Welcome back to the second part of this release, the final one before Christmas! When this goes online, it should already be the 24th in the more eastern parts of the world I believe, so a Merry Christmas to them! Now, in the spirit of this festivity of love and family, what could be more fitting than releasing a chapter whose contents are two siblings beating each other to a bloody pulp in a children's card game? Whatever time it is in my story, it surely isn't Christmas there as well, given this confrontation happening right now. Anyway, with the previous chapter being more exposition-heavy, this one should make for a nice contrast, mostly consisting of action due to said duel. Interesting enough this chapter is also the opposite of the previous one in the sense that its ending notes are much longer than the beginning notes. Now, onto the review responses:
Review Responses:
-To TheBlazingButterfly777: Well, thanks for your review. Mentioning the beginning and ending is good, but what about, you know, the giant part between them? Not that it would be a problem for me, but having a few words about them and maybe answering the QOTC would have been great. Still, my gratitude for the review.
-To SoulMatter: Heh, I'm glad to hear your relief. Yeah, in the last few months I've been moving around in other stories a bit, mostly helping out SakushiRyu and scififan599. Though in case of the former, I am usually not referred to by my account name, but as "Erik" instead, on my request though since I found clarifications like "(not the Duel Monster)" as an addendum to my pen name pretty uncomfortable when SakushiRyu or scififan599 used it once (can't remember which one off the top of my head, it has been quite a long time since then). And before you ask about the Erik part, don't bother, it's an acronym for a Latin phrase I can't be arsed to explain right now. I just found it interesting since Erik is an actual name too, and something that is easier to remember than my pen name probably. Maybe I'll start using it in addition to my current pen name moving forward, who knows.
Anyway, I have not been following you in the last few months, mainly because I was and still am busy as hell, but I'm happy to hear about your progress. I believe to remember that Dawn of Twilight ended up inspiring you to start writing, so it's always a nice feeling to see the "younger writer generation" be productive. Maybe we can have a bit more personal exchange again moving forward, seeing that I miss the old times a bit when we corresponded a lot more.
As for your chapter summary, it was very accurate in my opinion, though you could have also added a "Dr. Kogami reorganizes his team" in between the "Lore dump from a dragon" and "Ryoken gets jealous/paranoid and demands a duel". The rest was about right though.
Mentioning Shinryuu (I prefer the OCG name for the archetype since it's a good blanket term for True Dracos and True Kings) is a very good point, you have a pretty nice read on me there. Now then, will you see Shinryuu being used by Kiyoshi? Well, the answer is no, as that archetype synergizes surprisingly bad with Dracoslayers and Dracoverlords. Will you see Shinryuu in general in the upcoming chapters though? Well, the answer for that question is a definite yes. Very good intuition on your part, though I sort of alluded to that in my last review response to you admittedly.
I am aware that Dawn of Twilight and Destiny Junction are both very dragon-heavy, the former more so than the latter. Hence why I included characters like Betsune who criticize and make fun of that overuse to a certain extent.
-To Super Shadow 2018: Like I said, Master Pax was a first means of introducing you readers to the more supernatural elements of this story. Of course I plan to include the other summoning methods in Ryoken's deck, but probably not yet, having them appear later would likely be better. Interesting enough I had indeed planned some interaction between the two duelists of this chapter's duel and their monsters. And as for the duel you mentioned, it was pretty good for someone with your experience, though you still have to work on your dueling structure a bit in my opinion, like the way how you write things like LP changes, summons, etc. (for instance, I wouldn't explicitly state a change in hand cards in the same manner as a change in LP, having a separate paragraph showing it). Having a better structure makes the duel more comprehensible and thus more enjoyable, so you merely have to improve on the formal aspects of writing duels for now I'd say. Overall pretty good, but you have to restructure a few things to provide a more lucid reading experience.
-To ZarcEternal: Glad to have you back as well. I'm sure that this and the following chapters will be evenly enjoyable as the last one, though I would say that they should probably be even better, considering we have the bulk of the exposition behind us now. As for the duel of last chapter, I generally like to include FTKs and other strategies that basically already win at the first turn from time to time, mainly as meta humor because real life duels generally don't adhere to the anime policy of most duels being a back and forth affair.
Well, there is that. I thank you for the many reviews, though I would have wished for at least one person to respond to the lastest Question of the Chapter. Oh well, it's not the worst, but I would really appreciate your feedback in that regard in particular, so if you like this chapter's duel, you can show me your appreciation for it in that way. Anyway, now let's get into the story without further ado. Full steam ahead!
Chapter 6: Omen of War – An Explosive Kogami Showdown
Prologue...
(Bloodborne OST – Cleric Beast)
When the Lamb broke the second seal, I heard the second living being say, "Come!" Then another horse appeared, a red one. Its rider was given a mighty sword and the authority to take peace from the earth. And there was war and slaughter everywhere.
Second Seal: [*E** *N** *O***Q**]
Universe 38, Somewhere in Space...
"Ah, the battle is about to begin now, isn't it? The sidelined girl with a new sense of pride versus the favorite, but needlessly excessively acknowledgment-seeking son. Quite the matchup," the dark blue and silver dragon debated with itself, continuing to meander through the depths of the multiverse with its serpentine body. "Well, any lesser being than I would now go crazy about the results and start speculating which sibling is gonna win, but for me that is not really a question at all. Being the Patron of the Cardinal Force of Destiny truly gives one a lot of insight into the future, doesn't it? Actually, I am already aware of the outcome, as well as those for the battles to come after that," it said with a smirk, then transforming into a far smaller form. The dragonic entity turned out to be the same dark blue and silver haired male who had observed Yukemi on the latter's duel with Yusaku the day prior to the current one, holding a large and broad blade with serrated teeth-like jags on its cutting edge.
"I can barely wait for my battles with them!" Gishiki Yuga said in an anticipating manner, reaching into the pockets of his robe-like attire, pulling a trio of cards from them which he now eyed with a sense of pride and a bit of sadistic glee on his expression. The cards had the basic brown color of a standard Effect-Monster, but the additions to that were what made them precious, as they possessed the characteristics of multiple exalted rarities at once: The borders of the card and those around the card artwork were embossed like with an Ultimate Rare, though in different colors than the usual golden. The card artwork itself was adorned with a parallel holofoil background and the card name text was written in holographic letters, just like a Secret Rare, only that the letters also diverted from their regular rainbow color and were instead of a different holographic coloring. The space around the card artwork and effect box had a horizontal holographic foil pattern, like that of a Starlight Rare. Finally its effect box also had a special foiling, namely one with washed-out colors, the same kind of aesthetic the artwork of a Ghost Rare had. Each of the three cards had an individual color to its card name text, effect text, and the borders of its artwork and the card itself, those being blue, red and yellow respectively. As a final characteristic none of the three cards were written in the standard Japanese, instead applying the western letter system for themselves, with the language they were written in being Latin.
"Oh, how much joy you will bring to them!" Yuga continued raving maliciously, his eye fixated on the trio of cards, which he now further focused on, one by one.
"One to inflict defeat," he said, looking at the card with the blue color scheme, simultaneously seeing an image within his mind, namely one of three individuals who were blown away by an attack.
"One to inflict intimidation," the male continued, now with his eyes resting on the card with the red letters and borders and once more seeing a vision, depicting an individual raising said card into the air which in turn caused the surrounding people to panic.
"And lastly one to inflict humiliation," Yuga finished while staring at the yellow-themed card, the image he saw being that of a kneeling man who held the same card, an expression of betrayal on the face of said man.
"Ah, those are going to be some incredible fights! I can hardly wait for them!" he said, once again in an anticipating tone. It changed to a more casual one as he continued. "Well, it will still take a while until that girl will discover the locations of the God Relics, so I don't have to rush things there and can keep running my cosmic errands at a relaxed pace," Yuga remarked, pocketing the cards and looking away.
"Anyway, getting back to work, I still have to destroy 26 planets today and create 24 new ones, so let me continue with my duty now. Well, where was that one planet again? Hmm...," he debated with himself, looking around now. Eventually his head settled around 30 degrees to the right from his original position, him turning around that way. "Ah yes, it was about 15 light years in that direction I believe. Bye, I guess," he remarked, firing a dark blue beam from the index finger of his outstretched right arm. A few seconds later Yuga put on a smile.
"Bullseye. Having an augmented sense of vision surely helps to verify target-contact with shots of this distance," he commented, then turning away. "And that's another planet exterminated, the last one of this universe that was on my list. Onto the next then! Hopefully these humans get to have their fun in the meantime, while it lasts that is!" Yuga exclaimed, once more transforming into his stellar-sized dragon form and opening up a portal through which he vanished.
Universe 76, Kogami Residence...
"Are both of you ready?" Kiyoshi addressed his children, assuming the role of the referee.
-"We are, otoosan!"- both of them declared in unison.
"In that case let it begin!" Kiyoshi announced. "Let us...!"
-"DUEL!"- both pairs of Kogami sibling and Anti Ignis shouted, the artificial reality systems of their disks going into effect.
KOGAMI RYOKEN: 8000 LP
VS.
KOGAMI BETSUNE: 8000 LP
(This Duel is conducted as a Master Duel.)
"Since you aspire to become the first of the triumvirate, why don't you go first as well?!" Ryoken challenging his sister aggressively.
"As you wish! My turn then!" Betsune declared, drawing her start hand and inspecting it. "Alright! I will start by activating the spell Foolish Burial Goods, allowing me to mill any spell or trap from my deck! I send Sky Striker Warfare – Martial Law to my graveyard!" she said, reducing her hand to four cards while her graveyard now held two cards.
"She opened with Burial Goods? Tch, that's a big oof, Ryoken! Better stay on guard then, looks like she will put up a pretty decent defense!" Noctis hissed warningly.
"Using Martial Law's effect I can send another "Sky Striker"-Spell from my deck to the graveyard, though that effect can only be used once while Martial Law is in my graveyard! I mill Sky Striker Mecha Modules – Multirole!" Betsune announced, disposing of another spell.
"Damn it! She already has her three spell setup! This is gonna be tough to deal with!" Ryoken cursed.
"Following that I activate Sky Striker Mobilize – Deploy! since my Main Monster Zones are empty, which allows me to send one "Sky Striker"-Card from my deck to the GY! If I've got three or more spells in my graveyard like I do currently, I may instead add to my hand or special summon that card though! I pick Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage!, and since it isn't a monster it becomes a Sky Striker Ace Token instead as I summon it!" Betsune announced, a white and yellow drone appearing and soaring upwards, projecting the image of a realistically looking bright blonde haired girl with green eyes, wearing a black headgear with yellow trimming on the left backside of her head.
Sky Striker Ace Token
Dark/ Level 1/ ATK 0/ DEF 0/ Warrior
"Now appear, the circuit of futuristic aviation!" Betsune announced, summoning her Link Circuit which was slightly different from the usual one in so far that it possessed additional technological augmentation. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are one non-Fire "Sky Striker Ace"-Monster! I set the Engage that was turned into a Sky Striker Ace Token into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" she shouted, the drone that created the image ascending towards the circuit.
"And so the grind game begins...," Atsuko whispered to herself, observing the battle between her siblings.
"Opening Multirole Gateway! Accommodating pilot! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-003!" the drone buzzed, opening up a portal in the air from which a young female emerged, resembling the image previously created by the drone in appearance and holding a black and red colored sword. Following that a red mechanical suit fell through the portal, activating and flying towards the blonde female. "Identifying pilot! Raye confirmed! Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! All weapon systems online!" a voice from within the suit went on, the suit identifying the blade of the female, opening and then closing around the body of her, eight blades resembling that which she was holding spreading outwards from the back of her suit, the girl stopping in her descent to the ground as her aviation systems started suspending her in the air.
"Link Summon! Take off, Link 1, Sky Striker Ace – Kagari!" Betsune declared, the blonde haired female monster reaching her position a few meters above the ground, clad in a red, orange and black suit of armor and still holding her black sword that now glowed with a fiery red on its tip.
Sky Striker Ace – Kagari
Fire/ Link 1/ ATK 1500/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (↖)
"Kagari right off the bat? Ugh, we're off to a great start then!" Noctis groaned in exasperation.
"Kagari's effect! She gains 100 ATK for every spell in my graveyard! Currently there are five of them, so she will have 500 bonus ATK! However, I will activate her on-summon effect, fetching me any "Sky Striker"-Spell from my graveyard and thus decreasing this bonus by 100 ATK! Of course, I add back Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage!" Betsune told, her monster diving into a black portal in the ground from which she recurred the spell that depicted the transformation process of her base form.
Sky Striker Ace – Kagari: ATK 1500 → 2000 → 1900
"Access to Engage and the three spells requirement early on? Just great, can't wait to see where this goes!" Ryoken pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"What's wrong, onii-san? Concerned that you might not be able to break my defenses once I end my turn?" Betsune challenged her brother.
"Just carry on with your turn!" Ryoken snapped back, the truth in her words getting to him.
"Very well! I activate Engage since I have no monsters in my Main Monster Zones, searching any "Sky Striker"-Card from my deck! Since I have the three spells requirement in my graveyard I can also draw a card, though! I add another Deploy to my hand and then draw a card! Following that I activate Deploy, picking Sky Striker Ace – Raye whom by the three spells requirement I get to special summon instead! Appear!" Betsune commanded, another white and yellow drone appearing, projecting the image of the blonde haired female onto the field. This version didn't wear a tight black and white bodysuit though, but a white and black uniform adorned by a black and yellow insignia, completed with a black tie as well as black stockings and shoes. She furthermore wielded a black katana with red lines running across it.
Sky Striker Ace – Raye
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1500/ DEF 1500/ Warrior/ Effect
Sky Striker Ace – Kagari: ATK 1900 → 2000 → 2100
"Next up I activate Sky Striker Warfare – Martial Law! I can only activate this effect of Martial Law once per duel, but it enables me to target five of my Main Monster Zones and have them be treated as unoccupied while "Sky Striker Ace"-Monsters reside in them!" Betsune announced, a group of the usual drones soaring across her zones and applying a stealthing process onto them from what the onlooker would guess.
Sky Striker Ace – Kagari: ATK 2100 → 2200
"And she also has Martial Law early on. Now the only restriction of her damn spells, that being empty Main Monster Zones on her side, is basically gone. What a great start for us...!" Noctis grumbled silently.
"Mad, Noctis? Sometimes you just have the luck to get everything you need, right?" Helena giggled from across the field, which further upset the other Anti Ignis.
"Continuing my turn I can now use the graveyard effect of Martial Law, milling another "Sky Striker"-Spell from my deck! I choose Sky Striker Mecha – Eagle Booster!" Betsune went on, once more powering up her Kagari whose sword became increasingly more aflame with each spell.
Sky Striker Ace – Kagari: ATK 2200 → 2300
"And then appear again, the circuit of futuristic aviation! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are one non-Earth "Sky Striker Ace"-Monster! I set Sky Striker Ace – Kagari into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" she yelled, her monster soaring skywards and the white-yellow drones reappearing.
"Opening Multirole Gateway! Accommodating pilot! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-205!" the drone announced, the blonde girl separating from her suit and then falling into a futuristic portal below her alongside it. From another portal above them another female appeared, having the same outfit consisting of a black and white uniform plus black tie and the black-yellow insignia as Raye. Unlike her she didn't have bright blonde hair though, but dark red one that was styled in two pigtails, wearing the same headgear as Raye, but with its colors swapped as yellow was the main color and black the one of the trimming rather than the opposite that Raye's headgear posed to it. Furthermore she wore not one, but two of them, one at the beginning of each of her red pigtails. Her eyes were of a contrasting color to Raye's too, being dark purple, and her sword might have had the same colors as Raye's but was far wider, resembling a broad sword. Following this female was a black mech suit around the collar of which a great amount of blades was attached.
"Identifying pilot! Ari confirmed! Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! All weapon systems online!" a voice from within the mech suit finished as the new pilot slipped into it after having exchanged her prior outfit for a tight bodysuit, the blades detaching from the collar of her mech suit and scattering around her, forming an equally offensive as defensive formation around the pilot and her suit. A noticeable difference to the suit of the former pilot was an exterior, quite striking jet pack which was apparently more intended for acceleration than levitation, if the lack of one on the also flying Kagari suit was any indication.
"Link Summon! Take off, Link 1, Sky Striker Ace – Jishin!" Betsune said, the blades orbiting around her monster as it made its descent.
Sky Striker Ace – Jishin
Earth/ Link 1/ ATK 1700/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (↘)
"Jishin's effect! When special summoned I can select three "Sky Striker"-Spells in my graveyard and put two of them either at the top or bottom of my deck while adding the third spell to my hand! I choose to return Sky Striker Mecha Modules – Multirole to my hand and put Mobilize – Deploy to the bottom of my deck while Mobilize – Engage goes to its top!" Betsune stated, recovering one of her cards.
"Appear once more, the circuit of futuristic aviation! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are one non-Wind "Sky Striker Ace"-Monster! I set Sky Striker Ace – Raye into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" she told as the previous procedure repeated, another white and yellow drone ascending towards the portal.
"Opening Multirole Gateway! Accommodating pilot! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-204! Identifying pilot! Ari confirmed! Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! All weapon systems online!" the drone followed by the mech suit buzzed as the former projected another iteration of the red haired female from before, the airborne portal this time spawning a turquoise mech suit with a quartet of modified mechanical arms designed into machine guns. It also sported a similar jet pack as the previous suit – apparently a preference of the redhead that operated them.
"Link Summon! Take off, Link 1, Sky Striker Ace – Arashi!" Betsune declared as the monster appeared on her rightmost Main Monster Zone.
Sky Striker Ace – Arashi
Wind/ Link 1/ ATK 1700/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (↙)
"I will use her effect right away! When special summoned, I can mill up to three cards from the top of my deck to have Arashi gain 200 ATK for each until the End Phase! I choose to send the topmost three cards of my deck to the graveyard! This triggers her other effect however, enabling me to add back a "Sky Striker"-Spell that has been sent to my graveyard except by activating it! I pay the cost of 1000 LP to add back Mobilize – Engage!" Betsune told as her hand went back to five cards.
Sky Striker Ace – Arashi: ATK 1700 → 2300
KOGAMI BETSUNE: LP 8000 → 7000
"So that's why she put Engage to the top of her deck. Clever," Daisuke remarked.
"I then activate the continuous spell Sky Striker Mecha Modules – Multirole!" Betsune announced, invoking the mechanical system that had been used for the transport of the females before, spawning a portal in the sky whenever it was necessary.
"Now we have to deal with double the fun...," Noctis sighed silently to himself.
"Moving on I activate the Engage, adding Sky Striker Mecha – Widow Anchor to my hand and then drawing a card since I meet the requirement for the secondary effect! Then I go on with Sky Striker Mobilize – Invade! which enables me to discard one random card from your hand!" Betsune announced, the duel disk AI determining a card for Ryoken to be discarded.
Ryoken smirked. "Trying to build up your resource advantage on both ends, huh? Too bad that you hit the about worst target for that, namely Absorouter Dragon, Betsune! When this monster is sent to the graveyard I can add a "Rokket"-Monster from the deck to my hand! I pick Rokket Synchron!" Ryoken retorted, recovering his fifth hand card.
"Seems like you had some luck so far too, onii-san! However, don't forget the three spells bonus effect of Invade! I get to add a "Sky Striker"-Card of whatever card type your discarded card had from my deck to the hand! Lucky that it wasn't a trap, right? Since I hit a monster I will add Sky Striker Ace – Fio to my hand!" Betsune said in response, refreshing her hand as well.
"Nice response, Ryoken! However, Fio usually means trouble, so keep your eyes focused on her!" Noctis addressed his partner, Ryoken responding with a simple nod.
"I then normal summon Sky Striker Ace – Fio!" Betsune went on, invoking a young female clad in the same outfit as Raye and the other girl. Adorning her long black hair was a white headgear with yellow trimming, located on the right side of it. She also held a sword like her two comrades, though hers was shaped like a rapier, complementing the grace in her magenta eyes.
Sky Striker Ace – Fio
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1600/ DEF 1600/ Warrior/ Effect
"Upon being summoned her effect enables me to add any "Sky Striker"-Card from my deck to the hand, with the additional option to summon it if it was a monster! Using this effect I get myself another Engage! Then appear again, the circuit of futuristic aviation! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are one non-Fire "Sky Striker Ace"-Monster! I set Sky Striker Ace – Jishin into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" Betsune told.
"Opening Multirole Gateway! Accommodating pilot! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-103!" a white and yellow drone opening up the transportation gateway again spoke, one on the ground into which Ari and her Jishin suit dropped, and one up above from where a mech suit as well as another drone projecting a replica of Fio appeared. "Identifying pilot! Fio confirmed! Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! All weapon systems online!" the dark orange mech suit finished, having four mechanical arms that were equipped with jamming gears, combining with the projection of Fio to invoke another monster.
"Link Summon! Take off, Link 1, Sky Striker Ace – Atsusa!" Betsune declared as she replaced one suit for another.
Sky Striker Ace – Atsusa
Fire/ Link 1/ ATK 1600/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (↓)
"Jishin's effect activates! When sent to the graveyard I can mill a "Sky Striker"-Spell from my deck! I choose Sky Striker Maneuver – Afterburners! Then appear, the circuit of futuristic aviation! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are one non-Wind "Sky Striker Ace"-Monster! I set Sky Striker Ace – Fio into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" Betsune said, summoning another circuit. This time there was no drone involved though, as Fio herself shot skywards at her declaration.
"Opening Multirole Gateway! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-104! Identifying pilot! Fio confirmed! Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! All weapon systems online!" the loudspeaker in Fio's headgear followed by the mech suit buzzed, the airborne gateway releasing a bright green suit with two mechanical arms that were remodeled into canisters of some sort, the skull symbols on them indicating a high probability that their content was toxic. The suit equipped to Fio who joined the line of her comrades at that.
"Link Summon! Take off, Link 1, Sky Striker Ace – Kitai!" Betsune shouted as the newcomer arrived, adding a third Link-Monster to her formation.
Sky Striker Ace – Kitai
Wind/ Link 1/ ATK 1600/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (←)
"Eh? No accommodating pilot this time? Why that, I was getting used to the line?" Daisuke wondered to himself.
"It's because of the circumstances," Atsuko spoke up, prompting the other teenager to turn around to her. "Onee-san's deck consists of four pilots, namely Raye, Roze, Fio and Ari. Each of them has multiple mech suits corresponding to the respective attributes. When she Link Summons they essentially take on those forms by receiving their suit from the portal created by the Multirole gateway system that serves as means of fast transportation. Since that requires for the pilots to be the link material to fully work this way however, she inquires the help of the Hornet Drones, which project either images of the respective pilot with varying degrees of realism to the field or open the Multirole gateway so that the respective pilot can tag in. When Kagari was summoned she could simply have Raye spawn in from above who then equipped the mech suit, whereas for the Link Summoning of Jishin she required Ari since that is one of her suits. As such Raye and her Kagari suit which were Jishin's link material left the battlefield and the Multirole system brought in Ari who equipped her Jishin suit. When Arashi came around things got a little more complicated, since Arashi is also one of Ari's suits while Jishin still remained on the field at that time. Naturally there cannot be two versions of the same pilot on the field simultaneously, so the Hornet Drones created a realistic duplicate using the abilities of the Modification system which then equipped the Arashi suit. It was similar as the time when both Kagari and Raye were on her field – she summoned Raye while Kagari was already out, so because of that the Hornet Drones stepped in and created a projection of Raye instead."
"Now with all of that said you should be able to deduce the reason for the lack of that one line. Since Kitai is Fio's suit and Fio herself was the link material, there was no pilot to be accommodated, as it was already fitting. The things the Hornet Drones say when a Link Summon happens depends on the already present monsters on the field as well as the link material, to give you a tl;dr," Atsuko explained.
"You know a lot about your sister's deck...," Daisuke replied, baffled by the response.
"She is my sister and she loves aviation. Of course I would know about her deck then, considering it reflects her main hobby," Atsuko retorted nonchalantly.
"Following that I activate the spell Sky Striker Mecha – Wyvern Blaster! I can shuffle any amount of spells from my graveyard into my deck and hit you for 200 damage for each! Then, should I still have three or more spells in my graveyard after that, I may return to my deck up to half as many "Sky Striker"-Monsters as spells I shuffled back! I put Deploy, Eagle Booster, Area Zero and Afterburners back into my deck to inflict 800 damage to you, then I also return Kagari and Jishin to my Extra Deck!" Betsune said, her Arashi receiving a white rifle, its barrel having resemblance to a dragonic head, firing an energized beam at Ryoken.
KOGAMI RYOKEN: LP 8000 → 7200
"I then set one card and proceed to my End Phase! Using the effect of Mecha Modules – Multirole I can set "Sky Striker"-Spells from my graveyard, up to the number of "Sky Striker"-Spells that I activated this turn while Multirole was on the field! I set both Mobilize – Engage and Invade, but they will be banished when they leave the field! The ATK of Arashi returns to normal! Turn end!" Betsune declared, the gateway in the sky opening once more, two spells descending from it to the field.
Sky Striker Ace – Arashi: ATK 2300 → 1700
"Three Link-Monsters on field, Raye, Fio and still four spells in the graveyard, two hard interruptions online, and still three hand cards. Good opening play, Betsune-chan!" Helena recapped from within her partner's mind.
"Not shabby for sure. That board should keep him in check, hopefully," Betsune retorted.
"A pretty good first turn setup indeed. I wonder how Ryoken-sama intends to combat it," Spectre remarked.
"Alright! My turn then! I draw!" Ryoken spoke up, inspecting his freshly drawn addition.
"Ugh, Atsusa on field and Widow Anchor face-down! That means one spell will be a goner, and she can negate one of your monster effects and even Change of Heart that monster! Though you can deal with either fairly easily, assuming that you won't fuck up the activation order of your cards!" Noctis addressed Ryoken mentally.
"Do you honestly think I would mess up something that simple?" Ryoken retorted coldly.
"Hmm, I dunno. Just mentioning it in case the excitement gets to your head." Noctis shrugged off the reply, grinning in amusement with its nonexistent mouth.
"Okay then, here we go! I start by activating the spell Lightning Storm! It may have the requirement that it can only be activated if I control no face-up cards, but in return it lets me choose to either destroy all of your attack position monsters or all your spells and traps on the field! I choose your monsters!" Ryoken spoke up.
"Tch, how inconvenient! In that case I will have to respond with Atsusa's own effect, which can negate the activation of an opposing spell card or its effect once per turn by banishing a "Sky Striker"-Spell from my graveyard! I banish one Martial Law and negate Lightning Storm!" Betsune replied, the jamming gears on her monster activating, neutralizing her brother's removal spell.
"Now that I have gotten rid of that unsightly effect, the real attack can commence! I activate another spell that brings forth extreme weather conditions, named Heavy Storm! By this spell's effect all backrow cards on the field are wiped out!" Ryoken continued, strong gales disposing of Betsune's cards, destroying both Multirole and Widow Anchor while Engage and Invade were banished by Multirole's downside effect.
"Heavy Storm? Ouchie...," Helena murmured in concern, flinching as the spell took effect.
"It's fun fighting poison with poison, right? Using a spell to take care of yours proved to be good countermeasure after all. You didn't really think that I'd let you go first without means to efficiently remove your resources, did you Betsune?" Ryoken mocked his sister after having used his second board breaker in a row.
"Leave the trash talk for when you have won, onii-san!" Betsune grumbled back.
"As you wish, Betsune!" Ryoken retorted with a smirk.
"Don't act all high and mighty, onii-san! Did you forget that Arashi is still in play? Since a "Sky Striker"-Spell left my field by non-activation, I may pay 1000 LP to add one of them back to my hand! I recover Widow Anchor!" Betsune told with a smirk of her own, recycling her spell.
KOGAMI BETSUNE: LP 7000 → 6000
"She recovered that annoying spell. Well, at least she can't use it this turn, so make sure to crush her before she can!" Noctis said bloodthirstily.
"Oh, I will, Noctis! I'll start by normal summoning Rokket Synchron!" Ryoken stated, a bulky metallic dragon with three pairs of translucent wings appearing on his field.
Rokket Synchron
Dark/ Level 1/ ATK 0/ DEF 0/ Dragon/ Tuner/ Effect
"There it is, one of his Tuners. Though in his deck it's only a fancy aesthetic, as he doesn't have access to any Synchro Monsters. Unless he somehow managed to pick it up within minutes, like you, Kiyoshi," Genryu remarked to his friend from the sidelines.
"I seriously doubt it, Genryu. Though it would be a pleasant surprise for sure," Kiyoshi answered.
"I activate its effect! When normal summoned Rokket Synchron enables me to revive a Level 5 or high Dark Dragon with negated effects! I bring back Absorouter Dragon!" Ryoken announced, a black metal dragon with bluish and silver trimmings arising next to Synchron.
Absorouter Dragon
Dark/ Level 7/ ATK 1200/ DEF 2800/ Dragon/ Effect
"Appear, the future circuit that lights up my path! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are one Level 4 or lower Dragon monster! I set Rokket Synchron into the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link 1, Striker Dragon!" Ryoken shouted as a blue and turquoise dragon substituted his similarly colored Synchron.
Striker Dragon
Dark/ Link 1/ ATK 1000/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (←)
"Using its effect I can add Boot Sector Launch to my hand when Link Summoned!" Ryoken announced, increasing his hand to four. "Then appear again, the future circuit that lights up my path! The summoning conditions are two Dark Dragon monsters! I set Striker and Absorouter Dragon into the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link 2, Dillingerous Dragon!" he went on, invoking a new metallic dragon, this time one of a strong dark blue and green color.
Dillingerous Dragon
Dark/ Link 2/ ATK 1600/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (↑↓)
"Absorouter's effect goes off, adding Rokket Tracer to my hand! Next up I activate the spell Link Supply! I get to draw one card for every Link-Monster on the field, but am not permitted to special summon any non-Link-Monsters from my Extra Deck during this turn! Since you control your Aces Arashi, Atsusa and Kitai while I have Dillingerous Dragon, I draw a total of four cards!" Ryoken proclaimed, his hand to a grand total of eight cards.
"Whew, Kiyoshi's kids damn well know how to go plus quickly, don't they?" Akame whistled in astonishment.
"Following that I special summon Gateway Dragon from my hand since you control a Link-Monster!" Ryoken continued, a yellowish dragon crawling out of a three-part portal which it tore open with its own three arms.
Gateway Dragon
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1600/ DEF 1400/ Dragon/ Effect
"By its effect I can once per turn call forth a Dark Dragon monster from my hand! Appear, Hibernation Dragon!" he stated, Gateway Dragon pulling open the portal from which it had emerged, a purplish serpentine dragon with similar translucent wings as Rokket Synchron appearing from it.
Hibernation Dragon
Dark/ Level 3/ ATK 600/ DEF 1500/ Dragon/ Effect
"Hibernation Dragon's effect! When special summoned I can add a Level 4 or lower Dark Dragon from my graveyard back to my hand! I choose Rokket Synchron!" Ryoken stated, recurring his monster. "Then I activate the field spell Boot Sector Launch and use its effect! I special summon up to two Rokkets from my hand! Appear, Rokket Tracer, Goldrokket Dragon! Through the effect of my field spell both of them will receive 300 ATK and DEF!" he commanded as a pair of monsters joined his formation, one being red with turquoise translucent wings while the other was golden in color and slim in build with purplish translucent wings, having a bullet-shaped head that was split in two halves along a vertical axis, one winglike protrusion protruding upwards from each half.
Rokket Tracer
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1600 → 1900/ DEF 1000 → 1300/ Dragon/ Tuner/ Effect
.&.
Goldrokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1800 → 2100/ DEF 1000 → 1300/ Dragon/ Effect
"Goldrokket's effect activates! On summon I can discard one card to add two "Rokket"-Monsters from my deck to my hand! I discard Background Dragon and fetch myself Magnarokket and another Goldrokket Dragon!" Ryoken told.
"Your brother gets going pretty fast...," Helena whispered to Betsune in concern.
"Now appear, the future circuit that lights up my path! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are three or more Effect-Monsters! I set Gateway, Hibernation and Dillingerous Dragon into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" Ryoken shouted, his three monsters flocking upwards.
"Uh oh, there comes his deck's main source of power...," Helena debated with herself as Ryoken's monsters filled four arrows in the airborne circuit, illuminating them in a red light.
"My new wind that pierces through the closed world! Behold, this is the bullet that will decide our destiny! Link Summon! Manifest, Link 4, Borreload Dragon!" Ryoken yelled, an immense red dragon with turquoise translucent wings appearing, boasting a pair of black horns, a revolver cylinder-like torso, the entirety of the monster being of metallic composition. It let loose a roar as it settled down on Ryoken's field, mirroring the current ferocity of its user.
Borreload Dragon
Dark/ Link 4/ ATK 3000/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (←→↙↘)
"There it is. His ace monster," Sokudo remarked.
"Looks pretty neat. Then again I'd just drop a Kaiju on it and it'd be dead," Kazuki commented.
"You should see its effects then. They're nothing to scoff at, especially against people who can't just tribute it away. The boy's untargetable by monster effects, you know?" Sokudo retorted.
"Sounds like decent protection. Let's find out how much that will help it in this matchup," Kazuki said, resuming to watch.
"I activate Sky Striker Ace – Kitai's effect! When you special summon a monster I can burn you for its ATK! Have 3000 damage, onii-san!" Betsune spoke up, her monster opening up the canisters on its suit, releasing a first dose of poisonous gas that had Ryoken choking for a second.
"You're wrong if you believe that this will deter me!" Ryoken hissed in response.
"Then how about this? I chain the effect of Atsusa to Kitai's, allowing me to shuffle one "Sky Striker"-Card – in this case Multirole – from my graveyard into my deck, as well as sequentially Link Summon up to two Sky Strikers using monsters I control including Atsusa as the materials! So appear, the circuit of futuristic aviation! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are one non-Fire and one non-Earth Sky Striker Ace respectively! I set Arashi into the Link Markers of the first circuit! Circuit combine!" Betsune shouted, the Wind suit of Ari unequipping as both it and its artificially created pilot fell into a Multirole-generated portal below.
"Opening Multirole Gateway! Accommodating pilot! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-203!" The Hornet Drone told, ceasing to project the image of Ari. "Identifying pilot! Ari confirmed! Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! All weapon systems online!" the suit that emerged finished as it appeared from the portal above, alongside the real Ari. She quickly combined with her combat gear, this time being a maroon-crimson battle suit with modified jet packs which emitted an enormous circle of flames all around her, scorching her surroundings. Ari herself was behind a layer of heatproof metal though, so the flames didn't bother her much as she descended onto the field.
"Link Summon! Take off, Link 1, Sky Striker Ace – Rekka!" Betsune declared as her monster was summoned to the Main Monster Zone that Kitai provided with her Left Arrow.
Sky Striker Ace – Rekka
Fire/ Link 1/ ATK 1700/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (↘)
"And then the second Link Summon off of Atsusa's effect! I set Atsusa into the Link Markers of the second circuit! Circuit combine!" she declared, the Multirole system activating once again.
