(A/N: Please forgive my attempt at writing a German accent. Also, please punch any nazis you meet.)
I've always wanted to fly.
I think it started when my parents took me bird watching as a little girl. There was just something about the way those birds moved, and the beauty of their feathers, it seemed so majestic.
Growing up, I realized that humans can't fly. At least, not without a ton of machinery. But I never stopped dreaming.
That's why I chose to use the deck I did. It reminds me of my dreams.
I just hope those dreams are strong enough to win this duel
0-0-0-0-0
Draw 04 - Icarus Attack
0-0-0-0-0
Sabrina had fought creatures from the depths of Hell, possessed cars, elemental beings, Duel Spirits, and even a few fairies. But now she was facing something she never thought she'd have to fight: An anime character.
Specifically, Rip Van Winkle from Hellsing. A nazi vampire, of all things, with a magic gun. She wasn't even sure if Rip was covered by The Treaty. So there was a good amount of awkward silence when Tyler and Ichabod ran out of the room.
"Ahem." Rip spoke up, breaking the silence. "I vas brought here to kill you und your teammates. Normally, I vould have shot you right avay, but I vas told zat you settled things differently in zis dimension." She spun her musket around, somehow transforming it into a duel disk. "If you vin, I go. Und if I vin, you die. Verstehen?"
Sabrina blinked and nodded her head, snapping herself out of her confusion. "Guess I can't disagree with those terms." She activated her disk, thinking to herself I wonder if this will make the weekly newsletter.
(Rip LP 8000) - (Sabrina LP 8000)
"Do you like opera, Mädchen?" Rip asked, drawing a card. "Because I love it! Especially my favorite, Der Freischütz!" She played a card, summoning a rather odd looking monster. It seemed to be a human, with wild blonde hair, carrying an elaborate handgun. But one of his arms had blue skin and demonic claws, as well as what looked like a glowing red wing sprouting out of it. (1200 ATK)
"Zis is Magical Musketeer Caspar, my favorite monster." The vampire explained. "Caspar's story is one I identify with heavily. He sells his soul to ze devil in exchange for seven magic bullets zat will never miss. But ze seventh one is controlled by Zamiel himself." She smiled and rested her head on one hand, as if she was recalling a fond memory. Sabrina backed up slightly when she saw how sharp Rip's teeth were.
"I know, I've seen your show. Marathoned it in one night with my girlfriends." Sabrina recalled, shivering when she remembered Rip's brutal demise. "Weren't you impaled? With a musket? ... How does that even work?"
"Not important." Rip snapped her fingers, sliding another card into her disk. "I activate Ties of The Brethren! At ze cost of 2000 life points, and my Battle Phase zis turn, I can special summon 2 monsters from my deck with ze same Type, Attribute and Level as Caspar!" The gunman lifted his weapon in the air and fired two shots. Two summoning portals opened up next to him, and out stepped a pair of even stranger looking monsters.
"I summon Magical Musketeers Doc und Kidbrave!" The first was a man dressed in a white coat and long cape, carrying a sniper rifle of all things. (1400 ATK) The second was a cowboy with a pistol. (1600 ATK) They both had the same fiendish clawed arm as Caspar.
"Next, because I activated a spell card in the same column as Caspar, I can add a Magical Musket card from meine deck to my hand." A card shot out of her disk and she turned it around briefly, allowing Sabrina the see the image. It depicted Doc gazing through the telescope of his rifle. Sabrina didn't have enough time to read the text, however.
"And I'm not finished. I activate Kidbrave's effect! By discarding a Magical Musket card from my hand, I can draw two cards." The cowboy fired his gun into the air, as Rip slid a card into the discard slot and drew two more. "Now, I set one card and end my turn."
"By the way, just what are these Musketeers of yours?" Sabrina asked. "Warriors? Spellcasters?"
"Light Attribute Fiends." Rip replied. Sabrina stared in confusing for a second, failing to see either of those qualities in her opponent's monsters.
