"DUEL!"
"I'll start! I summon Level 3 Tuner, Reina of the Infantry! Due to her ability, I can call another member of the Infantry from my deck or hand! I call Level 2 Page Leona! I synchro summon Level 5 Belephagor, Horse of Kings (2000/1600)!"A tan stallion, with a black-fire mane reared on the field. "I place three cards face down, and activate Belephagor's ability! By destroying two set cards on the field, I can search my deck for an equip card! I play the magic spell Gold Harness! This grants Belephagor 500 extra attack points as long as I have 2 or more warrior-type monsters in my graveyard! Your turn, Yuki!" finished Rei.
"I summon Level 4 Tuner Priestess of the Full Moon, Tsukirumi (1600/700)! Then I play the field spell Forgotten Lunar Sanctuary!" A priestess dressed in a traditional white Japanese kimono appeared on the field, followed by a change in scenery as a temple appeared on a lakeside surround by trees. "As long as I have one Tsuki monster on my field or in my graveyard, it cannot be destroyed by magic, trap or Card effects, and you can't activate other field spells. Every time I summon a Tsuki monster, it gains 1 counter. I can remove that counter to either move a level 2 or lower "Tsuki" monster from my deck to my hand or one Tsuki monster gains 300 attack and defense points till the end of the turn. I remove the counter to take Level 2 Tsuki Owl(500/1000)! Tsuki Owl's special ability allows me to discard one card from my hand and summon it directly onto the field! I synchro summon Level 6 Tsukimira, Guardian Wolf (2300/1600)!" A large black wolf with a cresent moon printed on its forehead emerged, howling loudly.
"Tsukimira's ability! By removing one counter from Forgotten Lunar Sanctuary, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field." Rei's card, which had been the trap card Metal Shield, was instantly sent to the graveyard. "Because Tsukimira is a "Tsuki" monster, I gain one more counter, which I remove to give Tsukimira 300 more attack points! Tsukimira attacks Belephagus, Horse of Kings!"
A large clawed paw tore through Belephagus as the large black wolf lunged. Rei:3900/ Yuki:4000.
"I set two cards and end my turn." called Yuki, "I activate Tsukirumi's ability, which is activated during my endphase! If it was used for a synchro summon of a "Tsuki" monster the same turn that it was summoned, the opponent cannot use trap cards for the rest of their turn!"
" Fine. I draw! I summon level 4 Cavalry Knight Mira (1800/1400)! Mira's ability! If a higher level warrior monster was destroyed last turn, I can special summon one level 3 or lower "Infantry" monster from my graveyard. I special summon Level 3 Tuner Reina of the Infantry! I Synrcho Summon! Arise, Bellona, Goddess of War (2600/3000)! I then activate the equip spell Sword of Ares, which grants 500 extra attack points to Bellona, and can be destroyed in her place. Bellona atacks Tsukimira, Guardian Wolf!" The large sword-bearing goddess swung at the black wolf, who howled and disappeared.
Yuki:3200/Rei:3900
"I set 1 card and end my turn!"
"I draw! I summon Level 4 Tsukiyuri(1700/1000)! I remove the counter from Forgotten Lunar sactuary to summon Level 2 Tsuki Owl! Then I activate Tsukiyuri's effect! By removing one Tsuki monster from my field from play, I can special summon another Tsukiyuri! Tsukiyuri's second effect! If 2 Tsukiyruri's were summoned in one turn, I can choose to turn one of them into a tuner! With this, I synchro summon Tsukiyomi Dragon(2800/3000)!" The pale white/blue beast that they had seen in the hallway of Goodwin's mansion once again appeared on the battlefield. She roared her approval, then turned and nuzzled Yuki's cheek, surprising most of the spectators.
"I then remove 2 Tsuki counters from Forgotten Lunar Sanctuary with Tsukiyomi Dragon's ability to special summon Level 4 Winged Armory! Becuase of its ability, when Tsukiyomi Dragon is on the field, it is automatically destroyed and sent to the graveyard, from which it is automatically resummoned to my trap and spell card zone as an equip spell, which grants 500 extra attack points and the ability to attack twice more by discarding the top 4 cards of my deck! Tsukiyomi Dragon attacks Bellona, Goddess of War!"
"I discard Sword of Ares' to avoid its destruction!"
Yuki:3200/Rei:3700
"I discard the top 2 cards from my deck to the graveyard to attack again! Tsukiyomi Dragon attacks Bellona, Goddess of War again!"
Yuki:3200/Rei: 3000
"I discard two more cards to my graveyard!Tsukiyomi dragon attacks you directly!"
