III
—but only for a moment.
In that one moment, however, Blue Angel had lost all awareness of direction, sensation, and self. There was only the eternal, omnipresent noise of raw data, churning around her like whitewater, and a vague sense that what little body remained to her was caught in the thick of it, flailing in vain, trying to claw free—
Then—as if caught by some massive net—she'd been catapulted back the way she'd come, breaking the surface of the data stream with a deep breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Rivulets of digitized information trickled from her now-reformed avatar, D-Board and all, dripping soundlessly into the data current beneath them.
So that's what that feels like. It was not a welcome sensation for the Charisma Duelist to feel, even as she patted her wings and dress to make sure they were still intact. She'd been turned into data once before; that would have been a much more permanent experience if not for Playmaker's defeat of Hanoi. But the safety systems of LINK VRAINS had ensured she'd respawned before the risk became too grave: she was out, she was whole, and—as far as she could tell—her digital self had suffered none of the systemic damage of that ordeal.
"You okay?"
Only then did Blue Angel remember where she was, and why she was here. She shook her head, trying to clear it—before giving a thumbs-up at nowhere in particular. Then, she put a foot forward on her D-Board, sending it forward on the current, and back up to speed on the Duel course moments later.
Through the graphic of her LP gauge—now reading a vividly red 900—she saw Rei some board-lengths ahead, still clad in the green-and-gold armor of her Hayate monster. Blue Angel's Lycorissica—still under Rei's control—floated slightly behind. Both girls were flying backwards, and substantially slower—perhaps to allow Blue Angel a moment to catch up, as there was still a great deal of concern etched in Rei's teal eyes.
"I'm fine!" Blue Angel called back to her—privately thinking she needed to thank Akira later for making the respawn process so thankfully brief. "Just a little dizzy—that's all!"
Rei didn't sound altogether convinced—but she shrugged anyway. "If you say so," she said, swiping up a card from her Deck Zone. "Hayate's effect activates after it battles, and lets me send a Flash Sword Spell from my Deck to the Graveyard!" Whatever card she had plucked from her Deck was now slipped into a different slot in her Duel Disk's ring.
"I now activate my Multirole's second effect!" Rei went on, watching a number of small sections unfold on her gigantic mechanical hexagon, still floating behind her. "During the End Phase, I can Set Flash Sword Spells from my Graveyard to my field—up to however many of them I activated this turn—but they'll be banished if they ever leave the field."
Blue Angel bit her lip as a single face-down card materialized before Rei, then faded to nothing. Since Speed Duels got rid of the second Main Phase of each turn, that meant Rei's Battle Phase went right into her End Phase—which would normally have meant no more salvos of those numerous Flash Sword Spells until her next turn.
That Multirole Spell, however, had just provided a workaround for that rule change; all that was missing to make this a Master Duel was Rei being able to use an additional pair of card zones on her field. The thought of Rei Setting four different cards via Multirole, instead of the one she'd Set just now, was an ill one indeed.
But Blue Angel had reason to look forward to next turn—and more, as it happened. "During the End Phase," continued Rei, "my Widow Anchor's effect concludes, and Trickstar Lycorissica reverts back to your control."
She jerked her arm. The cable of Widow Anchor, along with the claw attached to it, promptly retracted into the armored gauntlet covering her free hand, revealing a very red-in-the-face Lycorissica who looked torn between embarrassment for what she had done to her owner—and anger at Rei for forcing her to do it.
Blue Angel, for her part, didn't feel nearly so angry—even if she hadn't expected to find her LP gauge inside the red zone so quickly. But it was—and she knew she had to be careful from here on out, lest Rei's incredible amount of Spells manage to outpace the damaging effects of her Trickstars again.
She took another breath—in, then out—"Draw!"
In one fluid motion, she flicked her hand across her wrist, scooped up the card above it, then flipped it round to reveal—
She fought hard to conceal a smile. I can win this turn!
But first, the Charisma Duelist knew she had to ensure her path to victory was clear—and so: "First, I activate my Light Stage's next effect!" she yelled. "Once per turn, I can target a Set card on my opponent's field, and prevent its activation until the End Phase!
"And," she added with a sly wink, "if you don't activate it then—that card's automatically sent to your Graveyard!"
This additional facet of her Light Stage was more debilitating than Blue Angel let on; she had seen enough of Rei's Dueling abilities by now that she didn't doubt the girl was beginning to realize what a card like this could do. Preventing cards from activating was more destructive to an opponent's strategy than simply sending them to the Graveyard—especially if said strategy relied on having a certain number of cards in the Graveyard, as many of Rei's Flash Sword Spells seemed to imply.
