Part 1: Chapter 2 - Ensign

Ruri felt like she was floating. Like a person waking from a dream, she steadily rose through the empty air before suddenly becoming conscious of her immobile body. She felt dust, pipes, and heavy rocks pressing down on her like a truck. Opening her eyes, she started pushing herself up.

Amazed by her sudden strength, she felt herself flip massive slabs of stone and pipes from her body with ease. Looking down at herself, she noticed that while her clothing had been torn to shreds, except for a few cuts and bruises, her body was completely unscathed. Noticing shards of broken glass, she picked up some pieces and examined her face.

It had not been a dream. She could see, plainly reflected in the glass, the black sclera of her eyes, and the white wing mark over her left eye and cheek. She craned her neck to examine her back. Glowing with bright, white light, she could make out the wings and zigzagging neck of the heron mark.

Wasting no more time, she quickly scanned her surroundings.

"Rin! Rin!" she called, tossing aside slabs of stone and metal pipes like they were pieces of straw. Noticing a large pile in the middle of the shaft she was in, she knelt down and shoved her fingers underneath the bottommost stone slab.

With a small grunt, she lifted the entire pile and tossed it aside.

Underneath the rubble lay the crushed remains of Rin.

Ruri had thought she'd be mentally prepared for whatever had happened to Rin. But she was mistaken. Letting out an involuntary gasp, she collapsed on her knees, weeping at Rin's side. Cradling Rin in her arms, she started brushing rubble and blood from Rin's face and hair.

"You never deserved this." Ruri whispered into her ear. "You deserve so much more than this." Weeping quietly, Ruri gently laid Rin onto her back, closed Rin's eyes, and folded Rin's arms over her chest.

Ruri knelt over Rin. "I'm giving you what you deserve." She said, grasping Rin's right arm. "A second chance."

Darkness gathered around her as her eyes and marks glowed with white light. Sweeping away her tattered, prison-clothing in a swirl of dark mist, Ruri clothed herself in her black and white hood, cape, and dress. Grasping Rin's right arm more firmly, she raised her other hand to the sky.

"The gods know of your pain and your unjust suffering, Rin!" she chanted as a black circle of fire enclosed them. Feeling words pour into her mind from an unknown source she continued, "You have been chosen as an ensign to the new gospel! You shall proclaim the rise of a new world and sound the trumpet for the battle five-thousand years in the making! Even now, your spirit hears my call from the depths of the underworld! Heed my call and accept this divine task! Drown out the voices of our enemies with your eternal song. Shake the foundation of this world with the resonance of your symphony! Rise Rin! Rise as a new Dark Signer!"

Rin suddenly gasped as her body mended itself and a bright green, whale-shaped mark burned itself into her right arm. Choking for breath, she staggered from the ground as the black flames slowly dissipated. Still covered in blood and rubble, Rin looked frantically around the deep shaft before noticing Ruri standing in front of her, dressed in strange clothing and wearing glowing tattoos on her face.

"Ruri?" she gasped almost falling over as her knees buckled beneath her. Rushing forward, Ruri quickly caught Rin in an embrace.

"It's me Rin." Ruri replied, gently stroking Rin's hair, "I'm here for you. You don't have to worry. You're safe now."

"What happened!" gasped Rin, "How are you…what happened to…?" she stammered looking up and down at Ruri.

"I saved you Rin." Ruri replied, trying to calm Rin down. "I came back and saved you."

Rin ripped herself from Ruri's arms, continuing to hyperventilate, "This doesn't feel right…" she stammered, "…I don't feel…I don't feel… It's not normal!"

Ruri tried to approach Rin, but Rin jumped back.

"AM I DEAD!?" she screamed clutching her face.

"Your alive Rin," replied Ruri gently. "You were dead, but I brought you back. Just like I was brought back."

What do you mean!?" asked Rin eyes widening in horror, "What's going on!?"

Ruri began explaining to Rin what had happened to her after their escape attempt. She told her of the attack from the Obelisk guards, their fall, of her awakening in the black mist, and of the voice offering her the power of a Dark Signer. She decided to leave out the details of Yuu, and instead only explained that she had spoken with the source of their power and had come up with a plan to use her power to stop Academia and save the dimensions.

Rin only seemed to be hearing half of what Ruri was saying. Pacing back and forth, she started muttering to herself.

"I remember Ruri's voice…she called to me… there was another voice… it said I had a mission… that I'm an ensign…" she started pacing in circles, "It promised me power… I wanted out… I had to get out… I had to come back… I had no choice… it gave me power… now I'm here… why? What does it want from me? It said I'd receive new power… I can feel new power! I feel strong! I feel…GREAT! I feel great? Yes… No…"

She was practically jogging in circles now, voice slowly becoming more hysterical. Horrified by the shock Rin was experiencing, Ruri rushed forward and tried to hold Rin until she calmed down.

Rin shoved her away.

"Who did this to me?" she asked, wearing an enraged expression.

Ruri shook her head. "I don't know Rin. We were being chased by Obelisk Guards before we ended up here. It could have been any of them. They probably thought we were just some random rebellious students and decided to wipe us out wholesale."

"I'll kill them…" whispered Rin grinding her teeth. "I'LL KILL THEM! ALL OF THEM!" she screamed tearing at her hair.

Ruri rushed forward and forced Rin's arms down to her sides. "LISTEN TO ME RIN!" She shouted, trying to get Rin's attention. "We are not staying here! I promise you, you will have justice, but we have to leave this dimension first! We have to…"

"LET ME GO!" shouted Rin, struggling against Ruri's grip.

Ruri lost patience, "NO!" she screamed back, slugging Rin in the gut.

Rin let out a loud gasp and slumped to the ground. Shocked that she had lost her temper so easily, Ruri frantically knelt by Rin's side and started apologizing for what she had done.

"I'm sorry Rin! I'm so sorry! I never wanted this for you. I only ever wanted to make you happy, like you tried to make me happy." She explained, tears welling up in her eyes. "I know this is weird and scary for you, but you have to trust me if we're going to make it! I'm your friend Rin! I can get you out of here! I promise we'll make it!"

"I don't want…" Rin gasped, clutching her gut, "to just make it! I spent my whole life… in the slums… just making it!"

Ruri bowed her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. Folding her hood over her head she turned to leave. "Goodbye Rin," she said looking back at her friend for the last time, "I've cherished every moment we've spent together, but I must leave. I truly hope you find happiness."

"Wait!" Rin called, grabbing Ruri's arm. Looking into Ruri's eyes Rin frantically spoke, "Look… I'm sorry! Really I am! I'm glad we're together again!" she grabbed Ruri's other arm," "You're right! I'm just scared! But I don't want to be! I'm sick of being weak and helpless! I'm sick of being used by others! I want to find the people who have been using me and stop them! I don't want to be their pawn anymore! I promise I'll come with you. But please! PLEASE! Let me just take care of this one thing first!"

"We don't have time!" replied Ruri, "Come with me or stay and take your revenge! I won't stop you either way!" She turned to walk away, but Rin pulled back on Ruri's arm with super-human strength.

"I heard you!" said Rin, pulling Ruri around to face her, "You said I was an ensign. That I was chosen to proclaim the coming of the new world." She started rubbing her mark. "I don't know what happened to me, but I can feel my power growing! I feel like it's starting to become clear. I feel like I am meant to take my revenge, but not just for the sake of revenge." she added hastily, seeing Ruri open her mouth to retort, "I feel like I will be doing more than just getting satisfaction. I'll be sending them a message. No… I'll be sending the whole world a message. I'll be showing them our power! I can feel it growing inside me even now! It's starting to feel more…natural. Please… stay by my side and let me show you my power!"

Ruri looked back at Rin who stood rooted to the ground, defiance gleaming in her expression. Ruri had wanted to leave Academia as quietly as possible after rescuing Rin. She had been fine to put her vengeance against Academia on hold until she put her plans in motion. But she had never considered Rin's feelings. Here was Rin, shell-shocked from her sudden resurrection, and yet, despite her shock, still not wanting to leave Ruri's side. All Rin was asking from Ruri now was support. Thinking of the utter rage she felt toward Academia for the countless, heinous acts they had committed against her, Ruri found herself empathizing with Rin's desire for vengeance. Who was she to leave her friend's side when all Rin wanted was justice?

"All right Rin." She said, curious to see Rin's abilities in action. "Show them the power of the Dark Signers."

"WHAT HAPPENED HERE!?" Commander Gordon screamed at the other Obelisk guards. Earlier today, he had received word that two highly-important inmates had escaped custody from the Academia prisons. He had been given explicit orders to capture the escapees, and was, under no circumstances whatsoever, to use any level of lethal force.

He and his elite squad had almost reached the balcony where the two prisoners had been spotted by another squadron before an explosive blast shook the floor above their heads. Arriving at the balcony, he and his squad had found a massive blast mark along the edge of the balcony leading to a pitch-black, bottomless shaft below.

As Gordon approached the area, a squad of three Obelisk guards quivering like Jell-O.

"What happened here?" Gordon snarled, facing them with his own squadron of two Elite Guards.

The three guards continued shaking like dry leaves.

"I ORDER YOU TO EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED HERE!" Gordon roared, grabbing the nearest guard by the throat.

"WE… WE DON'T KNOW SIR!" replied the guard frantically. "We were on our regular patrol when these two girls in prison clothing started running past us. We pursued them here and were just about to capture them…"

"AND!?" yelled Gordon shaking the cowering guard.

"We don't know who did it!" the guard tried to explain as his windpipe slowly got crushed. Another guard stepped in to explain.

"We saw someone summon an Antique Gear Golem from the adjacent balcony." The guard explained, "We don't know who, if anyone, gave the order, but suddenly the golem fired a round at the edge of the balcony where the prisoners were standing. And then… well…" he finished indicating the shaft.

"WHO WERE THE PRISONERS? WHAT DID THEY LOOK LIKE!?" Gordon screamed gripping the guard's neck even tighter.

