Those assembled at the EEDF facility begin preparing for the war.
They were completely unaware of what had happened earlier in the day as they stepped out into the facility's underground garage. Yumi stretched her legs as she hopped out of the van, very much over the extremely long drive to and from Gunma. While this place was anything but homey, it was at least better than being stuck in a car.
"Alright, let's go," Yamada barked as he stepped out of his own car. He was already heading deeper in, followed dutifully by his army men. None of them seemed all that concerned with directing their recruits, so it was up to them to keep up.
Traveling down the ramp and into the facility, the group was greeted by four of the masked soldiers, saluting to their commanding officer. "At ease," he said, adding a quick, "Take over for me." He unceremoniously left the group right after that, heading down one of the hallways to attend to whatever business he might have.
The soldiers looked to one another, silently deliberating as to who would be the one to show these wayward teens around the facility. Huddling up, they played a quick game of rock-paper-scissors, the "winner" giving an exasperated grunt as the other three dispersed to return to their duties around the base.
"I'll be taking over," he finally said, his voice somehow as non-descript as the rest of him in that dark body armor. "Welcome, duelists. As of today, you begin your work as EEDF conscripts in the war against the Constellations."
"Constellations?" the girl named Chika asked with a bewildered expression. Her and her classmate (and Sakuya to a lesser extent) were still trying to process what they'd gotten themselves into down in this dangerous-looking concrete bunker.
"Please save all questions until the end of the tour," the man said, following it up by just answering the question. "The Constellations, the extraterrestrial invaders seeking to destroy our world, will stop at nothing to defeat us. The only way to win and protect the planet is with Duel Monsters, and you all have been chosen because of your exceptional skills."
He turned on his heels and began to walk down one of the hallways. "If you'll follow me, I'll introduce you to the staff and show you around the facility."
"Guess we do what he says," Kazuhiko mumbled, folding his arms behind his head and trudging along behind the guard. The rest followed suit, Yumi quietly slipping her hand into Sakuya's grip. Even after all that had happened back at the school, it was reassuring to see that not too much had changed, Sakuya's face still turning the same pink as her hair just from this level of physical intimacy.
After a short walk, the group entered a wide open area filled with tables and benches. "This is the mess hall," the guard announced, gesturing to the various others dressed like him dotted around the room with trays of food in front of them. "You'll get three meals every day, all nutritionally complete. They give us pudding on Fridays."
He left the room as quick as he'd entered, the kids scrambling to keep up while still processing the fact that this super secret, super serious government facility apparently ran on school lunch rules about what they served them. It was almost endearing.
Turning down a few hallways, they passed a number of doors until they made it to their next stop. Gesturing to a set of open doorways, the guard said, "These are the bathrooms in this area. If something gets clogged, fix it yourself or they'll get mad at you."
"Hey, what's in all those rooms we passed?" Kazuhiko asked.
"Please save all questions until the end of the tour," the guard repeated, only to then say, "Nothing of much interest. R&D, supply closets, some office rooms."
"Is this on purpose?" Sakuya whispered to her friends.
"I think he's just stupid," Kazuhiko said back as the group started moving again.
"But at least he seems nice," Yumi added, trying to stay positive.
A short ways off, they passed the showers, then the dorms. "You'll get your bunk assignments later. Don't go roaming around at night unless you want to be disciplined." Just as before, he took off seconds after explaining this, leading them down another few winding halls until they entered yet another room.
"Here's the infirmary," he said, gesturing towards the woman seated at a desk a ways into it. "That's Doctor Shinkawa, the head physician. You'll get to know her well."
"Hey, we know her!" Yumi said, waving to the doctor. Glancing up from her work, Shinkawa threw up a quick peace sign before returning to whatever she was writing.
"No time to chat," the guard said, once again marching off down the hall. The next place they stopped was the biggest room yet, various exercise machines and the like dotted around with an ovular running track in the middle. "This is the physical fitness room. You'll begin training here soon." He gestured towards the track. "Just like them."
As he said, there were several people currently running laps, most of them being guards like him in, bafflingly, their full uniforms. Still, there were a few others who had on more reasonable workout clothes, including someone unfortunately familiar.
