Coral: This may be the second longest chapter I've ever done.
Aki: Still good record. Though there's something here that bothers me.
Coral: Before you say what it is, a warning to all readers! There is a bit of blood in this story and murder! Do not call me sadist! If I was, I wouldn't be concerned about what you say or warned you about this chapter! So brace yourselves!
Aki: You don't have to day it that loud.
Coral: How else am I going to get the message through?!
Aki: You didn't need to shout though.
Coral: Still~ Anyway, if possible, try and enjoy this chapter. Especially one reader in particular, I hope this chapter won't affect you in many ways. You know who you are. Everyone else... If this chapter also affects you in a bad way, I am sorry!
Normal dialogue
Life Points/Monster stats
*LOCATION CHANGE/ CHANGE IN P.O.V*
Attacks/Effects
'thoughts'
Language other than Japanese (this is English sub after all)
Today was finally the day. The day of Judai, Shou and Kohaku's punishment duels. It was also the day that Kohaku would reveal her true gender to the whole school.
"Today's finally the day, huh?" Kohaku asked her Spirit Partner.
"Indeed. Do you remember the plan?" Time Space Magician asked his duelist.
"You should know that I never forget a detail about this kind of thing."
"Of course."
"Yep. Now shoo; I need to change." The 'Circus Freak' monster spirit left the room, giving his master some privacy.
At the main dueling stadium, after the school day was over, all the students and teachers alike took their seats or just stood by the railings.
"So it starts at last..." Misawa thought out loud.
"A Tag Duel..." He looked and saw Asuka and Alex making their way over to him. "Judai may have said he had never been in one before."
"You're Tenjouin Asuka from Obelisk Blue and Alejandro Nagase from Osiris Red."
"That's right," Alex confirmed.
"It seems you somewhat have a connection to Judai as well," Asuka observed.
"Right," Misawa replied.
"It's my fault that this happened. And he should've been partnered with me. But even so, I have a feeling that he'll manage to pull through. Him and Kohaku."
"Speaking of, do any of you two know what happened to Kohaku?" Alex asked. "I walked by his room earlier to get him here, but he wasn't there. Not only that, his school uniform was on his bed..."
"Oh that? Well, you'll both see soon. Though with how well you get along with Kohaku, I thought you were told already."
"About what?"
"... Well, you'll see."
Judai and Shou both entered the arena.
"Wow! It sure is packed!" Judai exclaimed in excitement.
"We'll be dueling in front of all these people?" Shou asked.
"So let's put some fire into it!"
"Geez, come on, Big Bro."
"Hey, Hayato's here," Judai noticed.
Shou looked at the direction he was looking at. "You're right."
"Thank goodness... I made it in time..." Hayato muttered.
"Yo!" Judai waved.
"Well then, we will now begin the first Punishment Duel!" Chronos announced. "Fiore Kohaku to the field!" For some reason, however, Kohaku wasn't present. "I repeat, Fiore Kohaku to the field!"
"Big Bro, where's Kohaku?" Shou asked in a worried tone.
"Kohaku! Where are you?!" Judai shouted.
"If Fiore Kohaku doesn't show himself within five seconds, he will be disqualified and expelled!"
"IT'S SHOWTIME~!" came a familiar voice, yet slightly different somehow. The lights in the room were suddenly turned off, leaving on a spotlight on one side of the room. They turned to the direction and saw one thing most of them couldn't believe. "Hola~! Bonjour~! Hello, everybody~! Today's finally the day of the Punishment Duel~!"
Fiore Kohaku was in an acrobatic clothes. And they're female's. With how its hugging her body, it made it quite obvious, to their surprise, that Kohaku's actually a girl.
She jumped off the big speakers, making a huge dive to the floor. Some people looked away, not wanting to witness someone's death. Instead of awaiting death, Kohaku activated her duel disk and summoned Circus Freak Trampoline. Not only did it break her fall, she managed to jump to her spot on the arena. Everyone broke into an applaud at her stunt.
"Thank you~! Thank you very much~!" she waved to the crowd. The lights went back on.
"Na no ne?! S-Signore Fiore! You're a girl?!" Chronos asked.
"Huh? You mean you didn't know? I thought all teachers already know about my gender."
"Oh, that's what I forgot to mention the other day," Samejima spoke in realization.
"You knew, Principal?!" the male Obelisk Headmaster asked.
"Yes. In fact, with how the rest were reacting, I thought I already announced it."