"Young, about fourteen sir!" replied the guard to his left. "Just two teenage girls… they…they looked like identical twins and they had…bracelets…on their arms… sir!"

Gordon threw the guard he was holding onto the ground. Feeling spittle foam from his lips, he raged with anxiety and fury.

Turning towards the guards, he whispered to them in a deathly silent voice.

"And did any of them… survive?" he questioned.

The guards gulped, sweat gleaming on their foreheads. Mustering what little courage he had, one of the guards stepped forward and stammered, "It… it's unlikely any of them survived the fall…sir!"

"They were doomed!" Gordon thought to himself. "Of all the high priority prisoners to lose! It had to be them!"

"Someone…" began Gordon, sweat pouring down his face, "is going to wish he could be carded when the Professor hears about this!" he advanced on the three guards.

"DO YOU HEAR ME!?" he screamed, "YOU PATHETIC, USELESS, INCOMPETENT, QUIVERING, WASTES OF A UNIFORM! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!? SOMEBODY'S HEAD'S GOING TO ROLL, AND IT'S NOT GOING TO BE MINE!"

The guards started backing away.

"WELL!?" Gordon screamed activating his duel disk, "WHO'SE HEAD'S THE FIRST TO ROLL!?"

"How about yours!" shouted a cheerful voice from below.

Leaping over the edge of the balcony, a young girl in tattered, prison clothing flipped over the guard's heads before gracefully landing in front of the exit. Following her, another young girl, dressed in a dark, black cloak with white trimmings, climbed onto the balcony and stared down at the guards with a disdainful expression.

Gordon quickly checked the girls' arms. Each one was wearing a large, circular bracelet with a brightly colored gem-stone.

Failing to notice Ruri's black sclera and glowing heron mark and Rin's glowing whale mark, Gordon sighed in relief at the thought that two of the professor's most important prisoners had not actually died.

"RURI AND RIN!" he shouted in an authoritative voice, "YOU'VE GIVEN US ONE HECK OF A NIGHT! BUT YOU HAVE NOWHERE TO RUN! COME QUIETLY WITH US AND I PROMISE NO FURTHER HARM WILL COME TO YOU TWO!"

From the exit, Rin started to chuckle.

Gordon scowled.

"This is no time to be making jokes!" he barked. "You two have a lot to answer for when you're brought back to the professor! Do not make our jobs any more difficult!"

Rin keeled over onto her stomach, laughing hysterically. "Did you hear that Ruri!?" she laughed, "They're so cute! They actually think they're a threat!"

"It actually is kind of funny come to think of it." Said Ruri strolling over with the grace of a queen to where Rin was laughing. "I doubt any of these pathetic bullies have fought anyone with dueling skills above a three-year-old's abilities."

Gordon felt his temples throbbing. He motioned to the other guards, who formed ranks beside him and activated their duel disks.

"There are six of us!" he warned, "And every one of us has combat training! I have fought in five engagements in the Xyz Dimension and carded a total of sixty-five duelists in one-on-one combat, one-hundred and fourteen in battle-royal engagements, and nineteen duelists in tag-duel combat! That is NOT counting the more than one-thousand civilians I have carded in my combat runs! There are only two of you and you have no Duel Disks! Do not test me!"

"Shall I join you?" Ruri asked with a bored expression on her face as she leaned against the wall. "Or would you rather do this yourself?"

Rin smirked, "Please Ruri, I've been waiting months for this! I'm going to enjoy wiping the floor with them!"

"Just make it quick." Sighed Ruri, folding her arms. "I don't know about you, but I've really grown tired of this dimension."

Now it was Gordon's turn to laugh.

"Take care of us!?" he snorted. "How do you plan to do that when you can't even duel?"

"Oh that's right!" said Rin snapping her fingers. "Hold on just a sec." she said spreading out her arms.

Gordon and his men gasped in surprise as the entire spacious balcony was suddenly surrounded in a circle of dark-purple flames, trapping them inside. Darkness gathered around Rin who clutched at the sides of her head in agony. Wind howled around the balcony as the darkness gathered around Rin in a thicker and thicker column of blackness. Desperately trying to make sense of what was going on, Gordon attempted to spot Rin's face in the thick black column of shadow.

Suddenly, the wind stopped, the shadows dissipated, and Rin stepped towards them.

In place of the tattered prison clothes, Rin sported high-kneed boots, a short skirt, and a small, short-sleeved top that exposed most of her midriff. Elegant green patterns, similar to Ruri's white trimmings, decorated Rin's new outfit while her left-arm sported a massive, black, demonic-looking duel disk with fangs over the deck slot and an elegant, wing-shaped extension on the side. Her face had changed as well. Now, instead of being smeared with blood-stains and dirt, her smooth, clean face was covered with vivid green lightning-bolt shaped markings on the side of her eyes. The whites of her eyes had turned a deep black, while her golden irises glowed with an eerie yellow light. The green whale-mark on her right arm shone like a lamp as Rin began laughing more and more hysterically.

"It will be a six on one match!" she said, clapping her hands together with a maniacal grin on her face. "Each player will play with their own field and 4000 Life Points. The player who goes first doesn't get to draw or attack. Everyone got it!?"

The Obelisk guards stared back at Rin with confused and frightened faces.

"Great! I'll go first!" she said, drawing her opening hand. "Oh and one more thing!" she said, putting her hand on her hip, "You idiots might want to do your best in this duel. Otherwise…" she continued narrowing her eyes, "…you might not leave with your lives."

"MY TURN!" she began, leaving the Obelisk guards no time to respond. She smiled, "Let's start with a little redecoration," she said pulling a card from her hand. "I activate the field spell, Synthphonist Orchestra!"

As she slotted the card into the field spell zone, a large, mechanized orchestra pit glowing with lines of brightly-lit circuitry materialized around the edges of the balcony. Styled like a chamber-ball from the baroque period, the field blended the futuristic and classical together in an anachronistic medley of stone and metal wiring.

"Next!" continued Rin, "I normal summon the Gemini Monster, Synthphonist Clarinetist!"

A blue-haired girl wearing a black tuxedo materialized in front of Rin. Similar to the Field Spell, the monster Rin had summoned blended elements of the old and futuristic into one. While its clothing was old-fashioned, its body looked like a cyborg. Part of its left face was mechanical, with a large metal plate and a glowing, red robotic eye. Its left arm looked prosthetic, with sleek, silvery, clockwork metal parts sinuously flexing like muscles. Standing with its head held high, it smiled confidently at the Obelisk guards while a holographic indicator showed its attack power at 1600.

Rin continued, "Once per turn, Synthphonist Orchestra allows me to Normal Summon one Synthphonist monster in addition to my Normal Summon or Set. Come forth! Synthphonist Flutist!"

A shorter girl with longer, white hair materialized in front of Rin. On either side of her forehead, large metal plug-ins blinked with green and red lights. Similar to the first monster, the new monster sported an old-fashioned dress and an elegantly designed mechanical right arm. Posing next to Clarinetist, she gave off the demeanor of a happy little-sister while the holographic indicator showed an attack of 800.

Gordon frowned, wondering what Rin was planning to do with her two, weak monsters. His duel disk indicated that both of her monsters were Geminis and Tuners. The fact that they were Tuners would not be a threat so long as she didn't summon a non-Tuner and attempt a Synchro Summon. As for their being Gemini Monsters, that made them even less of a threat.

He had learned from using Antique Gear Knight, that Gemini Monsters had to be Normal Summoned after they had been placed face-up on the field in order to gain their effects. Without that additional Normal Summon, Rin's monsters were essentially weak normal monsters she couldn't even use for a Synchro Summon.

"If you're trying to intimidate us with your magic show and fashion change," He sneered, "It's not going to work. Your dueling skills are still trash! You haven't even managed to put up a good defensive wall with those pathetic monsters!"

"Mock the weak while you can." Rin whispered, hair covering her eyes as she bowed her head. "By my next turn, you will die by your own strength!"

Gordon flinched at Rin's ominous words. Grunting angrily he retorted, "Your field has nothing but a bunch of weak, cripple-monsters! Believe me! I will look forward to hunting them down! Now end your turn already!"

"Ahhhh…" Rin whined, "but I was enjoying myself. You look so funny when you try to act tough."

"ARE YOU DONE!?" Gordon shouted losing his patience.

Rin sighed, "All right, all right. I won't prolong your end." She pulled out another card, "I activate the spell card, Synthphonist Tuning, and use its effect to add 1 Synthphonist Monster from my deck to my hand." Rin pulled a card from her deck and added it to her hand, "Next I activate the second effect of Synthphonist Tuning from my graveyard. I shuffle this card from my graveyard into the deck, and Normal Summon 1 Synthphonist monster. I choose to Normal Summon the Synthphonist Oboist I added to my hand.

A brown-haired girl materialized to the left of Synthphonist Clarinetist. Wearing a black dress, her skin and clothing sported various circuitry patterns and blinking lights. Three pairs of mechanical oboes rested on her back like a set of small, folded wings. She graciously curtsied to the Obelisk guards before posing next to Rin's other monsters. Holograms indicated the new monster had 1200 Attack points.

"Synthphonist Orchestra gains one Synth counter each time one or more cards is shuffled into the deck." The center of the stage whirred to life as a low humming filled the air. Rin continued, "I then place one card face down and end my turn."

Rin looked excited, "Now!" she said holding out her arms, "Why don't you all entertain me!?"

Commander Gordon snorted, "This will be entertaining! BUT NOT FOR YOU!" he added, laughing his head off.

He turned to the Obelisk Guard he had been choking earlier, "You! Green!" he said indicating the color of the guard's helmet gem, "Here's your chance to redeem yourself. Take her out and apprehend her!"

"I'll show you redemption!" snarled the Obelisk Guard, drawing his first card.

"From my hand," he began pulling out a card, "I activate the magic card, Fusion, and fuse my three Antique Gear Hound Dogs!"