"Wait, that's…" Kazuhiko's eyes widened.
"Ren!" Yumi shouted, pointing accusingly at him.
Taking notice of the commotion, the Kanto Champion gave a wave, jogging off the track and over to the assembled newcomers.
"Hey, I saw that guy on TV," Hotaro said. "He won that tournament."
"I sure did," he replied as he approached, still jogging in place. "It's nice to meet a fan, and…" he turned to Yumi and the others,"to see all of you again."
"You here to screw someone else over?" Kazuhiko glared, Sakuya prepared to kill him right then and there with her hat pin. Fortunately for him, Yumi held her back.
He laughed, waving a hand. "These people approached me after the tournament and said they could use my help. I turned them down, obviously, but then they offered me a whole lot of money and some rare cards to join them. I couldn't say no after that."
"You're getting paid?" Sakuya asked, saying what all of them were now thinking.
"You aren't?" he said with a chuckle. "More importantly, I've heard there's going to be some strong opponents to beat soon. I'm sure that's going to be interesting." Finally standing still, he focused in on Yumi. "That's why you're here, isn't it? You wanted the challenge."
"Not exactly," she admitted, trying to remain civil with him.
"That's a surprise," he said. "I'd always thought we were on the same wavelength there. So, why are you here, then?"
"To save the world, obviously," Kazuhiko scoffed. "You're really treating this like a game?"
"Isn't it?" he replied with a smile.
"Enough talking," the guard finally said with a huff. "You get back to your training. The rest of you, let's go. We're running behind now."
Ren gave a crisp salute, nodding to Yumi and saying, "Be seeing you," before heading back to the track.
"Piece of-" Sakuya stopped herself with a huff, crossing her arms.
"At least he's on our side now, I guess," Kazuhiko pointed out. "Screwing us over would just hurt him."
Ignoring both of them as they started walking again, Yumi muttered, "I hope we get a rematch." Though she didn't hold the same understandable animosity as her peers, she was still sore about the loss to Ren at the tournament. Even if it was just for training or the like, she wanted another crack at him when he was at full power.
For a moment, her desire to duel Ren nearly made her lose track of why they were all here. That probably said something about her instincts as a duelist, but figuring out what that was could wait. Right now, they had to finish up this tour around the facility.
After a few more stops at a recreation room (complete with foosball), another set of toilets (complete with doors this time), and a laundry facility (complete with way too much urban camo), they came to the end of the line. "And here's the control room," the guard said. "Before battle, this is where the officers will coordinate deployment."
Despite its obvious importance, the room itself wasn't much to look at. Just another concrete box, the only major difference being the rows of computer screens that seemed to be monitoring every corner of the city through traffic cameras and the like. Best not to think too hard about that detail.
Like before, most of the staff here was made up of more faceless guards. At least one of the people here looked to be another military officer, this one quite a bit younger than Yamada. Approaching them with a stern look, the man gave a salute.
"Welcome, recruits. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Nagato, acting commander when General Yamada isn't around. On behalf of Japan and the world, I want to thank you for your service in the coming battle."
Things were already off to a better start compared to what came before. Seems like Nagato considered them to be actual people rather than tools. Imagine that.
Nagato turned to the guard. "Dismissed," he said, the soldier saluting and marching off. He turned back to the group. "I have to admit, I've been a little hesitant about all of this, especially since there's a lot more...youth in the barracks than I'm comfortable with."
He said the next thing while rather unsubtly looking to Yumi. "But it seems like you've all proved your worth in some way, and if you've got the desire to fight for our world, we can't exactly be picky."
"Can we ask questions yet?" Chika piped up. "I still don't really know what's going on."
"Yeah," Hotaro agreed. "We were told we'd get some kind of experience in the pro leagues if we could beat the hair guy and join up. We did that, so what's going on here?"
"I see," Nagato sighed, Kazuhiko restraining his anger at the potential insult towards his hair. "Well, that's true...in a way. You'll certainly be getting some valuable experience you can put towards the pro leagues."
"And what's all this about aliens and junk?" Chika added. "The guy in the armor said some aliens were coming. That's stupid."
