Chapter 29: Test the Limits! An Impossible Plan!
"So, big man, what's the plan?" Yuke queried.
"First, we're going to need to reinforce the walls of this house. Whatever you can find. Wood disintegrates easily. Metal's more resistant," Shun took charge.
"Wait, what?" Sawatari blinked.
"Flare, I'm gonna trust you to establish a perimeter. The portal's gonna be unstable at best, it'll help if you can build a makeshift rim of some sort, something for it to lock on to,"
"Got it," Flare saluted.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Gong frowned.
"Gong, I need you to move the power generator out of that shed and inside, and get some wires so it can be connected to the rim Flare will build. That way, the portal will be able to track its opening point. Do we have any spare Duel Disks?"
"There's a few old ones in the junkyard," Yuke nodded with a smile. "Good, we'll need the wireless transceivers from them. Something to establish a signal," Shun nodded.
"OMG, are we doing what I think we're going?" A grin crept onto Katie's face.
"Let me get this straight," Gong frowned. "You intend to turn this house into some kind of interdimensional spaceship?"
"Nope," Flare shook her head. "A spaceship can make multiple trips. This thing'll be lucky to survive one,"
"This plan is insane," Sawatari snorted.
"It's our only shot," Shun shrugged.
"Well, if it means we can get back to the proper four dimensions, I'm up for it," Yuya volunteered.
"This is gonna be so cool!" Yuke grinned.
X
Leo Akaba sighed. "Of all the days for Kisara and Yuri to take the day off," he groaned to himself, before looking at the two girls in front of him. "Welcome, Gloria and Grace,"
"Hello, sir," the twins said in perfect unison. "What did you call us for?" Gloria questioned.
A holo-screen appeared in front of Leo Akaba. "I don't suppose you two have ever heard of the Crashlands?" he questioned. They shook their heads, and he continued. "I thought as much. The Crashlands is almost like an interdimensional garbage dump. Every now and then, a crack opens in one of the four dimensions and something falls out. A building, a small island, a grove of trees, anything, really. Even people. Over time, these things came together and merged, forming a tiny planet that exists outside of the four dimensions, occupied by inhabitants of all four and beholden to none,"
"What would we want with such a dump? You can't be suggesting we bother invading that pathetic place," Grace snorted, before freezing as she realised that she had just questioned the plans of Leo Akaba. She opened her mouth to beg forgiveness, but Leo waved it off. "I'm not. Our resources would be wasted on that place. But you two heard about the fiasco with Jean-Michael Roger, right?"
The two nodded. Everyone in Academia now knew the story of how one of Leo's lackeys in Synchro Dimension had tried to turn against him and seize power for himself. He had paid the price for deserting Academia, and his own interdimensional transportation machine had exploded and sucked him into a wormhole. No one knew where he was or what had happened to him.
"It appears that some of my son's Lancer lackeys got caught in the blast. We don't know about Roger himself, but the Lancers were sent to the Crashlands," Leo explained.
"And you want us to go clean them up?" Gloria asked in understanding.
"Selena is one of those Lancers. So it is likely safe to assume that she is now in the Crashlands. I could care less about the others, but I need you two to take a legion or two of Obelisk Force and bring her back," Leo paused as an idea occurred to him. "And while you're at it, subjugate that worthless planet. Normally I wouldn't bother, but you might as well while you're there,"
"Yes, sir," The twins bowed and turned to leave. Leo watched them with a cool smile. "Don't disappoint me, girls,"
X
Yuya and Flare, with the experienced scavengers Yuke and Katie, were venturing back into the Crashlands while Gong, Shun and Sawatari made the modifications to the house's power generator.
Flare started as Yuya pulled her aside and looked her in the eye. "Flare, you know Shun better than anyone," he told her. "I've only known him for a little while and we've barely even talked, so . . ." he trailed off. "Can we trust him with doing something like this?"
