. "Well, reading it kind of saved me, I guess. I tried to be better, more like that character." He shrugged, trying to play it off as no big deal. "Whatever, though. I just think it looks cool, is all. Forget all of that, it's dumb."
Lifting up her goggles, a flood of tears sprinkled the ground. "That's the best story I've ever heard," Yumi said while rubbing her eyes.
"Don't cry about it!" he said, growing more embarrassed by the second. "I wouldn't have told you all that if you were going to make a big deal about it!"
"It's a great story! You're so cool!"
He grabbed Yumi and put her in a headlock, her feet dangling off the ground. "No, I suck and so do my stories!" It was probably the only time anyone would ever hear Kazuhiko not be overly complimentary towards himself.
"No, you're great!" She bit into his forearm like a crazed chimp, the two struggling with each other until she was quickly and unceremoniously dropped to the ground.
"Oh, hey," Kazuhiko said to a person in front of them, trying to play things off as if he hadn't just placed a little girl in a choke hold moments earlier.
"Hello," Yumi said with a wave.
"Totally wasn't what it looked like," he added while pulling her to her feet.
"I was just going to ask if you needed backup," the stranger said, proving his worth by immediately offering to help Kazuhiko beat up a child.
Before another word could be spoken, Yumi pointed towards him and shouted, "You're the handsome guy!"
He was a bit surprised by the accusation, though he didn't deny it. "Well, I've always thought of myself as ia/i handsome guy. Am I really ithe/i handsome guy now?"
"No, the handsome guy we saw at the park that day. You remember, right?" Yumi surprised even herself with her recollection of such a minor detail from an otherwise extremely eventful day. It was indeed the boy they'd seen crossing the street, round glasses and green patterned scarf and all over the same uniform as Kazuhiko. Seems like he'd gotten that closer look he wanted in the end.
"Right, yeah. Remember how I said I saw you the first time during the summer but never actually talked to you until school started?" He walked over to him and put an arm around his neck. "That's my friend Miss Yumi, by the way." She waved. "And this guy is Kenji. Guess you could call him my, you know..." He cracked a smile unsure whether it was meant to indicate pride or anxiety. "...my boyfriend."
"And I guess that would make you my boyfriend," he said, nudging him in the ribs before ducking out of his hold. Brushing aside a stray hair on his otherwise immaculate ebony bob cut, he gave a fanciful bow. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Yumi."
"You're fancy like a butler," she said with a smile.
"I'm glad you noticed." He seemed elated by the comparison. "I always get cast as that type of character, so I'm happy it shows through in my normal persona."
"You're an actor?"
He nodded, Kazuhiko explaining, "Yeah, we both met in the drama club. He was the butler who worked at the mansion and I was...the first guy to get murdered."
"It was a truly spectacular death," Kenji said with a pat on the shoulder.
"Hell yeah it was. I acted the crap out of that stabbing." He let out a dramatic wail and pantomimed being stabbed in the chest, falling to the concrete below and laying there for several seconds before jumping to his feet.
Yumi clapped as he bowed, Kenji having the sense to brush the dirt off his jacket for him. "So, where are you taking me today?" he asked.
"Thinking maybe we could see a movie, get something to eat. There's the arcade, too. I still need to get revenge for that time you beat me at the dance machine."
"That sounds fun. Yumi, are you going to be joining us today?" They both looked surprised at the offer.
"Oh, I mean, it's fine," Yumi said with a wave of her hand. "I don't want to bother you guys."
"It would be fine," he insisted. "I like meeting Mitsuru's friends. We had a great time with Hideo last weekend."
"I guess that's true," Kazuhiko said, still a bit miffed he couldn't spend any time alone with him.
"Well, I always like food," Yumi said. "But I've got some stuff to do, so I'll get going after a little while, okay?" Kazuhiko secretly flashed her a thumbs up for actually picking up on the situation. Either way, though, it would probably still be a nice afternoon.
"How's that sandwich place sound?" Kazuhiko asked. "We might get lucky and catch them after they bake fresh bread for when the schools let out."
"That would be great," Kenji said, Yumi nodding along. They set off in search of sandwiches, making idle conversation along the way. Kenji congratulated Yumi on her tournament win, Kazuhiko pledging to make it to regionals by winning the upcoming one in November. Topics turned between school, daily life, hobbies, and much more before they managed to buy food.
"I always wanted to learn the guzheng," Kenji added after Yumi mentioned her impeccable skills on the recorder. "They sound so nice. My family actually has an antique one. One of the real ones with silk strings from back in China. I think it belonged to a distant relative."