"Opening Multirole Gateway! Accommodating pilot! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-105!" The drone announced as the replica of Fio dissolved, the suit vanishing through the bottom portal while a new one arrived from the top one. "Identifying pilot! Raye confirmed! Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! All weapon systems online!" the yellow-blackish suit that then appeared finished, combining with Raye who also arrived from the gateway to form a six-armed combat force, two of them being Raye's skinny arms protected by a layer of armor while the other four were thick, fully metallic brawler arms designed for close combat.
"Link Summon! Take off, Link 1, Sky Striker Ace – Kaina!" Betsune finished, substituting the monster in her Extra Monster Zone.
Sky Striker Ace – Kaina
Earth/ Link 1/ ATK 1500/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (↘)
"And now you will take the brunt of my fighting squad's combined force!" Betsune announced, her three monsters shifting closer together in order to form an attack formation. Truthfully all three pilots she had used up until this point were now present – Raye in her Kaina suit, Fio in her Kitai suit and Ari in her Rekka suit. "First the previously activated effect of Kitai resolves, inflicting 3000 points of damage to you!" Betsune reminded her brother, her monster now fully releasing the gas from its suit's canisters.
KOGAMI RYOKEN: LP 7200 → 4200
"Ouch, what a hit!" Kyoko cried out, flinching in discomfort.
"And we're not even finished! Because now the on-summon effects of both Rekka and Kaina will follow in a new chain! Rekka inflicts 200 damage to you for each card you control! With Borreload, Rokket Tracer, Goldrokket and Boot Sector you will take a grand total of 800 damage!" Betsune went on, her monster soaring over Ryoken, further igniting its modified jet packs to release a burst of flames that burned down on him.
KOGAMI RYOKEN: LP 4200 → 3400
"And finally the on-summon effect of Kaina lets me render one of your monsters unable to battle until the end of this turn! Since Rekka's continuous effect negates your targeting and effect destruction protection that means that Borreload may now be targeted by Kaina's effect! With this the Strange Trigger ability of your Borreload will be sealed away! You better take your monster back to the workshop for some repairs!" Betsune finished, Rekka's flaming jet pack breaching Borreload's defenses, enabling the combat suit of Raye to pummel the far bigger dragon until it was full of holes and defects, making its attack impossible.
"What a coordinated assault! They totally messed up your brother!" Daisuke exclaimed in awe.
"Those three are allies and teammates. It's to be expected that they can cooperate quite well," Atsuko told him.
"A minor setback!" Ryoken retorted in contempt, raising his arm. "Borreload's effect is still live, so I will now use it to target my Goldrokket Dragon, lowering its ATK and DEF by 500! Anti-Enemy Bullet!" Ryoken announced.
"What? Why would he weaken his own monster?" Kazuki yelled in confusion. With his boss dueling rather rarely and him being relatively new to the Knights of Hanoi he had yet to witness the entirety of Ryoken's strategy.
"To trigger the main gimmick of his deck. Just watch!" Sokudo addressed him.
"At this moment the effect of Goldrokket Dragon! When it gets targeted by a Link-Monster's effect, I can self-destruct it in order to gain another normal summon of a "Rokket"-Monster!" Ryoken went on, his red dragon taking the smaller golden one into the cylinder in its stomach to fire at the ground before him, creating an ominous golden aurora-like illusion made from radio waves.
"I see. So that's why he did that," Kazuki murmured in realization.
"I then activate the spell Link Coin! Since it cannot attack this turn I get rid of my Borreload Dragon until the next turn with Link Coin's effect, in turn allowing me to excavate cards from my deck equal to its Link Rating and then add one of those cards to my hand, putting the rest at the top of it in any order!" Ryoken told, his ace monster vanishing. "I add Quick Launch to my hand!" he then proclaimed after having checked his four cards, putting back the rest.
"He played around the disability of Borreload Dragon quite well," Mitsuko remarked.
"If it doesn't do anything, might as well turn it into profits in the meantime," Kenshi hummed in agreement.
"I activate Quick Launch, summoning a "Rokket"-Monster from my deck! It is unable to attack and gets destroyed during the End Phase! I chain the effect of Rokket Tracer, targeting Quick Launch! By destroying a face-up card on my side I can special summon a Rokket from my deck besides another Tracer! I thus summon Invaderokket Dragon with Quick Launch and Silverrokket Dragon with Tracer!" Ryoken went on, invoking a magenta colored bullet-shaped dragon with two pairs of translucent wings, its head adorned with a variety of spikes with hooks and barbs. The other was silver as the name foretold, with winglike protrusions jutting from its head and translucent wings of violet color.
Invaderokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 3/ ATK 1200 → 1500/ DEF 1700 → 2000/ Dragon/ Effect
.&.
Silverrokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1900 → 2200/ DEF 100 → 400/ Dragon/ Effect
"I also special summon Dillingerous Dragon from my graveyard since I special summoned a Rokket! Come!" Ryoken continued, his Link-Monster making its return.
Dillingerous Dragon
Dark/ Link 2/ ATK 1600/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (↑↓)
"Appear, the future circuit that lights up my path! I set Rokket Tracer into the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link 1, Striker Dragon!" Ryoken went on, summoning another copy of the bluish-turquoise Link-Monster from earlier.
Striker Dragon
Dark/ Link 1/ ATK 1000/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (←)
"And now I activate Striker's secondary ability, targeting Invaderokket on my field and Tracer in my graveyard! Normally I would now destroy the former in order to add the latter to my hand, but I will forfeit this effect to chain Invaderokket's, self-destructing to look at your hand and discard one card of my choice!" Ryoken declared as his monster was loaded into Striker Dragon.
"There you are!" Betsune retorted begrudgingly, revealing her hand.
Ryoken smiled. "I knew that you still had the Engage since you never played it, so I'll dispose of that card of course! Go, Invaderokket!" he commanded as his monster was fired, the spikes on its head splitting up and creating a spray fire as they reached Betsune's hand, hooking into the projection of the card selected by Ryoken and dragging it into its grave.
"Oh no! Our beautiful Engage...!" Helena lamented the loss of their card.
"You're not the only one with Strikers who can facilitate hand destruction, Betsune!" Ryoken told with a grin before continuing. "Moving on I utilize the additional normal summon granted by Goldrokket Dragon, summoning Rokket Synchron! Its effect goes off once more, bringing back Absorouter Dragon!" Ryoken proclaimed as his opening play repeated itself.
Rokket Synchron
Dark/ Level 1/ ATK 0 → 300/ DEF 0 → 300/ Dragon/ Tuner/ Effect
.&.
Absorouter Dragon
Dark/ Level 7/ ATK 1200/ DEF 2800/ Dragon/ Effect
"I then play the spell Arrow Charge! If there are two Link-Monsters in the Extra Monster Zones with the same Link Rating, I get to draw two cards which will be revealed to both of us and be banished during the End Phase should they remain in my hand! You have your Link-1 Kaina while I have my Link-1 Striker Dragon, so I'll help myself with two additional cards!" he told, restocking his hand to three.
"He's on a hot streak as well it seems. One draw card leads into another. Just look at him, drawing into Cross Linkage Hack with Arrow Charge," Betsune debated with herself, inspecting the two cards that Ryoken drew, being the one she had mentioned and Borrel Regenerator.
"Appear, the future circuit that lights up my path! The summoning conditions are two or more non-Tokens! I set Striker and Dillingerous Dragon into the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Link 3, Triple Burst Dragon!" Ryoken proclaimed as a reddish dragon with razor-sharp teeth and multiple barrels protruding from its torso appeared.
Triple Burst Dragon
Dark/ Link 3/ ATK 2400/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (↑←↓)
"Dillingerous Dragon is banished since I revived it via its own effect! I then activate Cross Linkage Hack, enabling me to draw two cards if I control a non-Link-Monster that is linked to a Link-Monster! Since Triple Burst Dragon points to Rokket Synchron I draw two cards! Then appear again, the future circuit that lights up my path! The summoning conditions are two Rokkets! I set Rokket Synchron and Silverrokket Dragon into the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Link 2, Booster Dragon!" he commanded, a dragon with a gun barrel for its head arising in his fourth Main Monster Zone.
Booster Dragon
Dark/ Link 2/ ATK 1900/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (↙↘)
"I activate the second card that I drew from Arrow Charge, Borrel Regenerator! It revives a Rokket and equips to it, so I bring back the Silverrokket that I just used in order to summon Booster Dragon!" Ryoken told, the monster reappearing.
Silverrokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1900 → 2200/ DEF 100 → 400/ Dragon/ Effect
"I now activate the effect of Booster Dragon, targeting one other monster to increase its ATK and DEF by 500! However, I chain the effect of Silverrokket to it since it was the target, causing it to self-destruct! Now Silverrokket enables me to look at your Extra Deck and banish one card of my choosing from it! I get rid of your Kagari of course!" Ryoken declared, Booster Dragon launching the silver bullet dragon towards Betsune, disposing of one of her key cards.
"Tch! He even took out my means of recovery!" Betsune hissed in exasperation.
"I get to draw a card since the target of the now destroyed Borrel Regenerator was destroyed!" Ryoken declared, adding a fifth card to his hand. He then smirked. "And it looks like it was a good one! I activate it, the spell Confiscation! I get to look at your hand at the price of 1000 LP and discard one card from it! Since I still know your hand from earlier let's save ourselves the trouble, so go ahead and discard that Widow Anchor, will you Betsune?" Ryoken addressed her with a vicious grin.
KOGAMI RYOKEN: LP 3400 → 2400
"Kuh, fine!" Betsune cursed, disposing of her spell card.
"He's really cutting off our resources...," Helena chimed in.
"Naturally he is! Take that away and your stinky deck goes to shit!" Noctis chuckled deviously, earning him two frowns from the opposing faction.
"Manifest, the future circuit that lights up my path! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more Effect-Monsters! I set Absorouter and Triple Burst Dragon into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" Ryoken abruptly stated, summoning a circuit.
"Uh oh! Is it...?!" Helena stammered fearfully.
"Yes," Betsune simply retorted, bracing herself as strange forms of a hardly fathomable composition manifested into an orange abomination.
"From new, victory-bringing power an embodiment of annihilation manifests! Link Summon! Appear, Link 4, Topologic Bomber Dragon!" Ryoken declared, an orange tail shaped like a Möbius strip manifesting alongside a bulky body of the same color, adorned by greenish lights. Two wings with the shape of Klein bottles formed, a sole green eye in the monster's head cavity being created as greenish energy flocked into it, the monster arising as it charged up, eventually releasing a torrent of wind alongside a loud screech.
Topologic Bomber Dragon
Dark/ Link 4/ ATK 3000/ Cyberse/ Link/ Effect (↑↙↓↘)
"There it is! One of the monsters he gained from Storm Access!" Sokudo stated.
"It's a Cyberse though...?" Kazuki wondered in confusion.
"Ryoken likes fighting fire with fire. He finds using the enemy's techniques and weapons against them quite entertaining," Sokudo explained to his friend.
"Ah, I see," Kazuki said.
"Now battle! Go and wreak havoc, Topologic Bomber! Attack her Sky Striker Ace – Kaina! Ultimate Malicious Code!" Ryoken yelled, his monster channeling and then unleashing a green energy beam.
"Sky Striker Ace – Fio's effect from my graveyard! Once per turn I can boost the ATK of a battling "Sky Striker"-Link-Monster by 1000 during that battle!" Betsune yelled in response, her defending monster receiving a duplicate of Fio's rapier, strengthening Kaina's defensive stance.
Sky Striker Ace – Kaina: ATK 1500 → 2500
"Your monster is still destroyed and you take 500 damage! Furthermore Topologic Bomber's effect adds the original ATK of Kaina as effect damage to that, so you take 1500 more! Aiming Blast!" Ryoken retorted, his monster unleashing two gusts of wind that sent Betsune skidding backwards.
KOGAMI BETSUNE: LP 6000 → 5500 → 4000
"Ugh! But I also have an effect! Since Kaina was wiped out, I get to bring back the normal Raye from my graveyard via the latter's effect! Come back!" Betsune grunted in pain, her monster's destroyed suit falling through the Multirole gateway on the floor, leaving a relatively unscathed Raye on the field.
Sky Striker Ace – Raye
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1500/ DEF 1500/ Warrior/ Effect
"I attack your Raye with Booster Dragon!" Ryoken went on, sending his monster forward.
"Raye's effect! During either player's turn she can tag out into a "Sky Striker"-Link-Monster from my Extra Deck! I substitute her for Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku!" Betsune stated, the Multirole gateway activating once more.
"Opening Multirole Gateway! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-102! Identifying pilot! Raye confirmed! Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! All weapon systems online!" Raye's headgear followed by a blue suit announced, the female combining with the bluish suit with strong armor-plating and four thick appendages suited for creating shield barriers.
Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku
Water/ Link 1/ ATK 1500/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (↗)
"Due to her effect all of your monsters will lose 100 ATK and DEF for each spell in my graveyard! With five, your monsters are weakened by 500!" Betsune went on, the four shield generators activating, jamming the systems of Ryoken's draconic machines.
Booster Dragon: ATK 1900 → 1400
Topologic Bomber Dragon: ATK 3000 → 2500
"Now what, onii-san? Will you cancel your attack?" Betsune inquired victoriously.
Ryoken smirked. "In fact I will continue it! Go, Booster Dragon, attack Shizuku!" Ryoken declared, his monster charging forward as its user made use of the replay that had occured.
"What?! But your monster is weaker!" Betsune yelled in disbelief, Booster Dragon failing to overcome Shizuku's defenses and shattering at that.
KOGAMI RYOKEN: LP 2400 → 2300
"Well, perhaps that was my intention. You do remember what Booster Dragon does when it gets destroyed, don't you?" Ryoken asked with a grin.
"Oh no! He can revive any other Dragon-Type monster from his graveyard! So he can bring back Borreload and attack with it!" Helena cried out in realization.
"Good guess, but wrong! There is an even better choice! Come, Silverrokket Dragon!" Ryoken retorted, his monster arising anew.
Silverrokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1900 → 1700/ DEF 100 → 0/ Dragon/ Effect
"Why that monster? It doesn't do anything. Unless...!" Betsune debated with herself, her eyes widening.
"Exactly! Since Silverrokket was special summoned to a zone Topologic Bomber Dragon points to, the latter's effect will trigger! All monsters in the Main Monster Zones will be wiped out! Full Overlap!" Ryoken shouted, his monster charging up its wings before unleashing the gathered energy into all directions, decimating the field so that only Bomber and Shizuku remained as the survivors.
"He got both Arashi and Kitai with a single strike," Aso remarked.
"Yeah. I now see why he picked this attack plan over reviving Borreload to take control of Shizuku and then having her destroy one of her comrades. Both plans result in Betsune still having one monster left, and this one has the additional benefit that Link Coin's recovery effect on Borreload will not be wasted," Genome added.
"Plus with Borreload returning on this turn there would a big risk of Betsune using Full Overlap to her advantage during her own turn, destroying Borreload. If it returns on his next turn though, Ryoken can control the survival of Borreload much better. He's truly thinking his moves through," Kyoko finished.
"I then end my Battle Phase, set two cards and end my turn! During the End Phase my destroyed Rokkets trigger, enabling me to replace them with new ones from my deck! However, with the arrows of Topologic Bomber blocking three of my Main Monster Zones and with your Shizuku blocking another, I can only really bring in one Rokket without Full Overlap going into effect! So appear, Anesthrokket Dragon!" Ryoken told, a small metal dragon with a syringe needle-like head entering his field.
Anesthrokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 1/ ATK 0/ DEF 2200 → 2000/ Dragon/ Effect
"However, I also have some End Phase effects! Since Shizuku was summoned this turn I can add from my deck to my hand one "Sky Striker"-Spell with a different name from every other "Sky Striker"-Spell in my graveyard! I choose Multirole!" she told, adding the declared spell to her hand.
"Multirole again? This is bad...!" Ryoken murmured in exasperation.
"My turn! I draw!" Betsune announced, her hand growing back to four.
"At the end of your Draw Phase I activate the continuous trap Gozen Match! This limits both of our fields to only one attribute of monsters!" Ryoken spoke up, revealing one of his face-downs.
"Not Gozen Match! Now we can't even transition from one suit to another...!" Helena cried out, as the recently played floodgate card prevented not only the summon of monsters so that two monsters with different attributes existed on the same field side after it, but also hindered Betsune from turning a monster into another monster with a different attribute via for say Link Summon, effectively shutting down one of the main strategies of her deck.
"Now she is stuck with Shizuku and cannot cycle between her different suits! Plus the hand cards she still had from the last turn were Vector Blast and Scissors Cross, which do nothing against our floodgate! Unless she had an insane topdeck this duel is over!" Noctis cackled gleefully.
"He's right, Betsune-chan! Our topdeck will decide this duel, so please tell me you got an out against Gozen Match!" Helena prayed, looking at her partner in concern.
"Right, my topdeck. Let's have a look at it then," Betsune replied, viewing the card she drew for turn. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she captured its artwork. "This... how is this possible?" she whispered in shock.
"What's wrong, Betsune? No way out of your predicament?" Ryoken addressed her.
"No. It's just that this card...," Betsune retorted.
"Huh? What is wrong with it? Play it already, if you think that it can help you!" Ryoken challenged her.
Betsune nodded nervously. "Alright. I activate Mecha Modules – Multirole and use its effect right away, sending Shizuku to the graveyard to make you unable to respond to my spells and the activation of their effects for the rest of this turn. And then I summon Sky Striker Ace...," she mumbled insecurely.
"Sky Striker Ace what?! Summon the thing already!" Ryoken snapped at her in exasperation about her uncharacteristic insecurity.
"Okay, onii-san. I special summon Sky Striker Ace – Betsune...," she proclaimed, turning around the card in her hand to reveal an artwork that featured herself in the same outfit and with matching background elements as Raye and the others, then putting the card onto her duel disk.
"SKY STRIKER ACE – BETSUNE?!" Ryoken repeated in disbelief, taking a step back in surprise.
Following her declaration a black and red gladius appeared in the air, Betsune instinctively grasping it. Her outfit underwent a rapid change, assimilating to that which Raye and her two comrades wore. Finally Betsune's eye color altered from their bluish-turquoise tone to a dark blue one, her lips becoming fuller and her skin color becoming more vigorous, the female also slightly growing as her physical appearance underwent a sudden age lift, her hair bottom extending from the middle of her back to the bottom of it. Having experienced all of those changes she stood there, much prettier than before, but also much more insecure, especially for a person wearing such a prestigious uniform.
Sky Striker Ace – Betsune
Light/ Level 4/ ATK 1800/ DEF 1800/ Warrior/ Effect
"Wh-what?! H-how did you...?!" Atsuko stuttered, speechless by the development.
"She changed...!" Kyoko chimed in, equally stupefied.
"Into one of her monsters... She even got an ignition key blade...," Genryu added in disbelief.
"How...?" Kiyoshi murmured to himself, shocked and clueless. He looked to his left as he felt something appearing there all of a sudden, turning around to see Master Pax who had a knowing smile on its face.
"I know what this is!" it proclaimed, all gazes turning to Master Pax at once, Betsune above all. "This is without a doubt Tenryuu power once more! You touched the scales, right?" it addressed Betsune, who nervously nodded. "That settles it! Aside from turning average mortals into hybrids, the scales also react to the desires of those who want to harness their power! The first part explains why you turned into a hybrid-esque being like your father, but it still leaves the question as of why you hybridized with monsters from your own deck of all Monster Spirits! Here is where the second part comes into play! You aspired to fly due to your interests for aviation, so the scales granted you that wish by combining you with your own Monster Spirits, overwriting the usual random combination pattern since your desires directly demanded a very specific group of Monster Spirits rather than a random one! In other words, you developed similar to how your father Kiyoshi did!" Master Pax explained, causing a collective gasp of shock.
"I... remember feeling dizzy after touching the scales... and looking at the sky. So it... could be true...," Betsune stammered, still in disbelief.
"So the assigned Monster Spirit depends on the person? Why did I get you then?" Kiyoshi addressed Master Pax.
"Because my story is the story of a man who was turned into a dragon, just like yours now. Also the main theme of my tale is the struggle between good and evil in the form of myself and Lector, which mirrors your contrasting views onto the Ignis. That should be the reason as for why you unconsciously reached out into my general direction, I suppose," Master Pax told.
"Okay, I see. One more question though, why is Betsune looking older and taller than before?" Kiyoshi inquired.
"Oh, that's because Tenryuus – one of which she has touched the scales of to harness their power – age faster than humans. They have a disguise form, which is looking about the age a human of their respective chronological age has, and then they have their true form, which is a few years older. A thirteen year old human from your perspective who is really a Tenryuu is in truth eighteen years old for instance. Since Betsune-chan only adapted some of the power though, she only aged up a little bit, most likely about one year, rather than multiple ones. Furthermore, about the different eye color, the Tenryuu power is also responsible for that, seeing that Tenryuus usually have the tendency to undergo a slight hair and eye color transformation as they mature," it retorted.
"That is amazing, onee-san! You literally have the support of your own deck now! You even got your own ignition key! What is it named by the way?" Atsuko inquired, her shock turning to excitement.
"Oh, yeah, right...," Betsune said, startled by the question and looking at the gladius in her hand. "I suppose I should name it Brandish," she replied before her eyes widened. "Wait, I have an ignition key?! Doesn't that imply...?!" she monologued before adding a whispered tone. "What in the world happened to me?" After remaining in that state of disbelief for a while she eventually regained her composure. "Well, I can think about that later! For now I should focus on winning this duel!" she declared before speaking up to Ryoken. "Onii-san, let us continue our duel for now! We can wonder about what happened to me later! You're still with me?" she addressed him.
Ryoken blinked for a couple of times before nodding. "Okay, Betsune. Then bring it on!" he challenged her.
"Alright! In that case the effect of my monster form! Not only can I be special summoned from my hand should I control no monsters in my Main Monster Zones, but once per turn I can also return one "Sky Striker"-Card that is in my graveyard or banished to my deck and then add a differently named archetypal card from there to my hand! I shuffle back the Engage in my graveyard and add a Mobilize – Deploy from my deck to my hand! Then I activate it, getting myself the Engage from earlier! That Engage in turn lets me search Afterburners and also draw a card since I meet the three spells requirement!" Betsune announced, comboing off with her monster self.
"That monster version of your sister is pretty neat," Emerald remarked towards Atsuko, who nodded in agreement.
"Then I activate Sky Striker Maneuver – Afterburners!, which lets me target a face-up monster, destroy it, and then, if I meet the three spells in graveyard requirement, also lets me destroy a spell or trap on the field! Since you cannot respond to my spells due to Multirole I safely pulverize your Anesthrokket and Gozen Match!" Betsune declared, a spectral version of Raye in her Kagari suit appearing, accelerating and then crashing into Ryoken's cards, destroying them.
"Tch! She got rid of our floodgate!" Noctis hissed in exasperation.
"And then I activate Sky Striker Maneuver – Vector Blast! It first mills the top two cards from both of our decks! Then, taken I fulfill the usual three spells requirement, I may also return all opposing monsters in the Extra Monster Zones to the deck! Goodbye, Topologic Bomber!" Betsune yelled, an apparition of Raye in a green mech suit monster firing its railgun, sending the Cyberse monster away.
"That's one of her two originally remaining hand cards. No wonder why she used Afterburners to destroy Anesthrokket rather than Bomber," Ryoken debated with himself.
"I hope you got some good mills from Vector Blast, onii-san, because I sure did! I milled Sky Striker Ace – Roze and Sky Striker Ace – Ari! Because your Extra Monster Zone monster left the field by my card effect while Roze was already in the graveyard, since Vector Blast's effect consists of two steps with the milling being the first, I get to revive Roze from my graveyard and then I can also negate the effects of one of your monsters if I want! Since you have none however, I cannot use it. What I can use though is the effect of Ari, which when sent to the graveyard lets me take two differently named "Sky Striker"-Cards from my deck and put them at its top in any order, then draw one card! I choose Sky Striker Maneuver – Jamming Waves! and the final Mobilize – Engage!" Betsune announced, preparing to put the declared cards to the top of her deck with the latter being above the former.
'This is the last chance! Her spells have received the non-response ability through Multirole, so if I don't chain my face-down now, I won't be able to do so when she activates Jamming Waves to destroy it!' Ryoken thought before speaking up. "In that case I chain my face-down trap to your Ari's effect, Preponed Execution!" he announced, revealing a trap that depicted Borreload Dragon within the futuristic area of Boot Sector Launch, towering above Gemini Elf, the two females frightfully hugging each other with closed eyes while the cannon barrel in Borreload's maw was already glowing bright yellow and aiming at them. "It revives a "Borrel"-Monster from my graveyard and makes it unaffected by your card effects for the rest of this turn! Arise anew, Borreload Dragon!" Ryoken commanded, his ace monster reappearing.
Borreload Dragon
Dark/ Link 4/ ATK 3000/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (←→↙↘)
"Damn it! Now my Jamming Waves has become obsolete!" Betsune briefly cursed before continuing. "The effect of Ari resolves, letting me draw the Engage that I put on top of my deck! Roze then revives, though she cannot negate the effects of Borreload due to the unaffection induced by Preponed Execution!" she told as she gained a hand card and monster on the field. Said monster had light gray hair with two sidetails, as well as orange eyes. Her outfit differed greatly from that of Raye, Fio, Ari and Betsune, as her uniform was much more militaristic, even wearing a combination cap with a very much different insignia on it than on the uniforms of Raye and the others. Her outfit was black with white trimming, wearing a scarf and wielding a red cutlass with white lines running across it.
Sky Striker Ace – Roze
Light/ Level 4/ ATK 1500/ DEF 1500/ Warrior/ Effect
"Wow, that chick looks like straight out of some World War II fiction!" Daisuke exclaimed in surprise. He then cocked his head. "Why does she look so different than the others though?" he addressed Atsuko.
"Because she is from the opposing team. Raye, Fio and Ari serve one country and Roze fights for the enemy nation. Thus the outfit difference," Atsuko explained.
"Next I activate Sky Striker Maneuver – Scissors Cross! It lets me add a Level 4 Sky Striker from my graveyard to my hand, or special summon it since I have the spell requirement of three in my graveyard! I choose Sky Striker Ace – Ari, but I don't wish to summon her!" Betsune declared, taking back her monster.
"That was her second remaining card from our hand loop last turn," Noctis reminded Ryoken.
"I then use the Engage in my hand to add Sky Striker Mecha – Eagle Booster to my hand, and then I draw a card!" she said before smirking. "Oh, look who it is! I normal summon Sky Striker Ace – Fio!" she announced, once more invoking the black haired mech pilot.
Sky Striker Ace – Fio
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1600/ DEF 1600/ Warrior/ Effect
"With her on-summon effect I search Sky Striker Maneuver – Urgent Rescue! And then appear, the circuit of futuristic aviation! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are one non-Wind "Sky Striker Ace"-Monster! I set Sky Striker Ace – Roze into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" Betsune commanded, summoning a circuit.
"Enemy detected! Initiating retaliation! Opening Multirole Gateway!" a Hornet Drone buzzed as she scanned Roze, opening the Multirole gateway.
"Summoning one of Raye's forms with me as the material? Pretty tasteless, if I do say so myself," Roze spoke, startling the duelists and audience alike.
"Did her monster just...?!" Kyoko stuttered.
Aso sighed. "At this point her monsters starting to speak doesn't even surprise me. We already had Master Pax doing it after all," he remarked in slight exasperation at the constant enigmatic developments.
"Accommodating pilot! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-004! Identifying pilot! Raye confirmed!" the drone went on as a furiously looking Raye appeared from the gateway, her eyes fixated on Roze. Accompanying her was a green mech suit with a big railgun.
"You're not getting away, you filthy...!" Raye hissed, her gaze practically piercing Roze.
"Oh, I think I will, especially since I'm the link material for your cute little suit over there. Laters!" Roze retorted, vanishing through a black portal of mysterious origin which stood as a counterpart to the Multirole gateway system.
"Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! All weapon systems online!" the green suit finished as it merged with Raye, leaving a highly armed but utterly exasperated female.
"Damn it, she got away! Again!" Raye cursed, bashing her head against her hands in frustration.
"Okay...," Betsune whispered, about to deliberate on the vocal interactions between her monsters, the contents of which she understood decently well due to being aware of the card lore behind her archetype. She then took a quick breath and shook her head, however. "No, now is not the time to bother my head about that! Winning first, then thinking about why the hell my monsters are talking!" Betsune reaffirmed her focus, finishing her invocation. "Link Summon! Take off, Link 1, Sky Striker Ace – Hayate!"
Sky Striker Ace – Hayate
Wind/ Link 1/ ATK 1500/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (↙)
"Appear again, the circuit of futuristic aviation! The summoning conditions are one non-Water "Sky Striker Ace"-Monster! I set my monster self into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" Betsune went on, her outfit reverting to normal, taking aside her more adult physique that still remained, as a spectral duplicate of her former self headed into the Multirole gateway, being exchanged with a drone-generated copy of Fio.
"Accommodating pilot! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-102! Identifying pilot! Fio confirmed! Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! All weapon systems online!" a Hornet Drone followed by the emerging suit declared, the artificial Fio arriving from the upper gateway and combining with an ice blue power suit that was armed with an augmented version of Fio's usual rapier, the suit only moderately armored, but seemingly capable of diving underwater from the looks of the remaining equipment components.
"Link Summon! Take off, Link 1, Sky Striker Ace – Nagare!" Betsune proclaimed as the second mech suit arrived on the field.
Sky Striker Ace – Nagare
Water/ Link 1/ ATK 1600/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (↑)
"Battle! Sky Striker Ace – Nagare attacks you directly due to her effect, but you will only receive half the damage! However, I use the effect of Fio in my graveyard, boosting her ATK by 1000!" Betsune announced, her monster powering up as it charged forward, Ryoken losing his steadfast posture for a second as he was being pushed backwards.
Sky Striker Ace – Nagare: ATK 1600 → 2600
KOGAMI RYOKEN: LP 2300 → 1000
Sky Striker Ace – Nagare: ATK 2600 → 1600
"And then after battle I can target one of my Sky Strikers and give it 800 ATK, subsequently gaining half of its ATK as LP! I power up my Hayate by 800 ATK and gain 1150 LP!" Betsune went on, Nagare's rapier infusing the other Sky Striker monster and its owner with an invigorating energy.
Sky Striker Ace – Hayate: ATK 1500 → 2300
KOGAMI BETSUNE: LP 4000 → 5150
"And then using her effect Sky Striker Ace – Hayate attacks you directly! It's over, onii-san!" Betsune proclaimed as her second monster advanced towards her brother.
"Not yet! The monster revived with Preponed Execution receives effects, based on the traits it has! If it was a Link-Monster, which Borreload is, I can negate an instance of battle damage!" Ryoken yelled in response, the attack leaving him unscathed.
"Kuh! Good save though, I will spare you that much praise! In that case my Hayate uses its after-battle effect, which lets me mill a "Sky Striker"-Card from my deck! I choose Jamming Waves!" Betsune retorted in slight frustration.
"Well done, Ryoken!" Noctis praised his partner, for once without any sarcasm in his voice.
"Hmm, that didn't work I suppose. Plan B then?" Helena asked her partner.
Betsune nodded. "Plan B it is," she confirmed before speaking up once again. "I end my Battle Phase and activate the spell Sky Striker Maneuver – Urgent Rescue! This card enables me to add a banished "Sky Striker"-Card to my hand and then put back up to two other banished cards! I recover my banished Engage and put back Kagari and Invade! Then I activate Engage, adding a Wyvern Blaster to my hand and drawing one card! Following that I use Sky Striker Maneuver – Lazarus Medic! By its effect I receive 300 LP for every spell in my graveyard and then, if I have at least three of them, I also gain 500 LP per Sky Striker that I control! Since I have 13 spells in my graveyard and Hayate, Nagare and Fio on my field I receive a total of 5400 LP!" Betsune declared, the healing gear in Nagare's weapon activating, augmenting Betsune's survivability.
KOGAMI BETSUNE: LP 5150 → 10550
"She recovered A LOT!" Daisuke whistled, genuinely impressed.
"Just wait, it's about to go the other way as well," Atsuko stated.
"Er, I beg your pardon?" Daisuke asked in confusion.
"Just watch!" Atsuko instructed him, Daisuke looking ahead once more.
"And now I activate Sky Striker Mecha – Wyvern Blaster! By returning spells from my graveyard to the deck I get to inflict 200 damage to you for each! I select the other Wyvern Blaster, Deploy, two Engages, Afterburners, Jamming Waves, Vector Blast, Scissors Cross, Urgent Rescue and Lazarus Medic! With ten cards I can also put back up to five "Sky Striker"-Monsters due to its secondary effect, but with 2000 points of damage finishing you off that will hardly be necessary! And since Multirole makes it so that you cannot respond to Wyvern Blaster, my victory has been assured! Take this, onii-san!" Betsune yelled, her Hayate receiving the white rifle gear and blasting at Ryoken.
"I will use the additional effects my Borreload gained from Preponed Execution! Since its target was a Link-4 monster, I get to reflect one instance of effect damage and immunize myself against it for the remainder of this turn! And since the revived monster has 3000 original ATK I also get to use another effect to banish from your graveyard all monsters with the same Monster Card Type as the revived monster, excluding the Effect-Monster trait of course! Since Borreload is a Link-Monster I will banish all of the Sky Striker Links in your graveyard so that you cannot recycle them!" Ryoken shouted in response.
"Weren't you listening?! Multirole makes my spells and spell effects unrespondable to! You cannot use your effect!" Betsune snapped back at Ryoken.
"I'm fully in the boundaries of legal moves, Betsune! Should exactly Borreload Dragon be the revived monster, then the fourth and last bonus effect granted to it by Preponed Execution will enable all of the other three effects to ignore non-response clauses and such! In other words, your Multirole's effect is invalid against my effects!" Ryoken retorted, the shot fired from Wyvern Blaster being sent back.
"What?! An effect that ignores Spell Speed 4?!" Betsune repeated in disbelief. She then grinned. "Quite a crafty card you made there, onii-san!" she admitted.
"Thanks. Now you take your own 2000 damage and Shizuku, Kaina, Atsusa, Kitai, Rekka and Arashi are banished from your graveyard!" Ryoken told as the blast was reflected at Betsune.
KOGAMI BETSUNE: LP 10550 → 8550
"Tch, that's inconvenient! At this rate I cannot finish him off this turn!" Betsune cursed.
"What about summoning Kagari, recurring Engage, then using it to search Deploy, then use Deploy to search Engage, then Engage again and so on and so forth until you have enough spells in grave to burn him for game with another Wyvern Blaster?" Helena suggested.
"That would usually work, were it not for the still lingering effect of Preponed Execution immunizing him against effect damage. I think it's better to leave Kagari in my Extra Deck for later and just stockpile on defenses in the meantime," Betsune discussed with her A.I. who consecutively nodded in agreement before speaking up.