"Call it what you want, but that's the best way to describe it," Nagato said. "Those creatures – the Constellations – are going to be invading the Earth within the next few months. You recruits and everyone else here are the planet's only line of defense. You've all managed to prove yourself as some of the best of the best in Duel Monsters, as well as being compatible with the reda crystals."
"No one said anything about a war," Hotaro said. "I'm not buying any of this. Let me go back to school."
"There's no going back," Sakuya correctly deduced. Funnily enough, this was the first time they'd ever spoken despite attending school together for more than a year.
"The young lady's right," Nagato sighed. "I apologize if you feel you were misled, but you've already accepted. You can't leave after seeing all of this."
Taken aback, Hotaro shouted, "My father isn't going to let you keep me here!" Chika seemed to share this sentiment, nodding her head.
"I'm sure you'll understand the seriousness of our mission eventually," Nagato said, sighing again. Despite his conviction, it was clear he wasn't too happy to be in charge of breaking this kind of news to the recruits.
"It could be worse," another voice chimed in. "You could get caught in the crossfire without knowing what's going on." Rolling up to them was none other than Brazil's own Champion.
"Rafael?" Yumi exclaimed. "Why are you here?"
"You're still in Japan?" Kazuhiko asked.
As Nagato took both Chika and Hotaro aside to deal with their complaints, Yumi and the others got reacquainted with their one-time enemy. "I am now," he replied. "Apparently, I was recommended to this whole thing. I'm working as a strategist for these fine folks now."
"That's a coincidence," Sakuya observed.
"I guess so," he laughed, his brow furrowing. "Actually, I should probably say this now." He looked to Yumi. "I apologize for what happened before. I was unreasonable towards you, Yumi. I'm sorry for using dueling to try to hurt you."
Yumi just shook her head. "No, it's okay. I know about Rio."
Rafael blinked. "You found out about that?"
Nodding, Yumi replied, "She told me eventually. She's actually changed a lot since back then."
Rubbing his chin, Rafael nodded. "Well, I'm glad to hear that." In truth, he'd already suspected something like that after he received an apology letter from her at his home a few months back. His sponsorship had been restored, too.
"Seems like everyone we know is here," Kazuhiko smirked.
"Funny you mention that," Rafael said. "I think there are a few other people here who know you all. I was talking to a woman named Minerva earlier, and she-"
"She's here?" Yumi shouted, hopping up and down at the news.
"Yeah," Rafael said with a smile. "You beat her at a tournament, from what I heard."
"She's so strong and pretty!" Yumi squealed. "This is so cool!"
Sakuya scoffed. "Who's next? That teacher who bothers you at school?"
Yumi looked to Sakuya, then to Rafael. "Mr. Harada isn't here, is he?"
"Doesn't sound familiar."
Yumi let out a heavy sigh. "Okay, good. I don't want to deal with him right now. We kind of skipped school to come here, so he's probably mad."
"Well, that's no good," Rafael said. "You kids have to get an education."
"What good is learning if the world blows up?" Kazuhiko shrugged.
With a laugh, Rafael nodded. "You've got me there. Anyway, I should get back to work, and I'm sure they have a lot for you kids to do."
"It was great seeing you again," Yumi said. "I'm glad we get to work together this time."
"Same for me," he said. "Take care, all of you."
War or not, this didn't seem so bad. Unsure as they might be, things weren't entirely negative so far. In fact, some of this might even turn out to be a little fun.
A month later, and that statement couldn't have been any further from the truth. The training they made their recruits undergo was grueling, the kids in particular aching in places they didn't even realize existed before now. A consequence of not simply being able to throw soldiers at this problem was that the people they did throw at it had to become as close to soldiers as possible, and all on borrowed time.
Their schedule was strict, nearly every moment of every day meticulously plotted out to maximize their progress. The physical side of things was the worst, especially when they were forced to run obstacle courses, the nice-looking fitness room being used much less often than expected. Yumi had torn a gash down her back after getting caught on some barbed wire, something the trainer (more like a drill sergeant) harshly reprimanded her for. At least Shinkawa treated her a bit nicer as she was stitching her up, not even commenting when she started to cry.