A fusion portal materialized behind him as three Ancient Gear Hound Dog cards rose from the ground before glowing red, blue, and yellow and swirling into the vortex. The guard began his fusion chant.

"Mechanized hound dogs who inherit the ancient soul, merge together and become one with a new power! YUUGO SHOKAN!" he chanted, clamping his hands together. "Come forth! Level seven, Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog!"

A massive, green, mechanized hound with three roaring heads like Cerberus, leaped from the portal and bared its fangs at Rin's monsters while a hologram displayed its attack at 1800.

Rin didn't seem to be paying attention. "Hey Ruri?" she asked looking down at her slender hips, "I've gotta ask you to be honest with me… does this skirt make my middle look fat?"

The guard nearly choked with rage. "HEY… pay attention you…"

Ruri interrupted him, "Yeah…not gonna lie. I think you gained a little weight in prison, so…yeah… probably should have gone with something less revealing."

"Oh… you're so mean Ruri!" Rin pouted.

"I'm lovin those boots though!" said Ruri smiling as the guard sputtered with rage and disbelief. "Can I borrow them?"

"In your dreams." replied Rin, clicking her heels together.

"ARE YOU MOCKING ME!" screamed the guard.

Rin turned towards him.

"Gee! I don't know!" replied Rin in a thick, choking voice that made her sound like an idiot. "Uhhhhh… let's think about dis!" she continued putting her finger on her forehead and crossing her eyes like she was thinking very hard. "Uhhhh… A.) It's not like I aint seen Triple Bite before, B.) I'm really not scared of it, and C.) I think you're a really stupid duelist who doesn't know what he's doing! OH I KNOW!" she said jumping up and down like she had found the answer, "I think I really am mocking you!"

The guard sneered at Rin. "Laugh all you want!" he said examining his hand, "Even if you managed to summon three monsters, all you did was help me achieve an OTK! Watch!" he said slapping down another card, "I equip my level seven Triple Bite Hound Dog with the Equip Spell, Antique Gear Ultimate Cannon! While equipped, the equipped monster cannot be destroyed by battle and I take no damage from battles involving it. But there's more." he continued grinning, "The equipped monster gains attack equal to its current level times 200!"

A large, clockwork cannon descended and mounted itself to Triple Bite Hound's back before rotating like the turret of a tank. As its attack rose from 1800 to 3200, Triple Bite Hound Dog's three heads roared in unison.

"You are aware of Triple Bite Hound Dog's effect, right?" he continued, "My monster is capable of attacking up to three monsters my opponent controls once per Battle Phase. So basically," he grinned, "you lose."

"I think he's getting serious." Said Ruri nonchalantly.

"I've got this." Said Rin snickering. Smiling triumphantly, she extended her hand towards her face-down card. "In response to the activation of your Equip Magic Card, I activate the Quick-Play magic, Synthphonist Resonance! Upon activation, it Normal Summons all face-up Synthphonist monsters on my side of the field!"

"What!?" exclaimed the guard as Rin's monsters each glowed with light.

Rising from the floor, Rin's three monsters began to transform.

Crackling with electricity, "Synthphonist Clarinetist started to look wilder as her blue hair grew spikier and stood up on end. Her tuxedo opened up and expanded, till it started to look more like spikey, black, robotic battle-armor. Her prosthetic arm reshaped itself, expanding and growing clarinet keys, until it morphed into a mechanized hybrid of an arm, clarinet, and robotic cannon.

Synthphonist Flutist's dress billowed out from beneath her, as metal spikes burst from her back and crackled with electricity. Wearing a crazy expression on her face, her long hair stood on end and floated in the air like it had been struck by lightning. Her prosthetic arm lengthened into an instrument resembling a flute with advanced computer equipment and screens attached to the side. Two plugs, launched from the flute arm and inserted themselves into the plugs on either side of her head, while she laughed with glee.

Not about to be outdone by the others, Synthphonist Oboist's circuitry glowed like neon lights as the instruments on her back unfolded and expanded till they pointed in six different directions like the spokes in a bicycle wheel. Radiating with light and electrical energy, robotic parts detached themselves from her skin and hovered in place like magnets suspended from the ground.

The guard was momentarily shocked by the sudden transformation. However, recovering quickly, he extended his arm and shouted, "This changes nothing! Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog, attack and destroy her monsters!"

"Clarinetist effect!" countered Rin holding out her hand. "Once per turn, I can flip an opponent's monster into face-down defense position!"

Synthphonist Clarinetist's robotic eye glowed red as she stretched out her robotic arm. In a blast of music, sound waves blew Triple Bite Hound Dog onto its back before it morphed into the image of a large, face-down card.

"Of course," continued Rin twirling her hair, "With no target, your Equip Spell goes to the Graveyard."

The guard gasped as his Antique Gear Ultimate Cannon exploded into dust.

"Continuing with my monster effect," Rin proceeded, feeling no sympathy for the guard, "If it successfully activates its effect, I can reduce the level of one monster I control by one. And the one I choose is Synthphonist Flutist." She said pointing to her monster.

A hologram showed, Flutist's level drop from three to two.

"Flutist's effect activates!" said Rin grinning even wider, "Once per turn, when the level of one of my monsters changes, I get to draw one card!" she finished jerking away a card from the top of her deck.

She sneered at the guard, "Thanks for the free draw, and by the way," she said, putting her hands on her hips while assuming a more serious expression, "you might have tried Normal Summoning Antique Gear Hound Dog before using Fusion. That way, you could have at least used its effect to hit me with 600 damage."

The guard turned red.

"I…" he stuttered as Commander Gordon stared back at him with an enraged expression, "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Pathetic!" spat Commander Gordon. "You, Red!" he said addressing the guard next to the one that had completed his turn, "Show the prisoner Academia's true power!"

"Yes Sir!" he replied, drawing a card. Standing with his head and shoulders held high, he looked like the leader of his squadron.

"I summon Antique Gear Search Hound!" he began throwing down a monster card.

A small, black, mechanized dog with an elongated snout and a spot-light on its back leaped onto the field and gave a robotic roar.

The guard continued, "When Antique Gear Search Hound is summoned, I can Special Summon 1 Antique Gear Hound Dog from my Deck! Come forth!" he said stretching out his hand, "Antique Gear Hound Dog!"

A second, larger, mechanized hound dog with a broad, tusked mouth leaped onto the field and roared.

"Oh look at you!" said Rin clapping her hands sarcastically, "You're learning! That play was certainly a lot more interesting than the last turn!"

The guard gritted his teeth, "Once per turn, if my opponent controls a monster, Antique Gear Hound Dog can inflict 600 damage to my opponent's Life Points! Hound flame!" he shouted as the mechanized hound shot a blast of concentrated flame directly at Rin.

Rin clutched at her shoulders, giggling with delight as flames enveloped her body before dissipating and dropping her life points to 3400. "Yes!" she screamed, "More! I want to feel something from this. I want to taste your power. Give me more entertainment!" she commanded clenching her fists.

The guard stared back at her in disbelief. "She's insane," he whispered to the other guards.

"I don't care if her brain is as cracked as a teapot; finish her off!" Gordon ordered.

"Yes Sir!" the guard hastily replied. "I next activate my Antique Gear Hound Dog's effect and fuse the two Antique Gear Hound Dogs in my hand with the Antique Gear Search Hound that can be treated as an Antique Gear Hound Dog with its effect! Yuugo Shokan!" he chanted as a fusion portal materialized behind him and a second, massive mechanized dog with three robotic heads emerged. "Come forth! Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog!"

"Clarinetist effect." Rin said, not even looking at the guard. Synthphonist Clarinetist smiled as sonic waves blasted from her arm cannon and blew the Fusion Monster face-down.

"Now let's see…" Rin thought to herself. "I think I won't change the levels of my monsters this time, just to mess with you."

"You're the one who's been messed with!" said the guard smiling, "You've fallen into my trap! Synthphonist Clarinetist can only activate its effect once per turn." He explained, "So even if you managed to flip my Fusion Monster face-down, I can still attack your 800 attack flutist with my 1000 attack Antique Gear Hound Dog!"

"Did you figure that all out on your own?" asked Rin sounding bored. "Because if you did, I'm pretty impressed."

The guard growled, "Antique Gear Hound Dog!" he commanded, "Attack her Synthphonist Flutist!"

Rin grinned, "Synthphonist Oboist effect activates! If a monster declares an attack, I negate the attack with her effect, and if I do, I can reduce the level of one monster I control by one!"

Synthphonist Oboist grinned as electricity crackled between the mechanized Oboes on her back. Surging with raw energy, six bolts of lightning blasted from her back, striking Antique Gear Hound Dog, and blasting the robotic dog onto its back where it helplessly flailed its mechanical limbs in the air.

"Flutist's level is reduced by one yet again!" she exclaimed, jumping for joy as holographic indicators showed Flutist's level being reduced to 1. "And of course," she continued, eyes widening, "When the level of one of my monster's changes, I get to draw a free card!"

The second guard snarled as Rin pulled another card from her deck. "Enjoy it while you can!" he shouted, "You'll never get to use those cards! I set three cards face-down and end my turn!"

"Will you finish this already!?" Gordon snarled at the next Obelisk guard wearing a gold gem.

"My turn!" the guard replied advancing forward, "Draw!" he seemed to visibly frown at his hand, which earned him another angry snarl from Commander Gordon.

The guard gulped, "I activate the magic card, Fusion, from my hand, and fuse three Antique Gear Hound Dogs to summon Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog!" he said in a hurry as yet another massive robotic hound emerged from a Fusion Portal.

"And let's see that's… 14 points." Rin said counting on her fingers.

The guard ignored her.

"Next," he continued, "I activate the magic card, Antique Gear Workshop, and add 1 Antique Gear Hound Dog from my Graveyard to my hand." He pulled a card from his Graveyard, "I next summon the Antique Gear Hound Dog I added to my hand!"