"Appear, the circuit of futuristic aviation! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two monsters, including a "Sky Striker Ace"-Monster! I set Fio and Nagare into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" Betsune yelled, the two monsters vanishing into a gateway on the ground as another pilot and suit made their appearance from above.
"Accommodating pilot! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-006! Identifying pilot! Raye confirmed! Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! All weapon systems online!" it resounded as a duplicate of Raye appeared, equipping a whitish-yellow mech suit with six mechanical arms that were all equipped with rather brutish-looking rifles. She additionally held two smaller hand guns, suggesting massive destructive potential with this suit which was a tad bit bigger than the rest.
"Link Summon! Soar, Link 2, Sky Striker Ace – Fukusha!" she finished as her first monster of a higher Link Rating made its debut.
Sky Striker Ace – Fukusha
Light/ Link 2/ ATK 2000/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (←↙)
"Now the effect of my monster self triggers! Since I special summoned a "Sky Striker"-Monster from my Extra Deck while Sky Striker Ace – Betsune was in my graveyard, I can add the latter back to my hand!" she told, recurring her card form. "I then set one card and end my turn! During the End Phase Multirole lets me reuse my spells, so I set Engage and Widow Anchor!" she finished.
"In that case my destroyed Anesthrokket Dragon floats into another Rokket, that being Rokket Tracer!" Ryoken told.
Rokket Tracer
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1600 → 1900/ DEF 1000 → 1300/ Dragon/ Tuner/ Effect
"I furthermore use the effect of said Tracer to destroy my Boot Sector Launch, bringing out another Rokket from my deck! My choice is Autorokket Dragon!" he went on, summoning another monster.
Autorokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 3/ ATK 1600/ DEF 1000/ Dragon/ Effect
"I finally utilize the effect of my Borreload Dragon, targeting Autorokket! In response to that Autorokket will self-destruct, sending one of your spells or traps to the graveyard! The right face-down, please!" Ryoken commanded as Borreload fired the smaller dragon at it.
"Widow Anchor...!" Betsune hissed with a frown, her interruption card being banished due to Multirole's downside.
"Lastly the Autorokket that was just destroyed floats into another Rokket! My choice is Metalrokket Dragon!" Ryoken finished, summoning a final dragon.
Metalrokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1700/ DEF 1400/ Dragon/ Effect
"Okay then! Anything you want to use, Betsune?" Ryoken inquired.
"I'm good. Start your turn if you will," Betsune retorted with a dismissive hand wave.
"As you wish! My turn! I draw!" Ryoken said, his hand increasing to a triplet. "First of all appear, the future circuit that lights up my path! I set Metalrokket Dragon into the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Link 1, Striker Dragon!" he started, summoning the third and final copy of the dragonic monster.
Striker Dragon
Dark/ Link 1/ ATK 1000/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (←)
"Using its effect I fetch myself another Boot Sector from my deck! Then I activate the spell The Beginning of the End! Pretty symbolic for the outcome of this duel, isn't it Betsune? I can only use this card if I have at least seven Dark monsters in my graveyard, and by banishing five of them I get to draw three cards! I banish two Striker Dragons, Booster Dragon, Gateway Dragon and Rokket Synchron and draw three!" he announced, his hand increasing to five. His eyes widened at one of the newcomers. "What the hell is that thing...?" he muttered.
"Eh? Did you also acquire a strange card out of nowhere?" Betsune asked, insecurity flooding in as she dreaded that her brother could possibly match her in regards to power-ups coming out of nowhere.
Ryoken nodded, for a moment falling into the same state of shock as his sister, but then violently shaking his head, returning his focus to the duel entirely. His eyes skimmed over the newcomer's effect for a couple of moments, accessing its capabilities. He then smirked victoriously and continued. "This card will lead me to victory! Since I already control a Rokket, I can special summon this monster from my hand! Appear, Imduk the World Legacy Rokketeer Dragon!" he proclaimed, invoking a greenish dragon who was adorned with a set of futuristic white armor, a pair of metallic jet wings jutting diagonally to the sides over its actual wings. Strapped to its back was a for the size of the monster strangely big railgun, serving as the being's additional means of offense. It furthermore wore a white helmet with a light blue eye visor, concealing its surprisingly gentle eyes.
Imduk the World Legacy Rokketeer Dragon
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1800/ DEF 600/ Tenryuu/ Legend/ Effect
"Tenryuu-Type?!" Betsune read in disbelief.
"And what the heck is a Legend?!" Helena added with even greater hysteria.
"World Legacy, huh?" Master Pax monologued with an intrigued smile.
"You know about the meaning of that?" Kiyoshi addressed his monster.
"Yes, I do. It's pretty meaningful as well. I'll fill you in a bit for the time being," Master Pax responded, silently doing so via mental exchange after that.
"I then activate the effect of Striker Dragon, destroying itself to add Silverrokket from my graveyard back to my hand! I also play my field spell, boosting the ATK and DEF of my "Rokket"-Monsters by 300!" Ryoken spoke up, activating Boot Sector Launch for a second time.
Imduk the World Legacy Rokketeer Dragon: ATK 1800 → 2100; DEF 600 → 900
Metalrokket Dragon: ATK 1700 → 2000; DEF 1400 → 1700
Rokket Tracer: ATK 1600 → 1900; DEF 1000 → 1300
"Following that I use its effect, summoning two Rokkets from my hand in defense position! Come, Goldrokket, Silverrokket!" Ryoken carried on, invoking a pair of rare metal dragons.
Goldrokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1800 → 2100/ DEF 1000 → 1300/ Dragon/ Effect
.&.
Silverrokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1900 → 2200/ DEF 100 → 400/ Dragon/ Effect
"On summon of Goldrokket I can discard a card in order to search two Rokkets with different names from my deck! I exchange Magnarokket for Metalrokket Dragon, as well as Rokket Synchron!" he announced. "I then use the effect of Rokket Tracer on my field to target Imduk, destroying it so that I can call another Rokket from my deck! Appear, Shelrokket Dragon!" Ryoken told as a bulky metal dragon followed the last two onto the field.
Shelrokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 2/ ATK 1100 → 1400/ DEF 2000 → 2300/ Dragon/ Effect
"Appear, the future circuit that lights up my path! The summoning conditions are two "Rokket"-Monsters! I set Gold and Shelrokket Dragon into the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link 2, Miniborrel Dragon!" Ryoken declared, summoning a teal dragon on whose upper torso a gun cylinder was affixed, sprouting two protrusions from it. The left one was a gun barrel, while the right one posed the actual head of the creature, eyes glowing in a menacing red.
Miniborrel Dragon
Dark/ Link 2/ ATK 800/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (←→)
"And then manifest, the future circuit that lights up my path! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more Effect-Monsters! I set Rokket Tracer and Miniborrel Dragon into the Link Markers! Circuit combine! The ever-changing tides of battle take the form of a transforming executioner with vicious claws! Link Summon! Appear, Link 3, Topologic Trisbaena!" Ryoken shouted, summoning a mostly black and white Cyberse entity whose body was adorned by a variety of colors. Within its legs as well as wings it had windows of a multicolored light, those legs and wings being shaped like torus rings. At its pelvic area where the two slender legs and its torso interjected it had a white metal structure framing and holding together the three parts, said structure bearing the form of a trefoil knot. A sole green eye similar to that of Bomber Dragon flashed to life and the entity let loose a high-pitched screech, extending its arms simultaneously.
Topologic Trisbaena
Dark/ Link 3/ ATK 2500/ Cyberse/ Link/ Effect (↑↙↘)
"There it is. His other Topologic Monster," Atsuko murmured to herself, deducing Ryoken's plan.
"I then activate the effect of Imduk the World Legacy Rokketeer Dragon from my graveyard! When it was either destroyed, targeted, or both targeted and destroyed during this turn, I can revive it and also add a "World Legacy"-Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand! I choose World Legacy Succession!" he declared, his monster arising and firing an image of the declared spell straight into Ryoken's hand. 'Another strange card that I didn't have before...,' Ryoken contemplated as he viewed the spell which depicted a monster with silver armor and a blue cape apparently passing some sort of power to another humanoid monster whose hair was blonde.
Imduk the World Legacy Rokketeer Dragon
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1800 → 2100/ DEF 600 → 900/ Tenryuu/ Legend/ Effect
"Moving on I make use of Succession, reviving a monster to a linked zone of mine! I choose to special summon Shelrokket Dragon to the zone my Trisbaena points to!" he announced as the chubby metal dragon returned.
Shelrokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 2/ ATK 1100 → 1400/ DEF 2000 → 2300/ Dragon/ Effect
"At this moment, Topologic Trisbaena's effect activates! When a monster is special summoned to its zone, that monster is banished, alongside all spells and traps on the field! And you take 500 damage for each of yours!" Ryoken declared, his Link-Monster starting to transform.
Betsune blinked repeatedly, at last coming to again. 'Sheesh, I have been distracted by that Imduk thing for too long! What's happening currently?' she finally caught up once more, looking at the field. The transformation process of Trisbaena quickly made her realize what was going on, her eyes widening for a moment before she rose her hand. "In response I activate my face-down, Sky Striker Mecha – Eagle Booster! I target a monster on the field, here Fukusha, and make it unaffected by any card effect except its own for the rest of this turn! Since I also have enough spells in my graveyard she furthermore becomes indestructible by battle for the same duration!" Betsune spoke up.
"I knew that I couldn't prevent you from walling yourself in with Eagle Booster, but at least you were distracted long enough for your card to remain set when Trisbaena's ability went into effect! As such Eagle Booster will be banished with you taking 500 more damage than you would have, had you been paying attention!" Ryoken stated with a smirk before continuing, Eagle Booster resolving in the meantime, giving Fukusha a jet pack. "Now go and banish everything that is in your way, Trisbaena! Migration Force!" Ryoken bellowed, his monster changing into another mode, extending green energy claws. Following that it dashed around the field, slashing Shelrokket Dragon, Ryoken's field spell and then Betsune's entire backrow, disposing of the already resolved Eagle Booster, her face-down Engage as well as her face-up Multirole, dealing a total of 1500 damage to her with a final swipe of its claws.
KOGAMI BETSUNE: LP 8550 → 7050
"Two can play that game! Since you no longer have the effect damage immunity from last turn, my Fukusha's effect triggers! Whenever I activate a spell or its effect you take 200 damage!" Betsune retorted, her monster firing a shot at Ryoken in return for the damage Betsune had sustained.
KOGAMI RYOKEN: LP 1000 → 800
"Not bad at all, Betsune!" Ryoken praised his sister, wiping over his cheek before smirking. "However, you'll have to do a lot more to inflict critical damage!" he mocked before carrying on with his turn. "Using the effect of Miniborrel Dragon will be my next move! Since I control a "Borrel"-Monster, I can tribute a Link-3 or lower monster to revive Miniborrel, but it will be unable to become link material for a monster with the same Link Rating as the tributed one! I tribute Topologic Trisbaena to summon back Miniborrel!" he announced, the bigger monster vanishing into a black hole on the ground to make room for the smaller one.
Miniborrel Dragon
Dark/ Link 2/ ATK 800/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (←→)
"Following that is the third and final effect of Imduk, which lets me target and destroy a "Rokket"-Monster besides itself in order to special summon one from my deck with the same Level as the target! I choose Silverrokket Dragon, and since Imduk is treated as a Link-Monster for this effect, Silverrokket will respond with its own effect, letting me banish your Kagari from your Extra Deck! However, due to the "also"-conjunction in Imduk's effect text, I can still special summon a Level 4 Rokket from my deck, namely Gyrorokket Dragon! You're not the only person who can use problem-solving card text to their advantage, Betsune!" Ryoken declared, Imduk loading Silverrokket into its railgun and firing it, taking care of Betsune's Link-Monster. Subsequently a metal dragon with crimson varnish arrived, having one of the thickest torsos among the Rokkets that had appeared so far, its body being a near perfect cylinder with a relatively small and blunt tip of black color.
Gyrorokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1600 → 1900/ DEF 2000 → 2300/ Dragon/ Effect
"A Main Deck Monster that can trigger his Rokkets? What a powerful card!" Betsune debated with herself, surprised by the extent of Imduk's effect.
"Then I normal summon Rokket Synchron, using its effect to revive Absorouter Dragon!" Ryoken proclaimed, two more monsters appearing.
Rokket Synchron
Dark/ Level 1/ ATK 0 → 300/ DEF 0 → 300/ Dragon/ Tuner/ Effect
.&.
Absorouter Dragon
Dark/ Level 7/ ATK 1200/ DEF 2800/ Dragon/ Effect
"Now appear, the future circuit that lights up my path! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are three or more Effect-Monsters! I set Rokket Synchron, Absorouter and Miniborrel Dragon into the Link Markers! Circuit combine! My gale that bursts open the closed world! Link Summon! Manifest, Link 4, Borrelcore Dragon!" Ryoken shouted, a red and black draconic monster with matching design to Borreload appearing. Its stomach area also seemed to serve as a gun magazine, though the diameter of Borrelcore's was amplified compared to Borreload's. Furthermore it seemed to double as some sort of reactor, as the energetic glow coming from it indicated. Nearly its entire body was reinforced by a second layer of armor plating, making it look comparatively bulky. Its translucent wings, which were violet in color, flashed to life as it soared to Ryoken's Extra Monster Zone with a roar.
Borrelcore Dragon
Dark/ Link 4/ ATK 3000/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (↑→↙↓)
"Our problems just doubled...," Helena spoke in concern, Borreload greeting its equal with a roar of its own.
"Absorouter's effect when being sent to the graveyard fetches me Rokket Synchron from my deck! I furthermore use Borreload's effect targeting Gyrorokket, and destroy it in response! This way I can draw two cards!" Ryoken went on, Borreload loading and firing Gyrorokket into the sky, which exploded into a rain of particles that then turned into two fresh hand cards.
"That's one Borrel targeting effect used. However, he still has Borrelcore's, and since I was focused on infiltrating SOL recently, I only know that he got a new Link-4 Borrel in the meantime, but not what it does...," Betsune whispered, going through a couple of theories on how her brother planned to attack her.
"I set up the continuous spell Supply Squad!" Ryoken said as he swiftly activated one card. "And then without further delay the ability of Borrelcore, since you aren't acquainted with it yet, Betsune! It lets me target any face-up monster on my field and destroy it! In return I get to special summon to any of my Monster Zones a Dragon or Cyberse Dark monster from my deck or Extra Deck with the same Level or Link Rating as the targeted monster's! This is treated as a Link Summon and much like all Borrel targeting effects unrespondable to! I destroy Borrelcore itself and bring out its brethren! Meltdown Forge!" Ryoken declared as the stomach of his monster charged up, the reactor within it overloading, leading to the self-destruction of Borrelcore.
Following that the loose energy that had been unleashed reassembled the scattered remains of Borrelcore, forming an ominous metallic cocoon with the shape of a dragon very similar to the previous one. At once the cocoon cracked, orange energy peaking out through the cracks, and a red dragon with orange translucent wings burst free, taking its place in the Main Monster Zone left from Borreload, which was in the very middle of Ryoken's field.
"My gale that blows open the closed world! Manifest, Link 4, Borrelguard Dragon!" Ryoken finished as the new monster arrived.
Borrelguard Dragon
Dark/ Link 4/ ATK 3000/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (↑→↓↘)
"He exchanged his monster for Borrelguard? But why? Borrelguard isn't exactly... the best out of Ryoken's "Borrel"-Monsters...," Betsune murmured to herself in confusion.
"The effect of Supply Squad lets me draw a card once per turn should one of my monsters be destroyed! Following that I activate the spell Borrel Half Replace, targeting the Borrelcore in my graveyard! This way I can special summon a "Borrel"-Link-Monster with the same Link Rating as Borrelcore from my Extra Deck, with negated effects and halved ATK though! My gale that slices open the closed world! Manifest, Link 4, Borrelsword Dragon!" Ryoken went on, the red metal dragon he summoned having yellow wings and sword-like protrusions attached to its head.
Borrelsword Dragon
Dark/ Link 4/ ATK 3000 → 1500/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (↑←↙↓)
"And now that Borrel Half Replace has resolved and Supply Squad has done its part, I'll dispose of the latter using the effect of Borrelguard Dragon! By sacrificing a backrow I can revive a monster that was destroyed this turn from either graveyard! Arise once more, Borrelcore Dragon! Rewind Phase!" Ryoken commanded, a fourth colossal dragon appearing on his field through the effect of Borrelguard.
Borrelcore Dragon
Dark/ Link 4/ ATK 3000/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (↑→↙↓)
"However, your Borrelcore won't have any effects!" Betsune reminded him about the downside of Borrelguard's effect.
Ryoken chuckled. "Oh Betsune, I envy you for your obliviousness! The individual protection effect of Borrelcore is the following: It can never have its effects negated while on the field or in the graveyard, though other effects still resolve as if they could! As such Borrelcore retains its functionality! Why do you think did I even create this monster, huh? Obviously with the intention to make the most of the usually rather underwhelming effect of Borrelguard, and as you just saw that worked out quite well, as I can now turn one Borrel into two Borrels with this combo as long as I have a backrow to sacrifice!" Ryoken retorted, his sister gritting her teeth.
"Anyway, I suppose I can carry on by activating the other effect of Borrelcore, which lets it shift to any of my Monster Zones! I move it back to my Extra Monster Zone!" Ryoken declared, his monster returning to the Extra Monster Zone on Ryoken's right. "Then it can send one card from your field to the graveyard that is in the same column as one of my own cards! Since Borrelguard is in my second Main Monster Zone from the left which is in the column of your Extra Monster Zone, I clear your Sky Striker Ace – Hayate and send her away! Enemy Exchamber!" Ryoken declared, Borrelcore heating up its reactor to fire a red-hot blast at Hayate, scorching her suit and destroying it.
"Since Hayate left my field I get to bring back the normal Raye in defense mode!" Betsune retorted, the pilot of the assaulted suit quickly exiting it, a non-burned Raye safely emerging from the melted mess that was the Hayate suit, taking a defensive stance on Betsune's field.
Sky Striker Ace – Raye
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1500/ DEF 1500/ Warrior/ Effect
"Always trying to have the last word, aren't you? In that case let me show you the spell Unloaded Caliber!" Ryoken declared, the card art depicting Borreload mowing down a whole squadron of attackers with its gunfire. "Using this card I sacrifice Borrelsword Dragon, gaining its original ATK as LP and adding a different spell from my deck to the hand! I thus gain 3000 LP and choose the Divine Calling Spell Revival from Unholy Soil to be added to my hand!" Ryoken stated, his life energy skyrocketing.
KOGAMI RYOKEN: LP 800 → 3800
"Revival from Unholy Soil? Divine Calling?" Betsune repeated, perplexed by the strange names.
"That's right! They're cards of which only one can be activated per turn, by default having Spell Speed 2! This one in particular lets me target and then revive any monster from my graveyard, treating it as being properly summoned by whatever means are normal for it! In addition, by the nature of Divine Callings, I can revive Special Summon-only monsters, like Borrelsword Dragon for instance! As you know, normally a monster that can only be special summoned, which include certain Effect-Monsters and any Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz and Link-Monster, cannot be revived from the graveyard or banish pile by any means if it was not special summoned properly before, even if that revival effect ignores summoning conditions! However, a Divine Calling card has the power to ignore that and bring it back regardless, though I have to discard a card on my next Standby Phase with this specific one! So return to the living, Borrelsword Dragon!" Ryoken announced as his monster returned via his spell.
'Why the hell did I just know all of that? I've never seen that card in my life, let alone its spell subcategory...,' Ryoken then added with a mental whisper as his spell resolved, said spell depicting a goblin stealthily burying the remains of who was presumably his father on a forbidden graveyard, a sole hand already bursting out from the grave behind him where grave goods belonging to who was presumably his mother lied scattered around the grave.
Borrelsword Dragon
Dark/ Link 4/ ATK 3000/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (↑←↙↓)
"He has it back...," Helena whispered in dread.
"Fully functional at that...," Betsune added, equally concerned with a frown on her face.
"Since I just special summoned a Dark Dragon I can call Noctovision Dragon from my hand!" Ryoken stated, another dragon joining his ranks.
Noctovision Dragon
Dark/ Level 7/ ATK 0/ DEF 2800/ Dragon/ Effect
"I change it to defense position so that Borrelsword can attack twice this turn! Zero Bullet Fire!" Ryoken went on, the freshly summoned monster changing its stance while Borrelsword Dragon charged up.
"I feel like he is about to attack...," Helena said.
"I agree, but I also feel something... different. Something much more threatening...," Betsune silently debated with her Anti Ignis.
"And now I will finish it! I activate the effect of Borrel Half Replace in my graveyard, banishing it alongside two Rokkets from my graveyard! By doing so I can special summon a Link-2 Dark Link-Monster from my Extra Deck to a zone a "Borrel"-Monster points to, treating it as a Link Summon! I banish Autorokket and Silverrokket Dragon in order to special summon Quadborrel Dragon!" Ryoken announced, disposing of the trio of cards.
"But where do you summon it to? All of your zones are full and your Borrelsword and Borrelguard don't point towards your outermost Main Monster Zones anyway," Betsune pointed out before her eyes widened. "Don't tell me...!" she gasped.
"Exactly!" Ryoken smirked. "The zone that I will summon my Quadborrel to is none other than that which Borrelguard points to! The left Extra Monster Zone that Borrelcore cleared previously!" he screamed, the Top Arrow of the orange winged dragon lighting up.
-"NO WAY!"- a collective shout of disbelief echoed through the air as the monster arose. As it happened, Borrelcore's Bottom Arrow lit up, connecting to the Top Arrow of Borrelsword in the Main Monster Zone below. Borrelsword continued leftwards to Borreload, who passed it to the left onto Borrelguard. Finally Borrelguard's Top Arrow connected to the Bottom Arrow of the freshly summoned Quadborrel, the zones below the five monsters simultaneously lighting up in a yellow light, forming an U-shaped pattern.
Quadborrel Dragon
Dark/ Link 2/ ATK 1000/ Dragon/ Link/ Effect (←↓)
"He just...!" Kyoko began.
"...completed an Extra Link...!" Genome added.
"...with a spell card!" Aso finished, the trio gazing ahead in disbelief.
"He made an Extra Link during his second turn! He has never managed to do that before!" Atsuko yelled, equally awestruck.
"I knew that he was strong, but this...?" Daisuke whispered, stupefied.
"Not yet! Don't be like that already! This Extra Link is not yet finished!" Ryoken reprimanded the spectators, much to their further shock.
"What did you just say?! Not yet finished?!" Betsune repeated in disbelief.
"You heard me! Take a look at my lifepoints, Betsune!" he reminded her.
Her eyes widened even further. "No way! You're going to...?!" she stammered.
-"Yes!"- Ryoken and Noctis shouted back in unison, unleashing a storm around them and continuing. -"PROWESS ACTIVATE! Once per duel, if our lifepoints are 4000 or lower, we can add a new card of our choice to our Extra Deck! A new breath is born from the winds, becoming the power that leads us to absolute victory! Manifest yourself, new card created from our mutual will! Now come to us and seal their fate! PROWESS – TEMPEST SYNTHESIS!"- they yelled as they used the empowered form of Atsuko and Yukemi's Prowess Gale Synthesis, the storm raging over the hands of their outstretched arms, handing a new card to them.
"Oh no! Hold on tight, Betsune-chan, this is gonna be a wild ride!" Helena addressed her partner frightfully.
-"Manifest, the future circuit that lights up our paths! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more Effect-Monsters! We set Imduk the World Legacy Rokketeer Dragon, Noctovision Dragon, as well as Quadborrel Dragon into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!"- the synchronized partners went on, the Link-Monster alongside the two dragons that resided in the leftmost and rightmost Main Monster Zone respectively flocking skywards together into an energized circuit.
"Is it the Bomber Dragon that we returned...?" Helena wondered, her voice full of worry and anxiety.
"No, it's something far worse," Betsune retorted, her eyes narrowing as she braced herself.
From a vast cyberspace nothingness, an unknown energy began constructing an entity, flowing over the yet nonexistent body of the being. Two slender arms manifested, followed by a body and tail which were adorned by ornaments of green light. Strange winglike protrusions sprouted sideways, two looking somewhat like actual wings while the four others had more in common with tapering branches, two sprouting from each side with their roots close to each other, forming structures that looked similar to "greater than"- and "lesser than"-signs respectively. A sole green orb manifested within the chest, the growing of a dragonic head concluding the formation of the entity.
-"The contrasting forces of zero and infinity circulate ceaselessly, giving birth to an absolute power! LINK SUMMON! APPEAR, LINK 4, TOPOLOGIC GUMBLAR DRAGON! EXTRA LINK!"- Ryoken and Noctis proclaimed, the dark blue monster arriving in his second Extra Monster Zone, reestablishing the Extra Link with an eardrum-harming screech.
Topologic Gumblar Dragon
Dark/ Link 4/ ATK 3000/ Cyberse/ Link/ Effect (↑←→↓)
"He completed it...!" Betsune whispered, aghast at the sight in front of her. "An Extra Link made from only Link-4 Monsters...!"
"Crazy stuff...!" Akame quipped, equally astonished.
"It's pretty crazy indeed. Wasn't Playmaker's Extra Link better, though? It was made of seven Link-Monsters," Daisuke chimed in.
"Yeah, but they were mostly ones of lower Link Ratings, not even one of them Link-4. He had five Link-3s and two Link-2s, so in total a combined Link Rating of 19. Ryoken-sama's has a Link Rating of 20 when put together, plus he didn't make a diagonal shortcut like our enemy. Thus you could very well say that he has surpassed Playmaker now," Kenshi responded, resuming to the role of observer after that.
"Since Noctovision Dragon was used as link material, I can draw a card! Then battle!" Ryoken barked, Betsune flinching at the aggression in his voice. "Borrelsword Dragon attacks Sky Striker Ace – Fukusha! Since your monster is unaffected by card effects due to Eagle Booster I cannot lower her ATK, but I can still absorb half of it with Borrelsword's effect! Borrel Twin Piercer!" he declared, his monster powering up despite the protection of Fukusha.
Borrelsword Dragon: ATK 3000 → 4000
"Now ravage her, Borrelsword Dragon! Electric Borrelsword Slash!" Ryoken commanded as his monster charged at the female in the yellow-whitish mech suit.
"I activate the effect of Fukusha, lowering the ATK of Borrelsword to 0 until the end of the Battle Phase!" Betsune yelled in response, her monster successfully retaliating.
Borrelsword Dragon: ATK 4000 → 0
KOGAMI RYOKEN: LP 3800 → 1800
"It was to be expected that you would use that effect on Borrelsword, as it can attack twice! However, Borrelsword is battle destruction-immune, so I will keep my Extra Link! Since your monster's effect has now been consumed, I can attack your Fukusha without any worries! So attack her, Borrelguard Dragon! Impenetrable Borrelguard Blow!" Ryoken retorted, his orange-winged dragon firing a blast from the cannon in its maw.
KOGAMI BETSUNE: LP 7050 → 6050
"Tch! His monsters are packing quite the punch...!" Betsune huffed from the impact of the attack, her monster surviving due to its battle protection.
"There's more coming your way! Next up Borrelcore Dragon attacks Fukusha! Radiation Borrelcore Blast!" Ryoken went on, his monster charging up its mouth cannon whilst augmenting it with energy from its torso reactor, firing a radiation-infused violet bullet at Fukusha.
KOGAMI BETSUNE: LP 6050 → 5050
"Hold on, Betsune-chan!" Helena exclaimed encouragingly as her partner received another indirect hit that pushed her back a few steps.
"Borreload Dragon continues the assault! Borrel Cannon of Lightning!" Ryoken shouted as his ace monster made its attack, a blindingly bright projectile flying Betsune's way.
KOGAMI BETSUNE: LP 5050 → 4050
"Ugh!" Betsune groaned under the increasing frequency of hits, one of her knees giving in.
"And finally Topologic Gumblar Dragon! Terminal Malevolent Code!" Ryoken concluded, a purplish infinity sign appearing behind the dark blue monster, sending out a flurry of energized rays from it and the reactor in its chest which hurled Betsune even further away.
KOGAMI BETSUNE: LP 4050 → 3050
Borrelsword Dragon: ATK 0 → 4000
"Damn it!" Ryoken shouted, gritting his teeth. "I'm just a little bit off!" he yelled, intense exasperation audible in his voice.
"Huh?! I'm still pretty healthy from what I can tell!" Betsune retorted in indignation, not seeing how this was anywhere near close.
Ryoken frowned. "That's because you have not seen the hidden ability of Topologic Gumblar Dragon yet!" he retorted, extending his arm upwards.
"Hidden ability?!" Helena shrieked, visibly shaken.
"That's right! Once per turn, when Topologic Gumblar is extra linked, its true power can be unleashed, discarding up to two cards from your hand! And should your hand be reduced to zero as a result of this effect, you also take 3000 damage!" Ryoken proclaimed, a strange aura surrounding the arms of his monster, Gumblar separating them before slamming them back together, the arms visibly shaking from the tautness caused by the preparation for the effect's execution.
"WHAT?! IT HAND LOOPS FOR TWO AND DEALS 3000 DAMAGE?!" Betsune repeated in horror.
"That's right! It's an effect which lays waste to anything and anyone that is in its way! Ravage her, Topologic Gumblar! DEUS EX MACHINA!" Ryoken shouted, his monster firing its arms at Betsune, inflicting severe damage as she rolled over sideways a few times from the impact.
KOGAMI BETSUNE: LP 3050 → 50
-"What power!"- Kyoko and Aso voiced their thoughts simultaneously.
"She just lost all of her hand cards and took 3000 damage?! What an effect!" Kenshi added in awe at the display of strength.
"Your sister got hit badly...," Daisuke stated with a look of concern towards Atsuko.
"Onee-san is at 50 LP...?!" Atsuko murmured in utter disbelief about the quick reversal.
"That is some pretty nasty monster your son has acquired there, Kiyoshi. At this rate I can definitely see him win," Genryu addressed his friend, who seemed to be in thought.
"I... activate the effect of the discarded Sky Striker Ace – Ari...!" Betsune wheezed, staggering back onto her feet. "When she is sent to the graveyard... I can take two "Sky Striker"-Cards from my deck and put them on its top... then draw one card...!" she huffed in exhaustion, recovering one hand card.
"Not even in the face of defeat and humiliation you give up on fighting back! Typical of you, Betsune! However, it won't amount to anything, now that the Extra Link has been constructed! I set one card face-down and then end my turn! During the End Phase Borrelsword's ATK returns to normal! Furthermore the effects of the destroyed Silverrokket and Gyrorokket Dragon let me call forth reinforcements, so appear, Auto and Magnarokket!" he declared, a blue and brown dragon respectively appearing on his field.
Borrelsword Dragon: ATK 4000 → 3000
Autorokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 3/ ATK 1600 → 1900/ DEF 1000 → 1300/ Dragon/ Effect
.&.
Magnarokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1800 → 2100/ DEF 1200 → 1500/ Dragon/ Effect
"She's with her back against the wall. One hand card and two monsters versus a whole Extra Link plus a field spell and a face-down. Things are looking pretty bad for Betsune-chan," Kazuki remarked.
"Heavenmail managed to make a comeback from a pretty similar situation, though," Daisuke reminded him.
"Yeah, maybe, but that doesn't mean that she can do that, too. Your comparison assumes a bunch of stuff that is not necessarily a given, kiddo," Sokudo told the teenager, who looked resigned in response as he realized the truth in his words.
"My turn...! I draw...!" Betsune wheezed, leaning to the railing to prevent herself from collapsing.
"As priority passes over to me at the end of your Draw Phase I activate the effect of Borrelcore Dragon, targeting Magnarokket! I then self-destruct the latter to send your Fukusha to the graveyard! However, since Borrelcore's summoning effect is worded with an "also"-conjunction, I still get to special summon a Dark Dragon from my deck with the same Level as Magnarokket Dragon, even if the latter was not destroyed by Borrelcore's effect, but its own! Come, Rokket Tracer!" Ryoken declared, the load-and-fire mechanic of his deck disposing of another monster that Betsune controlled, a bulky red metal dragon taking the place of its brethren.
Rokket Tracer
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1600/ DEF 1000/ Dragon/ Tuner/ Effect
"Tch! He got our Link-2 as well. Now we only have Raye...!" Helena cursed angrily.
"And that isn't your only problem! You see, as soon as a monster is special summoned next to a link marker, Topologic Gumblar's primary effect will activate! I have to discard either one or two random cards, and then you have to discard just as many, though of your own choosing! With three cards in my hand and that field I can easily sacrifice one or two hand cards, while you in your dire situation will be badly hurt by even the slightest loss of resources! And I suppose you realize that you cannot really bypass the problem by setting your cards either, since with Autorokket Dragon I can instantly get rid of anything in your backrow I want! Since I have an Extra Link any of your Link Summons is automatically one that triggers Gumblar's effect, so choose wisely on when you want to Link Summon and how to use those two hand cards you still have!" Ryoken pointed out with a victorious smirk.
"It can hand loop us on our own turn as well? How obnoxious!" Helena grumbled.
"I'm sure that we can find a way around it! Especially if we work together!" Betsune addressed her Anti Ignis, who nodded. "I activate Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage!" she shouted before continuing alongside her artificial partner.
-"PROWESS ACTIVATE! Once per duel, if our lifepoints are 2000 or lower, we can double the effect of any spell that we activate! Since Engage would normally add a "Sky Striker"-Card to our hand and then let us draw one card should we have three or more spells in our graveyard, it now lets us add two "Sky Striker"-Cards and then draw two cards instead! PROWESS – ARCANE RELEASE!"- they shouted as they held up the card together, which received a spectral double that appeared next to it.
"So they're using it at last, huh? Well, the poor girl needs any resources she can get if she even wants to scratch our defenses! Especially with most of her precious Link-Monsters crying somewhere in the banish pile!" Noctis chuckled, barely fazed.
"Five hand cards is a better start to make a comeback, but will it work?" Daisuke asked doubtfully.
"I add Urgent Rescue and Widow Anchor to my hand and then draw two cards!" Betsune declared, doing so before whispering. "Deal with his Gumblar and then resolve my searching effects...," she murmured to herself, contemplating her strategy. However, unaware to her, Ryoken had managed to catch her silent strategizing, flashing a brief grin.
"I then activate Urgent Rescue in order to recover my banished Engage!" Betsune went on, going on the attack.
"I won't let you! I activate my face-down, the continuous trap Borrel Borderline! On its activation I can set a spell or trap that specifically mentions a "Rokket", "Borrel" or "Topologic"-Monster from my deck to the field! It can also be activated this turn if it was a quick-play spell or trap!" Ryoken yelled in response, flipping a card that depicted a Borreload that was under attack, though even the entirety of the fired missiles did no noteworthy damage as Borreload's thick armor plating deflected everything.
"Er, in how far does setting a backrow stop me?" Betsune inquired, majorly confused.
