"Next, we will have... Rin Kurosaki against Grace Tyler!"
Rin walked out, confident, looking for all the world like some kind of tyrant queen striding to her throne. Her hair was dyed with dark blue highlights, with a dark blue and azure dress wrapped around her and looking like she was practically born to wear it. Yuri whistled, while Yugo sputtered and looked away, blushing. Rin glanced down at them, before turning back to her opponent, the white-haired second year. Nico Smiley reached out for the jar, pulling out a slip of paper.
"First, Grace Tyler will not gain life points from card effects!" He said. Rin shrugged. As a whole, gaining life points might not be that important of a component to her opponent's deck anyway. "Rin Kurosaki is not allowed to declare an attack!"
Alright. Easy.
"You don't seem bothered," Grace said teasingly. "Let's see how you do, alright?"
"I'm not bothered," she agreed. "Bring it, then."
With those words said, there wasn't much less to do but to raise their duel disks and begin, which was what Rin calmly proceeded to do.
Rin Kurosaki: 4000LP
Grace Tyler: 4000LP
Special Rules:
Rin Kurosaki cannot declare an attack.
Grace Tyler cannot gain LP from card effects.
Rin Kurosaki took no prisoners.
"I'll start!" She declared as she reached out, drawing five cards from the top of her deck and flipping them over. She nodded at the sight of both Ice Bell and Glass Bell in her hand. Alright. She could work with this. "Since I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Wind Witch - Ice Bell (3*/1000/1000/WIND/Spellcaster/Effect) from my hand, along with another "Wind Witch" monster from my deck other than her!" She flicked out her wrist to her deck, taking the new card. "Come on out, Wind Witch - Ice Bell and Wind Witch - Glass Bell!" (4*/1500/1500/WIND/Spellcaster/Tuner/Effect) The two young witches appeared on her field. "I will activate Ice Bell's effect and chain Glass Bell's effect. Glass Bell's effect resolves first. I will add a "Wind Witch" monster from my deck to my hand, like Wind Witch - Freeze Bell!" (3*/1200/1200/WIND/Spellcaster/Effect) She plucked the card from her deck with a slight smile, placing it in her hand. "And then, Ice Bell's effect. You take 500 damage. Icy Wind." Snow shot forward, coating parts of the field.
Grace Tyler: 4000 - 500 = 3500LP
"Next," Rin said, "I'll activate Wind Witch - Freeze Bell's effect. Since all monsters I control are "Wind Witch" monsters, I can Special Summon her from my hand!" A pretty, pale-haired witch with pink ribbons all over her body appeared, winking. "I'll now tune the Level 4 Wind Witch - Glass Bell to the Level 3 Wind Witch - Freeze Bell!"
"Oh, that's fast!" Yugo whistled. "As expected of Rin!"
"Sure got over your blush really quickly," Yuri quipped. "But yes, as expected of her. She'll do great things as part of my evil army some day."
There was a moment of silence, before Yuto sighed. "Rin's not going to join your evil army."
"You're right," Yuri said easily. "At the rate that she's going, I'm going to end up joining hers."
"Midwinter wind. Make ice and snow my power and blow through! Synchro Summon! Appear! Level 7! Wind Witch - Winter Bell!" (7*/2400/2000/WIND/Spellcaster/Synchro/Effect) Her ace appeared, bright blue and brilliant, flying around her before landing in Attack Position. "I will activate Wind Witch - Winter Bell's effect! By targeting Wind Witch - Glass Bell in the graveyard, I can deal you damage equal to 200 times its Level! So that's 800 damage! Hypothermic Subzero!" The sapphire spellcaster shot forward, ice spreading across more of the field as Grace's life points fell again.
Grace Tyler: 3500 - 200 x 4 = 2700LP
"I'll now activate Chime of the Windwitches," she said, revealing another card in her hand. "I will Special Summon a "Windwitch" monster from my deck with a different name than a "Windwitch" monster that I target on my field. I will target Wind Witch - Ice Bell and Special Summon Wind Witch - Glass Bell from my deck."