Another Antique Gear Hound Dog leaped onto the field.

"15 points…" Rin counted, "Oh! And now I activate Clarinetist effect!" She grinned as Synthphonist Clarinetist blew yet another copy of Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog face down. "You know it's so easy playing against you guys." She said grinning widely, "Academia should probably just make some automated duel bots with a few pre-programmed moves."

She chopped her arms in the air like a robot, "Beep Boop! I activate Fusion! Beep Boop! I summon Triple Bite! Beep Boop! I act like I'm a big deal!"

"Hound Flame!" the guard snarled activating Antique Gear Hound Dog's effect. Rin cackled like a mad woman as flames enveloped her body yet again and reduced her life points to 2800.

"Attack her flutist!" screamed the guard, enraged by Rin's provocation.

"Oboist, would you please?" giggled Rin, wiping a tear from her eye.

Synthphonist Oboist nodded to Rin before blasting the charging Hound Dog with another six bolts of lightning.

"I reduce Clarinetist's level by one with Oboist's effect," Rin continued as holographic indicators showed Synthphonist Clarinetist's level dropping from four to three, "and use Flutist's effect to draw once again!"

The guard clenched his fist. "I set one card face-down and end my turn!" he finished.

Gordon started to feel a little uneasy. Their attacks thus far had done nothing but give her free hand advantage. If they didn't finish her off soon, she might eventually draw something that would allow her to turn the game around. Not wanting to show any fear, he decided to vent his frustration on the three useless Obelisk Guards.

"You will be court marshalled for this incompetence!" he yelled. He turned towards a member of his own squadron.

"Mina!" he commanded, "show these scrubs how it's done!"

"Yes commander!" replied a female Obelisk guard wearing a green gem on her helmet.

"My turn!" she began, "Draw!" without hesitating, she calmly pulled a card from her hand.

"I activate the magic card, Fusion, and fuse two Antique Gear Hound Dogs and one Antique Gear Search Hound from my hand to Fusion Summon Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog!" she explained, as the fusion portal materialized behind her and Triple Bite Hound Dog emerged.

"20 points." Said Rin nodding her head.

Mina ignored her.

"Next, from my hand, I Normal Summon Antique Gear Rescue Hound!"

A bulky, white, mechanical hound with ambulance lights and a repair kit strapped around its neck like a St. Bernard dog, strolled onto the field.

"I activate Rescue Hound's effect!" she continued, "When it is summoned, I can Special Summon one Antique Gear monster from my Graveyard!" a black portal appeared on the ground as Antique Gear Rescue Hound shot a pair of grappling hooks into the bottomless abyss beneath the portal's opening.

"I summon Antique Gear Search Hound!" she said as the white, mechanized St. Bernard pulled its smaller, black, robotic dog companion from the portal.

"Antique Gear Search Hound's effect activates!" she continued, "I summon Antique Gear Hound Dog from my Deck!"

Antique Gear Hound Dog leaped onto the field, joining the trio of other mechanized dogs.

"21 points." Rin cheered clapping her hands.

Mina's left eye twitched a little, "Hound flame!" she ordered stretching her hand forward.

Rin's Life Points dropped to 2200 as another column of flame struck her body.

Mina smiled, finding a lot of satisfaction from watching Rin burn. "How does it feel," she asked, "seeing your life points slowly whittled away, and knowing you can do nothing about it?"

"Oh don't worry about me!" Rin replied, "I'm enjoying this! You are doing MUCH better than those other idiots."

"It's about to get better." Mina replied dryly. "I activate Antique Gear Hound Dog's effect! I fuse it with the Antique Gear Rescue Hound and the Antique Gear Search Hound I control which both can be treated as Antique Gear Hound Dogs to Fusion Summon a second Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog!"

"And 24 points!" Rin cheered as Mina's second copy of Triple Bite Hound Dog strolled onto the field.

Mina lost her composure.

"Ok! What the heck are you doing!" she asked Rin.

"Oh sorry!" replied Rin turning to face her, "It's just a little game I've been doing in my head since we started. I wanted to see how many points you guys could get."

"Points!?" asked Mina clenching her fist.

"Oh it's very simple," replied Rin spreading out her arms, "You see…" she explained, "your moves are so repetitive, I thought I'd give you 1 point for every time you summoned Antique Gear Hound Dog, 2 points for every time you used the magic card, Fusion, and 3 points for every time you summoned Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog! We're up to double digits now and still going strong!" she giggled.

"Oh and FYI," Rin continued, "I'm using Clarinetist's effect again. I should probably award some points to myself each time I do that."

Synthphonist Clarinetist blasted another Triple Bite Hound Dog face down.

"I'll activate its other effect this time," She said nonchalantly. "So let's see… I'll reduce Clarinetist's level down to two, and draw yet another card with Flutist's effect."

"That's the last free card you draw!" Mina shouted triumphantly. "My other Triple Bite Hound Dog can attack three times. Even if you stop one attack with your Oboist, you still won't be able to save two of your monsters!"

She held out her hand, "Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog, attack her Synthphonist Oboist!"

Triple Bite Hound Dog shot three concentrated blasts of flame at Synthphonist Oboist. In response, Synthphonist Oboist formed a protective electric shield around herself and her monster companions, dissipating the flames.

Rin snorted. "I dare you to try that again."

"Oh I will!" Mina replied. "Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog, attack her Synthphonist Clarinetist and her Synthphonist Flutist!"

"I activate Oboist's effect twice more," Rin lazily replied, "I negate both of those attacks and activate its effect to reduce the levels of my monsters twice more." She finished as Oboist dispersed two more barrages of flame with an electric force field. Holographic indicators appeared next to Clarinetist and Oboist, showing Clarinetist's level drop to one, and Oboist's level drop to three.

"What!?" exclaimed Mina dumbfounded. "It's not once per turn!?"

"Pretty sure I didn't say once per turn when I explained its effect." Rin yawned.

"But then that means…" said Mina thinking, "if you could have just negated all of our attacks, why did you waste Clarinetist's effect on our Triple Bite Hound Dogs when you could have used its effect on our Antique Gear Hound Dogs!? Why did you let yourself take that damage!?"

Rin hugged herself, twisting her body from side to side. Looking down till her hair covered her eyes, she grinned before whispering, "Pity."

Mina was speechless.

"I…" she stuttered, "I set one card…face-down… and end my turn."

"Alexis?" Gordon gulped, turning to the next Obelisk guard wearing a red gem.

The guard named Alexis strolled forward confidently. "There's still a weakness in your strategy." Alexis replied, a rascally grin on his face. "And I'm about to exploit it!"

"Ooooh!" Rin exclaimed, eyes widening, "What ever shall I do?"

"My turn!" began Alexis, "Draw!" he smiled at his hand.

"Brace yourself Rin!" he began, "I call this move the Alexis Triple Guns!"

"If it involves another Triple Bite Hound Dog I think I'm going to puke." Rin replied clutching her stomach.

Alexis frowned. "I summon Antique Gear Hound Dog."

"25," Rin counted, rolling her eyes, "and Clarinetist effect." Rin continued, watching as Synthphonist Clarinetist blew the robotic hound face-down, stopping it from activating its effect. "I next use Clarinetist's effect to reduce Oboist's level down to two, so I can activate Flutist's effect and draw one more card."

She plucked another card from her deck and added it to the growing pile of cards in her hand. "There." She continued, "I've spared you the drama. Proceed with your turn. But please!" she said clasping her hands together in a begging position, "try to surprise me this time!"

Alexis continued his turn unperturbed. "I next activate the magic card, Fusion, merging the two Antique Gear Hound Dogs in my hand and the Antique Gear Hound Dog on my field together to summon Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog!"

"I feel like we've been here before." Said Rin with a confused expression on her face, "Have we been here before Ruri?" she asked turning to Ruri.

"No," said Ruri joining in, "Last turn they summoned Triple Bite Hound Dog, but THIS time, he actually summoned Triple Bite Hound Dog!"

"Oh that's right!" giggled Rin, "I forgot he summoned Triple Bite Hound Dog SO much more differently than those other guys did!"

Ruri and Rin cackled with laughter as Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog emerged from the portal and took up position in front of Alexis.

Alexis grinned slightly. "If you thought that was funny," he said, "You're going to enjoy this!" He pulled another card from his hand. "I activate De-fusion, targeting my Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog!"

Triple Bite Hound Dog roared as it swirled in a multi-colored vortex and split into three smaller Antique Gear Hound Dogs.

Alexis smiled. "Remember that move I told you about!?" he asked Rin, "Go my Hound Dogs!" He said stretching his hand towards Rin, "Triple Hound Flame!"

Three blasts of flame burst from the three Hound Dogs' mouths and violently collided against Rin, knocking her to the ground and reducing her Life Points to 400.

Smoking slightly, Rin staggered upright, body shaking with laughter.

"Yes…yes!" she muttered as Alexis looked back at her with horror. Far from being intimidated in the slightest, Rin seemed, if anything, to be having even more fun.

"I've been waiting for something like this!" Rin said, wringing her hands together. "I'm going to enjoy watching you die!"

Rin stared back at Alexis with a maniacal grin and glowing eyes that made her face look more like a jack-o-lantern than the face of an actual person.

Alexis felt like he was staring at a vengeful ghost. "Who are you?" he asked, trembling with growing fear.

Rin smiled back at him.

"33 points." She replied.

Alexis shook a little, "There's no point in me attacking." He said. "I set 1 card face-down and end my turn."

He turned toward Gordon. "She's all yours commander," he said wiping some sweat from his face, "I've softened her up for you. Just… please take her down!"

Gordon reviewed the game stats on his duel disk. Between him and the five other Obelisk Guards, his team shared a total of 24,000 Life Points against Rin's paltry 400. On Rin's field, she had the Field Spell, Synthphonist Orchestra, and three Gemini Tuner Monsters with their effects activated. "With three Tuners on her field," Gordon mused, "She will probably summon one or more non-tuners next turn and go for some Synchro Summons." He scratched his chin. "Attacking her is useless right now, so I'll set up some countermeasures against possible Synchro Monsters before attempting to destroy her with my ace monster."