"Woman's intuition," female Obelisk's Headmaster, Emi Ayukawa, explained how she found out.
"I wondered why she always wake up early for showers and assumed-nya," Daitokuji explained his reason.
"I kind of met her before she transferred to this school," Kabayama, Ra Yellow's Headmaster explained his.
Chronos was in huge shock that he was the only teacher/Headmaster who didn't know Kohaku's real gender up til now.
"So, who's my opponent?" the student in question asked, breaking him out of his shock.
"Yes. Will Kohaku be facing a teacher or an Obelisk student?" Samejima also asked. "Or could you be the one dealing these things again?"
"Not quite. We are having this duel to deliberate their punishment for breaking school rules entering the off-limit zone. And so, the opponents must be appropriate for the task. Now then, for Signore- I mean, Signora Fiore's opponent is-"
The lights were off once again, only this time with the spotlight on the other side of the dueling platform. Before anyone could ask what happened, dark smoke suddenly sprung from the ground in the spotlight. The smoke cleared and revealed a man in a red suit, wearing a big black and blue bow tie, same colored mask and a red top hat with blue and black stripes.
"Pandora the Conjurer!" Chronos introduced, as the lights went back on.
"Pandora?!" Misawa repeated.
"Not good at all," Hayato muttered, taking a seat on the other side of him.
"He was said to be the one other person who uses Dark Magician, besides the King of Games, Muto Yugi," Asuka recalled.
"Now I am worried for Kohaku's sake..." Alex said.
"Big Bro... Will Kohaku be okay? I heard that Pandora was one of the people who was a Dark Duelist," Shou whispered to his partner.
"Kohaku will be okay. Besides, the Games of Darkness doesn't exist," Judai assured.
"Oh? I'm going to enjoy this," Manjoume said, disregarding the fact that one of the people he despised is a girl. Why would he despise her? Let's just say... she made a fool out of more than enough Obelisks, it made him quite angry that Elites were beaten by a laid-back, reckless, Osiris duelist.
"Hmm. So you are my opponent?" Pandora asked.
"And what if I am?" Kohaku asked back.
"No reason. Just have a small feeling like I've seen someone like you."
"Don't know who that person is, don't care. I'm not letting anything get in the way of my dueling style."
"Yes. Of what I heard, you love to entertain the audience. Just so happens that I do as well, though in a different manner."
"Chronos..." the Principal called. "Out of all people you called, why must it be a Ghoul?"
"Don't worry. Pandora had changed his ways, so he is okay- no ne," Chronos answered. He turned back at the two duelists. "Both of you, shuffle the other's decks." They both walked to the middle of the field and shuffled each other's deck. After shuffling, they returned each other's deck and walked back to their position. "Now then, the rules will be the same, only you will both be starting with 8000 Life Points. Is that clear- no ne?"
"It's okay with me," Kohaku agreed.
"Same here," Pandora followed. "But before we start, why don't we make things more interesting?" He took off his bow tie and took out what seemed to be a gold pendant. The one certain characteristic about the pendant caught Kohaku's eyes.
"That can't be! There shouldn't be any more of those!" she shouted in shock.
"But it is," Pandora smirked. "Let's make this a Game of Darkness!" The pendant glowed and purple flames came out of nowhere and surrounded the two duelists.
"Game of Darkness?!" Shou repeated in shock.
"What are you saying? It has to be a trick. Like that guy Kohaku beat," Judai protested.
"It is no trick, boy. Now that the Game of Darkness has begun, I will take great pleasure in making your friend here suffer!" the former, or not so former, Ghoul cackled.
"A real Game of Darkness?!" Hayato gasped.
"That's crazy! Kohaku's not dueling for her stay here anymore; she's going to duel for her life!" Misawa exclaimed.
"This isn't good," Asuka said, worried for her friend.
"Kohaku... Good luck," Alex could only say.
"There's no way it exists," Manjoume said, not believing a single detail of what Pandora said. "Though he's really making that dropout girl tremble." It was true, when the flames came, Kohaku couldn't help but stare at the flames in shock and... fear?
From the stands, Shou's older brother, otherwise known as the Kaiser of Duel Academia, Marufuji Ryo, also looked at the duel in shock, though he still had on his poker face.
"Chronos!" Samejima shouted in disappointment.
"What- no ne?! I didn't know this would happen! Honest- na no ne!" the male Obelisk Headmaster panicked.
'I thought all those rumors about the Games of Darkness were just rumors! I never thought they were actually real!' he thought.