There was no hesitation, she nodded. "I told you my dad was a scientist. Shun was always hanging around the labs, picking stuff up and learning what he could. I was in a different school to him, but Ruri told me he was top of his Mechatronics class. I'm good with technology from hanging around my dad, but he's on a completely different level," she explained.
Yuya sighed in relief. "Good," he grinned, and the two caught up with Yuke and Katie.
"Flare, you're from Heartland, right? What's it like?" Katie asked in excitement.
"We're both really curious about how things are outside the Crashlands," Yuke added.
"Me too," Yuya agreed, and when the other three looked at him in surprise, he raised his hands defensively. "I mean Heartland. I've never been to Xyz Dimension, just Synchro and Standard," he explained.
"Well," Flare started, at first remembering how Heartland used to be. "It was paradise,"
X
Eight-year-old Flare skipped along the sidewalk, looking around in awe. "Wow," she smiled. "This place is amazing! It's all so bright and colourful!"
She eagerly looked up at her adoptive father. "Am I really gonna live here with you?"
The fifty-year-old scientist smiled at his child. "It's a wondrous place, I agree. Makes me proud to live here,"
"Then I'm gonna be proud to live here too!" Flare grinned, before looking ahead. "Hey, look, daddy, there's a park! Think there'll be other kids there?"
"Oh, almost definitely," Dr. Abakir smiled.
"You think they'll have Duel Disks?" Flare asked eagerly.
"You do, don't you?" He gestured at her shiny, brand new bright red Duel Disk, children's size. "I'm gonna Duel! I'm gonna have my first Duel!"
X
"The buildings were so colourful, and the streets were always so clean, and the plants were so green and the sky was always so blue," Flare reminisced.
"Wow," Katie smiled. "Why would you ever leave a place like that?"
The young fox girl shivered, seeing the thunderous look that passed over Flare's face. "Obelisk Force," she spat the words out, clenching her fists. Fire appeared in her palms, hidden behind her fingers, and she rapidly extinguished it, before breathing in and continuing. "They came from Fusion Dimension, they saw our happiness, and, I don't know why, but they had to destroy it,"
Yuke gulped. "What did they do?"
The redhead mirthlessly laughed. "I just told you. They destroyed it,"
X
Now fifteen, Flare absent-mindedly tapped her foot as she waited. She had just gotten out of school for the day, and had come to her father's lab. He had said he had something he wanted her to see. A monumental achievement . . . or something like that, anyway.
Suddenly, there was an odd noise. Some kind of siren wailing throughout the entire city. It was so unorthodox and unexpected that it took Flare a couple of seconds to place it.
When she did, she instantly froze in horror. It was the warning siren. A leftover from the days of the old wars, they held annual drills with it to make sure that everyone knew what to do in case of an emergency.
The drill wasn't scheduled for another four months.
As soon as she realised this, Flare dashed through the deserted lobby and through the doors that led into the main labs. Looking through the glass doors and walls between rooms, where the majority of the scientists were looking around in confusion, she shouted, "There's something wrong! Get to the bomb shelters! Now!"
Her shouts roused the scientific community into action, and they all rushed to gather up whatever was important and escape to the shelters underneath the building as she dashed through the corridors to her father's work station.
She swung the door open to find him gazing intently at a monitor. Looking around, she saw the monitor was hooked up to some kind of machine that contained a card. Ignoring it, she rushed towards him. "Dad, they're sounding the warning sirens. We've gotta go!" she declared.
"Just a second, sweetie," her father responded, still gazing intently at the screen.
"Dad, whatever that is, you can come back to it later," Flare insisted.
"No! If I miss the timing on this, it'll all be ruined!" he declared, still intently gazing at the screen. She looked at it, but saw nothing but seemingly random lines.
"Well, it isn't more important than your life! Now, come on!" the redhead demanded, but Dr. Abakir shook his head. "Yes, it is!"