One of their few moments of respite outside of passing out at the end of each day was mealtime. The food (if the bland blocks of fortified gelatin could even be called that) was bad, but it still offered them a few minutes to sit and catch their breath. True to the guard's word, they did occasionally get a pudding cup, too. That was about all they could ask for these days.
"I still don't get why they let you two keep your thing," Kazuhiko grumbled, shoveling something green and wobbly into his mouth. His hair had just begun to grow back after they held him down and buzzed it a few days into all of this.
"Probably because you kept getting caught on things," Sakuya replied, beret still firmly placed on her head. Apparently, it wasn't deemed obstructive enough to get taken away. Neither were Yumi's goggles, for that matter, still on top of her head as normal.
"It's not fair," he whined, rubbing the top of his head. "I can't focus when my hair's like this. And they took my jacket and stuff, too. I'm not even at half power anymore. I'm, like, 4%." This wasn't a unique case, of course, as all of the people here had been forced into gray camouflage and white shirts.
"At least you've made it through the physical parts," Yumi said, the light scars now littering her exposed forearms acting as an indicator as to how she had fared up to this point. "I'm starting to get worried. They keep talking about the people who won't make the cut, but I don't know what that means. What's going to happen to anyone who can't pass the tests?"
"I guess we'll find out soon," Sakuya sighed, trying to stay strong for everyone's sake. While she'd been performing better than Yumi during the physical side of training, she was far from Kazuhiko's level. In fact, he'd completely surpassed all of the civilians recruited into this, even keeping pace with the handful of actual soldiers that managed to activate the reda crystals. Years of lifting weights and the occasional fist fight were really paying off.
A metal tray clattered to the steel table beside Yumi. "What are we finding out, exactly?" Ren asked, smiling towards the group.
"How hard I can kick your ass," Kazuhiko grunted.
"You're still mad at me?" he asked. "That was so long ago. Besides, we're all on the same team now, so shouldn't we get along?"
"I would rather have my limbs torn off," Sakuya hissed, practically forcing Yumi to switch spaces with her to put some distance between the two.
Ren shook his head. "That's too bad. Still, you can count on me when we finally get out there."
"Fall in a hole," Sakuya told him, steadfastly refusing any support from him.
"Let's stop," Yumi finally said, fed up with the bickering. "Arguing with him isn't going to do anything." More than a desire to be the bigger person, Yumi was just acting practically. Ren's performance had been decidedly distinguished from the first day, lagging just behind Kazuhiko. Years of...being in a mascot costume really paid off, apparently.
"Thank you, Yumi," he said, Sakuya barely able to contain her killing intent at hearing him address her so casually. "More to the point, I didn't stop by here just to catch up with everyone. I actually have some news." He'd gotten their attention, at least. "I overheard a few of them talking, and it seems like this afternoon is the make-or-break test."
"This afternoon?" Yumi repeated. "During the duel training?"
He nodded. "Seems like it. They'll probably gather us all together to explain more. They said something about dividing people into infantry and support, but I'm not sure what that means." Shrugging, he added, "Either way, I assume you should just play your hardest."
"Damn, that's so helpful," Kazuhiko scoffed. "Wish I could have thought of that."
"No problem," Ren said, taking that as genuine thanks. He spooned some of the gelatin into his mouth, nodding. "That sure tastes bad." He took another bite after that.
"It sounds like we'll be competing against each other," Sakuya concluded, trying to take something useful from Ren's intel. "Or maybe we already have been."
"At least we know now," Yumi said, taking Sakuya's hand under the table. "So now we can know to support each other no matter what."
"That's a great sentiment," Ren said, the three freezing him out and pretending he wasn't there.
The trio spent the rest of lunch sharing their strategies with each other, ensuring they were all up to date on where they were at. Ren, of course, wasn't welcome, but silently observed for his own benefit. Old habits die hard.
By the end of lunch, they felt confident they could handle whatever test was about to come their way. As confident as possible given the situation, at least. The foresight that there was anything to be confident about was helpful, too, even if they ultimately had no choice but to take things as they came.
