Pikatwig: First off, happy Autism Acceptance Month. Both of us are autistic, so highlighting that would be a good thing.
KKD: This is a tricky time of year, but we do encourage everyone to get to know people on the spectrum and to listen to them.
Pikatwig: One thing I remember is that the actor who played Billy in the Power Rangers movie from a few years ago actually went to talk to autistic people in order to get a gauge about how to act in the movie when playing an autistic character. In his own words, "I sat down, shut my mouth, and listened."
KKD: See? THAT right there is how you get to understand those on the spectrum. Everyone is different, but you get an idea if you just listen.
Pikatwig: And something worth a mention, while I don't know if it's been mentioned, Takeshi is autistic. I think it's sort of been shown in other chapters without outright saying it.
KKD: Well he was an OC of mine, probably the closest to a self-insert character I'll create, so it makes sense that he'd be on the spectrum. Would it come up in the plot? I don't know about that, but we'll see.
Pikatwig: Speaking of plot, we got something special for this chapter. I posted a short snippet on Twitter that showed Yoko and Luna playing a game of Yu-Gi-Oh, and, while I don't know if we have a Vaijin in place just yet, I will say the cast will play a bit. It was mentioned in a previous chapter they used to have Yu-Gi-Oh nights, and then I wrote a scene that I didn't know if we were gonna use, but… then we got to use it. Yay!
KKD: Surprising, isn't it?
Pikatwig: In case you didn't know, the 'D' in KKD's username is short for 'duelist'.
KKD: Honestly, been a while since I properly utilized the specifics of that one.
Pikatwig: I'll admit I don't know if you've played Master Duel yet, but I have. I've had fun with it. Oh, and they once said it wouldn't reference the anime. …one of the solo modes are decks pulled right out of there. *shrugs*
KKD: Ok. Answering that quick, I don't believe I played that.
Pikatwig: It is free, so~...
KKD: I do have Legacy of the Duelist Link Evolution. Or at least, experience with it. It's fun, but I haven't played it nearly as much as I would've liked.
Pikatwig: AKA, the final time Air Neos has ever showed up in anything. After that, card has totally gone MIA. It's not in either Duel Links or Master Duel. I checked both games.
KKD: BOO~!
Pikatwig: Also, Yu-Gi-Oh Go Rush has begun over in Japan. Sevens is now officially the shortest Yu-Gi-Oh show and the first one to not reach 100 episodes. …wonder if the pandemic has something to do with it.
KKD: It's still surprising to say the least.
Pikatwig: We did get a trailer for the first episode and there was a point with a duel and I honestly thought the crowd in it was chanting "Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh!"... which would be odd given how, in universe, the card game is called "Duel Monsters". Turns out, they were actually saying "Yu-di-as, Yu-di-as, Yu-di-as" and I just misheard it because of the audio quality.
KKD: Wonder if that had any meaning behind it.
Pikatwig: That's the name of one of the major characters. Yudias. He's an alien.
KKD: …Hmm? Ok, I'm sorry. I thought I misheard you for a second. Uh… excusi?
Pikatwig: Yeah, one of the major characters of Go Rush is an alien.
KKD: Wow…
Hinata: Zexal had an alien. Heck, the Neo-Spacians are sort of aliens!
KKD: I'm just not used to the aliens being the lead.
Pikatwig: And then there's two other major characters, Yuuhi and Yuamu.
KKD: They're just hammering in all the Yu-prefixed names now.
Pikatwig: And while we did joke about this in the past, we have a pair of twins, one male, one female, one of them has red hair with blonde highlights, and the girl has glasses.
KKD: As I joked in the past, when did Sylver start working on Yu-Gi-Oh shows? That sounds a lot like Kai and Kasumi! *laughs*
Pikatwig: She did once mention they were originally intended for a Yu-Gi-Oh story that never panned out.
KKD: …is that why their last name is "Yuuto"?
Pikatwig: Probably. I will remark that, for sake of something else, I did write out the character names in katakana, but then I remembered that little fact, so I went and changed the spelling for 'Yuuto' to contain the '遊' character that all the protagonists from Yu-Gi-Oh have in their names.
KKD: Man. Ok, are we finished discussing that?
Pikatwig: Yeah.
KKD: Alright then. Let's get this under way. Disclaimers go!
Disclaimers: Neither KKD nor Pikatwig own the rights to anything in this story apart from original concepts, characters, and story elements they came up with. Credit to Kai Yuuto and Kasumi "Kassie" Yuuto belongs to Sylver Blaze, formerly known as Silver Maxus. The remaining concepts used within belong to their respective creators such as Toei, BandaiNamco, SEGA, Sonic Team, etc.
Hana stared at her phone in thought, looking over some footage of the two Kamen Riders. She muttered something under her breath as she stared at it for a bit, just thinking a bit.
'They just seem so… close by. Why is that always the case? And… did the blue one save my brother? Or is-'
Her thought process was soon interrupted by a small buzz on her phone, finding she got a text from Takeshi that told her that they had to get going for class soon. Hana sighed before she got up, got dressed, and hurried down. Takeshi got into his car's front row while Hana slid into the backrow. The bluenette began driving off and just focusing on the road while Hana was relatively quiet.
"...Bakashi?"
"What?"
"...those Kamen Riders…" Hana spoke up, "...have you encountered them before?"
"Huh?" he asked.
"You went over to that guy who had chased me a while back, then there's some photos of the Rider being in that area. Did he… did he protect you or something?" Hana soon asked.
Takeshi was silent before he slowed the car down at a red light, "Yea. He did. He… he told me to get to safety shortly after and that he'd tell me when it was clear. I'll admit I thought the guy chasing you was just… y'know… regular guy."
Hana simply nodded her head in response, then the light changed to green for Takeshi to keep going.. The redhead just looked out the window, thinking carefully about that, '...there's no photos of Takeshi there at all… but… there's also no other photos of the Rider appearing or disappearing. …but… could that mean… mean… mean…'
She closed her eyes and tried to think, yet felt as if something was starting to block her thought process. Then she figured she could think about it a bit more later…
(Cue Intro Theme: Dimension Tripper; Neptune the Animation Theme)
*As the opening melody played, images of Takeshi, Yoko, Luna, Daisuke, and Hana all flew by*
Imi fumei moji noraretsu (An incomprehensible code sequence) *Takeshi was seen running by as he tried to get into his school, with Yoko and Luna soon following after him*
Oshiete KONPAIRA (Tell me what what it means, Compiler!) *Luna smiled as she managed to help give them a ride before they got into class and took a moment to catch their breaths*
matomaranai BAINARI- TSURI- (I can't make sense of this binary tree) *Yoko gave the two a calm smile as she followed them out of the room after the bell rang.*
0 to 1 dake ja nanimo tsutaerannai yo ne… (Just 0s and 1s won't help you communicate) *Daisuke was working on something, with Hinatan monitoring his progress, only for Hana to somehow leap in and tackle Daisuke into a hug, with Hinatan's icon simply giving an annoyed sigh*
Pingurinku! tsunagaru KIMI to ATASHI-tashi ga (How nice it'd be if our hearts could connect.) *Payactions could be seen swarming outside the school. Yoko gave a look to her friends, and they quickly snuck outside.*
Hitto chekku! KIMERU nara ima (And we were on the same page.) *As they snuck out, people in the school could be seen mindlessly spending money on Impact of the Wild as if they were drones. Takeshi and Luna managed to get outside and both got their Drivers on*
Hapi furu pyua You're a dimenshon torippa-! (Eveything's pure. You're a Dimension tripper) *Takeshi and Luna stood side by side before they both transformed into their Rider forms.*
Jigen no tobira, kettobashi oide yo (Kick open the dimensional gates and get over here!) *The two Riders kicked the various Payactions and watched as they exploded into pixels*
KIRA KIRA no kocchi no sekai he (In this sparkling world) *SEGA and Playstation gave each-other a high five and then reverted back, with Yoko running over and hugging the two, making them both smile.*
Kizuna hyakubai no saikyou PA-TI- "KIMI MO NAKAMA DA" (We can just form the strongest party. And you'll be one of us!) *Takeshi, Luna, and Yoko stood together and then walked forward. The trio smiled at each-other as they continued forward. Daisuke and Hana watched from nearby, smiling as the trio walked off.*
Shin Kamen Rider SEGA
Shin Level 9: Secrets (Maybe) are Revealed
The twins soon headed into their first class for the day, but Hana's mind was still on the two Riders. She sighed as she tried to make notes of some things she knew about them, before her mind ended up going back to the day that they appeared to protect Megami…
"Hey, Daisuke?" Takeshi whispered, "Hana's concerning me a little bit. Say something to her."
"...do I have to?" Daisuke exhaled.
"Yes. Rider related."
Daisuke just let out a sigh, clearly not happy about it before he turned to Hana and cleared his throat to get her attention. She turned towards him and he spoke, "Good morning, Hana."
"Daisuke-ku~~~n!" Hana beamed, her mind instantly dropping what she was thinking about, "Good morning! I'm glad you're talking to me! Can we please hang out later?! Not as a date, but just friends? Please? Please~~?!"
Daisuke just let out a small groan, trying his best not to just turn away from the girl.
"Sorry," Takeshi quickly apologized.
A couple of hours passed before the five were at the cafeteria and just relaxing a bit. Hana, however, seemed to be looking at her phone in irritation.
"Good afternoon," Luna greeted.
"Hey," Daisuke waved.
"What's up with her today?" Yoko soon asked.
"Some comment on a video got her riled up…" Daisuke told them.
"Really? What happened?" Yoko asked as she sat down.
"People called something I made stupid and jank!" Hana nearly yelled, angered about it before pulling out her phone and glaring at the comment, "It's not stupid! Jank, maybe! But it's not stupid!"
"...oh, I know what she's talking about. Some old decklist she made when we were younger that she made into a video," Takeshi realized, sitting down, then resting his head in one of his hands.
"I put that deck together with my own hard-earned money!" Hana proclaimed, slamming her hand on the table and just growling a bit.
"...and people giving you the cards because they didn't want them…" Luna reminded, "I pulled a flippin' secret rare that I couldn't use and gave it to you."
"My point still stands, ok?!" Hana proclaimed, looking genuinely upset about this.
Luna simply held up her hands to indicate she wasn't trying to upset Hana any further. She even stepped back in order to try to keep Hana from directing her ire towards her. Hana just turned away from the blonde in a huff, while the remaining blonde went over the conversation a little bit as Yoko turned towards Luna after she sat back down.
"I'm assuming you're talking about Yu-Gi-Oh, right?" Yoko checked.
"Yes," Takeshi and Luna nodded.
"I… I… I…" Hana growled a bit before a thought occurred to her, "Do any of you have homework?!"
"I don't," Takeshi informed.
"Nope," Luna added.
Yoko quickly took out a planner to double check, then nodded her head 'no'.
"What are you thinking?" Daisuke soon questioned.
A grin appeared on her face, putting the phone away before she pulled out a deck of cards that had a little bit of age to them, "Yu-Gi-Oh stream night tonight! All of us in a mini-tournament and playing whatever we want! I'll show them my deck isn't stupid!"
"I don't know…" Luna admitted, only for Takeshi to quickly whisper something to her, and then she smiled, "Actually, that sounds like fun."
"Ok? Mind filling me in a little bit?" Daisuke asked, only for a look from Luna to get him up to speed, "...eh, I guess."
"I haven't played in a while, but it could be nice," Yoko soon chimed in.
Hana just grinned a bit, clearly excited before she saw Luna enter a stance that indicated she was thinking.
"So… would we need to play on Duel Links? There's five of us, and Kota doesn't play the physical card game. …then again, there'd be six of us…" Luna began to ask, "And I doubt Kai and Kasumi would be able to join considering the time zone difference between Industria and New York…"
"I can just be the referee," Daisuke shrugged, "While it may be fun, I'm sort of just in the mood to take it easy. There's no need to overdo it a bit."
Hana just smiled a bit, clearly happy about the plan, cracking her knuckles before Luna simply gave a motion for her to stop.
