The tournament was soon to resume where it left off. Saori was getting ready to face her next opponent, who was another member of Tetsuo's gang. Meanwhile, Kumiko had to face one of the members of the club with whom she shared the duration of the deck building process, Kenzo Fudo.
Takato meanwhile, observed the tournament fixture for a moment and nodded to himself, letting go of a bit of an impressed humming. This was picked up by Rika who approached him, asking. "Everything alright?"
Takato nodded at her with his eyebrows a bit lifted, responding, "Yes, I actually noticed something interesting. Though considering what I saw a couple of days ago, it's not surprising at all."
Rika just tilted her head a bit and looked at the fixture, not sure what Takato was talking about.
"Well, these names, look." Then he started pointing them out on the whiteboard and naming them out loud. "Kumiko, Kenzo, Ryoko, Misuri." Then he folded his arms, smiling a bit. "All of them were under Van's wing when they began structuring their decks and learning the ropes of things. And they all seem to have won their duels without much of a struggle."
Rika then looked at the fixture, seeing how all of those members had won their duels. Rika gasped and then looked at Takato with a slight shock. "Do you think he cheated in some form?"
However, that reaction from Rika prompted him to start laughing out loud, as he brought his hands up and shook his head. "No, no. I don't mean that in any way! It would show if that was the case."
"Could I ask you how exactly it would show?" The girl then asked, her curiosity picked up by the confidence in Takato's statement.
"Well, it is to be expected that rookies will make mistakes with their decks, as they haven't really had a big window of time to practice and get into this tournament." Then he would continue pointing it out. "However, someone who had no input in the making of their deck is bound to make even more mistakes that, an experienced duelist, can easily pick up on."
"Hmm… I guess it makes sense, though I still need to learn more about this game to pick on those things." Rika replied, now with a more thoughtful expression on her face, as she poked her chin with her index finger.
"How about we go and check on the current duels? You may not be interested in playing, but it could still help if you learn more about the game overall."
Takato then suggested it with a small smile on his face.
Rika, a bit flustered, nodded a couple of times rapidly. Then both of them moved around the different tables, observing how the duels were going. With the girl following the second-year's lead.
Van was standing by one of the tables where Saori was having her next duel. The boy with the purple sunglasses clapped his hands once. "Alright, both of you ready?!" he asked, looking at the two rookies sitting.
Both Saori and her opponent nodded with determination. So, Van then waved his hand down, exclaiming, "Then, begin—turn one, Saori..."
The duel began under the watchful eye of the German-born teenager. Meanwhile, on another side of the gymnasium, Haruko was assigned to watch over another duel—one with which he was not particularly pleased with the referee. In fact, she was just looking at both duelists, trying to hide her contempt, as they were looking at her back. Kumiko was one of them, staring at the blonde girl with a cold, serious expression. Haruko stared at her back, frowning and trying to keep her cool, before suddenly Kumiko raised her hand and politely asked out loud.
"Could we please switch referees, please?" Without even skipping a beat, surprising both her opponent and Haruko alike.
Of course, this wasn't well received by Haruko who just exclaimed, "What the hell is your problem!?"
"I don't feel like our referee will be impartial, given their standing with one of the players in the duel about to take place." The raven-haired girl replied coldly.
"Oh you-you…! HMPH!" Then Haruko slammed her palm on the table and exclaimed, "This duel is starting whether you like it or not. If you want to find excuses to chicken out, that's on you, miss!" With her face turning red out of frustration, Kumiko makes her feel.
The statement, clearly, struck a chord with the quiet girl, who now frowned at the blond and stared knives at Haruko, who responded in kind. That was the scene; Kenzo, Kumiko's current, was looking from his seat. He was a bit nervous as he didn't know what the history was between those two girls, and he really didn't feel like butting in and asking 'what's going on?' was the better option for his well-being. So, he just nervously waited in silence for things to simmer down, so his duel could start.
Not only that, but there were also some observers watching the scene, who were almost as shocked, if not entertained, by how both Kumiko and Haruko were openly at odds with each other.
Kumiko finally spoke, asking, "Do you believe that I am making excuses because of…?"
The blonde girl quickly responded, "Because perhaps you are all talk and no play," narrowing her eyes at her and adding, "Now, are you going to play or not?"