"You should do it," Kazuhiko said before taking a bite out of his sandwich. "You got those long fingers. Probably be good for it."
He nodded, looking at his fingers. "Do you think I should paint my nails?" he asked the two of them. "I've bee considering it for a while, but I wouldn't know what color."
"Yes!" Yumi shouted, inadvertently spraying Kazuhiko's face with pieces of bread.
"Totally," he said, brushing himself off and doing his best to not be bothered. "Go for black, or something like that. That would be real cool."
"You think?" he asked, tapping his chin.
"Yeah. Makes you look dangerous. Oh, or file them into claws. That'd be badass."
"I'm not trying to hurt anyone," he said with a camp wave of his hand.
"Yeah, that's the point. You look tough so you don't have to."
"But how else do I get into a situation for you to dramatically rescue me from ne'er-do-wells?" He leaned his head against Kazuhiko's shoulder. "I always like watching you play the hero. It's your best role."
The PDA combined with Yumi's look of utter gay amazement was starting to embarrass Kazuhiko. "I'll go get rid of the trash," he said quickly while trying to hide the redness in his cheeks. He speed walked off to find a trashcan, promising to return in a couple minutes.
This left the two of them alone outside the sandwich shop. After a somewhat awkward exchange of polite smiles, they deferred to the millennial past time of idly texting next to each other. After a few minutes of silence, Yumi finally tried to make an effort to diffuse the tension and be less of a stranger. "You know, you're almost as pretty as a lot of girls I know," she said, almost immediately realizing that was probably a really weird thing to say and charging ahead anyway. "How'd you do that? I want to learn."
"Well, being partly androgen insensitive helps," he muttered with a small chuckle.
"Huh?"
"Oh, nothing. I just moisturize well."
"Moisturize," she replied slowly, acting as if the word was an entirely foreign concept as she felt the dry patches on her face.
"Are you asking just to know or is there another reason?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" she replied, Yumi's obliviousness showing itself in all its glory.
"You know," Kenji said. "Is there anyone you're trying to impress?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Not real- oh, wait, oh. Wait, no, I get it now." A few seconds after this realization, she started to blush and stutter as per usual. "Well, I mean...I guess."
"Want to talk about it?" he said with genuine interest. "I could give you some advice if you want. I'm kind of an expert when it comes to dating fantastic people."
"Kazuhiko is pretty cool," she agreed. Unfortunately, her apprehension took the wheel and drove her straight into a brick wall of denial. "B-but it's fine! It's no big deal! It's not like I'd actually do anything with that advice! And that person's not even interested in me, or anything! So it would just be a waste of time!" Her unconvincing laughter put an end to that conversation.
Thankfully, Kazuhiko sprinted back onto the scene and announced, "Trashed the trash! What's going on here?"
"Yumi called me pretty, I asked her if she was interested in anyone, then she malfunctioned, as you can see." She was still laughing to herself. "Does that happen often."
"If it's about Ishikawa," he said with a sigh. "She's in denial."
"Right. Can't come to grips with being gay that young."
"No, she's down with all that. It's just her specifically for some reason."
He quirked a brow. "Odd."
"Guess we're the mature ones for a change," Kazuhiko said proudly.
"You threw up the first time we kissed," he shot back.
"I had a stomach thing! And you did it right after, anyway!"
"Because you threw up on my shoes."
"I bought you new ones." He shook his head. "Always holding grudges."
"You still swear vengeance against Yamazaki because he got the part in that one play you wanted."
"A worthy cause!" he shouted with a clenched fist. Kenji had no choice but to sigh and pat his shoulder, absolutely smitten with his absurd dramatics, Yumi too busy rationalizing things to hear a single word of their exchange.
Their attention was quickly broken by an animalistic scream approaching at alarming speeds. It was Suzy, of course, who nearly tackled Yumi into the road going in for a hug. She wasn't upset by this, far from it, and returned the hug with tremendous force. "Are you screaming to scream or is something wrong?" she asked.
"Just screaming," she replied. Suzy's eyes quickly fell to Kenji. "Hey, it's a new guy. I like your face."
"Thank you," he replied with another fanciful bow.
"That's Kenji, we're dating," Kazuhiko explained succinctly.
"Rad," she said in English. "I'm Suzy Q." Finally releasing Yumi from her hug after that whole exchange, she turned back to her friend. "Ami's not coming today. She had another cosplay thing, I think." Just as she explained this, a minor explosion could be heard from the other side of the city and may or may not have been related to the "cosplay thing" in question, a phenomenon all four of them didn't seem to notice.