Yuki:3200/ Rei:0
"That was fast." Yuki turned to see her brother walking toward her. "Only 4 turns to beat the 'Warrior Goddess'."
"Warrior Goddess?"
"That's Rei's title among European tournaments."
"That was really well played Yuki! Where'd you get your deck?" Rei ran up to her and hugged the younger girl.
"Dad gave it to me when we were little." replied Yuki, hugging the other girl back. Rei tensed, having heard the story of Professor Fudo and the Ener-D reactor from Mina.
"So that was the deck that Yusei gave you. Not bad." said Jack. "Of course, mine is still better."
"Shut up, Atlas. I beat you easily; for Yuki it would be a joke." Rei wheeled around to face the blond duelist.
"Prove it."
"Fine! Yuki, duel Jack please!"
"Ummm...Yusei?" asked a rather nervous Yuki.
"No. Yuki isn't dueling more than that today."
"But she's a great duelist!"
"She just got out of the hospital!" shot back Yusei. Yuki found this the perfect time to escape the havoc, moving over into the "quiet" corner, where Kai and Luna were. Sato had gone to attempt to seperate his sister, who was going toe to toe with the "arrogant and cocky" blond duelist. Crow and Yusei were attempting to seperate them; eventually giving up, while Leo was, like the little boy he was, cheering on one duelist or the other.
"Not used to the noise?"
Yuki jumped, turning around to see Kai looking at her.
"Yes. They are really loud for being so few..."
"Don't worry; they're not even at their loudest yet. You should see Crow and Jack fighting. By the way, I'm Kai Tatsuno, leader of Team Caesar."
"Yuki Fudo. Its a pleasure to meet you!" Luna poked Kai, and he glanced at her. She smiled, then ran off to try and shut her twin up.
"What kind of deck do you use, Kai?"
"I use Beast Warriors. It's pretty good, I guess."
"Stop being modest, Kai. You know it's one of the strongest decks out there." said Yusei, walking over to the two.
"You beat me at the Fortune Cup."
"Luck of the draw. If I hadn't drawn the magic card Silver Wing, you would have destroyed Stardust, and left my field totally open to attack."
"Facts trump possibility."
"You're just as stubborn as Jack."
"Speaking of Jack..." both duelists turned to see Rei dueling Jack, who was indeed loosing by 200 life points.
"Some things never change..."
"Care to stay for dinner at this point? I'm sure Crow would be fine cooking something for you guys. And his cooking has gotten a lot better."
Kai snorted. "Yeah. Now he can probably cook an egg without burning it."
"He took some lessons from Martha after Rei shamed him so badly."
"Oh? Trying to impress the lady I see." Yusei snorted. Yuki glanced at him curiously.
"Crow likes Rei." he explained.
"Like you like Akiza?" Kai doubled over laughing at embarrassed expression on Yusei's face as his sister exposed his secret.
"I thought it was common knowledge..." Yuki cowered behind Kai, whom Yusei was glaring at.
"That'd better not become common knowledge Kai." Yusei threatened, wiping away all traces of his embarassment.
"Don't worry; you guys look really cute together anyway!" chirped in Luna. Yusei groaned. Another person?! Really? Good thing Jack and Crow were too dense to figure it out, otherwise he would be in major trouble.
"We won't tell, right guys?" Kai glanced at the other two. Luna smiled and nodded, and Yuki nodded noticing the distraught look in her brother's eyes. Yelling from the other side of the room got her attention, and she saw Rei sitting triumphantly on the sofa as a disgruntled Jack Atlas served her coffee wearing... a pink apron. Crow was laughing loudly without trying to hide it, while taking multiple photos with his phone, no doubt to send to the rest of the gang. Sato looked undecisive of whether to be happy for his sister or pity Jack, while Leo was jumping around and gleefully pointing out Jack's failure.
"Is that all her highness desires?" Jack's teeth could be heard almost grinding as he offered her the coffee.
"You're dismissed until dinner."
"...LIKE HELL I'M SERVING YOU AT DINNER!"
"Tisk,tisk. You lost the bet. You, Jack Atlas, get to serve me for the entire day. Be lucky its already 7 in the evening; your service is almost over."
Steam could be seen coming out of Jack's ears as Rei forced him to bow as she relaxed on the sofa. Kai and Yusei were laughing heartily; Luna, being the kind soul that she was, gave Jack a pitying look, but under she had a barely conceiled smile.
"This would be the best bet they've ever made, right Yus?