"That's almost as confusing as Doll Parts being Spellcasters..." Sabrina sighed.
She drew a card and began formulating a strategy. "I summon my Harpie Channeler!" A new monster soared into the room, resembling the Harpie Lady, but with raven wings and an elaborate hairstyle. She smirked and bared her talons. (1400 ATK)
"I'll use her effect to discard a Harpie card to special summon a Harpie from my deck! So meet Cyber Harpie Lady!" Channeler waved her magic staff and opened a portal, out of which flew the classic card made famous by Mai Kujaku. (1800 ATK)
Rip giggled. "What are you going to do, punish me~?" Sabrina just groaned and rolled her eyes, having been fed up with dominatrix jokes since she started playing Harpies. She pointed, and Cyber Harpie Lady lashed her whip, destroying Kidbrave. Rip stopped laughing and furrowed her brows, scowling.
"Channeler, attack Caspar!" The winged sorceress raised her staff and conjured a storm, sending it after Rip's monster. "I'm afraid I can't allow zat!" The nazi played a card quickly, surrounding Caspar with a white aura. "Magical Musket - Steady Hands doubles my monster's attack points until ze turn ends!" Caspar's score shot up to 2400, and he fired a single bullet, which pierced the storm cloud and hit Harpie Channeler, shattering her.
Sabrina frowned and looked over her remaining cards. "I'll set this and end my turn." She said, before a melody began playing from seemingly nowhere. "Which activates the effect of Harpie Harpist in my graveyard. Because she was sent there this turn, I can add a weak Winged Beast monster from my deck to my hand." She looked over the appropriate cards and selected one, then shuffled. "Now you can go."
(RLP 5800) - (SLP 7000)
Rip van Winkle looked over her hand and gave another sharp toothed smile. "So, you like wind monsters, Mädchen?" She played a spell, the holy ankh of Monster Reborn glowing in the air. Kidbrave rose up, only to quickly disappear. "I tribute summon Fantastic Striborg!" The new monster was not at all what Sabrina would have expected. A robotic warrior that seemed to have been made out of an office fan. It seemed very out of place. (2200 ATK)
"What is that, a rejected Morphtronic?" Sabrina scoffed, before thinking it over. "Wait... Fantastic. Fantastic... Oh good lord." She sighed and smacked her forehead with her palm. She hated puns, an attitude that Industrial Illusions definitely did not share.
"Oh, shut up." Rip rolled her eyes. "First, when a monster is tributed to summon Striborg, it goes back to my hand." She reclaimed Kidbrave, then quickly discarded another card. "Second, by discarding vun card, I can return all your monsters in ze same column to your hand!" Striborg's fan began spinning rapidly, creating a whirlwind that blew Cyber Harpie off the field. Sabrina gasped and picked the card off her Duel Disk.
"Doc, Caspar, Striborg, attack her directly!" The two marskmen and the robot fired simultaneously, knocking Sabrina over.
"Sabrina!" Tyler had finally managed to find the girls. He rushed over to Sabrina's side and helped her up. She brushed herself off and drew a card, beginning her turn.
"Thanks," She said, looking at what she had. She nodded to herself, as Tyler stepped back and let her handle things. "I'm going to summon my favorite monster! Harpie Huntress!" A bird cry came out of nowhere, and a new Harpie swooped down to join the duel. She had shoulder length blonde hair, and bright pink feathers. That, along with her blue bodysuit, made her resemble an older version of Harpie Girl. (1600 ATK)
"And when she's summoned, I get to add one Hysteric or Formation card to my hand." She searched her deck for the right one, then shuffled. "Next, I'll activate the card I just searched for, Hysteric Sign." A continuous spell appeared behind Huntress, and another card shot into Sabrina's hand. "Which lets me search for Elegant Egotist. And I'll activate that too!"
A kaleidoscope-like aura surrounded Huntress, before the light came together and formed another Harpie. This one needed no description. "I summon Harpie Lady #1! And, as everyone knows, she gives all my Wind monsters 300 extra attack points." The two monsters spread their wings and cawed in unison.