Kumiko then looked over at her opponent, Kenzo, and with a more relaxed, yet cold expression, she told him, "Excuse me, but I will have to utterly defeat you. I have no personal feelings, but I need to send a message."
"Uh-...what...?" Kenzo responded, confused, before noticing how Kumiko was shuffling her deck. After a second of being completely frozen in place, Kenzo realized that he had to do the same and started to shuffle his deck as well.
"Okay, both of you are ready!" Haruko asked, still feeling annoyed, but doing her best to remain neutral as the referee for this match.
It was at that moment when Kumiko said, "Actually, I'd like to omit the coin toss, and grant the first turn to my opponent."
"Are you-" Kenzo was about to ask before Haruko interrupted.
"Very well then, Kenzo is starting. If there are no complaints, then let's get started! Turn one: Kumiko 4000 Life points, Kenzo 4000 Life points."
"Uh... Alright!" Kenzo replied, still a bit confused by what just happened, and drew his first card. "Alright then, I'll start by playing my spell card, 'Unexpected Dai'!"
As he placed the card on the table, the displayed art became more visible. The artist seemed to be a man, resembling a lot of Van's 'Warrior Dai Grepher' surrounded by what seemed to be some sort of aura and bolts of lightning.
"While I don't have any monsters on the field, my 'Unexpected Dai' allows me to special summon a level four or lower monster from my hand." The boy explained, before declaring, "Now I will special summon my 'Alexandrite Dragon'!"
Alexandrite Dragon ATK 2000/100 DEF
Then, he placed the card of the monster on the table, displaying the artwork of a dragon standing on its back legs. Of gray and white colors, with its scales covered with countless jewels, which would give a hint of different colors glittering depending on where the light reaches the dragon's scales.
Kenzo continued his turn, picking another card from his deck. "Now I will normal summon my 'Gene-Warped Warwolf' in attack position!"
Gene-Warped Wolf ATK 2000/100 DEF
"And I will finish my turn by setting a card. Your turn, Kumiko-sempai."
Haruko observed the moves of Kenzo in silence, "Two monsters summoned in one turn, both of them with 2000 attack points. Even if they are just normal monsters, this is a nice starting offense that could easily put pressure on any rookie."
The girl smirked a bit and looked over at Kumiko, believing that she would be hard-pressed already. However, she was surprised to see that she wasn't even fazed by that opening play from Kenzo.
"My turn, draw..." Kumiko stated, looking at her deck for a second and picking two cards to begin with. "I will set a monster in defense position and a face-down card. That would be it for my first turn."
"Just... that?" Haruko thought in silence, weirded out by Kumiko's awfully calm mannerisms. "Is - is she bluffing...?" she thought once again, before shaking her head and snapping back out of her mind. "A-alright, that was it for turn one. Turn number two starts now. Kumiko: 4000 life points, Kenzo: 4000 life points. Begin!" the blonde girl announced, with one of her hands raised high.
With Kenzo's turn starting once again, the boy drew his next card and looked at the three cards in his hand, then decided to take one of them, declaring. "I will summon 'Archfiend Soldier' to the field."
Arcfiend Soldier ATK 1900/1500 DEF
The artwork of the card showed what it appeared to be, a purple-skinned demon. With two large, curved horns on its head, though it wasn't clear if it was some sort of helmet or its own horns. The demon's eyes were glowing yellow, and it donned a long cloak that was green on its outer side, and red on its inner side.
"Another strong monster. So, it all points out that Kenzo's deck is a typical beat-down deck." Haruko thought to herself in silence before looking over to Kumiko's field. She could overhear how the people who were close to them, watching the duel; began to gossip and comment among themselves on how it all looked like the girl didn't really have much of a defense to take on those three strong monsters.
Haruko wasn't entirely sure, the calm in Kumiko was unsettling, even though it was she who accused the girl of being 'all bark and no bite'. The Kaiba sibling just couldn't accept that that was the best her classmate could do.
Kenzo then spoke again, "I will enter my battle phase and attack your face-down monster with my 'Alexandrite Dragon'!". As he gently pressed the card with the drop of his index finger and slightly slid it forth.
Kumiko took the card of the monster that was destroyed and showed it to Kenzo "Effect triggered, 'Mermail Abysslinde'. When it's destroyed by battle, I get to pick and summon a 'Mermail' monster from my deck."