"Would tomorrow night work? I'd at least like to prep a little bit," Luna informed.
The redhead was about to respond, but that moment of clarity actually managed to hit her. She gasped and smacked her head in response as the simple idea got to her.
"...yeah, we could use prep time," Hana realized, starting to calm down a little bit, "Y-yeah. Sorry. I-I'm getting too excited about this, but I just wanted to defend the honor of my deck."
"You're not one to get that livid usually…" Takeshi observed, "Sure, you get mad and insult me, but there's no need to go nuts."
All Hana could do was just shrug a little bit, sighing a bit and then noticing Yoko glancing towards her.
"What deck are they even talking about?" Yoko soon asked, getting a confused look from Hana, "...in case you forgot, I only started playing a few years ago."
"...right…" Hana recalled, before a small smile appeared on her face, "How about you wait to see?"
Evening rolled around and Hana went right to her room to work on the deck. She looked over a binder of options that she had to add in, and couldn't help but grin a little as she picked some cards. She giggled a bit, but then read one of them more closely.
"...right… DNA Surgery kind of needed…" she muttered, flipping through her card binder to find it.
-So… how long do we have to placate Hana?- Daisuke asked Takeshi, Luna, and Yoko over the phone.
"Until we can hopefully get her off our trail. You yourself said you don't want her finding out, Daisuke," Takeshi reminded.
-...huh?- Yoko blinked.
"Hana's starting to clue in that me and Luna are the Riders."
-...didn't Luna say there was some magic or something that would block that knowledge?- Yoko asked.
-Yup. It's only so effective, though. Based on you two, it seems like if there's a logical connection that can't be denied, then the facade will break…-
"This is seriously turning out to be a giant headache…" Takeshi groaned, rubbing the back of his head, "I guess… we just gotta keep her from thinking about it."
-...so… um… we just bring whatever deck we want?- Yoko double checked.
-Yeah. I'll talk to you guys later. Gotta make sure mine's good,- Luna responded before she hung up from the call.
-Ok. I'll try and be ready. See you,- Yoko added before she hung up as well.
"Well… I guess I better go and prep. Jank or not, Hana's scarily competent with that deck sometimes," Takeshi added, with Daisuke soon hanging up as well.
Takeshi soon hung up from the call, then went over to the cards he owned and contemplated what to pick, before a small smile appeared on his face, "...I think I know what Hana's playing. It's only fitting if I play that old deck, with new tricks."
Luna proceeded to shuffle her deck of cards as she consulted a database of cards she owned and tried to put together a strategy as best she could. She took notes of a few things, then just smiled as she took out a copy of a card, "...heh. Feels like being a carefree kid again."
Yoko, meanwhile, looked to some cards she had kept in a few plastic baggies that were labeled various things that she had kept in a desk drawer. She soon got out a small, hand-written, rulebook that was clearly homemade and proceeded to do some double checking on a few things for certainty's sake. She smiled before taking out the bags and starting to get ready.
The next day rolled around and the group showed up at the Narumi house a few hours after school. Yoko, Luna, and Daisuke headed down into the basement to see Takeshi and Hana were set up to stream the event.
-Alrighty, everyone! Let's get ready to duel!- Hinatan beamed, setting up her station as Takeshi was making sure the group had their microphones ready.
"Remember we're here to just have fun and play," Daisuke reminded, "As a ref, I'm fair and impartial."
"Yes, of course. Fair and impartial as long as you make sure I win," Hana joked.
All Daisuke did was exhale heavily in response.
"Also, I see someone has a baggie instead of a deck box…" Hana observed, with the group glancing over to Yoko. Albeit, the backside of the cards were covered up by the homemade rulebook that had Luna's initials on it.
"Those are expensive…" Yoko responded.
Hana simply nodded a bit, everyone taking their spots and getting situated.
As the group worked to set up and make sure they were all ready for the stream, Takeshi smiling as he saw some people in the chat that were excited for the broadcast. The girls smiled as they set the table up and made sure they had ample space.
Hana had a relaxed smile as she looked to her deck, then saw Yoko getting herself situated and noticed something.
"Good luck," Yoko said with a smile.
"...what's with the plushie?" Hana soon asked, with Yoko placing the pink seal plushie nearby herself.
"I just wanted to cuddle it."
"Don't judge her now. She has it for relaxation," Takeshi told his sister.
Hana just shrugged a bit, focused more on the label on it that Yoko had either missed, was deliberately ignoring, or was genuinely unaware of.
"We're a minute from cameras turning on," Daisuke informed.
The group went silent and, after getting a little blinking light from Hinatan to indicate they were going, all smiled.
"Hello everyone, NarumiGaming here," Takeshi greeted.
"Hi, I'm MiraiVenture," Yoko added.
"The LunarGamer as well," Luna spoke.
"I'm our referee, TheDaiGuy," Daisuke chimed in.
"And I'm FloRPGer," Hana concluded.
"The Game Stars are live, for the long awaited return of Duel Night!" Takeshi said aloud.
"Man, it feels so good to get back to it," Hana beamed.
-Indeed it is. Also, hi everyone, I'm our lovely announcer, Hinatan,- the AI introduced herself.
"When was the last time we had Duel Night?" Hana asked.
"Some months ago after we had our first, and thus far only, Duel Night where someone played Link Monsters," Takeshi remembered.
Luna soon let out an audible groan of frustration, "Don't remind me that happened…"
Takeshi just chuckled a little bit, then held up his hands defensively, "Sorry, sorry…"
"If I never have to play against Gouki again, it'll be too soon…" Luna exhaled, "Like… Ancient Gears, Blackwings, and Gouki are the three Decks that I hate the most…"
"Someone's got a vendetta against those archetypes…" Daisuke remarked.
-Given the custom banlist you guys use has banned just about every card in those archetypes…- Hinatan chimed in.
"We know, we know. But let's get on with tonight!" Hana beamed.
"I had them draw straws to determine who would be playing whom," Daisuke explained, "We're just doing a small game with four participants. Alright. Whoever has the blue sticks will be going first."
With that, the four held out the sticks they had. Yoko and Luna had the blue sticks, while Takeshi and Hana had the red sticks.
"Luna and Yoko, you two will be the first match of the evening," Daisuke spoke up.
"Alrighty, we'll let them set up and ready themselves for the duel. In the meantime, Hana, Daisuke, and myself will take questions," Takeshi spoke.
"First question, will you pick to date one or both of them?" Hana asked with a bit of a grin on her face.
"W-W-Why are we asking this? Why bring this up?!" Takeshi proclaimed with a blush.
"Cause people ask you that all the time," Hana stated with a blunt tone.
"Look, that's something I need way more time to figure out, so please stop asking!" Takeshi nearly yelled.
About five minutes had passed before the two girls sat down at the table, setting their mats out.
-For those new to Game Star Duel Nights, we use a customized version of the duel board. The Pendulum Zones are back where they were prior to Link Monsters, yet we have the Extra Monster Zones here, which are instead referred to as Link Monster Zones. Additionally, for our ruleset, Ritual Monsters are in the Extra Deck to make summoning them far simpler!- Hinatan explained.
"Not to mention, it saves up more space in our main decks as well," Luna remarked as the decks were finished being shuffled, "Alrighty. Is there any last minute things you guys need to know before we begin?"
The chat, which was visible to both of them, didn't have any questions that they could see.
"Okay then…" Yoko nodded, taking a bit to adjust her glasses, "Good to go."
"Same here. And with that said, we can begin," Luna smiled.
"Duel!" Yoko and Luna called out.
(Yoko: 8000; Luna: 8000)
"Yoko, you can go first," Luna smiled.
"Okay," Yoko nodded, taking a moment to look over her opening hand. She stared a little, being in a bit of contemplation before she went to her move, "I'll set a monster. And I'll set one card facedown. Turn end."
"Alright. My turn. I draw!" Luna smiled, drawing for turn, "Since you control a monster and I do not, I shall special summon my Cyber Dragon!"
As Luna put the card onto the field, Hinatan quickly displayed a visual of the card on the stream feed to display the need to know info of it.
(Cyber Dragon; Lvl: 5; ATK: 2100; DEF: 1600)
"Hi Cyber Dragon," Yoko greeted.
"Now, I summon Junk Synchron!" Luna added, putting the card onto the field.
(Junk Synchron; Lvl: 3; ATK: 1300; DEF: 500)
"I tune my Junk Synchron and my Cyber Dragon. Clustering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon!" Luna chanted before she got the card from her Extra Deck, "Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"
(Stardust Dragon; Lvl: 8; ATK: 2500; DEF: 2000)
"Hi Stardust Dragon," Yoko waved.
-For those who don't remember, Stardust Dragon was the first ever Ultra Rare that Luna ever pulled,- Hinatan chimed in.
"This card is my favorite protagonist ace monster… although, you can tell it's a bit old…" Luna remarked, with a camera doing a zoom in on the card to show it had a bit of fade on it and at least one of the edges was bent a little bit, "Still… it was my first Ultra Rare that I had ever pulled as a child. Cyber Dragon and Junk Synchron were both from some tins or something to that effect, but Stardust here… got it in a pack."
"Sentimental value," Takeshi commented from the side.
"Nothing wrong with that. It's cute," Yoko commented.
"Thank you, but now, talk is over. Battle! Stardust Dragon, attack! Hibike (Echo), Shooting Sonic!" Luna proclaimed, motioning her card to Yoko's set monster, revealing it to be Lunalight Blue Cat as Yoko moved it to the Graveyard, "Am I good to leave the Battle Phase?"
"Not yet," Yoko spoke, flipping the back row card she had.
"Oh?"
"I activate Lunalight Reincarnation Dance! Since you destroyed a monster I control, I add two Lunalight monsters from my deck to my hand," Yoko announced, proceeding to check her deck's contents for a moment, then adding in Lunalight Kaleido Chick and Lunalight Black Sheep to her hand. Daisuke stepped by and quickly shuffled her deck, then set it back for her, "Thank you."
"No problem," Daisuke stated simply
"That's a pretty skilled move to make there," Takeshi commented, "You can always count on clever tactics to make sure you're never down and out."
"Not a bad start, but I'm curious to see how you beat my Stardust Dragon, my ever reliable partner," Luna remarked, "I'll set one card facedown. Turn end."
Yoko simply nodded a bit, while Luna glanced down to her remaining cards. She had a small wince, but kept a calm air around her as she glanced back to Yoko.
"My turn. I draw," Yoko spoke, drawing for turn. She looked to the card and then started laughing a bit.
"Uh oh…" Takeshi spoke.
"What's so funny?" Luna questioned.
"You said you were curious to see how I would beat Stardust, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well… I'll show you. First, I will normal summon my Lunalight Kaleido Chick," Yoko announced, putting the card onto the field.
(Lunalight Kaleido Chick; Lvl: 4; ATK: 1400; DEF: 800)
"And I activate her effect. ...you have an Ash Blossom or an Effect Veiler?" Yoko nervously asked.
"No. You're good."
"Awesome. I send Lunalight Panther Dancer from my Extra Deck to the Graveyard to treat Kaleido Chick as Panther Dancer. Next, I activate… Lunalight Fusion!"
"A~nd there it is…" Takeshi spoke.
"Yoko's favorite and… only archetype…" Hana observed.
"Since you control a monster summoned from your Extra Deck, I can use monsters from my Deck or Extra Deck for this Fusion Summon. I use the Kaleido Chick treated as Panther Dancer, the Lunalight Black Sheep in my hand, and a Lunalight Crimson Fox from my Deck to Fusion Summon!"
"Shoot. Should've seen this coming…" Luna mumbled.
"Golden illusionist that mimics elegant beasts, red warrior that grants victory, beast lurking in jet-black darkness! Swarm in a vortex of the moon's gravity and revive with a new strength! Moon Prism Power… Fusion Summon! Lunalight Leo Dancer!" Yoko announced, putting the card onto the field.
(Lunalight Leo Dancer; Lvl: 10; ATK: 3500; DEF: 3000)
"You're not the only one with a boss monster," Yoko beamed, "And I'm not done yet! I now activate Crimson Fox's effect! Since she was sent to the Graveyard via a card effect, I drop your Stardust Dragon's attack points to zero!"