"At least Jack's ego might go down a little." The comment from Kalin caused Kai to nod his head thoughtfully. "If that's the case, we should make these bets every time. It would be like a disciplining school."
"I heard that! And I am NOT a DOG that needs to be DISCIPLINED." The yell from across the room merely cause more snikers from the boys.
"You just proved that you are undisciplined." came the retort from Rei, who once again smiled at her victory.
"Aren't you being a bit mean?" Yusei and Kalin turned to Yuki, who was looking at Jack with a pitying look.
"Right. You just met Jack. Give it a month and you'll understand his ego issues." said Kalin, smiling at the rather bemused girl.
"I say 2 weeks!"
"SHUT IT BIRDBRAIN!"
"Then I say 1 week."
"Not you too Rei..."
"I'll make all the bets I want, Mr. I'm-your-older-brother-Sato."
"...That was a terrible joke, Rei. I am your older brother."
"HEY!"
The entire room, including Crow and Jack, who were in each other's faces, turned to look at Leo.
A small grumbling sound was heard.
"...I'm hungry."
"THEN GO GET YOURSELF A SAND-Ack!"Jack was rubbing his sore head, as Kalin calmly re-slung his jacket over his shoulder.
"You do need disciplining, Jack. You're an adult; he's a kid."
"I don't give a shi-"
Whack!
"Language, Jack."
"Jack's getting schooled!"
A whack! resounded from the other side of the room.
"You don't have the right to tease or be rude, Leo." Leo craddled his head, whimpering, as Luna stood above him disapprovingly.
"If we plan to have dinner-"
"DINNER!"
"SHUT UP!"
"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP BEFORE I SEND YOU IN TIME OUT!"
Everyone sweatdropped."Time-out?"
"Sato, I don't think that's going to work."
"Because you're method resolved anything Kalin."
"Please. We are not in a day-care." Rei pinched both boy's noses, forcing them to stop talking.
"Damn..." both boys rubbed their embarrassingly red noses.
"Go Rei!"
Whack!
"That's it Leo! You go sit in time out!" Luna grabbed her elder twin's ponytail and dragged him to the corner, sitting him down facing the wall. Those who knew the twins well glanced at each other. Only 2 things could get Luna pissed off. One, if someone insulted her friends (including her deck), or if she had a bad headache. In this case, it was most likely the latter.
"Luna, would you like some ibuprofen?"
"Yes, thank you Kai."
"I'm guessing Leo and Co.'s yelling made it worse right?" Yusei walked over to the newly installed cabinets to pull out a glass for water.
"Mmm... Sorry. Whenever I get a bad headache I get annoyed really easily." Luna explained to Yuki.
"It's okay. I totally understand." Yuki smiled and sat next to the girl.
"Does that mean I can come over there now?"
"Yes Leo..."
"Awesome! Kalin, I want a remtach!" His stomach grumbled. "And dinner."
"I take that back," muttered Luna, covering her ears.
"Hey Leo! Could you quiet down a bit? Otherwise you'll have to wait for dinner."
At Yuki's threat, Leo immediately sat down quietly, and she smiled, turning to rub Luna's back soothingly.
"Why didn't I ever think of that threat?!" was the thought of everyone in the room.
"No rematch Leo. It's 7, so we should eat dinner." Kalin helped Yusei clear the table of files, tools and runner parts. Crow, who had disappeared, came in carrying two large plates of pasta, one with tomato and the other with Pesto. Sato helped by carrying in the large bowl of Salad, while Jack brought in a few more chairs.
"Dinner!"
Leo was the first to sit down, Luna and Yuki sat on either side of him, and Yusei sat at his sister's right. Rei sat at one end of the table, and Jack at the other. Crow, Sato, Kai and Kalin sat on the other side of the table, and Yuki found herself facing Kai.
Leo was staring hungrily at the pasta that Crow was serving. Sato had managed to get Rei to 'release' Jack from his service, but the two continued glaring at each other over dinner. Leo was talking to Sato about his morphtronic deck, while stuffing his mouth with pasta. Luna was quietly listening in while occasionally scolding Leo for talking while eating. Kalin and Yusei were talking about the WRGP, while Crow was talknig to Rei about cooking. Jack was silent for once, quietly eating his pasta and sipping on coffee ( What else would he drink? :)
Yuki was disscussing dueling strategies with Kai, who quickly understood the structure of her Tsuki Deck and pointed out the the strategies were easy to read if one had seen her duel before. She nodded, and he offered to help come up with some more strategies later on.
When everyone was finished, Crow and Sato cleared the table, while Rei and Jack had a rematch, to which he had challenged her during dinner.
