The Regional Championship has finally begun in Tokyo, Yumi being one of the duelists in the first match up.
For the first time in her life, Yumi was in the capital of Japan. While the train ride was a bit grueling for someone with as much energy as she had, it was all worth it to see Tokyo lit up at dusk. Even for someone who grew up in a fairly large city, it was almost unreal to actually be here.
After a quick check-in at their hotel and a marvel at how amazingly large and luxurious the rooms were, the group consisting of Yumi and her grandmother and Sakuya and her father headed towards the arena where the Kanto Regional Championship was about to take place, doing their best not to get distracted by anything along the way. This proved especially hard for Yumi whose excitement over making it all the way here translated into her wanting to run to see whatever street vendor or neon sign or interesting person that caught her attention.
It was almost overwhelming. Compared to the more bespoke feel she got when navigating Chiba, Tokyo stood like an entirely new universe before Yumi. Even the less alluring elements like the vague stench of smoke and salaryman vomit or the way few people really wanted to indulge her sightseeing and quickly tried to move around her held their own charm (less so the former two).
Thankfully, though, they made it to the outside of the venue without going on too many tangents beyond an obligatory stop at a yakiniku stand. Yumi had hopped and spun in circles most of the way there, too excited and jazzed up after being allowed to drink a soda on the train earlier to stand still. "You're going to tire yourself out before you even start dueling," Sakuya told her, taking her hand to try and calm her down before releasing it a moment later out of embarrassment. That gesture was suddenly a lot more loaded after...all of that.
"I can't help it!" she nearly shouted, flapping her arms in all directions. "I'm actually here! This is really the Regional Championship! I'm actually a contestant!" She threw her arms around Sakuya, hugging her as hard as she could in thanks for all she'd done to help make this possible.
"Hugging!" Suzy announced, having snuck up behind the two and joined in. Her family's coincidental plans to already be in the city over Hanukkah put her in a good position to watch Yumi duel in person, barely getting tickets before they were sold out.
Wriggling away from both of them, Sakuya smoothed out her dress and shifted into teacher mode. "Don't just be getting excited because we're here," she told Yumi. "Everyone else got here by winning, too. Don't let your guard down."
"I won't!" she said, still hopping up and down on the balls of her feet. "I'm just really happy to finally be here."
"And we're really proud of you for it," her grandmother spoke up, patting her on the head. "Listen to your friend, though. You've got to have your eyes on the prize."
"Right!" Yumi took this a bit too literally, first turning to Sakuya before correcting herself to look up at the stadium. "I'm going to win this. Then I'm going on to the National Championship."
"You'd better," Suzy told her, giving her a pat on the back. "You're way too good to lose. Or at least lose in a really cool way. Don't just brick your opening hand, or something." Yumi's look of mortal terror was enough to make her realize that this was not the right thing to say. "I mean, you definitely won't do that! Your deck is way too balanced for that to happen! It would be, like, a 1 in a million chance for something like that."
"So it's a possibility," she said darkly, slumping over in worry over the idea she might choke this early in her career.
"You are not helping," Sakuya said to Suzy, the latter shrinking back in fear. "Yumi, just do what you always do. I'm sure you're going to be okay."
"You wouldn't have made it this far if you could get beaten that easily," her father said to reinforce the point.
As they were about to go inside, two more people ran up to them. "There you are!" a well-dressed woman with dark, curly hair said, grabbing Suzy by the arm. "You ran off without us! You know better than to do that."
"Sorry," she apologized. "Got excited."
"You're always excited," a bald, bespectacled man in a black coat said, giving her a knock on the head. "Oh, and I guess we've never been introduced. It's nice to meet all of you. We're Suzy's parents, if you couldn't guess."
"It is nice to meet you," the woman beside him said in extremely formal and a bit clumsy Japanese, giving a hesitant bow. "Was that correct? They keep telling me that's correct, but I don't believe them."
"You're doing fine, dear," Yumi's grandmother told her, both her and Sakuya's father returning the greeting with a laugh.
"We'd better hurry inside," Sakuya's father said as he looked to his watch. "It's about twenty minutes before things start." Heading inside the arena, it was immediately apparent how much more important this game would be. Towering, white walls decorated with TV screens showing advertisements and images related to the upcoming duels surrounded them, hundreds of people crowded through the halls either mulling about, talking strategy, or looking for seats.