But there was still a problem, she knew. Since her Multirole Sets cards from the Graveyard, she thought, Rei might be trying to reuse that Widow Anchor she used on my Lycorissica. But she also sent three other cards to the Graveyard as well—two from that Vectored Blast Spell, and a third with her Hayate. She's already told me one of those cards was a Flash Sword card, too—so she could've Set that to her field just as easily. And I have no way of knowing if Vectored Blast didn't send even more of them, either …
She resisted the urge to bite her lip this time, staring at the card in her hand once more. It was all too likely that Blue Angel might have played her way into a trap—but the urge to show off, to show Rei what she herself could be capable of in the future, was too good to pass up.
"So," the Charisma Duelist finally said, after that brief moment of indecision, "I'll target the card you Set back on your field with your Multirole! Then," she added, "I'll activate the effect of the Trickstar Reincarnation in my Graveyard!"
She saw Rei tilt her head, confused, checking her Duel Disk for whatever that card might be—before the faint spark of realization shone across her pale face. No doubt she'd discovered, Blue Angel thought, that this Reincarnation was a card her Vectored Blast had sent directly from her Deck to her own Graveyard.
And even though it wasn't as destructive as it would have been otherwise, its second effect would serve her well, because: "By banishing Reincarnation from my Graveyard, I can target a Trickstar in my Graveyard, and revive it on my field! So I'll target the other card your Vectored Blast sent to my Graveyard, and Special Summon it in Defense Position!"
She threw out a hand. "Go! Trickstar Shakunage!" Another portal exploded from behind and to her right, revealing a teenaged girl bedecked in various shades of pink and purple, crossing her arms—and the bell-tipped wand she carried—to her breast in a defensive position (Level 4: ATK 1400/DEF 1900).
"Next, I'll Normal Summon my Candina once more!" Out that monster came, now, in a familiar flash of blue light and golden-brown frills (Level 4: ATK 1800/DEF 400). "Then, because Candina was Normal Summoned, I activate its effect, and add another Trickstar card from my Deck to my hand!"
As she did so, Blue Angel put on an extra burst of speed from her D-Board, trying to close the gap between her and Rei. She was close enough now to see the look of trepidation on the girl's face—the realization that the Charisma Duelist now had enough monsters to—
"I Set my Shakunage and my Lycorissica in the Link Markers!" screamed the Charisma Duelist, watching both monsters in question shoot forward like arrows from a bow, into the portal that had surged into life before her—
"Arrowheads confirmed—Link Summon! Appear! Link-2, Trickstar Holly Angel!"
For the second time this Duel, her ace monster swept onto the field in a flash of flowing blue (ATK 2000/LINK–2, BL-BR), twirling and twisting her thorny flail round her arm in a graceful dance.
Holly Angel, however, was only Blue Angel's ace monster because it was the one she used most often to win her Duels. That didn't mean she was automatically the strongest monster she possessed—Blue Angel had a few monsters in her Extra Deck that could put the Link Monster on her field to shame; indeed, there was one she hadn't had the chance to use before. Perhaps here, in this place, was the time to finally show it off.
And so, as she looked past Rei at the circuit ahead—more accurately, the incoming hairpin turn for which she'd have only seconds to navigate—Blue Angel acted.
"Now," she shouted, "it's time I introduced someone new to the stage—a rising star that's about to make her world debut! To bring her out, the Summoning conditions must be at least two Fairy monsters—and so I'll use my Candina and my Holly Angel to Set the Link Markers again!"
Rei—who had also been bracing herself to make the incoming turn—wobbled on her D-Board as she whirled around. "What?! You're using Holly Angel as Link Material?!"
The girl's exclamation only made Blue Angel smile even wider. "That's right—if a Link Monster's Link Rating is two or greater, it can be used for that many Link Materials in a Summon!"
"So don't blink, Rei!" Blue Angel stamped down her back foot hard, causing her D-Board to decelerate rapidly, and both her monsters to rocket forward. "I'm about to show you what Charisma Duelists can really do!"
Both her monsters had no time to make the turn—nor had they any intention of doing so in the first place; Candina and Holly Angel dived into the data stream like freshly fired torpedoes, leaving Blue Angel to maneuver her D-Board across the tightly winding current—
"Arrowheads confirmed!" she chanted. "Soar, my newest circuit of charm and grace!"
—data streaked from Rei's wings and Blue Angel's D-Board as both girls steered into the hairpin, drifting expertly along the curve as if riding a wave—Blue Angel could see the next straightaway ahead, beyond the green armor of Hayate that encased her opponent—
"Circuit combine—LINK SUMMON!"
—then, as quickly as she'd made the turn, she was through—and at the moment her D-Board leveled out for the greatest burst of speed Blue Angel had summoned yet, the monster she'd also Summoned now exploded from the hairpin turn, shattering the data current beneath with a burst of pink light—
"Appear!" cried Blue Angel. "Link-3: Trickstar Foxywitch!"
As raw data instantly converged upon the destruction, sealing it up in seconds so that the current could flow once more, the rosy energy that had broken the circuit now solidified into her newest Trickstar: a blonde-haired teenager with violet spikes flowing from her pink dress to match the ones that tipped the wand in her hand. Six wings carried her aloft, two trails of pure white cloth streamed from behind her, and golden eyes shone brightly with elated determination (ATK 2200/LINK–3, L-T-R).