"What's wrong girl? Scared? Don't worry; I'll make sure your death will be quick and painless~" Pandora snickered.
"Purple flames... This couldn't be..." Kohaku muttered, not hearing a word from other people.
"Hey hey. Are we going to duel or what?" At the mention that she was in a duel, Kohaku broke out of her trance.
"DUEL!"
Pandora: 8000 LP
Kohaku: 8000 LP
"I'll take the first turn," the Dark Duelist said, drawing his sixth card. "I activate Name Reasoning. My opponent calls on a monster level. I send cards from the top of my deck to the Graveyard until I reach a monster that can be Normal Summoned. If the level they call is the right one, I send the monster to the Graveyard. However, if they call it wrong, I am able to Special Summon that monster."
"Kohaku's got one chance out of twelve. Knowing her luck, she should be able to call on the right card," Hayato said.
"If only it works that way," Asuka said, confusing him.
"It's one thing to be lucky with your own deck but..." Misawa began to explain.
"With someone else's deck, it's not that easy at all," Alex finished.
"... Level... 4" Kohaku declared.
Pandora revealed the first card, which was a trap card. Sending that to the Grave, he revealed his next card, which was a Magic card. After sending that, he revealed the next card. It was a monster, but not a level 4.
"No way!"
"But it is. From my deck, I Special Summon Black Magician!" On Pandora's field was a green-skinned blonde man in a purple robe.
Black Magician: Level 7/DARK/Spellcaster/2500 ATK/2100 DEF
"I'm not done yet. From my hand I activate Ancient Rule. This allows me to Special Summon a Level 5 or higher Normal Monster from my hand. Come out, Black Magician!"
"Two Black Magician!?" the female Osiris gasped, as another Black Magician in a red robe appeared next to the first Black Magician.
"And I'm not done yet. I activate Ante Match from my hand. Both players reveal 1 card from their hand. The revealed card with the lower level is sent to the Graveyard and the person who sent that card takes 1000 damage," Pandora continued, picking out a card from his hand. "Well? Choose a card from your hand."
Kohaku looked at her hand. 'Time Space Magician is not in my hand. My highest level monster is 4. In my hand My only Level 4 monster is Circus Freak Animal Trainer. I have a bad feeling about the card he chose but... There's no choice.' She took out her monster card.
"I reveal Circus Freak Animal Trainer, Level 4!" she exclaimed.
"Hmm... How sad..." Pandora said in response. That moment, Kohaku sighed in relief. "For you that is!" He revealed his card to be yet another Black Magician.
"A third?!"
"Now send your card to the Graveyard." The 'Circus Freak' duelist reluctantly sent her monster in her Graveyard Slot. "And take 1000 points of damage!" The purple flames near Kohaku suddenly shot out and burned her, causing her to scream in pain.
Pandora: 8000 LP
Kohaku: 7000 LP
"Kohaku!" her friends cried in worry.
"Oi! Are you okay?!" Judai called.
"I-... I'm fine..." she answered.
"Not for long. I end my turn," the 'Black Magician' duelist ended.
"My turn. Draw." Kohaku drew her next card. "The show has just begun! From my hand, I activate Early Performance! This Instant Magic allows me to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower 'Circus Freak' monster from my hand or deck. From my deck, I Special Summon Circus Freak Contact Juggler!" The object-manipulator monkey came onto her field.
Circus Freak Contact Juggler: Level 4/DARK/Spellcaster/0 ATK/2000 DEF
"Then I summon Circus Freak Stilt Walker!" The short stilt-walking monster appeared next to its ally.
Circus Freak Stilt Walker: Level 2/DARK/Spellcaster/800 ATK/1600 DEF
"I end my turn with two face-downs."
"My turn then. Draw." He made a gesture to draw a card. "Or so you thought. From my Graveyard, I activate my Magic Card, Magic Blast. During my Draw Phase, instead of drawing a card, I could add this card from my Graveyard to my hand during my Draw Phase." He added the said card to his hand. "Then I tribute one of my Black Magician to Special Summon Black Executioner from my hand!" One of his Black Magicians seemed to have changed his attire and staff.
Black Executioner: Level 7/DARK/Spellcaster/2500 ATK/2100 DEF
"I don't like where this is going," the 'Circus Freak' duelist stated.