They fought their way to the registration desk through a sea of people, Yumi signing in and being given a complimentary card pack just for entering the tournament plus a form to fill out with her deck contents. Things were already a bit more formal and a bit more serious than before and she hadn't even stepped onto the field yet.
Her first priority was, of course, to open the pack. There wasn't really anything of use or value in it but she tucked the cards away in the front pouch of her overalls nonetheless. Finding an unoccupied table off to the side of the room, she grabbed a pen and began filling things out.
"Isn't your trainer supposed to be here?" Sakuya asked beside her, helping her sort through her deck to ensure she didn't miss anything. The others had gone to take care of things like refreshments and seat numbers, planning to meet up again before Yumi went to the backstage area for competitors and team staff only.
"Yeah, it's weird," she replied. "It's not like her to be late, or anything. She even texted me just a few minutes ago to ask where I was. I wonder-"
Her train of thought derailed when a pale man came up to her, waving as if they knew each other. "Hey, there you are!" he said in a friendly tone. He was dressed fairly casually and a bit minimal given the weather, just a pair of baggy black jeans and a red graphic t-shirt displaying some masked heroes against an explosive background. "I'm glad I found you before everything kicked off."
"Who are you?" Sakuya asked, getting up to stand between the man and Yumi.
He looked confused for a second, slapping himself in the head a moment later. "Oh, right. You probably don't recognize me out of the suit." He took out his phone, bringing up a video of the duel Yumi had with the mascot just days earlier. Apparently, it had already reached over a million views. "See? Remember me now?"
"You were in the suit?" Yumi yelled, immediately beginning to laugh. "Why didn't you say you were going to be here?"
"Didn't want to break character," he shrugged, brushing back his spiky orange hair. "Like I said, though, I'm glad I caught you. There's something I thought you might want." He dug into his pocket, taking out a card.
Yumi took it, looking it over. "Necro Maria," she read, cocking her head to the side. "Hey, this is pretty good. Are you sure you want to give this to me?"
"Yeah, sure," he said casually. His brown eyes narrowed a bit, almost as if he felt a bit guilty for something. "To tell you the truth, it's not entirely me being charitable. Our last duel gave me the chance to see your deck up close and work out some counters to it. You're basically the dark horse of the whole tournament right now and everyone's scrambling to try and figure out if you're a real threat or not, so it feels a little dishonest to use that insider info to my advantage."
"And this is basically a pity card?" Sakuya asked.
"Nah, nothing like that," he laughed. "Just evening the odds, you know?
Yumi nodded, satisfied with that answer. "I'll see if I can find the room for it," she said, placing it with the rest of her deck. "Hey, what's your name? I only know you as the mascot guy."
He nodded. "Right, I guess that's true. Kanekura Ren. Part-time mascot, full-time duelist."
"Then I'll see you in the finals, Ren," Yumi declared. The two parted ways after that, the girls moving to decide whether or not to actually use the card. "It is really good," she emphasized.
"But it's pretty late to be changing things in your deck," Sakuya countered, raising a good point.
"It is, but look at it," she said. "It actually does counter his cards really well. Plus, I bet there's a lot of other people who might have targets for this. And it's a Level 4."
"I guess it's up to you," Sakuya sighed. "I'm against it, but I get what you're saying. It is a good card."
"And I could use a good hand trap," Yumi added, making the executive decision to slot it into her deck with that. She scratched out the name of the card replaced on her form, writing in "Necro Maria" in its place. Moments after she did, Miss Fukukado approached her in a dead sprint, knocking over several people in the process.
Stopping dead in her tracks just inches from the two girls, she bowed deeply. "I'm so very sorry for not being here sooner!" she said in her usual chipper tone. "I arrived an hour ago but someone knocked over a whole shelf of goods into my path when I saw you! I had to go around the entire arena just to get back here!"
"It's okay," Yumi reassured her. "I'm just filling in the rest of the deck form."
"Wonderful!" she said, snatching the paper after Yumi stopped writing. She reviewed it for errors, nodding along until the end. "What are these changes?" she asked, expression staying exactly the same.
"Yeah, I found a couple of new cards that looked like they might help," Yumi told her, Sakuya looking uneasily off to the side knowing her complicity in this.
"Is it wise to change your deck on the day of the tournament?" she asked.
"Maybe not, but it's all written down already and I don't think we have time to fill out another one." She almost felt proud of how she twisted that situation into her favor.
"Then I guess we have no choice!" she replied. "I'll trust your judgment, but as always, please tell me before you make decisions like this!"