Shining, too, were Blue Angel's own eyes. This was the first time she'd ever seen the full form of Foxywitch in LINK VRAINS, after all—and she was just as beautiful as she'd imagined when SOLTech had first shown her the artwork for its digital card. Having an in with the company in Akira had its perks; like Rei, Blue Angel had also struck a friendship with one of its card artists, and every so often, she would commission this artist for new Trickstars if ever the thought struck her. That artist had given it their all with Foxywitch, she knew—and it showed.
Rei, meanwhile, was goggling at the new arrival on her field with amazement. "She's beautiful … " the girl could only say, her teal eyes nearly bugging out of their sockets.
This earned a giggle from Blue Angel. "Don't say that too quickly, now!" the Charisma Duelist said, wagging her finger. "Because Foxywitch's effect activates the moment she's Special Summoned—and lets me inflict 200 damage to you for every card on your field!"
Foxywitch brandished her wand; Blue Angel saw its purple spikes begin to brim with energy, one by one for each card Rei controlled—one for her Hayate, another for her Multirole, two more for each card she'd Set—and with each glowing spike, the pink heart they framed glowed brighter and brighter.
Then, as if she was serving for match point in tennis, Foxywitch flicked out with her wand, hurling an image of that heart straight for Rei. The projectile caught Rei full in the face, sending her into a tailspin—which forced the girl to kick out with the thrusters on her armored feet to avoid going out-of-bounds and despawning.
There was no avoiding the concentrated beams of aurorae from Blue Angel's Light Stage, however; by the time those had faded away, Rei's LP gauge had finished plummeting to 1800—and the Charisma Duelist was already beginning the next phase of her final strategy.
"Since every monster I control is a Trickstar monster," she said, "I can Special Summon Trickstar Calobane from my hand through her own effect! C'mon out!"
Another portal surged into being from behind Foxywitch; from this leapt a blur of white, green, and golden energy. That blur now slowed enough to reveal a particularly festive-looking girl (Level 5: ATK 2000/DEF 1000) whose floor-length silver hair, tossing in the air alongside the golden staff she twirled in her hand, clashed magnificently with the white cloud of cloth that bloomed from her tutu.
"And I'm still not done!" Blue Angel smirked at Rei; with a dash of her fingers, she pulled up the card she'd added with Candina's effect. "I play the Equip Spell: Trickstar Magicorolla!"
She twirled on her D-Board—a move she'd spent some time attempting to perfect—raising all ten fingers to the sky as she did so. From where her fingers traced the air, blue flowers and leaves, lined with many stars and tiny pearls, bloomed out of nowhere, weaving themselves into the sort of crown that any little girl who'd spent their formative years twisting daisies into tiaras must have dreamed of wearing.
"When I activate this card," said Blue Angel, finishing her crown—and her routine—with a flourish and a wink, "I can target a Trickstar monster in my Graveyard, and Special Summon it! So I'll bring back the only monster who could ever wear a crown this beautiful—my Trickstar Holly Angel!"
She tossed her impromptu headpiece into the air with a mighty heave. Another six-sided portal flowered behind her just then; Holly Angel, none the worse for wear, soared out from inside as if from a springboard, catching the floral crown with a single hand, before fixing it atop her blonde hair before coming to hover directly in front of Blue Angel (ATK 2000/LINK–2, BL-BR).
"You put on a good show with your Deck, Rei," she admitted. "I wish I was able to see more of what you could do. But every show has to have a finale—and I'm about to make it happen with this!"
She tapped the card she'd drawn to begin her turn. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Trickstar Bouquet!" howled the Charisma Duelist. "Once per turn, this card lets me target two monsters—a Trickstar on my field, and another monster on any field—and then, by returning that Trickstar to my hand, that other monster gains ATK equal to my returned Trickstar's original ATK, until the end of the turn!"
Blue Angel clapped her hands together; as if by magic, a bunch of flowers had appeared inside, and a wave of her hands now scattered them in her wake among the Trickstars on her field. "So I'll target my Trickstar Calobane," she said, watching the flowers envelop the monster in question, "and then my Trickstar Foxywitch to have it gain Calobane's ATK!"
The flowers around Calobane scattered with a wave of Foxywitch's wand—revealing neither hide nor silver hair of the monster that had been there. But the flowers still remained, swirling around the wand and blooming with vivid pink energy. This energy now receded into the heart at the wand's tip, causing it to swell bigger than ever before as its wielder's ATK ballooned to 4200—
"Battle Phase!" cried Blue Angel. "Trickstar Holly Angel, attack Flash Sword Princess – Hayate!" The thorny flail in her ace monster's hand now lashed out at Rei, still clad in Hayate's armor.