She stopped dead, and in that moment whatever timing he had been waiting for occurred. He pushed past her, and she automatically stepped out of his way as he slid the glass containing the card open and pulled it out. "What could possibly be more important than your life?" she finally asked.
"Yours," her father responded, snatching up a bundle of papers. "Now, come on, we need to get to the bomb shelters,"
Flare rolled her eyes, but followed him nonetheless.
It was as they left the building and turned down the street that she first saw the enemy. Both she and her father froze. "They're Duelling," she whispered. She recognised the people they were Duelling, too. A tall, purple-haired lady and her muscular, if balding husband. Employees of the City of Heartland who were rapidly reaching their retirement plans, and had been assigned as security guards for the science facilities. Nistro and Dextra.
"I play Polymerization, and fuse my Ancient Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog with my Ancient Gear Hound Dog!" the offender declared. "Fusion Summon! Appear, Level 7! Ancient Gear Ultimate Bite Hound Dog!" he continued.
"Fusion Summon? What's that?" the girl asked in confusion. "Trouble, and trouble we can't deal with right now," Dr. Abakir prioritised. "We have to move,"
But Flare watched, watched as the Obelisk Force soldier attacked and reduced Dextra's LP to zero . . . watched as she vanished in a flash of light and a card was pulled out of the soldier's Duel Disk.
She saw the image of Dextra screaming in agony appear on the card.
Flare felt her father's hand on her shoulder. "We can't do anything now. Come on," he said.
"They're blocking our route to the bomb shelters," she quietly squeaked.
"We'll take the car and hide out in our country house," Dr. Abakir told her, pulling her away. Seconds after Nistro met the same fate.
Numbly, she sat in the shotgun seat as her father started his vehicle. "What did they do?" she asked.
"I don't know," he shook his head, as the car pulled away. "Here," he said, handing her something. She looked up in surprise, to see the card he had had in his laboratory being offered to her. "Can you keep this safe for me, sweetheart?" he requested, knowing that she needed something to take her mind off what had just transpired.
She looked at the card. "Dad, I know you like Machines, but what's up with the Cyber Dragon Neon?"
"You'll see. But keep it safe, and when this all blows over, take it to the basement of our house. You'll know what to do," he had instructed.
"Okay,"
The car screeched to a halt. Flare looked up in surprise.
A thundering impact shook the car as, metres in front of them, a tall building toppled over and smashed into the ground. Horrified, she saw a massive golem towering over them. Slowly, laboriously, it turned towards them and raised its foot.
That was the first time she ever saw an Ancient Gear Chaos Giant.
"Not on my watch," Flare growled, stepping out of the car.
"Sweetheart -" her father started, but the girl had already armed her Duel Disk.
She was never quite sure what exactly possessed her to do what she did next, but she did it anyway. Her inner dragon roared in fury at these stupid, foolish humane who dared attack her home. "Come, Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack! Destroy that thing!" she declared, and a massive, weaponised plane with a dragon figurehead mounted on the front swooped down from the heavens and rammed into the giant, sending it flying. Both monsters were destroyed in a massive explosion.
That was the first time she ever destroyed an Ancient Gear Chaos Giant. It wasn't the last, either.
Flare switched the Duel Disk off and climbed back into the car.
Her father looked at her in surprise, and, after a second, nodded. "Good job,"
X
"It's been war ever since," Flare darkly muttered.
"Wait, then why are we willingly going there?" Yuke questioned.
"Because we can't reach anywhere else. It's Heartland or bust," Yuya surmised.
While the other three were talking about the trip, a thought struck Flare. She opened one of the compartments on the underside of her Duel Disk and retrieved the Cyber Dragon Neon her father had given her. "What's so special about this card, dad?" she quietly asked.
"That card is the key to untold power," a voice hissed from behind her.