"Oh, and before I forget." She struck a dramatic pose, pointing towards Kazuhiko. "I challenge you to a duel!"
He scratched his head. "Normally, I'd jump all over that, but I'm kind of...busy, you know?" He tilted his head towards Kenji.
Yumi tried to back him up, saying, "Right. We should get going. You can duel me, instead."
"I don't think my deck is ready for you yet," she said, not picking up on what they were trying to imply to her. "I'd say the right challenge would be against someone who's just a little bit weaker." She hoped that would goad him into accepting her challenge.
Unfortunately for Suzy, Kazuhiko wasn't taking the bait. "Nope, not today. I'll take you on tomorrow, but I'm kind of trying to get a date going here."
"Why not duel her?" Kenji asked. "I like to watch you play. Plus I'm way too weak to give you a real challenge, so I bet you're itching to go up against someone who's actually strong."
He crossed his arms and grunted, trying and failing to resist the temptation. "Damn it, you're right. I do want to play. But we're supposed to do stuff together today."
"Don't worry, it can wait," he assured him. "I'm having a great time so far. Let me see what you're like at full power."
"If you're sure," he said before cracking his neck. "I'll accept your challenge, then!" They wasted no time finding an open parking lot to set up at, slapping on their duel disks and getting things started. "I'll make the first move!" Kazuhiko declared while drawing his hand.
He looked over the cards he had, a devilish grin forming on his face as he took one. "I'll start things off slow, but I wonder if you can even keep up with this." It would be difficult for him to not default to the heel in this duel, but he was determined to play a more heroic character for Kenji this time. "Come out, New Mutant Tricky Armadillo!"
The grotesque abomination materialized in front of him, letting out a gurgling roar as its effect activate. "When it's Normal Summoned, I'm allowed to add a Mutant Magic or Trap Card from my deck to my hand. Because of that, I can take the Field Magic, Mutation Laboratory, and play it!"
The concrete beneath their feet transformed into cold steel from the center out, a large operating table flanked by two towers conducting electricity between them. The whole thing gave off a very Frankenstein vibe, though the puddles of green and red liquid scattered across the environment were somewhat more disconcerting than any old movie. "That's not all my searching," he continued. "For activating this, I get to search a Mutant monster and add it to my hand. I pick New Mutant Dive Hawk."
Finally, he set two cards and ended his turn, allowing Suzy to draw. Immediately after doing this, she placed a hand to her mouth and let out a haughty laugh. "Impressive, but do you really think a collection of disgusting beasts can defeat the crushing power of a space armada?"
"Oh, hey, she's performing, too," Kenji said with an amused smile.
"I think that might have been why she wanted to duel him in the first place," Yumi observed.
"I activate the Field Spell, Kozmotown!" she declared, the area behind her being overtaken by a brilliant emerald city standing in stark contrast to the dank laboratory on Kazuhiko's half. "Once per turn, I can show you any number of Kozmo monsters in my hand to return them to my deck and draw the same number of cards."
To activate this effect, she revealed Kozmo – Forerunner, Kozmo – Dark Eclipser, Kozmo – Dark Scimitar, and Kozmo – Dark Elphaiber, recycling them to draw almost an entirely new hand. "Perfect. I summon Kozmo Farmgirl in Attack Mode, then banish her to activate her effect!" The dog-like companion barely had time to howl before it and the monster disappeared into a shimmer of stars. "Now I get to summon a Kozmo monster with a higher Level from my hand, like my Kozmo Dark Destroyer!"
As if emerging from hyperspace, the massive ship appeared above the field in the blink of an eye. "Cannons, target the enemy monster," she commanded, the guns located along the monster's underside shifting to focus on the Mutant. "Target lock! Fire when ready!" After a short charging sequence, Kazuhiko's Armadillo was obliterated with a flurry of green energy shots by the card's effect.
"Now you're wide open for a direct attack!" she said, throwing her fist forward. Her monster followed through, another volley of cannon fire sent screaming towards Kazuhiko.
"Trap activate! Divided Wall!" The card flipped up, sending out waves of resistance that managed to lessen the size of the attack. "This reduces the ATK of every monster in Attack Mode you have for each of those monsters." Though it was merely a reduction of 800 ATK, it would no doubt come in handy soon. Right now, however, he was forced to shield himself as the blasts impacted the ground around him, dropping his Life Points to 1800 on the second turn.
"Hang in there!" Kenji called from the sidelines.
Kazuhiko smiled, striking a confident pose. "I haven't even gotten started," he said, already planning out his next move in his head.