"My Turn!" Gordon began, "Draw!" he smiled at his hand.

"Don't think you've done anything fantastic." He said pulling a card from his hand. "Thus far, your strategy has been nothing but a series of pathetic stall tactics!"

"You should be grateful I've been going easy on you." Said Rin staring back at him. "Once my next turn comes, that will change."

"There will be no next turn!" Gordon spat. "I activate the magic card, Fusion, from my hand, and fuse Antique Gear Search Hound and Antique Gear Hound Dog from my hand together to summon Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog!"

A twin headed, robotic dog leaped from the fusion portal and roared at Rin.

"Next," he continued, "I summon Antique Gear Rescue Hound and use its effect to summon Antique Gear Search Hound from my Graveyard."

A robotic St. Bernard reeled a small, black robotic dog from the Graveyard.

"Antique Gear Search Hound's effect activates! I summon Antique Gear Hound Dog from my deck!"

Antique Gear Hound Dog leaped forward and growled at Rin.

"Clarinetist Effect!" Rin replied as Synthphonist Clarinetist blasted Antique Gear Hound Dog face-down. "I reduce Oboist's level to one and draw 1 card with Flutist's effect!"

Wasting no time, Gordon continued with his turn.

"I next activate a second Fusion from my hand!" he said slapping down another card. "I fuse Antique Gear Rescue Hound with Antique Gear Search Hound and Fusion Summon a second Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog!"

A second twin-headed robotic dog leaped from the portal and straddled up next to its companion.

"Double Bite Hound Dog is used to counter an opponent's Special Summoned monsters with its Gear Shift counters," Rin mused stroking her chin, "I wonder…if you really think I'm not getting another turn, why would you bother to summon both of those monsters?"

"I got sick of your point game." replied Gordon pulling out another card.

"Glad I've managed to diversify your strategies a little bit." said Rin sorting through the cards in her hand, "You're up to 34, by the way. Do something really interesting and I might decide to give you bonus points."

"How about this?" said Gordon activating his last card. "I activate the continuous magic, Antique Gear Chaos Factory!"

A large, clockwork factory with tall smokestacks billowing large, black clouds of smog rose from the ground. Antique Gear Golems, Soldiers, Knights, and Hound Dogs in various stages of production lined the hallways of the ancient looking, mechanized structure.

"Once per turn," Gordon explained, "Antique Gear Chaos Factory allows me to Fusion Summon an Antique Gear monster by banishing cards from my side of the field, hand, or Graveyard! I banish the Antique Gear Hound Dog, Rescue Hound, and Search Hound from my Graveyard!"

His three mechanized Dogs rose from the Graveyard before getting dumped into a large melting pot inside of the factory. Commander Gordon began his Fusion Chant.

"Mechanized war-hounds who inherit the ancient souls of valiant soldiers, bare your fangs together now and strike down my enemies in the flames of conquest! Yuugo Shokan!" he exclaimed, clamping his hands together with a mad expression on his face. "Come Forth! Level 10, Antique Gear Chaos Dreadnaught!"

Bursting from the melting pot in an explosion of flame, a massive cross between a robotic wolf and a 12 meter tall, clockwork tank rolled onto the duel field on a set of massive treads. Two enormous artillery cannons capped with the gaping jaws of robotic dog heads swiveled on a single, massive gear-turret decorated with the robotic head of a wolf in the center. On the top of the tank, a large Missile Turret scanned the duel field with multiple laser targeting systems.

Commander Gordon grinned with delight.

"Antique Gear Chaos Dreadnaught's attack and defense are each equal to the combined levels of the monsters used in its Fusion Summon times 300!"

The massive tank's engine roared as holographic indicators displayed its attack at 2700.

"Next!" he continued rubbing his hands together, "Once per turn, Antique Gear Chaos Dreadnaught can destroy all Spell and Trap cards my opponent controls and inflict 600 damage for each card destroyed with this effect! Go!" he shouted stretching his hand forward, "Chaos Barrage!"

Antique Gear Chaos Dreadnaught pointed its twin artillery guns and missile turret at Rin's Synthphonist Orchestra while its central wolf mouth roared with fury. Unleashing a hailstorm of artillery shells and missiles, it lit up the entire duel field with bright red light.

"Rin?" Ruri asked stepping forward with concern.

Rin held out her hand to stop Ruri from approaching.

"Synthphonist Orchestra's effect activates!" she said, smiling confidently, "If it would be destroyed, I can remove 1 Synth counter to negate its destruction!"

An electric force field formed around the stage as artillery shells and missiles exploded violently around the duel field.

"And that's 500 bonus points!" Rin cackled, clapping her hands with glee as the smoke cleared, revealing a completely unharmed Orchestra Pit. "Now…" she said, turning towards Commander Gordon, "Why don't you end your turn?"

Commander Gordon was stunned. Unable to believe she had prepared a defense like that, he clenched his fist with fury.

"Are you scared?" Rin asked, goading the commander.

"Turn end!" Gordon spat.

Rin quivered with excitement, "My turn!" she began, "DRAW!"

Panting heavily, she placed a card on her duel disk, "I activate the magic card, Synthphonist Tuning, and use its effect to add Synthphonist Cymbalist from my deck to my hand!"

She pulled a card from her deck and shuffled it into her hand before continuing.

"Next I shuffle Synthphonist Tuning into the deck with its own effect, and Normal Summon Synthphonist Cymbalist!"

A girl with long-blonde hair and an elegant white dress with two mechanical cymbals surgically attached to the back descended onto the duel field before twirling in front of the Obelisk guards and giving a little curtsy.

"Synthphonist Orchestra gains one Synth counter via its own effect!" Rin continued as the stage lit up and hummed to life once again.

"Next I shuffle the Synthphonist Resonance Spell Card from my Graveyard into the deck to activate its effect. I Special Summon Synthphonist Violinist from my hand!"

A girl with short, curly, jet black hair descended onto the duel field. She wore a plain dress, black boots, and a three cornered hat like a travelling street performer. The right side of her face was mechanical, with a blue robotic eye, while her left arm, and left leg were likewise robotic, with violin strings and pulleys bending her joints like a puppet. A holographic indicator appeared and displayed her attack at 1700.

"Synthphonist Orchestra gains another Synth Counter, via its own effect." Rin said, watching the orchestra pit come to life as more lights clicked on and the sound of engines hummed in the background.

Gordon checked his duel disk, the screen indicated that all of her monsters were Gemini Tuner monsters, except for the level 3 Synthphonist Cymbalist, which was a level 3 Gemini monster.

"It's coming," Gordon thought to himself, "She's going to Synchro Summon."

"Next I activate the magic card, Synthphonist Inspiration!" Rin continued, pulling another card from her abundant hand.

Rin smiled, "Here's how it works," she explained, "I reveal three Synthphonist Spell or Trap cards from my deck and my opponent chooses one of them to add to my hand while the rest are returned to the bottom of my deck in any order my opponent desires. The cards I reveal are three copies of Synthphonist Resonance!" She chuckled. "Choose commander! Which one should I add to my hand!?"

"What kind of choice is that!?" asked Gordon, flabbergasted, "It doesn't matter what I pick!"

"That's exactly right," said Rin staring back at the commander with a cold expression on her face. "It never matters what the weak masses choose. Strong people like the Tops and Academia will always choose the outcome." She grinned, "At least they did until today!"

Gordon stared back at her, mouth gaping like a fish.

"CHOOSE!" Rin screamed getting angry. "I have endured your presence for too long now! All I want now is to be rid of you!"

"I choose Synthphonist Resonance!" Gordon snarled.

"Good boy!" Rin sneered adding a copy to her hand before returning the rest to the bottom of her deck.

"Thanks to you," Rin said, proceeding with her turn, "I activate the magic card, Synthphonist Resonance to Normal Summon all my face-up Synthphonist Normal Monsters!"

Synthphonist Cymbalist's hair stood up as the cymbals on her back, rose, expanded, and crackled with energy till they started whirring like two computer disks. Synthphonist Violinist laughed as her left arm expanded into a cross between a violin and a broadsword, wildly sparking with electricity. A slot on her robotic left leg opened up and launched a mechanical violin bow into the air, which the cyborg girl caught with her right arm.

Gordon braced himself for what was coming next.

"Next!" continued Rin, "I activate Cymbalist's effect!"

The blonde-haired girl rose into the air and crashed her cymbals together till the air rang with a dull resonance.

"Once per turn Synthphonist Cymbalist can target one monster I control and treat that monster as a Synchro Tuner. I target Synthphonist Cymbalist with her own effect!"

Cymbalist glowed with energy as her body and clothing seemed to upgrade itself by becoming more compact, sleek, and shiny.

"The players have been gathered!" Rin exclaimed, jumping with glee, "Now…let me show you a little Synchro Summon!"

Gordon checked his Duel Disk. Thanks to Cymbalist's effect, Rin controlled five tuners.

Unable to help himself, he nearly busted a gut laughing.

"Synchro Summoning 101 Rin!" he snickered, "You need a Tuner AND at least one non-Tuner to pull off a Synchro Summon! You can't use Synchro monsters if ALL of your monsters are Tuners! I'm from the Fusion Dimension and even I know that!"

"OH NO!" Rin screamed with an exaggerated expression of horror on her face. Gordon frowned while she continued, "I had no clue whatsoever!" Rin hollered, running around in little circles. "How did I ever manage to make it in the Synchro Dimension where literally EVERYONE knows the rules of Synchro Summoning!?" she laughed to herself before stretching out her hand, "I guess I can't do this then!"