"But I do~ I activate Pot of Greed from my hand. This allows me to draw two cards." Pandora drew two more cards. "And by the way, Black Execution's special ability. When a Normal Spell card is activated, my opponent takes 1000 damage!" Everyone gasped at the info. "Speaking of, here! Take the 1000!" Pandora's monster shot out purple lightning at Kohaku. She screamed in even greater pain, compared to the last hit.
Pandora: 8000 LP
Kohaku: 6000 LP
"Then I activate Resurrection of the Dead, bringing back my Black Magician!" One of Pandora's magicians returned to the field. "And because I used a Normal Magic, you take another 1000!" Black Executioner let out another purple lightning at Kohaku, who once again screamed in great pain and now just barely standing on her feet.
Pandora: 8000 LP
Kohaku: 5000 LP
"Oh, what's wrong? Don't tell me you're already done. As you said earlier, the show has just begun! I activate the Equip Magic, Curse Charm. You will know its ability soon enough. For now, I'll equip this card to your Contact Juggler." A scroll of some kind with dark aura appeared in Contact Juggler's hand.
'Why would he equip his card to my monster?' the female duelist couldn't help but wonder.
"Because it wasn't a Normal Magic card I used, Black Executioner's effect doesn't activate. However, I activate Magic Blast! A Normal Magic that deals 200 damage to my opponent for each Spellcaster-type monster I control! I have three one my field! That's 600 plus 1000 points from Black Executioner!" Kohaku's eyes widened as all three Spellcasters shot out their lightning and energy balls at her. Taking so much damage non-stop, it became too difficult for her to stay on her feet.
Pandora: 8000 LP
Kohaku: 3400 LP
"Glad... we started with... 8000..." she managed to get out.
"But you won't live long enough to see the next minute!" Pandora told her. "I'll have Black Magician attack your Contact Juggler! Black Magic!"
"Contact Juggler's monster effect! When targeted for an attack, I send the top card of my deck to the Graveyard and negate the attack! Then a Circus Counter is put on him! Contact Manipulator!"
"Huh?!" Kohaku sent the top card of her deck to her grave, having Contact Juggler send Black Magician's magic attack away from him.
"The card sent to the grave just now... was Circus Freak Flame Archer! When sent to the graveyard, in any way, my opponent takes 1000 points of damage! Blaze Arrow!" An image of her archer 'Circus Freak' appeared behind her as it took aim and took away some of Pandora's Life.
Pandora: 7000 LP
Kohaku: 3400 LP
"How's that?"
Pandora stood there, not moving a muscle. When he raised his head, his reaction was one that was the most unexpected. "How refreshing~"
"Refreshing?!"
"Of course~ What kind of person would I be if I enjoy giving pain and yet be scared of getting it myself~?"
"You actually like it?! You're mad!"
"That I am~! And am proud of actually~! Enough dilly-dallying. My other Black Magician attacks Contact Juggler! Black Magic!"
"Contact Juggler's special ability only works once per turn. So it can't be used again," Kohaku explained, as her monster got destroyed. Just when it was destroyed, a shadow-figurine of her destroyed monster appeared before her and stuck her like a fire arrow. To make matters worse, the shadow arrow struck her near her heart. Even more worse, as soon as the shadow disappeared, a hole was formed on her chest, blood leaking out.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she shrieked... No, not even shriek can be used to described the pain she felt.
"KOHAKU!" her friends cried out. Some other students looked away, or even ran out the stadium, not wanting to see or hear anymore of the duel. The teachers watched in deep concern. In fact, a few actually tried to interfere or stop the duel themselves, along with Judai and, surprisingly, Shou, only for them all to be forced back.
"Wha-... What...?" Kohaku tried to speak, lying on the ground, holding onto her wound.
"What happened? Curse Charm happened," the sadist duelist began to explain. "If the monster equipped to it is destroyed and that card is sent to the Graveyard, the controller of the monster once equipped to it takes damage equal to its original DEF. Your monster's DEF was 2000, so that was 2000 damage to you~"
Pandora: 7000 LP
Kohaku: 1400 LP
"Now for the end~! Black Executioner attacks Stilt Walker! Black Execution!" The last spellcaster let out some deadly lightning attack at Kohaku's Attack Position monster.
"KOHAKU! LOOK OUT!" Alex shouted.
Just before the attack can hit, the targeted monster switched its Battle Position, just managing to avoid destruction.
"What's this?!" Pandora demanded.
"Stilt Walker's... effect... When attacked... while in Attack Position... the attack can be... negated by... changing the Battle Position... to Defense... then a counter is gained..." the barely alive duelist explained, as her monster's sticks were now made of plastic.
