Foreword: Finally a new chapter...and a short one too. Hopefully I get the motivation to write a longer chapter after all this business I'm going through.
Touhou Duel Masters Café
Chapter 28: Phantasmal Reality – Illusion
The tournament was today.
The Gensokyo-wide tournament included some regions not in Gensokyo, such as Old Hell and Chireiden, the underworld, Tenkai, Senkai and such, like the previous ones before it.
It was a quick announcement, but the participants, dueling every day for entertainment, tuned their deck to the finest, and were already prepared for this day.
Reimu could put down her duties as the Hakurei Miko for this duration thanks to Michael and Jonathan taking up responsibility for maintaining the order of the tournament, along with the Yakumo family and others.
The rules of the tournament were explained quickly. Every participant has 10 stars in their stockpile. A star would be taken from the loser to the victor in every duel, and the 16 participants with most stars would advance to the next round. Those who lose all of their stars would be eliminated in the preliminary round. The time Limit is 1 week.
And right after the announcement, the war started.
Alice strut through the Forest of Magic, carrying her grimoire bound with a red ribbon. She brushed through her medium-length hair, looking around for any signs of other duelists.
A wind swept up, a small whirlpool of leaves whipping up in front of the magician.
Wind…It's her.
As if reading her mind, the crow tengu Alice was thinking of landed in front of her, surrounded by the swirling leaves. Shameimaru Aya. The tengu's black wings folded up behind her as she greeted the blonde girl in front of her.
"Good morning, Alice-san." Aya bowed lightly.
"Shinbun-ya." Alice responded.
"I see you're free now. I guess you can be my first opponent for the tournament?" Aya asked, her duel orb glowing and placing 1 star on the bet.
"…" Alice pondered. My deck would be at a disadvantage, considering Aya's playstyle… But I won't back down from a challenge even if the odds are against me!
"Very well. I accept your challenge." Alice duel orb glowed likewise, placing 1 star on the bet.
"As expected of the puppet master." Aya smiled, the wind around her blowing more ferociously, responding to her emotions. 5 shields expanded around her as her duel orb projected out the duel zone, her deck going in place where they should be.
"Let's start this then." Alice's shields materialized as she prepared her deck too.
"Duema, Start!"
"I summon Topgear." The humanoid Outrage wielding a bow on his right arm and clad in a red suit materialized on Aya's field as the tengu summoned her first creature. "Now my first Fire creatures I summon each turn cost 1 less. Turn End."
"As expected of a Red Zone deck…First move Topgear." Alice drew a card as she started her turn. "Hopefully this shall stall you for a turn or two."
Charging Emperor Hole into her mana, the blonde magician tapped both of her available mana. "I summon Suicide Doll Jenny." The 2 cost Death Puppet, wielding her trusty chainsaw, appeared on the battle zone.
"Alice, make sure you get a clean hit!" Jenny told her summoner, to which Alice responded with a nod. "I destroy Jenny, and with her effect I discard a card from your hand."
"…I choose the middle card." Alice decided.
"…" The black-haired crow tengu seemed unfazed as Jenny slashed The Zet away from her hand before disappearing into light and dropping into Alice's graveyard.
"Turn End."
"Watashi no Turn. Draw." Aya drew her deck top with a swift flick of her wrist, catching the card with 2 fingers. "Mana Charge. I summon The Red with 3 mana thanks to Topgear."
The Sonic Command, riding on his red motorbike, crashed down from the sky, and raising his arm, a seal was taken off the sealed Dokindam, leaving 5 cards on top of the forbidden creature.
"Battle phase. I attack Alice-san's shields with The Red. Then Invasion! I evolve The Red into Turbo 3." Bathed a white light, The Red jumped into the air with his bike, and after being encased in the cocoon of evolution, the larger Sonic Command broke out and resumed the attack on the magician.
"Since I put a red command into the battle zone, I remove another seal." Aya snapped her fingers, and another seal dropped from Dokindam to her graveyard.
"Turbo 3! Double Break!" Turbo 3 rushed at Alice, and swiping his arm, through two of Alice's shields, and the fragments reformed as cards in her hand.
"…" Alice frowned, looking at her broken shields. "No trigger." Turbo 3…The main draw source of Red Zone…But looking at Aya's mana zone, it's apparent her deck is Red Black Red Zone…I can't get rid of Turbo 3 now too…
"..." No Phantasm Clutch…good. Aya touched her chin as she thought, her slim, delicate fingers caressing her soft skin. "Turbo 3's ability. After his attack, I can discard my hand and draw 3 cards. Since I have no cards in my hand, I discard none and draw 3 cards! Turn End."
"This doesn't look too good…" Alice's grimoire vanished from her arms as she grabbed ahold of her cards in her hand. "Draw."
"I summon School Man." The black Hedrian modeled after a school, dripping dark ooze from his body, appeared on the battle zone, and was engulfed in an explosion the next instant. "School Man's forced ability. When he is put into the battle zone, I destroy two of my creatures and you must destroy one of yours."
"I destroy Topgear." The Outrage's card bounced from the battle zone to Aya's graveyard.
"…Turn End." Alice declared.
"My turn, draw. I charge a mana and summon The Zet. Then I take off another seal off Dokindam." Aya tapped 4 cards in her mana, summoned yet another Sonic Command, and took off the 3rd seal from Dokindam.
"Battle! Turbo 3! Double Break!" Turbo 3 once again swiped at Alice's shields, but this time Alice wasn't going to let Aya have her way.