"I will," Yumi said, hoping to stick to that promise but not really being sure she could given how she always liked to experiment with new cards. Shortly after that, the rest of the group arrived. They talked for a few moments before the two minute warning came over the speakers, competitors told to submit their final deck lists and go to the backstage area.
"I guess it's now or never," Yumi said, hopping up and down a few times to rid herself of some nervous energy. Her friends and family wished her luck before leaving to find their seats, Sakuya and her trainer going with her to submit her list.
As the crowd began to clear, Miss Fukukado led Yumi towards the backstage, Sakuya taking her arm to keep her in the lobby for a few extra moments. "Hey, close your eyes," she said suddenly.
Though a bit surprised, Yumi did so, feeling a short and quick softness press against her cheek. Opening her eyes in confusion, Sakuya had turned red. "What happened?" she asked, clueless.
"Revenge for when you did that at the end of the summer," she replied. "I kissed you on the cheek. For good luck."
Yumi tried to hold back a laugh, failing miserably. "You know that doesn't really have the same weight when we did the real thing, right?"
Sakuya pushed her lightly, pouting and folding her arms. "Then maybe I'll just do 'the real thing' next time."
"Really?" Yumi asked, hopping slightly. "Right now? Or maybe later. I'm fine with either!"
Blushing harder, Sakuya spluttered, "A...after you win, okay? We can...practice again."
Before they could get any further into these shenanigans, Miss Fukukado came up dangerously close behind Yumi. "It's time," she said, her voice equal parts upbeat and menacing at once. "We can't be standing around out here and miss the opening ceremony."
"Right..." Yumi said, turning around as a sense of dread descended over her. "Watch me win, okay?" she said to Sakuya as she was led backstage by the arm.
"We all will!" she shouted back, referring to the fact that she'd be in contact with Kazuhiko and Hideo from her phone, the two tragically unable to get tickets for everyone in time to make it. More so than that, however, she also meant all of their friends and allies tuning in, hoping to see Yumi bring home the trophy.
In her own dressing room, Yumi was doing some stretches to work out her energy as Miss Fukukado examined some figures on a laptop, making last minute calculations on who had shown up and the likelihood of victory between different match ups.
"I'm sorry for being harsh before!" she said unexpectedly, causing Yumi to trip over herself. "I'm sure those three cards will serve you well! One of them is a Tuner, correct? Maybe we'll work on Synchro Summoning after the tournament!"
As she got to her feet, Yumi paused at that statement. "Wait, three?" she asked.
"The three cards you replaced in your deck!" she specified. "The two in your main deck and one in your Extra Deck!"
"Wait, but..." She took out her cards, sorting through them. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "There was only two." In a panic, she reviewed her Extra Deck, relieved that THE WORLD hadn't shown up again out of nowhere. Izar's influence seemed totally gone ever since she rebuffed him a final time at the last tournament. At least that would have made sense, though, her Extra Deck having no changes to it since the last time she worked with it.
Before they had time to discuss any further, a man with a headset appeared through the door. "Time to go," he said gruffly, gesturing for Yumi to follow him. She nodded back, placing her duel disk onto her arm and leaving the room.
He led her down a set of stairs, eventually ending at a small, square patch of green flooring that she was instructed to stand on in a tiny room below the field. "Don't step outside the lines or you're going to have a real bad day," he said, muttering something into his headset when she was firmly within the set of white lines he was speaking of before.
While the question of what the third card added to her deck might have been lingered in her brain, Yumi was far too busy to give it any amount of thought. As dangerous as it was to go into a duel without knowing your entire deck, she didn't exactly have the room to be figuring this out the moment she meant to take to the field.
Seconds later, a quartet of yellow lights lit up at the corners of where she stood, a hissing sound preceding its rise upwards as a platform. A hole opened above her, lights shining down onto her alongside the roaring of a crowd. The platform ascended through it, locking into place on the circular and expansive duel field.
Yumi shielded her eyes from the glare at first, cleverly turning that into a wave. Her persona as a duelist was something they'd worked on during training, both her and Miss Fukukado coming to the decision that being her normal self was the best for the time being. That meant positivity and friendliness.
"And here are our contestants!" a deep-voiced man in the announcer box said, all sixteen competitors – four each from Chiba and Tokyo, two from Saitama, Tochigi, and Gunma, and one each from Ibaraki and Kanagawa – lined up side by side. Yumi glanced back and forth from where she stood near the middle of the pack, scanning the crowd for familiar faces. Ren was there, obviously, as was Rio who shared a small look with her. Yuu, however, did not appear. She wasn't exactly expecting her to be but it was still a letdown regardless.