"Tch. So you managed to avoid death. Well, congratulations. You get to live another minute after all. But next turn is all over for you."
"My turn... D-..." Before Kohaku could draw her hand, her right arm went limp and she just lied there... not moving...
"Kohaku?" Shou dared to call.
"Kohaku! Oi! Get a grip!" Judai shouted.
Everyone else in the stand just stared at the duel in shock. Someone... had actually died...
"No way..." Hayato let out.
"Kohaku..." Asuka looked away, as tears dared to form from her eyes.
"This... can't be..." Misawa said.
The only one who isn't accepting this is Alex, who looked more like he's in rage.
"Oh? Are you giving up? Well, I feel like a nice person for this duel~ I'll give you five minutes. If you can make a move til then, the duel will continue. Otherwise... I don't think it's necessary for me to continue, is it~?" Pandora smirked.
"..." Silence only came from the 'Circus Freak' duelist, who still hasn't moved a finger.
"... WHAT ARE YOU DOING, KOHAKU?!" Alex shouted from his seat. "STAND, KOHAKU! DON'T YOU DARE LOSE AND DIE!" His words were only met with silence.
"Alex... It's no use..." Asuka tried to reason.
"NO! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THIS! KOHAKU! YOU PROMISED ME! YOU PROMISED THAT AFTER YOU WIN THIS DUEL, WE WOULD DUEL AGAIN WITH EVERYTHING WE GOT! ALL THOSE DUELS WE HAD BEFORE THIS, WE DIDN'T GET SERIOUS EVEN ONCE! SO DON'T JUST DIE ON ME, KOHAKU! Because you're... YOU WERE MY FIRST REAL FRIEND! YOU WERE THE FIRST PERSON WHO UNDERSTAND ME BESIDES MY PARENTS AND PEGASUS! YOU WERE THE ONLY PERSON WHO I KNOW WOULD ONLY DUEL FOR FUN FOR BOTH YOU AND YOUR OPPONENTS! NOT JUST FOR THE WIN! YOU ONCE TOLD ME THAT YOU WANT TO SPREAD THE WORLD WITH SMILES BY DUELING! YOU CAN'T DO THAT IF YOU DIE!"
By some miracle, life was returning to Kohaku's body as she opened her almost lifeless eyes.
"A... lex..." she whispered so softly.
"He's right, Kohaku!" came Judai's voice. "You haven't even dueled me yet! If you lose here, how are we going to duel?! Also, how would we explain to your parents if they find out you died and how it happened?! Stand! Stand and duel!"
"Ju... dai..."
Eventually, all her friends were cheering her on to stand and continue dueling. Then it became her dorm, to Ra Yellow, to some Obelisk Blues.
"How noisy." Pandora then had a look of sudden realization. "Oh! Now I remember! It's been bothering me for quite a while, but now I know why your face seems so familiar." Kohaku's attention was on him. "It takes me back to some years ago. I was dueling someone back in Dubai after I was let out of prison. Of course, it was with the Game of Darkness. I was about to kill him, when a girl with a face exactly like your's came and summoned a monster, interfering with the duel. My powers weren't complete that time, so it was possible to interfere that time. And not only that, but that girl's monster was no hologram; it was real. I thought it was just my imagination, but then that monster actually made a deep footprints and did some real life damage. The girl wanted to help the duelist, but he only saw her as she was seen by others; a monster~" Kohaku's eyes widened as each and every piece of information was shared. "Then out of fear, the guy surrendered, resulting in his death in the process as well as ending the duel. I would've wanted to duel the girl next, but there were sirens and I didn't want to get caught again. So I escaped, and have the girl take the blame for the murder~" Her fist clenched. "What's even more exciting was that she was called for an execution the day after~ It was exciting, watching the little monster died, so I managed to sneak my way in and get a front row seat in watching the monster getting slayed. It was especially entertaining to hear another girl's voice plead for the monster's life~ Though what annoyed me that day was how the monster smiled as if she expected her death to like that on that very day. That just took away most of the excitement. Really, that brat was-" His words were cut off, as a fist was slammed onto the floor, loud enough for the whole stadium to hear.
Everyone turned to the source and, to their shock and surprise, Kohaku was back on her feet, her fist on the floor indicating that she was the one who made that loud slam.
"Dubai... Few years ago... Girl with my face... Accused for murder... Smiling when she accepted death..." She lifted her fist off the floor, and everyone can faintly see a fist-mark there. "I knew it... All this time... I knew she had nothing to do with it... And now... I have the real murderer right in front of me..."