"In so far that Borrel Borderline further specifies the activation timing of the card it sets! But everything in due time! First I set my card, the continuous trap Finality Death Strip!" Ryoken replied.
"And now, as the first effect that was activated, my Urgent Rescue resolves as Chain Link 1!" Betsune pointed out the chain rules.
Ryoken smirked. "That would be the case normally. However, Borrel Borderline has the ability to allow the activation of the same card that was set by its effect during the resolving of the chain! As such, right between the resolution of our respective effects, I flip up Finality Death Strip!" Ryoken announced, the card art showing Borreload soaring over what seemed to be some sort of internment camp while on patrol, mowing down a bunch of escaping inmates from the sky.
"WHAT?! A card that can be activated during the resolution of a chain?!" Betsune repeated in disbelief.
"A chain within a chain?! So basically... chainception?! But that's against the rules, isn't it?! There cannot be a chain within another chain, right?!" Daisuke protested, taken off guard by Ryoken's declaration.
"Yeah, normally there cannot be a chain within another chain, correct. However, in the case of general rules conflicting with the effect of a specific card, the specific card always takes priority. Therefore, he can in fact build a chain within another chain by activating Finality Death Strip," Genryu responded.
"Exactly! And right away I shall use its effect! First off, during the turn it was activated I take no effect damage from you! And second off, I can use a number of effects per turn, up to the number of "Borrel"-Monsters I controlled when it was activated! Since I have four Borrels I can use up to four effects this turn, though never the same one repeatedly! One of them makes you unable to banish cards or move banished cards to a different location for the remainder of this turn! As such your Urgent Rescue fizzles as it can no longer do what it is intended to do!" Ryoken said, the opposing spell obeying his claim, much to Betsune's chagrin.
"Wow, your brother has the strangest of ideas. It looks effective though," Daisuke remarked towards Atsuko.
"Yeah, he does. But thinking out of the box has always been one of his talents," Atsuko replied.
"Tch! Then I'll try going for your monsters instead! I activate Afterburners, targeting your Gumblar so I can destroy it!" Betsune shouted, a spectral duplicate of Kagari charging at the dark blue mecha dragon.
"Hah, I expected as much! So predictable, Betsune! In response I use the Legendary Blessing of Imduk!" Ryoken retorted with a grin.
"The what?!" Betsune yelled, thoroughly confused.
"The Legendary Blessing. Don't expect an expert explanation, but on Imduk's card stands the following: It is a monster with the trait "Legend", having the Legendary Blessing "Imduk's Sacrifice". Whoever has this card in their deck at the beginning of the duel gains said blessing, which can be used once per duel. Imduk's Sacrifice in particular lets me destroy one monster and immunize my monsters against removal by your card effects for the rest of this turn, that all being usable in response to the attempted removal of one of my monsters by you! Since your Afterburners would destroy Gumblar Dragon, I can now instead sacrifice another monster and gain effect removal immunity for the rest of this turn! I choose Autorokket Dragon!" Ryoken declared, the assaulting effect being redirected to the metal dragon which exploded as a result, a barrier forming around Ryoken's other monsters as that happened. Furthermore Ryoken briefly perceived the apparition of a green dragon, before he was dragged away to another place, seeing a vision.
Tale of the World Legacy...
"Please stop! We don't need to fight, Ningirsu!" a blonde haired male shouted, dressed with golden armor that had blue trimming and swinging a silver blade with the same blue crystal embedded in it as in his chestplate.
"Unfortunately your new sense of restraint comes too late, Auram! We should have already stopped when we first encountered that damn fairy! But no, you just had to convince us three to gather all those stupid relics! My sister is dead because of you and your need for ancient artifacts, so it's only fair if you now die by them, since you insist on bothering me in the pursuit of my plans so much!" another male with violet hair screamed back, blocking the blade strike of his opponent with a shield that was surrounded by an ominous orange glow before retaliating with the swing of a violet lance surrounded by a similar glow, though one matching the weapon. He also wore a set of armor which in turn was glowing red.
"If you hate the World Legacies so much, then why do you keep collecting them?!" Auram snapped back whilst ducking to the side, barely evading the lance swing.
"Because with the power of this tower, combined with that of the Legacies, I'm sure that I can fully revive my sister! Behold, once the World Wand drops on Babel, it will initiate a kinetic bombardment that shall destroy the core of the earth, in turn awakening the mighty World Ark which will then with its authority over life and death restore the soul of my beloved sister and revive it inside of her still remaining body! Simultaneously, the deific Great Darkness within the earth's core will be released into my reborn sister, turning Ib into the new goddess of this world who will destroy and rebuild it into something better!" Ningirsu shouted while exchanging blows with Auram, initiating another ferocious attack aiming straight for the head of his opponent.
The smaller male dodged sideways again, the thrust narrowly being deflected by his golden and silver crown, the attacked one mustering up a brief inner sigh of relief before starting to think about Ningirsu's previous statement. 'So I was right after all, his intent is to revive Ib! However, Lee is still inside that body since the forced combination between Ib and Lee into Iblee was never truly undone. If Ningirsu really revives her and then deifies the revived Ib, chances are high that Lee will still be in control and use this newfound power to rebuild this world into a living hell. And I cannot allow that to happen, for I made an oath to the Crusadia Tribes and Blue Sky to protect this world!' Auram shouted internally, being confirmed in his suspicions and the attack he had launched on the automaton that was the rebuilt Ib. Instinctively he had felt a threat emanating from the female robot, so his first attack had been aimed at her – and unfortunately been intercepted by Ningirsu, leading to their current battle. Auram considered the words of his former friend for a few seconds longer, anger becoming apparent on his face as he then addressed him.
"You already saw the Legacies' destructive potential first hand, Ningirsu! Do you really think that it's a good idea to collect and use all of them at once?! You blame me and the relics for Ib's death, yet you still intend to use them?! You've become a hypocrite, Ningirsu! You've lost track of everything that you've once understood with such profound wisdom!" Auram snapped angrily, barraging his former friend with a flurry of attacks, forcing him to retreat towards the edge of the tower terrace they were fighting on.
Ningirsu's eyebrows tilted in outrage. "And you have lost track of your surroundings, as you always did! Your tunnel vision back then led to my sister's death, now it will lead to your own! Strike him down, automaton!" he bellowed furiously as he caught his enemy's sword in between his shield and lance, rendering it unable to move. At the same time a mechanized female appeared behind the blonde haired male, swinging a scythe as she advanced towards him.
"Crap!" the younger male cursed, desperately trying to free his blade in order to fend off the incoming attack, however his opponent was squeezing it tightly between his two weapons, preventing Auram from retracting it.
"NO MATTER WHAT TIME, YOU WERE NEVER ABLE TO PROTECT ANYONE! NOW DIE, AURAM! WATCH AS THE WORLD WAND DROPS AND HOW ALL OF YOUR EFFORTS ARE RENDERED MEANINGLESS!" the violet haired male screamed as the automaton woman further advanced towards the blonde haired male, nearing with a final scythe sweep that would end it all. Simultaneously Ningirsu looked upwards, feeling the shockwaves of the mighty Star Relic that was about to finish its descent from the orbit onto the top of the Babel Tower, initiating the end of the current world, Ningirsu embracing this moment as it would mark the rebirth of his beloved sister.
'No, not like this! I can't die yet! I can't let everyone down! Blue Sky, please give me strength...!' Auram thought in desperation, the blue gem on his blade and armor briefly glowing at his prayer as he desperately continued trying to squirm out of the hold that was placed on his sword. His eyes widened as the robotic woman came into attack range and swung down her scythe, the male gritting his teeth in resignation whilst closing his eyes. 'I won't make it! Maybe Ningirsu is right, even after all this time I still can't save the ones I care about. Forgive me, everyone, I betrayed your trust...!' he reminisced at his last moments, just a second before being beheaded by the assaulting automaton, the shock from above confirming the drop of the World Wand and therefore the end of the world.
"I WON'T ALLOW IT!" a new voice shouted all of a sudden, an attack striking the robotic female out of nowhere, sending her flying away. Simultaneously the attacker was shrouded in an explosion of green energy, shielding Auram and the lower levels of the tower that contained Auram's allies, protecting them against the otherwise certain death caused by the kinetic bombardment of the World Wand. The violet haired male followed the automaton with his shocked gaze, quickly parting from his adversary and running towards the robot, his sole concern lying ahead of him as he ran past Auram. The latter turned around, his expression a mixture of surprise and shock as he had recognized the voice of the newcomer who had saved him in two different ways at once. However, grief and horror was quickly added to the aforementioned feelings as he spotted his friend, a green dragon that was about half of his height, mortally wounded by the scythe of the automaton, apparently having taken the brunt of the attack during its flash-like tackle onto the female, as well as having sacrificed almost all of its energy in order to create the shield that had saved Auram and his allies earlier.
-"IMDUK!"- Auram shouted, alongside Spatha, one of his fellow fighters from the Crusadia tribe who had been too preoccupied with fighting off the many Orcust machines that Ningirsu had pitted against them, which were now eradicated due to the World Wand's shock. They made their way to the fallen dragon immediately, running with all remaining strength they could muster up.
In the midst of his rush towards the dragon Auram spun around, his instincts warning him from a sudden attack, one of the Orcust machines attacking him with its pointy arm weapon aimed at his throat. He cursed, realizing that Imduk's earlier barrier had inadvertently affected this particular machine due to its proximity to said barrier as it seemed, and he intercepted the attack with his sword, planning to kill off the machine with his next move. However, a sudden shout distracted him from that, Auram briefly turning his head around with a shocked expression.
"NO IMDUK, YOU MUSTN'T!" he heard Spatha scream, having noticed that the drop of the World Wand's destruction hadn't fully been averted yet, a second shockwave descending from the top of Babel to the core of the earth in the form of an aftershock. Once again an already exhausted Imduk tapped into his dragonic prowess to protect his allies – something that in his current, weakened state would undoubtedly cost him his life for good, seeing how much effort just standing up took for Imduk. Regardless of that the dragon seemed perfectly content to give his life for his friends. A green barrier of light unfolded, Auram's face distorted in a silent scream of terror and emotional hurt, Imduk activating the same power that had allowed Ib to resurface from Iblee during a previous battle, in turn saving Auram, and that had already saved Auram and his allies seconds earlier, the green dragon standing on his feet resolutely one last time to protect his friends. After he had done his duty, he immediately collapsed, now beyond all chances of recovery for good.
-"IMDUK!"- Auram screamed alongside Spatha, quickly defeating the Orcust Brass Bombard and hurrying over to the dragon. He fell to his knees, cradling the dragon in his arms and pulling out the scythe that still stuck there from the automaton's attack, carelessly throwing it aside. Spatha knelt a bit farther away with one of her hands on the fallen dragon, sharing Auram's concern, but allowing the two of them some space as their friendship was much deeper and older than hers with the dragon. "You'll be okay, Imduk! I'm going to get you out of here and then I will use the power of the World Crown to heal...!" he assured the green entity as he faced the look of the dragon, tears in his eyes as he soothingly stroked its face, his sentences filled with grievous hicks.
"No, I won't make it. You'll have to stay and stop Ningirsu. Besides... if you cling to saving me when it's impossible... then you'll end up just like him...," the dragon interrupted him, heavily coughing up blood after each break, looking at the violet haired male who stood a few steps away from them at the last part. As Auram followed Imduk's look, he noticed that Ningirsu was gazing at the automaton that resembled his sister, which had somehow been revitalized and empowered by the kinetic bombardment, floating in the air now. He blamed the imposing shadow of the World Ark for that, which had arisen from the core of the earth in response to the planetary shock apparently. Both of these developments were very worrying to Auram to say the least, but presently his thoughts were solely focused on Imduk, causing him to look back at the dragon almost immediately.
"Imduk, you can't be serious! I need you! Please stay with me!" Auram sobbed back, but the dragon shook his head.
"No, it's the end... of the line for me. Don't look back like Ningirsu did... and accept the inevitable...," he wheezed, the dragon's consciousness starting to drift away.
"Why did you have to do that, Imduk?! Why did you sacrifice yourself?! With you gone, who of my friends remains to be saved?!" Auram retorted, infusing his friend with energy from his armor, trying to prolong the fate of the dragon.
"There is still our tribe and many others who must be saved. And of course... Ningirsu. I know that he can be redeemed. I had to give up myself... so that you could live, Auram. You can't die yet, the world... still needs you. I on the other hand... well, I suppose this is the end for me...," Imduk replied, his voice diminishing by the second as the essence of the World Crown started flowing out from his body, the dragon's own energy ascending towards the sky, being assimilated by the World Ark.
"No... I can't lose you as well...! Ib was already enough... you can't just repeat after her...! YOU MUST NOT REPEAT AFTER IB!" Auram screamed in desperation, a faint memory from years ago briefly passing through his mind, seeing a smiling violet haired girl skipping around a yard, a small green dragon cheerfully imitating her.
"I guess habits... die hard...," Imduk said with a sad smile, his voice barely more than a whisper. "A final question, Auram. Was I... a good pet dragon...?" he then asked, his fading voice mirroring the condition of his body.
"You were the best...!" Auram cried, burying his head in the dragon's slashed chest.
"I see. Thank you, Auram, it was... a blast... living with... you...," the dragon gave his final reply before his heart ceased to beat.
"IMDUK!" Auram's voice echoed from the upper levels of the Orcustrated Babel Tower, his scream of grief even heard by the previously battling Crusadias on the lowest levels of the structure whose enemies had been destroyed by the earlier shockwave of the World Wand.
Ryoken's eyes blinked, his expression both filled with confusion and sadness at the vision he had seen. His hands stroked trough his eyes, catching fresh tears – something that was uncharacteristic for him.
'What... was that just now...?' he wondered, his focus shifting away from the duel for a moment. 'Well, it doesn't matter what it was! All that I care about is winning this duel so I can keep my position and otoosan's approval!' he inwardly declared as he shook his head, blocking it out.
"So Afterburners didn't work? Damn it, in that case I will activate Sky Striker Mecha – Widow Anchor, negating the effects of your Gumblar Dragon and seizing control of it for the rest of this turn!" Betsune spoke up, using another of her hand cards, Raye being equipped with a mechanical gear that had the form of a futuristic grappling hook. The blonde haired female then hurled the Widow Anchor at the bluish entity, disturbing its systems with the jamming devices at the end of the hook and then attempting to drag it over to her side of the field.
"How disappointing! While your effect negation will go through, you will not be able to touch my Extra Link! Mainly because I omitted a little detail earlier! Imduk's Sacrifice doesn't just protect my monsters against removal from the field for the rest of this turn, but removal from MY field! Since that also counts towards control-switching effects my Gumblar will remain with me!" Ryoken yelled in response, the grappling hook snapping as it was unable to pull over the blue dragon that Raye had tried reeling in.
"Tch! After all of that he still has his Extra Link?!" Betsune whispered in exasperation, clearly upset.
"Your sister just blew three of her five hand cards, just to negate the effects of Gumblar for a turn! What a failure!" Noctis chuckled deviously, rejoicing at the disadvantage of the opposing party.
"Well, I can't say that I am particularly unhappy about her lack of success...," Ryoken murmured, flashing a brief but sadistic grin of delight. He then rose his hand as he spoke up. "By the by, I allowed myself to chain the effect of my Rokket Tracer in response to the activation of your Widow Anchor, targeting itself to bring out one of its comrades! You can see the result over there!" Ryoken told, pointing at a freshly summoned Anesthrokket Dragon.
Anesthrokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 1/ ATK 0 → 300/ DEF 2200 → 2500/ Dragon/ Effect
"Anesthrokket? He already seems to know what we are planning...," Helena whispered in concern.
"Naturally he does. He remembers what cards I put at the top of my deck with Ari's effect last turn, so he clearly knows what Rokket he needs to set up so he can counter my strategy...!" Betsune hissed before continuing begrudgingly. "I normal summon Sky Striker Ace – Fio!" she declared, invoking the dark haired mech pilot who despite the dire situation still carried her trademark smile.
Sky Striker Ace – Fio
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1600/ DEF 1600/ Warrior/ Effect
"Fio's effect! When summoned I can add a "Sky Striker"-Card...!" Betsune began.
"I won't let you! Borrelsword's effect will target Anesthrokket so that the latter can self-destruct! This enables me to make one of your monsters unable to attack and negate its effects! I choose Fio, of course! No Engage for you anytime soon, Betsune!" Ryoken interjected, his monster firing the syringe-headed metal dragon at Fio, who appeared to lose conciousness following the hit, finally collapsing on the floor from the effects of the tranquilizer dart Rokket.
"I knew that it would work! He totally fell for it!" Betsune then smirked all of a sudden.
"What?! What did you just say?!" Ryoken gasped, visible shaken and confused.
"You heard me! I tricked you with a bluff! Here, look!" Betsune retorted victoriously, revealing her final hand card.
"Engage?!" Ryoken shouted in disbelief, refusing to believe that he had been outplayed on a mental level.
"Exactly! I was hoping to make a convincing bluff so that you would use up your interruption effects on the wrong cards! Had you summoned Invaderokket instead of Anesthrokket, I wouldn't have stood a chance! However, I managed to trick you into believing that I needed Fio to resolve under any circumstance in order to get an Engage and thus back into my resources! Did you think I "whispered" my "strategy" that loudly because of a silly mistake?! Of course I wanted to feed you false information and make you believe that it was my actual plan! And lo and behold, it worked!" Betsune told victoriously, Ryoken gritting his teeth in anger about his own folly.
'Why did I not see through her plan?! Damn it, Ryoken, don't get sloppy now! There is way too much on the line!' he cursed himself, inwardly swearing to not repeat his mistakes and fall into a trap again.
"Deceitful bitch...!" Noctis hissed barely audible, sharing the frustration of his partner.
"Now then, I activate my final hand card, the Engage that you thought I would add to my hand with Fio's effect! I'll add Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones to my hand and then draw one card! Then the effect of Ari! Should I have three or more spells in my graveyard I can return Ari from my graveyard to the bottom of my deck and draw one card!" Betsune spoke, tripling her hand in an instant.
"What a remarkable turn of events. Even though Betsune-chan had no real gameplay-related advantage, she still managed to turn the tides a bit using a psychological victory as the catalyst. Your daughters never cease to impress me, Kiyoshi," Genryu remarked, the Hanoi Leader giving his daughter a nod of approval.
"Following that I activate the spell Link Regeneration! I return a Link-Monster from my graveyard with equal or lower ATK than the strongest monster on my field to the Extra Deck and then draw cards equal to its Link Rating divided by two, rounding up in case of an uneven number of course! I choose Hayate, thus drawing one card! However, I cannot Link Summon any other Link-1 monster than her for the rest of this turn!" Betsune announced, returning one of Raye's power suits to her Extra Deck while remaining steady in her resources. "Consecutively I activate two spells, the continuous spell Spell Augmenter and the field spell Sky Striker Airspace – Area Zero!" she went on, the first card erecting a yellow barrier around the second card, which was some sort of control center depicting the coordinates of operating Sky Striker mech pilots, as the currently displayed numbers of "000" and "100" – Raye and Fio – proved.
"Ugh, not that combo!" Noctis groaned, already knowing what was coming.
"Spell Augmenter protects my other face-up spells against removal by your card effects! However, that effect won't matter too much as I will probably dispose of it now! Mainly since I'm going to activate the effect of Area Zero, targeting Spell Augmenter! Now I excavate the top three cards of my deck, add one "Sky Striker"-Card among them to my hand, and in that case send Spell Augmenter to the graveyard! Otherwise the cards are just shuffled back and nothing happens to my continuous spell!" Betsune told, the radar systems of her field spell activating, scanning her topmost three cards. Betsune sighed and relief and then smirked. "I'll add the excavated Mobilize – Deploy to my hand and thus send Spell Augmenter to the graveyard! When Augmenter is sent to my graveyard via card effect, I get to add any other spell from my deck to the hand! I choose Pot of Greed!" she said, getting herself the pot with the shit-eating grin, her own expression somewhat approaching that of the piece of pottery.
"Tch, as if she didn't have an archetypal version of that damned card anyway! In better!" Noctis fumed in exasperation.
"Appear, the circuit of futuristic aviation! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are one non-Wind "Sky Striker Ace"-Monster! I set Sky Striker Ace – Raye into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" Betsune shouted as her monster soared skywards.
"Opening Multirole Gateway! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-004!" Raye's headgear buzzed as the green suit from before appeared. "Identifying pilot! Raye confirmed! Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! All weapon systems online!" a voice from within the suit finished, Raye's recently recovered Wind suit making a reappearance.
"Link Summon! Take off, Link 1, Sky Striker Ace – Hayate!" Betsune finished, Raye completing her transformation into her railgun-wielding sniper outfit, appearing in the zone that Ryoken's Borrelcore provided.
Sky Striker Ace – Hayate
Wind/ Link 1/ ATK 1500/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (↙)
"Hayate, huh? If you want to bypass my defenses with a direct attack, forget it, my Borrel Borderline makes that impossible!" Ryoken remarked.
"I was expecting as much! However, the true purpose of this Link Summon was to recover my monster self! Since I Link Summoned while Sky Striker Ace – Betsune was in my graveyard I get to add her to my hand! Next up I activate Sky Striker Mobilize – Deploy! which sends to my graveyard a "Sky Striker"-Card from my deck, or alternatively with three spells in my graveyard lets me add to my hand or special summon that card! I choose Sky Striker Ace – Ari and summon her!" Betsune declared, bringing forth a third pilot, one whose hair was dark red and styled into a twintail, holding a black and red broadsword-like weapon.
Sky Striker Ace – Ari
Light/ Level 4/ ATK 1700/ DEF 1700/ Warrior/ Effect
"Moving on I activate Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones which summons a Sky Striker Ace Token to my field! With at least three spells in my graveyard this Token has 1500 ATK and DEF instead of 0!" Betsune proclaimed, a set of white and yellow drones appearing, creating a projection of Raye.
Sky Striker Ace Token
Dark/ Level 1/ ATK 0 → 1500/ DEF 0 → 1500/ Warrior
"Appear again, the circuit of futuristic aviation! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two monsters, including a "Sky Striker Ace"-Monster! I set Sky Striker Ace – Ari and the Sky Striker Ace Token into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" Betsune yelled, the real and fake monster combining as another portal in the air appeared.
"Opening Multirole Gateway! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-207!" The drones that generated the fake Raye and Ari's head gear declared in unison, a dark violet mech suit emerging. "Identifying pilot! Ari confirmed! Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! All weapon systems online!" the suit told as it merged with Ari who remained on the battlefield, now wearing power armor with two mechanical arms containing a special set of scanning devices.
"Link Summon! Soar, Link 2, Sky Striker Ace – Kage!" Betsune shouted, Ari cycling through a multitude of artificially created weapons, each of the made by the scanning software that was implemented into her suit's mechanical arms.
Sky Striker Ace – Kage
Dark/ Link 2/ ATK 2200/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (→↘)
"If Kage is special summoned I can revive a Sky Striker from my graveyard, except one with a Link Rating of 2 or higher! I choose Roze!" Betsune went on, the silver haired pilot from the opposing faction emerging from her graveyard.
Sky Striker Ace – Roze
Light/ Level 4/ ATK 1500/ DEF 1500/ Warrior/ Effect
"Also Ari's effect upon being sent to the graveyard lets me stack my deck with two "Sky Striker"-Cards of my choosing and then draw one card! Furthermore all my Sky Strikers gain 200 ATK per attribute on the field due to Kage! Currently there are Light, Dark and Wind, so they gain 600 ATK!" Betsune went on, her four monsters powering up.
Sky Striker Ace – Fio: ATK 1600 → 2200
Sky Striker Ace – Hayate: ATK 1500 → 2100
Sky Striker Ace – Kage: ATK 2200 → 2800
Sky Striker Ace – Roze: ATK 1500 → 2100
"And finally I special summon myself to the field since my Main Monster Zones – due to the stealthing effect of Martial Law that is still lingering on those zones – are empty!" Betsune announced, once more changing into her monster form as she regained the uniform Raye, Fio and Ari wore in their basic forms.
Sky Striker Ace – Betsune
Light/ Level 4/ ATK 1800 → 2400/ DEF 1800 → 2400/ Warrior/ Effect
"They're all on the field...!" Daisuke stuttered, gazing upon the gathered Sky Striker Aces in their respective forms, three of them suitless while Raye and Ari wore their Hayate and Kage power suit respectively.
"Not gonna lie, those chicks are pretty damn sexy...," Kazuki murmured to Sokudo.
"Careful, don't let Kiyoshi hear that you've got the hots for his daughter...!" Sokudo warningly addressed him under a breath.
"Don't worry, she's not that attractive. There are still a lot of pretty fish in the sea I can reel in without their dad annihilating me using a spectral dragon that can chop me in half," Kazuki assured his friend.
"You better do so, Kazuki. Before I met Akame I for a while also considered seducing and then banging her once she becomes of age, only to spite Kiyoshi of course. I dropped the idea though because I was too afraid of his retaliation – and that was before he regained his consciousness and acquired that dragonic bodyguard. You get your junk anywhere near her and the last thing you'll hear is a white dragon shouting the Greek term for the world's rationality at you. Not a very pretty way to die," Sokudo quietly retorted.
"You did? Why Betsune and not Atsuko though, I always found her to be the more alluring one – before the former turned hot during this duel that is?" Kazuki continued their chatter.
"Are you kidding me?! She is even younger and a total brat! I wouldn't tap that in a million years, even if she is inherently prettier than her sister!" Sokudo retorted indignantly, unintentionally speaking up a bit.
"Hey, what are you two talking about?" Atsuko yelled at them, having caught wind of their conversation to a small degree.
"Oh, nothing...," Kazuki quickly retorted, not interested in her finding out about his and Sokudo's former subject the least bit.
"Hmm, if you say so...," Atsuko grumbled as she retreated back to her seat, giving them a warning glare as she continued watching them whilst retreating.
"Phew, that was close...!" Sokudo quietly whispered, wiping a drop of sweat from his forehead. Meanwhile a voice spoke up on Betsune's field.
"Hmm, looks like we're all together now. It's a shame that we're in this predicament, I really don't like the idea of having to cooperate with the likes of... you," Raye said, giving the silver haired female next to her a frown.
"Me neither, but sacrifices have to be made in order to achieve victory. You're a total nuisance, Raye, but unfortunately a nuisance that is required for the fulfillment of this mission," Roze retorted with the raise of an eyebrow, replying to the blonde haired female with a tone that was about as unfazed as it can get.
"Yes, let's just work together and win!" Fio cheered, unlike her comrade Raye showing no hostility towards Roze.
"Don't act like we're allies, Roze! I detest any notion of being aligned with you in any shape or form!" Ari fumed, piercing Roze with her eyes.
Betsune looked back and forth between her monsters, first shyly, but eventually her expression changed as her eyebrows tilted, becoming fierce as determination took ahold of her. "I don't know why you four are even talking in the first place, but leave aside your damn hostilities for now! We've got a common enemy to beat!" she addressed her monsters.
-"Yes, Ma'am!"- the quartet of monsters shouted, some of them more willing than others, though.
"Let's do it then! Appear, the circuit of futuristic aviation! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two monsters, including a "Sky Striker Ace"-Monster! I set my monster self and Sky Striker Ace – Hayate into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" Betsune shouted, the spiritual part separating from her as it soared skywards alongside Raye in her suit, the latter of which dropped into a Multirole portal below them as it was no longer needed.
"Opening Multirole Gateway! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-007!" Raye's head gear told as a purple and black suit arrived from above. "Identifying pilot! Raye confirmed! Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! All weapon systems online!" the suit finished, Raye putting on an appearance that had two mechanical arms, re-functioned into some sort of capsules with the apparent purpose of transportation for outside objects or even people.
"Link Summon! Soar, Link 2, Sky Striker Ace – Ankoku!" Betsune told, a pair of giant rocket boosters attached to the suit's back carrying Raye to her position on the field.
Sky Striker Ace – Ankoku
Dark/ Link 2/ ATK 2000 → 2400/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (→↘)
"Well, would you look at that? With this suit I exceed you in power by far! Must suck to be you, Roze!" Raye said smirking with a look at her rival, who gave her another stoic eyebrow raise.
"Upon being summoned Ankoku lets me destroy a card you control! I get rid of your Finality Death Strip!" Betsune told, her monster combining the capsule-arms, unleashing a vacuum blast from the two-piece cavity.
"Too bad, but Borrel Borderline protects it!" Ryoken retorted, the blast being deflected sideways.
"As I expected. You're just as much of a good-for-nothing pilot as always, Raye," Roze quipped, Raye giving her an angry stare as her suit's attack had failed.
"In that case I activate the card that I previously drew using Ari's effect, Sky Striker Maneuver – Emergency Transport!" Betsune carried on in spite of her monsters' argument, revealing a card that depicted Ankoku arriving on the battlefield using the burst of her rocket boosters that carried her towards it, opening her modified capsule-arms to reveal Fio and Ari, who were already on the verge of transforming into one of their own mech suits. "With its effect I can fetch myself one of my Sky Striker Aces from my deck and then add a Maneuver to my hand as well, should I have three or more spells in my graveyard! I add a second Raye to my hand, as well as Sky Striker Maneuver – Takedown Laser!, a normal spell!" Betsune told, increasing her hand by one card.
"You hear that, Roze? She only wants my stuff, not yours!" the Raye in her Ankoku suit continued mocking the other female, who remained stoic in response.
"I activate Takedown Laser, enabling me to target one card on the field and destroy it, also negating the effects of the targeted card before applying this effect should I meet the three spells requirement! I target Borrel Borderline!" Betsune announced, her card art showing Raye in her Fukusha suit firing a gathered attack from the six riffles her mechanical arms carried, alongside the two hand guns her normal hands wielded. Soon enough a spectral version of Fukusha did just that, targeting Ryoken's continuous trap.
"Unlucky for you my Borrel Borderline protects any of my face-up traps, not just others like your Spell Augmenter did with spells! Furthermore that protection is nothing short of unaffection, so even the negation part of your Takedown Laser that would bypass any normal defense will not work!" Ryoken pointed out, the attack failing yet again.
"Well, looks like she only wants your stuff indeed, however your stuff doesn't really seem to work. An amateur mistake I suppose, your equipment was always kinda crude," Roze deviously smirked in satisfaction, Raye fuming on the inside, but not bothering to reply anything as that would only make her more susceptible to further mockery from Roze.
'Can you two stop arguing...?' Betsune thought, rolling her eyes for a second before continuing. "I move on with my turn by using Pot of Greed, drawing two cards! Then I activate Sky Striker Maneuver – Scissors Cross!" she declared, activating a spell that depicted Raye in her Kaina suit as well as Roze in her bodysuit engaging in a fight.
"So... that spell has a name like that and depicts two girls fighting each other... Kinda suggestive, don't you think...?" Daisuke shyly whispered towards Atsuko, who just ignored him as she wished to stay away from such topics.
"I'd love to watch those two crossing their 'scissors'...," Kazuki said, the traces of arousal in his voice not going unnoticed.
"Quite frankly, I'd pay to see that...," Sokudo agreed, resulting in him being yanked by the ear at the hands of his girlfriend Akame.
"Me and her...?! Don't get any ideas of me doing stuff like that with someone like Roze...!" Raye protested, blushing in a mix of anger and embarrassment.
"I detest the notion of engaging with Raye in activities of that manner!" Roze told, sharing the emotions of her rival as her face reddened ever so slightly.
"Oh, shut up and kiss already!" Kazuki booed at them, the two females looking at each other in mutual agreement that this person was a total dumbass to them.
"Yeah... Using Scissors Cross I revive a Level 4 Striker from my graveyard, that being my monster self!" Betsune declared, trying her best to ignore Kazuki while regaining her former outfit.
Sky Striker Ace – Betsune
Light/ Level 4/ ATK 1800 → 2200/ DEF 1800 → 2200/ Warrior/ Effect
"Appear once more, the circuit of futuristic aviation! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two monsters, including a "Sky Striker Ace"-Monster! I set Sky Striker Ace – Roze and Fio into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" Betsune went on, her two monsters flocking into a circuit, a gateway opening again, though a different one which was almost entirely black in color.
"Opening Reinforcer Gateway! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit Z-000!" A box that was fixed to Roze's belt told, a large mech suit falling from the sky as Roze changed into her own body suit. "Identifying pilot! Roze confirmed! Integrating pilot into Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! Energy supply running at full capacity! Annihilation Mode active!" the suit declared, Roze being integrated into the midsection of the over-sized power suit, dwarfing Raye's easily.
"Link Summon! Soar, Link 2, Sky Striker Ace – Zeke!" Betsune announced, the tall cutlass-wielding black, golden and magenta robot taking its place among her formation.
Sky Striker Ace – Zeke
Dark/ Link 2/ ATK 1500 → 1900/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (↑↓)
"Well, what about now, Raye? Seems I have outgrown you and your suits. Also, unlike you I will not pointlessly try using my removal effect. It was already painful to watch you firing one futile attack after the other," the pilot positioned in the torso of the black robot spoke up towards her rival.
"You...!" Raye hissed, visibly upset by Roze's mockery.
"Oh, shut up, both of you! I'm getting tired of your shit!" Betsune snapped, causing the blonde female who had been about to respond to stop, Raye flinching at Betsune's reprimanding tone. "I'll guess I need to use my own effect instead of theirs so I can have one moment of peace, so I use the effect of my monster self to put back the Engage from my graveyard and get myself a different archetypal card from my deck! By returning Engage I search Eagle Booster! And then I normal summon Sky Striker Ace – Raye using the extra normal summon-giving effect of Kage!" she told, a drone creating a double of the blonde haired pilot.
Sky Striker Ace – Raye
Dark/ Level 4/ ATK 1500 → 1900/ DEF 1500 → 1900/ Warrior/ Effect
"Two of me on the field at once? I always knew that I was more popular than you!" Raye quipped with cocky grin towards Roze.
"Be quiet!" Betsune hissed at the other female, shutting her up. She then rose her arm, having curiously gazed at a particular card in her Extra Deck and looking somewhat nervous. 'Will this really work?' She contemplated, her hands slightly sweaty and quivering. She took a long breath and closed her eyes. As she reopened them, they shone with determination and she continued.
"Appear, the circuit of futuristic aviation! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more monsters, including a "Sky Striker Ace"-Monster! I set Sky Striker Ace – Kage and Betsune into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" Betsune told, this time remaining how she was despite the usage of her monster self. The Multirole gateway opened as usual, releasing a new suit.
"Opening Multirole Gateway! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-307!" the blue hair clip Betsune wore buzzed, much to the surprise of Atsuko.
"What?! Why is that thing saying the command?! And that number! 300 is neither the code series of Raye, nor that of Fio, Ari or Roze!" she shouted in confusion.
"That's right! 300 is my code series!" Betsune proclaimed, the gladius in her hand attracting the emerging suit, which was purple and white in color.
"Your series?! Does that mean...!" Ryoken stammered in disbelief.