Rei was leading Jack (Read: Utterly crushing) during the duel, albeit the fact that he had spent the entire dinner coming up with strategies to counter hers. This pissed him off to no end. How was he, the King of Dueling, (Well, ex-King) loosing to a girl?
Leo and Luna were standing by and watching, Leo cheering for Jack, while Luna quietly supported Rei.
Kai and Yuki were sitting down at the table, looking over her deck, and the structure.
"Don't you think that it would be better if you used Forgotten Lunar Sanctuary's ability to call out Level 2 Tsukiyori, Guardian Angel(600/1500)? Becuase when you put in attack mode you can 'equip' him to another Level 4 or below Tsuki monster. That monster gains his level and attack points, so if you summon the Level 4 Tsukiyuri, then you have a Level 6 monster with 2300 attack points and 2500 defense points. You'd only need a level 2 tuner, and you could summon Tsukiyomi Dragon."
"But if I do that, then Tsukiyori is open to attack if I can't synchro summon."
"That's why you use the 2 counters on Forgotten Lunar Sanctuary to summon the Level 2 tuner Tsukiri (400/600)."
"What about the attack point boost?"
"In the dueling world now, attack points are gradually loosing their importance; I mean, look at Jack and Rei. Jack uses a power, attack-point based deck, but Rei can use the effects of her cards to stop his power combos, leaving him open to attack. Your deck can run both ways; you can use it as a power deck, and also as a quick deck."
"That's good... I wouldn't change my deck for the world." She picked up her deck looked at Tsukiyumi Dragon fondly before slipping it into the deck box on her waist. "Have you used multiple decks, Kai?"
"I started out with a warrior deck, then I switched to the Beast Warrior and just continued powering it up over time." He shrugged. "It took a long time, but it was definetly worth it."
"HA! In your face Rei!"
Everyone turned at the exclamation to find a proud Jack lording his victory over Rei.
"Guess miracles do happen!"
"Shut it Crow! You're just jealous because of my skill."
"I agree with Crow."
"Thank you Rei."
"I think that Rei played better than Jack." Luna's soft voice seemed to drown out the others.
"Thank you Luna!" Rei hugged the younger girl, who was surprised but then smiled happily.
"Don't worry Jack! You also played really well."
"Obviously Leo. I am the King of Dueling."
"I think Yusei took that title from you Jack." Sato's comment had the ex-King glaring at Yusei, who had a humored smile on his face.
"That was luck."
"Then Yusei's really lucky; he's beaten you at least 5 times since the Fortune Cup." Kai patted Jack's shoulder. "Anyway, we should get going. It's late, and Rei has to get enough sleep before going crazy at the mall tomorrow."
"Who are you? My second brother?" Rei flipped her hair over her shoulder. " I can hardly stand Sato when he's in his brotherly mode. Anyway, where's Yuki? I wanna say bye."
"She's sleeping on the couch." Kai pointed out the girl who was indeed laying with her head on a pillow of messy hair, curled up in one corner of the sofa.
"Oh well. Tell her to be ready by 9 tomorrow. I'll come pick her up around 9:10. Oh." Rei turned to Luna "Are you also coming Luna? Because if that's the case, I'll go pick up the Porsche from the garage tomorrow morning."
"You have a Porsche?!"
"We share one..." Sato sighed.
"I would like too, but Leo's going to be alone for the entire day..."
"Then how about this. You and Leo come over to the garage, Rei picks you and Yuki up, and Leo can spend the day here. We're not going anywhere." Yusei offered.
"Yeh! Jack you are dueling me tomorrow."
"DREAM ON, BRAT."
"Jack, if anything, you are the brat."
"Please Crow. Don't start-"
"WHAT WAS THAT?!"
"I SAID YOU WERE THE BRAT."
"I think we'll be going. Leo, Luna, do you guys need a ride?" Kai turned to the twins "We do live next door so..." After coming back from Europe, Team Ceasare had bought two apartments in the Tops, and found out that the twins were their neighbors. Rei had claimed one, while Sato and Kai shared one. They were practically family anyway.
"Yes, thank you. Leo, let's go!"
"Awww! Come on! Jack was about to duel Crow!"
"Not happening." Kalin moved forward and slapped either on the back of the head, causing them to crash into each other.
"Hey! That hurt!"
"It was supposed to. Now shut up."
"Kalin, can I duel you tomorrow?"
"Yes, Leo. I'll duel you tomorrow." Kalin ruffled Leo's hair affectionately, then sent him running towards the door with a slight push to the back. "Now everyone's waiting for you."