Flare wheeled in surprise to see Katie crouching and waggling her fingers, with her thumbs on the sides of her head, in the spots where her ears would be if not for her mutations. The redhead folded her arms. "Not funny, kid,"
"You're only a year older than me," Katie pouted. "And you act like the gap's a lot wider," she retorted.
Katie had no way to respond to that, so she turned and skipped back up to where the two counterparts were.
With that out of the way, her thoughts turned to a matter she couldn't avoid anymore. "Katie? You're a good Duelist, right?" Flare broached the subject.
The two boys turned in surprise, and Katie nodded. "I like to think so,"
"Can you Duel me?" Flare asked, remembering her nightmare from a couple of nights ago. "I need to prove to myself that I can control -" She cut herself off, all too aware that she had been about to blow her own cover in front of Yuya. Yuke would understand, he'd grown up in this crazy world where things like her were . . . understandable, if not normal, but Yuya . . . After the invasion, she had a very short list of friends. She didn't want to lose another.
"My monsters," she finished lamely.
Katie nodded. "Sure. I wanna see what all these Extra Deck things are about!"
"Alright. Me and Yuya will get started, you two catch up," Yuke grinned, grabbing Yuya's arm, and pulling him away. The green-haired boy had a feeling there was something off, but couldn't put his finger on it, so he shrugged and replied, "Alright! See you later!"
"Come with me. I know a place no one will see us," Katie grinned, and once again Flare followed her as she navigated the mountains of trash.
The fox girl stopped and pulled a rusted Duel Disk out of the rubble. "That's one," she grinned, looking around. "Here seems good,"
"Yeah," Flare nodded. It was a small canyon between piles of old metal, and pretty far away from the junkyard edges. "This'll work,"
"You take the first move. I wanna see some awesome Extra Deck Summons!" Katie cheered, her tail swishing back and forth in excitement, as they armed their Duel Disks. The connection was established, and the two girls drew their opening hands.
"Then I'll show you a couple of good ones," Flare grinned. "My turn. And I'll start by using the Scale 2 Legendary Black Crystal and the Scale 7 Archfiend Eccentrick to set the Pendulum Scale!" she commanded. A black gemstone and a strangely dressed demoness with pale skin and a scary smile appeared, accompanied by a crystalline two and seven.
"Whoa," Katie grinned.
"While I have the Pendulum Scale set like this, I can Pendulum Summon any number of monsters from my hand with levels in between the scales! With the scales set at two and seven, I can Summon monsters levels three to six," Flare grinned. "So I'll now Pendulum Summon! Swing, pendulum, in the dragon's eye! Write my victory across the sky!"
A wormhole appeared with fire rimming its edges. "That looks so cool!"
"It's time to start the flame of my victory!" Flare commanded. "First, I'll bring out my Red-Eyes Wyvern!" she declared, and a squat, 1800-ATK dragon appeared and roared. "And now for a monster so hot it shares my name! Appear, Flare Resonator!" she commanded, and a small shaman with a burning fireball for a body and two protrusions to serve as arms, one of which carried a tuning fork. 300 ATK.
"Seriously? Flare Resonator?" Katie giggled.
"I know, right? It's a weird coincidence," Flare chuckled. "I'll now Normal Summon my Black Metal Dragon!" A tiny dragon with black scales appeared and roared cutely. 600 ATK. "But he isn't sticking around, because I'm gonna tune my Level 3 Tuner monster Flare Resonator to my Level 1 Black Metal Dragon!" she commanded. The Resonator became three rings, and Black Metal became a single star. "Appear, vile cephalopod, in a blaze of infernal fire! Use your almighty power to grant me my desire!" Flare chanted. White energy obliterated them both as a new monster took form. "Synchro Summon! Level 4! Appear, Old Entity Chthugha!" she declared, stumbling over her Synchro monster's name a little as a great mass, seething with tentacles, appeared with a single eye that stared ominously at Katie and a gaping mouth beneath it. 2200 ATK.