"Yes! This is my suit!" Betsune replied, the white and purple power armor closing around her, simultaneously changing into a bodysuit that resembled that which Raye and her teammates wore when they went into battle, and especially when they put on their respective mech suits.
"Identifying pilot! Betsune confirmed! Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! All weapon systems online!" the suit told in its robotic voice, Betsune slowly descending to the ground, her suit strongly armored with sizable gauntlets which from the looks of it packed quite the punch, also having some sort of sensory devices. As her feet touched the ground she looked up, facing a wide-eyed opponent and audience alike.
"Link Summon! Advance towards victory, Link 3, Sky Striker Ace – Yami!" Betsune finished, now standing on the field in a full set of power armor, her disk oddly having managed to combine with the suit in a fairly natural-looking way.
Sky Striker Ace – Yami
Dark/ Link 3/ ATK 2800/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (↗↙↓)
"You... have an own suit now...?" Ryoken stuttered, still aghast about his sister's transformation.
Betsune nodded. "I suppose it came with the whole Tenryuu scale incident. After I first played my monster self, I had a brief look at my Extra Deck, where I spotted this card. I was admittedly very doubtful if it would work, but luckily I managed to equip the mech suit on my first attempt. The result is what you see before you," she addressed her brother.
"And are there...?" Atsuko began, stopping after those three words due to her bewilderment.
"Yes, there are more suits. This isn't only suit of mine that I saw in my Extra Deck," she replied before looking at Ryoken with an intense stare. "Not that I would need another one this time around. Though I shall still use one of the other Sky Striker suits! I use the on-summon effect of Yami, which adds a "Sky Striker Maneuver"- or "Sky Striker Mecha"-Card from my graveyard to my hand! It must remain revealed, but it can be activated from my hand as a quick effect during either player's turn! I pick Sky Striker Mecha – Wyvern Blaster! Now then, Raye, Roze, can you cease your animosity for one moment?! I need you two to work together!" She firmly demanded from her monsters.
"If it's to achieve victory, then I'm willing to do so. For a moment!" Raye shouted before adding a clarification to her prior statement.
"Roze?" Betsune said, nodding at Raye before shifting her gaze to the silver haired female.
"I think I can cooperate with her for a while. This alliance will only last for a short time, though," Roze replied, shrugging her shoulders.
"Good! Then appear for a final time, the circuit of futuristic aviation! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are three or more monsters, including at least two "Sky Striker Ace"-Link-Monsters! I set Sky Striker Ace – Raye, as well as Sky Striker Ace – Ankoku and Zeke into the Link Markers! Circuit combine!" Betsune yelled, summoning a giant circuit that consumed both the projection of Raye, as well as the real Raye in her Dark suit and Zeke in her monstrous robotic suit of the same attribute.
"There it comes!" Noctis shouted at Ryoken warningly whilst the Multirole and Reinforcer gateway on the ground swallowed the Ankoku and Zeke suit respectively.
"Opening Multirole Gateway! Booting Sentoki Mech Suit X-001!" the headgear of the real Raye spoke, the portal from above spawning a giant brownish-golden mech suit. "Identifying pilot! Raye confirmed! Integrating Sentoki Mech Suit! Combination successful! Redirecting general energy supply! Focus all surrounding energy on Sentoki Mech Suit X-001! Energy supply stable! All weapon systems online!" the giant suit finished as it merged with Raye, sporting a total of twelve mechanical arms, each of them dedicated to one of Raye's basic suits.
It had two arms that were equipped with swords like her Kagari suit, two that were remodeled into shield generators like her Shizuku suit, two with sniper rifle-like railguns like her Hayate suit, two with construction claw-like brawling fists like her Kaina suit, two with rather crude but firepower-rich rifles like her Fukusha suit, and finally two arms shaped like transportation capsules like her Ankoku suit that could also be joined together to fire off a vacuum blast. Furthermore it had the rocket boosters from the final suit, making it surprisingly agile for its enlarged size. Its armor was peerless, as was its adaptability, since it cycled through the different functions of its multiple arms, transforming Kagari sword arms into Hayate railgun arms and backwards.
"LINK SUMMON! DOMINATE THE AIRSPACE! LINK 4! FULL ARMOR SKY STRIKER ACE – SHINSEINA!" she proclaimed as Raye arrived on the field, clad in her ultimate suit.
Full Armor Sky Striker Ace – Shinseina
Divine/ Link 4/ ATK 3000/ Machine/ Link/ Effect (↖↗↙↘)
"Divine?!" Daisuke spluttered incredulously.
"She is the origin of the Rainbow Anti Ignis, one with a certain affinity and therefore access to any attribute, even Divine," Emerald retorted, gesturing over to Betsune and Helena.
"Shinseina's effect! When Link Summoned I can negate the effects of up to two cards on the field until the end of this turn! I target Borreload and Borrelguard Dragon! Altitude Collapse!" Betsune proclaimed, the jamming gears from the Shizuku components on Raye's ultimate suit activating, jamming waves heading towards Ryoken and his monsters.
"The effect of Borrel Borderline enables me to assign the target for effects that would target my "Borrel"-Monsters! As such I direct your effect at Borrel Borderline and Finality Death Strip – which are, unfortunately for you, unaffected by card effects!" Ryoken declared in response.
"Fine! Once per turn I could burn you for 200 per spell in my graveyard with Shinseina's other effect, however with Finality Death Strip you take no effect damage on its activation turn, so that will be useless! Meaning I'll just continue with this! Battle!" Betsune retorted, extending her hand towards her brother. "Full Armor Sky Striker Ace – Shinseina attacks Topologic Gumblar Dragon!" she ordered, her monster charging forward.
"Due to Borrel Borderline you cannot attack non-"Borrel"-Monsters while I control such! Furthermore I get to pick which "Borrel"-Monster you attack, so you will battle Borrelsword Dragon instead!" Ryoken replied.
"Fine by me! In that case I normally continue with my attack and use Shinseina's effect! By shuffling back three "Sky Striker"-Spells from my graveyard I halve the ATK of your Borrelsword and then have Shinseina gain that much ATK until the end of the Damage Step! I shuffle back two Engages and Urgent Rescue! Now then, give Borrelsword a taste of its own medicine, Shinseina! Aerosol Extractor!" Betsune ordered, her monster draining the ATK of Borrelsword as commanded.
Borrelsword Dragon: ATK 3000 → 1500
Full Armor Sky Striker Ace – Shinseina: ATK 3000 → 4500
"Damn, we're almost in kill range! Use your effect, Ryoken!" Noctis urged his partner.
Ryoken nodded before speaking up. "I activate a choice effect of my Finality Death Strip! I can target a Borrel and turn its effects into quick effects for the rest of this turn, furthermore it can be treated as the attacking monster when it battles! So now that Borrelsword is considered to be attacking, I can use its own effect, halving the current ATK of your Shinseina after having Borrelsword gain that much! Borrel Twin Piercer!" Ryoken retorted, his monster clashing with Shinseina and starting to push back the female.
"I expected about as much! Hence why I now activate this! The quick-play spell Sky Striker Ultima Maneuver – Endgame Spiral!" Betsune yelled back, revealing a spell that depicted Shinseina in a spinning motion, mowing down the armada of enemies that surrounded her with the combined fire of her weapon arsenal. "It doubles the ATK of a Sky Striker on my field and negates the effects of any monster it battles! As such Shinseina grows to 9000 ATK and your Borrel Twin Piercer does not go into effect!" Betsune told, her monster regaining her footing, now forcing Borrelsword onto the retreat.
Full Armor Sky Striker Ace – Shinseina: ATK 4500 → 9000
"DAMN IT, THAT DAMAGE IS FREAKING LETHAL! DO SOMETHING, RYOKEN!" Noctis shrieked at him, visibly afraid of losing.
"I activate another one of the choice effects of Finality Death Strip! Once per turn I can boost the ATK of a battling Borrel by 1000 for each "Borrel"-Monster on my field! I strengthen Borrelsword by 4000 ATK! Furthermore Borrel Borderline halves all battle damage I take from a battle involving a "Borrel"-Monster!" Ryoken declared, putting up a last minute defense that prevented his loss just in time, Shinseina's arsenal of arms raining down upon Borrelsword, cutting, smashing and shooting it down, his monster exploding with a blast.
Borrelsword Dragon: ATK 1500 → 5500
KOGAMI RYOKEN: LP 1800 → 50
Full Armor Sky Striker Ace – Shinseina: ATK 9000 → 6000
"Now they're both at 50 LP...!" Atsuko gasped, shocked about how barely both of her siblings had survived near defeat.
"Phew, that was close!" Noctis sighed, audibly relieved.
"Yeah. Looks like we live to see another day...," Ryoken replied before his eyes widened in realization, recalling something.
"I use the on-summon effect of Yami, which adds a "Sky Striker Maneuver"- or "Sky Striker Mecha"-Card from my graveyard to my hand! It must remain revealed, but it can be activated from my hand as if it was a trap that has already been on the field until the end of its setting turn! I pick Sky Striker Mecha – Wyvern Blaster!"
"No way! So that was the purpose of you taking your Wyvern Blaster! If you simply wait out the effect damage protection I have on this turn due to Finality Death Strip and then can activate your quick-play spell from your hand during my next turn, you can deal lethal damage to me! That's why you pointed out that hand activation clause, as that enables you to use your damage-dealing quick-play spell without ever having to fear the risk of my Autorokket disposing of your set card, which ordinary cards of that sort would have!" Ryoken shouted in realization.
"Bravo, you figured it out!" Betsune told, clapping her hands. "Yes, any effect that simply recycles Wyvern Blaster would have been susceptible to Autorokket since I would have to set it in order for it to become live on your turn, however this kind of effect is not counterable by your deck, as I am aware of your deckbuilding preferences and thus your current lack of Invaderokket Dragons that remain in your deck! As you have already proven with some of your cards, unorthodox strategies and effects can be very effective!" Betsune pointed out.
Ryoken gritted his teeth. 'Damn it, now she has a safe win should this duel outlast the current turn! In that case...!' he hissed inwardly before raising his hand. "During the Battle Step that follows the conclusion of this battle I am capable of activating the final choice effect of Finality Death Strip! It lets me bring out a Dark Dragon from my deck! Come, Exploderokket Dragon!" he proclaimed, a serpentine metal dragon of red and brown color emerging.
Exploderokket Dragon
Dark/ Level 7/ ATK 2000 → 2300/ DEF 2000 → 2300/ Dragon/ Effect
'A new Rokket...?' Betsune briefly contemplated before extending her hand once more. "In that case I shall personally attack your Borreload Dragon!" she announced, the rocket boosters on her suit activating as she ascended a few inches from the ground.
'This is it! If she attacks into my monster using Fio's effect, her monster will exceed Borreload's by 800, meaning not even Anti-Enemy Bullet will make Yami weak enough for me to survive her assault! Not to mention her Eagle Booster that can shield Yami from Borreload's effect! There is only one option!' Ryoken inwardly cursed before continuing. 'I don't need to win! All that I need is for her not to be victorious! I just need to go even with her in order to keep my position and otoosan's approval! YES, I DON'T EVEN NEED TO WIN! AHAHAHA!' he inwardly cackled, his fixation towards maintaining Kiyoshi's pride on him mildly driving him insane.
"VERY WELL, MY DEAR SISTER! I DON'T NEED TO WIN, ALL I NEED IS YOU NOT WINNING! I ACTIVATE BORRELGUARD DRAGON'S EFFECT, TARGETING EXPLODEROKKET DRAGON! I CHAIN THE EFFECT OF EXPLODEROKKET DRAGON IN RESPONSE, DEALING 2000 DAMAGE TO BOTH OF US! GO DOWN ALONGSIDE ME, BETSUNE!" he shrieked at her in a last desperate act to maintain his father's favor, Borrelguard firing the explosive capsule dragon upwards which then detonated above them, the shockwaves quickly advancing towards both of them.
"RYOKEN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Noctis shouted, even he being unable to handle this amount of negative emotion and recklessness.
"He's lost it! Your brother is totally hellbent on not losing his position!" Helena remarked, worried about him.
Betsune nodded. "So this is the lesson that otoosan wanted him to learn...," she whispered to herself before speaking up. "Your collateral damage shall not go into effect! Once per turn, if a card or effect is activated that would inflict damage to me, my Yami suit makes me able to reduce that damage to zero! As such none of us will receive any damage! I will not allow you to destroy yourself like that!" Betsune exclaimed, her suit containing and absorbing the explosion caused by the Rokket monster, leaving both players unscathed.
Ryoken's expression dropped in disbelief and disappointment, his head hanging low as he realized his fate. "She has neutralized it. Now there is nothing I can do anymore. I have lost – the duel, my position, otoosan's approval, everything...!" he muttered, the grief in his expression being evident.
"Good job, Betsune-chan! You have finally earned victory! Now go ahead and finish this duel!" Helena cheered encouragingly.
"I know...," Betsune retorted as she contemplated, having a conflicted look on her face as she looked at the misery of her brother. "But this just doesn't feel right...," she added before her expression grew fierce, extending her hand anew. "I know what to do! I attack Borreload Dragon with myself! And on attack declaration I activate the quick-play spell Sky Striker Mecha – Eagle Booster, making my Dark suit unaffected by all other card effects besides its own and giving it battle destruction immunity!" she announced, using one of her remaining two hand cards.
"What?! But doesn't that make her unable to boost the ATK of Yami by 1000 using Fio's effect?!" Daisuke exclaimed in confusion.
"It does! Thinking about it, why didn't she activate Fio's effect earlier when she attacked with Shinseina?! It would have been lethal damage then!" Atsuko replied, equally stupefied.
"Well, because I cannot utilize Sky Striker Ace graveyard effects during the Battle Phase of the turn I use Endgame Spiral in," Betsune simply retorted.
"What?! But that means that your Fio's effect was never live!" Ryoken shouted, now realizing that circumstance.
"Precisely," Betsune simply stated in response.
"She attacks with an unaffected monster and thus without any means to strengthen it? But Borreload is the stronger one! If she doesn't do anything, she loses the remainder of her lifepoints! Kiyoshi, maybe she is trying to...!" Genryu warned his friend, who interrupted him with the raise of his hand.
"No early assumptions yet, Genryu! Let's just continue observing for now," the Hanoi Leader stated calmly, his friend growing silent at that.
"Then you must have some sort of ATK decreasing effect! Yes, you just want to prolong my suffering and give me false hope by playing something like Shrink on Borreload at the last second!" Ryoken shouted accusingly, genuinely getting mad at his sister.
"No, onii-san. I will not activate Shrink or any other ATK-lowering card, my final hand card is still Wyvern Blaster after all. Actually, I will just pass card priority during the phase of Start of the Damage Step to you. As well as card priority for the steps after that," Betsune declared her waiver in advance, much to her brother's shock.
-"YOU'RE DOING WHAT?!"- the audience shouted incredulously at her declaration of not wishing to activate any card whatsoever.
"You're not playing anything?! But your monster is weaker! You'll lose if you don't activate any card before Damage Calculation finishes!" Ryoken screamed, visibly agitated by the unbelievable announcement.
"And?" Betsune simply retorted in her usual stoic mannerism, Ryoken's eyes widening at the utter disrespect that his sister displayed before him.
'Is she really... trying to get both of us demoted?! Does she hate me that much...?!' Ryoken thought, panicking. Meanwhile Genryu spoke up towards his friend again.
"I knew it, Kiyoshi! So close to her victory your daughter wants to give her brother the win, for whatever reason that might be! Therefore both of them shall be punished with demotion, wasn't that your promise?!" Genryu addressed him energetically.
Kiyoshi rubbed his beard for a while before he gave his response. "I think I'll revoke that declaration. The duel may proceed normally without any outside disqualifications," he declared, Ryoken and every spectator gasping in disbelief.
"WHAT?! BUT KIYOSHI...!" Genryu protested.
"NO BUTS! THE DUEL MAY PROCEED NORMALLY!" Kiyoshi repeated, yelling at his longtime friend with even greater volume.
Ryoken's expression changed, a slither of hope manifesting on it, quickly growing to become a face of renewed confidence, alongside great anger towards his sister.
"BETSUNE!" he yelled at her, his expression juggling extreme relief and unbridled fury around. "I don't know why you chose to throw away your safe victory, but I won't fail to cease this opportunity! Perhaps you wanted to follow otoo-san's advice of doing memorable things that get the attention of others by performing a shocking move, but your interpretation of his words was utterly foolish! He wanted you to act more socially, proactively and emotionally which in turn makes people notice you, not doing completely stupid maneuvers like this! But your folly shall feed my triumph, and the victory of your personal needs over your otherwise so splendid rational thinking shall be the foundation upon which I consolidate my position! I activate the effect of Borreload Dragon onto your Shinseina, reducing her statline by 500 and being not respondable to! Anti-Enemy Bullet!" Ryoken yelled, his monster firing a red laser at the twelve-armed mecha warrior.
Full Armor Sky Striker Ace – Shinseina: ATK 6000 → 5500
"That shuts down onee-san's cards until just before the end of the current phase, assuming that onii-san doesn't use any other effects in response to Borreload! However, she still has the very end of it and two more phases before Damage Calculation finishes commencing!" Atsuko pointed out.
"And at the same moment I can banish Preponed Execution from my graveyard for its static effect, which can be used if my opponent's LP are equal or higher than mine!" Ryoken added, the card with Borreload on its artwork vanishing towards the banish pile.
"Wait, they both have 50 LP! That effect is live!" Atsuko shouted in terror.
"It is! And with it I can cause the non-response window of Anti-Enemy Bullet to be extended until the end of the Damage Step, completely sealing it off!" Ryoken announced, the red beam that Borreload fired at Shinseina increasing in strength, releasing a blinding light that stunned everything on Betsune's side of the battlefield.
"But then she can't use any cards or effects until the Damage Calculation! Meaning Betsune-chan...!" Helena whispered frightfully.
"YES! YOUR PARTNER HAS JUST GIVEN AWAY ANY CHANCE AT VICTORY FOR GOOD! NOW END HER, BORRELOAD! BORREL CANNON OF LIGHTNING!" he screamed, his monster retaliating with its signature attack, intending to end it all as the bullet rapidly advanced towards Betsune.
"I think you might be overestimating the absoluteness of your effect," Betsune spoke up at once, the attack of Borreload coming to a sudden halt as the bullet stood still in the air.
"What...? But how...?" Ryoken whispered.
"Due to the effect of my Yami suit. When it absorbs damage, I can turn the damage that would have been inflicted into ATK for myself. With 2000 damage to either of us I gain 4000 ATK, enabling me to start a counterattack," Betsune explained, the absorbed force of the explosion streaming out of her suit as an ominous black vapor, increasing its strength.
"But... my Borreload Dragon's effect cannot be...!" Ryoken stuttered.
"Be responded to? Sorry, but this suit has a similar effect as your Preponed Execution which you utilized to create this very predicament. Like its fourth field activation bonus effect it grants to Borreload specifically, this effect of Yami can be activated even when being disallowed from it. It bypasses Spell Speed 4 as well," Betsune simply retorted, powering up.
Sky Striker Ace – Yami: ATK 2800 → 6800
"But if I didn't activate an effect, you couldn't have chained your effect! So since you were ready to give up priority for all of your Damage Step-intern phases, you would have lost if I didn't activate anything! Or if I didn't trigger Exploderokket, since your unboosted Yami was weaker than my Borreload!" Ryoken then pointed out, growing angry once more.
"Don't be silly, onii-san. This effect of Yami activates automatically before the Damage Calculation, so there was never any sort of risk involved. Neither was there one of losing due to being inferior to Borreload without my own effect, since my Yami suit can once per turn absorb either effect or battle damage and had the battle protection of Eagle Booster as backup if necessary. I just wanted to make a more memorable finish and follow otoosan's advice as you said – and as you can see, that worked out," she told in a collected manner.
"Phew, don't scare me like that, Betsune-chan! I was really worried for a moment!" Helena reprimanded her origin.
"Sorry, Helena, won't happen again," Betsune retorted in her usual stoic mannerism, though she gave her Anti Ignis a wink that said otherwise. It didn't cause Helena to feel uncomfortable though – on the contrary, she seemed happy at the unusual, frisky attitude that Betsune displayed all of a sudden.
'She finally seems to have found the way. Her lack of emotions has always been the thing that held her back in a social environment, but now...,' Helena thought, beaming with happiness as she realized that her partner had discovered the path to a more fulfilled life. She inwardly thanked her origin's father whose advice had enabled this change at last – something she had worked toward for so long without any major success, despite her constant cheerful attitude with which she had tried counteracting Betsune's apathy.
"So that was her intent all along! Is that why you didn't cancel the duel? Because you knew what she was going to do?" Genryu addressed his friend, who didn't respond but just continued looking forward with a proud smile on his face.
"Now that I have finally found the catalyst to the solution for my problems, it is time for my brother to find the one for his own problems as well," Betsune whispered to herself before speaking up. "The battle continues!" she announced, the halted bullet of Borreload resuming to fly forward, alongside Betsune herself. Her arm shot ahead, and with a swing of the metallic gauntlet over her right fist she shattered the bullet, causing the splinters to bathe the battlefield in a colorful rain of metal.
"No... way...!" Ryoken muttered in disbelief, hunching forward as the fighting spirit and energy left his body simultaneously.
"I am the dark image of finality!" Betsune whispered to him, abruptly having dashed forward with the help of her normal rocket boosters as well as the Eagle Booster, planting her gauntlet into her brother's gut, who mildly vomited from the strike and dropped onto his knees, his lifepoints being extinguished.
KOGAMI RYOKEN: LP 50 → 0
KOGAMI BETSUNE WINS!
"She won," Daisuke finally stated after a while of silence, the cards on the field dissolving, leaving Betsune who also reverted to normal as her suit vanished.
"It was a good duel. Both put up a great fight, but onee-san's strength was simply greater in the end. Otoosan's decision to promote her seems to be justified after all." Atsuko nodded, content with the outcome of the duel, also sighing in relief as Ryoken got up, not particularly wounded or anything from how it seemed. The duel had been a stressful experience for her in particular, so her relief was twofold, seeing that she was not only torn between her two siblings in terms of deciding with whom to sympathize more, but also her deck itself faced the same dilemma, being composed of draconic entities – similar to her brother's deck – but with a clear wind and sky theme – similar to her sister's deck. And while Atsuko had the same preference for using spell cards as her sister, contrary to her trap card-loving brother, her ace monsters were significantly more alike with the Borrel Series of her brother than Betsune's many Sky Striker Mech Suits, so she was quite literally the perfect balance between her siblings in regards to her deck as well, making the taking of a side all the more impossible for her in a conflict like the previous one.
The collective silence was upheld for a while. Then Genryu started clapping, the others soon chiming in, giving the duelists a round of applause.
"They both did well. Still would have wanted Ryoken-sama to win," Kyoko remarked towards Aso.
"Well, can't have everything. An entertaining match nevertheless," the addressed man retorted.
"So Betsune won, huh? My money was honestly more on Ryoken. Literally...," Sokudo murmured, begrudgingly handing over a small stack of Yen to a grinning Kazuki who had apparently mastered another gambling-related challenge.
"You really shouldn't bet with me. It doesn't do you well," Kazuki chuckled, pocketing his price. "But I kinda knew that she would win. I mean, she had the advantage of playing a deck composed of hot waifus," he grinned, ogling at the last remaining features of the vanishing projection of Raye who gave him the stink eye in response.
Kiyoshi now stepped forward, approaching his daughter and extending a handshake.
"Well done, Betsune. You have hereby earned the rank of first of the triumvirate," he declared, the audience giving another brief round of applause. "Also you did well in heeding my advice. You've changed for the better, as I intended for you," he added with a smile, patting her head.
"Thank you, otoosan!" Betsune beamed pridefully, content as she was being praised rather than sidelined like usually.
"Go inside along with the others now. We will deal with the occurrences from the duel there," he instructed her, Betsune nodding obediently, gesturing the others to follow her inside. He then approached his son, who still cowered on the floor in defeat, looking off to the ground.
"I'm a failure, aren't I?" Ryoken muttered, not daring to look his father in the eye.
"You're still my son, no matter how often or badly you fail. Now get up, Ryoken!" he softly commanded him, the white haired male slowly getting on his feet, standing before his father shakily.
"Did I disappoint you?" Ryoken asked, looking his father in the eye now, though very insecurely.
"Not in the slightest bit. You didn't do exactly what I wanted either, but you did not disappoint me," Kiyoshi replied.
"Then what did I do wrong?" Ryoken muttered, stumbling into his father who supportively held him close.
"It's not that you are generally weaker of a duelist than your sister. On the contrary, you are far more promising than her. However, Betsune has been progressing more than you recently, even more so now that she has finally overcome her greatest flaw, her lack of pride and emotion. You on the other hand have been stagnating, a bit because you became complacent, but mainly because of your fixation on the past. I understand why you were suspicious of me that my plans of demotion might be a way to express hidden resentment towards you and punish you for your past betrayals, but I assure you, it isn't like that. You just now dueled with all of your interest lying on the sole objective of maintaining your position in our hierarchy, because you made the preservation of your rank synonymous with maintaining my favor and approval. But that way of thinking is wrong and the main reason why you cannot progress like your sister. To evolve you finally need to let go of the past," Kiyoshi said, stroking his son's cheek encouragingly as he reaffirmed the point he had already made toward Ryoken following his resurrection from the coma, then continuing.
"You tried to maintain that what you believed to be my approval of you so desperately, but in actuality you were never in danger of losing it. Ryoken, you will always be my most beloved child. Even if Betsune currently is at the top of the triumvirate – an experience that will do her well – and even if it is a nice change of pace for a while, I want to see you at the top again at the end of the day. To me your place is at the top. For me it has always been that way, even in the moment when I learned of your betrayal."
"Otoosan...," Ryoken uttered, crying tears of joy and relief.
"Don't worry, your demotion won't change anything in regards to how I look at you. It merely serves as an incentive for you to improve and adapt. Betsune is already about to reach her limits, though she will probably find a way to break them in order to keep moving forward. But you, you still have much higher to go until you spot them at the horizon. Your newly acquired Imduk Card is proof of it," Kiyoshi went on.
"You know about the meaning of that card...?" Ryoken asked him in surprise.
Kiyoshi nodded. "Yes, Master Pax told me. It is a sign of immeasurable potential and importance, one that far eclipses anything that your sister could potentially receive from her card. We will openly discuss its meaning once we go inside and talk about Betsune's little gift. Now come on!" he nudged his son, gesturing towards the door to the inside.
"Yes, otoosan." Ryoken nodded, quickly wiping his eyes as he took his father's hand and followed him back into the house.
As the two of them entered they found the others knights back at their seats. Kiyoshi and Ryoken quickly went back to their own, the former then speaking up again.
"Now then, let us discuss the events that occurred during this duel. You know what events I'm talking about," the Hanoi Leader announced, the gathered members humming and nodding in confirmation. "As you could see, my daughter apparently developed a similar power as I. Also she changed physically, and remained that way," Kiyoshi said as he gestured towards Betsune, who still looked about one year older than before with her eyes having a dark blue color rather than her previous turquoise-like one, having retained her appearance from the duel, including the white and black uniform shared with her monsters.
"Yeah, you grew a lot! Especially here!" Atsuko exclaimed with a cheeky grin, hugging her sister from behind and getting ahold of her bust.
"Atsuko...! Let go, please...!" Betsune squealed in an uncharacteristically high pitch, blushing madly as her sister resisted her attempts on shaking her off.
"Oh, why so embarrassed? This is just friendly banter between siblings, right? Don't be a chicken and let me touch you!" Atsuko grinned, getting back at her sister for prior humiliations and jokes at her expense on this day.
"Atsuko, please...!" Betsune begged, her current tone not resembling her former emotionless one in the least bit.
"No chance, Betsune-neesan!" Atsuko smirked, poking her tongue out, her grasp on Betsune's chest remaining firm.
"Can you please remove your hands from my bosom?" Atsuko was addressed, the tone of the statement changing from begging to demanding.
"Oh, just give up, onee-san! Just let me hold you for a minu-!" Atsuko laughed before looking up as she heard a chorus of confused cries. "What's up with your hair?" she asked, the head turning around to her at that.
"Can you cease fondling my breasts, please?" the blonde haired female before Atsuko repeated herself, a pair of green eyes staring at the youngest Kogami sibling, the gaze expressing slight provocation. Sitting before Atsuko was none other than one of the pilots her sister had played in the previous duel, that being Raye.
"EEK!" Atsuko shrieked, rapidly retreating into the corner of the couch as she distanced herself from the girl. "Why the hell are you here?! And where is my sister?!" she shouted, pointing at Raye accusingly.
"I took over her body for a moment. I found it improper for Betsune-san to be groped like that, so I forced you onto the retreat. As simple as that," Raye retorted, crossing her legs and leaning back whilst being dressed in her usual uniform.
"You did what?! Took over onee-san's body?!" Atsuko repeated in disbelief.
"But Betsune-chan is still there, right?! She cannot just be gone for good, right?!" Helena screamed in genuine panic.
"Don't worry, she just plays the dormant part for a moment. See this hair clip?" Raye told, pointing at an accessory on her left-hand facial hair which resembled the hair clip that Betsune wore, only that it was black instead of dark blue, matching the color of Raye's headgear.
Atsuko and Helena nodded.
"As long as I wear this you can be sure that Betsune-san is still somewhere in there. She just has to deal with fulfilling her part of the contract," Raye told.
"Her part of the contract?" Atsuko repeated in confusion.
"Yes. Allow me to explain," a different voice spoke up, Betsune's exterior changing again as Raye vanished, her teammate Fio in turn appearing. "You see, the whole process of forming an artificial hybrid made from two different kinds of beings requires for a certain consent among the involved parties," Fio said, her hand briefly running through her black hair before her magenta eyes shifted towards Helena, bringing her index finger to the Anti Ignis. "So you're the cute partner of Betsune-chan? I'm a big fan of your attitude! Can we be friends, please?" Fio deviated from the topic as she addressed Helena, smiling adorably.
"Yeah, sure! You seem like a great person!" Helena cheered back as she met a commonly thinking entity, forgetting about her partner for a second. "But what about Betsune-chan and that consent you mentioned?" she then asked, remembering her concern for the safety of her origin.
"As you probably already heard from big old Master Pax over there, a combination between mortal and Monster Spirit usually depends on mutual agreement if those entities are supposed to be combined in their entirety," Fio told before deviating again. "On that note, I still find it amazing that Master Pax exists! I told you that those weren't just fairy tales, but you wouldn't listen! Who's laughing now, huh, Raye, Ari?" Fio proclaimed with a smirk.
"Hey, who could have known that this particular part of fiction was reality? Our realm was rather isolated, so we had no clue about Monster Spirits from the outside realms! You just got lucky, Fio!" Ari retorted as she took control of the body, the hair clip changing from white to yellow color as the female's eyes turned from magenta to dark purple, the long black hair of the previous girl changing to dark red one that ended at the shoulders with pigtails at the sides.
"Ari's a sore loser! Ari's a sore loser!" Fio playfully ridiculed her colleague.
"Can you shut up?!" Ari snapped, taking control of the body again, Fio just laughing as she switched in briefly.
"It would be more appropriate if you were the one to shut up. You're noisy as always, Ari," a fourth female chimed in, the body adapting to have orange eyes and silver hair with two sidetails, the hair clip becoming purple and the usual white and black Sky Striker uniform including a tie changing to the black uniform from the opposing faction, Roze manifesting.
"Unbelievable!" Genome muttered, scanning the expressions of Kyoko and Aso for an emotional equality, which he found as both were equally aghast as him. Not to mention the others who had reacted similarly.
"My name is Roze, soldier with the code number "Z-00". Pleased to make your acquaintance. Since my idiotic enemies didn't manage to sufficiently explain, let me just summarize the issue at hand: Betsune-san aspired a power that enabled her to fly and touched Tenryuu scales. As a result her calling reached us as it were the monsters of her own deck she unconsciously chose to combine with. We accepted, giving her a power akin to ours, hence why she got her own monster form and various suits. In return we now get to use her body as a vessel. Just as easy as that. I really wonder how Raye and her teammates could fail to explain such a simple thing with all the time they were given. Typical Aerenian incompetence, I suppose," the silver haired female went on.
"Hey, who are you calling incompetent, you Gryptonian filth?!" Ari snapped at her, manifesting again.
"Your rudeness has always been rather obnoxious, Roze! Can't you be just a tad bit nicer?" Fio pouted, not nearly as upset as Ari, but still upset.
"Yeah! You may start talking about incompetence once you're not compensating for yours by using such ridiculously over-sized suits!" Raye rebutted Roze's claims.
"Jealousy doesn't suit you, Raye," was Roze's simple reply. Nevertheless it had Raye fuming in anger, the latter about to shout a furious response.
"CAN YOU STOP FOR A SECOND?! YOU'RE SCARING BETSUNE-CHAN!" the otherwise so positive Rainbow Anti Ignis screamed, interrupting their bickering.
"As you wish. The stage is yours, Betsune-san," Raye replied begrudgingly before retreating, handing over control to Betsune who had regained her previous school uniform outfit and just stared ahead speechlessly for a while before falling back into the couch to contemplate her situation.
"Holy moly...!" Atsuko muttered, slumping back into the couch and taking a short rest as well. Meanwhile the other members of the Knights of Hanoi either shared her silence or had quiet discussions in small groups, one of them being Kazuki and Sokudo for instance.
"It's time to make a purchase," Kazuki quietly announced, pulling out his phone.
"Eh? A purchase? What kind of purchase?" Sokudo stammered, visibly confused.
"Haven't you seen how cute they look, now that they're this close to us? It's a shame that I didn't get to see Betsune's deck earlier!" Kazuki retorted, the yellow and red haired male continuing to give him a perplexed stare, prompting Kazuki to continue. "I know a guy who makes very nice dakimakuras. I intend to employ his services."
"You're doing what?" Sokudo asked, sweat dropping. "Why not just get a girlfriend?" he addressed Kazuki, feeling embarrassed in his stead.
"Oh, that just shows why you are so bad at gambling, Sokudo! Wives, girlfriends and women from the red light district alike are all temporary. Waifu pillows on the other hand are forever. It's just a question of safe investments," Kazuki explained proudly, meanwhile having typed in a number on his phone, simultaneously talking to his other contact. "Yeah, five of them. I'll send you the pictures right away," he instructed the pillow manufacturer.
"What?! Five?! Even one with Kiyoshi's kid?! What happened to your earlier statement of only fishing for fish that don't get you killed?!" Sokudo quietly cried out in shock.
"Oh, especially one with Kiyoshi's kid! You were right, I did indeed intend to stay away from Betsune, until I realized how great of a game of hazard it was!" Kazuki retorted.
"A game of hazard? How come?" Sokudo asked, sweat dropping.