"*sighs* Here we go again…" Takeshi commented from the side, as Hinatan made a display to mark the change in stats.
(Stardust Dragon; ATK: 2500-0)
"Even with it able to attack twice, Luna will still survive to the end of the turn…" Hana observed.
"Now, I activate the Spell Card, Luna Light Perfume! I special summon a Lunalight monster from my Graveyard! I will bring back the monster you destroyed during the battle phase. Come back, Lunalight Blue Cat!" Yoko announced.
(Lunalight Blue Cat; Lvl: 4; ATK: 1600; DEF: 1200)
"Oh, look, Sailor Mercury," Luna joked.
"I don't think Mercury was this cocky looking…" Daisuke observed, "But, continue."
"Since Blue Cat was special summoned, I can activate her effect. I double the attack points of a Lunalight monster I control other than Blue Cat's, and there's only one valid target!" Yoko beamed.
(Lunalight Leo Dancer; ATK: 3500-7000)
"7000?!" Luna gasped.
"And I'm not done yet! I activate the Graveyard effect of Luna Light Perfume. I banish it and send one card from my hand to the Graveyard to add one Lunalight monster from my deck to my hand," Yoko explained, proceeding to send The Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Launch to the Graveyard, then she got the card out of the deck that she wanted, "I add Lunalight Purple Butterfly. But she's not here for long. I discard her to activate her effect. I give one Lunalight monster I control 1000 more attack points until the end of the turn."
(Lunalight Leo Dancer; ATK: 7000-8000)
"Battle! Lunalight Leo Dancer, attack Stardust Dragon and end this duel! Moon Finale Escalation!" Yoko announced, motioning the card forward towards Stardust Dragon
"Wow…" Takeshi gawked.
(Luna: 8000-0)
Luna just stared at her defeat for a moment, then pulled her shirt to partially cover her face and yelled out in frustration.
"I don't know how you're so shocked! This is literally the only deck she ever plays!" Hana yelled.
"I still can't come to grips with how she perfected what's almost an OTK…" Daisuke remarked.
"I regret teaching you how to play this game… so much…" Luna spoke.
Yoko just giggled a bit, simply picking up her cards to get ready to put them back before a thought occurred to her, "So… what else did you have?"
"My set card was Trap Stun," Luna informed as she flipped the card up, "And the other cards in my hand were Trade In and Turbo Synchron."
"Okay, the last card I had was just Polymerization, it was in my opening hand," Yoko stated.
"...you topdecked the Lunalight Fusion…" Luna remarked, letting out another groan.
"What can I say? Lucky," Yoko shrugged.
-Uh… we just got a donation from Kai with a stupid joke. 'Surprised Luna doesn't play the deck that has part of her name in it',- Hinatan informed.
"Hi Kai, surprised you can join us given how late it is in New York," Takeshi remarked, "Me and Hana will be playing after an intermission."
"And I'll show you what my deck can do," Hana beamed, "Get ready to lose, Bakashi."
Takeshi just rolled his eyes a bit, but shrugged off the insult.
As Takeshi and Hana were both setting themselves up, Yoko and Luna were both just sitting around with Daisuke. Eventually, they took to answering a few questions from the chat.
"One fan asks why you don't like Pretty Cure," Luna relayed to Yoko.
"Okay, I tried to watch it, but I just couldn't get into it. I don't know why, I really do not know what was my barrier to entry, but it just didn't… click, I guess…" Yoko admitted.
"Not everyone likes everything, and we should respect that," Takeshi stated simply, before he saw Hana snickering, "...what?"
"Her dislike of it is kinda funny. I mean… Yoko shares her first name with one of the VAs for a Pretty Cure character!" Hana pointed out before she started laughing aloud.
Yoko just had a bit of a blank stare, clearly not exactly happy as Hana just kept laughing a bit.
"...when my name is written in katakana, it's spelt differently…" was her eventual retort.
"What I find funny about that VA, her very first appearance in media was actually in Kamen Rider Black," Takeshi soon commented.
"Really? That's an odd coincidence…" Luna chimed in.
"Kinda funny," Daisuke chuckled.
Soon, Hana and Takeshi were both ready and sat down at the table, both taking a small look at each-other.
"Get ready to get your lame on, Bakashi," Hana stated.
"...that is the easiest joke in the universe when it comes to Yu-Gi-Oh…" Takeshi exhaled, simply setting his deck in place and then both he and Hana drew an opening hand.
"Duel!"
(Hana: 8000; Takeshi: 8000)
"I'll be going first," Hana spoke, proceeding to see her opening hand, seeing it consist of three Spells and two Trap cards. She winced a little, but then smiled upon seeing her line, "Well, this is gonna be a fun start. I will activate… Painful Choice!"
"...why haven't we put this card on our Forbidden list again?" Takeshi asked.
"Hana's the only one of us who has it and she doesn't always use it," Daisuke reminded.
"I will send three copies of DNA Surgery and two copies of Mask of Darkness to my Graveyard and then you'll get to pick one card to add to my hand," Hana spoke, quickly getting the five cards out.
"So, no matter what, you'll get DNA Surgery at some point…" Takeshi realized, "...go ahead and just add one to your hand. Do the cards go back to your deck or stay in the Graveyard?"
"Uh…" Hana spoke, "...Daisuke?"
"According to the card's ruling, the person playing it picks the 5 cards from their deck to reveal to their opponent and they pick one card the person playing can add to their hand. It's the remaining four cards picked that go into the graveyard.
"Okay, I just didn't remember if Hana was supposed to put them back into her deck or they all go to the Graveyard," Takeshi spoke.
"I kinda blanked too. Thanks sweetie," Hana smiled, moving the cards to where they should be before thinking, "Okay… uh… hmm…"
She blinked a bit, seeing she still had no monsters. She gave a nervous laugh before making her play, "I'll set two cards, then end my turn."
Takeshi blinked, then snickered a little, "Wow. No monsters?"
"There's a plan I have in store and you'll just need to wait and see."
"Alright. My turn. Draw!" Takeshi announced, proceeding to draw for turn. He couldn't help but smile upon seeing the card he drew for turn, being The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh. He looked down to the rest of his hand, seeing Pot of Greed, Honest, Neo-Spacian Grand Mole, Miracle Fusion, and HERO Signal. He looked to Hana's backrow and began to think a little bit, "Alright… hmm…"
"You got this!" Yoko gently cheered.
The blue-haired young man pondered a bit before he smiled.
"Okay. I'll activate Pot of Greed!" Takeshi announced, putting the card onto the field, "That fine?"
"Go ahead. And no, we're not saying what it does. You should all know it. It is one of the shortest written Spells in the game's existence," Hana spoke to the audience.
Takeshi snickered a bit, then drew two more cards. He ended up with Elemental HERO Clayman and O - Oversoul. He looked at Hana's backrow for a bit, trying to figure out what his best move should be.
"I'm gonna set a monster," Takeshi spoke as he did so, "And then I'll set one card in my back row."
"A typically safe turn for most players to make, but… fair," Hana remarked. Takeshi then motioned to his sister. Hana then drew for turn and looked at the set card, "Okay… you play one of two decks, so I think I can guess what that is. It's either Dinomist or Elemental HERO. And if it's the latter, then that's probably a set Clayman."
"Why don't you try to figure out if it is or isn't," Takeshi stated.
"Tch. Always trying to goad me to making a mistake. Well, I-" Hana began to speak.
"You troll me all the time, so it's only fair," Takeshi countered.
"He's not wrong," Luna added.
"...no comments from the peanut gallery, thank you," Hana exhaled.
"Why is it called the 'peanut gallery'?" Yoko asked.
"I gotta be honest, I don't know," Luna shrugged.
"Hinatan?" Takeshi asked.
-Due to the prices of peanuts in theaters years ago being cheaper, the term comes from the label of the gallery of a theater that sold significantly cheaper seats, usually higher up where it can be harder to be heard,- the AI quickly explained.
Hana rolled her eyes a bit, then looked over her hand and saw that the one monster she had in it and exhaled, but then looked more closely, "Okay. I'm gonna activate Allure of Darkness."
"Ooh. Risky. But, you let my draw two go off fine, so you can do it as well."
Hana then drew two cards, getting Backup Secretary and Monster Reborn, "I'm gonna banish the Cross Debug in my hand."
"...wait. What?" Takeshi blinked as he looked to the card that Hana banished, "Wasn't this about defending the honor of your deck or somesuch? What's that doing there?"
"I now normal summon my Backup Secretary," Hana continued.
(Backup Secretary; Lvl: 3; ATK: 1200; DEF: 800)
"...Hana? Again, I thought you were doing this to prove the 'honor' or something about a particular deck…" Takeshi stated, looking genuinely baffled at the card.
"It is an elegant upgrade for a more civilized age," Hana stated with a smirk.
"Ha…" Takeshi stated, recognizing the reference.
"And I shall now attack into your facedown. Clayman?" Hana spoke as Takeshi flipped the card up.
(Elemental HERO Clayman; Lvl: 4; ATK: 800; DEF: 2000)
"Oh, look at that, I'm so shocked," Hana sarcastically stated.
(Hana: 8000-7200)
"Then why did you attack anyway?" Takeshi asked.
"It at least confirmed my suspicions," Hana stated simply, then she changed phases, "Hmm… I'll end my turn here."
"Alright, I draw," Takeshi remarked, doing so, "Okay… thinking."
"Don't take too long, now…" Hana exhaled.
Takeshi nodded a bit, seeing the card he drew for turn was Graceful Charity. He looked over the field, then his hand in thought, "...okay… hmm… gonna go for a safe play here. I'll set another card. Turn end."
"That is… surprising, but, I won't complain," Hana shrugged as she drew for turn, "Oh, lookie here. I activate my own Pot of Greed!"
Takeshi just exhaled and let Hana do so, and she drew Premature Burial and Cyberse Wizard.
"Well… I can't draw the main theme of my deck for the life of me right now, so I'm gonna show some of the upgrades I've made to it. I'm gonna normal summon myself a Cyberse Wizard!" Hana spoke, proceeding to put the card onto the field.
(Cyberse Wizard; Lvl: 4; ATK: 1800; DEF: 800)
"And now, I activate Premature Burial! This does force me to spend 800 Life Points, but in turn, it allows me to bring a monster back from my Graveyard! And with that, I will summon up Mask of Darkness!"
(Hana: 7200-6400)
(Mask of Darkness; Lvl: 2; ATK: 900; DEF: 400)
"Isn't that a flip effect?" Yoko asked.
"And now, the summoning conditions are ready!"
"...huh?"
"Appear, the circuit that links to victory! The summoning condition is two or more effect monsters!" Hana proclaimed, "I'll use the Cyberse Wizard, Backup Secretary, and Mask of Darkness on my field as the materials! Link the circuit!"
With that, she moved both cards to the Graveyard and just had a calm smirk on her face. Takeshi just blinked a bit before it clicked into place what Hana was up to.
"Link Summon! Come forth, Link-3, Decode Talker!" Hana announced as she put the card onto the field.
(Decode Talker; ATK: 2300; Link-3)
Everybody stared in a bit of disbelief at this, almost dumbfounded as any of them could possibly be. They all ended up being a bit quiet at this sight, while the chat was cheering Hana on.
Takeshi ended up breaking the silence after a bit of time, "Hana?"
"Yes?"
"...why are you playing Link Monsters?" Takeshi asked.
"Because I knew it would bother you," Hana admitted with a giggle, "Plus, I'm not an idiot. I realize I need to have back-up plans in case my main tactic doesn't work. …and I want to show I'm capable and competent with dueling."
"You sure this isn't purely to be a troll? Cause that fits your MO."
"...I'll leave that to your imagination. Also, you all pawned them off on me. I may as WELL use them!" Hana spoke.
All that came in response from the others, apart from Yoko, were sighs. Takeshi just put his face to his free palm, rubbing it a little bit.