"Now to get rid of that monster of yours. I play Quill Pen of Gulldos! By returning two Wind Attribute monsters from my Graveyard to my deck, I can return Striborg to your hand!" A comically oversized quill pen appeared in Harpie Lady's hands. She flicked her wrist and conjured up an enormous gust, which carried the robot off the field.
"Attack, girls!" Harpie Lady rushed forward and slashed Doc with her claws, while Huntress produced a hidden dagger and tossed it at Caspar. Rip gasped as her monsters were destroyed. "I set one card and end my turn."
(RLP 4900) - (SLP 2200)
"Atta girl!" Tyler cheered, slapping Sabrina on the back. She jumped and held her still sore back, giving her teammate a scowl. "My bad..." He backed off, putting his hands up defensively.
"Verdammt..." Rip cursed, regretting her decision to duel instead of simply shooting Sabrina. She drew a card and narrowed her eyes, baring her fangs. "I activate One Day of Peace! Ve each draw a card, und neither of us takes damage until your turn ends." She looked at her hand and was clearly not happy yet. "Next, Upstart Goblin. I get one draw, you get 1000 Life Points." A healing aura spread over Sabrina, helping her stand up straighter.
"I summon Magical Musketeer Kidbrave once more." The cowboy appeared for the third time, looking rather bored. "Then I play Double Summon. I'll tribute him to bring out my ultimate monster!" Kidbrave was consumed by flames, which soon gave way to a much more intimidating figure. This one was obviously a fiend, unlike the others, with curved horns and enormous wings. He wore dapper clothes, and wielding the same odd pistols that Caspar had. The demonic grafts of the Magical Musketeers were clearly based on him. (2500 ATK)
"This is Magical Musket Mastermind Zakiel!" Rip laughed, almost maniacally. "Und he vill be the card zat leads you to your doom!" She bit her glove excitedly. "Take your last turn, Mädchen."
"Stop calling me that!" Sabrina said, drawing. "I'm 21 years old, that's hardly a girl anymore!" She played the card she had drawn thanks to One Day of Peace. "Supremacy Berry boosts my Life Points by 2000, since you have more than I do."
"Next, I'll re-summon Cyber Harpie." The armored monster folded her arms... wings?... and scowled. "And I'll activate Harpie Lady Eagle Formation!" The three harpies on her field stood together and were surrounded by a blazing, golden aura, in the shape of an eagle. "This lets me draw once for every Harpie Lady I have."
Sabrina's face lit up and she smiled. "I activate a powerful card that no Harpie deck should ever be without! Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation!" A blazing blue energy began to burn over Sabrina's field...
"I chain activate Magical Musket Fiendish Deal!" Rip played a continuous trap, which, fittingly, had Zakiel in the artwork. "Zakiel's effect lets me play Magical Musket cards from my hand during either player's turn! Und this trap prevents all my monsters from being destroyed outside of battle!"
The two Shadowchasers nearly toppled over in surprise. Sabrina looked at her remaining cards, not sure what to do. "I... I switch my harpies to defense mode, and set one card. That ends my turn."
"Then I draw one card from Zakiel's second ability." Rip smiled. "Face it, child, your filthy birds don't stand a chance against the might of Millennium."
(RLP 4900) - (SLP 5200)
"I summon Magical Musketeer Calamity." Another sharpshooter stepped onto the field. This one was a redheaded woman, carrying a rocket launcher of all things. She lacked a graft, and wore a cape resembling Zakiel's wings. (1500 ATK)
"Next, I'll play a trap. Magical Musket Barrage!" Calamity vanished, and Zakiel's wings began glowing with an infernal light. "By tributing 1 monster, I can grant Zakiel 500 extra attack points, und an additional attack this turn! I'll also be equipping him with Fairy Meteor Crush!" Zakiel's wings glowed even brighter, becoming almost iridescent.