"Just think about it, technically the entirety of life is nothing but gambling, though this one is a particularly interesting one: Either I get to successfully lewd the daughter of my boss and all her monsters to hell and back, or I get caught and brutally murdered by a dragon spirit or possibly even those hot, highly armed females! With a ratio between profit and stakes this perfect I cannot just let it be and not participate!" Kazuki rhapsodized before continuing to talk to his second conversation partner using his phone. "Put the school uniform outfit one the one side and the military uniform outfit on the other! And can you try to replicate that schoolgirl look for the four others? … Yes? Thanks man, you are truly the best!" Kazuki told.
Sokudo looked at the display of Kazuki's duel disk, which to his surprise featured a collection of pictures, each of them dedicated to either Betsune or one of her four monsters. Astonishingly Kazuki had managed to capture each of them in all of their available forms – in surprisingly arousing poses at that. The by her physical growth induced tightness of Betsune's school uniform only contributed to that.
"What the hell dude, how did you manage to make those?!" Sokudo stuttered, audibly dumbfounded.
"I just captured their best poses by photographing them in the right moment. Doing that while avoiding being caught is an amazing game of hazard, isn't it? The combination of patience and luck that is required to make the perfect shot! Ah, wonderful!" Kazuki grinned before ending the call. "Man, I can't wait to see how Raye and the other three look in a Den City High School Girl Uniform!" he fantasized while rubbing his hands.
'Imagine owning a lewd merchandise article of your superior's daughter...,' Sokudo thought, facepalming. 'Or getting a kick out of making a gamble with a potentially lethal outcome. He really takes this whole game of hazard thing too far. Often times I think that the risk of death turns him on more than his actual libido does...,' he added mentally.
"You mentioned that I received powers akin to yours?" Betsune finally spoke up, addressing the entities inside her.
"Yes, exactly," Roze nodded, manifesting for a second.
"So can I... equip your suits?" Betsune continued asking a bit nervously.
"Why don't you try and find out? Stand up and think of one," Raye commanded her host, who followed her order.
"Okay then. Equip Sentoki Mech Suit X-004!" Betsune ordered after distancing herself a bit from the couch.
"Booting Sentoki Mech Suit – Model Hayate! All weapon systems online!" a robotic voice buzzed from Betsune's hair clip, the green mech suit from before appearing out of thin air and equipping to the female.
"Woah!" Betsune cried out, startled at the outlook she had, a virtual interface before her right eye due to a green eye lens that was part of the Hayate suit. The others jumped from their seats at the sudden change, taking a safe distance from the white and light blue haired female and the massive railgun she now held. "Does this thing really wor-? EEK!" she wondered before shrieking, firing the railgun and luckily nailing the shot to head outwards through the exit to the terrace. The blast diagonally advanced toward the sky for a while before it reached its maximum range, exploding with a loud bang.
"Amazing!" Helena marveled, the others looking impressed too – though the shock from the shot being fired out so close to them was evident on their faces as well.
"I hope no one saw that...," Betsune remarked with a sheepish smile, looking towards her father apologetically.
"I'm sure no one did. Don't worry, you haven't done anyone harm," Kiyoshi assured her, lifting the insecurity from Betsune's face.
"Sure, no big deal. You almost exposed our location to all the authorities out there, but who cares? What's being imprisoned for operating as network terrorists anyway?" Sokudo grumbled silently, not quite agreeing with the viewpoint of his superior.
"Dang, that looked pretty cool! Can you use the other suits too?" Atsuko addressed her curiously, getting a bit closer to her sister as she inquired about her capabilities.
"I think I can. The interface on my eye lens suggests a variety of possible suit changes suiting a particular situation. As to be expected from a suit looking so infiltrator-ish," Betsune retorted while staring at the monocle-like appendage before her right eye. "Equip Sentoki Mech Suit X-307!" she then commanded, quickly changing form. Atsuko flinched and swiftly retreated in order to not be hit by any assembling suit components as her sister equipped her personal Dark suit that had won her the prior duel.
"Wow, you really seem to have access to all of them!" Atsuko exclaimed in awe before realizing something. "Wait, doesn't that mean that we as an organization have some real nasty military power now? Raye and her friends could take down whole fleets of aircrafts on their own in their lore, so Betsune should now be able to do the same, no?" she addressed the rest of the knights.
"Damn right! With an individual this powerful we don't have to fear the authorities anymore! Hell, we could even overthrow the whole government! The days of hiding are over!" Kenshi shouted in enthusiasm.
"Don't be foolish, Kenshi-san! Our objective is destroying the threat of the Ignis, not world hegemony! Besides, do you really think we could win a war against the entire world?! After the first few nukes at latest we'd be done for!" Genryu protested energetically.
Kenshi nodded, sweat dropping. "Yeah, sorry about that! Got a little too excited there, haha!" he chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head.
"Genryu is right, but Kenshi has a point as well. While it is indeed not our objective to enter public domain or even aim for world domination, the power my daughter has achieved is indeed a great asset for our organization. And let's not forget about the power I received, especially when combined with Betsune's. While Raye's Fukusha suit is easily capable of destroying whole fleets of airships with just one focused shot from every rifle, there is a far greater potential that can be reached by using Master Pax's Logos in unison with it. With that the attack of Fukusha is multiplied by a thousand in its destructive force, which should easily suffice to destroy a country, maybe even parts of whole continents. Don't underestimate the power we received, Genryu, if we intended it, we Knights of Hanoi could probably lay waste to the world before governments could even react with their nuclear strikes," Kiyoshi told his old friend, who nodded, his face paling in realization of the might that his friend and Betsune wielded.
"Not that we would aspire that of course. What use to us is a world that has been destroyed after all? Our goal is to save humankind, not destroy it, so the only target of this level of destruction should be the Ignis. That is if they don't accept the offer to negotiate of course. Therefore, we should continue to lie low and keep the existence of that power to us in the meantime," Kiyoshi finished, the others nodding one after another.
"Understood, otoosan. But I suppose I am free to use espionage-type suits for stealthy observation so that I can gather more intel for us?" Betsune inquired.
"In that you have my approval. Just be sure not to engage in any sort of conflict unless it's unavoidable. In that case you may use your destructive features, but be sure to minimize the damage. We don't want any rumors to spread," Kiyoshi retorted.
"I understand," Betsune nodded obediently before giving the command to unequip, sitting down on the couch with her military uniform outfit on her. After that she spoke up once more. "Okay, let's get things straight and make a few rules, you four!" she addressed her inner inhabitants, taking their respective card forms and spreading them on the table before her, the spectral versions of Raye, Fio, Ari and Roze appearing from their cards instead of manifesting by taking control of her body like usually.
"We're in the military, so we're already acquainted with rules. State your terms!" Raye spoke, the other three appearing to be in consent with her.
"Okay, first thing!" Betsune started counting, raising up a finger. "You can't just manifest whenever you want! The people in public will notice my corporeal changes and then it's just a matter of time before the authorities turn their eyes towards me and everyone else in this room! So I want you to agree to limit your presence on my corporeal exterior to the time when I'm at home, excluding of course the time when outsiders come here! In return you may manifest while I'm at home whenever you like, as well as whenever I'm not currently able of being identified by outsiders, so you may take over whenever nobody realizes that I did just change in appearance, even outside of home! For instance I would be fine to leave the house as Raye, head out to spend some time in the city, then turn to Fio on a public restroom and return home in that form! You may also act on my behalf whenever one of you is currently in control of my body, unless I directly oppose what you're about to do! However, you may never perform any action that includes major changes to our collective body, especially such of sexual nature! Changes to this rule are not negotiable!" Betsune demanded.
"Fair point. What else?" Ari agreed on behalf of all four of them before inquiring about additions.
"Second thing! If you ever wish to take over my body in a situation that is normally out of question because you deem it absolutely vital, you have to inwardly ask me for permission first! I get that we might get into a life-threatening situation where your survival instincts compel you to take the initiative, but I still want you to receive either verbal or non-verbal approval from me first, be it just a simple thought or even a mere brainwave of mine that permits you to take action! Is that clear?!" Betsune went on.
"Clear as day. Are you finished then or do you have further demands?" Roze asked.
"I have a third and final rule!" Betsune replied, raising a third finger. "If you at any point should violate one of the prior two rules, then you have forfeit your right to remain within my body! You will agree to leave my body at once and head back towards your home in the Spiritual Realm! You will collectively be held accountable for the shortcomings of one of you and thus be exiled all together should one of you break the rules! Oh, and even if you should end up leaving me because you failed to abide by my rules, I still get to keep all of your powers, which includes your suits, your mecha gears, your respective aircrafts and the gateway systems you use!" Betsune stated her final demand, which struck Raye and her kin far harder than the two previous ones.
"That is a lot you ask from us, but I see the merit in your demand. An untrustworthy soldier should be held accountable for their betrayal," Fio stated with a confirming nod.
"I've already been confronted with harsher regulations in my life, so I think I speak on behalf of everyone of us four when I say that we agree to that term as well. Cooperation can only work if both parties are in consent with each other. I remind you though, in return we get to use your body however we want, unless it confronts with the rules that you stated before," Raye reminded Betsune.
"I am well aware of and can live with that! I'm looking forward to good cooperation with the four of you!" Betsune responded, extending her hand towards the four spectral women before her.
-"Likewise!"- they retorted in unison, reciprocating Betsune's gesture – though they could obviously not touch each other in that situation.
"Okay then. Are we done here?" Kiyoshi inquired from his daughter who nodded in affirmation. "Good job on holding your own against them!" he whispered to her in approval of her developing confidence and pride, Betsune blushing in a flattered manner.
"Alright! In that case let us proceed with the second occurrence of the duel, the one of my son," Kiyoshi continued, addressing his subordinates and children before mentally adding 'The more important one'.
"Yeah, what was that about? A Tenryuu Monster with some sort of ability that is granted just by having the card in the deck at the start of the duel? I would like to know about that too!" Genryu agreed with the selection of the topic.
"Well, luckily I can help you with that, since Master Pax seems to be quite familiar with that topic. Master Pax, if you will?" Kiyoshi addressed his spectral Monster Spirit, who nodded in confirmation.
"Right away, Kiyoshi! So everyone, do you still remember my backstory which I ended with the statement that this was the end of it... for now?" Master Pax addressed its audience, which nodded. "Well, it went on with something major coming into play from another realm. Something called the World Legacy."
"Yeah, I remember Imduk having that term in its name. What of it then?" Akame inquired.
"The World Legacy is one of the great tales of us Monster Spirits. It tells a story about a variety of Monster Spirits, and much like the other great tale, that of the Duel Terminal, includes the appearance of Star Gods. You remember, those I mentioned earlier?" Master Pax asked, receiving a collective nod as a response. "Well, in that case I can continue freely. You see, those two major tales are connected with each other, alongside mine as the events that took place in my realm could be considered a third major tale, albeit there was no Star God involved in mine. Each tale is already quite long and complex on its own, but at some point they intersect, leading to the greatest story of all. Our creator Genesis Omega who previously aspired total order and had us Monster Spirits act accordingly to that, meaning that there was no conflict between us, eventually decided to step back from that policy after his change of heart. As a result chaos ensued in the Spiritual Realm and its many subrealms, leading to countless conflicts between us Monster Spirits as we were finally given the beauty that is proper life, with all of its risks and joys."
"From this refreshing disorder various struggles between groups of Monster Spirits were born, enabling the events of the Duel Terminal, Draco and World Legacy respectively. Those conflicts have long since been resolved, but the remnants and actors of them still persist, including for instance my humble self. To give you some perspective, to me those events feel like they took place in another life, as every Monster Spirit who played a part in those conflicts was effectively reset to zero after it ended. That occurred because of the Star God Avida, who has the power to reassemble the world and reset it. Thus those conflicts are only known as "tales" now rather than actual wars the likes of you humans write down in history books. None of the participants feels like they happened as real as they did, and most have very fractured memories about them, which includes even me. Thus I know very little about the later parts of the Wold Legacy tale in particular, which is unfortunate since all three of our major tales culminate into one at that point. I have practically full knowledge about the first part of the World Legacy tale though, as well as about the entire Duel Terminal tale and of course my own Draco tale," Master Pax elaborated.
"Okay, then let us hear that! What is the tale of the World Legacy about?" Hakashi asked the dragon.
"The World Legacy tale narrates about a quintet of characters and their development in the face of powerful artifacts, known as the World Legacies or alternatively as Star Relics. These five characters are the following: Auram, the chosen one and main character who eventually turns into the World Hero. Ningirsu, a more mature male than Auram and skilled warrior, and also Auram's best friend for most of the tale. Ib, a girl who inherited a powerful key artifact that becomes very relevant later on, and also Ningirsu's little sister. Imduk, the pet dragon of Auram and companion of the former three. And finally Lee, a at first seemingly benevolent fairy who later reveals herself to be evil, and then even later on becomes good again. Those five figures are the foundation of the World Legacy tale," Master Pax told.
"Wait, did you just say Imduk?! Wasn't that Ryoken's monster's name?!" Atsuko exclaimed.
"Exactly. You see, there has been a prophecy in this multiverse that at one point of time five incarnations shall arise, each of them representing one of the main figures of the World Legacy tale. They were told to resemble their tale origin in terms of personal background to a certain degree and own a monster version of their origin, each of them being assimilated to fit their respective deck, even if it doesn't align with the tale of the World Legacy and the archetypes that appear in there. As you could see, Ryoken-kun received Imduk as he is quite obviously the World Legacy Incarnation of Imduk. And it manifested as a Rokket Monster despite not having to do anything with that archetype at all according to lore. The Legend Ability is another asset of that occurrence, as it was also foretold that the respective cards of each figure would have this special ability," Master Pax explained before eyeing the surprised Ryoken more closely.
"You were given an extraordinary power, Ryoken-kun. World Legacy Incarnations have been foretold to have a variety of miraculous properties: Of course they have the aforementioned cards that are told to be a powerful asset for the deck of each respective World Legacy Incarnation. Furthermore your kind is supposed to possess a barely fathomable potential and role in the multiverse, receiving certain powers based on their character. And of course you would resemble your origin in a variety of ways, so I suggest that you find interest in the tale of the World Legacy, as each and every event concerning Imduk could be a potential hint towards your own future," Master Pax addressed him before adding. "Especially since the World Legacy by itself is rather relevant, given it is a term within the Road to Heaven."
"The Road to Heaven?" Betsune repeated in confusion.
"A long series of cryptic terms. It so far was already extended once, most probably because of the ascension of our originator Genesis Omega. Nobody knows what the Road to Heaven truly expresses, and even I don't know the full extent of the currently existing terms, but it is believed that all terms, when put together, describe the history of the world and its future. For instance the term "Centurio" has pretty much been identified to refer to the formation of the additional universes, as there were originally just 12 which were later on increased to 100. To give you a brief excerpt, following Centurio there are the following terms, after which there are of course countless more: Phoenix - Isaac - Trinity - Requiem - Deus Unus - Lucifer - World Legacy - Excalibur - Venice - Benevolence - Tragedy - Successor - Quadriga - Hidden Emperor - Awakening - Pentagram - Mastery - Polyphemus - Aristotle - Surmount - Amor - Judas - Ares - Babel," Master Pax retorted.
Betsune's jaw dropped. "That sounds... very complicate," she muttered speechlessly.
"Babel," Ryoken said instinctively, the others looking around to him. "When I used Imduk's Legendary Blessing, I saw a vision of Imduk sacrificing himself to save Auram atop of a tower," he stated.
"You saw that?" Master Pax cried out in surprise. "That is very interesting. You must have seen the death of Imduk atop the terraces of Orcustrated Babel, a tower erected by Ningirsu at a late stage of the first part of the story. His sister Ib had died, so Ningirsu hoped to harness the power of Babel and several World Legacies in order to revive his sister. It didn't quite work out though," it said.
"Wait a minute! Did I just hear that right, Imduk sacrificed himself atop the tower?! You said that World Legacy Incarnations resembled their origin, didn't you Master Pax?!" Atsuko yelled at the dragon at once.
"Yeah, I did. What of it?" Master Pax inquired.
"But we plan on possibly booting the Tower of Hanoi! A tower, just like Babel! So if onii-san is supposed to resemble Imduk, doesn't that mean that he has to sacrifice himself and die atop of the Tower of Hanoi?! Is that why the Road to Heaven mentions the term Babel?!" Atsuko shouted frantically with genuine panic.
Kiyoshi started sweating at the idea of it. He knew that the Tower of Hanoi would be a top priority target for someone such as Playmaker or Heavenmail in case he ever booted it, so he would have to put his subordinates and children as a line of defense before it. If Ryoken truly was meant to perish, then would this mean that his opponents would breach the defenses of the tower and get all the way up to his son, who would then out of his unwavering loyalty towards Kiyoshi fight until the bitter end, being absorbed by the tower for it to fully activate, imprisoning his mind within the network before devastating it, sending Ryoken into an endless coma he would never awake from? Was fate already set in stone for him? Kiyoshi shook his head vigorously, every fiber of his being denying and refusing that possibility.
"No, Ryoken will definitely not have to sacrifice himself for our plans to come to fruition! Master Pax, you said that World Legacy Incarnations did only resemble their origin characters and their respective deeds, but not accurately mirrored them, right?" he addressed his Monster Spirit.
"Right," Master Pax confirmed with a nod. "Nothing is set in stone, nothing happens entirely accurately. I for instance don't believe that Ningirsu's and Ib's respective incarnations will be siblings like in the tale. There are only resemblances, some stronger than others, and a few very similar ones possibly, but no absolute parallels. While Ryoken does use a Dragon Deck which references Imduk's nature, he isn't really a dragon himself, now is he? So you don't have to be so paranoid, Atsuko-chan! Though your concern is justified," Master Pax said, Atsuko and Betsune exhaling audibly in relief, alongside Ryoken himself of course.
"Okay, that's a definite relief! There is just one other thing that I am curious about: Why was Ryoken's version of Imduk a Tenryuu and what are those Divine Calling cards he used one of?" Genryu inquired.
"I suppose his great extent of indirect contact with the scales from Shimizu Yukemi were the reason for the former element. As for Divine Callings, they are a special kind of spells and traps which focus on summoning monsters, being Fast Effects of Spell Speed 2, similar to Quick-Play Spells, only with the additional benefit of also being live on the turn they were set. They are primarily used by Tenryuus and their equals, having the ability of exceptionally strong summoning and revival effects which can even ignore ruling barriers like reviving a Special Summon-only monster that was not properly summoned before, as Ryoken-kun already elaborated during the duel. However, to compensate for this degree of power, there can only be activated a Divine Calling Spell or Trap once per turn by each player, so once you use either a spell or trap of that sort you have no right for a second one during the same turn. It's a rather special kind of backrow card, most certainly derived from the Tenryuu related powers of the scales, as Tenryuus are the primary users of those cards," Master Pax stated.
"Ah, so they even have special backrow cards?! Talk about privileges!" Akame quipped, not quite happy that her species was denied the access to this form of card.
"Can't have everything, I suppose," Betsune told her with a pacifying smile before her ears perked up. "Wait, do you hear that?" she asked the others.
"Hear what?" Akame questioned.
"I swear that I'm hearing something strange. Only faintly, but I hear it," Betsune replied.
...p, ...lo...w u...!
"Now that you mention it, I'm hearing something too...," Atsuko said, cocking her head and listening closer.
...ou'll a... bl... ...p, ...ow u...!
"It's getting louder...," Ryoken murmured, concern in his tone.
"There's a woman on the terrace!" Atsuko screamed at once, pointing at a lone female who stood atop the railing of their terrace. She was clad in red and dark orange metal armor, wearing a white mask which resembled the face of a hind, only that it was crying tears of blood and had short antlers which were smeared with blood-like sprinkles.
You... all ... up, ...low up!
'Her hand gesture looks strange...,' Betsune debated with herself as she examined the woman whose right hand was held up in what appeared similar to a thumbs-up gesture.
...low ..p, blo... up!
'Almost as if she was holding a... – SHIT!' Betsune continued inwardly before her eyes widened in realization, activating her Yami suit in panic and hoping to contain the brunt of the attack that she feared.
-"Explode!"- the enigmatic woman declared along with the strange melody that had resounded before, the Kogami residence detonating from the inside out as she pressed her thumb onto her angled index finger as if she was holding a detonator. An enormous explosion consumed the building, the masked female facing the attack unscathed as eagle-like wings spreading from her back shielded her from it.
The dust settled, revealing the a site of destruction, no survivor visible in the rubble of the former building.
"Target eliminated," the woman said with a content smirk.
Tale of the World Legacy...
"So, how are you liking the place so far?" a humanoid dragon addressed a pair of females, its voice suggesting it to be a male. His wings were of contrasting composition, the first one yellow, red and orange and blazing like a sun, and the other violet, indigo and blue with a lunar radiance surrounding it. His main body was green, wearing a cross-shaped artifact on his back that emanated a strange glow. Accompanying him were two human-sized females, one with indigo hair who appeared to be a young adult, and one with violet hair who was definitely much more of a grown-up woman. Both of them wore a two-parted headgear that was black in the center and silver on the edges. They also both possessed a twofold pair of fairy-like wings, each of them in their respective hair color.
"It's quite bland in my honest opinion, Satorion," the older fairy with the violet hair and wings retorted, not particularly impressed by the admittedly vast, but rather simplistic dark hall the three of them were walking in.
"Never happy, that's just like you, Darlee!" the dragonic figure retorted with a chuckle before shifting his attention towards the other female. "And what about you, Fee? I think my master would prefer hearing at least one good review about his domain from those who seek his help. Am I right, Fee?" he asked her with a grin.
"Well, it's really big, I suppose," the indigo haired fairy replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
"That's the one line about any man wants to hear!" Satorion cackled, visibly amused. The two females, unbeknownst to him, mildly rolled their eyes. "Anyway, it's almost time to introduce you to my master! I bet you're going to enjoy his company, Darlee, he is a man of your taste I think!"
"I hope so. I rather dislike dealing with people who act opposite of me," Darlee retorted.
"Yeah, hence why you had so much trouble with the unruly character of your eldest daughter! A pacifistic Malefae, hah! Still gets me every time!" Satorion chuckled, suppressing an outburst of laughter.
"Don't remind me...," Darlee grumbled, her left eyebrow twitching.
"Must feel pretty bad to have a failure of a daughter, right? Well, I guess like mother like daughter, considering your own recent record!" Satorion quipped.
"I did not expect those two receiving help from such highly decorated Goddesses! Without those...!" Darlee hissed back, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Yeah, but they were there and helped Auram and Ningirsu, so you lost against them! Well, at least you still have a glimmer of hope in your family, since your younger daughter Fee seems to be quite capable," Satorion giggled before shrugging his shoulders. "Anyway, you don't have to worry from now on, Darlee! Moving forward you'll have the support of my master, a member of the apex of dragons, so I can hardly see you continuing to fail!" the draconic entity switched the topic in a more positive tone.
"I hope so. You promised me a lot from this alliance after all," Darlee stated before adding. "Besides, I have always been interested how someone like you managed to create something like the Eclipse-Eyes Empire. You probably found yourself a formidable patron to pull off a maneuver like that," she addressed the dragon.
"Oh yes, I definitely did!" Satorion chuckled before pointing forward. "You'll meet him right away! Just make two or three additional steps forward and you'll get past the illusory barrier within this hall! You'll see him instantly once you do that!" he instructed Darlee and her daughter as they had reached what appeared to be the end of the hall.
"Shall we, Fee?" Darlee addressed her daughter, who nodded. "Alright then!" she commanded, the three of them advancing the final few steps.
The apparent end of the room turned out to be just an illusion as Satorion had promised, the lot of them slipping through the wall effortlessly. Darlee looked up and saw a lone male sitting on a throne before them, inspecting them with yellow, slitted eyes, his hair white in color. He appeared to be a mix of humanoid and dragonic nature, though the latter was more dominant, with a purplish tail and one pair of wings, as well as another pair whose color was more brownish-yellow. He was clad in black armor, a sword leaning to his throne, observing them with an amused smirk. The entity spoke up at that.
"Welcome to my domain! Have you been enjoying the illusory wall?" he addressed the newcomers.
"Well, it was an interesting gimmick. Though I honestly miss the length of the hall behind it, now that I'm only seeing such a tiny section of it. Wide and ugly is still better than narrow and ugly after all," Darlee retorted apathetically.
The hybrid on the throne exploded in a fit of amusement, letting out a protracted laugh. "You insult the property of the person you request help from? You've got some real spunk, woman! I like your attitude, Malefae, you remind me of my younger self! Very well, I shall dissolve the illusion then, so that you may marvel at the full glory of my oh so ugly hall!" he cackled, Fee looking surprised at his reaction while the wall behind them disappeared, revealing the entirety of the vast hall.
"So this is your master?" Darlee asked Satorion who nodded in confirmation. "I'm disappointed in you, Satorion. I never expected you to serve someone smaller than you," she told.
"Smaller than me...?!" Satorion giggled, barely suppressing full-blown laughter as he covered his mouth. "Master, care to show them?" he then addressed the hybrid entity on the throne, still on the verge of a hysteric outburst.
"Of course!" his master retorted, rising from his throne. "I want to ask you a question, my dear Darlee: Why do you think did I let my servants build a hall this high?" he addressed the violet haired female, strutting forward a bit.
"To overcompensate for something else, perhaps?" Darlee retorted nonchalantly with a discrete glance at dragonic hybrid's groin.
The hybrid giggled. "Ah, I truly love your humor, Darlee! But no, not quite," he told before his body abruptly grew, much to the surprise of Darlee and her daughter. "It's that high for the simple reason of my personal comfort!" the man cackled, the bulk of his body increasing steadily as his height leapt skywards.
"What in the...?!" Darlee gasped, observing the man in reaching truly titanic dimensions.
"With a height of three fourths of a mile it is only natural to have a hall like this, right Darlee?" the hybrid grinned maliciously, staring down at her in disparagement.
"This size and form...!" Darlee stuttered, looking at the man who had also changed visually rather than only in corporeal magnitude. She looked at Satorion in horror, who merely grinned at her in amusement. "Your master is Lector Perfectio?!" she addressed the smaller dragon in disbelief.
"Yup. Commonly also known as the True Dracoverlord Dictator Supreme. You may now bow down and fall onto your knees before him," Satorion giggled, Darlee and Fee promptly following his instructions and gestures to prostrate themselves.
"I'm sorry...! I didn't mean to insult your highness...!" Darlee muttered in a subdued manner, beads of sweat flowing down from her forehead.
"Ah, I love to hear that! It's always quite funny when cocky people like you realize their error in hindsight and apologize! Guess why I'm usually always doing this trick whenever Satorion brings a new servant before me!" Lector Perfectio cackled, gesturing towards his throne to enlarge it. Once it reached his size he took a seat again and continued. "Anyway, I heard you aspired to receive my help. Is that correct?" he asked her.
"Yes, it is, mylord...," Darlee whispered, still nervous.
"Great! I have already heard what befell you and your tribe. Losing against those two and some Goddesses! It totally sounds like something that would happen to you – you, the Malefae who birthed such an anomaly of a child! A good Malefae, ahaha! Your daughter Lee is definitely messed up in one way or another! That's your genes, I suppose!" Lector Perfectio retorted, giggling with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.
"Yes, it was rather inconvenient...," Darlee replied, gritting her teeth as she held back her anger about the dragon's mockery. "So, will you help me to get my revenge against them?" she added after a while of collecting herself, managing to not let her temper get ahold of her.
"But of course! All allies of Master Pax are my enemies, as simple as that! Since Auram and his group of pygmies and the Goddesses are on the side of that holier than thou inbred bastard Master Pax, I'm happy to assist you in killing all of them!" Lector Perfectio assured her.
"What?! With Master Pax?! Why that?!" Darlee spluttered in surprise.
"Well, they have made contact with the other Mekk-Knights and thus indirectly with Master Pax by now. Didn't you know that?" Lector Perfectio asked her.
Darlee shook her head, starting to sweat anew. This revelation changed a lot about her plans. Master Pax was one of the strongest entities in existence, opposing him almost equaled a death sentence. And the Mekk-Knights on top of that! While her daughter Lee had done good to dispose of the younger generation which she had turned into Knightmares – oh what Darlee would have given to see that! – , there was still another generation of older and more powerful knights led by Rainbow Twilight. Her younger daughter Fee who knelt next to her looked horrified at the mention of those entities, as she had once constructed an artificial Mekk-Knight herself who was built with the purpose of wreaking havoc and terror among the world. It had been a much better construction than Lee's artificial Mekk-Knight of the Morning Star, yet it had fallen even easier than Morning Star, both of them meeting their end at the hands of one respective group of Mekk-Knights. Lee had disposed of one generation, but their seniors were still out there – and now had allied with her enemies as it seemed. Facing Auram and his friends was one thing, but them and the older Mekk-Knights plus Master Pax?!
"Oh, and one more thing. Your daughter Lee is alive," Lector Perfectio added, prompting an utter maelstrom of emotions on Darlee's face.
"Lee is... alive...?" Darlee stuttered, her tone a mix of happiness and disbelief.
"Yes. But she seems to have turned her back on you and the ways of your kind entirely. She is on the side of Auram and his allies now," Lector Perfectio told with an amused smirk before bursting into laughter. "A GOOD MALEFAE! AHAHAHAHA, THAT'S LIKE THE BEST OXYMORON I'VE EVER HEARD!"
"My sister lives and is on their side now...?!" Fee whispered, utterly shocked.
"Lee, why did you...?!" Darlee cursed with a pained expression before speaking up. "It matters not! Just give me some military resources so I can crush that bastard Auram who probably turned her!" she screeched at once.
Lector Perfectio laughed again. "Ah, I love you attitude, Darlee! Yes, you may have resources, but only after you've sworn your allegiance to me! Also know that once sworn, you'll not get out of it prematurely! You'll continue even after you managed to get your revenge! Until the Mekk-Knights, Master Pax and anyone else in my way has been wiped out!" he postulated.
"But Master Pax...!" Darlee then stuttered, fear taking ahold of her again. Given her occupation as a planet-devastating fairy who wiped out the populaces of worlds before either colonizing them herself or selling the uninhabited world to whoever paid the most, she had already heard countless horror tales from her peers, about the unfathomable power of Master Pax, a keeper of order and thus natural enemy to her and her ways. Once one of her clients had cockily declared to pull off a maneuver that Darlee deemed more than just risky, entering the domain of Master Pax. She had never seen that man again after that. So how was she supposed to face that entity?!
"Yes? Any problems with that?" Lector Perfectio inquired with the raise of his left eyebrow.
"But it's Master Pax we're talking about here! How am I supposed to face him?!" Darlee shrieked frightfully.
"You have his counterpart as your ally," Lector Perfectio said as a matter of fact.
"But still...!" Darlee continued before stopping, realizing the trembling in Lector Perfectio's giant body.
"Are you perhaps implying... THAT I, LECTOR PERFECTIO, AM INFERIOR TO MASTER PAX?!" the titan exploded in rage, his previous apathetic attitude vanishing as the insult got to him.
"No, of course not! I was just saying...!" Darlee frantically begged for forgiveness before Lector Perfectio stopped her.
"Shush, no more words, you frail little fairy!" the dragon halted her, rising from his throne, much to the shock of Darlee and her daughter. "Since you seem to doubt the extent of my power, I will show you a little something! Originally I wasn't going to reveal it to you, but apparently the situation calls for it!" he declared, turning around and walking towards the wall behind him.
"There is something behind the throne!" Fee declared, now spotting and pointing to an object in said place that was covered with a tarp, an illusory wall having covered it before. The giant dimensions of the tarp spoke volumes about the size of the object, which – as Darlee now realized – even eclipsed Lector Perfectio in size, reaching almost to the one mile high ceiling.
(Dark Souls III OST – Yhorm The Giant)
"You doubt me and my power?! Fine, then lo and behold!" Lector Perfectio yelled, pulling away the tarp to reveal a metallic object. No, not an object, an entity. Its four legs were interchangeably either white with purple as the background color or the other way around. Said legs had golden trimmings on the outer side, while on the inner side of them they had golden structures attaching them to the main body. In their center the legs glowed with ominous lights, the mere look of them creeping Darlee out. Its body was black with golden trimmings, several ornaments adorning its waist, hips and chest. At its nether regions it turned into a long serpentine tail which ended eventually, the lines running across it being golden as well. It had a pair of translucent glass wings with golden borders framing them, each of them with five quills which roughly resembled protracted rhombuses, though one half of their form was more elongated than their other half, having what was presumably the cores of the ten Qliphorts in the center of said quills, one core per quill respectively. Near the base of those wings emerged one arm on each side respectively which possessed the same color variation as its black and golden tail with the addition of some silver and white linings. Finally it had a golden head with black and blue metal parts at the middle of the face, two red horns protruding to the sides, giving the head rough similarities to a bovine skull, though this creature has its eyes at the sides of its head with three lifeless red eyes on each of them. Darlee noticed small flames coming from above the head, the shoulders and waistline of the metallic entity, though they seemed rather dim, giving the impression that they were but a shadow of the flames' former glory.
"T-this is... this is...! B-but it can't...!" Darlee stuttered, visibly horrified.
Lector Perfectio smirked insanely. "Yes, marvel at it! Behold, the corpse of a deity! The metallic annihilator, the wrathful devastator, goddess with control over creation as well as the source of destruction, THE GENESIS STAR GOD – TIERRA!" he proclaimed, gesturing at the metallic entity dramatically.
"Unbelievable...! He has the corpse of Tierra...?!" Fee whispered, her eyes wide open incredulously.
"That's right! Do you now see the power that I possess?!" Lector Perfectio gloated.
"But... in what shape or form does that benefit you? Tierra is dead, she was destroyed by Zefraath! Of what use is her corpse to you?" Darlee then exclaimed before her eyes widened. "You don't want to... revive her, do you?!" she whispered fearfully.
"No, I don't intend to do so! I have a much better use for her corpse!" Lector Perfectio retorted, putting his hand onto the metallic waist of the entity. "I want to absorb her!" he announced with a borderline insane smirk.
"WHAT?! But you can't, no mortal can absorb a Star God! Not even one as powerful as you!" Darlee cried out, pointing her finger at the dragon.
Lector Perfectio grinned. "Correction: No mortal can absorb an unweakened Star God! However, if someone of my caliber tampers a bit with the natural defenses of a Star God who's already dead, there is a way to bypass that natural limit!" he declared, a network of purple energy veins spreading across the metallic body of Tierra, reaching the height of where her forehead was supposed to be.
"Wha-what does that mean?!" Darlee stuttered, aghast by the changes to the Star God's body.
The dragon smirked again. "Well, let me simplify it for you: The extent to how far those veins spread symbolizes my control over Tierra! The more they advance upwards, the higher is my control over and compatibility with the Star God!" he announced before continuing with an even more vicious expression. "And once they reach her cranium the process will be complete – then I will absorb her body and power into me, and destroy them! Auram and your daughter who have the nerve to create a Star God when put together, the Mekk-Knights, Master Pax – everyone! Once I integrate the power of Tierra into me, there won't be any more equals to me! Once I achieve this transformation all things in existence, living or inanimate, will belong to me! GAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Lector Perfectio laughed, the veins at the upper end of Tierra's body climbing a few inches further. He ceased his laughter and looked down, giving Darlee and Fee an inquiring stare. "Well, are you convinced of Master Pax's inferiority now? Or do you want me to call once I've merged with this thing over here?" he addressed them, pointing his thumb backward at Tierra.