"Hold on," Grace said amusedly as Rin placed yet another monster on her field. "Is this going to be a First Turn Kill? I didn't think I would face someone aiming for that... well, ever!"
Rin shrugged. "Not really, but if you don't take me out on your turn, you probably lose. Hope you don't feel too insulted," she said. "This isn't to mock you or to put you down. This is just the way that I want to play. I feel like it would be even more insulting to you if I had a win but didn't go all out to achieve it."
Grace grinned. "Hehe, you're right! If you can take that win, go ahead! I'll be keeping an eye on you, Rin Kurosaki!"
She was unsure whether or not that was a bad thing, but that was no reason to be intimidated for now. "Sure," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Tuning the Level 4 Glass Bell to the Level 3 Ice Bell! Wind of the forsaken. Clear a way through the corpses of the ones you struck down! Synchro Summon! Level 7–Wind Witch - Niflheim Bell!" (7*/S4/2400/1500/WIND/Spellcaster/Synchro/Pendulum/Tuner/Effect) Her Pendulum-Synchro appeared on the field, glinting silver. "She will add two "Wind Witch" monsters from my deck to my hand with her first effect! And now, I will activate the second effect of Wind Witch - Niflheim Bell! You take 200 damage for each "Wind Witch" monster in my graveyard! I currently have four, so you take 800 damage! Cold Whirlwind!" The silvery wind pushed her opponent back, hitting her with even more damage.
Grace Tyler: 2700 - 200 x 4 = 1900LP
"I'll then set a card and end my turn," Rin said firmly.
"Draw," Grace said cheerfully. "I'll activate Polymerization!" The standard Fusion Spell appeared as a hologram as she placed it on her duel disk, a vortex forming behind her. "By fusing the Amazoness Tiger (4*/1100/1500/EARTH/Beast/Effect) and Amazoness Baby Tiger (2*/500/500/EARTH/Beast/Effect) in my hand, I can Fusion Summon!" She winked. "Wild beast of the jungle with vicious fangs. Obtain the strength of your youth as you hunt down your prey, and become a new savage beast! Appear! Fusion Summon! Come before us! Level 7! Amazoness Pet Liger!" (7*/2500/2400/EARTH/Beast/Fusion/Effect) A pale beige beast appeared, one of its eyes scarred heavily and a red glow emitting from its fur as it let out a low growl.
"Hmm..." Rin noted the high attack points, though for now, it was not that big of a deal yet.
"I'll also Normal Summon, like, Amazoness Swords Woman (4*/1500/1600/EARTH/Warrior/Effect) from my hand!" A tan woman with dark red hair walked next to the tiger, a confident look on her face. "I'll then activate Amazoness Magic Mirror!" A spell emerged next to her, a large mirror levitating off the ground. "This card reflects all effect damage to you!"
Hmm... rather useful for a match-up like this, then.
"Now, I'll have Amazoness Swords Woman attack your Wind Witch - Niflheim Bell!"
Rin raised an eyebrow. "And I take the battle damage," she said.
"Oh, you already know?"
"It's a very old card," she said neutrally as the attack connected. Swords Woman was destroyed, but in the last moments before she vanished, she tossed a knife at Rin, one that dissipated upon contact.
Rin Kurosaki: 4000 - 800 = 3200LP
"And since my "Amazoness" monster attacked, Amazoness Pet Liger's effect activates! It saps one of your monsters of 800 attack points! Noble Roar!" The liger roared, and Niflheim Bell seemed to flinch, drifting closer to the ground. (Wind Witch - Niflheim Bell: 2400 - 800 = 1600ATK) "I'll now have Liger attack your monster! It also happens to gain 500 attack points from attacking, so you're taking quite a bit of damage~ Pride Roar! Vicious Claw!" (Amazoness Pet Liger: 2500 + 500 = 3000ATK)
The bell shattered into a million shards of glass before Rin held out her hand. "When Niflheim Bell is destroyed, I can set it in my Pendulum Scale!" Those were the last words she managed before the sound waves hit her too, pushing her backwards. Winter Bell gave her a worried look, supporting her and floating around her, making quiet clinking sounds. She sighed, moving back to her position.