"Since Barrage was activated in the same column as Calamity, I can use her effect to revive Caspar." The original gunman rose up onto the dueling ground, crouching in defense mode. (2000 DEF)
"Now attack her Harpies!" Zakiel fired his pistols, twin fireballs blazing towards Sabrina's monsters. She waited until the last second and pressed a button on her Duel Disk.
"I activate Aqua Chorus! Since my monsters all have the same name, they get 500 points to both scores!" Huntress and Harpie Lady's defense points went up just before they were hit, shattering into millions of pixels. Sabrina grunted as her life points fell yet again.
"Hmph. I play Mystical Space Typhoon to get rid of Aqua Chorus before it can give me anymore trouble." Rip said, yet another of Sabrina's cards exploding this duel. She ended her turn, looking impatient. "I will end you soon enough."
Sabrina had three cards in her hand. One of them could help her win this. One of them would only stall for later. And one was useless.
"I activate Twin Twisters! By discarding one card, I can destroy two spells or traps on the field! So I choose your Fairy Meteor Crush, and my Hysteric Sign!" Two identical tornados blew across the warehouse, destroying the equip spell and the continuous.
"Then, I'll set a monster and switch Cyber Harpie to defense mode." The armored avian knelt, still glaring at her opponent.
"Sabrina, let me join in! We can beat her if we work together!" Tyler insisted. But Sabrina pushed him back. "No way, this is my fight. I started it, and I have to finish it." She turned to face Rip, a look of pure determination on her face.
"Now that it's my end phase, I can use Hysteric Sign's effect! I get to add three Harpie cards with different names to my hand." Sabrina quickly picked out the ones she needed, then slid her deck back into her duel disk. I just have to last long enough to use them...
(RLP 4900) - (SLP 2800)
"You're only delaying the inevitable." The nazi vampire said. "Ve vould have von World War III if it hadn't been for Alucard, and he's not here right now." She switched Caspar into attack mode.
"Take out her monsters!" Zakiel destroyed Cyber Harpie Lady. Caspar fired at the set monster, which revealed itself to be Harpie Channeler. She swatted the bullet away with her staff and gave him a haughty look. Rip just scoffed and ended her turn.
Sabrina stood up straighter and glared at Rip. "You know what, I'm tired of you. Your obnoxious personality, your gun fetish, and all your stupid fourth reich nonsense." She drew a card, but didn't change her expression.
"You think you're so superior, huh? Well then why did you lose? You guys became a cliche we use in bad scifi movies and comic books." She activated one of her set cards, Harpie's Feather Storm. Feathers rained down on Rip's monsters, dulling their colors. "My trap negates your monsters' effects for the rest of the turn, so whatever traps you're holding onto are useless."
"And getting more personal, you were a one-off bad guy who's only remembered because of an abridged series, which reduced you to a meme spouting parody of tumblr." Sabrina knew Rip probably wasn't aware of memes or tumblr, but the insult still stood. "I activate Hysteric Party! By tossing one card, I can summon as many Harpies from my graveyard as possible!"
The room became flooded with bright lights and music, as Cyber Harpie Lady, Harpie Huntress and Harpie Lady #1 rose from the grave. Channeler perked up when she saw them, and they all stood together, united.
"So vhat?" Rip asked, not impressed. "Even vith Harpie Lady's effect, none of them are as strong as Zakiel."
"I'm not done yet!" Sabrina played another card, a spell with the same background as Phoenix and Eagle Formation. This time, however, the bird was made of purple fire. The four Harpies lined up and were bathed in the flames, which formed a fiery peacock. "I activate Harpie Lady Peahen Formation!"
Rip shielded her eyes from the light, while Tyler barely contained his excitement. "This card increases the level of all Harpies by 2! So now that I have three level 6 monsters, I can build the overlay network!"