Like Ren predicted, they and the rest of the recruits were gathered in the control room for a final test. "With the threat almost here," Yamada said, pacing back and forth in front of them, "it's time to begin final preparation."
A guard came up behind him, a large paper box between his hand. "Think of this as your final exam," he told them. "Each of you is going to draw a lot from in here. You'll be partnered with whoever has your matching number. Once you've found your partner, you'll have to work together to defeat the duel program at its highest setting."
It made sense so far. They'd already done several team exercises before, the plan being that they'd face off against the Constellations in groups due to their overwhelming power. Still, those tests were usually in teams of three, but this seemed to indicate they'd be fighting in pairs now.
"Based on your results," Yamada explained, "some of you will make the cut for infantry, and the others for support. For those who don't know, infantry will be the lead attack force against the Constellations and their forces, while support will be in charge of bolstering their strategies in the field."
Though he hadn't said it outright, it seemed like infantry was what you wanted to be here, a sentiment only strengthened with what the general said next. "Infantry will continue to use their own cards as desired, but support will spend the rest of their time learning to use a pre-constructed deck designed to boost the performance of an assigned member of the infantry."
To Yumi, this sounded like the support members were considered expendable. If they were all called in here because of their skills already, what was the point if they were just going to take their decks away? As much as she wanted to call this out, she'd learned by now not to talk back to Yamada anymore. It didn't end well.
"Only the best of the best will become infantry," Yamada continued. "Trying to fight these monsters with a bunch of incompatible strategies is only going to kill us all. Whoever among you is the strongest will be given priority going forward. The rest should know their place."
After a few more equally encouraging words to drive home the seriousness of this test, the recruits were lined up and ordered to draw their lots. Seeing everyone all together like this really drove home just how few of them there were. In total, the EEDF was only able to find 18 people who could successfully fight for them. If their past exercises were any indication, only six of them would get to be infantry.
Once the last lot was drawn, the recruits were given a rare moment of free time to prepare, the final tests taking place in half an hour. Naturally, people immediately grouped up to compare their numbers and see who they'd be competing with.
"Looks like it's the two of us, huh?" Ren said, patting Kazuhiko on the shoulder.
"Perfect," he replied. "I've been wanting to kick your ass this whole time."
"We're supposed to be working together here, though," Ren told him. "If you wanted to duel normally, we can do that some other time."
"I'm taking you and the computer down at the same time," Kazuhiko declared. "I'll finally get revenge for what you did to Miss Yumi."
All Ren could do was shrug as he walked away. "Well, suit yourself."
"Yeah, thought so." Kazuhiko clicked his tongue, then went to find his friends. He spotted them across the room, comparing numbers. Evidently, something bad had happened.
"What's going on here?" he asked, sliding in behind Sakuya. In response, both her and Yumi held up lots marked with the number 9. Somehow, they managed to beat the odds and end up directly competing with each other.
Kazuhiko grunted, crossing his arms. "I guess it is convenient that you two just happened to be put together like this."
"What are we going to do?" Yumi sighed. "I don't want us to be separated."
"It's fine," Sakuya said. "I'll take the fall. I can still support you from the sidelines. I'm not too bad at it by now, right?"
"I don't want you to lose on purpose, either," Yumi told her. Even beyond the concern she felt for Sakuya, it was also a matter of pride.
Kazuhiko tapped his chin. "Maybe you can tie?" he suggested. "End up with the same Life Points, match each others moves. If they can't decide who's better, they'll just have to pass both of you." He scratched his head, sighing. "Kind of a stupid idea, I know."
"No, that's not terrible," Sakuya admitted. It was an idea, at least.
"I think we could do it," Yumi agreed. "We know each other's decks pretty well by now."
Sakuya nodded. "It could work."
"Then you've got a plan," Kazuhiko said, nodding. "Meanwhile, I'm going to rip Ren in half." He paused, quickly adding, "Not literally, I mean. I guess we have to say that now."
Yumi pumped her fists. "Then we're all going to win," she declared. "And after that, we're going to beat Izar and all the rest and save the world!"