"Then it's about time you did," Suzy said, setting a card and ending her turn. "Otherwise my Dark Destroyer will obliterate you on my next turn!"
"Draw!" he declared. "I play my New Mutant Dive Hawk, activating its effect to send a Mutant from my deck to the Graveyard. Then, I summon another Mutant with the same Level as the one I sent." His choice was Mutant Bite Hound, a Level 4 monster. As a result, the Armadillo from before came back to life.
Kazuhiko raised his hand into the sky, his monsters following upwards. Dive Hawk's form disappeared, transforming into three glowing green rings that Tricky Armadillo flew into. "I'm tuning my Level 4 monster, New Mutant Tricky Armadillo, with my Level 3 Tuner, New Mutant Dive Hawk! Synchro Summon, Level 7! Descend, Super Mutant Butcher!"
The hulking lizard-like humanoid let out a screech after appearing from a flash of light. Despite its enthusiasm, it would have to wait for another turn to take action, as it was simply too weak to do anything at that point. Instead of an attack, Kazuhiko set a card before ending his turn.
"My turn!" Suzy declared while drawing. As she did, the two pillars began to spark with greater intensity, letting off huge bolts of electricity and striking the Butcher in the back.
"Finally!" Kazuhiko said as his monster screamed. "Because of my Field Magic, my Mutants now gain their effect to increase their ATK and Level during your Standby Phase, too." His monster's body began to swell as it evolved, raising to 2800 ATK and Level 8, comfortably surpassing Suzy's starship.
Suddenly, the bolt transferred from the monster directly to Suzy. "That's not all, though," he explained as she struggled against the lightning. "Once during a turn when a monster's Level changes, you take 100 damage for each Level it gains or loses." Chip damage or not, it was a good start in closing the gap between the two.
He turned to the sidelines after this. While he was happy to see Kenji was getting a kick out of his comeback, he was currently more concerned with how Yumi was dealing with his card. Thankfully, she seemed mostly unfazed by the sound and sight of electricity this time.
As for Suzy, she was just trying to figure out a plan. The duel had taken a sudden turn now that she was facing down a much stronger monster than anticipated. Thanks to the materials used, it was also a hard counter to most of her effects and indestructible by battle.
She revealed a Kozmo – Fer-blanc and Kozmo – Pavid in her hand. "I'll return these to the deck with Kozmotown to draw two cards." She didn't look too pleased with what she got. "Dark Destroyer, take a defensive position and await further orders. Turn end."
"Looks like I'm making a comeback," he said as he started his turn. "Standby Phase. Super Mutant Butcher mutates again, which means you take 100 more damage from Mutation Laboratory." Suzy's Life Points fell to 3800 as Butcher grew stronger, now at Level 9 with 3600 ATK.
"I'll summon Mutant Venom Cobra in Attack Mode," he said before thrusting his hand forward. "Battle! Super Mutant Butcher, attack her monster! Psychic Cleaver!" A thin beam of energy cut through the starship, splitting it exactly in half down the middle. Both sides exploded and came crashing down on top of Suzy, though no damage was dealt.
"Keep it up! Cobra, direct attack!"
"Not quite," she said, the debris around her disintegrating into stars. "I banish the Kozmo Dark Destroyer in my Graveyard after it's destroyed to summon another Kozmo monster with a lower Level from my deck." Ejecting the card she needed, she placed it on the field in Attack Position. "Come out, Kozmo Sliprider!"
The more compact ship appeared in the sky above them, immediately setting about firing a volley of red energy shots onto the field. Not only did it stop the Mutant's attempted attack, it set off a chain reaction from the holes blasted into the ground that caused the entire field to explode around them. "When Sliprider's summoned, it destroys your Laboratory," Suzy explained. "No more Levels on my turn."
Kazuhiko scoffed. "Maybe, but that's not going to save you. Trap activate, Mutation Change!" As the card flipped up, Venom Cobra began to disappear. "I Release a Mutant on my field in order to steal one of your monsters and make it into a Mutant."
Sliprider began to toss wildly through the air as fleshy growths from inside began to breach the hull, spilling out into the open air and dripping a collection of fluids from open soars and burst tumors. Whatever the card had infected the ship with, it had assumed direct control and forced it to obey Kazuhiko's command for a direct attack, pelting its owner with lasers that deducted 2300 Life Points.
After setting a card, he ended his turn. "Things are look a bit shady for her," Kenji said to Yumi. "You think he's won?"