Rin Kurosaki: 3200 - 1400 = 1800LP
"And of course, now I'll activate Pet Liger's effect again! Noble Roar!" Winter Bell was the one that shuddered and fluttered delicately now, and Rin frowned in slight sympathy. (Wind Witch - Winter Bell: 2400 - 800 = 1600ATK) "I'll end my turn there! Let's see how you can get to me, Kurosaki-chan!"
"Be careful what you wish for," Rin said, flicking out her hand. "I'm far more capable than you think."
"Oh, I know! You are the Kaiser's younger sister, after all."
Rin shook her head. "I'm not strong because of that," she said. "But yes—we Kurosakis don't go down without a fight." She took the top card of her deck. "I don't lose easily. That's why I'll now activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy a Spell or Trap on the field! You have one guess as to which one I'm destroying." The mirror was quickly shredded under the strength of the wind. "I'll now take the win from you," she said firmly. "Firstly, I will activate Secondly, I will target Glass Bell with Winter Bell's effect! Hypothermic Subzero!" The cold wind bursts out in full force, as the sound of a wind chime can be heard echoing, Winter Bell floating overhead. Grace frowns as the wind overtakes her.
Grace Tyler: 1900 - 200 x 4 = 1100LP
"But what else can you do? Your Synchro Monster is stuck in your Pendulum Scale!"
"Ah, good time for you to mention that," Rin said, her sarcasm rivaling that of someone who had just been told that the sky was blue. "You see, my monster is a Synchro-Pendulum monster, and most of the time, those monsters are very good at transcending the zones they are in."
"I don't..."
"By discarding WIND monsters from my hand whose Levels equal 7 or more," Rin said, "I can Special Summon Wind Witch - Niflheim Bell from the Pendulum Scale! I will discard Wind Witch - Glass Bell and Wind Witch - Blizzard Bell!" (5*/1800/1800/WIND/Spellcaster/Tuner/Effect) from my hand!" On her field, a silver circle appeared, before the tall pillar of light that Niflheim Bell was in exploded, the feminine spellcaster flying out with a shrill ring of a bell, landing in the circle.
"Holy shit," Yugo said. "That's... she did not use that against us."
"True," Yuto said. "Maybe we didn't give her the opportunity to?"
"It's quite the show though," Yuya said, leaning on the wall as the shards of light dissipated all around them. Even if Rin was probably one of the less serious ones, she was still able to put on quite the show. Also, honestly speaking, if someone's cards were based on ice and they didn't manage to put up a good-looking show? They were probably doing something terribly wrong.
Yuri hummed, observing it.
"Oh," Grace said, mouth in an 'o' shape as she stared at the imposing Synchro Monster that had reappeared on the field. "This is..."
"Niflheim Bell's effect," Rin said as the room seemed to get colder. "I have six "Wind Witch" monsters in my graveyard, so you take 1200 damage. Cold Whirlwind!"
"This was your plan the entire time," Grace said in realisation. "Rin Kurosaki, you..."
"That's my name, don't wear it out!" Niflheim Bell shot off a final whirlwind that exploded, wind gushing everywhere and snowflakes falling around the room. "This is over!"
Grace Tyler: 1100 - 200 x 6 = 0LP
She gave a sweeping bow, before she walked off. That was simple enough.
Fighting without battling would never really have been a problem for someone like her.
She saw Yuzu backstage with Gloria Tyler, but she ignored the second-year, instead turning to her own sister. "You'll be fine?"
"Yup! No need to worry about it, Rin." Yuzu took out her deck, a confident smile on her face. "I won't be losing that easily!"
"Good." Rin offered her a smile. "Entertain us, yeah?"
"Got it!" They separated, both satisfied with the exchange. Rin headed backstage, while Yuzu headed out after her name was called. She settled down in the seat, where two of her other sisters were already idly waiting.
"You know," Serena said, "if Yuzu wins too, these finals will be quite interesting."