The Charisma Duelist was well aware that a single blow from Foxywitch could have finished the Duel. But the Spells Rei had used on her already made Blue Angel wary of what more of them could do—especially as she suspected they would have additional effects to activate, since more than three of them were in her Graveyard already. Better to bait them out with Holly Angel, she'd therefore decided, have Calobane mop up whatever might be left behind—and then she could have Foxywitch attack for the win.
But as Holly Angel's whip whacked Rei right in her chest—causing Hayate's armor to shatter from the impact, and its wearer's LP to drop to 1300—nothing came. Even as the aurorae of Light Stage shone brightly yet again, bestowing its searing kiss upon Rei to bring her Life Points down to 1100—nothing came.
And yet—even as the last of Hayate disintegrated, even as Blue Angel felt her heart leap into her mouth as an unarmored, defenseless Rei began to plummet into the data stream below at breakneck speed—she could have sworn the girl was smiling—
"Emergency eject!" shrieked the girl just then. "Flash Sword Princess – Raye's effect! If a Flash Sword Princess I controlled leaves the field for any reason—whether by a card effect or by battle—while Raye is in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon Raye back to my field!"
Blue Angel's mouth fell open—not simply from the revelation of what Rei's sole Main Deck monster so far was capable of, but by the visual effects that came with it: the armor Rei had summoned on her body ever since the first Spell she'd played this Duel was streaming along her clothes again. Before she could blink, that armor had reformed onto Rei—white wings and all—just in time for her to skim mere inches from the data stream she was surfing, before peeling away and high into the air (Level 4: ATK 1500/DEF 1500).
"Nice recovery!" Blue Angel said approvingly, despite her despondence at failing to finish this Duel in the single stroke she'd been hoping for. But even the fact that Raye had been revived in Defense Position this time, thereby protecting Rei's Life Points from further battle, was no small loss—the Charisma Duelist still had more than one monster with which to attack.
Because: "Trickstar Magicorolla's second effect!" she yelled. "If the equipped monster inflicts damage to my opponent for any reason, I can Special Summon another Trickstar monster from my hand—like the Calobane I returned with Bouquet's effect!"
Holly Angel jerked its flail backwards, whirling it above her head like a lasso until it sparked with energy. That energy now condensed into yet another portal, from which Calobane's silver hair and golden staff preceded the rest of her (Level 5: ATK 2000/DEF 1000).
"Time for an encore performance, Calobane!" winked Blue Angel. "Attack Flash Sword Princess – Raye!"
Calobane lunged forward, raising its staff high to give Rei a whack she wouldn't be forgetting any time soon—
But Rei was still smiling; an instant later, Blue Angel knew why. "Link Flight Control—crisis protocol!" cried the girl. "Raye's second effect lets me Release her to Special Summon a Flash Sword Princess Link Monster from my Extra Deck!"
Blue Angel felt her eyes widen. Another Princess? And she's Summoning it during my turn, too?!
"Emergency broadcast: Code Blue! Clear for insertion, go for launch! Deploy!"
Even as Rei spoke, data from Multirole was beginning to stream over her body again. There was much more of it this time, Blue Angel thought; perhaps she was attempting to Summon a stronger Princess than before, in much the same way as she had Link Summoned Hayate. But that couldn't be as powerful as she was making it sound in her head; surely such an effect would be much more balanced than to simply have Rei Release a single monster—
"Special Sword Arts, Defense Mode: X-ray-zero-zero-two!" shrieked Rei. "Callsign: Flash Sword Princess – Shizuku!"
Again, clouds of data exploded from Rei—but the monster they revealed was considerably bulkier: heavy blue plates of armor, each one the size and approximate shape of a tower shield, had attached themselves via thick struts to arms and legs covered in equally blue armor. Giant blue prongs now materialized either side of Rei's neck, and a headset on top of her hair, completing the ensemble, as the girl—now Shizuku—rolled round in midair to face Blue Angel in a battle stance (ATK 1500/LINK–1, TR).
A top-diagonal Link Marker?! Blue Angel was pleasantly surprised; this was only one of a rare few Link Monsters she'd seen with such markers defining them. Unfortunately, it wouldn't help much; because Foxywitch had been Summoned in her own right Extra Monster Zone, Rei had had no choice but to Summon Shizuku in her right Extra Monster Zone—meaning Shizuku's Marker was pointing at nothing.
Worse still, its ATK wasn't enough to best either of her Trickstar monsters; furthermore, because the monsters on Rei's field had changed, a replay had occurred; Calobane's attack had essentially never happened.
Which meant: "Trickstar Calobane! Attack Flash Sword Princess – Shizuku!" Blue Angel yelled—and her monster obliged. Calobane's golden staff began to shine blindingly, swinging to and fro to ring the bells dangling from its crook, creating an intense symphony of light and sound that—
—wait—
Rei was still smiling.
"Shizuku's effect!" smirked the girl, raising her armored gauntlets high: one of them was an overlarge glove, pulsing with sapphire energy; the other was mounted with a blaster and a similarly glowing bayonet. "For each Spell in my Graveyard, your opponent's monsters lose 100 ATK and DEF!"