The announcer read off each person's name, giving them a moment to grandstand and soak in the applause. "Takano Yumi!" he said when she was finally called, Yumi waving double V signs up at the crowd. "No one expected her to make it this far, but now she has!" he continued, nearly ruining her enthusiasm with the backhanded compliment.
After the introductions, all the competitors returned to their rooms as a short five minute break gave the first two duelists a chance to ready themselves. Per tournament rules, players were allowed to swap cards between their main and side decks in between matches, using whatever foreknowledge they had on opponents to prepare for the situation. While they should technically have none of this at the beginning of a tournament, it was more or less common knowledge that anyone participating at this level of play would be researching their opponents to prep ahead of time.
Amazingly, Yumi was one of the first two to compete, going up against a formidable lady from Saitama known for her unpredictable lockdown strategies. Though they deliberated over it for the entire length of the break, both her and Miss Fukukado eventually decided it would be best to stick with her deck as is for the time being as nothing in her side seemed to directly counter anything her opponent was known to use.
With prep time up, Yumi took the pulse-pounding walk from her room to the tunnel connecting the back areas to the field, lights flipping on to illuminate the darkness as she advanced. "And here's our first contender, Takano Yumi!" the announcer shouted, a stream of sparkling red pyrotechnics flanking either side of the tunnel's exit as she stepped out.
Waving to the cheering crowd with both hands, Yumi took her spot on one end of the green duel field. Despite how it might look to observers, she wasn't nearly as calm or collected as she appeared to be. In truth, she was on the verge of panic, still worrying over making a good showing or messing something up compounded by the sheer number of eyes on her.
To try and steady herself, she rehearsed different plays available to her, scanning the area of the crowd where everyone was meant to be as she did. Though it took her a few moments, she eventually caught sight of Sakuya's hat pin, her eyes slowly adjusting to make out the rest of her and her friends and family in the adjacent seats. It helped her to relax knowing they were there to support her, if only just a bit.
"As impressive as she is, how will she fare against her opponent?" the announcer continued, the faint noise of his foot stomping onto his desk as he got fired up transmitting over the intercom. "Let's see for ourselves! Welcome our second contender, Hasegawa Haruko!"
Similar to Yumi's own entrance, Haruko was welcomed to the field in a shower of blue sparks. She was taking a much more casual approach to all of this, though, head down and eyes closed as she walked forward, hands in the pockets of her worn out gray slacks. Worn over the faded denim jacket's right arm was a fairly old duel disk from the same generation as Yumi's hand-me-down, though this one appeared to be in somewhat better condition than that one.
Reaching the spot where she was meant to stand, she cracked her neck to each side, brushing a mess of pink and strawberry blonde hair out of her piercing blue eyes as she looked Yumi up and down. She gave a small chuckle, stepping forward to the center of the field to exchange decks for cutting.
Between that intense look, the yellow bass guitar inexplicably strapped to her back, and her general punk attire, Yumi's convictions were tested as the overwhelming urge to fall in love reared its head once more. Physically shaking her head to regain composure, she met her opponent in the center of the field, handing her deck up to Haruko and taking hers in turn.
"That's a neat deck you got there," Haruko spoke, voice smooth and a bit mocking. Yumi looked confused by this comment as they handed back each other's cards, forcing her to clarify. "In that video. I learned a lot."
As they returned to their places, Yumi realized the full extent of what that meant. That's what Ren was really saying before, the card being an apology for essentially showing her deck to the entire world ahead of the tournament. Of course people had watched the video of her duel knowing she'd be in the tournament; that's why it had so many views.
The real question, then, was how much that would affect gameplay. The match began, both of them activating their duel disks and preparing to battle. Haruko was allowed to go first, drawing her hand and looking over her options. "I think I'll start with this," she said, placing a monster onto the field.
"Come out, House Duston!" A gray cloud appeared in front of her, tiny little devils of several colors floating within and bumping against each other listlessly. Befitting this fairly harmless appearance was an ATK of 0, meaning this monster would be doing little more than damaging its owner in a direct conflict.
Yumi wasn't a fool, though. She knew there had to be more to it than that. "I'll set my hand and end my turn," Haruko declared, sliding the remaining four cards she held into her duel disk before the turn passed. As if anyone needed further indication that the Duston was some kind of bait.