Ruri laughed. Rin merely looked back at the screen. Waiting. Anticipating.
If there was one thing that Yuzu Kurosaki excelled at, it would be putting on a show. So she would wait, and hope that her sister could show her at least something interesting during this duel.
Back at the Obelisk Blue dorms, a young man with dark blue hair was sitting on his bed, looking at the television screen with slightly narrowed eyes, a slightly proud chuckle escaping his lips.
Well...
It's not like he would have expected anything less from his younger sisters.
Yuzu moved onto the stage, dressed in a rather stunning pink dress, standing next to Nico Smiley as he pulled out a slip of paper from the jar for the seventh time that day. "Oh? Looks like Yuzu Kurosaki has a rather restricting rule!" He took a step forward. "Kurosaki cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck during this duel!"
Oh. So like Serena.
Was that it?
"And all battle damage that Gloria Tyler would deal by battle is halved!"
Even better.
"Now, participants, go ahead and duel!"
"I'm ever so sorry that I'll have to ruin your family's perfect record in this contest," Gloria said at that, her eyes seeming to twinkle as she placed a finger on her cheek. "Because Kurosaki, I'll be taking this win from you."
"Don't be so sure," Yuzu said, her voice still quite confident. "I'm stronger than you think!"
"Oh?" The blonde said, her voice teasing. "That's not a very high bar to cross at all."
"Should we be spending this much time bantering with each other?" Yuzu said, keeping her voice curious. "Put your deck where your mouth is and let's duel!"
"Ok, ok."
Yuzu Kurosaki: 4000LP
Gloria Tyler: 4000LP
Special Rules:
Yuzu Kurosaki cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck.
All damage that Gloria Tyler's monsters deal by battle is halved.
"I'll begin!" Yuzu declared, looking at her hand. Hmm... nothing for Fusion Summoning, so she could probably just gather resources first. "I'll activate Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen!" Around them, tall white pillars appeared, bathing the stage in a heavenly glow. "So now, I can Special Summon a Fairy monster from my hand once per turn if I control no monsters! Come on out! Athena!" (7*/2600/800/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)
While not a "Melodious" monster, Athena was still a LIGHT Fairy, and she did enjoy using it as a support card for said monsters.
"I'll now Normal Summon Solo the Melodious Songstress!" (4*/1600/1000/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect) The songstress in a red dress appeared, a wide smile on her face. "And when a Fairy monster is summoned to my field, I can deal you 600 damage with Athena's effect."
Gloria Tyler: 4000 - 600 = 3400LP
"Next, I will Special Summon Sonata the Melodious Diva (3*/1200/1000/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect) from my hand!" A beautiful woman with yellow skin and a beautiful azure dress wrapped around her, half-green and half-blue hair graceful and floating in the air. Sonata actually rather resembled Rin, from just now. "I could Special Summon Sonata since I controlled a "Melodious" monster. Now, Sonata boosts all my Fairy monsters by 500 attack and defence points." (Sonata the Melodious Diva: 1200 + 500 = 1700ATK; 1000 + 500 = 1500DEF) (Solo the Melodious Songstress: 1600 + 500 = 2100ATK; 1000 + 500 = 1500DEF) (Athena: 2600 + 500 = 3100ATK; 800 + 500 = 1300DEF)
She took a deep breath, before she continued.
"And since I summoned Sonata, a Fairy, you take 600 damage again!"
Gloria Tyler: 3400 - 600 = 2800LP
"I'll end my turn."
"Impressive," Gloria said. "My turn then. I'll activate Polymerization!"
A Fusion Summon already?
Like Blaze...
No, she wouldn't think about that.
"I will fuse Amazoness Queen (6*/2400/1800/EARTH/Warrior/Effect) in my hand with Amazoness Paladin!" (4*/1700/300/EARTH/Warrior/Effect) The two cards slid into her graveyard as a portal appeared above her. "Queen of the jungle. Receive the power of the honourable warrior, and build an empire that rules over everything! Fusion Summon! Appear, Level 8! Amazoness Empress!" (8*/2800/2400/EARTH/Warrior/Fusion/Effect) A beautiful white-haired woman appeared, a gigantic violet blade in her left hand and a dark scarlet cape spreading behind her. An extremely revealing warrior garter and a headdress made of bones could be seen, before the woman swept the blade along the field.