Rin assumed a serious expression, "I tune the level 3 Synthphonist Cymbalist with my level 1 Synthphonist Clarinetist, level 1 Synthphonist Oboist, and level 1 Synthphonist flutist." Raising her hand to the air she began chanting, "Clarion call of the cymbals, noble resonance of the clarinet, piercing tone of the oboe, gentle song of the flute, blend your rich music together, tune to each other's pitches, and unleash a new melody!"

Cymbalist morphed into a trio of three green rings before being joined by Clarinetist, Oboist, and Flutist who likewise morphed into three single rings. Stacking themselves next to the original three rings, all six rings began wildly twirling in different directions till they looked like a sphere of spinning, green rings.

"SYNCHRO SHOKAN!" she proclaimed as the spinning rings burst into an explosion of harmonized sound and a new monster flew onto the field. "Level six, Sonic Synthphonist Prodigy!"

Wearing an elegant white dress that billowed in the wind, Sonic Synthphonist Prodigy surveyed the duel field with glowing, green robotic eyes. Her well-groomed hair was short and green while her skin was pale white and crisscrossed with golden circuitry. Multiple instruments sprouted from her back and arms with the bells of different instruments pointed towards the Obelisk Guards like cannons. A holographic indicator showed it had 2400 attack.

Gordon snarled, "I was prepared for something like this you fool!" he stretched his hand out, "Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog's effect activates! Once per turn, if my opponent Special Summons a monster, it can place a Gear Shift counter on that monster!"

Double Bite Hound Dog roared as a spinning gear launched from its back and attached itself to Rin's Synchro Monster.

"A monster with a Gear Shift counter is destroyed at the start of the Damage Step if it battles an Antique Gear monster." He sneered, "So basically, your fancy Synchro Monster is completely useless to you now."

Rin continued as if she hadn't heard him.

"I next discard 1 card from my hand to activate the Magic Card, Dark Synchro Mirror!"

A massive, full-body, black mirror rose up behind Sonic Synthphonist Prodigy.

"With this spell," Rin continued, "I can target 1 Synchro Monster I control in order to Special Summon 1 Dark Tuner and 1 non-Dark Tuner from my deck whose total levels equal the level of the targeted Synchro Monster. Come forth!" She commanded, "From my deck I summon the level 4 Synthphonist Bassoonist and the level 2 Dark Tuner Monster, Dark Tuner Shadow Depths!"

The image on the mirror darkened into a black shadow before the new image split into two monsters that emerged from the glass like it was made of water.

The first, Synthphonist Bassoonist, was a girl with bright orange hair wearing a two-colored brown and black outfit. Her silvery hands were both mechanical and looked like gloves against her tanned skin, while two large Bassoons protruded from her back like massive, slender wings.

The second monster, Dark Tuner Shadow Depths, looked like the product of an artist on a drug trip. It had the appearance of a black, abstract Anglerfish, with glowing red spheres resembling eyes floating above its head, a body broken into disjointed segments, and a long, thin dorsal fin that held a glowing sphere of white light. It's exaggerated, skeletal jaws were filled to the brim with long, thin, uneven teeth. Swimming through the air like a phantom, it rapidly bit at invisible prey while roaring with hunger.

"Dark Tuner?" Gordon asked looking down at his duel disk trying to find some information. Finding none, he turned to the other guards and asked, "Have any of you heard of this kind of monster?"

"Does she mean its attribute is DARK?" asked one of the guards.

"My Duel Disk is saying its attribute is WATER." Gordon replied looking confused.

"If you're done gawking like idiots," Rin continued, "I'd like to continue my turn."

Gordon shut his mouth and readied himself for Rin's next move.

"Once per turn," Rin continued, "Shadow Depths can increase its level by the level of one Synchro Monster I control. I target Sonic Synthphonist Prodigy, to increase the level of Shadow Depths from two to eight!"

"Is she ever gonna end her turn?" whispered one of the Obelisk guards.

Rin smiled, "Next, I subtract the level of my level eight Dark Tuner Shadow Depths from the level of my level four Synthphonist Bassoonist and Dark Synchro!"

"What!" Gordon and the other Obelisk Guards exclaimed in unison.

Rin raised her hands above her head, smiling malevolently as Shadow Depths vanished and exploded into eight, white, glowing spheres that embedded themselves into Synthphonist Bassoonist. The orange-haired girl writhed and screamed in agony before vanishing and bursting into four black spheres of energy that orbited a region of empty space, black lightning crackling in the space between them.

"When shadows are eclipsed by darker shadows," Rin chanted stretching her hands forward as if to grasp the spheres of black energy, "the veil is lifted to reveal a world with no light! Dark Synchro Shokan!" She screamed as the spheres of energy exploded into a tall, black column of shadow. "Come forth, level negative four, Earthbound Disciple Geo Mermaid!"

A beautiful, phantasmal woman with green hair and the lower body of a fish rose from the ground. Opening its mouth to reveal pointed shark teeth, it bared its fangs at the Obelisk Guards before posing next to Rin's Synchro Monster. A holographic indicator appeared next to it and showed its attack power to be 1600.

While the other Obelisk Guards shrunk at the sight of Rin's new monster, Gordon stretched out his hand.

"Whatever that thing is, it was still Special Summoned!" he said. "I activate the effect of my second, Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog! Once per turn, when my opponent Special Summons a monster, I can place a Gear Shift Counter on that monster!"

Gordon's second Double Bite Hound launched a gear at Geo Mermaid.

"Geo Mermaid effect!" Rin countered holding out her arm. "Once per turn, if my opponent activates a monster effect, I can negate that effect and inflict damage to my opponent's Life Points equal to the attack of that monster!"

"What!?" Gordon screamed as Geo Mermaid swiped away the gear and swam towards him.

Grinning malevolently Geo Mermaid screamed like a banshee until Gordon clapped his hands over his ears in pain and his Life Points dropped to 2600.

"I'm only just beginning!" Rin exclaimed pulling out another card while Gordon groaned with pain.

"I activate the magic card, Dark Tuning! By tributing the Synthphonist Violinist on my side of the field, I can add 1 Dark Tuner from my deck to my hand and Special Summon 1 monster from my graveyard with its attack and defense changed to 0. I add Dark Tuner Chaos Maelstrom from my deck to my hand and Special Summon the Synthphonist Trombonist I discarded to my Graveyard!"

As Synthphonist Violinist sunk into the ground, a girl with short, blonde hair rose from the Graveyard. Her legs were both missing and replaced with a set of small prosthetic limbs. Leaning a little, she balanced herself with two large trombones that were surgically attached to her arms like crutches.

"Sonic Synthphonist Prodigy effect!" Rin continued, pointing at Synthphonist Trombonist. "I can Normal Summon 1 Synthphonist Monster in addition to my Normal Summon or Set! I choose Synthphonist Trombonist!"

Synthphonist Trombonist's prosthetic legs crackled with electricity before unfolding and splitting into four segments. Rising into the air, the Trombones on her arms merged with her skin and transformed into a hybrid set of arms, trombones, wings, and cannons.

"Trombonist's effect activates!" Rin exclaimed, excitement growing, "Once per turn, I can Special Summon one Synthphonist monster from my Graveyard. Come forth to the field once again! Synthphonist Flutist!"

The small, white haired girl rose from the Graveyard and curtsied to the Obelisk Guards.

"I next activate another effect of Synthphonist Orchestra," said Rin as the stage crackled with electricity. "Once per turn, I can remove any number of Synth counters from Synthphonist Orchestra, in order to Special Summon 1 Synthphonist monster from my Deck with a level equal to the number of counters removed!"

"You're kidding me!" Gordon shouted. "There's no way you get to summon this many monsters!"

Rin cackled manically. "I remove two Synth counters from Synthphonist Orchestra to Special Summon the level two, Synthphonist Snare Drummer!"

A hatch opened from the center stage of Synthphonist Orchestra and a petit girl with short, purple hair rose from the bottom on a small elevator. A black, metal visor covered her eyes while a small, mechanized snare drum attached itself to her midriff with metallic chords plugging into her shoulders.

"The first effect of Synthphonist Orchestra allows me to Normal Summon 1 Synthphonist monster in addition to my Normal Summon or Set." Rin continued, eyes glowing even brighter, "I Normal Summon Synthphonist Snare Drummer!"

Red Lights glowed behind Synthphonist Snare Drummer's black visor. The snare drum on her chest, separated itself into several circular segments, until the girl was wearing a larger set of four drums that pulsated with luminescent light. The tips of her fingers each split in two, revealing small, metallic drum sticks, which extended outwards from within her fingers.

"Synthphonist Snare Drummer can change the levels of all Synthphonist monsters I control to a level from one to three. I choose to change my monsters level to one!"

The little girl began tapping out a rapid rhythm on her snare drums as holographic indicators appeared over all four of Rin's Synthphonist monsters, showing their levels change to one.

Rin's smile grew even wider and crazier. "It's time!" she exclaimed, "It's finally time!"

She extended her arms toward her monsters, "I tribute my Synthphonist Snare Drummer and my Synthphonist Flutist to advance Summon the level seven Dark Tuner Monster, Dark Tuner Chaos Maelstrom!"

A ghostly, electric eel composed of multiple floating body segments descended onto the duel field. Roaring with fury, the air swirled around its body like a storm while lightning crackled from its body.

"Yes!" Rin panted rubbing her hands together, "I've never felt this alive before!" clenching her fists tighter she began chanting, "I want more… more… MORE!"

She lifted her hands above her head. "I Dark Tune my level seven Dark Tuner Chaos Maelstrom with my now level one Synthphonist Trombonist and Dark Synchro!"

Ruri smiled with pride as Rin's Dark Synchro monster exploded into seven white lights that embedded themselves inside the hovering Synthphonist Trombonist. Synthphonist Trombonist gave a quick scream of agony, before her body vanished and six black spheres of energy orbited an area of empty space.