Mermail Abysslinde ATK 1500/1200 DEF
Kumiko's card showed the art of a beautiful mermaid. With long, dark blue hair, pointy ears, and white skin. The scales on the lower side of her body were of a pure white color, and she wore a red chainmail armor, which probably hinted at why they were called 'Mermail'. The armor not only covered most of the mermaid's torso, but it also extended to cover part of the lower, fish portion of her body, covering almost the end of her tail.
"Oh?" It was the only reaction from Kenzo, apparently he had never seen a card like that before, looking over at Haruko. Who simply nodded at the boy, and then looked at Kumiko.
"A search effect... that allows her to stay in the duel for a bit more. But most importantly, 'Mermail' did she truly build an entire deck focused on a single type of monster?" the blonde girl thought, while moving her hand to her chin, holding it with a couple of fingers, now both in thought and curiosity.
"Here it is." Kumiko then separated a card and shuffled her deck, before placing the monster in defense position. "I'll special summon 'Mermail Abysshilde' in defense position."
Mermail Abysshilde ATK 1300/400 DEF
Abysshilde was yet another cute monster from Kumiko's deck, this one had long, blonde hair, which was held by a long braid that extended all the way over her back. She shared with the previous chard, the trait of donning that red, chainmail armor, with the addition of also wearing a helmet of matching colors with the armor.
Then Kenzo continued with his battle phase. "Then I'll attack again, this time with my 'Archfiend Soldier'!" he declared, sliding his card forward, gently.
Kumiko then responded by stating, "My 'Abysshilde' is successfully destroyed; however, that triggers her effect."
Kenzo blinked in surprise. "What, again?"
Kumiko nodded slightly, and began explaining as she picked a card from her hand. "When 'Abysshilde' goes to the graveyard, I can summon another 'Mermail' monster from my hand, and I choose my 'Mermail Abyssnose' in attack position." Then, the raven-haired girl placed the card on the table.
Abyssnose was quite distinctive from the two previous Mermail monsters Kumiko had summoned in the duel. For starters, this mermaid was a muscular, male. It wore a black shirt, and, over that, a silver and golden armor and helmet. The armor not only protected its torso, but it extended all the way down to its bottom fish-half. His weapon of choice seemed to be a pair of bracers, which matched the colors of his armor. The bracers appeared to have two blades, which resembled the shape of mermaid tails, that he would use to slice his enemies.
Mermail Abyssnose ATK 1500/1500 DEF
"Heh, you miscalculated Kumiko-sempai!" Kenzo replied with a smirk on his face, "You forgot I still have one more attack left with my 'Gene-Warped Warwolf'!" Then he moved that monster a bit forward, exclaiming, "I attack your Abyssnose with my Warwolf, and that will be 500 points of damage to your life points."
"Wait, that's what she wants you to do!" Haruko thought when she saw Kenzo taking that next step in his battle phase.
"I'm afraid that won't be the case, Kenzo-sempai. I'll activate my trap card, 'Abyss-Scorn." Then she flipped her face-down card. Revealing the trap that showed the artwork of what seemed to be a creepy-looking mermaid with multiple tentacles sprouting out in the direction of the duelist from a dark background. Then she proceeded to explain, "Abyss-scorn grants 1000 attack points to one of my 'Mermail' monsters of my choice, and since Abyssnose is the only one I have on the field, my option is obvious."
Mermail Abyssnose ATK 1500 → ATK 2500
Haruko would then announce, "The attack goes through, and unless Kenzo can respond, his monster is destroyed. Then he will take 500 points of damage to his life points."
The boy clicked his tongue and moved his monster to the graveyard, before gently hitting the table with his fist and muttering, "Damn it... Alright, that's all for my turn."
Mermail Abyssnose ATK 2500 → ATK 1500
Kumiko moved her previous trap to her graveyard, and then drew a new card, "Draw... I'll summon my 'Mermail Abysslung' in defense position."
Abysslung appeared to be another male mermaid, muscular and wearing white and silver armor, the bottom fish-half of the monster's body had black and white scales. He donned a black helmet on his head, and was 'armed' with two giant black shields, with golden frames that easily covered the entirety of each arm.