"Draw!" Yumi declared to start her turn.
Almost immediately after, Haruko raised her hand. "Trap activate! Magic-Sealing Fragrance!" A Trap Card flipped up on her field, a large, dark container with a sinister face materializing out of it to emit a thick purple haze across the field. "From this point forward, all our Magic Cards can't be activated until our next turn after they're set."
Damn. That just kicked in the knees of around half of Yumi's deck. Both her Equip Magic and Fusion strategies were severely slowed down by that. It wasn't a game-ending setback by any means but it would still be fairly annoying to have to play through.
Still, that card didn't do anything to stop her from Xyz Summoning. "I summon Rescue Rabbit!" she said, the heroic hare hopping onto the field in front of her. "I use its effect to banish itself and summon a pair of Normal Monsters from my deck!"
Her choice was Hat-Trick Magician, two copies appearing on her field after Rescue Rabbit vanished. Raising her hand up, both of them began to glow. "Now, I'm-"
"Trap activate!" Haruko called once again. "Duston Roller! I pick a monster on the field and make it unable to be used as material for a summon or Advance Summon for the rest of the turn."
Yumi stumbled forward, her play interrupted and strategy countered yet again. "That's a pretty good card," she complimented, Haruko smiling like a smug cat across from her. "I guess I'll have to change plans, then."
Throwing her arm forward, Yumi moved to her Battle Phase. "Attack House Duston!" she declared, one of the Hat-Tricks sending a bolt of energy towards the enemy and causing it to burn up. As a result, Haruko's Life Points fell to 2800.
"House Duston's effect activates now," she said, an immense quantity of dust shooting out of her Graveyard and blanketing the field.
Yumi coughed, fanning the dust away from her. Her monsters began to sneeze, as well, blowing the powdery substance around even more. Once everything finally settled, though, the true nature of the effect became clear. "What?"
"When House Duston is destroyed, I summon an equal number of Dustons from my hand or deck to both our fields," Haruko explained. In Defense Position, she had Blue Duston, White Duston, and Yellow Duston. In Attack Position, Yumi had Red Duston, Green Duston, and another Blue Duston. "Enjoy those. They can't be used for any summoning, either."
This was certainly problematic. While her two existing monsters had spared her a field entirely filled with unusable monsters with no offensive power, seeing the different drawbacks that came with them being destroyed did little to help this situation look better.
"I'll attack Yellow Duston!" Yumi said, hoping to make the most out of what time her Hat-Tricks had left. While logic would dictate that the best move would be to keep those Dustons clogging up the opponent's field, there had to be more to this strategy than just fruitlessly swarming both sides with cards they couldn't use.
As Yellow Duston was destroyed, its effect allowed Haruko to add House Duston back to her deck. An underwhelming end to a sub-optimal turn if ever there was one. "I'll set three cards and end my turn," Yumi said. As she did this, both her Hat-Tricks exploded in front of her, their borrowed time now up.
"Then I'll use my set card, Cyclone!" The card flipped up, tearing across the field and striking one of Yumi's newly set cards. To her dismay, it was Majesty Guard. Even at the very end of her turn, her opponent was still managing to make things difficult for her.
"It's my turn," Haruko declared happily, seeming to enjoy Yumi's struggle. "I'll start things off with my Magic Card, Value of a Horse's Bone!" As the card flipped up, White Duston was quickly pulled into it, the monster barely having the time to let out a small cooing noise as it happened. "I get rid of a non-effect monster on my field in order to draw two more cards," she explained, taking the two as she did.
She smiled, adding the cards to her hand. "Looks like it's almost time to end this," she said menacingly. "First, I'm going to summon my own Red Duston to go with my Blue!" The monster popped out of its card, the two cheering for each other as they were united on the field, immediately moving to mock the ones on the field across from them.
"Then I'll send both to my Graveyard," she continued, waving her hand as if to blow them away with the wind it created. Miraculously, it seemed to work, the two disintegrating into a cloud of dust. This wasn't the end, however, as that dust began to swirl together and turn a much darker color. "Come out, Starduston!"
Compared to the miniature monsters from before, Starduston was absolutely massive in size. The inky black creature floated above Haruko's field, dust particles sparkling like stars across its body. "For every Duston I send to summon it, Starduston gains 1000 ATK and DEF," she explained, both values sitting at 2000. Fairly weak for an ace card, but given the absolute mess that was Yumi's field right now, it would be more than sufficient to press her.