"Huh?"
"You... can say whatever you want about me... but I will never forgive you..."
"For what?"
"Dead or alive... I won't ever forgive you... FOR INSULTING MY SISTER! AND MAKING HER TAKE THE BLAME FOR MURDER!" The crowd was speechless at the anger radiating from her. "I knew... This whole time... She had nothing to do with that guy's death! And now that I know that the real murderer of both that duelist and my sister is right in front of me... I WILL MAKE YOU PAY! DRAW!" Kohaku drew her next card. "I activate my Continuous Trap card, Redo! This allows me to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower 'Circus Freak' monster from my Graveyard! I choose Flame Archer!" The archer of the 'Circus Freak' archtype appeared onto the field.
Circus Freak Flame Archer: Level 2/DARK/Spellcaster/1000 ATK/800 DEF
"Now I release him and Stilt Walker to Advance Summon Circus Freak Time Space Magician from my hand!" In place of both those monsters, Kohaku's ace monster appeared before them.
Circus Freak Time Space Magician: Level 7/DARK/Spellcaster/2500 ATK/2000 DEF
"Flame Archer's monster effect! You take another 1000 damage! Blaze Arrow!" Her monster's image once again appeared and shot a fire arrow at Pandora.
Pandora: 6000 LP
Kohaku: 1400 LP
"And Time Space Magician's monster effect, when Advance Summoned, Circus Counters from monsters used to summon him goes to him! There's only one, but that's all I need!" A small orb of light appeared and floated around the orb on Time Space Magician's staff. "Next since I have a 'Circus Freak' monster on my field, I special Summon Circus Freak Assistant from my hand!" The clown appeared next to the high level monster in Defense position.
Circus Freak Assistant: Level 3/DARK/Spellcaster/1000 ATK/1000 DEF
"And with his effect, I draw a card for every empty monster zone! On my field there are three! On your's there are two! That's five in total!" Kohaku drew five cards, bringing her hand up to seven. "Next Circus Freak Ventriloquism's effect from my hand! By sending this card to the Grave, I draw a card. If the card drawn is a monster, it's Special Summoned or kept in my hand, however, if it's a Magic or Trap card, it's instantly activated!" She drew her card and revealed it to be- "Circus Freak Puppeteer! In defense mode!" The puppet-like monster appeared onto the field as well.
Circus Freak Puppeteer: Level 4/DARK/Spellcaster/1900 ATK/0 DEF
"And with its effect, I can take control of one of your monsters until the End Phase! Come over here, Black Magician!" One of the two called Spellcasters switched sides.
"My Magician! Is what I want to say, but what exactly are you planning?" Pandora asked, as if challenging her to attack.
"I activate Team Performance! This gives a 'Circus Freak' monster I control 300 ATK for each Circus Counter on the field! There's only one! That's more than enough for Time Space Magician!" Said monster had its power raised by the effect.
Circus Freak Time Space Magician: 2500 + 300 = 2800
"But you take damage for using a Normal Spell!" Pandora's effect monster shot out more lightning at Kohaku, who withstood it that time.
Pandora: 6000 LP
Kohaku: 400 LP
"You should've took control over Black Executioner!"
"I don't care! What you're about to get is much worse than the pain you've caused! Time Space Magician can also attack a number of times equal to the number of 'Circus Freak' monsters on the field!" That surprised the magician. "Time Space Magician! Attack Black Executioner with Time-Spacial Stream Buster!" Her monster, a bit reluctantly, used its signature move on its target.
Pandora: 5700 LP
Kohaku: 400 LP
"Once more! On Black Magician! Time-Spacial Stream Buster 2!" Her monster attacked and destroyed another Spellcaster.
Pandora: 5400 LP
Kohaku: 400 LP
"Last attack! Attack the player directly!" Time Space Magician once again reluctantly attacked, this time at Pandora himself.
Pandora: 2600 LP
Kohaku: 400 LP
"I end my turn. At this time, Black Magician returns to you and Time Space Magician's ATK is back to normal." The monster and stat did as said. "Now how does it feel? To feel all that pain!?"
Silence met. She assumed that the assault was enough to break Pandora's will to keep dueling. The female Osiris was proven wrong as the sadistic duelist just let out a loud laugh, as though those attacks were nothing but games still.