"That's why we're here," Sakuya said, bumping shoulders with her. "Personally, I'm looking forward to getting a shot at taking him on myself. I need to pay him back for all he's done to you."
"Well, I'm going to go get ready," Kazuhiko said, nodding to the both of them. "See you on the other side." He marched off, muttering some kind of motivational phrase to himself as he went to arrange his deck.
"I guess we should get ready, too," Sakuya said to Yumi.
"Let's get to it," she replied, taking Sakuya's hand. "As long as we stay together, we'll win."
A few hours passed since the initial drawing. Most of the recruits had already taken their turns. All of the teams had defeated the dueling computer up to this point, but that was expected. They were much more concerned with outperforming the other person beside them, a challenge that proved to be much harder than the computer itself in all cases.
In Kazuhiko's case, Ren had soundly beaten both him and the computer. After all his talk prior to their duel, it was a humiliating blow to say the least. Not only that, it fully sealed his fate as a support member. Just one disgrace after the other.
As much as they wanted to be there to console him, Yumi and Sakuya had to be ready for their own test. They were scheduled to duel next, making them the last two left to be tested. Despite all their prep, neither was fully sure of what to expect once they made it to the duel room.
"We've got a plan," Sakuya said as the two walked the short hallway leading to the exam.
"We can both win," Yumi followed.
"We know what we need to do," Sakuya continued.
Stopping right before the metal blast door that lead to the room, they watched in silence as it unlocked itself after sensing their presence. With one last glance towards each other, they entered, the door locking itself back behind them just as quickly.
After a few moments, their eyes adjusted to the gleaming brightness of the space around them. Over the last month, they'd become quite familiar with this room. Aside from the large one-way mirror along the upper part of the wall opposite the door, it was a completely white square of ultra-high strength concrete lit by fluorescent bulbs set into the ceiling. While that may not be what most would use to construct a room for playing cards in, this one needed it.
Like in Yumi's rematch with Rio, the damage dealt in this place was real. In fact, it almost seemed like the same technology. According to the instructors, this was to prepare them for the conditions they'd experience while fighting the Constellations. Based on Yumi's past experiences, this was a real concern.
Even so, it couldn't help but put them both on edge. Not all of their scars over the course of preparing for the war were from obstacle courses. While no one had died thus far, multiple training exercises had been stopped due to serious injury. If not for that special elixir in the infirmary, several of their forces would be permanently out of the fight just from practice duels.
"Your test will now commence," Yamada's voice spoke over an intercom. As he said this, a slot opened in the middle of the floor, a duel machine rising up out of it. "Activate your duel disks and prepare for battle."
"I guess this is it," Yumi said, raising her arm and sliding her deck into the slot on her wrist. She nodded to Sakuya as she did the same, both their duel disks whirring to life. As they did, static seemed to fill the air as the advanced Solid Vision systems inside the walls activated.
Finally, the duel machine itself turned on, a single red orb in the center of its circular design glowing as it announced, "Duel Mode, activate."
"Duel!" both girls shouted in unison, drawing their hands as the machine placed five cards from its deck holder onto its body.
"Turn commence," the machine said, deciding that it would take the first move. Immediately, one of the cards turned over. "Activate Extra Fusion," it declared, the image of five cards materializing in front of it. "Sending Dark Blaze Dragon, Death Daemon Dragon, Thousand Dragon, Kaiser Dragon, and Dragon Djinn – King Dragoon as material to Fusion Summon."
"A Fusion Summon with cards in the Extra Deck?" Yumi stammered in disbelief. "That's possible?"
"It must be," Sakuya grimaced. "And that's five dragons, meaning…"
"Fusion Summon, Five God Dragon." The cards transformed into five beams of light, each colored to match one of the six Attributes sans LIGHT. Swirling into a circle above the machine, five points from around its circumference drew out a pentagram inside it.
The image shattered like glass, the enormous, multi-headed dragon roaring out and slamming into the floor. The impact nearly knocked both girls off their feet, the realistic weight given to the landing making the already terrifying creature even scarier.