The cosmic portal opened, and three Harpies flew in. "I'm summoning the one, the only, Harpie Empress!" A brand new monster floated up through the portal, spreading her wings. It was a Harpie alright, with long blonde hair and purple feathers. She wore a tiara and a bustier, and carried a thorny whip. The Mardi Gras style mask on her face did little to hide her good looks. (2600 ATK)
"Is that Mai Kujaku?" Tyler was the first to notice. Sabrina simply waved her hand. "Oh, I get it, Kujaku means 'peacock' in Japanese!"
"Yep, this card was made in the image of the first Harpie duelist." Sabrina replied. "And she's plenty powerful! First of all, by detaching an Overlay Unit, I can resurrect a low level Wind monster... including the one I just discarded!" Cyber Harpie Lady returned to the field once again, looking excited.
"Second, Empress' effect boosts the attack of all Harpie Ladies on the field by 300, times the number that I have! Combine that with Harpie Lady 1's effect, and you get a whopping 1200!" The empress' score increased to 3800, Cyber Harpie's to 3000, and Lady's to 2500.
"Get that bitch!" Cyber Harpie lassoed her whip around Zakiel's neck, then pulled it tight, shattering him. Harpie Lady 1 sliced Caspar in half with her talons. Empress drew her whip and, smirking, lashed Rip across the face.
(RLP 0) - (SLP 2800)
"Not again!" Rip cried, falling to her knees and she vanished from this dimension. Sabrina nearly fell into Tyler's arms, exhausted. He smiled and helped her stay up, making sure to keep his hands where she could see them. The last time he tried hitting on her, she had made it very clear that she wasn't interested.
"When we get back to headquarters, remind me to take Hellsing off my favorites list." She sighed, picking up her cards.
0-0-0-0-0
I hope you enjoyed that!
Now that everyone's been established, it's time to start advancing the plot!
Tune in next time to see what Caspian's up to, in a chapter I like to call Mermaid Knight!
0-0-0-0-0
Cards I invented:
Magical Musket Barrage: *Caspar holding two guns, one silver and the other gold*
Card Type- Trap
Spell/Trap Type- Normal
Text- Tribute 1 "Magical Musketeer" monster you control, then target 1 other monster you control. That monster gains 500 ATK, until the End Phase, and can attack twice during this Battle Phase.
0
Harpie Huntress: *blonde harpie with short hair and pink wings*
Card Type- Effect Monster
Monster Type- Winged Beast
Level- 4
Attribute- WIND
ATK/DEF- 1600/1200
Text- When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, you can add 1 "Hysteric" or "Formation" Spell/Trap Card from your Deck to your hand. This card's name is treated as "Harpie Lady" while it's on the field or in the Graveyard. You can only use this effect of "Harpie Huntress" once per turn.
0
Harpie Lady Eagle Formation: *magic circle surrounding an eagle made of golden fire*
Card Type- Spell
Spell/Trap Type- Normal
Text- Draw 1 card for each face-up "Harpie Lady" you control. You can only activate 1 "Harpie Lady Eagle Formation" each turn.
0-0-0
Cards invented by somebody else-
Harpie Lady Peahen Formation: *peacock made of purple flames in a magic circle*
Card Type- Spell
Spell/Trap Type- Normal
Text- Activate only when you control 2 or more face-up "Harpie Lady" monsters. Increase the Level of all face-up "Harpie Lady" monsters you control by 2.
0
Harpie Empress: *blonde, purple feathered harpie wearing a tiara, mask and bustier and wielding a thorny whip*
Card Type- Xyz Monster
Monster Type- Winged Beast
Attribute- WIND
Level- Rank 6
ATK/DEF- 2600/2800
Text- 3 level 6 WIND monsters. This card's name is treated as "Harpie Lady" while on the field and in the Graveyard. All face-up "Harpie Lady" you control gain 300 ATK for each face-up "Harpie Lady" on the field. Once per turn, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower WIND monster from your Graveyard.
Credit: The preceding two cards were both invented by MultiplePersonas, and first used in Tournament of Shadows. Used with permission.