"This is it~! This is what I want~! An actual duel to death~!" That last sentence was enough to bring Kohaku back to reality, as she realized that the way she dueled that turn, wasn't the same style that she believed in, or even close to it. "I never thought that I'd have such duel again~! Not since Mutou Yugi beat me! Let me enjoy this even more~! Draw!" Pandora drew his next card. "I activate Life-Shaving Treasure Cards! This lets me draw until I have five cards in my hand. On my fifth Stand-by Phase after using this, however, I must discard my whole hand." Pandora drew until he has five cards. "I activate Reincarnation of the Dead! This lets me add a monster to my hand as long as I discard a card from my hand! I discard a card and add Black Executioner to my hand! Then by sending Black Magician to my Graveyard, I Special Summon him!" His lone Magician went into its Effect Monster mode. "Now, all that's left is activating a Normal Magic card. And would you look at this? I have one!" The audience gasped at those words. "Cup of Ace! I toss a coin. Heads, I draw two cards. Tails, you draw. Not that it matters anymore~" He tossed a coin, which revealed to be tails. "Tails. But that doesn't matter because you lose!" Black Executioner fired its lightning attack again. Kohaku's friends all stood and tried to force their way over to her, in an attempt to save her from the upcoming attack.
Meanwhile, while Pandora was taking his turn, Kohaku didn't hear a word and just stared down at herself.
'What... did I just do?' she wondered. 'That dueling style just now... That wasn't me... That wasn't the style I believed in... How could I have...?'
'Big sister!' came a voice. One familiar to her. 'Are you worrying about me again?'
*FLASHBACK*
"Can't I worry about my little sister?" asked a younger Kohaku.
"Sorry," a girl who looked exactly like her apologized.
"You have nothing to sorry for. It's not your fault your powers are stronger than mine. All I can to is talk to them and make them real enough to do stunts with me."
"That's the point. Your power limits to there, mine on the other hand, goes as far as to be destructive." There was sadness in the tone the younger sister was using. Young Kohaku caught on to that feeling. The sister noticed what she said and put on a fake yet pure smile. "Sorry, I said something weird."
She was taken by surprise as Young Kohaku gave her a hug. "You're not a burden to me. It's my job as the older twin to look over the younger twin. If anyone bullies you, tell me. I'll teach them a lesson!"
"... I don't want you to do that though." Young Kohaku was taken aback at those words. "Because if you do that, you won't be the sister I know and admired. If anything, I'm happy enough if you just keep up with entertaining the audience watching our family circus, performing with me, and being carefree and laid-back."
"Is that last part suppose to be a good-point?"
"To me it is. After all, that's what makes you the best sister ever! Having a sister who always worries about me is tiring and annoying, so keep being carefree and laid-back!"
*END OF FLASHBACK*
'That's right... How could I have forgotten? What was I thinking? This whole time, I was so into revenge, I forgot that she likes me better if I just be me. She wouldn't... She wouldn't want me to worry about her or take revenge. I was so stupid...'
"KOHAKU!" Her friends cry brought her out of her thoughts, as she saw the oncoming lightning attack making its way towards her.
"From my hand I activate Circus Freak Flame Artist's monster effect!" she countered. "If a card effect activates that would inflict damage onto me, I can Special Summon this card and negate that damage!" A chubby performer appeared and blew flames at the oncoming attack, blocking it.
Circus Freak Flame Artist: Level 4/DARK/Spellcaster/1600 ATK/1400 DEF
"What?!" Pandora gasped in shock, as everyone else sighed in relief.
"Due to Cup of Ace's effect, I draw two cards, right? Draw!" She drew two more cards.
"So what if you can. I activate Hand Severing! Each player sends four cards from their hand to the Graveyard and draw four cards!" They both discarded four random cards and drew four cards. "I now activate Black Hole! Not only does all our monsters get destroyed, since this is a Normal Magic, you take 1000 and die!" Another round of lightning came from Black Executioner, only for it to be blocked by Flame Artist. "What's this?!"
"The turn Flame Artist is summoned by its own effect, I won't take any more effect damage!" Kohaku announced, as all their monsters got destroyed. "You're out of luck and tricks."
"Don't get ahead of yourself! I set two cards face-down and end my turn! One turn. That's all I need, and you will be gone!"
"I don't think so! Draw!" Kohaku drew her next card. "Hola~! Bonjour~! Hello everybody~! After such a deadly battle, the climax of this show has finally begun~!" The whole audience was silent at that declaration. Soon enough, it became a roar of cheers.