"It's not all brute strength, though," she added. "As long as I have Starduston, you can't Flip or Special Summon any monsters and your set cards can't be activated." Essentially, this meant that her entire backrow was shut down thanks to the Fragrance Trap, a fact that sent a wave of awe through the crowd and a shock down Yumi's back.
"That's enough explaining, though," Haruko said, snapping her fingers. "Battle! Starduston, get rid of Green Duston for me!" Given that the monsters had been summoned in Attack Position, Yumi wasn't able to switch the Dustons she'd reluctantly taken ownership of to Defense Position on her turn. That meant all 2000 points of ATK went straight through the weak defense, lowering her Life Points by the same amount.
Green Duston's effect activated at that point, forcing Yumi to return a set card on her field to her hand. She picked Unexpected Guy, figuring it was the least useful between itself, Instant Fusion, and Rusty Sword now that her field was clogged with monsters. If Starduston's effect stopped applying at some point, the other two would most likely be more useful to have at a moment's notice.
Haruko set another card and ended her turn, Yumi drawing to begin hers. The monster she got wasn't of much use now, but given everything else at her disposal, it might hold the key to victory just a little bit later. The only problem there was getting it to survive the turn.
"I'll set a monster," she said, "and switch Red Duston and Blue Duston to Defense Mode. Turn end."
"Trap, activate!" Haruko declared once more. This time it was Final Attack Orders, forcing both the Dustons back into Attack Position. For all her hope of turning things around next turn, it was quickly looking like she might not even get a next turn.
After drawing a card, Haruko commenced battle once more. "Destroy Red Duston!" she declared, Starduston following the command and firing a blast of stardust from its mouth. Yumi's monster was thoroughly annihilated by this, though the weak barrier surrounding her seemed to keep her from losing the duel just yet.
"When I banish Majesty Guard from my Graveyard, I can halve the damage I take once." As a result, she still had 1000 Life Points left, the swirling mass of flames hovering in front of her set to change that. It exploded, striking her in the face and dealing another 500 damage to her.
"And when Red Duston is destroyed, it hits you for even more damage. Recover from that." Unsurprisingly, Haruko was already aware that this duel would be going for at least another turn given her foreknowledge of Yumi's cards. That's why she attacked Red Duston, after all. To end her turn, she set the card she'd drawn in her backrow.
Yumi drew a card, finding it to be Majesty Sanction. That wouldn't do much for her right now. Even so, she didn't despair, seeing an opening thanks to Haruko's eagerness to inflict damage. "It's a good thing you didn't touch my face-down monster," she said with a smile. "If you did that, I'd really be in trouble right now."
Haruko's confidence wavered slightly, realizing she may have made a mistake. "I release my Wallrus," Yumi began, the monster appearing briefly on top of the backside of its card before disappearing. "Now, take the stage, Majesty Magician!"
As usual, it required only a single monster to Advance Summon thanks to its effect, the powerful sorcerer bowing to the enemy and even managing to draw a few cheers and whoops from the crowd. "Let's not waste any time turning things around," Yumi said, pointing to Starduston. "Attack her monster with Majesty Burst!"
With a twirl of its cane, Yumi's monster let out a blast of energy, Starduston groaning and eventually exploding from the force of it. Haruko's Life Points fell to 2300 as she scowled. Though this wasn't enough to end the duel, it certainly made things quite a bit harder for her.
Yumi set a card before ending her turn, Haruko taking a card as she tried to salvage the situation. Considering nothing in her deck had more than a few ATK, there wasn't much chance of getting that last 500 damage to win. That didn't mean a comeback was impossible, however.
In fact, it almost seemed probable. The card she'd drawn was Dimension Slide, letting her banish a monster when one was Special Summoned to her own field. Taking out Majesty Magician would put Yumi back into the situation of having nothing with any strength on her field, hopefully buying at least one or two more turns to build defense or inflict some effect damage.
"I'll set a card and end my turn," she said, smugness returning. "Let's see if you can really pull off this win."
"We'll all see in just a second," Yumi replied. "I draw!" The card she'd gotten gave her pause for a moment, though she quickly moved past it to continue her turn. "I'll activate my face-down Magic, Rusty Sword, and equip it onto Majesty Magician." This was mostly just to ensure a victory in the event one of Haruko's cards summoned a strong monster. It didn't hurt that it also gave the audience something neat to look at in the end, either.
"Battle!" she called, Majesty Magician hefting the enormous sword it was gifted onto its shoulder. "Attack her directly with Majesty Strike!" The monster charged forward at this command, dragging the weapon behind it and intending to slash upwards at its opponent.