"It's official. You're being the troll again," Takeshi groaned.
"Again, I leave it to your imagination. I'll openly admit that I tend to forget this thing just requires regular effect monsters and not Cyberse specifically…" Hana admitted, "But, hey, it's a boss monster of an anime protagonist. Anyway, battle! Decode Talker, attack! Decode End!"
"Not helping…" Takeshi mumbled as he moved Clayman to his Graveyard.
"Am I good to go to main two?"
"Hold up! I activate my Trap Card, HERO Signal!" Takeshi announced, flipping the card up, "Now I… uh… hold on…"
"Don't tell me you forgot what your own card did," Hana spoke.
"You said you forget things, so shut up. I just need to read one thing…" Takeshi told her, "Right. I special summon an Elemental HERO from my deck to the field. I forgot if it was to the field or if it went to my hand. It's been a little while since I've dueled so…"
"You're fine."
"Now, I'll special summon Elemental HERO Sparkman to my field in defense!" Takeshi announced.
(Elemental HERO Sparkman; Lvl: 4; ATK: 1600; DEF: 1400)
"Alright then…" Hana exhaled, "Can I go to main two now?"
"Yes."
Hana checked her hand, then looked to her brother, "Turn end."
"Okay. Draw!" Takeshi announced, getting a copy of Polymerization. He gave off a small sigh, then looked over his options a little bit, but then smiled, "You know, you put in a lot of work into summoning that dumb Link Monster."
"Why thank you. I do a lot when I have fun," Hana responded.
"Would be a shame if I… got rid of it," Takeshi grinned as he summoned Neo-Spacian Grand Mole.
"Oh no…" Hana paled.
Takeshi quickly changed Sparkman into attack position, "Battle! Grand Mole, attack! Before the damage step can begin, I activate Grand Mole's effect to bounce both it and your Decode Talker back to our hands! …or Extra Deck in your case."
"Thanks…" Hana sarcastically responded.
"Sparkman, attack her directly! Static Shockwave!"
Hana did a mock wince, somewhat covering her face as if she was shielding her eyes from a bright light.
(Hana: 6400-4800)
"You know there's not actual hologram projection with these, right?" Daisuke reminded.
"You do that too, y'know," Hana stated simply.
"It's just fun sometimes," Luna shrugged.
"But still…"
"...how would a hologram even be able to knock someone back or something?" Yoko soon asked.
"Added effects from wind machines I guess?"
Takeshi chuckled a bit, "With that, I end my turn."
Hana growled a bit before she drew for turn and then looked at her hand, "Well… it's time to give mom a reason to smile if she happens to be watching this."
"...why?" Takeshi soon asked.
"First, I will activate One Time Passcode," Hana spoke, using the spell, "I special summon a Security Token to my field."
(Security Token; Lvl: 4; ATK: 2000; DEF: 2000)
"But this token won't be here for long. I activate Interrupted Kaiju Slumber!" Hana announced, "All monsters on the field are now destroyed and I get to special summon two Kaiju monsters!"
Takeshi made a small wince as he moved Sparkman to the Graveyard.
"Now that'll put a shock to your system," Hana joked.
"I don't get the reference," Yoko admitted.
"Static Shock," Daisuke responded.
"And now, to my field, I shall special summon Gadarla, the Mystery Dust Kaiju!"
(Gadarla, the Mystery Dust Kaiju; Lvl: 8; ATK: 2700; DEF: 1600)
"Hi Mothra," Takeshi joked.
"Which is why I play this card. Just to give our mom a reason to smile," Hana admitted.
"...would someone explain the joke?" Yoko asked.
"Our mom's favorite kaiju is Mothra from the Godzilla franchise. This card is clearly inspired by her," Takeshi quickly explained.
"...today, I learned that Mothra is female and from the same series as Godzilla," Yoko soon admitted.
"...you've never seen a Godzilla movie?" Hana asked, only to blink a bit, "No, wait, that makes sense knowing your background. Nevermind."
All Yoko could do was shrug her shoulders a bit, "Sorry…"
"And now, you get your own Kaiju as well. Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju!"
(Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju; Lvl: 8; ATK: 2200; DEF: 3000)
"...is that supposed to be Godzilla?" Yoko asked.
"No. Gamera," Takeshi informed, "And no, he's not in the same world as Godzilla; different companies."
"Okay."
"...also, Hana, why? Where are the cards you wanted to defend?" Takeshi soon asked.
"...I haven't drawn them," Hana admitted.
"Talk about awkward.."
"Oh shut up! Battle! Gadarla, go on and attack that turtle! Antenna Beams!"
Takeshi just sighed and then took the damage.
(Takeshi: 8000-7500)
"Finally damaged you! Prepare to get knocked down!" Hana beamed.
"I would like to point out… Hana has about thirteen cards in her Graveyard right now. Takeshi has less than ten," Luna observed.
"I'm playing cautiously…" was all Takeshi stated.
Hana then motioned for her brother to take his turn, which he proceeded to do. Takeshi winced a little bit as he saw the card he drew for turn was Elemental HERO Avian. He then proceeded to set Miracle Fusion and gave his sister a motion to take her turn.
"Okay! Draw!" Hana announced, drawing for turn, "I activate Cup of Ace. Toss a coin, and if I get heads, then I draw two. If it is tails, then you get to draw two."
-I got this. Running a simulation of a coin toss,- Hinatan spoke, quickly pulling up a coin flipping generator that ended up landing on heads.
"Yes!" Hana beamed, drawing another two cards, getting Venom Boa and Dotscaper. Hana then checked the contents of her Extra Deck and a lightbulb seemed to go off, "Okay, let's see how much I can punish you for not drawing into something that can beat me."
"Oh no…"
"I shall normal summon my Dotscaper!" Hana announced, putting the card onto the field.
(Dotscaper; Lvl: 1; ATK: 0; DEF: 2100)
"You've got a plan with that…" Takeshi realized.
"Indeed I do. Appear, the circuit that links to victory! The summoning condition is one Level 1 monster! I'll use the Dotscaper on my field as the materials! Link the circuit!"
With that, she moved the card to the Graveyard and got out another Link Monster.
"Go, Link-1, Linkuriboh!"
(Linkuriboh; ATK: 300; Link-1)
"Even Kuriboh fell to that nonsense?! What the hey?!" Takeshi gasped.
"Dotscaper's effect now activates. Since I sent it to the Graveyard, I get to bring it back! Let's go, my little Dotscaper!"
(Dotscaper; Lvl: 1; ATK: 0; DEF: 2100)
"At least you can only use that effect one per duel…" Takeshi exhaled.
"Well… yeah. It's a good card. It was Forbidden at one point, then it got an errata."
"...ok."
"Either way, I'm going to use another card, I activate my Trap Card, Back to the Front! I special summon a monster from my Graveyard into defense. Let's go, Backup Secretary!"
(Backup Secretary; Lvl: 3; ATK: 1200; DEF: 800)
Hana set the card on the field and then checked her Extra Deck again, leaving Takeshi tapping his foot.
"Just be patient…" Hana responded as she checked her backrow, "Okay. Now, for my other Trap Card, DNA Surgery! Now, all monsters on the field will be treated as Cyberse!"
"...I'm really wondering if you even have those cards in your deck…" Takeshi mumbled.
"You'll see. "Appear, the circuit that links to victory! The summoning condition is two or more Cyberse monsters! I'll use the Linkuriboh and the Backup Secretary on my field as the materials! Link the circuit!"
She quickly moved the cards to her Graveyard, then got the monster from her Extra Deck.
"Come forth, Link-2, Cyberse Witch!" Hana announced.
(Cyberse Witch; ATK: 800; Link-2)
"...oh… I know what she's up to because I gave her those cards…" Daisuke paled in realization.
"Why did you give them to her?" Yoko asked.
"Because they didn't fit my deck…"
"Gee, thanks for that…" Takeshi sarcastically told Daisuke, then he exhaled, "Then again, I gave her Decode Talker…"
"True. Your fault there. Besides the point right now," Hana responded, "Now, I activate Monster Reborn! I bring back my Backup Secretary once more, and I put her in a spot that a Link Arrow of Cyberse Witch points to!"
(Backup Secretary; Lvl: 3; ATK: 1200; DEF: 800)
"...is that important?" Takeshi asked.
"Yes it is. Now, since I did that, I can banish a Spell Card to add a copy of Cynet Ritual from my Deck to my hand! I banish One Time Passcode to do so!" Hana announced, proceeding to search for the card, "And, even better, I can special summon a Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster from my Graveyard back to my field! Return, Cyberse Wizard!"
(Cyberse Wizard; Lvl: 4; ATK: 1800; DEF: 800)
"Of course it comes back. This is getting downright ridiculous. I seriously regret giving you those cards."
"And now, I activate my copy of Cynet Ritual! I use monsters on my field and in my hand for a Ritual Summon. I send the Cyberse Wizard on my field and the Venom Boa in my hand for the sacrifices!"
She moved the cards to the Graveyard, then spoke, "The contract has been made. The sage who wields dark power inherits these two souls! Ritual Summon! Rise, Cyberse Magician!"
(Cyberse Magician; Lvl: 7; ATK: 2500; DEF: 2000)
"...are you quite done yet?" Takeshi ended up asking, his eyes glancing towards Hana's Graveyard to see the card currently on top of it before she move the Ritual Spell to the Graveyard, '...guess it means Hana doesn't have the Field Spell or Terraforming to try to search it out…'
:Now, for the last summon. Mom, sorry about this, but I'm gonna have to use the kaiju. Appear, the circuit that links to victory! The summoning condition is two or more effect monsters!" Hana proclaimed, "I'll use the Dotscaper, Backup Secretary, and Gadarla, the Mystery Dust Kaiju on my field as the materials! Link the circuit!"
With that, Hana moved the cards and then got a certain Link Monster right under a marker that Cyberse Witch pointed to.
"Return to my side, Decode Talker!"
(Decode Talker; ATK: 2300; Link-3)
"Okay… 2500, 2300, 800…" Takeshi spoke, "That would only be about 5600, right?"
"That is right," Daisuke responded.
"Actually, since Decode Talker is pointing towards Cyberse Witch, it gains 500 more attack points. That means Decode Talker is at 2800!"
(Decode Talker; ATK: 2300-2800)
"I mean, doesn't sound that bad… but… 6100… oh boy," Takeshi realized, then he turned to Daisuke to get a nod on the math.
"Battle! My monsters, attack him directly!"
"I activate my Quick-Play Spell, The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh!" Takeshi announced.
Hana just grimaced in irritation.
"I special summon a Winged Kuriboh into defense!" Takeshi stated, quickly putting the card onto the field to take the attack, "And now, since you destroyed my Winged Kuriboh, I take no battle damage for the rest of this turn!"
"KURIBOH SAVE!" Luna proclaimed happily.
"No need to yell…" Daisuke told her.
"Ow… my ear…" Yoko whimpered.
"Sorry, sorry," Luna apologized.
"You survived this turn, but I don't know how you'll win. Turn end."
Takeshi nervously exhaled and then drew for turn. He looked at the card he drew and then smiled, "Since I control no monsters, I can special summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman from my hand into defense!"
(Elemental HERO Bubbleman; Lvl: 4; ATK: 800; DEF: 1200)
"Since Bubbleman is the only monster that I control, I get to draw two cards," Takeshi spoke, proceeding to do so, "...got a chance. I activate the Spell Card, Polymerization!"
"A fusion? Go ahead."
"Hero of Air, Heroine of Fire, soar high into the sky and send your fiery winds down upon the villain you stand before! Fusion Summon! Soar, Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!"
(Elemental HERO Flame Wingman; Lvl 6; ATK: 2100; DEF: 1200)
"And now, to take this fight to the big city. I activate the Field Spell, Skyscraper!" Takeshi announced.
The chat began to cheer Takeshi on for this little action, Hana looking a little irked before she just rolled her eyes a bit.
"You may have blue hair, but you have the spirit of a Slifer Slacker no matter what…" Hana remarked.