"No, we're already quite convinced! We're pledging our loyalty to you!" Darlee quickly assured the dragon to not further upset him, she and Fee bowing their heads.
"Splendid!" Lector Perfectio cheered, clapping his hands together. "In that case come on in!" he commanded, the walls of the hall behind them opening, a duo of entities coming forth.
"Is that...?!" Darlee whispered, eyeing one of the entities in disbelief which was composed of a blue, white, black and golden female puppet of enormous dimensions, a few hundred feet in height. Sprouting from its chest was the torso of a silver haired male, roughly resembling Lector Perfectio's previous form. The other was a smaller silver and black dragon with the same torso sprouting from its back.
"Yes, that is an El Shaddoll Construct! You should know, Tierra wasn't the only souvenir I brought back from my travels along other worlds! Though I modified it a bit to look better! Isn't my face pretty on Construct?" Lector Perfectio asked, pointing at the monster upon which the torso of his previous form resided, controlling the great entity.
"Yeah, it is very... fascinating...," Darlee mustered up a hesitant reply. "And the other?" she then asked.
"The other one is Amorphactor Pain, a combination of my previous self and some merged Dracofiends. I once used to look like that, so for sentimental satisfaction I made some clones of myself using Dragon Alchemy, then combined them with Dracofiends to make another one of those beauties. I also made these modifications to Construct, thus creating Shaddoctor Agony. Now, take those two along with you and use them to destroy our collective foes," Lector Perfectio instructed them before adding. "And if you by chance manage to corrupt some Mekk-Knights into Knightmares, I'd be happy to further corrupt them by hybridizing them into such empowered forms as well!"
"Thank you for your gracious offer!" Darlee quickly thanked her new master, intent on not attracting his displeasure.
"You're welcome! Be sure to use them well and accomplish your goal!" Lector said before he shrunk whilst drawing closer to them, turning to about the size of Satorion, who was roughly thrice as tall as Darlee. "But even if you should end up failing me, I'm sure that I'll still find a way how you two pretty little Malefaes can be of use to me!" he added, liking his lips as his comparably large index finger slowly wandered up the space between Fee's thighs, the smaller Malefae shivering at the touch of the draconic fiend.
"We won't let you down...," Darlee assured him hastily but insecurely, just in time for his finger not to reach her daughter's nether regions, Lector Perfectio removing it while Fee remained disturbed, quaking fearfully.
"I hope so as well! Now go and make your new master proud!" Lector Perfectio told with a grin, retreating to his throne which had meanwhile become of matching size.
"Mother, I'm afraid. Was it really a good idea to inquire HIS help?" Fee addressed Darlee after they had gotten some distance between them and their new superior, Satorion and the two chimeric abominations following them with a certain gap between the two groups.
"It was our best shot. I just didn't expect that his master was Lector Perfectio of all people...!" Darlee whispered back, shuddering.
"Let's just hope that this ends well...," Fee prayed, the two and their companions leaving the hall eventually, the booming laughter of Lector Perfectio resounding behind them on their way out of it. After they had exited it, a figure emerged from the shadows next to Lector's throne, addressing him at that.
"Well, that went rather nicely, if I do say so myself, master," the figure said with a male voice.
"It sure did. Now we have some more allies who will hopefully take care of our enemies," Lector retorted with a grin.
The obscured figure nodded. "Yes. And especially, I now have access to Lee's sister. With that, the creation of the ultimate deity draws closer."
"I assume that you want to have Fee as your betrothed, so you may achieve that?" Lector inquired.
"Of course I intend to make her mine. Remember the formation of Avida: Seven Legacies born of the Great Darkness, plus another with the Power of God, then the majority of the Great Darkness, and finally two persons, one good, and one good with a shard of evil within them. Now, for the formation of its ultimate form, thirteen Legacies including those with the Power of God, then the entirety of the Great Darkness, as well as the two Star Gods tied to Sacred Tree, and finally two persons, one evil, and one evil with a shard of good within them. For the last component I definitely require Fee. She will be to me what Lee is to him," the dark figure said with a smirk.
"Then so be it, the Malefae is yours to take!" Lector confirmed with a nod of agreement before adding. "Anyway, I assume you want to embark soon to launch the invasion?" the Dracoverlord asked.
"Indeed. I cannot wait to see the look on his face!" the unknown person grinned in anticipation.
"I see," Lector said, repeating after his pupil with his facial expression. "Then go with my blessing and leave only nothingness in your wake, you Nemesis of Life!" he said, a portal opening into which the obscured figure stepped, vanishing from the hall as it closed.
Epilogue...
"These are hard times for sure. But even with all of that going on, no, especially because of all those developments, I believe that I can finally attain the knowledge that I sought for so long. If I just stick to my principles, I am bound to come out on top at the end," a sole figure told, standing atop a balcony and gazing upon a vast city of blue. He silently started humming at that.
"Mmm mmm mmm mmm, beast among men.
Mmm mmm mmm mmm, strongest of ten."
A bizarre phenomenon occurred, drops of blood splattering onto his face.
(Bloodborne OST – Ludwig, The Accursed)
"Why?! Why me?! I did everything that was expected of me! I sacrificed myself so that others could prosper! I always stayed true to my principles! So why did it hit me?! Why do I have to carry the entire burden?! Why was I cursed?! Destiny, why have you abandoned me?!" a lone male with dark blue and gray hair lamented from the top of a mountain with two peaks, a strange cosmic constellation above him.
A bizarre phenomenon occurred, drops of blood splattering onto his face.
(Bloodborne OST – Ludwig, The Accursed)
Card Corner:
Ryoken Kogami's Cards:
Goldrokket Dragon
Attribute: Dark
Level: 4
Type: Dragon/Effect
ATK/DEF: 1800/1000
Effect:
If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can discard 1 card; add 2 "Rokket" monsters with different names from your Deck to your hand. When a Link Monster's effect is activated that targets this face-up card on the field (Quick Effect): You can destroy this card, and if you do, this turn, you can Normal Summon 1 "Rokket" monster in addition to your Normal Summon/Set. During the End Phase, if this card is in the GY because it was destroyed on the field by battle or card effect and sent there this turn: You can Special Summon 1 "Rokket" monster from your Deck, except "Goldrokket Dragon". You can only use each effect of "Goldrokket Dragon" once per turn.
Invaderokket Dragon
Attribute: Dark
Level: 3
Type: Dragon/Effect
ATK/DEF: 1200/1700
Effect:
When a Link Monster's effect is activated that targets this face-up card on the field (Quick Effect): You can destroy this card, then look at your opponent's hand and discard 1 card from it. During the End Phase, if this card is in the GY because it was destroyed on the field by battle or card effect and sent there this turn: You can Special Summon 1 "Rokket" monster from your Deck, except "Invaderokket Dragon". You can only use each effect of "Invaderokket Dragon" once per turn.
Trivia:
This card is based on Radically Invasive Projectiles, short R.I.P., a type of cartridge with spikes at the front that eject from the rest of the bullet upon contact, achieving a similar barraging effect as shotgun ammunition. Fittingly to that basis of R.I.P.s this card can discard a card from the opposing hand, which is known as hand ripping in Yu-Gi-Oh slang.
Gyrorokket Dragon
Attribute: Dark
Level: 4
Type: Dragon/Effect
ATK/DEF: 1600/2000
Effect:
When a Link Monster's effect is activated that targets this face-up card on the field (Quick Effect): You can destroy this card, then draw 2 cards. During the End Phase, if this card is in the GY because it was destroyed on the field by battle or card effect and sent there this turn: You can Special Summon 1 "Rokket" monster from your Deck, except "Gyrorokket Dragon". You can only use each effect of "Gyrorokket Dragon" once per turn.
Trivia:
This card is based on Gyrojet cartridges, which are fired from a type of light-weight rifle of the same name. Gyrojet cartridges are also known as Microjets, being small rockets rather than conventional bullets. This fits rather well with the Rokket archetype for obvious reasons. The effect of this card on the other hand references the high costs of Gyrojet cartridges, as on a visual basis Gyrorokket Dragon is fired into the air when its effect is used, releasing a particle rain that in turn becomes hand resources. So in a way the value of the fired Gyrorokket turns into two hand cards, which have a rather high worth, meaning the user would essentially have sacrificed a monster with a net worth of two cards by blowing it to bits, similar to how firing a Gyrojet cartridge essentially means giving up a valuable resource, as they are rarely available and even if they are they still cost a steep minimum price, being a coveted collector's item.
Imduk the World Legacy Rokketeer Dragon
Attribute: Dark
Level: 4
Type: Tenryuu/Legend/Effect
ATK/DEF: 1800/600
Effect:
[Legend – Imduk's Sacrifice: The player with this card in their Deck at the beginning of the Duel gains "Imduk's Sacrifice"]
If you control a "Rokket" monster: You can Special Summon this card from your hand. If this card is in your GY and was targeted and/or destroyed by a card effect this turn: You can Special Summon it, and if you do, you can add 1 "World Legacy" card from your Deck to your hand. You can target 1 "Rokket" monster you control, except this card (this is treated as being targeted by a Link Monster's effect); destroy it, also Special Summon 1 "Rokket" monster with a different name than the targeted monster from your Deck or GY. You can only use each effect of "Imduk the World Legacy Rokketeer Dragon" once per turn.
[Imduk's Sacrifice: Once per Duel, if a monster(s) on your field would leave your field by your opponent, you can instead destroy 1 card you control, regardless of card effects, then your monsters cannot be removed from your field by your opponent's card effects for the rest of this turn.]
Link Supply
Card Type: Spell/Normal
Effect:
Draw 1 card for each Link Monster on the field. You cannot Special Summon monsters from your Extra Deck during the turn you activate this card, except Link Monsters. You can only activate 1 "Link Supply" per turn.
Unloaded Caliber
Card Type: Spell/Quick-Play
Effect:
Target 1 "Borrel" monster you control; destroy it, also gain LP equal to its original ATK, then add 1 Spell from your Deck to your hand, except "Unloaded Caliber". You can only activate 1 "Unloaded Caliber" per turn.
Revival from Unholy Soil
Card Type: Spell/Divine Calling
Effect:
Target 1 monster in your GY; Special Summon it (that monster is treated as properly Summoned by its respective means), and if you do, discard 1 card during your next Standby Phase.
Preponed Execution
Card Type: Trap/Normal
Effect:
Target 1 "Borrel" monster in your GY; Special Summon it, also it is unaffected by your opponent's card effects and it gains the following effects depending on the requirements it meets. These changes last until the end of this turn.
● Is a Link Monster: Once per turn, if you would take battle damage (Quick Effect): You can reduce that damage to 0.
● Is a Link Monster with a Link Rating of 4: Once per turn, if you would take effect damage (Quick Effect): You can make your opponent take that damage instead, also you take no effect damage for the rest of this turn.
● Has 3000 original ATK: Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can banish all monsters in your opponent's GY with the same monster monster card type (except Effect Monster) as your "Borrel" monster.
● Has the original name "Borreload Dragon": The preceding effects can be activated even if you cannot respond to the activation of a card or effect earlier in the Chain.
You can only activate 1 "Preponed Execution" per turn. During the Battle Phase, if your "Borrel" monster battles and your LP are equal or lower than your opponent's, you can banish this card from your GY so that the effect of that "Borrel" monster that your opponent cannot respond to with their cards or effects also makes them unable to activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step. These changes last until the end of this turn.
Borrel Borderline
Card Type: Trap/Continuous
Effect:
Activate only if you control a "Borrel" monster. When this card is activated: You can Set 1 Spell/Trap that specifically lists a "Rokket", "Borrel" or "Topologic" monster in its text directly from your Deck. If you Set a Quick-Play Spell or Trap this way, it can be activated this turn (including during the resolution of the current Chain). While you control a "Borrel" monster, your opponent cannot target other monsters for attacks or attack directly, also your face-up Trap Cards are unaffected by your opponent's card effects. If your opponent would target a "Borrel" monster(s) you control with a card or card effect, you can choose the target(s) instead, also you can choose the "Borrel" monster which they attack and take only half of the battle damage from those battles. During your Main Phase: You can shuffle up to 3 DARK monsters from your GY into the Deck, and if you do, you can add 1 Trap from your GY to your hand. You can only activate each effect of "Borrel Borderline" once per turn, and can only control 1 "Borrel Borderline".
Finality Death Strip
Card Type: Trap/Continuous
Effect:
You take no effect damage from your opponent's cards during the turn this card was activated. During the End Phase: Destroy this card. During each turn you can activate a number of the following effects, up to the number of "Borrel" monsters you controlled when this card was activated, but you can only activate each effect of "Finality Death Strip" once per turn.
● You can activate this effect; your opponent cannot banish cards or move cards that are banished to a different place, until the end of this turn (even if this card leaves the field).
● At the start of damage calculation, if your "Borrel" monster battles: You can make it gain 1000 ATK for each "Borrel" monster you currently control, until the end of the Damage Step.
● You can target 1 "Borrel" monster you control, even during the Damage Step; during this turn it can activate its effects as Quick Effects, also, if it battles, it can be treated as if it declares an attack and is attacking (even if this card leaves the field).
● During your Main Phase or the Battle Step: You can Special Summon 1 DARK Dragon monster from your Deck.
You can only control 1 "Finality Death Strip".
Borrelcore Dragon
Attribute: Dark
Link Rating: 4 (↑→↙↓)
Type: Dragon/Link/Effect
ATK: 3000
Effect:
3+ Effect Monsters
Cannot have its effects negated while on the field and in your GY, but effects affecting this card that would negate its effects still resolve as if they could. Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can target 1 face-up monster you control; destroy it, also Special Summon 1 DARK Dragon or Cyberse monster from your Deck or Extra Deck to any of your Monster Zones with the same Level/Link Rating as the targeted monster. (Summoning a Link Monster this way is treated as a Link Summon.) Your opponent cannot activate cards or effects in response to this effect's activation. Once per turn: You can move this card to another of your Monster Zones, and if you do, you can send to the GY, 1 opponent's card that is in the same column as 1 of your cards.
Betsune Kogami's Cards (plus Trivia for some existing cards):
Existing Card Trivia:
(Note that "existing card trivia" refers to the existing card lore WITH my modifications to it, not to their exclusive Konami Canon Lore. Though they match the card lore introduced by Konami within the Master Guides almost entirely, they have a few smaller differences to go better with my additions to the archetype on the card lore perspective as well, mostly changing a few wordings ever so slightly to better insert the additional pilots – Fio and Ari – into the Sky Striker Lore, as well as adding a few more details where I deemed there was a lack thereof.)
Sky Striker Ace – Raye (already existing)
Trivia:
To combat a powerful enemy nation the Sentoki-Program was brought to life, creating futuristic mechanical suits from military high-tech. The one chosen for using them was Raye, a young but strong-willed female soldier with the code number "X-000". Raye is a girl who races across the battlefield and wishes for the peace and safety of her homeland, Aerenia. Using "Sky Striker Mecha" suits and gear, developed using advanced technology, she acts as a counterbalance to a certain powerful military empire. With the katana "Sky Striker" as the ignition key she can use her various suits in order to take down the forces of the enemy – often times solo, yet still more effective than entire fleets of aircrafts. A cute girl always used to be something that war-tired soldiers would love to see. Now it's also the last thing they see.
"I will save my country, no matter the cost." – "Sky Striker Ace – Raye"
Note: The main change for this card's lore was that I gave Raye's nation a name. "Aerenia" is simply based on the Latin word "aer" meaning "air" or "sky", which alludes to the general aviation theme of the Sky Striker archetype of course. Should Konami eventually give the nations in the Sky Striker Lore a real name, I will maybe alter each mention of them to these official names, but knowing Konami I honestly doubt that.
Sky Striker Ace – Roze (already existing)
Trivia:
On a mission, "Sky Striker Ace – Raye" is confused by the appearance of another young girl just like her, called "Sky Striker Ace – Roze" and going by a code number of her own, namely "Z-00". Roze proves to be a more than equal opponent, being the elite soldier of the enemy nation Gryptonia which achieved a recent success in creating their own Sentoki Mech Suits. Roze's suits seem to have the habit of gigantism though, causing Ray and her allies much trouble. There is something about Roze that puzzles Raye though, the latter noticing a faint feeling of unwillingness coming from her enemy. Is fighting her really Roze's wish?
"That accursed Raye and her nation have become complacent by their recent victories. It's time to remind them about who's superior, don't you think so as well?" – One of the generals of the enemy nation to another while presenting the prodigy Roze to him.
Note: Just like with Raye I decided to give the nation of Roze a name, as the lack thereof bothered me a bit. "Gryptonia" is a reference to the word gryphon, or more commonly known as griffin, a legendary animal hybrid between a lion and eagle. I elected this eagle-alluding element since Roze's outfit reminds me a lot of Nazi German SS officer uniforms – and well, the eagle used to be a central design element on those outfits, also being part of the German coat of arms (both back in the day and now). Overall Roze's role as the elite soldier of the evil enemy nation matches rather nicely with the Nazi German comparison in my opinion, hence why I thought it would fit.
Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! (already existing)
Trivia:
This card depicts "Sky Striker Ace – Raye" transforming into her bodysuit form, raising up her katana "Sky Striker". The number "000" appears in the background, which is the same as her code number minus the X.
Sky Striker Mecha Modules – Multirole (already existing)
Trivia:
The "Multirole" system allows the transfer and control of enormous weapons that was previously considered impossible. It also acts as a gateway for the Sky Striker pilots to quickly access their various suits and mech enhancements over long distances.
Sky Striker Ace – Kagari (already existing)
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Raye" wears an red mech suit with the serial number "X-003". It is rather lightly armored around the arms, but pretty well armored around the torso and has eight mechanical wings composed of one Sky Striker ignition key each, as well as a red sword. It is Raye's most mobile suit while still being very strong in the offense and defense, making it her jack of all trades. It's an annihilation mode which destroys enemy forces with overwhelming firepower.
"Accelerate, focus and slice." – "Sky Striker Ace – Kagari" to herself while mentally preparing herself for an Afterburners attack
Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku (already existing)
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Raye" wears a blue mech suit with the serial number "X-002". It is rather heavily armored and has four mechanical arms that can block attacks by generating a shield. It is Raye's most defensive suit that acts as a supportive vanguard that shields those behind it. It creates a barrier to all kinds of attacks, from live gunfire to energy blasts, making it the perfect mode to protect your own base or position.
"You ain't getting through me!" – "Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku" whilst defending her base against a surprise attack using her Jamming Waves defense move
Sky Striker Ace – Hayate (already existing)
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Raye" wears an green mech suit with the serial number "X-004". It is well armored and has a lot of intelligence built in that makes it a very utility-based suit. It has a sniper rifle that can fire hefty attacks. The best suit for Raye to go on a scouting mission and to assassinate an important target. It's also a mode that specializes in long-range combat, armed with a massive rail-gun, so the energy blasts it fires can take out the enemy's main forces with pinpoint accuracy.
"You're about to cease existing. Hopefully you have made your wills by now, because I surely won't hesitate!" – "Sky Striker Ace – Hayate" before pulling the trigger of her rail-gun to unleash a Vector Blast
Sky Striker Ace – Kaina (already existing)
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Raye" wears an orange-yellow mech suit with the serial number "X-005". It is rather heavily armored and has four mechanical arms, three with construction claw-like fists and one with a morning star like design. It's another battle mode besides "Kagari", and it specializes in short-to-mid range fighting, with its four giant arms meant for combat. Raye's suit of choice for a brawl that requires more than one weapon or smashing through walls.
"If you want to get the hell beaten out of you, fine, go ahead and come at me!" –"Sky Striker Ace – Kaina" challenging "Sky Striker Ace – Roze" to the confrontation depicted in "Sky Striker Maneuver – Scissors Cross"
Sky Striker Ace – Zeke (already existing)
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Roze" has Roze piloting an enormous black and golden mechanical combat suit with the serial number "Z-000". It is used for the first time after Raye declines the enemy nation's ultimatum. Before its overwhelming might, Raye finds herself in a do-or-die predicament, even with the support of her two comrades.
"You look surprised. Never seen a Sentoki Mech Suit of this magnitude before, have you? Also, to your information, that isn't even my ultimate suit." – "Sky Striker Ace – Zeke" to "Sky Striker Ace – Kagari", "Sky Striker Ace – Nagare" and "Sky Striker Ace – Arashi"
New Cards:
Sky Striker Ace – Fio
Attribute: Dark
Level: 4
Type: Warrior/Effect
ATK/DEF: 1600/1600
Effect:
If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can add 1 "Sky Striker" card from your Deck to your hand, and if it was a monster, you can Special Summon it. While this card is in your GY, if a face-up "Sky Striker Ace" Link Monster you control battles (Quick Effect): You can make that Link Monster gain 1000 ATK, until the end of the Damage Step. You can only use each effect of "Sky Striker Ace – Fio" once per turn.
Trivia:
The second elite soldier to join the Sentoki-Program, equipped with a rapier as her suits' ignition key and having the code number "X-100". She poses the cheerful counterpart to the rather dutiful Raye, enjoying her time despite the harsh environment of war, making the day of everyone in the military a bit brighter. Except that of the opponent's soldiers, as her skills as a fighter are just as great as Raye's, even with her friendly temper.
"Oh, why so grim, Raye? Relax and have fun, we're not on a mission for once! Here, have a drink! I'll even carry you home in case you get too drunk! Teehee" – "Sky Striker Ace – Fio" to "Sky Striker Ace – Raye" at a party following a major military success, offering a beverage to her
Sky Striker Ace – Ari
Attribute: Light
Level: 4
Type: Warrior/Effect
ATK/DEF: 1700/1700
Effect:
If this card is sent to the GY: You can take 2 "Sky Striker" cards with different names from your Deck; place them at the top of your Deck in any order, then draw 1 card. If this card is in your GY, while you have 3 or more Spells there: You can place this card at the bottom of your Deck, and if you do, draw 1 card. You can only use each effect of "Sky Striker Ace – Ari" once per turn.
Trivia:
The newest and most impulsive member of the Sentoki-Program, bearing the code number "X-200". Like her broadsword ignition key might already indicate, she is not exactly the most graceful and moderate soldier, often times being not so subtle and elegant with her warfare as Raye and Fio. But even with her crude and impulsive nature she is willing to follow orders if need be, though she still prefers leaving big holes in the enemy aircrafts rather than small ones. She takes great pleasure and pride in the destruction that goes hand in hand with her job – something many enemy soldiers already had to experience in terror.
"Your bloodstains fit to my red hair rather nicely, don't you think? I think releasing a little more of it from you should make the comparison easier, so I'll help myself by giving you another round of bullets, okay?" – "Sky Striker Ace – Ari" to an enemy soldier
Sky Striker Ace – Betsune
Attribute: Light
Level: 4
Type: Warrior/Effect
ATK/DEF: 1800/1800
Effect:
If you control no monsters in your Main Monster Zone: You can Special Summon this card from your hand. You can target 1 "Sky Striker" card that is in your GY or banished; return it to your Deck, and if you do, add 1 "Sky Striker" card with a different name from your Deck to your hand. If you Special Summon a "Sky Striker" monster from your Extra Deck while this card is in your GY: You can add this card to your hand. You can only use each effect of "Sky Striker Ace – Betsune" once per turn.
Trivia:
Through the power of the Tenryuu scales which Betsune touched right after her father, the lingering effects of them reacted to her desire and affected her body and mind. Experiencing a similar circumstance as Kiyoshi she developed DID-like tendencies, though hers are much more advanced than those of her father. While Kiyoshi only hears the voices of his monster spirits, she even gets physically overwhelmed by them as they change her exterior to that of them, causing her to assume the looks of Raye, Roze, Fio and Ari bar her hair clip that only changes colors, the transformation depending on her mood and the desire of those spirits to surface. But even her old form didn't remain unchained as she physically matured, her eye color also changing from a bluish-turquoise to dark blue. On top of that she gained access to a gladius called "Brandish" which allows her to utilize the mechanical suits of herself and those of the four spirits who now inhabit her. The code number for her newly acquired outfit is "X-300".
"What in the world happened to me?" – Kogami Betsune
Sky Striker Warfare – Martial Law
Card Type: Spell/Normal
Effect:
Target 5 of your Main Monster Zones; for the rest of the Duel those zones are treated as unoccupied while "Sky Striker Ace" monsters are in them. You can only activate this effect of "Sky Striker Warfare – Martial Law" once per Duel. Once while this card is in your GY: You can send 1 "Sky Striker" Spell from your Deck to the GY, except "Sky Striker Warfare – Martial Law".
Trivia:
This card depicts "Sky Striker Ace – Raye ", "Sky Striker Ace – Fio" and "Sky Striker Ace – Ari" sitting at the negotiation table with their Gryptonian enemies. A document on the table states an ultimatum delivered by the opponent, given to them due to a new weapon their enemies had invented which is supposedly capable of taking down the Sentoki Mech Suits, namely their own versions of the suit with "Sky Striker Ace – Roze" as their user sitting next to her superior. Enraged by this a clearly upset Raye jumps from her seat and threatens back at the enemy nation's leaders, much to their shock, but only prompting a raised eyebrow from Roze. Both Fio and Ari have risen from their seats too and repeat after Raye by giving the enemy cold looks with their arms crossed.
"This is no mere threat! This is a declaration of total war!" – "Sky Striker Ace – Raye"
Sky Striker Mobilize – Deploy!
Card Type: Spell/Normal
Effect:
If you control no monsters in your Main Monster Zones: SendTake 1 "Sky Striker" card from your Deck to the GY, except "Sky Striker Mobilize – Deploy!", or, if you have 3 or more Spells in your GY, you can add to your hand or Special Summon that card instead (if that card was a Spell, you treat it as a "Sky Striker Ace Token" (Warrior/DARK/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0) while it remains on the field).
Trivia:
This card depicts "Sky Striker Ace – Fio" commanding the takeoff of an aircraft, saluting the pilot as he departs towards battle. On a display in the cockpit there is a takeoff authorization that also cites the serial number "100", the same as Fio minus the X.
Sky Striker Mobilize – Invade!
Card Type: Spell/Normal
Effect:
If you control no monsters in your Main Monster Zones: Discard 1 random card from your opponent's hand, then, if you have 3 or more Spells in your GY, you can add 1 "Sky Striker" card with the same card type (Monster, Spell, or Trap) as the discarded card from your Deck to your hand, except "Sky Striker Mobilize – Invade!".
Trivia:
This card depicts "Sky Striker Ace – Ari" conducting a surprise attack with an allied aircraft she supervises from the bridge of the airship, critically looking at the radar alongside the captain of the aircraft. In the background there is an open data file with the serial number "200", the same as Ari minus the X.
Sky Striker Mecha – Wyvern Blaster
Card Type: Spell/Quick-Play
Effect:
If you control no monsters in your Main Monster Zones: You can target any number of Spells in your GY; shuffle them into your Deck, then inflict 200 damage to your opponent for each card you shuffled back, then if you have 3 or more Spells in your GY, you can return "Sky Striker" monsters from your GY to your Deck, up to a number of 1 for every 2 Spells you shuffled back with this effect.
Trivia:
This card depicts "Sky Striker Ace – Raye" firing a white rifle with a barrel formed like the maw of a dragonic creature, devastating an airship in front of her.
Sky Striker Maneuver – Urgent Rescue
Card Type: Spell/Normal
Effect:
If you control no monsters in your Main Monster Zones: Target 1 of your banished "Sky Striker" cards; add it to your hand, then, if you have 3 or more Spells in your GY, you can shuffle up to 2 banished cards into the Deck.
Trivia:
This card depicts "Sky Striker Ace – Kagayaki", a suit of Fio, rescuing "Sky Striker Ace – Raye" from behind the enemy lines with the help of the grappling hooks on her mech suit's arms, having smashed and dug her way through the iron walls of the enemy's base with her mech suit's digging arms in order to retrieve her imprisoned comrade.
Sky Striker Maneuver – Lazarus Medic
Card Type: Spell/Normal
Effect:
If you control no monsters in your Main Monster Zones: Gain 300 LP for every Spell in your GY, and if you have 3 or more Spells in your GY, gain 500 LP for each "Sky Striker" monster you control.
Trivia:
This card depicts "Sky Striker Ace – Nagare" tending to a severely injured "Sky Striker Ace – Ari" with the latter's Arashi-Suit lying near its owner on the crash site, in pieces obviously. Though dressed in bloodstained clothes and visibly done in Ari looks happy with her teammate there to help her with the healing gear in Fio's suit.
Sky Striker Maneuver – Emergency Transport
Card Type: Spell/Normal
Effect:
If you control no monsters in your Main Monster Zones: Add 1 "Sky Striker Ace" monster from your Deck to your hand, then, if you have 3 or more Spells in your GY, add 1 "Sky Striker Maneuver" Spell from your Deck to your hand, except "Sky Striker Maneuver – Emergency Transport".
Trivia:
This card depicts "Sky Striker Ace – Ankoku" reaching an enemy airbase with the help of her mech suit's enormous speed boosters, releasing "Sky Striker Ace – Fio" and "Sky Striker Ace – Ari" from the transportation capsules on her suit who promptly emerge from them alongside their respective equipment, transforming into their own mech suits and ready to launch a surprise attack onto the enemy.
Sky Striker Maneuver – Takedown Laser!
Card Type: Spell/Normal
Effect:
If you control no monsters in your Main Monster Zones: Target 1 card on the field; destroy it, also, if you have 3 or more Spells in your GY, negate that targeted card's effect before applying the former effect.
Trivia:
This card depicts "Sky Striker Ace – Fukusha" firing a yellow laser from her six rifles and her two hand guns with her back turned towards the viewer, a giant enemy aircraft exploding upon the impact of her attack.
Sky Striker Ultima Maneuver – Endgame Spiral
Card Type: Spell/Quick-Play
Effect:
(This card is always treated as a "Sky Striker Maneuver" card.)
Target 1 "Sky Striker" monster on the field; double its ATK and negate the effects of your opponent's monsters it battles. These changes last until the end of this turn. You cannot activate the effects of your "Sky Striker Ace" monsters in your GY during the Battle Phase of the turn you activate this effect. If a Link-4 or higher "Sky Striker" Link Monster you control is destroyed by battle, or leaves the field because of an opponent's card effect, while this card is in your GY: You can banish this card; Special Summon 1 "Sky Striker Ace – Raye" from your hand, GY or Deck. You can only activate each effect of "Sky Striker Ultima Maneuver – Endgame Spiral" once per turn.
Trivia:
This card depicts "Sky Striker Ace – Shinseina" surrounded by enemies, spinning around her own axis while firing at will using the wide arsenal of weapons in her suit, taking down hundreds of enemy units and aircrafts with the barrage of missiles and stabs she unleashes.
Link Regeneration
Card Type: Spell/Normal
Effect:
Target 1 Link Monster in your GY with equal or lower ATK than the monster with the highest ATK you control; return it to the Extra Deck, then draw cards equal to its Link Rating divided by 2 (round up in your favor in case of an uneven number), and if you do, this turn, you cannot Link Summon monsters with a different name and the same Link Rating as the Link Monster that you returned to your Extra Deck this way. You can only activate 1 "Link Regeneration" per turn.
Spell Augmenter
Card Type: Spell/Continuous
Effect:
Face-up Spells you control cannot be destroyed by your opponent's card effects, except this one. If this card is sent to your GY by card effect: You can add 1 Spell from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of "Spell Augmenter" once per turn.
Sky Striker Ace – Jishin
Attribute: Earth
Link Rating: 1 (↘)
Type: Machine/Effect
ATK: 1700
Effect:
1 non-EARTH "Sky Striker Ace" monster
If this card is Special Summoned: You can target 3 "Sky Striker" Spells in your GY; place 2 of them at the top and/or bottom of your Deck in any order and add the remaining one to your hand. If this card is sent to your GY: You can send 1 Spell from your Deck to your GY. You can only Special Summon "Sky Striker Ace – Jishin(s)" once per turn.
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Ari" wears a black mech suit with the serial number "X-205". Around it levitate several dozens of blades, which are controlled by Ari through a mental link and can be used in any way that she sees fit. Ari herself wields a set of blades, giving her an alternative attack option. For movement-augmentative purposes this suit is equipped with a jet pack. Its name means "earthquake" in Japanese.
"Ugh, do you have any idea how hard it was for my mind to adjust to all of those blades? Now that I can finally move them around it's only fair that I get to slit the throats of you all, right?" – "Sky Striker Ace – Jishin" towards a platoon of enemy soldiers
Sky Striker Ace – Arashi
Attribute: Wind
Link Rating: 1 (↙)
Type: Machine/Effect
ATK: 1700
Effect:
1 non-WIND "Sky Striker Ace" monster
If this card is Special Summoned: You can send up to 3 cards from the top of your Deck to the GY, and if you do, this card gains 200 ATK for each sent card, until the end of this turn. Once per turn, if a "Sky Striker" Spell(s) is sent to your GY, except by activating it (Quick Effect): You can pay 1000 LP; add 1 of them to your hand. You can only Special Summon "Sky Striker Ace – Arashi(s)" once per turn.
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Ari" wears a turquoise mech suit with the serial number "X-204" and a quartet of mechanical machine gun arms. It is infamous for its sustained firepower and – surprisingly for Ari – accuracy, though it is still fitting its wearer in the sense that it has her favorite component, a set of jet packs. Its lock-on system allows for rapid elimination of important strategic targets on the battlefield, building a counterbalance to Raye's Fukusha suit which centers more around general directed destruction towards larger objects. Its name means "tempest" in Japanese.
"Trust me, your ugly face won't look much worse with a couple hundred bullet holes in it!" – "Sky Striker Ace – Arashi" to an enemy soldier
Sky Striker Ace – Atsusa
Attribute: Fire
Link Rating: 1 (↓)
Type: Machine/Effect
ATK: 1600
Effect:
1 non-FIRE "Sky Striker Ace" monster
When your opponent activates a Spell card or its effect (Quick Effect): You can banish 1 "Sky Striker" Spell from your GY; negate its activation. You can only activate this effect of "Sky Striker Ace – Atsusa" once per turn. During your opponent's turn, you can (Quick Effect): Immediately after this effect resolves, sequentially Link Summon up to 2 "Sky Striker" Link Monsters using monsters you control including this card as the materials, except "Sky Striker Ace – Atsusa", also you can return 1 "Sky Striker" card from your GY to your Deck. You can only Special Summon "Sky Striker Ace – Atsusa(s)" once per turn.
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Fio" wears a dark orange mech suit with the serial number "X-103" and four mechanical arms. It is equipped with various jamming gears that can disturb and cancel out about any enemy communication systems, as well as crash the systems of opposing machines and computers. Fio's go-to suit to cause disruption and disorder among the enemy lines. Its name means "heat" in Japanese.