Rin chanted once again, "Mighty gods of the underworld who rule a world with no light, endow me with thine own power that I may send a message to all four worlds of the living! Dark Synchro!" she shouted as another column of black shadow exploded onto the duel field. "Come forth! Level negative six, Earthbound Disciple Geo Selkie!"

From the column of shadow, the ghostly form of a large beautiful woman with white hair and the lower body of a large, white seal descended to the ground. Grey lines covered its body and emitted a faint light as it swam through the air. Clothed in white furs and wielding a pair of large, whale-bone spears, it let out a fierce battle-cry before gracefully landing next to Rin's other monsters. A holographic indicator appeared next to it and displayed its attack at 2000.

"Geo Selkie's monster effect is now applied," said Rin as her green whale tattoo glowed ever brighter. "While it is face-up on the field, you cannot activate any of your set Spell or Trap cards!"

The Obelisk Guards gasped in shock as Geo Selkie blew cold wind at them, covering the cards they had set in the Spell and Trap Card Zones in a layer of thick ice.

As Rin's three monsters stared down at the Obelisk Guards, Gordon tried to muster what remained of his courage.

"You can't beat us!" he shouted, "Even if you manage to destroy a few of our monsters, we all have plenty of Life Points to spare. Once our next turn comes, all we have to do is inflict 400 points of damage to your Life Points and we'll win!"

"But it's like you said," Rin replied, "You guys aren't getting another turn!"

"You can't even defeat my Chaos Dreadnaught!" Gordon retorted.

Rin stretched out her hand, "When Dark Tuner Chaos Maelstrom is used as a Dark Synchro Material for a Dark Synchro Summon, its effect activates! Until the end of this turn, if a Dark Synchro monster I control battles an opponent's monster, I can negate the effects of that monster at the start of the damage step and change its attack and defense to 0!"

Gordon started to sweat. With his Life Points at 2600 and Rin able to reduce his monsters attack to 0, she would be able to deplete his life points with ease.

He hung his head down, determined not to give up. "Even if you defeat me," he began, "you'll never defeat the rest of Academia! Just one good blast from any of these guards here," he continued pointing at the other soldiers, "and you're finished!"

"You guys really don't get it." Said Ruri chiming in, "Rin's not giving ANY of you another turn." She nodded at Rin who giggled in agreement.

"Oh Ruri stop it!" she said, "You almost spoiled the big surprise!"

"What surprise!?" Gordon asked, scanning the duel field.

Rin let out another short cackle before continuing.

"I banish Dark Tuner Shadow Depths from my Graveyard and activate its second effect!"

The bizarre anglerfish rose from the Graveyard and phased into Geo Selkie's body like a ghost.

Pulling six cards from her Graveyard, Rin continued, "By banishing all Tuner monsters in my Graveyard, I can target 1 Dark Synchro monster I control to enable it to attack once for each Tuner Monster banished for this effect."

She displayed the cards she had removed from her Graveyard one by one. "I banish Synthphonist Clarinetist, Flutist, Oboist, Violinist, Bassoonist, and Trombonist to enable my Geo Selkie to attack six times this turn!"

Geo Selkie let out another ear-splitting war cry as the ghostly spirits of Rin's Synthphonist monsters flew towards Geo Selkie and phased into its massive body.

Rin brushed some dust from her arms, "Geo Selkie inflicts piercing damage when it attacks, just as a side note to all you soldiers hiding behind your defense monsters."

The other guards backed away.

"Commander!" Rin shouted, "I said you would die by your own strength! Now I'll prove it! Earthbound Disciple Geo Selkie, attack his Antique Gear Chaos Dreadnaught!"

Geo Selkie quickly pounced on Gordon's Chaos Dreadnaught and embedded a whalebone spear deep into its metal hull. With a violent explosion, Antique Gear Chaos Dreadnaught blew into bits of scrap metal while Gordon was thrown back as his Life Points dropped to 600.

"Geo Mermaid's second monster effect activates!" Shouted Rin, eyes widening with glee. "If a monster I control destroys an opponent's monster by battle, I can banish that monster from the Graveyard and inflict damage to my opponent's Life Points equal to its level times 200!"

Gordon barely heard her last sentence as he struggled to lift his head from the ground. Even if it was real solid vision, he was astonished by how hard the attack had hit him. His ribs felt shattered and he was conscious of blood trickling down his forehead.

"Please…" he began as Geo Mermaid activated its effect. The last thing Gordon remembered was a phantasmal image of Antique Gear Chaos Dreadnaught rising from the ground before bursting into flames and slamming into his broken body for 2000 points of damage.

"Commander!" Alexis and Mina screamed in unison as Gordon's body exploded into flames. Rushing over to where he had lain, they stomped out the flames and examined the ground but found only specks of black dust.

Alexis faced Rin, seething with rage and grief, "Did you… card him!?" he growled.

"Card him!?" Rin asked, shaking with laughter. "Hardly! Didn't you idiots hear what I said at the beginning of this duel!? I said you'd be dueling for your actual lives!"

Alexis and Mina stared back at her in disbelief.

"Let's move on, shall we?" Rin continued, brushing her hands off. "Geo Selkie! Continue your attack, wipe out those three Obelisk Guard's face-down Triple Bite Hound Dogs!"

Geo Selkie swam towards the first three Obelisk guards. Stabbing in quick succession, it impaled three Antique Gear Hound Dogs in the back and reduced each guard's Life Points to 2000.

"Geo Mermaid!" Rin commanded, banished each of the Triple Bite Hound Dogs from each guard's Graveyard. The three guards screamed in agony as each of them was hit with 1400 points of damage and their Life Points were reduced to 600.

"Next Mina's Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog!" Rin commanded pointing towards Mina's field.

Geo Selkie made a quick swim around the room, before throwing another whalebone spear into the center of one of Mina's Triple Bite Hound Dog's three robotic necks.

Mina screamed as the combined damage from Geo Selkie's attack and Geo Mermaids effect reduced her Life Points to 600.

"And now for my favorite duelist, Alexis!" Rin giggled pointing in the direction of Alexis.

Alexis tried to run, but was stopped when he ran into the wall of searing purple flame. Geo Selkie pounced on one of his Antique Gear Hound Dogs, ripping it in half with a violent thrust of her spear. Alexis gasped as his Life Points dropped to 2000 before Geo Mermaid's effect slammed his already injured body with another 600 damage, dropping his Life Points to 1400.

"Geo Mermaid!" Rin commanded, "Finish Alexis off!"

Alexis barely managed to get back on his feet, before Geo Mermaid zipped in front of him and bit down on his neck with her razor-sharp shark teeth.

As Alexis's last Life Points dwindled away, his body slowly turned coal-black before dissolving into thick, black dust and dissipating into the air.

Barely able to breathe from their injuries, Mina and the other three guards struggled to crawl away.

Rin glared down at them without an ounce of pity.

"I'd spare one of you if I needed a messenger." She said scanning the room. "But unfortunately for all of you, the security cameras should have recorded all of this, so there's no need for that."

"What…are you?" Mina managed to gasp.

Rin stared back at her, eyes glowing. "I am Rin." She said, "And I am fresh out of mercy!"

She turned to her Sonic Synthphonist Prodigy. "Without your precious commander's Double Bite Hound Dog's effect, my monster's Gear Shift Counter is nothing more than a cheap accessory.

"We surrender…" Mina moaned, trying to lift her arms above her head. "Please…just let us go!"

"Sonic Synthphonist Prodigy can attack once per Tuner monster used in its Synchro Summon." Rin replied, ignoring her pleas. "In case you weren't paying attention, that's four total attacks." She grinned. "One for each of you!"

"Don't!" Mina screamed as the other guards shielded their faces.

"Sonic Synthphonist Prodigy!" Rin commanded, veins throbbing on her face, "Destroy them!"

Prodigy's myriad instruments glowed with energy. Music from multiple different instruments blended together in a single harmonic tone before four consecutive blasts of sound waves roared through the air and blew the remaining Obelisk Guards into piles of black dust.

Rin sighed as she watched the last guard's Life Points plummet to 0. Kneeling to the ground, she bowed her head low as the holograms and purple flames vanished into the air.

Ruri approached her from behind and knelt down next to her.

"You did well." she said, wrapping her arms around Rin's back. "You've already begun to master your powers."

"What was the point?" Rin asked, small tears glistening in her eyes. "I didn't really accomplish much here." She clenched her fist. "He was right. Academia will always have more soldiers to fight for them."

Ruri wiped tears from Rin's eyes. "You did more than wipe out a few of their soldiers." She explained. "You single-handedly fought a fierce battle against six well-trained and well-equipped soldiers, and still managed to beat all of them! I don't think even their most decorated war veterans could have done what you did!" She smiled at Rin, beaming with admiration. "You have sent a message to Academia. You have shown them not only what happens to our enemies, but just how strong we are!"

Rin dried out her eyes. "I didn't really show them how strong we are," she said, smiling gently. "I still had one card left in my hand, see?" she asked Ruri holding out the last card in her hand.

Ruri raised an eyebrow. "So you actually drew that card… I'm impressed."

She smiled at Rin. "If you had of played that card, I think you could have destroyed most of Academia right here!"

Rin smiled before getting up from the ground. "The other guards will be here soon." she said brushing herself off. "What do we do now?"

Ruri took Rin by the hand.

"The Professor believed he could achieve ultimate power by gathering our counterparts together. So that's exactly what we're going to do." She replied, holding her head high.

"How are we going to find them?" asked Rin following close behind Ruri as Ruri stretched her hand out and opened a dark, black portal in the air.

"I have an informant," Ruri replied vaguely, "that's told me where we can find the others. You'll actually be happy to hear this Rin." she said taking a step into the portal. "We're going back to your home."

Rin's face brightened at the thought. Stepping into the portal she smiled as she thought of the people she had left behind when she was kidnapped.

"Yugo," she thought to herself, feeling overjoyed at the thought of seeing him once again, "I'm coming for you!"