"That's kinda scary," the fox shivered, before pausing as its ATK went up to 2500 and it was enveloped by red fire. "Hey, why'd its attack points change?"
"Flare Resonator's effect. If it's used for a Synchro Summon, the Summoned monster gains 300 ATK," Flare shrugged. "Also, Black Metal Dragon's effect! When it's sent to the Grave from the field, I can add a Red-Eyes from my Deck to my hand! I add Red-Eyes Parabola Dragon!" she declared, taking her first Pendulum monster from her Deck. "Hope you're enjoying this, cause it'll happen again! I overlay my Level 4 Wyvern with my Level 4 Chthugha!" she declared, and the two monsters were sucked into an Overlay Network. "Arise with a flash, bright fiery dragon! Xyz Summon, Rank 4! Behold, the metal menace that lays waste to the enemy! Appear, Red-Eyes Retro Metal Dragon!" she commanded, bringing forth a hunched red dragon with two Overlay Units, black metal armour covering its limbs and underbelly, and 2300 ATK. "Now, Chthugha's effect! If he's used as Material for an Extra Deck Summon, I draw a card!" she commanded, and drew another card from her Deck. "I'll end my turn here!" she commanded.
"Awesome! You gotta show me how to do that!" Katie grinned. "But now I'll show you what I can do! My turn! Draw!" She drew and grinned. "I might be getting my chance sooner than expected. I Normal Summon Volpyne Priestess - Kana! she commanded, and a black-haired Asian woman dressed in a long white robe appeared. 1200 ATK. "When Kana's Normal Summoned, I can add Ritual of Volpyne Possession from my Deck to my hand! I'll now Set two cards and end my turn!" she declared with a smirk.
"Interesting," Flare nodded. "My turn! Draw!" she commanded, and drew. "Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon. What took you so long?" she quietly asked the card.
"I activate Archfiend Eccentrick's Pendulum Effect! I can target one Spell or Trap on the field and destroy it by destroying her!" Flare declared. The demoness cackled and disappeared, and so did one of Katie's facedowns. "Now, battle! Red-Eyes Retro Metal Dragon! Attack that priestess!"
"I activate my Quick-Play Spell Card, Mischief of the Volpyne Spirits!" Katie commanded, flipping her second face-down upwards. "Good thing I set that other Spell to trick you, just in case," she grinned, and Flare blinked in surprise at this admission, before nodding in approval. "When a monster you control attacks a Volpyne monster on my side of the field, I switch control of those two monsters!" she grinned, and in a whirlwind of fiery energy the two monsters switched positions. Red-Eyes Retro Metal Dragon was now controlled by Katie, and Flare had her Priestess. "And damage calculation proceeds!" she grinned, and her dragon attacked her former monster, dealing Flare 1100 damage and destroying her own monster.
"Good job," the redhead nodded in approval.
"You done? 'Cause I really wanna find out what an Xyz monster can do!"
"Sorry, nope," Flare smirked. "Using the Scale 8 Master of Dragon Shrines, I restore the Pendulum Scale!" she commanded, and a new black dragon rose with a long neck and longer tail, accompanied by a crystalline 'eight'. "Now, I Pendulum Summon! Swing, pendulum, in the dragon's eye! Write my victory across the sky!" she declared, and the wormhole reappeared. "Appear, Red-Eyes Parabola Dragon! And Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon!" she commanded, bringing forth two Level 7 dragons, each with 2400 ATK. "And finally, I'll overlay my Level 7 Parabola Dragon with my Level 7 Black Flare Dragon!" She reached for the power she had failed to harness in her Duel with Kisara, hoping it would reveal itself.
There was nothing.
"Be reborn on the war-torn plains, Xyz Summon, Rank 7, arise as the armoured victorious dragon, Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon," Flare rushed through the chant and brought out her favourite Xyz monster. 'What am I doing wrong? Why isn't it there?' she asked herself in confusion, and her inner dragon growled, sharing the sentiment. "Turn end," she finished.