"Bye Yusei! Bye Jack! Bye Crow!" Leo ran out the door, quickly followed by an exasperated Luna who quietly thanked them for the dinner.
"Goodnight! Thank you for the dinner!" Kai followed Sato who went to start up the car.
"Right! See you tomorrow!" Rei turned to Crow, who was rubbing his forehead, and boldly gave him a kiss on the cheek. "That's for dinner! See you!"
She quickly ran out the door, and no one saw the faint tinge of red on her cheeks.
"You like him, right Rei?"
"Shut up Kai." Muttered Rei, pulling open the door of the car. Kai shrugged sat in the front with Sato.
Meanwhile...
Crow stared out the door at Rei's fading figure, headache completely forgotten. His cheeks were tainted a bright red, and mouth was wide open.
"Crow."
"..."
"Crow." Kalin waved his hand in front of his face.
"..."
"Crow! Snap out of it!" A resounding whack echoed as Kalin used his ever handy jacket. Crow's mouth shut quickly and he wiped the blush from his features.
"That was just... surprising! I mean, how often do you get kissed on the cheek by the girl you like?!"
"... You just admitted that you like her." Crow turned another unhealthy shade of red, and bolted up the stairs to his room.
"Awww. Birdbrain is in love."
"Don't tease, Jack. You're not much better with Carly."
"..." A second pair of feet stormed up the steps and another door slammed.
"At least he didn't deny it." Yusei had calmly watched everything from his perch on the windowsill.
"What about you and Akiza?" Yusei spluttered and choked on his glass of water, spitting it in the trash.
"What are you, a cupid?!"
"It's not that difficult to see, stupid."
"Ah, whatever. Just don't tell!" Yusei walked over to his sister and picked her up gently, all the while a tinge of red on his cheeks. "Goodnight."
"Where's Yuki gonna sleep?"
"In her room."
"Which room?"
"The newly re-designed guest bedroom at the end of the hall. Don't ask me. Akiza and the other girls were the only ones who touched it, so I don't know what it looks like." He added, seeing Kalin's curious glance. Yusei had used the money from the Fortune Cup to purchase the rest of the house from the elderly woman, who had anyway told them that she was looking into moving into the city, with her son.
"Anyway, good night."
"See you tomorrow."
Kalin closed the door to his own bedroom, which was inbetween Jack and Crow's (They refused to be next to each other.) He'd moved in after the Dark Signer incident, after the boys had offered it to him. He didn't have anywhere else to go, and so he had moved in, rejoining his family. Yusei shifted Yuki in his arms and opened her door. He blinked, rather surprised with the room. It was painted a deep purple, with random black patterns covering one wall. The purple twin-size bed in the corner had white covers with purple stars, matching the blinds. A bookshelf stood on the left wall, next to a closet, while on the other side stood a desk, with a pile of books already waiting.
He carried Yuki over to the bed and dropped her on the bounced mattress. The jolt woke her up, and she grumbled as her brother looked down at her.
"You can shower tomorrow. Just change and use the restroom for now. It's the door to the left of yours." His eyes softened as he looked at the sister he hadn't seen for 10 years. He bent down and hugged her, then ruffled her hair and smiled as she was first surpised and then pouted.
"Goodnight, little sis."
"Goodnight big brother."
Yusei closed the door quietly and walked over to his own room, which was painted midnight blue with black streaks. The team logo was printed above his bed on one of the walls, the other wall was covered with bookshelfs filled to the brim. He got ready for bed and slipped under the covers, mind going back to when his mother would tuck him in. She would tell him to ask her anything that was on his mind. If there was some question that he had unanswered, she would try to answer it for him, so that he could go to sleep with "peace of mind." That habit hadn't left him, and he would scribble down notes before going to bed every day. But today had left him without questions.
Yuki was startled from sleep when she was dropped on something soft. She was half awake when her brother talked to her. She woke up fully when he hugged her. It felt so... nostalgic. No one had hugged her before going to sleep for years. She just had to pout when Yusei messed with her hair again. Just like on Satellite. She sat on her bed for a while, just reminiscing. She got up slowly and walked over to her closet. She saw several clothes inside, but decided to wait until tomorrow to look at all of them. She pulled out a tank top and shorts, changing quickly before going to use the restroom. Getting back into bed, she thought back on her first day out of "prison" in 10 years. It was fun and exciting, emotions she hadn't felt in a long time. She sighed contentedly before turning off the lights and slipping into bed. She couldn't wait for tomorrow.
A.N.: Sorry for the wait!