As Alice put the second shield in her hand, she revealed it to be Deadzone, and declared her move. "Strike Back! I discard the Deadzone added to my hand from my shields, and cast Phantasm Clutch!"
"…!" Aya resisted clicking her tongue. Phantasm Clutch now…!
"I destroy one of your tapped creatures with the spell's effect. Be gone, Turbo 3!" A dark hand gripped the Sonic Command, crushing him and sending him to Aya's graveyard.
…Discarding Deadzone means it's actually no-cost considering Deadzone's S Rank Invasion…Can't think about that too much now!
"The Zet! Break Alice-san's last shield!" The Zet obeyed her orders, crushing Alice's final shield. "...End Phase. The Zet attacked, so he is destroyed. Turn End." Aya's last creature dissolved into light as she ended her turn.
"My turn. I summon Zabi Barrel. You must choose and discard one card from your hand." The Death Puppet/Alien materialized on the blonde magician's field.
"….." Aya looked her hand. "I discard The Mach." She dropped the Sonic Command with a semi-search ability from her hand to her graveyard.
"Not that it matters much more, Tengu." Alice remarked, revealing 2 more cards in her hand. "Gravity Zero! Pet Puppet! I cast this spell for no cost if I have a Death Puppet in the battle zone, and I discard two cards from your hand since I cast two of these. Now you'll have to top deck your next move. Turn End." The last of Aya's hand, Revive Hole and Entertainer, were discarded.
"…Not good." Aya clicked her tongue, her easygoing and light attitude faltering. "…Draw. I charge The Black into my mana zone. Turn End."
"My turn. I cast Revive Hole." The magician tapped 5 cards in her mana. "I salvage School Man from my graveyard and bring out Volg Thunder!" The jet black Hunter Demon Command modeled after a tiger, sword of energy projecting from the scar on his chest, pounced out of a hole to the Hyperdimension. "I'll have him mill your deck with his effect." Volg Thunder's flashed crimson at this command.
Aya's deck top revealed itself one by one, dropping Revive Hole and The Mach into the graveyard, and stopped at the 2nd creature, Redzone.
"Good work you did there." Alice praised Volg. "Turn End."
"My turn, draw!" Aya swiped her deck top with two fingers. "…! I summon Evil Heat!" The Demon Command Dragon possessing both the colors black and red, decorated with bones and having a vine with jaws for a tail crashed down on Aya's battle zone. "I take off the 4th seal off Dokindam! Then with Evil Heat's effect, I mill my deck top and return a creature to my hand. I return Redzone!"
"…!" Alice clutched her hand.
"Battle phase! I attack with Evil Heat and Invasion! Redzone! 5th seal! I destroy Volg!" Aya ordered, and Evil Heat evolved into the Sonic Command after being bathed in a whirlpool of flames.
"Ninja Strike 4! Hayabusamaru!" Alice threw the Shinobi into the battle zone, and the white Initiate turned himself into a blocker, blocking the attack from Redzone but was destroyed in the process.
"…Turn End." Aya declared.
"My turn. No charge. Cast another Revive Hole and return Hayabusamaru. Then I bring out Black Ganveet to destroy the tapped Redzone!" The Psychic Demon Command appeared, trampling Redzone under his horse's hooves. "Turn End."
"Watashi no…Turn!" Aya drew her next card, and her eyes glinted as she peeked at it. "I'm sorry, Alice-san, I guess this is the end."
"…!"
"I summon Riot 5000GT!" The red dragonoid Outrage whose left arm is transformed into a saw materialized from a blazing inferno, slashing apart Black Ganveet and Zabi Barrel. "I destroy all psychics and creatures with 5000 or less power with his come into play effect."
"…And no one can summon any creature with 5000 power or less or put psychics into the battle zone." Alice sighed. "It's my defeat. I surrender."
As soon as she said that, the duel field dissolved along with the creatures.
"Guess I'll get 1 star from you, Alice-san." Aya's duel orb blinked, a screen popping up and indicating she received 1 star from her opponent. Alice's orb did likewise, a star decreasing from her stock.
"Well then, Alice-san, see you and good luck!" The crow tengu took off, leaving dust and a pile of leaves in her wake, as Alice shook her head and summoned her grimoire again. She walked off, murmuring to herself how she could've played better and preparing herself for her next match.
"Seems everything is going pretty smoothly." Michael said as he looked away from the gap that showed the outcome of the match.
"Hopefully that stays the same for the remainder of the tournament." Jonathan replied as he stared into another gap beside him, showing another match between Keine and Mystia, where Keine was burning away all of Mystia's mana, preventing the bird youkai form summoning any Fire Birds or dragons.
"Ah…as expected of Keine-sensei."
Yukari sat on one of her gaps above the two boys, enjoying a cup of sake. "Just remember you're the ones response for taking care of cheaters and other trouble-makers in place of the usual girls. It's been a decade since you've been gone, so do be careful," She took a sip from her cup.
"We'll try. It still seems like yesterday, after all." Michael replied, standing up and exercising his tired muscles. "Just hopefully there won't be any big trouble this time round."
"Hm…who knows." Yukari brushed a few strands of long blonde hair out of her eyes. "This is Gensokyo, after all. Anything can happen even under our watch."
"…" Jonathan massaged his temples. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're right. We can only observe and watch out."
"…" A figure watched the shrine from the woods, and in a blink of an eye, it vanished, leaving only silence in its place.
Decks:
Alice: Blue Black Handdes(青黒ハンデス)
Aya: Red Black Redzone(赤黒レッドゾーン)