"No!" But even as the word left her mouth, Blue Angel knew she was too late—she knew how many Spells were in Rei's Graveyard by now—the Field Spell Area Zero, Vectored Blast, and all three cards that had been sent to the Graveyard thanks to the latter card as well as Hayate—and she knew her amateur mistake had just cost her.
At least it was enough that Rei wouldn't come out of this unscathed, either, and it was this thought that assuaged Blue Angel even as she watched Foxywitch's ATK drop to a still-imposing 3700, and Holly Angel's to 1500. Shizuku's huge hand, meanwhile, bloomed with azure light, disrupting Calobane's attack—now also a mere 1500 points strong—with a simple, sweeping wave. The collection of light and sound engulfed both monsters, hopelessly out of control—
"Option Sierra-zero-one-five: Deploy!" Rei had to scream over the noise in order to be heard. "Sword Arts Quick-Play Spell: Flash Sword Mecha – Eagle Booster!"
The Charisma Duelist's mind skidded to a halt as some of the enormous panels on Shizuku's armor rearranged themselves. "By activating this card when I control no monsters in my Main Monster Zones," she heard Rei shout, "I can target a monster on the field to make it immune to card effects for the rest of the turn—and then, if I have at least three Spells in my Graveyard, I can make that monster indestructible by battle as well!"
Blue Angel had no time to react; she knew this Eagle Booster Rei had activated was not the one she'd Set during her End Phase with Multirole's effect—in other words, not the one Light Stage prevented from activating—but rather the one she'd Set during her Main Phase, meaning it wouldn't be banished when it left the field. Which meant—
She whirled on her Calobane—but Rei had already raised the blasters on Shizuku's other hand. The barrels fired a single shot—and that single shot was all it took to vaporize Calobane into digital shrapnel before the monster could blink. Some of that shrapnel was blown back into Blue Angel's face thanks to Shizuku's increased slipstream, causing the Charisma Duelist to grimace as her LP gauge slipped down to 800.
The instance of discomfort was short-lived, however. "I still have one more monster to battle with!" Blue Angel reminded Rei. "You can protect your Shizuku all you want with your Eagle Booster, Rei—all the immunity to card effects and destruction by battle won't help against the damage you're about to take from my last attack!"
Rei's smile was wider than ever. "Who said I was targeting Shizuku?" she smirked.
Huh?! Blue Angel felt her brow furrow in confusion—before feeling both her jaw and her heart plummet well past her D-Board as reason caught up with her. There was only one other monster on whom Rei could have used Eagle Booster's effect … an effect, she now realized, that targeted a monster on the field—any field.
By the time she'd whirled around on that one other monster, it was too late: Foxywitch's six wings were beating more rapidly than ever, shining so brightly as to dim the digital sun—but her ATK had dwindled down to its original 2200 in the process. All the strength Blue Angel had poured into her monster via Trickstar Bouquet had fizzled out of existence—along with her chances of winning this turn.
She clenched her fist, biting back a curse and managing just barely to turn it into an annoyed sigh. "Trickstar Foxywitch," she ordered, "teach that Shizuku not to rain on someone's parade—attack!"
Foxywitch looked only too happy to obey; the monster launched forward with a battle cry that suggested she had some serious frustration to work out on the Duelist who'd weakened her so. She swung her wand; dim though it was from the lack of Bouquet's additional power, there was still enough strength behind the blow to shatter Rei's headset—raising a sizable lump on her head in the process, and causing Shizuku to crumble into its residual data as quickly as it had been formed.
Only the pair of wings Rei had sprouted before, at the start of the Duel, saved her from sinking through the data currents again, instead carrying her slightly behind Blue Angel. This was notable because the two Duelists were currently flying above one of the mish-mashed islands of concrete and steel that linked parts of the Duel course together; if Rei had sunk through the current and into empty space, she might have had additional time to recover before respawning. That was not so guaranteed, however, if she fell onto one of those islands instead; as Blue Angel knew, respawning restored both the Duelist and whatever sensations they'd felt before despawning—like being swatted by a fist the size of a city block, as would likely be felt after an impact such as that would have caused.
Blue Angel watched this unfold with a smile of mixed relief and catharsis: the former at watching Rei recover once again thanks to the tinkering she'd done to her avatar; the latter at watching the girl's LP tumbling to 400—then to a measly 200 as her Light Stage's effect triggered yet again. While it still irked her to no small degree that she hadn't been able to win this turn, the Charisma Duelist couldn't help but feel impressed at how Rei was using the cards in her Deck; that Eagle Booster had been a particular stroke of genius.