"Maybe," she said with an unusual amount of consideration "He's in a good position now, so it's all about maintaining it. If Suzy gets a single chance to start making more plays, she could overrun the field in no time. If something happens to Butcher, it might be all over."
She snapped from her concentration quickly, apologizing. "Sorry, that's probably too serious. I just get really sucked into dueling when I watch it."
"No, it's okay. I see what you mean." He waved to Kazuhiko. "Don't choke under the pressure!"
"I'm not going to choke!" he shouted back.
"Okay, just don't do it!"
"I'm not!"
"Choke on this!" Suzy said, thrusting her hips forward to a deafening silence. "Sorry, got too into it." She drew a card to commence her turn without another word, Yumi's cackling laughter off to the side causing her to blush. "So, I activate Kozmotown to return Kozmo Strawman to my deck," she said, drawing a new card.
Upon seeing it, the lingering embarrassment from before vanished as she saw a path towards victory emerge right before her eyes. "This is the card," she told herself with a smile. "Now I'm going to use Kozmotown's other effect. With this, I can return a banished Kozmo monster to my hand, but I have to take 100 damage equal to its Level." Her selection was Dark Scimitar, costing 800 of her remaining 1500 Life Points.
"Next, I activate the Spell, Terraforming, letting me add a new Field Card to my hand from my deck." Her selection was a second Kozmotown. A confusing choice on the surface, though it quickly became apparent as to why she did it. "I activate my second Kozmotown, letting me use its effect again to return Kozmo Farmgirl to my hand."
Though it left her with only 400 Life Points, she now had everything necessary to win. "Now I'm going to banish both the Dark Destroyer and Farmgirl I returned to my hand all over again."
"Why waste the Life Points?" Kazuhiko asked.
"So I can do this!" she said, slapping a card into her Monster Zone. "Establish an orbit and await commands! My ultimate card, Kozmo Dark Planet!" A shadow fell over the field, everyone turning their heads upwards to look at what had done it.
"Is that a moon?" Kenji asked.
"That's no moon," Suzy corrected. "That's a space station." She was incredibly proud of herself for being able to say that line. "Begin superlaser charging sequence," she commanded. "It's almost time to end this duel."
Kazuhiko had to admit that a monster with 4000 ATK was pretty formidable. Though an attack on either of his monsters wouldn't be enough to beat him, he'd definitely feel the blow. So long as he made it to the next turn, though, Butcher would mutate further and surpass its strength without much trouble.
"I activate Return from the Different Dimension!" Suzy declared, her card flipping open and ripping open a hole into another realm behind her. "At the cost of half my Life Points, I can summon back as many of my banished monsters as possible until the end of the turn. So come back, Dark Destroyer, Farmgirl!"
"Clever," Kenji said with a nod. "She returned her cards to use as a cost, then brought them right back to the field without issue. But the question remains: To what end?"
"Hey, cheer me on!" Kazuhiko shouted. "You're supposed to be supporting me, not complimenting her!"
"Sorry!" he said with a grin. "Make some more impressive moves and I'll praise you as much as you want."
The returned Dark Scimitar's cannons began to charge. "Too bad for you, but I'm taking all of that praise. Dark Destroyer, blast my Sliprider!" As it was Special Summoned, her monster could use its effect to target and destroy one of Kazuhiko's monsters. Since Butcher was still invulnerable to targeting, her card was the only option.
This was far from a problem, though. "I'll banish Sliprider now to summon a new Kozmo from my deck. Come out, Kozmoll Wickedwitch!" With only a few cards, she'd managed to accumulate four new monsters onto the field while eliminating one of her opponent's. The next card, though, was her aim from the very start.
"I activate a Spell, Smashing Ground! It destroys your monster with the highest DEF, and since it doesn't target, that means Super Mutant Butcher is done for!"
Though he allowed himself a moment of panic, Kazuhiko recovered quickly. "Not bad, but it won't work! Trap activate, Flash of Darkness!" Butcher began to glow, paradoxically making the area darker wherever the "light" shone. "By Releasing my DARK monster with 1500 or more ATK, all of the monsters you Special Summoned this turn are obliterated!"
Suzy shielded herself from the rays as they passed over her field, each of her monsters being cut apart by the piercing darkness. Even the Dark Planet she went to so much trouble summoning stood no chance against the Trap.
Despite this, she wasn't discouraged in the least. "All according to plan," she said ominously, causing Kazuhiko to quirk an eyebrow. "When destroyed, I banish my Dark Planet and Dark Destroyer. Dark Planet lets me add Kozmo Forerunner to my hand, but Dark Destroyer lets me summon out another Kozmo Sliprider!"