"Hey! Focus!" Katie admonished her, lowering her ears in irritation.
"I am. I'm trying to control my power, but it isn't there," Flare explained. Normally,she wouldn't be so forthcoming, but Katie was the only person who she thought she could trust with her secrets.
"Well, maybe that's because you don't need it yet?" she suggested. "After all, you're Duelling against a fourteen-year-old girl. That situation doesn't exactly scream 'Go all-out', does it? Maybe on some subconscious level you're holding back?"
"That . . . makes a surprisingly large amount of sense," Flare nodded. "You're really smart,"
"Thanks," Katie preened. "So I guess there's only one thing for it. I'm gonna have to make myself a big enough threat to draw out your power!" she declared. "My turn! Draw! I'll start by activating Kana's effect! I can return one Spell Card from my Grave to my hand, then shuffle her from the Graveyard into the Deck! I'll return the Ritual of Volpyne Possession you destroyed!" she declared with a grin.
"Flare Metal's effect; you take 500 damage every time you activate a card or effect," Flare automatically told her opponent and her dragon spat a fireball that landed at Katie's feet, burning away an eighth of her LP as she leapt back in panic. "Oh. Okay. Gotta be careful about that," she resolved.
"Oh, and now Master of Dragon Shrines's effect activates. Once per turn, when you take effect damage, you take an extra 500 damage,"
"Ah," Katie gulped, her LP dropping to 3000. "Well, now I'll," She paused, looking at Red-Eyes Retro Metal Dragon's effect. "Seriously? Aww man, you gave me a dud," she pouted at Flare.
"He's not a dud, he just has an effect that's tailored to work with my Deck, not yours," Flare retorted. "Well, next time make sure you use cards that I can actually use after I steal them," Katie grinned. "Forgive me if that's not an appealing idea," her opponent smirked.
"Whatever. I play Ritual of Volpyne Possession!" Katie declared, and tapped her Duel Disk.
Nothing happened. "What? Why can't I Tribute your monster?" she asked, twitching her tail.
"Xyz monsters don't have Levels. They don't work as Ritual Tributes," Flare explained.
"Seriously?" Katie asked in exasperation. "Wow, this thing is useless," She yelped and dodged a particularly vehement fireball from Flare Metal. "But oh well. I'll just Tribute my Volpyne Familiar - Fennec instead, and use his effect to serve as the whole Tribute!" she declared with a smile as a magic circle appeared, and a spectral, glowing orange fox leapt into it. "Come forth from the breach, spirit of the pyre! Take form through my ritual as the great fox of fire!" Katie chanted. "Ritual Summon! Appear, Level 8! Wandering spirit that lives through flame! Megavolpyne Spirit - Kitsune!"
Her tall, phantasmal vulpine warrior arose and pirouetted, baring its ghostly fangs and glinting purple eyes. "When Kitsune is Summoned, I can target a monster and equip it to her! Say goodbye to Flare Metal!" Katie grinned. "Am I a threat now?" she demanded as the 1500-ATK fox rushed to possess Flare Metal - but Tracer Metal leapt in front of it instead. "What?" her controller demanded as Kitsune tripped and accidentally possessed Tracer Metal instead, growing to 3800 ATK as the dragon's Overlay Units were sent to Flare's Graveyard and Katie took another 500 damage from Flare Metal.
"As long as Tracer Metal's on the field, no other Red-Eyes monster can be targeted by card effects. An effect that applies to both sides of the field," Flare explained. "And with no other available targets, your monster automatically possesses Tracer Metal,"
Katie was speechless. "How did you get so good?" she finally mustered.
"I had to Duel to survive against Obelisk Force back home," Flare sighed. "You don't know what it's like. For you, it's just a game. But for me and my people? It's a weapon,"
"I know," Katie nodded. "I know what you mean better than most," She flicked her tail. "I'm part Duel Spirit, remember?"