Indeed, Blue Angel was beginning to wonder if Rei wasn't actually performing as the better Duelist tonight. Yes, she might be beating Rei in terms of LP and field advantage—but Rei had displayed an inventiveness she'd never before seen in any Duels she'd streamed to her fans. What was more, Blue Angel didn't need hindsight to tell her she'd made a string of misplays that could otherwise have sealed her victory by now: for instance, attacking with her Foxywitch before her Calobane would have been the better choice this turn. Eagle Booster wouldn't have saved Shizuku from destruction then—and if Calobane had held off its attack since Magicorolla's effect had brought it back out, she would have been free to make the finishing blow.
But there was nothing she could do about it now, she thought with a shrug—nothing but wait and see what Rei would do next.
"During the End Phase," she therefore said, "Light Stage's effect concludes—meaning you can either activate that other Set card of yours, or send it to the Graveyard." Where it'll be banished thanks to your Multirole, no matter what you do, she added in her head, smirking—that's one Spell that won't be bothering me for a while.
"You'd … better believe I'll activate it!" While Blue Angel had been musing about what could have been, Rei had spent a large fraction of that time trying to get her breath back after Foxywitch's attack. "Option … Sierra-zero-one-eight … Deploy! Sword Arts … Quick-Play Spell: Flash Sword Mecha – Hornet Bit!"
So this was a new Spell, Blue Angel thought, biting her lip—one that Hayate or Vectored Blast must have sent from her Deck to the Graveyard.
"If I control no monsters in my Main Monster Zones," Rei continued, her voice beginning to regain its volume, "I can Special Summon a Flash Sword Princess Token to my field that can't be Released! Normally, its ATK and DEF are both zero—but if I activate Hornet Bit when I have 3 or more Spells in my Graveyard," she added, "I can make them 1500 instead!"
Something splashed under Blue Angel's D-Board at that point—her first thought was of a shoal of fish, disturbed by her D-Board; but that was ridiculous, they were surfing on data, not actual water—
One moment later, she'd nearly fallen off her D-Board as that something—or rather, a whole host of them—zipped from underneath her, heading towards Rei: a handful of white-and-gold rockets, so small that they might have been toys, each one orbiting their controller like the electrons of an atom. Now those rockets were beginning to emit multicolored lights onto Rei from the golden orbs on their noses; by the time Blue Angel knew what they were doing, Rei's ubiquitous armor had materialized on her body yet again (Level 1: ATK 0 » 1500/DEF 0 » 1500).
No guesses on what she'll be using that Token for, she thought, swallowing.
"Due to my Multirole, Hornet Bit is banished after it leaves the field," Rei said—though without sounding the least bit crestfallen. It wasn't hard to guess why; Blue Angel had no doubt that despite clinging to a mere sliver of Life Points, the fact she'd even survived her assault this turn was something worth boasting about—at least, if she'd ever thought Rei was the kind of person to boast about anything in the first place.
"Then I end my turn," she responded. Okay, the Charisma Duelist said to herself—time to see what she does next.
On that end, Rei wasted no time. "Draw!" she called out, flicking another card into her hand—before promptly breaking into a wide grin. "Okay, Blue Angel—you've showed me what you can do. Now it's time I do the same! I'm going to treat my Token as a Link Material—then use it to Summon the biggest monster I've got!"
Blue Angel drew back. Like I said … no guesses.
"Link Flight Control: Code Red!" Rei screamed to the heavens. "Clear for insertion, go for launch! Arrowheads confirmed!"
The rockets of Hornet Bit that continued to flank her now broke formation—for a very good reason: the data that had clustered around Rei to form the Token's shell around her was now changing once again. But where it had shrunk around her to form Hayate, and expanded to create Shizuku, this time it was streamlining into many contrails of flame and superhot gas—the fires were consuming Rei's avatar inch by inch, bit by bit—
"The Summoning conditions are one non-FIRE Flash Sword Princess monster!" spoke the human pyre in a screech that matched the roar of the blaze consuming her. "I Set my DARK-Attribute Token in the Link Markers!"
At that last word, the flames engulfed Rei completely; the many streams of fire and smoke now swelled into a bright plume of superheated plasma. Tongues of fire unfolded in every direction, like a phoenix spreading its wings—
"LINK SUMMON!" bellowed the girl. "Deploy Sword Arts, Attack Mode: X-ray-zero-zero-three! Callsign: Flash Sword Princess – Kagari!"
WHOOM.
A gust of wind from nowhere dispelled the flames—and Blue Angel gasped at the monster that had been birthed within: wreathed in whips of scarlet fire, Rei's newest suit of armor looked tailor-made to mow down entire armies (ATK 1500/LINK–1, TL). Eight blades curled behind her back like wings, twin thrusters on her feet belched fire hot enough to melt steel, and the sword in her hands sang with many voices of metal, wind and flame, entwined in a sinister melody that even Blue Angel's Trickstars would be hard-pressed to duplicate.
She felt a chill.
"Kagari's effect activates whenever it's Special Summoned," Rei yelled out, "and lets me target a Flash Sword Spell in my Graveyard to add back to my hand!" She swiped her free hand over her Duel Disk, plucking out a card as she did so. "I'll target, return—and then reactivate my Field Spell: Area Zero! Reengage tactical overlay!"