Mermail Abysslung ATK 1200/1800 DEF
"The special ability of this monster..." Kumiko began to explain, "While it's face-up on the field, it forces you to do so whenever you declare an attack; you'll be unable to select any other target except for this one. In addition to that, all the water monsters I control get a boost of 300 attack points."
Mermail Abyssnose ATK 1500 → ATK 1800
The girl took another card from her hand and placed it on the field. "Now I will activate my field card, 'Legendary Ocean'. So, long as it is on the field, all water monsters gain a boost of 200 attack and defense points. It will also decrease the level of all of my water monsters on the field and in my hand, by one."
Mermail Abyssnose ATK 1800 → ATK 2000 / DEF 1500 → DEF 1700
Mermail Abyssslung ATK 1200 → ATK 1400 / DEF 1800 → DEF 2000
"Now I'll play this equip card, 'Abyss-scale of the Kraken' and equip it to my Abyssnose. That way, my Abyssnose will get a boost of 400 attack points."
Mermail Abyssnose ATK 2000 → ATK 2400
"Aw no..." Kenzo muttered as soon as he noticed that now, her Mermail was strong enough to take on any of his monsters.
The raven-haired girl declared, as she moved her card slightly forward, "I enter my battle phase, and attack your 'Alexandrite Dragon' with my 'Abyssnose'."
"Vah, you got it too..." Kenzo replied in frustration to her move. Then he proceeded to move the dragon to the graveyard.
"Kenzo takes 400 points of damage!" Haruko then declared. She kept her cool, even though she was struggling a bit, because she couldn't believe how much of a well-structured deck Kumiko had. She was even getting flustered at the memory of Van telling her to go on and take her challenge, and the warning he gave them. But what flustered her the most... was the new thought that, if they faced each other, perhaps Kumiko could put her in real trouble...
"So this is what made her stand out to you, huh, Van...?" She thought to herself, in silence, pressing her lips and pouting a bit.
"Uh... Haruko-sempai?" Kenzo then asked, noticing that she was distracted and wasn't making her calls. While Kumiko was simply looking at her, unimpressed, almost as if she expected that from her.
"Ah, y-yes!" She exclaimed nervously before announcing, "Eh... turn two is over! Kumiko: 4000 life points. Kenzo: 3100 life points. Turn three, start!"
Kenzo drew his next card, "My turn!" He looked at his new card, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "Excellent, I'll summon my 'Mad Dog of Darkness' in attack position!" he declared, placing the card on the field.
Mad Dog of Darkness ATK 1900/1400 DEF
He took another card from his hand, and with a smirk, he declared, "Now I'll activate my spell card, 'Pre-Preparation Rites'!" The spell card in particular showed what appeared to be a curious image of a cult feeding a creature with countless delicacies. Then the boy explained, "What I can do now is look for both a ritual spell card and a ritual monster that is mentioned in that spell card!"
Kumiko just narrowed her eyes, showing perhaps her first reaction to one of Kenzo's plays so far.
"With this, I will bring the cards 'Synthesis Spell' and 'Lycanthrope'!" The boy declared before adding those cards from his deck, to his hand. "Now, of course, I will play my 'Synthesis Spell', so, by tributing both my monsters on the field, I can special summon my 'Lycanthrope'!"
Lycanthrope ATK 2400/1800 DEF
Kenzo's ritual monster wouldn't differ much from what the name suggested. It was a werewolf—a lycanthrope, indeed. The artwork depicted it as a vicious, muscular humanoid beast. With glowing, yellow eyes and black and gray fur. Very sharp claws and fangs, and donning only blue, ragged pants. There was a particular trait in its appearance that stood out from the typical beast from horror tales and movies. The lycanthrope seemed to have an armband with several strings or wires that all ran around his body and ended up connecting to what seemed to be a small device attached to his chest.
"This may not seem all that great now, but I will play the last card in my hand!" The boy said this before placing it on the table. "My equip card, 'Ritual Weapon'!" The spell in particular showed a knight in shining white and golden armor, with an odd, crossbow-like weapon attached to their wrist. "This can only be equipped to a level six or lower ritual monster, and that happens to be the case with my monster, that's why he now gets a boost of 1500 attack and defense!"
Lycanthrope ATK 2400 → ATK 3900 / DEF 1800 → DEF 3300
"That one is very strong... What now Kumiko..." Crossed Haruko's mind as she looked at how the duel was developing now.