"So you use "Amazoness" monsters too, huh?"
"Yes," Gloria said with a smile. "My sister and I are actually Tag Duelists, though we can certainly hold our own. I'll go ahead and activate Amazoness Village!" A few wooden houses appeared to contrast her elegant white marble pillars, and Gloria also picked up one of the last two cards in her hand. "I'll Normal Summon Amazoness Princess!" (3*/1200/900/EARTH/Warrior/Effect) A young tanned woman appeared, a spear in one hand and a vine being used as a whip in the other as she grinned, standing next to Amazoness Empress in obvious deference. "With her effect, I will add an "Amazoness" Spell or Trap, like Amazoness Onslaught, to my hand."
She placed the card on her duel disk.
"Amazoness Village gives all "Amazoness" monsters 200 attack points. (Amazoness Empress: 2800 + 200 = 3000ATK) (Amazoness Princess: 1200 + 200 = 1400ATK) So now, I will have Amazoness Empress attack Sonata the Melodious Diva!"
Yuzu frowned, but the attack went through, with her wincing and blocking off the shockwave as the monster vanished.
Yuzu Kurosaki: 4000 - 1300 / 2 = 3350LP
"Next, all your monsters lose that 500 attack point boost!" The two fairies drooped slightly. (Athena: 3100 - 500 = 2600ATK; 1300 - 500 = 800DEF) (Solo the Melodious Songstress: 2100 - 500 = 1600ATK; 1500 - 500 = 1000DEF) Gloria winked. "I'll have Amazoness Princess attack your Solo! And when she attacks, I can discard a card to Special Summon an "Amazoness" monster from my deck in Defence Position!" The display showed up. "Now..." her finger traced the screen. "Which of these lovely ladies should I pick?"
There was a brief moment of silence where Princess, Solo and Yuzu all stared at Gloria in exasperation as the blonde looked at the list. The three of them exchanged a commiserating look, with Princess's lance still raised in the air and waiting for a signal. The silence dragged on, before finally, Yuzu cleared her throat. Gloria blinked, before she nodded.
"Ah, right. I suppose that I shall bring out my trusty Amazoness Sage!" (4*/1400/700/EARTH/Warrior/Effect) A young, tan blue-haired woman appeared. She was dressed in tribal attire with a slightly tattered light brown cape behind her, and in her hands, she held an elaborate staff which she balanced carefully. The attack hit, and Gloria herself was blasted with damage.
Gloria Tyler: 2800 - 200 = 2600LP
She smiled. "Hey, and Sage gains 200 attack points too." (Amazoness Sage: 1400 + 200 = 1600ATK)
Yuzu, however frowned, looking at the young princess that should have been destroyed but was clearly still prancing around. "How come your monster wasn't destroyed by battle?"
"While Amazoness Empress is on the field, you can't destroy my other "Amazoness" monsters by battle or with card effects. After all, an empress is benevolent to her subjects when they fight for her sake."
The sides of Yuzu's lips quirked up. "Does that make you the empress in this scenario?" She joked.
"Maybe, maybe not." Gloria seemed equally amused. "I'll have Amazoness Sage attack your Solo!" This time, the attack points were equal. However, while the sage was protected from destruction, Solo wasn't.
Yuzu was fine with this, since it was according to plan anyway.
"When Solo the Melodious Songstress is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon a "Melodious" monster from my deck!" She declared. "And with that Special Summon, I will bring out—Elegy the Melodious Diva!" (5*/2000/1200/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect) The elegant purple-themed diva appeared on the field, smiling gently, her hair heavy and lying over her shoulder, slightly curled. "And while Elegy the Melodious Diva is face-up on the field after being Special Summoned, my Fairy monsters all gain 300 attack points!" (Athena: 2600 + 300 = 2900ATK) (Elegy the Melodious Diva: 2000 + 300 = 2300ATK) She pointed out a finger. "And Athena is still on my field, so you still take damage!"