"That's . . not exactly," Flare started, but shrugged. All things considered, it wasn't a bad analogy of Katie's genetic situation.
"And I know that I don't know what you've been through. But soon, I'm gonna find out. And if I can beat you, then I can beat Obelisk Force," Katie smirked, baring her pointed teeth. "So go, Kitsune! Attack that dragon!" she commanded, and her fox-possessed dragon charged, baring its claws.
But Flare barely even registered the attack. "Beat Obelisk Force?" she thought to herself. "Someone like Katie . . . against them?" she thought. "That . . ."
"Good job!" the younger girl grinned at her monster, leaping forwards and hugging the furry, armoured dragon.
"She wouldn't last a minute," Flare shivered. "I . . . I have to be strong. I have to be able to use my power to protect her. To protect everyone!" she resolved, feeling her dragon roar in agreement.
And with that, the energy was back in her Extra Deck, calling to her and spreading, until the energy was resonating with her Main Deck, her Graveyard, and her field all at once. "Four cards," Flare realised. "That's all that I need to use,"
"Yeah?" Katie looked up and sniffed. "Looks like you got your mojo back. So hit me with your best shot! I Set a card and turn end!" she declared, leaping away from her monster, arms outstretched, and grinning. "Hit me with your best!"
"You got it!" Flare nodded. "During your End Phase, I activate Red Wyvern's effect! Because I didn't Normal Summon a monster this turn, I can revive a Red-Eyes monster from my Graveyard! Return, Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon!" she declared and in a storm of black fog, crackling with lightning, her Xyz monster reemerged. "My turn!" Flare roared. Power surged through her arms, flames coating her forearm and hand, and as she pulled her card - Silver's Cry - power surged through her body from the dragon within her chest, and the flames transformed it, rewriting the very nature of the card. "I activate my Spell! Rank-Up-Magic Red-Eyes Assault!" she declared, a ring of fire appearing on the ground beneath her as Red-Eyes was sucked into a pitch-black Overlay Network, streaked with red.
Fire erupted around Flare, setting her hair ablaze and lifting her off the ground as she chanted. "Monstrous dragon with scales stained with blood, be reborn through righteous fury! Rank-Up Xyz Change! Rank 8! Behold, the forbidden power that is born from hope and grief alike! Arise, Red-Eyes Assault Flare Dragon!" she declared, and as the Overlay Network spewed forth a gargantuan, destructive beast, the fires around her engulfed her and grew to gargantuan proportions. The flames hissed - and then were cut off, instantly dissipating as Flare fell to the ground. "No. Not here. Not with Yuya nearby," she told herself.
"That can't be healthy for you," Katie gulped. Somehow, her hair was completely undamaged.
"I'll live," she snorted, focusing on her new dragon.
It was the monster from her nightmare. The gargantuan black dragon roared and howled, lashing its long, strong tail and spreading huge black wings. It had armoured black scales and glistening, sharp, silver teeth, with glowing, burning red eyes.
In her passion-driven state, Flare thought it was beautiful.
"It, er, doesn't have enough ATK," Katie pointed out. Sure enough, the dragon only had 3200. "It's got plenty," Flare grinned. "Because, by using one Overlay Unit, I can target one Red-Eyes monster in my Grave and your monster loses ATK equal to the target's! Flare Metal was sent to the Grave to activate the effect, so I target Flare Metal and Kitsune loses 2800 ATK!" she commanded. "Revolution Reflection Ray!"
Assault Flare roared, and a phantom image of Flare Metal swooped from the heavens, crashing into the possessed dragon. Kitsune shivered as her ATK dropped to only 1000. Katie gulped, doing a little math. The numbers added up to her loss.
"Red-Eyes Assault Flare Dragon!" Flare commanded, but paused. The light in her eyes died as she realised what she was about to do.
"Well? Finish me off!" Katie retorted.