"There's no way you could defeat me!"
"No, it's possible! First I activate my Field Magic, Circus Show!" The flames died down as the arena changed into a circus. "I now summon Circus Freak Beast Tamer in Attack Mode!" The lion-man hybrid performer appeared on her field.
Circus Freak Beast Tamer: Level 3/DARK/Spellcaster/1700 ATK/1500 DEF
"And it's gone! Trap card, Pitfall! If my opponent summons a monster with 1000 or more ATK points, that monster is destroyed!" A hole appeared from under the just summoned monster as it tried to move away, only to fail and fall.
"... That's just what I want!" Kohaku admitted, much to her opponent's confusion. "I activate the Instant Magic, Grand Act! This allows me to banish monsters from my Graveyard to Fusion Summon a Fusion monster who used those cards as Fusion Materials!"
"What?!" Pandora was in complete shock now.
"Kohaku can Fusion Summon?!" Asuka asked.
"And from her Graveyard too!" Misawa added.
"No way!" Shou shouted.
"Awesome!" Judai exclaimed.
"The monsters I'm banishing are Circus Freak Time Space Magician and Circus Freak Contact Juggler!" Kohaku continued. "Performer that controls time and space, become one with the object-manipulator, and become the new light that vanquishes the evil darkness! Fusion Summon! Appear now, arcane magician with ancient power! Circus Freak Rune Magician!" Now on her field is a cyan magician equipped with a long monk staff with some ancient linings all over his clothes.
Circus Freak Rune Magician: Level 8/DARK/Spellcaster/3000 ATK/2200 DEF
"This... can't be... A monster with 3000 ATK!?" Pandora panicked.
"Not so fun now, is it?"
"I won't lose! Not until I beat Mutou Yugi! Trap Card open! Call of the Haunted! With this card, I can call back my Black Magician!" His magician returned to the field. "Now you can't beat me!"
"True. But it was already time for the Grand Finale!" the 'Circus Freak' duelist once again declared. "Firstly, Circus Show's effect! Each time a 'Circus Freak' monster has been summoned, a Circus Counter is gained, and for each counter on this card, my opponent's monsters loses 200 ATK for each counter! There are now two Circus Counters! Which means Black Magician lost 400 ATK!" Said monster's face was covered in white powder and, in place of his robes, a jumpsuit was on him.
Black Magician: 2500 - 400 = 2100 ATK
"Secondly, Grand Act's secondary effect! Monsters Fusion Summoned by this card's effect gains 400 ATK for each of its Fusion Materials! I used two Fusion Materials for Rune Magician, so that's 800 more ATK points!" Kohaku's new monster glowed a blue aura, gaining power from the Instant Magic card.
Circus Freak Rune Magician: 3000 + 800 = 3800 ATK
"Lastly, Circus Freak Rune Magician is able to make multiple attacks depending on the total level of Spellcasters used to Fusion Summon this card, excluding Time Space Magician!"
"WHAT?!"
"Rune Magician was Fusion Summoned!" Judai said.
"Contact Juggler's level was four!" Shou added.
"With level of four or lower, he can make 2 attacks!" the owner of the Fusion monster informed. "Let's go! Circus Freak Rune Magician! Attack Black Magician and Pandora with Repeated Ancient Light Blaster!" At her command, the new monster let out two light blasts at both its targets, ending the duel at last.
Pandora: 0000 LP
Kohaku: 400 LP
WINNER: KOHAKU!
The field returned to normal, indicating that the duel came to an end.
"Somehow... I... won..." was all Kohaku said before blacking out.
"Kohaku!" Judai called as he and Shou made their way over to their fallen friend.
"Kohaku! Are you okay?!" Shou asked a stupid question.
Immediately, medics came and brought the female Osiris onto the stretcher, following Emi to the island's infirmary.
"Will she be all right?!" Hayato asked, as he, Misawa, Asuka and Alex made their way over to them.
"With the amount of time she had that wound on her chest, and her stubbornness, it's actually hard to say," Samejima sadly answered. "And with how things are, we have to postpone the Tag Duel. As for you, Chronos..." Called teacher flinched. "I would like to have a long chat with you. In my office. Alone. Now." Reluctantly, Chronos followed Samejima out of the stadium.
"Now what do we do?" Judai asked.
"I say we should check on Kohaku. With that kind of injury that she's been holding out, she needs our support," Alex suggested.
"I agree," Asuka nodded. With that in mind, they went to check on their friend.