Kumiko hummed, looking at her field and the cards in her hand. "I wasn't expecting that kind of play, but no matter, the damage I will sustain won't be anything I can't endure."
He then moved the card of his ritual monster a bit forward, declaring, "Now, I'll attack your Abyssnose with my monster for total damage of 1500 points."
Kumiko calmly nodded, stating, "The attack does go through, I take that damage." Then she took the monster card along with its spell equip and placed them both in her graveyard.
When Haruko was about to announce the damage Kumiko sustained, Kenzo was quick to raise a hand and exclaim, "Oh, wait, one more thing!" Then he looked at Kumiko "Now is when my Lycanthrope's effect kicks in. When he manages to inflict battle damage, he gets to inflict 200 extra points of damage for each normal monster in my graveyard."
Haruko gasped quietly, thinking, "So that was what he was doing with those monsters. It wasn't just a beat-down deck, that's just a facade. It's all about filling his graveyard with normal monsters, so he can eventually boost his lycanthrope's effect." Haruko paused for a moment. "It's not... just Kumiko. Kenzo is also good, for a rookie. They both look like they understand how their decks work.I wonder... what did Van exactly tell them, and how did he put things together for them to understand?".
Soon, Haruko snapped out of her thoughts and announced, "That... would then make a total of 2300 points against Kumiko's life points!"
This new turn of events did catch Kumiko surprised, with her expression having changed just a tiny bit when she realized that, from a single strike, more than half her life points were gone.
With Kenzo's turn-over, she drew her next card and took a look at what was at her disposal at the moment. "Hmm... With the right card, this could work..." Crossed the girl's mind before declaring, "I'll set a card face-down, and I'll end my turn."
Haruko quickly announced, "That's the end of turn number three! Turn Four starts! Kumiko: 1900 life points, Kenzo: 3100 life points."
The observers were also getting a bit more invested in the duel, the presence of that ritual monster was the next topic of gossip and whispering. Some are already taking sides with Koji over Kumiko, as she didn't seem as dominant as she was in her previous duel. Or at least that was the perspective they've had.
"Draw!" Kenzo exclaimed, sounding a lot more confident now. "I will set a monster in defense position, and then I'll attack your Abysslung with my Lychanthrope!"
Kumiko then took her monster and moved it over to the graveyard. Her field was now clear, but her opponent had no further monsters to deliver a direct attack.
"Okay, that will be all for me." The boy said this with a nod towards his opponent.
"Then I'll draw." Then, after a brief moment of silence, the girl placed a monster on the field. "I set a monster in defense, face down, that's all."
Haruko, a bit calmer, announced, "That was it for turn four. Turn Five starts now. Kumiko: 1900 life points, and Kenzo: 3100 life points."
The boy took the next card at the top of his deck and smirked. "Now I will flip my set monster. 'Magical Merchant'. This spell card allows me to keep drawing cards from my deck until I draw a spell or trap card."
Haruko's eyebrows lifted. "Wait... that expression... he is confident about his draws. He wants to boost his Lycanthrope's effect!"
Kenzo began drawing his cards. The first, "A second copy of my 'Archfiend Soldier," then moved that card to the graveyard, The second card was drawn, and after humming for a moment, Kumiko showed it to "'Vorse Invader'...". He took another card and smiled a bit. "'Beast of Talwar'".
With each monster, he drew and sent to the graveyard, Kumiko's serene expression changed a bit more to a frown, her free hand slowly clinching into a fist.
"Ah! 'Graceful Charity' that puts my spell's effect to an end." Kenzo stated, however, that he had managed to send five monsters to the graveyard, giving him a total of nine. And thus an extra 1800 points of damage in case the effect of the Lycanthrope kicked in. Meaning that now, if Kumiko took even just 100 points of damage, she was going to lose the duel.
"Now, I'll attack your face-down monster with my Lycanthrope." The rookie stated.
The girl revealed her face-down monster, and calmly stated, "'Needle Sunfish' effect kicks in. Since it's sent to the graveyard, I can pick a monster on the field, and it permanently loses 500 attack points."