"I . . ." Flare pressed a button on her Duel Disk, interrupting the game. The monsters vanished. "Aww, what?" Katie frowned.
"I can't attack you like that," Flare confessed, looking away.
She paused as Katie stood in front of her and looked up at her face. "That's good," she grinned. "It means you're better than Obelisk Force, whoever they are,"
"Thanks," Flare smiled. "I needed that,"
"Besides, we didn't have to finish it. You proved you can control yourself after all," the fox girl smiled.
The two looked up to see Yuke running towards them. "Katie! Th-thank god you're okay!" he breathed heavily in relief. "Oh, uuh, you too, Flare," he awkwardly added.
"Is something wrong, bro?" Katie frowned.
"I'm not completely sure, but according to what Yuya said," Yuke frowned, looking straight at Flare. "It's Obelisk Force. They're here in the Crashlands,"
Flare stiffened, stepping away from Katie. "Where?"
"Shun saw them from the roof of our house and sent Sawatari to tell us. They're heading towards Broken Jigsaw," Yuke reported.
Flare was already running towards the exit to the junkyard, streaks of fire in her wake.
A/N
A/N
So, my wifi went out as soon as I got to the bit where Flare performed her Rank 4 Xyz Summon. I had plans to give Flare a third Rank 4, but never got around to it. Therefore, since Galaxy Stealth Dragon wouldn't accept the Pyro-Type Chthugha as an Xyz Material, and Queen Dragun Djinn would have been useless, and I couldn't get on the wiki to find something else that would match her Deck, we are all presented with this; :)
Red-Eyes Retro Metal Dragon
Rank 4/DARK/Dragon/ATK:2300/DEF:1600/Xyz/Effect
2 Level 4 monsters
'Red-Eyes' monsters cannot be targeted by card effects. Once per turn, you can detach one Xyz Material you control, then target one 'Red-Eyes' monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon it. It is destroyed during the End Phase.
Now, new Volpynes. Where was I?
Volpyne Familiar - Fennec
Level 1/FIRE/Beast/ATK:200/DEF:500/Effect
If you would Ritual Summon a 'Megavolpyne' Ritual Monster, you can use this card as the entire Tribute. You cannot activate monster effects in the Graveyard during the turn you activate this effect.
Mischief of the Volpyne Spirits
Quick-Play Spell Card
This card cannot be activated unless it has been Set on the field first for at least one End Phase. When an opponent's monster declares an attack targeting a 'Volpyne' monster you control; Switch control of both monsters, then proceed to damage calculation. (Control of these two monsters does not switch back)
Finally, the big ones;
Rank-Up-Magic Red-Eyes Assault
Quick-Play Spell
Target one Dragon-Type Xyz Monster on the field, Special Summon, from your Extra Deck, a Dragon-Type Xyz Monster whose rank is one higher than the targeted monster, by using it as the Xyz Material. (Xyz Materials attached to the targeted monster also become Xyz Materials on the summoned monster) During either player's turn; You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target one Dragon-Type monster you control that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck; that monster cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects until the end of the turn.
Red-Eyes Assault Flare Dragon
Rank 8/DARK/Dragon/ATK:3200/DEF:2500/Xyz/Effect
3 Level 8 Dragon-Type monsters
This card cannot be destroyed by card effects, and cannot be banished from the field. If your opponent activates a card or effect; Inflict 200 damage to your opponent for each card on either side of the field. Once per turn; You can detach one Xyz Material from this card, then target one monster your opponent controls and one 'Red-Eyes' monster in your Graveyard, the first target loses ATK equal to the ATK of the second. You can detach one Xyz Material from this card, then target one of your banished cards, place it on top of your Deck. You can only use this effect of 'Red-Eyes Assault Flare Dragon' once per Duel.
And with that out of the way, review time!
Thanks, Leafeon. No promises, but you'll see.
Peace!