Gloria Tyler: 2600 - 600 = 2000LP
"They're just turning this into a battle of who can boost their attack points more," Yuri muttered. "The flow is very... static."
"No kidding!" Yugo was still watching the duel, but he looked incredibly confused. Or, as Sora and Yuri would call it, his natural state. Personally, Yuya didn't think that Yugo was always confused, just that he might be a bit book-dumb at times. If Yuto was asked about it, he would probably say that Yugo was dumb in everything except dueling. All those opinions were correct, because they all brought up that same point.
Yugo could modify motorcycles (but not build, he is not nearly at that level yet. If he grew up in a city where motorcycles were more important than his own life, he would probably have learned, but as it stood now, he had never had a reason to actually learn how to do it. Also, Yoko had already gotten him the D-Wheel, so...) but he absolutely could not do basic addition when watching duels. It was mildly concerning, honestly, but they had already ruled it as a case of him constantly getting distracted while trying to add, and not so much learning disabilities. As Yuri had snidely put it once, "there's nothing wrong with his brain, he just gets excited all the time about things that have very little meaning."
Regardless, Yuya didn't voice any of this, simply nodding.
"I think that the flow is about to shift soon," Yuto said.
"In favour of who?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Yuto said, and that was that. Everyone was in agreement on that one fact.
Yuzu Kurosaki would win, and proceed onto the next match, which would probably be one of the most entertaining matches that this academy had ever seen.
Yuya believed in her. After all, to him, Yuzu Kurosaki wasn't just a friend. She was that girl who had demanded more of him, defended him with as much fervour as his brothers, who had generally supported him in a way that he could never have imagined someone would. She was a really, really good friend to him.
Sometimes, he even felt that he had known her for much longer than he actually had.
"I will end my turn," Gloria said. "Oh, and when my Battle Phase ends, Sage can destroy a Spell or Trap you control if it attacked this turn." Valhalla vanished. "Over to you! I don't mind if you surrender though. Fairies are such fragile beings."
Yuzu frowned.
She had a feeling that whatever that card—Amazoness Onslaught—was, it was bad news for her, so she would have to be careful the moment she triggered it. For now... she would do her best. "Draw!" She nodded at the card.
If she could not summon monsters from the Extra Deck, that did limit her options.
But she was fine with this.
"Special Summoning Sonata the Melodious Diva!"
"You got another one?"
Yuzu smiled. "Yup!" She placed a hand on her hip. "You know, empress, you've been talking down to me quite a bit this whole game, but don't you think you've had a slight error in judgement? After all, empires have always and will always be overthrown, so why not I do that for you today? Sonata will boost all my fairies!" (Athena: 2900 + 500 = 3400ATK; 800 + 500 = 1300DEF) (Sonata the Melodious Diva: 1200 + 500 + 300 = 2000ATK; 1000 + 500 = 1500DEF) (Elegy the Melodious Diva: 2300 + 500 = 2800ATK; 1200 + 500 = 1700DEF) The green singer quietly sang out a song, all the fairies on the field glowing briefly. "And don't forget about Athena!"
Gloria Tyler: 2000 - 600 = 1400LP
She watched the field warily.
She knew about Amazoness cards, of course. There was a brief moment of time when Serena had thought about using them. However, she wasn't that familiar with the support. All she knew was that battle favoured them immensely in most situations.
So she would...
She still had a way to victory here.
"I will activate Athena's effect. By sending a Fairy on my field other than itself to the graveyard, it can Special Summon a Fairy monster from the graveyard. I will send Elegy the Melodious Diva and return Sonata the Melodious Diva to the field." (Sonata the Melodious Diva x 2: 1200 + 500 + 500 = 2200ATK; 1000 + 500 + 500 = 2000DEF) (Athena: 2600 + 500 + 500 = 3600ATK; 800 + 500 + 500 = 1800DEF) Another copy of the green-haired singer appeared on the field. "Athena!"