Lycanthrope ATK 3900 → ATK 3400
"Not bad, but you will need more of those fish than your deck can hold to make my monster weak enough!" Kenzo joked with his opponent. "Alright, that's all for my turn." As he waited for her turn to carry on, Kenzo observed the card she had set and thought, "I guess your plan didn't work, Kumiko, you were hoping that I was going to back up with that set card. If you didn't take the chance to get rid of my monster when you still had a chance to press on your momentum, then it's because there's nothing there." he to himself, in silence, while he still kept up with his confident smirk.
The girl then drew her next card. "I summon my 'Mermail Abyssocea' in defense position. That's all."
Mermail Abyssocea ATK 1100/1900 DEF ATK → 1300 / → 2100 DEF
"Another uneventful turn... Is she stalling?" Haruko thought before announcing, "That's the end of turn five, turn six starts now!" This time, she omitted having to announce their respective lifepoints, as nothing new had happened in regard to that.
Kenzo drew his next card. "Hm... not that useful right now," he thought, "but still, I have to put the pressure on her, I can't let Kumiko have resources to summon her dragon." Then he said, "Alright, I'll go straight to my battle phase and attack once again!"
Kumiko quickly looked into her opponent's eyes and took the face-down card she had set a while ago, revealing it to be, indeed, a trap card. "Continuous Trap Card Activate: 'Mirror Wall'!" the girl then explained. "Now, each of your monsters that conduct an attack, as long as this card is face-up on my field, will have their attack values halved. And since you've just done so with Lycantrope, that means his attack is halved."
"Damn it, no, that's my best card!" Kenzo exclaimed
Lychantrope ATK 3400 → ATK 1750
Haruko looked impressed at how the girl decided to just lay down and wait until she got the right moment to use that card effectively. Then she declared, "Kenzo takes 350 points of damage!"
That also lightened the crowd back up, who were rather quiet, seeing that the duel was reaching a stalemate. Now the prospect of that powerful monster, being reduced to a lesser foe, was something they did not see coming.
Kenzo reluctantly ended his turn, and made way for Kumiko to start hers. And after drawing her next card. "I summon the 'Mermaid Knight' in attack position..."
Mermaid Knight ATK 1500/700 ATK / ATK → 1700/→900 DEF
This one in particular was a bit different from the rest of her 'Mermail' monsters, while she was still a mermaid. This one was seemingly more akin to the traditional children's fairy tales. Long, red, flowing hair. Some bits and pieces of purple armor, and armed with a scimitar and a shield.
"And now, I'll use her to attack your Lycanthrope in the battle phase." She calmly declared, which surprised Kenzo who retorted.
"Wait, what are you doing? My monster is still stronger by 50 points!" he said with a confused, yet loud tone.
"Correct, however, this situation now allows me to play the quick play effect of my 'Mermail Abyssnerei' from my hand. By discarding her, I can pick a water monster from my field. That one will be my knight, and then I will destroy another water monster I control. In this case, of course, it will be 'Abyssnocea'. Now, since I've met all of these requirements, I can boost my knight with the original attack and defense points of 'Abyssnocea'."
Mermaid Knight ATK 1700 → 2800 / DEF 900 → 2800
The shock was shared by Kenzo, the observers, and Haruko alike. In a rapid fashion, Kumiko was able to turn the tables on the duel and bring one of her regular monsters to the power levels of a tribute summoning.
"It-it's destroyed, Lychantrope is destroyed, and Kenzo takes 1050 points of damage!" Haruko announced.
"My turn is not over..." Said Kumiko. "So long as 'Umi' is on the field, my knight gets a second attack on the same battle phase, meaning, this duel is over Kenzo-sempai." The girl stated it with a cold serenity. Then she stood up, and looked over at Haruko.
The blonde girl was still shocked, seeing how she had just finished the duel—so much so, that it took her a bit more time to realize that she was still the referee, and it was clear that Kumiko was waiting for her announcement, so she could step away from the table. The girl raised her arm and exclaimed, "The duel is over, Kumiko: 1900 Life points, Kenzo: 0 life points, and Kumiko is the winner!"
Finally, both the raven-haired girl, and the boy stood from their seats, collected their cards, and gave a small bow of their heads to each other. Showing respect and sportsmanship both in victory and defeat. Then she walked away, moving past Haruko, who was now pressing her feet and clenching her fist, hard. Before looking over to the table where Van was overlooking Saori's duel, it appeared that it had also ended.
Without thinking twice, she walked with haste towards Van, as she needed to have a word with him...