"So what? Slifers always came out on top over the Obelisks, anyway. Time to battle! Skyscraper's Effect. When an Elemental HERO fights an opponent's monster with higher attack points, Turn up the heat, Flame Wingman! Skydive Scorcher!"
With that, Takeshi motioned Flame Wingman to attack Cyberse Magician.
(Elemental HERO Flame Wingman; ATK: 2100-3100)
Hana groaned as she just moved the card to her Graveyard.
(Hana: 4800-4200)
"Flame Wingman's effect activates! You take damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack!"
This made the redhead make a mock wince in pain, putting her hand over her face.
(Hana: 4200-1700)
"And it looks like the Slifer's pulled ahead in the leaderboard. Turn end," Takeshi remarked.
Hana just growled a little bit in irritation, then exhaled, "Sorry. Sorry. Just a game. Always remember, it is just a silly game."
"Hey, despite our teasing, you always were a good sport. Thanks for at least staying that way," Takeshi smiled.
"Draw," Hana exhaled, drawing for turn, then she gasped, "I activate Card of Sanctity! Now, we both draw until we have six cards in our hands!"
Thus, Hana drew five cards while Takeshi drew three. Hana got Raigeki, Damage=Reptile, Snake Rain, Call of the Haunted, and Venom Veil. Takeshi got Monster Reborn, Neo Space, and a Trap Card that made him smile a little.
"Alright, I activate Raigeki! Get those silly superheroes out of my face!" Hana proclaimed.
Takeshi sighed, removing his monster cards from the field.
"Battle! Decode Talker, Cyberse Witch, attack him directly!"
(Takeshi: 7500-4700-3900)
"Ha! I'm catching up on you!" Hana beamed, "I'll set two cards facedown, and end my turn."
"Ore no turn. Draw," Takeshi declared as he saw he drew for turn, "The game isn't over. Not until the last card is played…"
"Man, you always get so cheesy with this game. Just keep going."
Takeshi looked to see that he drew E - Emergency Call. He then looked over the cards he had and smiled, "Okay. I got an idea. I now activate… Graceful Charity!"
He then flipped up the card he had on the field, "Now, I draw another three and discard two."
Takeshi then drew into Elemental HERO Neos, Aqua Dolphin, and Mystical Space Typhoon. He sent the two monsters to the Graveyard and added the Quick-Play Spell to his hand.
"And now, I got my prep ready."
"...what?"
"First, I'll bring back my Neo-Spacian Grand Mole!"
(Neo-Spacian Grand Mole; Lvl 3; ATK: 900; DEF: 300)
"And now, I'll play the Spell Card, O - Oversoul! I bring back a normal Elemental HERO monster from my Graveyard. And you should know who I'm bringing back. Neo Space has a brand new hero… and his name is Elemental HERO Neos!"
Takeshi smiled as he set the card down and then chuckled a little bit.
(Elemental HERO Neos; Lvl: 7; ATK: 2500; DEF: 2000)
"My first ever Gold Rarity card," Takeshi beamed, "And the fun doesn't stop there! Contact Fusion! The hero of unknown miracles shall show his hidden capabilities! Go, Elemental HERO Grand Neos!"
(Elemental HERO Grand Neos; Lvl 7; ATK: 2500; DEF: 2000)
"And just to make sure nothing bad happens to him, I activate the Field Spell, Neo Space!" Takeshi announced, switching out Skyscraper, "Now, Grand Neos won't need to return to my Extra Deck."
(Elemental HERO Grand Neos; ATK: 2500-3000)
"Battle! Grand Neos, attack Decode Talker!"
(Hana: 1700-1500)
"You fool… you walked right into my gameplan. I activate… Damage=Reptile!"
"Wait… doesn't that say it has to be a Reptile?" Yoko asked.
"No. It says any monster," Daisuke confirmed, "Errata to buff the card for some legacy support or something."
"Oh dear lord. Ok, I know what's going on. You're bringing out your true boss monster with it?"
"Indeed I am! Slithering out of the jungle to rise up and sink my foes into the depths of the swamps for daring to challenge me! Come forth, Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes!" Hana announced.
(Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes; Lvl 8; ATK: 0; DEF: 0)
"A~nd there it is. The true deck Hana enjoys playing, Venom. …y'know, when I heard that an archetype named 'Venom' was a thing when we were younger, I was kinda excited. Cause Marvel character…" Takeshi remarked.
"Yea… sorry to burst your bubble with that one…"
"What's chat saying?" Luna asked.
"There's quite a bit of shock right now," Daisuke informed.
"Yeah, cause the deck is… a mess, to put it mildly," Luna added on.
"So… would you believe us if we told you that Hana actually won a local tournament using those stupid Venom cards?" Takeshi ended up asking the viewers, "Cause she did."
"I won my first round because my opponent was a Monarch deck that bricked hard core, and my final opponent was someone playing Weevil's deck and he won up until me by decking his opponent out," Hana elaborated.
"Probably helped that the cards were mostly high rarities and Hana was the only person playing them, so nobody knew how to counter them…" Daisuke figured.
"And I have a special attachment to the Venom cards. When we were younger, it the set these were in was the very first one I ever got to open with my own allowance. I built the Venom deck up. Although, Daisuke-kun was the one who gave me my boss monster here."
"In my defense, I didn't want it and I knew she was building it," Daisuke elaborated.
"Yea… funny how things turn out…"
"Anyway, I currently have one Reptile monster in my Graveyard, so the king has 500 attack points."
(Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes; ATK: 0-500)
"Yeah… and unless I find a way to beat it fast, then it'll be a problem…" Takeshi exhaled, "I'll set one card and end my turn."
"Draw!" Hana announced, getting Venom Cobra, "Alright! I activate Snake Rain! I discard a card from my hand, and then I send four Reptile Monsters from my deck to my Graveyard!"
"He~re we go…" Takeshi exhaled.
"I discard the Venom Cobra that I just drew. And with that, I will send two copies of Venom Boa from my deck to my Graveyard, and then another two copies of Venom Cobra!"
"So… that was two…" Takeshi remarked, "So, 1000. Then you send another four, and the king gets 500 for each in the Graveyard. So… it's at 3000!"
Hana just giggled a bit.
(Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes; ATK: 500-3000)
"And I'm gonna have some fun! Battle! King of the Poisonous Snakes, destroy Grand Neos!"
Takeshi checked the calculations before sighing and both cards went to the Graveyard.
"And now, Cyberse Witch, attack him directly!"
(Takeshi: 3900-3100)
"But I'm not done yet, I banish one Reptile from my Graveyard to bring the king right back! I banish one Venom Boa to bring it back!"
(Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes; Lvl 8; ATK: 3000-2500; DEF: 0)
"I believe it is said that I can't declare another attack with the card in some rulings, so you get off lucky for now," Hana told Takeshi before looking to her hand, and then deciding to ready something else, "And now for the ticking timer. I activate Terraforming!"
"How long have you had that?" Takeshi asked.
"Since turn one."
Takeshi went wide-eyed at that revelation.
"I didn't draw any of my Venom monsters on turn one!"
"Fair…"
"Anyway, with Terraforming, I shall now search out Venom Swamp!" Hana grinned, pulling it right out of her deck, "And, now, I activate my Venom Swamp! Now, during the end phase, non-Venom monsters will get a counter and lose 500 attack points for each one they have. I'm sorry to my Link Monster, but your sacrifice shall not be in vain."
(Cyberse Witch; ATK: 800-300; Venom Counter: 1)
"But you don't really have any Venom monsters out aside from your ace. So…"
"But it will get rid of any monsters you have if you can't get rid of me easily."
Takeshi rolled his eyes and drew for turn. He then set one card onto the field, "I activate my own Card of Sanctity!"
With that, both once again drew until they had six. Hana couldn't help but snicker upon seeing her hand, while Takeshi just ignored her to see he had gotten Upstart Goblin, Premature Burial, and Block Attack. He took a moment to look over his options and then smiled a bit.
"I've got a way out. And it starts with a miracle! I activate Miracle Fusion!" Takeshi announced, "I banish Flame Wingman and Sparkman to bring out my ace in the hole!"
"Here goes…"
"Hero of Flaming Wings, Hero of Shining Energy, combine your powers so that no evil will remain facing your incredible might! The strength of heroes will never die! Fusion Summon! Soar, Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman!"
(Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman; Lvl: 8; ATK 2500; DEF: 2100)
"Shining Flare Wingman gains 300 extra attack points for each Elemental HERO in my graveyard, and there are five!"
(Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman; ATK: 2500-4000)
"...oh no…" Hana paled.
Before Takeshi could do anything more, there was a sudden beeping from somewhere. Luna was about to speak, but then the beeping kept happening. The group quickly saw it was their phones and saw an emergency alert about a monster attack happening outside.
"Oh… that's… bad…" Daisuke spoke.
Luna grew a little nervous, then glanced towards Takeshi who just looked to his hand and then back at her. He then glanced to the scoreboard and recalled that, whoever won, would need to face off against Yoko in the finals. He then looked back at his hand to think for a moment.
-Do not worry, everybody. We are all safe. Nothing is happening around us,- Hinatan assured the stream audience, -The islands have just been dealing with… issues.-
Hana just exhaled a little, still unaware of what was going on with the others around her. Luna gave another glance towards Takeshi, then began to head out, "Everything ok?"
"Yeah. Just… my mom sent me a message and asked me to call her, so I'm gonna take care of that. I may need to head out."
"Well, you already lost, so that works out," Hana shrugged.
Luna quickly hurried out, and Takeshi looked back to the game state.
'...okay, no way I can win and then walk away without it looking like blatant favortism. And I know Luna doesn't need my help, but… what if she does end up needing help? What if someone else needs help? What if there is a chance of her just needing help? …is this what it's like to be Spider-Man or something? Wow… this bites…'
"...Bakashi?"
"Turn end."
"...what?"
"I wanna see what else you can pull off."
(Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman; ATK: 4000-3500; Venom Counter: 1)
Hana blinked in confusion, then drew for turn, "...alright… uh… here I go?"
She then looked to her field and recalled something, "Oh, right. My one Link Monster is out of attack points because of the End Phase. Hey, that's something."
Takeshi smiled a bit as Hana moved the card away.
"After that… uh, alright. I'll set a monster," Hana spoke, putting a monster facedown, "And then I activate Book of Taiyou to flip it up. It is my Magician of Faith."
(Magician of Faith; Lvl 1; ATK: 300; DEF: 400)
"With that, I get to add a Spell Card back from my Graveyard," Hana spoke, proceeding to fish out for the card.
Takeshi watched as Hana put Painful Choice back into her Graveyard after she searched something out, then glanced away for a moment, 'Yeah… I got a painful choice to make here.'
"I will now activate Call of the Haunted to bring back Gadarla!" Hana beamed.
(Gadarla, the Mystery Dust Kaiju; Lvl: 8; ATK: 2700; DEF: 1600)
"I now equip Gadaria with Venom Veil to make it immune to having Venom Counters placed on it. Now, I activate my Raigeki!"
Takeshi blinked a bit, then moved Shining Flare Wingman to his Graveyard.
"...there's no way this will be that easy. Battle…" Hana spoke, "Kaiju in first."
(Takeshi: 3100-400)
"...Magician of Faith in…"
(Takeshi: 400-100)
"...game?" Hana asked.
"Game," Takeshi responded, even placing his hand on his deck to signify he lost.
(Takeshi: 100-0)
"...what was that?" Hana asked.
"What was what?" Takeshi asked.
"You could've beaten me! Easily! I know you were hiding something and you had lethal with Shining Flare Wingman!"
Takeshi didn't say anything in response as he started to get up.
"Wh-what was the set card?" Hana questioned.
Takeshi blinked a bit, feigning that he had forgotten, before he flipped it up, "...oh yeah, Mirror Force."
"Are you serious?! You forgot you set that?! You could've beaten me had you not forgotten, you idiot!"
Takeshi said nothing as he scooped up his deck and then set it away, "Good game."
"Where are you going?!" Hana questioned.
"Okaa-san just messaged me at one point and asked me to help with something. Sounded important. So have fun while I see what's up. Jaa ne."