Despite all the effort he put in to counter her blow for blow, Kazuhiko was finally open for attack. "Sliprider's effect!" Suzy said. "Destroy your set card!"
"I don't think so!" he responded, activating his card. "My Trap activates! Slip Summon! When you summon a monster, I can play a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand in Defense Mode. So come out, Mutant Zero Rat!"
Though his intention was to buy another turn, he had no real answer for after that. He'd have to bet on his next card to be something that would let him turn the duel around. Unfortunately, he'd never see it. "I'm ending it with this – the Spell Card, Monster Reborn!"
Suzy activated her card, allowing her to resurrect the Kozmo Farmgirl from her Graveyard. "I'll banish Farmgirl, letting me summon the Kozmo Forerunner in my hand!" It was a play for security more than anything, ensuring she had another powerful card on the field in case the duel went on another turn.
"Battle! Sliprider, attack Mutant Zero Rat!" Watching helplessly, Kazuhiko's monster was blasted to pieces before him. Now completely defenseless, he steeled himself for the next blow. "Kozmo Forerunner, direct attack!"
With one final strike, his Life Points dwindled to zero. "Damn," he cursed to himself as the dust settled. "Looks like you got me. Not bad."
Suzy did a twirl and struck a pose by putting the V sign over one eye. "Alright!"
"You lost, but that was still pretty good," Kenji said, patting his shoulder and sneaking a kiss on his cheek.
"Come on, not while everyone's watching." He shrugged him off and turned around, attempting to hide the redness in his cheeks from the others.
"You were both super cool!" Yumi said with a hop up and down. "Now I really want to duel. Who wants to face me?"
"Me!" Suzy shouted, spinning up to her and taking her hand to twirl her around.
"Guess we'll leave you two to it, then," Kenji said. "We'd better get back to our date. It was nice meeting you."
"Same," Suzy said, Yumi nodding along. As they parted ways, the girls were already gearing up for a rematch.
"You seem a little down," Kenji said. "What's the matter?"
"It's nothing," Kazuhiko said while combing through his hair. "Just kind of frustrated that I keep losing lately.
"Everyone loses now and again," he reassured him.
"Obviously, but it's like..." He pursed his lips with a hum. "I did real good for most of the prelims at the tournament this summer, but I choked at the end and didn't even make it to the finals. I've got a losing streak going now, too, and it just kind of feels like I'm the weakest link in the group, you know?"
"Maybe you're just in a rut," he suggested. "I probably won't be much use, but we can remake your deck sometime if you want. Freshen things up, adapt, find some new strategies."
"Sure." He put his arm over Kenji's shoulder. "Let's do that some other time, though. Right now, we've got a movie to catch."
"In a darkened room where no one can see us."
"Yep." And so they did.
Cards Used in Order of Appearance
New Mutant Tricky Armadillo
DARK
Level 4
Wyrm/Effect
1700 ATK/1000 DEF
If this card is Normal Summoned: Add 1 "Mutant" Spell/Trap Card from your Deck to your hand. If this card is used as Synchro Material for the Synchro Summon of a "Mutant" monster, it cannot be targeted by your opponent's card effects or destroyed by battle.
Mutation Laboratory
Field Spell Card
When this card is activated: You can add 1 "Mutant" monster from your Deck to your hand. "Mutant" monsters effect that allows them to gain ATK and Levels is activated during each player's Standby Phase. When an effect activates that involves changing the Level of a monster(s) on the field: Inflict 100 damage to your opponent x the current Level of the monster(s). You can only activate each effect of "Mutation Laboratory" once per turn.
New Mutant Dive Hawk
DARK
Level 3
Rock/Tuner/Effect
700 ATK/500 DEF
When this card is Normal Summoned: You can send 1 "Mutant" monster from your Deck to the Graveyard; Special Summon 1 "Mutant" monster from your Graveyard with the same Level.
Kozmotown – Emeraldopolis (Kozmotown)
Field Spell Card
Once per turn: You can target 1 of your banished "Kozmo" monsters; return it to the hand, and if you do, lose LP equal to its original Level x 100. Once per turn: You can reveal any number of "Kozmo" monsters in your hand and shuffle them into the Deck, then draw cards equal to the number of cards you shuffled into the Deck. If this card in the Field Zone is destroyed by a card effect: You can add 1 "Kozmo" card from your Deck to your hand.
Kozmo – Forerunner (Kozmo Forerunner)
LIGHT
Level 7
Machine/Effect
2800 ATK/1400 DEF
Cannot be targeted by an opponent's card effects. During your Standby Phase: Gain 1000 LP. If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to the Graveyard: You can banish this card from your Graveyard; Special Summon 1 Level 6 or lower "Kozmo" monster from your Deck.