Gloria Tyler: 1400 - 600 = 800LP
"Athena will attack Amazoness Princess!"
"Activating Kunai with Chain!" Gloria declared. "I'll change your monster to Defence Position and give my own monster five hundred more attack points!" (Amazoness Princess: 1400 + 500 = 1900ATK)
So it wasn't Onslaught, huh? She got faked out for one of Jounouchi Katsuya's favourite traps. That figured.
But...
Yuzu smiled.
"I'll have Sonata the Melodious Diva attack Amazoness Princess! And now, I will discard Score the Melodious Diva (2*/200/200/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect) from my hand to change your monster's attack points to zero!"
"What?" Gloria said, looking incredibly shocked. Her monster bowed down, becoming incredibly weakened. While her ace was there, it didn't matter.
Yuzu had already found the weak spot to exploit. (Amazoness Princess: 1900 - 0ATK)
Sonata whistled, and winds swept away the last of Gloria's life points.
Gloria Tyler: 800 - 2200 = 0LP
"Damn," Gloria acknowledged. "You're really not bad. Pity. I wanted to be the one to duel Tenjoin-sensei, but I guess that won't work out this time."
What?
"Don't look so shocked, they'll explain later." Gloria gave her a salute. "You're not half-bad, Yuzu Kurosaki. Let's duel again next time."
Feeling cheeky, Yuzu grinned. "I've never met someone who looked so excited to have their butt kicked before," she teased. "Sure, Tyler-senpai. Let's duel again next time." As they left the stage, she heard Nico Smiley begin speaking.
"So, we have a set of four sisters competing for the title of Miss Duel Academy, huh? How intriguing!" Nico grinned. "So, this is how it will go! We will have a free-for-all between our four finalists, until only one is remaining! No special rules, nothing like that! Only the fourth player can attack, and that's all, really! Who will be victorious? The ice-cold Rin? The nice girl Ruri? The abrasive and impulsive Serena? Or perhaps it is the skilled but sweet Yuzu!"
"Hear that, Yuzu?" Rin said, her voice completely dry and sarcastic. "You're skilled but sweet. What an impression to leave."
Yuzu nodded. "It's so cheesy that it's literally inedible."
"That is not what literally means," Ruri objected, but she didn't offer up another definition, so Yuzu took it as a victory on her part. Serena, on her part, was fidgeting at the side, before she stood up.
"I'm not going to go down that easily!" She declared.
It would have been an epic anime moment, Yuzu felt, if the three of them hadn't just stared blankly at her.
"Well, yeah," Rin said. "Duh. What else would we be doing?"
Yuzu tried her best not to laugh, turning back to listen to Nico.
"Well, the winner of this free-for-all will be crowned Miss Duel Academy, and for the finale of this Miss Duel Academy event, will duel Asuka Tenjoin, one of our teachers, in an exhibition match!"
Oh, so that was what Gloria meant.
That was actually a really tempting prize. A chance to go up against a teacher... especially that teacher from the first day of school...
"Oh, that's the teacher that—"
"Nothing!" Ruri yelped. "She did nothing to anyone! I don't want to remember her doing anything!"
Yuzu laughed. "Sure, sure."
They would all do their best anyway, and they wouldn't go down that easily.
Dueling was their pride, after all.
They wouldn't forsake the idea of victory so easily.
"Oh, that's the teacher that—" Yugo unknowingly mirrored Rin in that moment, before Yuto cut him off.
"No one needs to remember that."
"Did I miss something?" Yuya said, baffled, only for everyone around him to hurriedly offer their assurances that no, he had not, and that they should really focus on what was happening on the stage now, which made sense. Whatever. He looked back to it.
So they were about to see the Kurosakis throw down with all their skill, huh?
He was looking forward to it.
This would be entertaining. This would be exciting. But most importantly...
This would be fun.