Hana stammered out a bit in genuine confusion, not sure how to react to this.
"Well… uh… we're gonna go to intermission for a bit," Daisuke spoke, "We'll be back in a bit."
Luna exhaled as she got her motorcycle ready, about to leave when she saw Takeshi hurrying over to her.
"There enough room for two?" Takeshi quickly asked.
"What are you doing here?" Luna blinked.
"I know you probably don't need my help and all that, but… well… I just couldn't keep my focus on a game," Takeshi admitted.
"You wanted to make sure I got back safely and didn't want me to be on my own. Right?"
"...it's not that I don't trust you. It's just that… well… I don't know how else to put this… I just… worry. I know you're strong. But having fought those Vaijin and knowing how dangerous they are, I… well…" Takeshi tried to speak, struggling to find the right words, "Plus, the whole thing about power and responsibility has been burnt into my head. Maybe I did watch and play too much Spider-Man, but my point stands."
Luna just gave a nod of her head and handed a motorcycle helmet over to Takeshi.
Yoko took a bit to gently cuddle the pink seal plushie she had, while Hana was off in the bathroom. Daisuke made sure all of the streaming stuff had been muted so that nobody would hear them, knowing that things were going to be complicated.
"So… Takeshi threw it to help Luna?" Yoko asked.
"Duh. He would've beat Hana easily. But he didn't have the time to go through with his plan and then go up against you."
"...yeah. Plus, I can imagine if he did win and walked away from me, it'd just look like favoritism."
"Wow… yea, uh… that is a good point…" Daisuke realized before he exhaled a bit.
The two fell silent as they continued to wait for Hana, when they took notice of someone walking over to them.
"Oh, hi, Mrs. Narumi," Daisuke greeted.
"Hi. Just wanted to check on you a moment," she spoke.
"...you're not mad I've not seen any Godzilla movie, are you?" Yoko nervously asked.
"No. Just know that I intend to show you some in the future," Mrs. Narumi stated simply, "But, in all seriousness, what's the cover story?"
"Takeshi said he was gonna help you with something important. So, just whatever you think would work," Daisuke told her.
Mrs. Narumi nodded, then hurried as quickly and quietly as she could back up the stairs while Hana was still in the bathroom.
Some distance away, a massive hoard of Payactions were roaming around, with some in the hybridized form that more advanced ones were in. People were panicking a bit, when…
=INTO THE ADVENTURE!/DRAGON!=
The two Riders rushed in, tackling the Payactions before they saw the fairly large hoard of them.
"...you wanna just skip the formalities today and just get to making them go away?" SEGA asked.
"Yeah. Nice and simple for once," Playstation responded.
The two nodded and then ran forward, pulling out their respective weapons after quickly inputting the codes, and going on the attack.
"Hurry up and get away from here!" SEGA yelled to the civilians, ushering several of them to leave the nearby fight.
"Hurry it up!" Playstation added on.
As some escaped, SEGA kicked one grunt upside the head and into a larger one, which managed to briefly stumble the larger one. Before long, Playstation swung her fan and made a few explode.
Hana soon returned from her bathroom break, seeing that both Takeshi and Luna were still gone from the basement. She scratched her head a little bit, trying to think about what they had both said about why they needed to leave.
"You ok?" Daisuke asked her.
"Yeah. I feel like Bakashi went easy on me because he wanted me to be happy about the deck or something…" Hana remarked, "I just feel cheated. It doesn't help me feel better, it's like he thought I was incompetent or something!"
Daisuke nervously exhaled, not sure how to get her to stop.
SEGA quickly used the Pink Spike attack to bash through a few smaller Payactions, causing them to explode, "Okay, why are there so many of them?!"
"Not sure, we're still trying to coordinate that info," Playstation admitted, kicking down some of the grunts as well, quickly knocking some to SEGA so he could kick them, "From what we can gather, since their stupid game is the fuel source, if means there's a lot of people wasting their cash on it."
SEGA just groaned a bit, "Does the phrase 'spend responsibly' mean nothing to people?"
"Considering a pair of Vaijin we fought became monsters as a result of losing their home, I doubt it," Playstation guessed.
"Noted…" SEGA exhaled before he and Playstation kept on the attack as best they could.
About thirty minutes had passed since the emergency broadcast had gone out, with Hana and Yoko both still sort of waiting around. Yoko was starting to look worried as she kept cuddling the plushie. After another minute or two, Daisuke walked over to the two of them.
"The situation is looking better, because of the Kamen Riders showing up," Daisuke remarked as the emergency alert had finished.
Hana just nodded her head a bit, managing to smile a little before she looked around and exhaled.
"...why don't you focus on the match you got with Yoko?" Daisuke spoke.
"Yeah," Hana nodded.
Yoko then gave her own little nod, setting the plushie aside.
SEGA dashed forward into another bulky Payaction, which made it stumble a bit. One of the bulky ones tried to swing an axe, but SEGA quickly phased through it with the Jade Ghost power.
"You're too slow~" he mocked, kicking the grunts and making them explode. However, even after what seemed like the hundredth had gone down, another few charged towards him.
"I hate hoards of grunts," SEGA exhaled.
"So do I. You get used to it," Playstation stated simply.
"Easier said than done…"
The duel between Yoko and Hana had been going on for a little bit, with Hana having Decode Talker and Code Talker Inverted on her field, while Yoko had Lunalight Panther Dancer on her field.
"How do you think you'll be able to beat my field of Links? I'm all ready for your little prismatic power."
"Ye~~~ah…" Yoko spoke, flipping up a backrow card, "Dimensional Barrier, Link Monsters."
Hana blinked and soon saw the card said that all types of the declared Extra Deck monsters were banished from the field and Graveyard and could not be summoned for the remainder of the duel. Hana loudly groaned before she banished her entire remaining Extra Deck.
"Bye bye," Yoko waved.
Hana just growled a bit before flipping up her own backrow, "Dimensional Barrier, Fusion Monsters."
Yoko exhaled a little, proceeding to banish all but two cards from her Extra Deck.
"There. I'm without… basically all of my Extra Deck, and you're down to your last two cards in yours. Fair," Hana remarked.
"I guess…" Yoko shrugged.
=INTO THE BROADCAST!=
"Right left right left, hey, chu!" SEGA shouted out, firing towards the grunts as rapidly as he could.
"Keep the beat," Playstation responded.
"I know, I'm on it, just let me move to the groove," SEGA stated.
Playstation did her best to avoid snickering at that remark, but soon got back to swinging her fans and knocking the gem-stone like heads off of the grunts until they went boom.
At long last, the final grunt had exploded and none of them remained.
"Victory… player one and player two…" Playstation exhaled, "Goddesses, I hate fighting hoards of these things late at night…"
All SEGA could do was nod before they both got back to the motorcycle, "Pardon me for asking, but I have a dumb question. Why was it you and your cousin drove back to the base that one day?"
"Oh. Well, someone kinda has to manage the teleporters so that they actually function. Without someone, it's not safe to use them. And since both the managers are busy…" Playstation explained, making SEGA sigh and just hold on as she drove the bike away.
At this point in the duel, both Yoko and Hana were running out of cards in their decks and were both down to their final 1000 life points. Hana had Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes on her field with 5000 attack points currently, and Yoko had just narrowly avoided losing the duel with a lucky use of Power Wall.
"It's my turn!" Yoko yelled, drawing for turn. She then looked at the card and realized she had her out, "It's here. First, I activate Monster Reborn! Return, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"
(Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon; Rank: 4: ATK: 2500; DEF: 2000; OU: 0)
"Now, I activate my Spell Card, The Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Launch! Using this card, and Dark Rebellion as materials, I Xyz Summon a monster that is one Rank higher!"
"Oh? The last card in your Extra Deck," Hana grinned.
"From the depths of purgatory, cry forth your requiem of rebellion! Let it echo through eternity and now rise! Rank Up, Xyz Evolution! Come forth, Rank 5, Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon!"
(Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon; Rank: 5; ATK: 3000; DEF: 2500; OU: 2)
"I activate Dark Reqiuem's effect! I detach one Overlay Unit and drain away all of the attack points of your monster, then give it all to my dragon! Requiem Salvation!"
(Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes; ATK: 5000-0)
(Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon; ATK: 3000-8000; OU: 2-1)
"Battle! I attack your snake with Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon!" Yoko shouted, "This is the end!"
"Indeed it is! I activate Ring of Destruction! Now, we both take damage equal to your dragon's attack points!" Hana shouted.
Yoko saw she had no way to counter it and then just smiled.
(Hana/Yoko: 1000-0)
All Yoko did then was offer her hand to shake with Hana. The two girls couldn't help but smile as they shook hands.
-And there you have it, everyone! Duel Night's winners today are both Hana and Yoko! We have a draw for the first time in a long while!- Hinatan beamed.
The two waved towards the camera a bit, bidding everyone farewell as the stream concluded for the evening. With that, Daisuke and Yoko began to work on cleaning up the downstairs area.
Takeshi was able to slip back into the house without anyone noticing, then he just went into the shower to clean off, sighing out of exhaustion and discomfort. There was a knock at the door after a moment.
"Yeah?" Takeshi spoke up.
"There you are," Hana said from the other end, "Me and Yoko ended up having a draw. Just figured the person who gave me the easy win would wanna know."
"I am too tired to argue right now, please leave me alone…" Takeshi spoke in a genuine and sincere tone.
The redhead sighed from the other end of the door before she headed back to her room. She soon collapsed on the bed and just tried to unwind from the lengthy day that she had had.
As late evening fell, Hana was on her phone and just searching Twitter about the monster attack, taking note of the time the two Riders had supposedly showed up. She seemed confused before trying to think some things over.
"...what am I missing here…?" Hana mumbled, sighing to herself before she plopped her phone on her nightstand and finally went to sleep.
Early morning arrived and Takeshi ended up slowly walking down the stairs to the living room, with his mom wiping off a table before she heard him trudging over.
"Everything alright?" she worriedly asked.
"I am really sore…" Takeshi admitted, "Like… actually moving around kinda hurts…"
"Oh. Do you need me to get you and Hana to school?" Mrs. Narumi asked.
"Honestly…? Yes. I'm in no ability to drive right now. I can manage the schoolday as best I can, but driving is out of the question," Takeshi spoke.
Mrs. Narumi gave an understanding nod, simply giving him a kiss on the forehead where it was clean before proceeding to get the car keys and try to make herself somewhat presentable.
The car ride over to the high school was mostly quiet, with Hana just staring out a window in thought, while Takeshi had an ice pack over his shoulder. Hana glanced towards him at one point, but she didn't say anything to him. The car soon pulled over and the two got out.
"Have a good day, you two," Mrs. Narumi told them with a smile.
"Thanks Okaa-san," Hana smiled.
Takeshi soon began to make the walk inside, somewhat wobbling, while Hana just walked over to some of her cheerleader friends that were already at the school. She waved towards them and then glanced away, thinking a bit.
'There is no possible way he could've ended up that sore while helping Okaa-san and Otou-san. There is just no way. What in the world could he have done to wind up like that?' Hana thought, before she began to replay certain events from the previous evening out in her mind, the sound of gears almost being audible from the fast rate her thoughts were going at.
"Hana?"
The redhead turned towards her fellow cheerleaders to see they had been trying to get her attention.
"You need to sit out practice later or something?"
"Nah… just… my mind is kinda elsewhere…" Hana admitted to her cheerleader friends, "Sorry about that. I think I'll be fine."
Takeshi arrived at class and sat down in his desk, wincing a little bit from the pain he was in. He then got out his phone and began to watch something on it to try to take his mind off of the soreness. He eventually just chuckled a bit as he watched something on the phone for a little bit.
"Whatcha watchin'?" Luna asked as she and Yoko arrived in the classroom.
"Oh, nothing much, just a little show called Kimetsu no Yaiba," Takeshi shrugged.
"The only thing I know about the show is that the protagonist's name is Nezuko and that she is a cute and barefoot sword wielder," Yoko added on as she sat down.
"That's accurate," Takeshi nodded, before he winced a little, "...I'm really sore."