Kozmo – Dark Eclipser (Kozmo Dark Eclipser)
DARK
Level 9
Machine/Effect
3000 ATK/2600 DEF
Cannot be targeted by an opponent's card effects. During either player's turn, when a Trap Card is activated: You can banish 1 "Kozmo" monster from your Graveyard; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that card. If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to the Graveyard: You can banish this card from your Graveyard; add 1 Level 8 or lower "Kozmo" monster from your Deck to your hand.
Kozmo – Dark Scimitar (Kozmo Dark Destroyer)
DARK
Level 8
Machine/Effect
3000 ATK/1800 DEF
If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can target 1 monster on the field; destroy it. Cannot be targeted by an opponent's card effects. If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to the Graveyard: You can banish this card from your Graveyard; Special Summon 1 Level 7 or lower "Kozmo" monster from your Deck.
Kozmo – Dark Elphaiber (Kozmoll Dark Lady)
DARK
Level 5
Psychic/Effect
2200 ATK/1800 DEF
During either player's turn: You can banish this card; Special Summon 1 Level 6 or higher "Kozmo" monster from your hand. You can only use this effect of "Kozmoll Dark Lady" once per turn. Once per turn, during either player's turn, when another monster's effect is activated: You can pay 1000 LP; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that monster.
Kozmo – Dorothel (Kozmo Farmgirl)
LIGHT
Level 3
Psychic/Effect
1500 ATK/1000 DEF
During either player's turn: You can banish this card; Special Summon 1 Level 4 or higher "Kozmo" monster from your hand. You can only use this effect of "Kozmo Farmgirl" once per turn. When this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent: You can pay 500 LP; add 1 "Kozmo" card from your Deck to your hand.
Divided Wall (Wall of Disruption)
Normal Trap Card
When an opponent's monster declares an attack: All Attack Position monsters your opponent controls lose 800 ATK for each monster they control.
Mutant Bite Hound
DARK
Level 4
Reptile/Effect
1500 ATK/1200 DEF
During your Standby Phase: Increase this card's ATK 500 and Level by 1. If this effect is activated 3 times while this card remains face-up on the field: This card cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects.
Super Mutant Butcher
DARK
Level 7
Psychic/Synchro/Effect
2000 ATK/500 DEF
1 "Mutant" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner "Mutant" monsters
During your Standby Phase: Increase this card's ATK by 800 and Level by 1. If this effect is activated 4 times while this card remains face-up on the field: You can Tribute this face-up card at the end of your Battle Phase after this card destroys another monster by battle; Special Summon 1 "Mutant" Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck that has a higher Level than this card. The monster summoned by this effect can activate its second effect.
Kozmo – Fer-blanc (Kozmo Tincan)
LIGHT
Level 1
Psychic/Effect
0 ATK/0 DEF
During either player's turn: You can banish this card; Special Summon 1 Level 2 or higher "Kozmo" monster from your hand. You can only use this effect of "Kozmo Tincan" once per turn. Once per turn, during the End Phase: You can pay 500 LP; reveal 3 "Kozmo" cards with different names from your Deck, your opponent randomly picks 1 for you to add to your hand, and you send the rest to the Graveyard.
Kozmo – Pavid (Kozmo Scaredy Lion)
LIGHT
Level 2
Psychic/Effect
1200 ATK/500 DEF
During either player's turn: You can banish this card; Special Summon 1 Level 3 or higher "Kozmo" monster from your hand. You can only use this effect of "Kozmo Scaredy Lion" once per turn. Once per turn: You can pay 500 LP, then target 3 of your banished "Kozmo" monsters; return them to the Graveyard, and if you do, inflict 500 damage to your opponent.
Mutant Venom Cobra
DARK
Level 3
Fairy/Effect
1200 ATK/800 DEF
During your Standby Phase: Increase this card's ATK by 300 and Level by 1. If this effect is activated 3 times while this card remains face-up on the field: When this card inflicts battle damage; inflict 300 damage to your opponent.
Kozmo – Sliprider (Kozmo Sliprider)
LIGHT
Level 5
Machine/Effect
2300 ATK/800 DEF
If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can target 1 Spell/Trap Card on the field; destroy it. If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to the Graveyard: You can banish this card from your Graveyard; Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "Kozmo" monster from your Deck.