"Trap, activate!" Haruko declared. "Call of the Living Dead!" It didn't matter what card she targeted as the result would be the same. Dimension Slide would activate and take out Majesty Magician, Yumi would end her turn, and Haruko could begin rebuilding her strategy.
But none of this came to pass. "I won't let you!" Yumi shot back, revealing a card in her hand. "Necro Maria, activate!" The card began to glow, the image of a stark white woman's upper body appearing on her field, head adorned in an elegant golden crown of skulls formed into a halo. "If your card has an effect that interacts with the Graveyard, I can Special Summon this monster from hand, negate your card, and destroy it!"
"What?" Haruko shouted, her Trap fizzling out as the gruesome monster joined the Duston in front of Yumi. Dimension Slide wouldn't be doing anything now.
"Finish it, Majesty Magician!" As the monster completed its attack, Haruko was knocked backwards. Life Points fell to 0 as Yumi was declared the winner. Though there was certainly a good amount of surprise, the crowd cheered regardless at having witnessed such an intense match.
As she collected herself off the ground, Haruko approached Yumi. After scratching her head sheepishly, she extended her hand. "I was kind of underestimating you there," she admitted. "I probably lost because of it. You did good. Keep it up, kid."
Yumi nodded happily, taking her opponent's hand in a show of good sportsmanship. Given how her last tournament experience ended, this was a relief to say the least. Being able to part ways as equal combatants and wish each other luck was always part of the fun, so knowing there was at least some of that left in higher level play made Yumi hopeful going forward.
Cards Used in Order of Appearance
Necro Maria
DARK
Level 4
Fairy/Tuner/Effect
500 ATK/0 DEF
When a card or effect activates that targets or would move a card(s) in the Graveyard to a different place (Quick Effect): Special Summon this card; negate that effect, and if you do, destroy that card.
House Duston
LIGHT
Level 1
Fiend/Effect
0 ATK/1000 DEF
When this face-up card on the field is destroyed by your opponent's card (either by battle, and it was face-up at the start of the Damage Step, or by card effect) and sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon any "Duston" monsters of your choice from your hand and/or Deck to anywhere on the field, but you must Special Summon an equal number of monsters on each side.
Magic-Sealing Fragrance (Anti-Spell Fragrance)
Continuous Trap Card
Both players must Set Spell Cards before activating them, and cannot activate them until their next turn after Setting them.
Rescue Rabbit
EARTH
Level 4
Beast/Effect
300 ATK/100 DEF
Cannot be Special Summoned from the Deck. You can banish this face-up card you control; Special Summon 2 Level 4 or lower Normal Monsters with the same name from your Deck, but destroy them during the End Phase. You can only use this effect of "Rescue Rabbit" once per turn.
Hat-Trick Magician
DARK
Level 4
Spellcaster
1200 ATK/1500 DEF
Duston Roller
Normal Trap Card
Target 1 monster on the field; this turn, it cannot be Tributed, or be used as a Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Material for a Summon. If this Set card you control is destroyed by your opponent's card effect and sent to your Graveyard: You can add 1 "Duston" monster from your Deck to your hand.
Yellow Duston
EARTH
Level 1
Fiend/Effect
0 ATK/1000 DEF
Cannot be used as a Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Material for a Summon. While this card is face-up on the field, it cannot be Tributed. When this card on the field is destroyed: The controller targets 1 monster in their Graveyard; shuffle that target into the Deck. You can only control 1 face-up "Yellow Duston".
Blue Duston
WATER
Level 1
Fiend/Effect
0 ATK/1000 DEF
Cannot be used as a Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Material for a Summon. While this card is face-up on the field, it cannot be Tributed. When this card on the field is destroyed: Banish 1 random card from the controller's hand, face-down, until the next turn's Standby Phase. You can only control 1 face-up "Blue Duston".
White Duston
LIGHT
Level 1
Fiend
0 ATK/1000 DEF
Red Duston
FIRE
Level 1
Fiend/Effect
0 ATK/1000 DEF
Cannot be used as a Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Material for a Summon. While this card is face-up on the field, it cannot be Tributed. When this card on the field is destroyed: The controller takes 500 damage. You can only control 1 face-up "Red Duston".