The horns that now adorned her head thanks to Kagari now glowed with red light, generating the heads-up display Blue Angel had seen once before. "Now for Kagari's second effect!" continued Rei. "For every Spell in my Graveyard, it gains 100 ATK!"
Five of the eight blades lining Rei's back—one for each Spell still in her Graveyard, Blue Angel knew—hissed with fire, catapulting Kagari's ATK up to 2000.
But Rei wasn't done. "Kagari calling Flight Control—requesting heavy support option Sierra-one-three-zero! Deploy!" she shouted. "Sword Arts Equip Spell: Flash Sword Mechanism – Hercule Base!"
As the two Duelists rounded another curve, heading towards the same floating landmass on which they'd started their Duel—a shadow fell over Blue Angel. For a moment she wondered if maybe they passed under another of the outlying islands of LINK VRAINS—but that was not the case; even as she raised a hand skyward to squint at the object above, she knew at once it was too regularly shaped—too angular—too big … and moving too fast.
Then that object swooped down at speeds no terrestrial aircraft could have managed, leaving nothing behind but the roar of its massive engines whole seconds after its fly-by. Blue Angel caught only a brief glimpse of a multi-finned and -winged jet fighter that dwarfed Akira's apartment with its sheer size, bristling with weapons the size of power lines—before the shock of a sonic boom left her deaf as a post, causing her to wobble drunkenly on her D-Board.
"I can activate Hercule Base when there aren't any monsters in my Main Monster Zones," said Rei, "and equip it to a Flash Sword Princess monster I control. It won't let me attack directly—but it will let me attack twice this turn!"
Blue Angel, still digging into her ears to restore her hearing, did a double take—though more out of confusion than surprise. Kagari, while it was indeed the strongest monster Rei had yet Summoned this Duel, was still the exact same strength as her Holly Angel—and only a whisper shy of challenging her Foxywitch. What good was it to attack twice when your only targets were stronger monsters?!
"Next, I activate Area Zero's second effect!" Rei told her. "I can target a card on my field, then excavate three cards from my Deck—plus, if one of them is a Flash Sword Spell, I can add it to my hand, then put the rest back in my Deck before I destroy that target! So I'll target my Hercule Base!"
Three cards appeared before her fingers—which only made Rei smile even wider. She tapped the middle card, causing it to disintegrate—then reform just as quickly among the current cards in her hand. "That's another Spell in my Graveyard," she smirked, "and another 100 ATK for Kagari!"
Sure enough, a sixth blade had flared to life behind her back, sizzling with enough heat that Blue Angel swore she could feel it on her face. There was no sign of Hercule Base, meanwhile; it had disappeared from view so quickly that Blue Angel had no time to see what sort of visual effects its destruction would have created.
"Next up, I'll activate my Multirole once more!" said Rei, watching Kagari's ATK creep upward to 2100. "I can target and destroy a card on my field to prevent you from activating any cards or effects whenever I play a Flash Sword Spell! I'll target my Area Zero again!"
Here we go, thought Blue Angel as Multirole flared with ice-blue light—enough of it that the Charisma Duelist was blinded momentarily, and so missed Rei getting rid of the HUD in front of her face that had represented her Field Spell.
"Area Zero's effect lets me Special Summon a Flash Sword Princess monster from my Main Deck if I want to," said Rei, "but there's two reasons why I don't right now! First—that Raye in my Graveyard is the only monster I need!"
Blue Angel's heart nearly stopped. Did I just hear that right?! Had Rei been battling her this whole time with a Deck that only had a single Monster Card in it—not counting all those suits of armor she'd Link Summoned?!
All those Spells … yet only one monster … what kind of madwoman have I been Dueling tonight?!
"The second reason," Rei continued, now grinning fit to burst at Kagari's ATK gauge—now reading 2200—"is this! X-ray-zero-zero-three—Special Option Activate! Sword Arts Spell: Flash Sword Maneuver – Afterburner!"
Without warning, all nine blades of Kagari—the eight on Rei's back, the ninth in her hand, and both sets of thrusters on her feet as well—erupted in gouts of fire so intense that a stunned Blue Angel thought the monster had exploded. But a second burst of fire, rising upward from the inferno, told her that wasn't the case: Kagari—and Rei with it—was soaring into the air at speeds no human would ever be able to survive in real life. Onward and upward she climbed, like a rocket bound for space, until she was lost to sight but for a shrinking point of orange light—but even as she watched, that light was beginning to glow brighter … bigger … closer …
"If I activate this card," Blue Angel heard Rei speak, through the voice app in her Duel Disk, "I can target a monster on the field and destroy it! Then—since I have at least three Spells in my Graveyard, I can destroy a Spell or a Trap on the field as well!"
For a full second, Blue Angel did not breathe: she'd just realized what Rei's strategy had been this turn—and what this meant for her.