Mutation Change
Normal Trap Card
Tribute 1 "Mutant" monster on your side of the field and target 1 monster your opponent controls; take control of that monster. That monster is treated as a "Mutant" monster while face-up on the field.
Kozmo – Fowlmeat (Kozmo Strawman)
LIGHT
Level 2
Psychic/Effect
500 ATK/1800 DEF
During either player's turn: You can banish this card; Special Summon 1 Level 3 or higher "Kozmo" monster from your hand. You can only use this effect of "Kozmo Strawman" once per turn. Once per turn: You can pay 500 LP, then target 1 of your banished "Kozmo" monsters; Special Summon it, but its effects are negated, also destroy it during the End Phase.
Terraforming
Normal Spell Card
Add 1 Field Spell from your Deck to your hand.
Kozmo – Dark Planet (Kozmo Dark Planet)
DARK
Level 10
Machine/Effect
4000 ATK/4000 DEF
Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand) by banishing "Kozmo" monsters from your hand whose total Levels equal 10 or more, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. Cannot be targeted by an opponent's card effects. During either player's turn, when a Spell Card is activated: You can banish 1 "Kozmo" monster from your Graveyard; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that card. If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to the Graveyard: You can banish this card from your Graveyard; add 1 Level 9 or lower "Kozmo" monster from your Deck to your hand.
Return from the Different Dimension
Normal Trap Card
Pay half your Life Points; Special Summon as many of your banished monsters as possible. During the End Phase, banish all monsters that were Special Summoned by this effect.
Kozmo – Dark Rose (Kozmoll Wickedwitch)
DARK
Level 4
Psychic/Effect
1900 ATK/300 DEF
During either player's turn: You can banish this card; Special Summon 1 Level 5 or higher "Kozmo" monster from your hand. You can only use this effect of "Kozmoll Wickedwitch" once per turn. Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can pay 1000 LP; this turn, this card cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects.
Smashing Ground
Normal Spell Card
Destroy the 1 face-up monster your opponent controls that has the highest DEF (your choice, if tied).
Flash of Darkness(Darklight)
Normal Trap Card
Tribute 1 DARK monster with 1500 or more ATK; destroy all monsters that were Special Summoned this turn.
Slip Summon
Normal Trap Card
Activate only when your opponent Summons a monster. Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower monster from your hand in face-up Defense Position. Return it to the owner's hand during the End Phase.
Mutant Zero Rat
DARK
Level 1
Warrior/Tuner/Effect
500 ATK/0 DEF
During your Standby Phase: Increase this card's ATK by 100 and Level by 1. If this effect is activated 3 times while this card remains face-up on the field: Select a number between 1 and 12 (inclusive); this card's Level becomes that number.
Resurrection of the Dead (Monster Reborn)
Normal Spell Card
Target 1 monster in either player's Graveyard; Special Summon it.
I'm sure you're all wondering who Shoeless George is now that a name like that got dropped like it was nothing. That's nice.
More season 1 character returns in a very unexpected way. I didn't originally plan for Kenji to be the guy we see in chapter 10, but it seemed like a pretty fun callback. Makes me think of how the DiU anime kept including all the major characters in background shots before they were officially introduced in their own episodes.
If you didn't catch it, Kenji's intersex. Kind of wanted to go more into it, but there wasn't really the opportunity in this chapter to explore that or that he's a trans guy. He's going to make at least a couple more appearances, though, so we'll have another shot at it sooner or later. I talked with a friend about this and did a lot of research, so I'm kind of hoping it wasn't all for nothing (implying it's not cool to just learn more about other members of your community for the sake of being educated).
Kazuhiko really is the Mai of this show. Everyone keeps talking about how he's such a great duelist and he logically has to be to have achieved all he has, but he basically never wins a duel against a real character. I even set out to have this one end in a tie just to mix it up, but he broke his leg right before the finish line.
Everyone was probably thinking he was just a pointless JoJo's reference in his design and mannerisms up until now, but don't you feel foolish now that we've got a real backstory? And this was not something I came up with midway through, either. In fact, I conceived him as a character with this in mind. Stay tuned for when I introduce my next new character, Rohingo Kishibingo, who's just an author insert using my actual deck ironically.
I sort of did pull a second one of these with Koichi the bouncer now that I think about it. That's kind of different, though, since it's more of just a funny idea of someone with the personality of tiny Koichi in the body of a huge dude who works in a club. Wonder if he'll show up again soon.
Next chapter finally has Yumi head to intensive training, so that's going to have some consequences. One of which will hopefully be a shockingly more powerful deck, but we'll see what happens. Thanks for reading. Always remember to thrust.