"Whoopsie, I hope you won't need those radars anymore! Teehee~" – "Sky Striker Ace Atsusa" fleeing from an enemy ship after having sabotaged its systems
Sky Striker Ace – Kitai
Attribute: Wind
Link Rating: 1 (←)
Type: Machine/Effect
ATK: 1600
Effect:
1 non-WIND "Sky Striker Ace" monster
If your opponent Special Summons a monster(s): You can inflict damage to them equal to the original ATK of the monster with the highest original ATK among those monsters. You can only activate this effect of "Sky Striker Ace – Kitai" once per turn. If this card is Special Summoned: You can target 1 card on the field; negate its effects until the end of this turn. You can only Special Summon "Sky Striker Ace – Kitai(s)" once per turn.
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Fio" wears a light green mech suit with the serial number "X-104" and two re-functioned mechanical arms. Those remodeled arms are enormous canisters containing a poisonous gas intended for chemical warfare. Fio herself is equipped with a smaller rifle and a gas mask to protect herself against her own chemicals. Fio's suit for rather special occasions that require chemicals. Its name means "gas" in Japanese.
"To choke or not to choke. That's the question." – "Sky Striker Ace – Kitai" as she unleashes her poison gas onto a group of attackers
Sky Striker Ace – Rekka
Attribute: Fire
Link Rating: 1 (↘)
Type: Machine/Effect
ATK: 1700
Effect:
1 non-FIRE "Sky Striker Ace" monster
Your opponent's effects that make their monsters unable to be destroyed or targeted by card effects are negated. If this card is Special Summoned: You can inflict 200 damage to your opponent for each card they control. If this card would be destroyed by battle (Quick Effect): You can discard 1 card; it is not destroyed, also inflict 500 damage to your opponent. You can only Special Summon "Sky Striker Ace – Rekka(s)" once per turn.
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Ari" wears a maroon-crimson mech suit with the serial number "X-203". Suiting Ari's temper and longing for destruction, as well her general liking for jet packs, this one is equipped with them as well, though modified versions that sear everything in a large radius around them. Ari herself is clad in a protective layer of heatproof metal, shielding her from the destructive potential of her own suit. Using the multiple modified Eagle Boosters integrated into this suit she soars above opposing fleets, the fire she rains down melting and evaporating all that is in her way. Its name means "inferno" in Japanese.
"Wow, that must be how Nero felt when he burned down Rome! How beautifully red their airships glow!" – "Sky Striker Ace – Rekka" during her attack on an opposing air fleet
Sky Striker Ace – Nagare
Attribute: Water
Link Rating: 1 (↑)
Type: Machine/Effect
ATK: 1600
Effect:
1 non-WATER "Sky Striker Ace" monster
This card can attack directly, but halve the battle damage your opponent takes if it does. After damage calculation, if this card battled: You can target 1 "Sky Striker" monster you control; it gains 800 ATK, then gain LP equal to half of its current ATK. You can only Special Summon "Sky Striker Ace – Nagare(s)" once per turn.
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Fio" wears an ice blue mech suit with the serial number "X-102". It is overall rather moderately armored and wields an empowered version of Fio's rapier, all in all being comparable to Raye's Kagari suit in its functions. However, it is capable of diving underwater, enabling it to cover two environments at once. In addition to that it possesses gear for medical treatment. Its name means "flow" or "current" in Japanese.
"In another life I might have become a professional scuba diver." – "Sky Striker Ace – Nagare" during an underwater mission
Sky Striker Ace – Fukusha
Attribute: Light
Link Rating: 2 (←↙)
Type: Machine/Link/Effect
ATK: 2000
Effect:
2 monsters, including a "Sky Striker Ace" monster
Must first be Link Summoned. Each time you activate a "Sky Striker" Spell Card, or its effect, inflict 200 damage to your opponent immediately after the card or effect resolves. Once per turn, if this card battles an opponent's monster (Quick Effect): You can make that monster's ATK become 0, until the end of the Battle Phase. You can only Special Summon "Sky Striker Ace – Fukusha(s)" once per turn.
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Raye" wears a whitish-yellow mech suit with the serial number "X-006", having six mechanical arms of whom all are equipped with massive rifles, though not as accurate ones as that of her Hayate suit. It is only lightly armored, but has enormous destructive power at high range and as a result of the little armor a relatively great mobility. Her two smaller hand guns further increase her destructive potential. The most risky, but also the most destructive suit of Raye, trading the stealthiness and accuracy of her Hayate suit for raw devastating power. Its name means "radiation" in Japanese.
"Surrender now. Otherwise there won't be much left of your fleet when I'll give you a second chance on giving up." – "Sky Striker Ace – Fukusha" addressing the leader of an opposing fleet of aircrafts
Sky Striker Ace – Kage
Attribute: Dark
Link Rating: 2 (→↘)
Type: Machine/Link/Effect
ATK: 2200
Effect:
2 monsters, including a "Sky Striker Ace" monster
Must first be Link Summoned. If this card is Special Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 "Sky Striker" monster from your GY, except one with a Link Rating of 2 or higher. Your "Sky Striker" monsters gain 200 ATK x the number of different Attributes on the field. Once per turn: Immediately after this effect resolves, Normal Summon 1 "Sky Striker" monster, in addition to your Normal Summon/Set. If this card is destroyed by your opponent's card: Add 1 "Sky Striker" non-Link Monster from your GY to your hand. You can only Special Summon "Sky Striker Ace – Kage(s)" once per turn.
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Ari" wears a dark violet mech suit with the serial number "X-207", the Ari standard of a jet pack, and two mechanical arms containing scanning devices. The gear in her arms can create any weapon of her usual arsenal at will, giving her a great variety of possible offensive and defensive moves. Also using the scanning devices it can create a realistic copy of any object they capture, allowing Ari to make convincing duplicates of practically anything. Furthermore any mechanical gear that is copied can be given the ability to act, mirroring Kage's movement. Though Ari mostly uses this feature to wreak twice, thrice or even four times the havoc, it has incredible potential beyond that, and Ari even occasionally uses this function to play pranks on Raye and Fio in her free time by copying herself. Its name means "shadow" in Japanese.
"Now you see me once, now you see me twice. Depending on how much you piss me off you might even see three versions of myself clobbering you stupid bitch to death. Maybe even four." – "Sky Striker Ace – Kage" towards "Sky Striker Ace – Roze"
Sky Striker Ace – Ankoku
Attribute: Dark
Link Rating: 2 (→↘)
Type: Machine/Link/Effect
ATK: 2000
Effect:
2 monsters, including a "Sky Striker Ace" monster
Must first be Link Summoned. If this card is Special Summoned: You can destroy 1 card your opponent controls. Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can target up to 3 "Sky Striker" Spells in your GY; for the rest of this turn all monsters your opponent Summons lose 200 ATK for each of your targeted cards, also, if a card(s) is sent to your opponent's GY during this turn, you can banish any number of them instead, but you can only banish as many cards in total as "Sky Striker" Spells you targeted with this effect. You can only Special Summon "Sky Striker Ace – Ankoku(s)" once per turn.
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Raye" wears a purplish-black mech suit with the serial number "X-007" that has two re-functioned mechanical arms. It is equipped with two enormous boosters which enable incredible mobility past speed of sound level, as well as two re-functioned arms that have been re-designed into two protective capsules which are suited for transportation of both equipment and soldiers to compensate for whenever the Multirole system has a shortcoming. It is relatively high armored, but lacks in terms of offensive weapons, barely having any destructive potential. It can still unleash it by sacrificing its transportation abilities for a while, joining together the mechanical capsule arms to create a vacuum cannon. The go-to suit for Raye when she needs to quickly deliver strategic resources to another place, especially her teammates which cannot be teleported by the Multirole system as their equipment can be. Its name means "blackness" or "darkness" in Japanese.
"Ever moved around Ari and Fio with this suit? Eventually you'll start feeling like a hyperspeed taxi driver." –"Sky Striker Ace – Ankoku" conversing with one of her friends in the military
Sky Striker Ace – Yami
Attribute: Dark
Link Rating: 3 (↗↙↓)
Type: Machine/Link/Effect
ATK: 2800
Effect:
2+ monsters, including a "Sky Striker Ace" monster
Must first be Link Summoned. If this card is Special Summoned: You can add 1 "Sky Striker Mecha" or "Sky Striker Maneuver" Spell from your GY to your hand, and if you do, keep it revealed. During either player's turn, you can activate it from your hand as a Quick Effect. If your opponent declares an attack: You can make that attack become a direct attack. Once per turn, if you would take battle damage OR if a card or effect is activated that would inflict damage to you (Quick Effect): You can reduce that damage to 0. If you activated the previous effect during this turn (Quick Effect): You can make this card gain ATK equal to the damage that would have been inflicted, until the end of this turn. You can activate this effect even if you cannot respond to the activation of a card or effect earlier in the Chain, and it must be activated immediately before the start of the damage calculation if this card battles. You can only Special Summon "Sky Striker Ace – Yami(s)" once per turn.
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Betsune" wears a white and purple mech suit with the serial number "X-307". It is equipped with sensory gear that detects and absorbs incoming damage. It then enables the absorbed energy to be used as a means of boost, quickly accelerating to unleash heavy hits with the strongly armored exoskeleton and gauntlets of the suit. Its name means "dark" in Japanese, thus fully resembling the original name of the attribute it represents.
"I am the dark image of finality!" – Kogami Betsune while wearing her Yami suit
Full Armor Sky Striker Ace – Shinseina
Attribute: Divine
Link Rating: 4 (↖↗↙↘)
Type: Machine/Link/Effect
ATK: 3000
Effect:
3+ Effect Monsters, including 2 "Sky Striker Ace" Link Monsters
Must be Link Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. If this card is Link Summoned: You can target up to 2 face-up cards on the field; negate their effects, until the end of this turn. While you have 5 or more Spells in your GY, this card cannot be destroyed by card effects. Once per turn: You can inflict 200 damage to your opponent for each Spell in your GY. During the Damage Step, if this card battles an opponent's monster (Quick Effect): You can shuffle 3 "Sky Striker" Spells from your GY into the Deck; your opponent's monster's ATK becomes half its current ATK, and if it does, this card gains that lost ATK. These changes last until the end of the Damage Step. Once per turn, while this card is Extra Linked (Quick Effect): You can send 2 "Sky Striker" Spells from your Deck to the GY. You can only Special Summon "Full Armor Sky Striker Ace – Shinseina(s)" once per turn.
Trivia:
This form of "Sky Striker Ace – Raye" wears a gigantic brownish-golden mech suit with the serial number "X-001" that has twelve mechanical arms. It is equipped with various equipment as well as both melee and range weapons of different sorts, including two swords like that of her Kagari suit, two rifles like those of her Fukusha suit, two sniper rifles like that of her Hayate suit, shield generator arms like those of her Shizuku suit, construction claw-like fists like that of her Kaina suit, and enormous rocket boosters like those of her Ankoku suit, as well as two re-designed arms that were remodeled into capsules for transportation and protection, or a vacuum blast when joined together. It furthermore has devices of strategic value such as jamming wave generators or radar stealth gears, enabling it to scout just as well as her Hayate suit can do. It is very high armored and multi-functional and can transform any of its arms to those with another purpose in case she needs reinforcements on one of her functions, but its enormous energy consumption has led to the circumstance that Raye only uses this massive suit in times of absolute crisis and need. The ultimate suit of Raye that eclipses the others in every aspect but energy consumption. Its name means "sacred" in Japanese.
"If I could use this suit all the time, we would have already won the war ages ago. Too bad that it's not quite as cheaply operated as my other suits. Maybe you should start working on improvements on fuel efficiency for it." – "Full Armor Sky Striker Ace – Shinseina" submitting a complaint to her superior
A/N:
And that's it for the first half of this release. To address the elephant in the room before talking about anything else, I'm obviously not killing off the Knights of Hanoi, especially not when this arc sort of revolves around them. They'll be quite fine, the means of their survival have already been shown in this and the previous chapter, so if you can speculate and read between the lines a bit, you should be able to deduce it with a bit of luck. Now, about the other aspects of this chapter:
First off, the obvious duel between Ryoken and Betsune, where the latter's deck debuted. While I utterly despise facing Sky Striker in real life, writing with them was surprisingly pleasant. I guess one reason for that is that no matter what kind of support cards I create for them here, I can be sure that Konami will never curse me with them in the real world so I meet my untimely demise at the hands of Engage-Invade-Deploy spam. Then there is my use of the Divine Attribute in it for its boss monster. Well, with the introduction of the Heaven Attribute as a sub-attribute of it you should have already gotten an idea that I don't like to keep that attribute as exclusive as Konami does. Limiting it to the Egyptian Gods – and, in Anime and Manga, the Wicked Gods, Sacred Beasts and Polar Gods – was a pretty big waste of opportunities in my opinion, they could have used it for perfected Bohman for instance, given that half the fanbase already saw him as a sort of Divine Ignis at that point seeing that he had absorbed the majority of the elemental Ignis by then. I won't use it as excessively as the six basic attributes, but be aware that it will be far more frequent than usual in here.
Now about the main stars of this chapter, I elected to give both Betsune and Ryoken a bit of early character development, the former getting more confident and far less emotionless as a result of her victory. As for the other one, with Ryoken in particular I noticed his incredible commitment to his father's cause in the anime, so when I had to write him for the first time, I decided to interpret this commitment as a sort of result of his emotional reliance on his father, being ashamed for his treachery against his father that ended up getting Kiyoshi arrested, thus depriving him and his siblings from their parent, ruining the childhood of him and – more importantly – his two little sisters, which Ryoken felt a great deal of guilt about. As a result he then wanted to be sure that his father still loved him – as he suspected that Kiyoshi would secretly think otherwise, causing him to be so desperate on maintaining his position as he made it synonymous with keeping his father's approval, just as he saw the potential demotion as a sign of his father's hidden resentment towards him, equating it with that. But as you saw, he overcame this issue now, even if it happened in a way he didn't expect.
Back to Betsune's deck, when I scripted and wrote her duel with Ryoken I somehow came up with a parody of "Before my body is dry", a soundtrack from Kill la Kill, probably because the dynamic between Raye and Roze reminded me of that between the main characters with the mecha suits in that anime. Well, mecha suits is maybe the wrong word since Kill la Kill has a... unique way of executing that concept, but in regards to functionality it's decently fitting I suppose. Not that I would be the right person to argue about that, given that I have yet to properly watch the show (never seen an actual episode) and stumbled over it more or less after looking into the particular soundtrack named above. Also the visual aspect of said two main characters from Kill la Kill sorta reminded of how Sky Striker is one of the most sexualized archetypes in terms of fanmade artwork, hence the many jokes in that regard in this chapter by the way. Anyway, the following is more or less just a parody of "Before my body is dry"'s non-rap version, with Sky Strikers as its topic (and the problems I have with its IRL version). I advise pulling up the soundtrack for the maximum effect. View it as Christmas comedy if you will.
(The parts in italics are sung by the background voices)
From the dusty basement our dear Konami took
Spellbooks and made them mechas, giving them a new look
Made a new archetype where you wanna have three spells in grave
With a giant toolbox of effects
And if you had three spells, they would do even more
One searches and draws, one nukes the field
One's D.D. Crow with a Monster Reborn
And one's freaking Imperm plus a Change of Heart
.
You won't lose your Raye
She revives every time your Link dies
Don't be afraid, just tag out, and stop their attacks using Kaina
Go plus one every time Mobilize Engage resolves (Pot of Greed in better)
Outgrind your opponent while your spells have Spell Speed 4
.
But then a Kaiju gives your Link the sack
So that your Raye cannot come back
But then a Kaiju gives your Link the sack
So that your Raye cannot come back
But...
.
You still have enough backup
Search a new Raye and pop off
Even if your Link and Widow Anchor fade
You can still stall with Mystic Mine and floodgates
.
You won't lose your Raye
She revives every time your Link dies
Don't be afraid, just tag out, and stop their attacks using Kaina
Go plus one every time Mobilize Engage resolves (Pot of Greed in better)
Outgrind your opponent while your spells have Spell Speed 4
Anyway, onto more serious topics now. On a related note to the Sky Strikers, I gave the duel a few personal touches, mainly via Ryoken using cards in his deck that I played in my own Rokket Deck a few months ago at locals, specifically an iteration of said deck that was built to beat a certain Sky Striker player at my locals. Gozen Match, The Beginning of the End, those would be some examples, and seeing what duelist Ryoken had to face, it made sense to me to have him use similar tactics. In general, scripting duels is a lot of fun for me with plenty of opportunities to do interesting things, like the above for instance. I can also include my experiences into my card design, which usually have both casual and competitive elements.
This may just be me, but I feel like the Yugioh fanbase is generally divided into two camps: One has a competitive mindset, while the other has a casual one. The former usually cares little about Yugioh beyond the actual game – which, seeing that Yugioh is first and foremost just that, a game, might be the preferable mindset, purely logically speaking. Therefore they usually don't want to get into the anime and manga, which in my opinion is a shame since that is also an important part of Yugioh. The other group cares more about the anime and manga, and if they play the actual game, they usually don't get involved with it a lot, leading them to be oblivious about rules or believing certain things to be way more important or strong in the actual game than they actually are. From my observations, the first group would for instance be more prevalent at a local gamestore during one of its weekly tournaments – even though those are very small tournaments – and especially official tournaments at a regional or national level. The more competitive they are, the less they know about the anime and manga, with their knowledge usually being limited to Duel Monsters, and a bit of GX with some. The second group on the other hand is more prevalent in internet settings, for instance on this very website. I have more of an idea about the authors than the reviewers in that regard, but from my experiences the majority of them thinks very casually.
Now, I don't think that any of these two groups is preferable over the other, and of course there are a lot of exceptions and things that weren't taken into account by me, I just presented a few general trends I have been seeing. The competitive group knows how to actually play the game and what strategies are good, but they are often a bit condescending towards the casual part of the fanbase and are quick to make fun of strategies that are decently good, but not good enough to compete with the upper part of the currently playable decks, just because they are "not as optimal as they could be". A few of them really can't seem to wrap their heads around the fact that some players prefer playing the decks they like over ones that net them wins, which is definitely something irritating – I experienced it myself already. The casual group on the other hand acknowledges the less practice-based part of Yugioh, but falls short on the real card game. I personally find limiting oneself to anime and manga very ignorant of what Yugioh has become at this point. Once it was just a manga indeed – though one that incorporated different games and darker themes than most would assume, given that the Duel Monsters Anime is commonly watched over reading Kazuki Takahashi's actual manga, especially the first parts of it which never made the cut for the first international anime and which I consider the true Yugioh in a way, as that was what Takahashi originally intended it to be. I got into it via the card game obviously, so I don't think Takahashi's change of course was a bad move at all, but I still like the first 59 or so chapters of his manga a lot for the in comparison to the rest of the franchise unique feeling they have to them.
Anyway, back to the original point: Yugioh may have started out as a manga and anime, the latter mostly about cards, but it was honestly a bit more story-driven than focusing on the card aspect – not only did Duel Monsters only appear twice in the first 59 chapters of the manga, but even some of the duels in the anime were scripted pretty badly with very questionable plays occurring rather frequently (try getting into the more competitive spheres of the game like me and then rewatch the Duel Monsters Anime, without nostalgia goggles on you will notice a lot of very sub-optimal, if not nonsensical plays), not to mention an inconsistency in terms of rules that extended even past the infamously rule-lacking Duelist Kingdom Arc. Furthermore the final arc was designed in a way more similar to the original 59 chapters of the manga, putting less emphasis on the game of Duel Monsters, therefore being more similar to Takahashi's original vision of the story. So overall, Yugioh used to be a lot more plot-focused than spending time to truly optimize the duelist aspect of it. Hence why the anime fanbase has this casual mindset I assume, since the original show wasn't fully aimed to teach playing excellence to its watchers in my opinion.
However, as the spinoffs kept coming and the sealed product increased and increased, the actual gameplay aspect of Yugioh grew along with them, the plays in the anime becoming more effective and making more sense and the real life product creating a bigger following. Around GX was when the previously mentioned split into the competitive and casual groups I named occurred from what I can tell, as many of the competitive players I know have seen at least most of Duel Monsters, but not much more. After having had the anime experience, I assume some wanted to get more into the real game, seeing that the anime and manga at the end of the day are only promotion for the actual card game, so after watching a lot of an anime it would make sense for an individual to start showing curiosity towards playing the real game, specifically in a more competitive way in order to see what the real game is actually like. From there on out these groups evolved more or less like parallel societies, though with a decent amount of exchange between them, and like I said, there are always exceptions in that regard as one can show great interest for both the anime/manga and the real game at once, I only feel that these individuals are more of the exception than the rule.
Anyway – and geez, I'm digressing again – Yugioh at this point has developed into an incredibly popular game, so I dislike the idea of only looking into its theoretical parts (the anime and manga) and neglecting the practical part (actually playing the game seriously), which is why I dislike a fully casual mindset just as much as a fully competitive one. The competitive playerbase loses out on an incredible series of animated shows and mangas which while sometimes weird have real interesting and unusual card design, while the casual one doesn't get involved with a game that can be incredible fun, provided the right circumstances, as even I don't buy into Tier 1 decks for the most part and prefer playing in a semi-competitive environment more so than playing a bunch of mirror matches with the best deck of the time, for example. Now, I don't say that one has to spend money on it, but there are always online simulators – on which one can play more than just a certain deck from the anime which they found cool by the way. Like competitive players prefer to avoid weird, underpowered decks (that are often from the anime where they are portrayed as way better than they would deserve in a real world setting), the casual player usually avoids competitive decks because they fear to fall into a rabbit hole of endlessly paying 200 to 300 dollars every few months when a new Tier 1 deck dethrones the old one, forcing them to jump on the bandwagon of the new best deck to keep winning as much as possible.
This divide is what I believe to be the circumstance that has to be ultimately overcome eventually, in a way that balances both aspects in a healthy way. I personally sit at neither end of the spectrum, but dabble in both the casual and competitive worlds at once. I am aware that Sunavalon is by no means even able to reach Rogue Tier right now and won't be good just because its user in the anime was a powerhouse of a duelist, but at the same time I can express dislike for Engines and splashable staple cards that might make a lot of decks more playable in a competitive setting, but take away most of their individual identities as a deck in return. This mindset is what I believe to be the reason for my strength as a writer – when I design cards I don't just try to meet a quota by giving Character X that one Ritual Monster the readership expects me to give him because Characters Y and Z got a Ritual before him already, and I won't be satisfied with an effect that fulfills the bare minimum of necessities (sometimes even less, depending on the writer), but I will also try to make that card at least decently playable in a somewhat competitive environment. Many other writers – and don't feel personally attacked now, my fellow authors – tend to design cards with bad effects, objectively speaking, most often since they are either very situational or not worth it for the effort it takes to use them.
When some of them have to write certain duels, it is a chore to them since they lack appreciation for the actual game in its entirety, not playing it actively enough to be able to pilot certain decks and thus struggling to write duels featuring them. On the other hand, when I write my duels with decks I'm unfamiliar with, I see it as an opportunity to learn something new, in turn not only improving my opinion about said deck, but also broadening my total game knowledge, which in turn gives me an advantage should I ever face said deck in a duel at my locals or online. For instance, after writing this chapter I have a more neutral stance on Sky Strikers – a deck that I previously hated quite a lot – and through scripting a duel with them I have learned more about how to beat them should Konami ever unban Engage and thus unearth this unholy mecha archetype. Especially for decks I play more frequently online or even own IRL I have great enthusiasm when writing duels with them, and since I know what their strengths are and what shortcomings they have, it enables me to make significantly more helpful support cards for them, whereas other authors tend to make support cards that don't really fix the problems of the archetypes they are related to, either contributing unrelated things and thus making the deck less focused on its basic premise, or just continuing to min-max on its existing strengths, the latter of which I prefer since that at least follows the deck identity. For instance, one problem of Rokkets, one of my favorite decks, is that getting to its win condition – a Borrel plus at least one Rokket to be used as ammunition to interrupt the opponent in their plays – is rather difficult, given that the swarming of Rokkets isn't sufficient as they lack a way to search the Rokkets that are supposed to be summoned via Boot Sector's effect, in turn making the deck rather inconsistent, especially since they require further extenders in addition to those 3 Rokkets (one Normal Summoned one and two that are summoned off of Boot Sector Launch) in order to reach the four material requirement for a Borrel monster. And would you look at that, this chapter featured Goldrokket Dragon, which can search two Rokkets at the price of discarding one card for cost, as well as Imduk, which significantly increases the deck's swarming abilities!
As another example, while having one Rokket effect as interruption is good, it is nowhere near enough to compete nowadays. This is what I noticed from my many duels with the deck, hence why I introduced Borrelcore Dragon in this chapter, which not only makes Borrelguard an actually good card for the deck which had been very underwhelming prior to that, but also provides it with various ways to multiply one Borrel into two, in turn increasing the amount of interruptive plays of the deck and significantly improving it, with the wording of its effects being especially important since only a few changes to it (like using "and if you do" rather than "also" for its summoning effect) would make it a significantly worse card for its strategy. I tested the current support for Ryoken's deck and some of the future support against SakushiRyu on Dueling Book via its custom card system (many thanks to him again by the way), and had him pilot both some of his own custom archetypes and Full Power Salamangreat I believe (maybe the Salamangreat one was with And then the sky instead, can't clearly remember, but my thanks to him as well, just to be sure). And I can confidently tell you that Rokket with these additions is actually quite a formidable deck, even in a competitive environment. Maybe not as a Tier 1 strategy, but I'm quite sure it can reach Tier 2 or 3, even without Imduk having its Legend Ability, so Ryoken actually gets to live up to his power in the anime now, even outside of my duel scripts. It's this kind of card design and duel writing that is in my opinion the better approach, and it might be part of the reason why this story attracts far more people than I originally expected.
Anyway, excuse me for the previous couple of paragraphs since I digressed a bit, but I felt like sharing some of my experiences, observations and thoughts with you, and I hope that my fellow authors and reviewers aren't offended by its contents.
Now, for some other parts, since we were already on Rokkets and Rokketeer Imduk, I'd like to quickly address the topic of Legends Monsters and the Card Lore Aspect of this story. Legend Monsters, like Ryoken already stated, are monsters that give the player using them a certain effect, just by virtue of having them in their decks at the start of the duel. These abilities can be used independently from the monster itself (it doesn't have to be in a place of Public Knowledge, like the field or graveyard), and are all capped at once per duel. They will be very rare though, so don't expect too many of them running about, as only the World Legacy Incarnations will have them. Those are only seven people in total – ones corresponding to the five World Legacy Main Characters, plus one for the mysterious figure at the end of this chapter that was with Lector Perfectio, as well as one for Fee, Lee's sister. The Incarnations are all main characters though, so while you won't see everyone and their mom using Legend Monsters, you will see a select few people using them pretty frequently.
Now, about the card lore aspect of the story: I always wanted to include card lore in one of my stories at some point, as there are certain card lore cycles that just deserve the attention in my opinion due to how detailed, complex and compelling they are, for instance Konami could make an entire anime out of the whole Duel Terminal and World Legacy ordeals that would probably be longer than Season 3 of Vrains (then again, that is not really that difficult, given how short it was. Still, I can see them taking at least 24 episodes for the Duel Terminal Lore if they really go into detail with it). Thus, for this story I decided to go all in with that, as doing it in a half-baked way felt rather off-putting to me. While I know that the World Legacy in particular is seeing use in stories like SakushiRyu's Overdrive or Donjusticia's Co-Linked, I'm not sure about whether any of those writers including it into the typical adventure-type fic has ever went this much into detail with it. For me, to truly make the experience enjoyable, there was the obvious choice of making it more detailed by featuring actual scenes from it rather than only alluding to it to a certain extent, making the whole lore more touchable that way. I also elected to let it have a big influence on the progression of the story, the actions of the characters in the lore mirroring that of their incarnations to a degree, and its overall themes and events also being relevant for events in the plot that resemble these lore developments. However, to not simply narrate about something that has already been finished, I chose to change the ending of the World Legacy Lore, start a second part of it that continues with the first, canonical one, as well as using the world building I established to my advantage to add the Duel Terminal and Draco Lore into the mix to make it even more spectacular. I hope that you like my way of incorporating card lore so far, and are looking forward to more of it. By the way, I'm really glad that I waited so long with releasing these chapters, seeing that the official World Legacy Lore has only been revealed fairly recently, preventing me from prematurely releasing these chapters and therefore having to retcon things that I wrote which then turned out to be uncanonical. While I am changing a few things in regards to the lore to make my additions to it more natural and compelling, I still prefer to stay as close to the source material as possible.
On a related note, let us briefly address an element from the final scene in this chapter, namely Tierra. As some of you know, there is an additional group of God Cards that is relatively unknown due to not being featured in the anime, the Star Gods, or Soseishin in the original language. Readers of scififan599's Hidden Memories should already be familiar with two of them, namely Sophia, Goddess of Rebirth, and Tierra, Source of Destruction, the currently missing one being Avida, Rebuilder of Worlds. In Japanese their names include "Soseishin", meaning "Creator Star God" or "Genesis Star God", though it is translated as "Dual Star God" in case of Avida, while in English they obviously share no name similarities, hence why the group is a very unknown series of cards not being able to even be identified as coherent by the western fanbase when only looking at the card names. In Hidden Memories they are only fancy boss monsters, but in this story their role is much bigger. You see, in the Duel Terminal and World Legacy Lore they are sort of the final bosses, the ultimate entities, so in a card lore-heavy fic like this one they will obviously be very important. You can about compare it to the purpose the Egyptian Gods had in Duel Monsters. Speaking of which, I used the former as a sort of reference when planning how to use the Star Gods. You see, if a group such as the Egyptian Gods were so fearsome in the anime and manga while being horrible and pretty much unplayable in real life (though the recent support for them mended these wounds a little), having so much better effects in anime and manga, then how powerful would cards such as the Star Gods be, were they to get anime versions? Speaking about the real versions of all the respective cards, like all God Cards the Star Gods are hard to summon, even more so than the Egyptian Gods, but unlike them their arrival is actually worth the investment, often either ending the game or forcing the opponent into a miserable state from which they can barely claw their way back, due to them having non-response clauses on both their summon and effects. While I did not give them new abilities like Divine Hierarchy-based unaffection or something ridiculous like that, I slightly changed their effects, adding very little things to them, since they honestly already do their job well enough. The changes I made were merely to make them slightly more dignified in their use within the story, so don't worry about them having similar power ratios between their IRL and Anime/Fanfic versions as the Egyptian Gods do.
To also address another new card group, the Divine Calling cards were introduced this chapter. Unlike the Legends Monsters they will have their chronological debut in Dawn of Twilight, being conceived because I found the idea to always include new Monster Card Types rather than broadening the range of backrow types pretty lackluster, seeing that with about every new spinoff we get a new summoning method. Hence why I liked Vrains and their introduction of Link Spells, which broke the mold in that regard. Divine Calling is a subtype that can apply to either a Spell or a Trap, being a Fast Effect by default, meaning that Divine Calling Spells work like Quick-Play Spells in that regard. However, unlike them they can still be activated during the turn when they were placed face-down, which enables them to be used as bait while still remaining able to be used. They don't need any once per turn clauses, as each player can only activate one Divine Calling card per turn. In return for that restriction and their limitation in terms of the effect spectrum, only having effects that summon monsters, they do that extraordinary well though, even bypassing rule barriers like reviving Special Summon-only monsters that have not been properly summoned yet. This makes them even better than a few effects that can summon a monster ignoring summoning conditions, as ignoring summoning conditions may get around fulfilling said summoning conditions, but does not outrank rule barriers like the previously mentioned one.
A brief note about the cards shown at the very beginning of the chapter: I am probably a bit more familiar with the concept of card rarity than those who don't play the real game, and though rarity does determine the value of a card in real life quite a lot, it has far less importance in the anime. Nevertheless, it does also appear there from time to time – for instance the Arc-V episode where Yugo chases after Yuri in the Synchro-Dimension does show a close-up of the Starving Venom Fusion Dragon card, which has golden name lettering and is therefore most likely an Ultra Rare. Another noteworthy example is Chosaku Manjoume from GX having only Parallel Rare monsters. A few boss monsters like Sephylon, the Ultimate Timelord are also shown to be Ultra Rares, emphasizing their power in comparison with the protagonist cards which are most often of the Common rarity (though I've also seen less powerful cards like Urgent Tuning as an Ultra Rare in the anime for instance). Now, if there is card whose rarity is an amalgamation of about every rarity that is considered prestigious, you can easily assume how powerful those cards are, seeing that a final antagonist Ace Monster like Sephylon didn't even manage to make the cut for the Secret Rare rarity. So in short, I'm using rarity as a little detail to express the power that a certain card has. Also, before any questions in regards to its name arise, I decided to name the custom rarity of those three cards "Celestial Rare". And yes, the three colors I chose for their letters and borders were inspired by those of the Egyptian Gods, who were the original precedence case of using the design of a card to emphasize on its power, given that the Sangenshin used entirely different colors from all other basic Effect-Monsters.
Oh, one more thing, since I forgot to mention that: As you saw, Ryoken's ace monster starting package is bigger than his canonical one. He not only has Borreload, but Borrelsword and Borrelguard as well, plus the uncanonical Borrelcore. He already had two Topologics as well, now three, so as you may guess, the monsters he will gain during this season will mostly be uncharted territory for you, being ones created by yours truly. This difference to the canon has one simple reason: If you haven't noticed it already, the characters in this story are often stronger than their canon counterparts, as evident by Playmaker's performance against Heavenmail in Chapter 2 and 3. They are generally speaking more powerful iterations of their canon selves, those differences in power being due to the fact that they are not said canon selves. That's the beauty of a multiversal world building by the way, I can change things around and reinterpret them, and at the same time I never sully anything about the canon since, for all we know, Canon Vrains could be one of the countless planets in one of the 100 universes in this story, therefore being left untouched, technically speaking, with the persons I may have taken a bit out of character simply being a totally different, though similar person as the canonical one.
Now, as for the Question of the Chapter which I implore you to answer if you can, I wanted to address the card lore aspect, with a bit of speculation on your part included.
QOTC: What are your thoughts on my incorporation of card lore into the story, and who do think could be the World Legacy Incarnations of the other characters besides Imduk, whose Incarnation is Ryoken?
Before giving you the title preview for the next chapter, I quickly wanted to notify you that I requested a commission a few months back, showing Betsune. So if you want to get more of an idea about her and maybe have an early look at her Vrains Avatar, then go to my DeviantArt page please. My name is very similar on that website too, being "HaohryuZ-ARC", so you shouldn't have much trouble finding it. Now, as for the chapter preview:
Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Destiny Junction: "Omen of Famine – Thirst for Completion"
Well, this chapter will be the last one for now, see you in five days then! Please read, review, favorite, follow! And, of course, a Merry Christmas to everyone!
Until next time,
HAOH RYU Z-ARC out!