"Okay, that's bad," Yumi said, swallowing hard. "But I guess-"
"Activate Dragon's Mirror," the machine cut her off. "Banishing Dark Blaze Dragon, Death Daemon Dragon, Thousand Dragon, Kaiser Dragon, and Dragon Djinn – King Dragoon as material to Fusion Summon."
"Another?" Sakuya shouted. "This is ridiculous!" She and Yumi both stepped back, nearly pressed up against the wall of the room as they watched the process unfold a second time. Once it finished, two copies of the strongest Fusion Monster in the game stood in front of them, ten heads and twenty eyes-worth of malice staring them down.
From behind the glass, a collection of military personnel observed the duel as it played out. Yamada, looking rather pleased, lit himself a cigar. "Looks like they're having some trouble," he chortled.
"You almost sound like you were expecting that," Nagato said from beside him.
"Of course," he admitted proudly. "The machine's cards are all set up. I had them pick out the strongest start for it."
Nagato was taken aback at how brazenly his superior officer had cheated these children. "Then that defeats the point of the test, doesn't it? How can you accurately gauge their abilities if you set them up to fail?"
Yamada scoffed, blowing a thick smoke ring above his head. "Those alien bastards won't take it easy on us. Maybe they'll stack the deck. If the recruits can't make it over this hump, they might as well fail." He smirked, then added, "Maybe it'll teach them some respect, too."
There wasn't much for Nagato to say after that. Forced to bite his tongue, he had to abide by what his superior officer decided in this situation. Unfair as it may seem, maybe he did have something resembling a point in there. Not like he could stop it even if he didn't.
Needless to say, though, this was only the start of the problem for Yumi and Sakuya. And the machine hadn't even ended its turn yet.
Cards Used in Order of Appearance
Extra Fusion
Normal Spell Card
Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using Fusion Monsters in your Extra Deck as material.
Dark Blaze Dragon (Darkfire Dragon)
DARK
Level 4
Dragon/Fusion
1500 ATK/1250 DEF
"Firegrass" + "Petit Dragon"
Death Daemon Dragon (Fiend Skull Dragon)
WIND
Level 5
Dragon/Fusion/Effect
2000 ATK/1200
"Cave Dragon" + "Lesser Fiend"
(This card is always treated as an "Archfiend" card.)
A Fusion Summon of this card can only be done with the above Fusion Material Monsters. Negate the effects of Flip Effect Monsters. Negate any Trap effects that target this card on the field, and if you do, destroy that Trap Card.
Thousand Dragon
WIND
Level 7
Dragon/Fusion
2400 ATK/2000 DEF
"Time Wizard" + "Baby Dragon"
Kaiser Dragon
LIGHT
Level 7
Dragon/Fusion
2300 ATK/2000 DEF
"Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1" + "Fairy Dragon"
Dragon Djinn – King Dragoon (King Dragun)
DARK
Level 7
Dragon/Fusion/Effect
2400 ATK/1100 DEF
"Lord of D." + "Divine Dragon Ragnarok"
Your opponent cannot target Dragon monsters with card effects. Once per turn: You can Special Summon 1 Dragon monster from your hand.
Five God Dragon (Five-Headed Dragon)
DARK
Level 12
Dragon/Fusion/Effect
5000 ATK/5000 DEF
5 Dragon monsters
Must be Fusion Summoned. Cannot be destroyed by battle with a DARK, EARTH, WATER, FIRE, or WIND monster.
Dragon's Mirror
Normal Spell Card
Fusion Summon 1 Dragon Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, by banishing Fusion Materials listed on it from your field or GY.
This one took a while to finish. Had a lot to do the last few months, moved to a new house, and all sorts of other things that kept distracting me. I don't think this is my best work, but I got most of the things I wanted done here and the duel that's coming up is a lot of fun.
I've said this a lot now, but we really are closing in on the end. It took a bit, but I'm glad I'm getting to bring back some of the characters from the second tournament. Ren, Rafael, and eventually Minerva aren't the only ones coming, though. You'll have to wait to find out exactly who, but I doubt anyone is going to predict a couple of them.
Things will hopefully come out a lot quicker now. A lot less distractions these days. Guess that's good if people are invested in this getting to the end.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to not join the military.