"And the best part?" she heard Rei crow. "Multirole's effect makes sure there's nothing you can do about it! So I'll target your Foxywitch—and then destroy your Magicorolla! Which means this Duel is over!"
Yes, Blue Angel knew now: her Equip Spell Magicorolla had a weak spot; if it left the field, the monster it was equipped to was destroyed. That one card Rei used, therefore, would not simply get rid of two cards on her field, but three: her Foxywitch, her Magicorolla, and the Holly Angel that the latter card had brought back. It would all but clear her entire field—and leave Kagari to attack for the win, with nothing to stand in its way, and no way for Blue Angel to respond.
Rei's right, she thought, watching Kagari rocket downwards with the speed of a fallen angel. This Duel is over …
High above Den City, on the top floor of an apartment building being bathed in the final rays of the day's setting sun, Zaizen Aoi—still perched on her bedspread, completely motionless even as her virtual self raced and veered through a remote sector of LINK VRAINS—awaited the final attack of the Duel.
And smiled.
… except.
WHAM.
Kagari plowed into Foxywitch with the punch of a small bomb, tackling the winged girl at breakneck speeds that send both monsters straight through the Duel course. The force of the impact disintegrated the Magicorolla atop Holly Angel's head—and Holly Angel herself not long after; the fragments of data they left behind remained for only an instant before they were caught by the winds around Blue Angel, swallowed by the current beneath her, or consumed by the fire below her.
That fire now roared upwards; Kagari now soared into the air a second time, aiming for another attack run—straight for Blue Angel. Of Foxywitch there was no sign; so complete was its destruction at Rei's hands that there was hardly even bits of data left behind.
Which meant—"Trickstar Foxywitch's second effect!" shrieked Blue Angel. "If it's destroyed by battle or by card effect, I can Special Summon a Link-2 or lower Trickstar monster from my Extra Deck! So I'll Special Summon my Link-2 Trickstar Sweet Devil!"
High above, she saw a portal flare directly behind Rei. She was close enough—and there was just enough of Kagari that Blue Angel's view wasn't terribly obstructed—to see a winged monster that might have been Holly Angel's evil twin: raven-haired, with ebony gloves that held a gold-spiked staff, white stockings that ended just below an equally black skirt, and a pair of charcoal-gray cat tails that flicked behind her (ATK 2000/LINK–2, L-R).
"Huh?!" Blue Angel saw Rei, still inside Kagari, whirl around at the unexpected arrival even before her exclamation came through the comlink in her Duel Disk—and felt her smirk grow even wider.
"Then," said the Charisma Duelist, "I can inflict 200 damage to my opponent for every card they control!"
"Wha—?!"
But Rei got no further; a giggling Sweet Devil had raised its staff high—and brought it down right on top of Rei's horned headset with a tremendous SMACK. The force of the impact shattered Kagari as if it was nothing more than a fragile china figurine, exploding into a million fiery shards of data.
And leaving Rei—her Life Points now plunged fully to zero—to plummet through empty space, without any visible means of support.
Blue Angel allowed herself no time to savor her victory—that would come later. She kicked her D-Board into high gear, rocketing upwards, leveling out—then arcing downwards into an expertly controlled dive that brought her parallel with Rei.
"Hold on!" She didn't stop to hear if Rei was conscious enough to hear; the Charisma Duelist hooked the girl's frame with an arm, bringing her onto her own D-Board—into her embrace—
"Gotcha!"
One lunge with her back foot upon the craft, and the D-Board leveled out once more, skimming the data currents with inches to spare. Only then did Blue Angel expel the massive breath she'd been holding ever since Foxywitch's effect had triggered.
She'd won the Duel—by the skin of her teeth, yes, but she'd won.
A relieved laugh, fueled by the adrenaline that had been building up inside her for the past four turns, escaped her lips as she accelerated her D-Board, exiting the Duel course and heading for the nearest island.
She was distracted just then; a faint stirring in her arms had registered. "You all right?" Blue Angel called out, flashing Rei a winning smile—
—before promptly feeling that smile go slack at the expression on Rei's face.
It wasn't disappointment—not even close. Nor was it the transitory sort of anger that came after losing a Duel where very little, if anything, was on the line. A pink blush had bloomed over Rei's cheeks; she was staring up at the Charisma Duelist with a look in her eye that could only be called star-struck—
—at least, until some part of her finally noticed that Blue Angel was looking back; the pink in her cheeks now boiled crimson.
"You're … holding me … " she could only squeak.
For some reason, Blue Angel thought this was very funny—and for the rest of the journey towards that distant, jumbled island of iron and cement, Rei wore an expression of deep befuddlement as to why the Charisma Duelist was giggling like a maniac all the way back.
A/N: Only one more chapter to go after this, to tie things up. I'm not sure when it'll be out; I might've found a promising place to live now, so it may be after I've had time to settle in.
That's about it for this update; things have been that quiet in my life. Rate and review at your leisure, and thanks for reading! – K