"Sorry to hear…" Yoko responded.
Luna just gave a small nod of her own, then she sat down in her own desk.
"What about you?" Takeshi asked.
"Yeah, I'm a little sore as well, but I've gotten used to it," Luna responded, rubbing her right shoulder a little bit.
"Okaa-san had to drive me and Hana today… but you two knew that since I had to tell you that you'd need to bring Yoko back home after class today," Takeshi spoke.
"Hai," Luna nodded.
"I'm sorry about what happened, Take-kun," Yoko commented.
"It's alright…" he shrugged, "Also, I'm hoping to not need to record anything for a little bit, cause the amount of messages I've been getting about me basically throwing the duel last night have been not so nice…"
"Oh… yea, the chat would not stop talking about how you lost in the game…" Yoko exhaled, "Daisuke eventually had to lock chat down to members only because of the amount of insults."
-Trust me, I'm working on blocking and deleting stuff like that,- Hinatan informed.
"Thanks," Takeshi smiled.
A few minutes went by before Hana walked in and eventually sat down in her seat. She glanced towards Takeshi and Luna a little, then just glanced back to her phone. Luna didn't seem to notice this, but Takeshi and Hinatan certainly did. The bluenette paused the episode he was on before he turned towards the AI on his phone.
"Well… we're gonna need another distraction…" Takeshi sighed.
-...I know Daisuke would probably yell at me if he knew I suggested this to you, but… I think you need to tell Hana the truth.-
"...why?"
-Let's assume for a minute you get a really bad injury and need to be taken to a hospital. How are you gonna explain your way out of that? You fell down the stairs or got hit by one of the sports teams when you aren't even involved? What if you end up needing some sort of a surgery or the like?-
Takeshi was about to speak, only to just clam up a little, "...you're not wrong."
-Again, I know Daisuke is probably gonna be mad, and the fact Hana's still not the best with secrets will be problems, but they're problems we can all iron out. Also, I'm pretty sure in the long run, it would be better to fill her in on you being a Rider sooner rather than later.-
All Takeshi could do was give off a heavy sigh in response to the comment, "...I concede. You have a very good point."
-Don't I always?-
Takeshi just stared at his phone a bit, with Hinatan simply giggling in a way that indicated she was just kidding about that last bit.
A bit later that day, Hana was returning from her class and was on her way to lunch. She soon heard her phone buzz and saw a message from Hinatan that had been forwarded from Takeshi that simply said 'can you keep a secret? I want to tell you something, but it needs to be a secret.'
Confused by this, Hana thought it out a bit, not sure if Takeshi was joking or if it was serious. She eventually just sent a message that just asked if it was intended as a joke or the like.
'It's no joke. I have to make sure that I can trust you with this.'
She sighed, knowing he meant it, and texted that she would, requesting a time and place to bring it up, and info about it occurring after school in the forest nearby would be the best place.
Hana soon arrived a short distance away from the school and arrived at the meeting area, then she saw Luna and Yoko were there along with Takeshi. The bluenette was leaning against a large tree, still clearly in a little bit of pain, but doing his best to ignore it.
"Okay, what's the big deal?" Hana asked with an exhale.
"I know you're not stupid. You noticed how I've been coming back more exhausted lately. Plus, what happened yesterday," Takeshi started to explain.
"I had a feeling you were lying out of your rear about what you were doing. I will ask for a rematch in the future."
"This is serious. I know about the rematch, but I had to basically throw the match because… something serious was coming up. I mean… didn't you notice the emergency alert?"
"Duh. It'd be impossible to ignore it," Hana said with a slight roll of her eyes.
"And you never notice how I tend to occasionally vanish for reasons that aren't work related?" Luna added on.
"That's because both Luna and I have roles that are very much life-and-death," Takeshi bluntly stated.
Hana blinked a bit and it started to fall into place for her, but she was clearly trying to put it together in a slow and easy way.
"You ok?" Yoko asked.
"So… you're…?" Hana began to speak.
Takeshi, realizing he basically had to be a bit more blunt about this, shrugged his shoulders, "I'm a Kamen Rider."
Hana blinked a little bit at this, almost paling for a moment as if the shock of the revelation made her to stunned to form proper words.
"Did you really need to make the Ex-Aid reference?" Luna asked.
"It fit," Takeshi shrugged.
Hana stammered a little bit, almost as if she didn't believe it. In response to her babbling, Luna and Takeshi showed off their belts, making Hana gasp a bit.
"Wait… your consoles… they…"
=SEGA DRIVER!/PLAYSTATION DRIVER!=
=DISK READY! NOW LOADING… SONIC ADVENTURE!/SPYRO THE DRAGON!=
"Henshin."
=INTO THE ADVENTURE!/DRAGON!=
Hana's jaw dropped upon the sight before her, witnessing the belts glow and turn the two into Riders, the connection finally being made in her head as the two Riders stood for a bit, then they reverted back to normal.
"So, you know the myth about the four goddesses of Industria and how they defended the land? That is supposedly where these came from," Luna explained, "And I got chosen years ago, and Takeshi was chosen right around the start of the school year."
Hana then glanced towards Yoko, "Then are you…?"
"Oh. I'm not a Kamen Rider. I'm just aware," Yoko informed.
"...so… the goddesses are real?" Hana asked.
"Yeah, they chose us both," Luna added.
"...am I gonna rot in the bad afterlife…?" Hana nervously asked.
"I doubt it," Takeshi exhaled, "But, in all seriousness, this has to stay secret. The only other people who know are Daisuke, Luna's moms, and our parents. Luna's mothers were aware because… reasons, Daisuke because he's kinda been our tech support and whatnot, while I didn't want Otou-san and Okaa-san to be worried. And as you can tell, this is a tough task, which is why I asked Mom to drive us to school today."
"...I see…" Hana nodded.
"Can we please trust you to keep this secret? It is about as important to keep under wraps as… well…" Luna spoke, trying to think of the right words before she exhaled, "No offense, but it's as important to keep secret as Yoko's past."
"None taken," Yoko responded.
Hana simply nodded her head in agreement, "This… this is a lot to take in, but I promise to stay quiet."
"Well… this worked out. So, yeah, I'm SEGA and she's Playstation," Takeshi added.
"...well… uh… this is…" Hana spoke, trying to find the right words before she smiled, "Makes sense."
"What do you mean by that?" Luna inquired.
"I mean, and I am saying this sincerely, if there were any two people in this world who deserved to be Kamen Riders, you two fit the bill perfectly," Hana said in an honest and sincere tone without any ounce of sarcasm or joking.
"Well… that went far better than I expected," Takeshi admitted as Luna smiled.
"Wanna see something cool?" Luna asked.
"...sure?"
The four soon teleported over to the base and Hana was just left staring in amazement at it, looking like she was a kid in a candy store for a moment.
"It's so futuristic!" Hana gawked in amazement as she zipped around and explored.
"Please don't touch any electronics. Exploring is fine, but please refrain from the electronics," Luna requested.
"Gotcha!" Hana responded.
"...you ok?" Yoko asked.
"Yeah. Still sore, but I'll be fine. I'm gonna teleport back home to tell my parents about this real quick," Takeshi told her before he teleported away.
Mrs. Narumi and Mr. Narumi were wiping down the front area of the bakery, soon hearing the door open to see Takeshi walk in as best he could in spite of still being sore.
"Hi. Where's Hana?"
"She's… uh… well, I couldn't hold the Rider secret back and I had to tell her, so she's getting a look at the base," Takeshi said after making sure no one was there.
"You actually told her?" Mrs. Narumi blinked.
"I know Hana and secrets don't go very well, but… it was for the better that we told her," Takeshi admitted.
"We'll see how long the secret identity will last going forward," Mr. Narumi joked.
Takeshi nodded before he heard his phone buzz from a text message. All the text Takeshi had gotten said was 'NARUMI~~~~~~~'.
"Uh oh…"
The bluenette had returned to the base and saw that Yoko and Luna were both sitting down and watching the situation unfold in front of them.
"He's here," Luna informed.
"NARUMI TAKESHI!"
Takeshi turned to see Daisuke running away from Hana as best he possibly could.
"Oh goodness… I didn't think this was gonna happen…" Takeshi spoke, with Daisuke managing to duck under Hana's attempts to hug him.
"YOU RUINED MY ONLY SAFE HAVEN FROM HER!" Daisuke shouted out.
-For the record, this was my idea,- Hinatan spoke up.
"I DON'T CARE!"
"Well, this is going to be a little harder than expected…" Luna exhaled.
"I know this place and can come here whenever I want!" Hana shouted, continuing to chase after Daisuke to try to hug him.
"STOP ALREADY!"
All Takeshi did after that was head over to the teleporter at a quick pace, then he just gave a thumbs up towards Daisuke before teleporting away.
This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Kazuki Takahashi. Thank you for the amazing work you've done.
October 4th, 1961 – July 6th, 2022
S-O-N-I-C, GO! *The scene showed Takeshi, Luna, Yoko, Daisuke and Hana in rapid succession*
S-O-N-I-C, GO! *A group of five Payactions were shown in rapid succession, with one of them holding a bomb that then exploded.*
Go, go, go go, LET'S GO! *Takeshi managed to kick one of the Payactions, then stood as Kamen Rider Sega*
Kinō made no rūru (Yesterday's rules) *The Rider managed to protect his friends and beat back the remaining grunts.*
Kyō wa tada no rūzu (are simply loose today) *He then reverted back… only to get dumped with a lot of papers of homework. He popped his head out and then sighed a little.*
Kowashite dantotsu gōru (The best goal is to break them) *Takeshi then just laughed alongside Yoko and Luna, the three high fiving together*
Hashiritsuzu ketenai to (If I don't keep running) *Takeshi and Hana were then shown helping out in the bakery and talking with their parents as Yoko and Luna walked in.*
Hokani imi wa naito (There's no other meaning) *Takeshi began to talk to the two girls, then Hana made some sort of remark about them being a couple and the trio blushed.*
Panku na tetsugaku nanda (It's a punk philosophy) *Hana jokingly laughed wickedly before running off. The unit housing Hinatan just rolled her eyes, the group soon sighed at the red-head's antics*
Baiorizumu wa (Biorhythm is...) *Takeshi let out a sigh as both Luna and Yoko hugged his arms, the trio blushing a little as both the girls cuddled up with him*
Tsūbai rizumu de (a two-time rhythm) *Something got Takeshi's and Luna's attention, making them both nod and hurry off.*
Fūkei wa shunkan ni musū no sen (The scenery instantly becomes countless lines...) *Kamen Rider Sega and Kamen Rider Playstation were then both shown on motorcycles, then both quickly sped up*
Ore wo torimaku kaze (The wind envelops me!) *Yoko, Daisuke, and Hana all watched from the monitor in the base, while Hinatan just smiled*
INSIDE OUTSIDE, semete (Inside Outside, attack) *Sega and Playstation stood against a horde of Payactions, both punching and kicking the grunts like crazy as they exploded into dust that resembled cash*
Issai gassai nuite (Surpass everything altogether) *The monsters were then gone and the two reverted back. Once Takeshi turned around, Luna had disappeared and the area started to have rain.*
Dare hitorimo nani hitotsumo... (I won't let anyone...) *Takeshi was standing alone in the dark, with his eyes being purple instead of green…*
Maewo ikasetaku wa nai! (or anything get ahead of me!) *His eyes returned back to green and then he transformed once more. The rain was now gone and the sun was shining.*
INSIDE OUTSIDE GO, SONIC! (Inside Outside GO, SONIC!) *SEGA zipped around on foot, appearing as just a blue blur of light. He just kept going and going, passing by cars of all kinds.*
Issai gassai! YEA, SONIC! (Everything altogether! Yea, Sonic!) *He skidded to a stop and turned back to Takeshi. He smiled as he witnessed some people going into a dance hall and joined them.*
"Abunaiyo" to "HAVE A NICE" wa niteru ("Watch out" and "Have a nice" are similar) *Takeshi danced alongside Luna and Yoko, though he was clearly less skilled than either of the girls. Yoko turned to him and guided him through some motions, making sure he managed to understand her.*
Sō dochiramo kamihitoe nanosa (That's right – both are by the skin of your teeth) *Soon, all three were dancing a kind of tango together, all smiling as they managed tob keep a steady pace.*
Taikutsu nugisu tete (Throw boredom away…) *The disks for Sonic Adventure, Spyro the Dragon, and Persona 5 were all shown, before they were set away. The discs slotted into a case as Purple Heart's image glowed, but then faded away to a clear day*
Ima sugu kakedase (And start running!) *Takeshi, Luna, Yoko, Daisuke, and Hana all started running together, before they reached the top of a hill and jumped in the air, seeming suspended mid-jump.*
S-O-N-I-C, GO! *Hana was shown bothering Daisuke as he tried to work, but he just chuckled a bit at her*
S-O-N-I-C, GO! *Hinatan was shown looking at lights that were purple, black, white, and green, then down at the transformation disks.*
Go, go, go go, LET'S GO! *Takeshi, Luna, and Yoko were all sitting together and playing video games together. The group laughing happily as they finished playing and smiled a bit at each-other*
Kamen Rider: Game Corner!