A/N: So, want to guess what inspired me to get this chapter out? Turns out that there's new Windwitch support! And honestly, I love the Windwitches, so I was just like "Wait a minute, I already have a "Freeze Bell"! Crap! I predicted the name of the card?" And so now I'm probably going to change "Freeze Bell" in Chapter 5 to another name. Maybe "Gale Bell". Now all I'm hoping for is that my Lyriluscs will get more support. Please, Konami...
On a different topic, I absolutely adore the inter-counterpart interactions. Yuri and Rin's cross-interaction is, of course, something that I adore, with Yuto and Rin about to get more development soon and Ruri and Yuya having some development too, although it was more subtle. I remember someone reviewing and asking for more interactions between non-standard pairs, and I'm definitely going to try for that! Also, I'm reaching my term break, so I might take the opportunity to try and move to a weekly (or at least within a fortnight) update schedule. *Note: Try. As you all can see, writer's block tends to hit me at the worst of times.*
Also, now that it's been exposed in the story, yes, Chapter 14 will have a free-for-all between all of the Kurosaki sisters, as well as a match afterwards between the winner and Asuka Tenjoin, who will start appearing more in the story along with a certain other character from her series soon. I hope that I've at least established how strong all the Kurosakis are, so that you all won't be able to predict who will win. Still though, any guesses? XD I already have the answer set in stone, but I have a feeling that you guys might be able to try and figure it out if you wish. Who do you want to win?
So, I'll be including that mystery duel with Asuka-sensei in the previews now ;) Speaking of previews, here you go!
Chapter Preview: Chapter 14—Dress to Kill
The finals turn out to be a free-for-all, with whoever puts up the best performance being crowned Miss Duel Academy! As the quartet of Kurosaki sisters begin their duel, the school watches with bated breath... And afterwards, teacher faces off against student in a fast-paced fight!
Chapter Preview: Chapter 15—Burden of the Older Sibling
After the Miss Duel Academy contest, Yuto decides that he needs to talk to Rin about their mutual experiences. What starts as a comfortable and normal talk later leads to a full-on clash between them and certain other older siblings in the school, and they start to understand each other's philosophy better.
Chapter Preview: Chapter 16—Wind and Steel
Rin doesn't particularly like it when people insult the way her sisters duel. Sawatari is prone to putting his foot in his mouth. And Yuto and Gongenzaka are just here to watch with popcorn.
Chapter Preview: Chapter 17–Will of the Brother
After spotting them hanging out with Rin and Yuzu, the Kaiser challenges Yuto to a duel. What occurs next horrifies the entire crowd as the two overprotective brothers face off, and Xyz Monsters flood the sky!
So yup! I know the duels in this chapter could have been longer, but honestly... pulling them any longer would have felt like padding. We're approaching Chapter 17, which I'm assuming is the one that most of you are going to be anticipating. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It's late at night over here, so I apologise if there's any mistakes in the chapter which I didn't catch until now. Going to post this and sleep now XD Let's hope that the next chapter doesn't block me too much, even if I'm going to start writing it soon. Oh, and for Niflheim Bell's card effect, I decided to include it here as well, since I've learned a bit more about problem-solving card text since.
Wind Witch - Niflheim Bell (7*/S4/2400/1500/WIND/Spellcaster/Synchro/Pendulum/Tuner/Effect)
(1 WIND Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters)
Pendulum Effect: You may send WIND monsters from your hand to the GY whose total levels equal 7 or more; Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Scale. You may only activate this effect of "Wind Witch - Niflheim Bell" once per turn.
When this monster is Synchro Summoned: You may add 2 monsters with "Wind Witch" in their name from your Deck to your hand, however, you may only Special Summon WIND monsters the turn that you activate this effect. Once per turn: You may deal your opponent 200 damage for each "Wind Witch" monster in your GY. If this card is destroyed: Place it in your Pendulum Scale. You may only activate each effect of "Wind Witch - Niflheim Bell" once per turn.
I think that should be it. Hope that everyone's doing well! There'll be a new set of previews once the Miss Duel Academy Arc is done, which means after the next chapter, so that's also a thing. :) See you!
- Blaise