Green Duston
WIND
Level 1
Fiend/Effect
0 ATK/1000 DEF
Cannot be used as a Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Material for a Summon. While this card is face-up on the field, it cannot be Tributed. When this card on the field is destroyed: The controller targets 1 Spell/Trap Card they control; return that target to the hand. You can only control 1 face-up "Green Duston".
Cyclone (Mystical Space Typhoon)
Quick-Play Spell Card
Target 1 Spell/Trap Card on the field; destroy that target.
Majesty Guard
Normal Trap Card
Monsters you control cannot be destroyed by battle this turn, also halve all damage you take this turn. During either player's turn, except the turn this card was sent to the Graveyard: You can banish this card from your Graveyard; halve the battle damage you take from one opponent's monster this turn.
Value of a Horse's Bone (White Elephant's Gift)
Normal Spell Card
Send 1 face-up non-Effect Monster you control to the GY; draw 2 cards.
Starduston
DARK
Level 1
Fiend/Effect
? ATK/? DEF
Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand) by sending any number of "Duston" monsters you control to the Graveyard, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card's ATK and DEF each become equal to the number of monsters sent for its Summon x 1000. Your opponent cannot Flip or Special Summon any monsters, or activate any Set Spell/Trap Cards on the field. If you control more monsters than your opponent does, destroy this card.
Unexpected Guy (Unexpected Dai)
Normal Spell Card
If you control no monsters: Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Normal Monster from the Deck.
Instant Fusion
Normal Spell Card
Pay 1000 LP; Special Summon 1 Level 5 or lower Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, but it cannot attack, also it is destroyed during the End Phase. (This is treated as a Fusion Summon.) You can only activate 1 "Instant Fusion" per turn.
Rusty Sword
Equip Spell Card
You can only equip this card to a Level 4 or lower Normal Monster with 1500 or less ATK and DEF. The equipped monster gains these effects: This card's original ATK increases equal to its DEF. When this card attacks, during the Damage Step: You can pay Life Points in multiples of 100 (maximum 500); this card gains ATK equal to that amount.
Final Attack Orders
Continuous Trap Card
All face-up monsters on the field are changed to Attack Position and their battle positions cannot be changed.
Majesty Sanction
Normal Trap Card
Discard 1 card; monsters you control cannot be destroyed by a Spell/Trap effect (once each) until the End Phase. During either player's turn, except the turn this card was sent to the Graveyard: You can banish this card from your Graveyard and target 1 monster you control; once this turn, if it would be destroyed by an opponent's Spell/Trap effect, it is not destroyed.
Wallrus
WATER
Level 2
Beast
400 ATK/800 DEF
Majesty Magician
DARK
Level 8
Spellcaster/Effect
2500 ATK/2000 DEF
You can Tribute Summon this card by Tributing 1 monster that was originally a Level 4 or lower Normal Monster with 1500 or less ATK and DEF. This card is treated as an appropriate target for a card that specifically designates a Level 4 or lower Normal Monster with 1500 or less ATK and DEF while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard (its Level and ATK/DEF do not change).
Dimension Slide (Dimension Slice)
Normal Trap Card
When a monster(s) is Special Summoned to your side of the field (except during the Damage Step): Target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; banish that target. If the Summon is an Xyz Summon, you can activate this card the turn it was Set.
Call of the Living Dead (Call of the Haunted)
Continuous Trap Card
Activate this card by targeting 1 monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target in Attack Position. When this card leaves the field, destroy that target. When that target is destroyed, destroy this card.
The tournament has finally begun, so buckle up for a lot of card games to come. There's probably going to be at least a few surprises here and there, the least of which being that someone is able to use a semi-competitive Duston deck effectively.
Went to a lot of trouble to confirm that the Fragrance play up there was real. Built a whole deck in an emulator just to test the mechanics and had to review the Japanese text and rulings for the card. Apparently this is something that's come up before and it's ruled differently in TCG and OCG regions. Considering they're at a tournament in Japan here, though, Fragrance doesn't hit cards that were set before it was activated, so we're good.
Necro Maria may be the new hotness of hand traps now that I'm thinking on it. It's also cool as shit since I based its look on actual art by an actual artist. billelis and sick666mick's Necro Maria, to be precise. Saw it somewhere else uncredited save for the name and now I'm spreading it around out of spite for that ass. Also showed me that Biorg Trinity is A Thing. No idea what it is but the art looks nice so I might read it. Leave a comment if you, too, know that that manga exists.
We're starting things off a little slow and working our way up to the big guns. Next opponent is going to be something else. Until then, though, that's all I've got. Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to dust sometimes.