"So, before we get asked about this, this chapter was always intended to have duels in it. The passing of Yu-Gi-Oh's creator didn't make the chapter have them be included," Takeshi prefaced.
"It was kind of an unfortunate coincidence," Hana added on.
"So… what are we talking about today?" Yoko soon questioned.
"I guess Yu-Gi-Oh, as in the card game…" Daisuke figured.
"Well… the original Yu-Gi-Oh anime was made by Toei and the very first card game was going to be made by Bandai, but then the rights changed and the card game that we know and play today is done by Konami. Partially because Toei's cardgame… wasn't that good in terms of quality for trading cards or even a game. Plus, there were a LOT of changes between companies," Takeshi started.
"The original card game and the one in the manga was clearly supposed to be based on Magic the Gathering, but then it evolved into what we know as today after a lot of time and experimentation. And trust me, it took a lot of changes, mostly in how Japan viewed trading card games versus American views," Luna added on.
"So, the incredibly basic gist of the game is that both players have 8000, or 4000 depending on the format, life points and you need to drain your opponent's life points down to zero. You have various means to do that. You can do that with Monster Cards, which are the primary method of attacking your opponent's life points and protecting your own. This can also be augmented with spell cards to buff your own side of the field, and trap cards triggered at any point after setting them down," Takeshi elaborated as simplistically as he could, "The monsters tend to be formatted into archetypes and you have better luck and synergy if you stick to that."
"You know… there's one archetype I don't exactly get how it got to be successful," Yoko admitted.
"Being?"
"Lightsworn."
"Okay…?" Takeshi slowly asked.
"Because, here's the thing, at the end of the day, part of the key of Yu-Gi-Oh is resource management, right? With Lightsworn, you're forced to mill cards from your deck. If you can't KO your opponent fast enough, then you may just deck yourself out."
"Mill decks are still somewhat common in some cases as long as you have means of getting cards back into your deck, Yoko. I'm sure players have found ways to make use of it," Daisuke responded.
"Just me thinking aloud," Yoko admitted.
"Anyway… as shown in this chapter, I run an Elemental HERO deck, and I also have one based on Dinomists," Takeshi informed.
"My deck is a bit of a mishmash, but the main goal of it is to Synchro Summon out Stardust Dragon," Luna spoke up.
"Mine is Venom based, but with the Kaijus and Cyberse as modernizations in case plan a doesn't work. …or I just draw into those first, I can use them as a sort of subterfuge tactic," Hana grinned.
"And mine is Lunalights, which is clearly a Sailor Moon homage," Yoko said with a beaming smile.
The group went silent and then turned towards Daisuke, who hadn't said anything just yet.
"...what?"
"What archetype do you play?" Takeshi whispered.
"Oh. That. Honestly? I don't really stick with one. I have a few fully done decks," Daisuke admitted.
"Really? When I dueled you before, you tended to go for those Junk monsters," Hana pointed out.
"And with me it's Psychics," Yoko added.
"As I said, I have a few fully done ones," Daisuke shrugged.
Takeshi just sighed a little bit, then turned back towards the camera, "Behind the scenes, the very first scene written for this chapter was actually Yoko's duel with Luna. It was loosely inspired by something one of the writers done while playing Master Duel, and pretty much ballooned into this chapter having duels."
"Although, it took a bit to get done…" Hana added on.
"One thing that happened that our writers are a little embarrassed about is that there was a long gap between production of chapters and that they ended up needing to restart the duel between Takeshi and Hana," Luna soon chimed in.
"And there were a few misplays in that draft. Hana got Decode Talker to be Link Summoned with an incorrect number of Link Materials, and Takeshi added Sparkman to his hand off of the effect of HERO Signal instead of special summoning it," Daisuke added before sighing, "And there was meant to be a scene showing those mistakes being commented on. Such as this."
"Also, chat pointed out, you misplayed at one point. Sparkman should've been special summoned to the field after you used HERO Signal," Hana informed.
"...whoops…" Takeshi exhaled.
"Counterpoint. You needed three monsters on the field to summon Decode Talker, and you only used two," Luna told Hana.
"...so I did. Whoops."
"Yeah…" Takeshi spoke before he chuckled, "Anyway, the game has gone through many metas and formates, with Goat Format being everything before Cyber Dragon was introduced, and the notorious Tele-DAD Format with Dark Armed Dragon…"
"Which somehow got into one of the video games…" Luna added.
"Fun fact, in Industria, Dark Armed Dragon was so short-printed so as to drive the price of it up that NOBODY had it," Daisuke spoke before chuckling, "The poor kids who went to the world championships that year after it came out thought people were cheating because nobody on the islands had ever heard of it."
"I still can't believe anyone made it past cards like that or Judgment Dragon," Hana added on, "But, hey, if people have nostalgia for those formats… they can play that."
"There's also the Rush Duel format, which is technically a different rendition of the game," Takeshi added, "It is a lot more simple and kid-friendly, but it is also fun to play every so often."
"And Speed Duels, which are mainly in Duel Links," Hana added on.
"Yu-Gi-Oh as a game has been going on for a long, long, time, and it is not gonna die anytime soon," Luna spoke.
"There will always be new cards printed, with all sorts of new fans joining in at different times of life, so I'm sure it won't end for a long, long, time."
The group went silent before a sign was shown from off-screen.
"Oh, they want us to say what our opening hands were in our duels in the chapter," Hana spoke.
"Okay. Mine was Cyber Dragon, Junk Synchron, Turbo Synchron, Trade In, De-Synchro, and Trap Stun," Luna informed.
"I had gotten Lunalight Blue Cat, Lunalight Reincarnation Dance, Luna Light Perfume, The Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Launch, and Polymerization," Yoko spoke.
"I lucked into, Painful Choice, Back to the Front, Allure of Darkness, Interrupted Kaiju Slumber, and Terraforming," Hana stated.
"Then I got the iconic Pot of Greed, along with Miracle Fusion, Honest, Grand Mole, HERO Signal, and The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh," Takeshi concluded.
"Oh, and in case anyone is wondering why Blackwings, Ancient Gears, and Goukis are all banned in our special format, uh… one of the authors just doesn't like those decks. Salamangreat is also banned," Luna elaborated on, "Just figured you should be aware of that."
"Namely due to Duel Links as that's the primary way he plays the game."
"Also, the Vrains Era world has recently been added into Duel Links, so be sure to check it out. Hashtag not an ad," Luna spoke up.
"And, yes, the outro line for the story does indeed come from GX," Takeshi added.
"And the voice of the Drivers is the Japanese voice of that show's lead," Daisuke spoke.
"Just in case anyone was curious. But for now, that's about it we have for today," Yoko soon added on.
"GX is good, people are just mean!" Luna yelled.
Jikai, Shin Kamen Rider SEGA
Daisuke: So, we told Hana… and we're keeping it secret from someone else…
Takeshi: Honestly, this one makes sense.
Hana: Yeah… uh… I can lie my way through this. …goddesses, give me strength…
Luna: Are we gonna fight a Vaijin again anytime soon?
Shin Level 10: Our (Metaphorical) Little Brother
Takeshi, Luna, and Yoko: Get your game on!
Pikatwig: We started this back in April. It finally finished production in October. Whoops.
KKD: Sorry about that, folks. Life gets in the way sometimes.
Pikatwig: And we can be distracted. Anyway, that was this chapter.
KKD: Yea. This had a lot more Yu-Gi-Oh than Rider stuff, but as my previous writing experience taught me, writing duels is complicated and can get extensive.
Pikatwig: Just in case you're wondering, the reason we skipped over the duel between Yoko and Hana was because of length. This chapter was already kinda long, and we had to rewrite a huge section of it, so we decided to skip their duel for the sake of simplicity and brevity.
KKD: Yea. Not gonna lie. We were making a lot of errors as it was, so it was probably for the best to skip a lot.
Pikatwig: I'm thinking maybe I can post the outtake of the duel as a kind of special bonus on DA. Could be fun. We'll see on that.
KKD: Keep your eyes open for that. Hopefully we'll get more Rider content soon in the next chapter (con
Pikatwig: Also, yes, in the Shin SEGA universe, the positions of the Demon Slayer leads are switched around.
KKD: Which, if you know the show, means Nezuko's brother turned into an Oni in this universe and a fan edit I saw of the show is the accurate one for this story.
Pikatwig: I only really heard about that show because of you, I'll be honest. I knew that the lead is voiced by the same guy as male Byleth and Aether, but I know scattered pieces about the show because you like it. …how did you get into it?
KKD: Couple of random things. I heard about the show often, didn't have much desire to check it out at first. Then randomly, when Mom and Dad were gonna surprise me with trinket figures from Hawaii, I said get me a Spider-Man one and one of a random anime girl… and it just so happened they got one of the pink and green-haired girl from the same show, Mitsuri Kanroji.
Pikatwig: Huh. How about that.
KKD: Yeah. Still can't believe that's what got me curious enough to research the show. And in fact, TB and I are looking at the first season as we write this.
Pikatwig: Well, that's something. Anyway, what were your thoughts on this chapter? I had fun with it, in spite of the chunk that needed to be redone.
KKD: Overall, it was ok. Again, been a while and I think we could work on adding more Rider elements into the chapter, but it's cool for what we got.
Pikatwig: I think my favorite part was actually how Hana ended the duel between her and Yoko. I will admit that I am very worried about Yoko and a character that'll be introduced in the next chapter being thought of as Mary Sues and I'm trying my utmost to avoid that. If I do slip into that, then I apologize.
KKD: We are trying to work on that. I think one of my favs is just the ending with the others revealing the truth of the Rider stuff to Hana despite what was hinted at earlier. It went much smoother than anticipated… save for Daisuke.
Pikatwig: Poor guy.
KKD: Yea. But yea, it should make things a little easier on our cast… not sure, but we'll see.
Hinata: *turns to Pikatwig* So, just to confirm, you like the Lunalights cause they're a Sailor Moon homage?
Pikatwig: Pretty much. The reason that the person who used them in the anime had her name be 'Serena' was an homage to Usagi's name in the first dub of that show. It only became 'Celina' because it got mistranslated.
Hinata: Huh.
Pikatwig: I know a lot.
KKD: Alright. Also, was the ending supposed to be an intentional homage to how Atem left after the final duel with Yugi?
Pikatwig: Yeah. That wasn't planned, but I thought it just worked out.
KKD: Ok… good to know.
Pikatwig: …is it sad that I somehow find Yu-Gi-Oh much simpler than the Pokemon card game?
KKD: …eh?
Pikatwig: I don't know.
KKD: …well, I guess to be fair, people in America made the Pokemon TCG more like collectible cards at first and never knew it was an actual game whereas Yu-Gi-Oh made the game aspect clear from the get-go.
Pikatwig: I guess.
Hinata: Ahem.
Pikatwig: Right, right.
KKD: Jaa ne.
Pikatwig: Just Live More.