FEATURED FANFIC CARDS

Rin's Monster Cards

Synthphonist Clarinetist/ WIND/ Level 4/ Psychic/ Gemini/ Tuner/ Effect/ ATK 1600/ DEF 1400/ This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is a Normal Monster on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect.

Once per turn, During either player's turn, you can target 1 monster your opponent controls: Change it to face-down defense position, and if you do, you can reduce the level of 1 monster you control by 1 (Min. 1).

Synthphonist Flutist/ WIND/ Level 3/ Psychic/ Gemini/ Tuner/ Effect/ ATK 800/ DEF 1000/ This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is a Normal Monster on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect.

Once per turn, During either player's turn, if the level of 1 or more of your monsters changes due to a card effect, you can activate this effect: Draw 1 card.

Synthphonist Oboist/ WIND/ Level 4/ Psychic/ Gemini/ Tuner/ Effect/ ATK 1200/ DEF 1800/ If this card is used as a Material for a Synchro Summon, you can target 1 monster you control: That target cannot be destroyed by battle. This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is a Normal Monster on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect.

If a monster declares an attack, negate the attack, and if you do, you can reduce the level of 1 monster you control by 1 (Min. 1).

Synthphonist Bassoonist/ WIND/ Level 4/ Psychic/ Gemini/ Tuner/ Effect/ If this card is used as a Material for a Synchro Summon, you can target 1 monster you control: That target cannot be targeted by your opponent's card effects. This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is a Normal Monster on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect.

If a monster(s) you control is targeted by a card or effect, you can negate that effect, and if you do, you can reduce this card's level by 1 (Min. 1).

Synthphonist Trombonist/ WIND/ Level 6/ Psychic/ Gemini/ Tuner/ Effect/ ATK 1400/ DEF 2400/ If this card is used as a Material for a Synchro Summon, you can target 1 monster you control: If that target attacks, your opponent cannot activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step. This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is a Normal Monster on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect.

Once per turn, you can Special Summon 1 "Synthphonist" monster from your Graveyard.

Synthphonist Snare Drummer/ WIND/ Level 2/ Psychic/ Gemini/ Effect/ ATK 900/ DEF 300/ This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is a Normal Monster on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect.

Once per turn, you can declare a level from 1-3: The levels of all monsters you control become the declared level until the end of this turn.

Synthphonist Cymbalist/ WIND/ Level 3/ Psychic/ Gemini/ Effect/ ATK 1100/ DEF 1700/ This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is a Normal Monster on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect.

Once per turn, you can target 1 "Synthphonist" monster you control that has a Level: That target is treated as a Synchro Tuner Monster, also, you can reduce that target's level by up to 3 (Min. 1).

Synthphonist Violinist/ WIND/ Level 4/ Psychic/ Gemini/ Tuner/ Effect/ ATK 1700/ DEF 1000/ This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is a Normal Monster on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect.

Once per turn, if your opponent activates a Spell/Trap Card, you can negate the activation of that Spell/Trap Card, and if you do, shuffle that card into the Deck. Then, you can reduce the level of 1 monster you control by 1 (Min. 1).

Dark Tuner Shadow Depths/ WATER/ Level 2/ Fish/ Dark Tuner/ Effect/ ATK 0/ DEF 0/ You can target 1 Synchro Monster you control: Increase the Level of this card by the Level of that Synchro monster (Max. 12). You can banish this card and all Tuner Monsters from your Graveyard to target 1 Dark Synchro Monster you control: This turn, that target can attack once per Tuner banished for this effect.

Dark Tuner Chaos Maelstrom/ WIND/ Level 7/ Thunder/ Dark Tuner/ Effect/ ATK 0/ DEF 0/ If this card is used as a Dark Synchro Material for a Dark Synchro Summon, you can activate this effect: Until the end of this turn, if a Dark Synchro Monster you control battles an opponent's monster, you can negate the effects of that monster at the start of the Damage Step, and if you do, change its ATK and DEF to 0.

Rin's Extra Deck

Sonic Synthphonist Prodigy/ WIND/ Level 6/ Psychic/ Synchro/ Tuner/ Effect/ ATK 2400/ DEF 2400/ 1 Tuner + 1 or more "Synthphonist" monsters

This card can attack once per Battle-Phase for each Tuner used as a Synchro Material for its Synchro Summon. Once per turn, you can Normal Summon 1 "Synthphonist" monster in addition to your Normal Summon/Set. If this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, you can target 1 Gemini Monster in your Graveyard: Special Summon it.

Earthbound Disciple Geo Mermaid/ WATER/ Level -4/ Fish/ Dark Synchro/ Effect/ ATK 1600/ DEF 2000/ 1 monster with a Level – 1 Dark Tuner

Once per turn, if your opponent activates a monster effect, you can negate the activation of that effect, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent's LP equal to the ATK of that monster. If a face-up monster you control destroys an opponent's monster by battle, you can banish that opponent's monster from the Graveyard: Inflict damage to your opponent's LP equal to the Level of that monster X 200.

Earthbound Disciple Geo Selkie/ WATER/ Level -6/ Aqua/ Dark Synchro/ Effect/ ATK 2000/ DEF 2500/ 1 monster with a Level – 1 Dark Tuner

Cards and effects cannot be activated in response to the Synchro Summon or Dark Synchro Summon of your monsters. If a monster you control attacks a defense position monster, inflict piercing Battle Damage to your opponent's LP. Your opponent cannot activate his/her set Spell/Trap Cards.

Rin's Spell Cards

Synthphonist Orchestra/ Spell/ Field/ You can Normal Summon 1 "Synthphonist" monster in addition to your Normal Summon/Set. Each time a card(s) is returned to the Deck, place 1 "Synth" counter on this card. Once per turn, you can remove any number of "Synth" counters from this card: Special Summon 1 "Synthphonist" monster from your Deck whose Level is equal to the number of counters removed. If this card would be destroyed, you can remove 1 "Synth" counter from this card instead.

Synthphonist Tuning/ Spell/ Normal/ Activate only if you control a face-up "Synthphonist" Tuner monster: Add 1 "Synthphonist" monster from your Deck to your Hand. You can shuffle this card from the Graveyard into the Deck: Immediately after this effect resolves, Normal Summon 1 "Synthphonist" monster. (You can only use each effect of "Synthphonist Tuning" once per turn).

Synthphonist Resonance/ Spell/ Quick-Play/ Immediately after this effect resolves: Normal Summon all face-up "Synthphonist" Gemini Monsters you control. You can shuffle this card from the Graveyard into the Deck: Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "Synthphonist" monster from your Hand. (You can only use each effect of "Synthphonist Resonance" once per turn).

Synthphonist Inspiration/ Spell/ Normal/ Reveal 3 "Synthphonist" Spell/Trap Cards from your Deck: Your opponent selects 1 to add to your Hand and the rest are returned to the bottom of the Deck in any order your opponent desires. You can shuffle this card from your Graveyard into the Deck: Shuffle 1 "Synthphonist" monster from your Graveyard into the Deck. (You can only use each effect of "Synthphonist Inspiration" once per turn).

Dark Synchro Mirror/ Spell/ Normal/ Discard 1 card to target 1 face-up Synchro Monster you control: Special Summon 2 monsters from your Deck (1 Dark Tuner and 1 non-Dark Tuner) whose combined Levels are equal to the Level of the targeted Synchro Monster. (You can only activate 1 "Dark Synchro Mirror" per turn).

Dark Tuning/ Spell/ Normal/ Tribute 1 monster you control: Add 1 Dark Tuner Monster from your Deck to your Hand, and if you do, you can Special Summon 1 monster from your Graveyard, but that monster's ATK and DEF become 0. (You can only activate 1 "Dark Tuning" per turn).

Obelisk Force Monster Cards

Antique Gear Search Hound/ EARTH/ Level 2/ Machine/ Effect/ ATK 600/ DEF 200/ If this card is summoned, you can activate this effect: Special Summon 1 "Antique Gear Hound Dog" from your Deck. (You can only use this effect of "Antique Gear Search Hound" once per turn). If this card is used as a Fusion Material for the Fusion Summon of an "Antique Gear" monster, you can treat this card as "Antique Gear Hound Dog".

Antique Gear Rescue Hound/ EARTH/ Level 4/ Machine/ Effect/ ATK 800/ DEF 2000/ If this card is summoned, you can activate this effect: Special Summon 1 "Antique Gear" monster from your Graveyard. (You can only use this effect of "Antique Gear Rescue Hound" once per turn). If this card is used as a Fusion Material for the Fusion Summon of an "Antique Gear" monster, you can treat this card as "Antique Gear Hound Dog".

Obelisk Force Extra Deck

Antique Gear Chaos Dreadnaught/ DARK/ Level 10/ Machine/ Fusion/ Effect/ ATK ?/ DEF ?/ 3 "Antique Gear" monsters

Must be Fusion Summoned with the effect of an "Antique Gear Chaos" Spell/Trap Card and cannot be summoned other ways. This card's ATK and DEF are each equal to the combined Levels of the Fusion Materials used in this card's Fusion Summon X 300. Once per turn, you can destroy all Spell/Trap cards you opponent controls, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent's LP equal to the number of cards destroyed with this effect X 600.

Obelisk Force Spell Cards

Antique Gear Ultimate Cannon/ Spell/ Equip/ Equip only to 1 "Antique Gear" Monster you control. While equipped with this card, the equipped monster cannot be destroyed by battle and you take no battle damage from battles involving the equipped monster. Increase the ATK of the equipped monster by the equipped monster's level X 200.

Antique Gear Chaos Factory/ Spell/ Continuous/ During each of your Standby Phases, discard 1 "Polymerization" or "Fusion" Spell/Trap Card (except "Diffusion Wave Motion") or destroy this card. Once per turn, you can Fusion Summon 1 "Antique Gear" monster from your Extra Deck by banishing Fusion Materials from your side of the field, hand, or Graveyard.