This story was done in collaboration between me, Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART), and DaveMan1000 (both here and on DeviantART), and we own the OCs that are used in the story. AaronCottrell97 (known as stevecottrell on DeviantART) provided the Duel Layouts and additional ideas. Everything else belongs to their respective owners:
Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel
The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry
Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami
Gundam SEED characters, Orb, Blue Cosmos, M1 Astray, Strike Rouge, Murasame (c) Sunrise
Character of Lisa Drake (c) DaveMan1000
Character of David Xadashi (c) DaveMan1000
WARNING: Once again, this story is rated T for violence, some blood, suggestive themes, and some language. Reader discretion is advised.
WARNING 2: If you haven't read "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sodor Chronicles Season 2", "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sodor Chronicles Season 4", "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sodor Chronicles (Pyramid of Light", "David Xadashi", "Lisa Drake", or "Team 4D's", you might want to do so before reading this story
On a stage inside the Orb Duel School, five face-down cards were lined up on a large blackboard. On cue, David Xadashi and Lisa Drake both showed up and began speaking to the audience.
"Time for a new segment of 'This week's noteworthy cards'!" began David, "Are you all ready to see the cards we have to show you?"
The audience gave their answer in the form of cheers.
"Hey, that's great!" encouraged Lisa, as she and David both turned towards the blackboard, "Alrighty! Let's find out what cards we're showing off, today!
The five face-down cards on the blackboard all automatically turned over and revealed themselves to be:
-'Naturia Beast' (Synchro Monster Card)
-'Lyrilusc - Turquoise Warbler' (Effect Monster Card)
-'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' (Xyz Monster Card)
-'Leo, the Keeper of the Sacred Tree' (Synchro Monster Card)
-'Lyrilusc - Phantom Feathers' (Trap Card)
"Wow! Lisa-chan, this is an Xyz Monster!" realized David, looking at the middle card ('Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale'), "It's about time we get to show off such a monster."
"Eeyup!" agreed Lisa, before reading one of the card's effects, "While this card has material, it can attack a number of times each Battle Phase, up to the number of materials attached to it."
"Attack multiple times up to the number of materials, or Overlay Units as they sometimes get called, it has attached?" David mused thoughtfully, "Well, I think that's a pretty good effect."
"Plus, it gains ATK for every material attached to it," added Lisa, before she and David turned to speak to the audience once more, "What a real treat you guys are getting! This card we're showing belongs to the newest member of our group. Trust me, you'll really like her. She's beautiful, caring, intelligent, and has great knowledge on both nature and animals," She waved goodbye, "Have a good night, everybody!"
The audience cheered and clapped in response.
Title: Lyrical Luscinia
Opening up inside Bradley International Airport, the group consisting of Team 6D's, Zack, Discord, the three Astray girls, Sean, and Janice all were waiting for someone to arrive. It had only been two weeks since David, his friends, and his family all arrived, but now another old friend was coming to Hartford. This person was very special to Matt Fudo, who even started to have a flashback on how it all came to this.
FLASHBACK
Two nights ago, Flashback Matt was inside his room using his laptop; he was checking his emails when a new email came up from somebody.
"It's from her," realized Flashback Matt, before checking it out. He started to read what the new email said, "Hello, Matt. I've great news. I've raised enough money from my job at the nature center. As a result of that, I'm planning a return trip back to the United States to come and see you," On the laptop's screen, text from the email said exactly what was being read, "We haven't seen each other in person since Boxford Corp's big Duel Monsters tournament in Atlanta a couple of years ago. It will be great to reunite with you and catch up. Yours truly, Ashima."
When Flashback Matt was done, the dirty blonde-haired young man was silent as he processed that his girlfriend was traveling from India all the way to America once more. He then started typing up a response to let this Ashima know where he and everyone else currently was.
END FLASHBACK
The flashback ended, and Matt closed his eyes and thought about one name…
"Ashima Nilgiri."
"This is amazing!" smiled Carlie, as Zack nodded, "We're all going to see Ashima again! She's gonna love meeting the many new friends we've made recently."
"And we won't have to wait for much longer!" The voice of James R. hollered, which caused both Carlie and Zack to look nearby. Standing by the huge window and looking out it, he, along with Mayura and Sean both standing beside him and also looking out the window, had turned around and was calling out for everyone else, "I see a plane landing on the runway! I think it's all the way from India!"
"It has to be Ashima's plane!" figured Carlie, excited.
"In that case, let's go and meet with our visitor," requested Discord.
Matt immediately overheard James R. claiming to have seen a plane from India touching down on the runway, which caused him to look very hopeful. Pretty soon, everyone was making their way to one of the gates, hoping to beat the rush and meet up with Ashima.
(elsewhere…)
Half an hour later, lots and lots of people were coming out of one of the gates, which included a beautiful-looking 20-year old young woman with tannish skin color with her luggage. Her long, brownish-black hair (with a few lavender-colored streaks) flowed down to her upper back, and there was a pink lily on the top-left side of her head. She wore an almost royalish Indian-like outfit along with matching stockings that were decorated with several colorful patterns like from a steam engine all the way from the Asian country of India, and fancy-looking boots. Judging from the girl's appearance and clothing, she obviously looked to have been from India. After studying her surroundings carefully, she walked forward before studying her pamphlet before hearing a voice calling out to her.
"Heeeeey! Ashima, over here!" The voice of Zack echoed.
The young woman (Ashima) looked nearby, spotting some very familiar faces waving at her, along with a number of new faces who appeared to be friends of the old faces. One of the individuals (Discord) was also cheerfully holding up a sign that had a sloppily drawn picture of Ashima, a heart, and the flag of the United States, which seemed to translate into 'Ashima Loves America'. One of the familiar faces (Matt) she saw was not waving, but rather was looking very hopeful.
"Matt Fudo…" whispered Ashima, before breaking into a run.
Acknowledging that he was seeing her again, Matt also broke into a run. The two young adults ran towards each other and embraced lovingly.
"Oh, Matt… I can't believe I'm seeing you again after almost three years," uttered Ashima, "Although we've been keeping in contact through phone calls and emails, it just isn't the same as seeing you in-person!"
"Ashima…" Matt uttered back, before smiling gently, "It's so good to see you again."
Over with the rest of the group, while Michael, Zack, James R., David, Lisa, and Sean all were smiling, Carlie and Janice both instead dried their eyes of tears. On the other hand, Discord could be seen bawling a waterfall of tears over the heartwarming reunion. Even Mayura and Juri both could also be seen crying over the scene (only without the Ocular Gushers). Asagi, meanwhile, was doing no such thing—not crying, and not even smiling. If anything, she was watching the way Matt and Ashima were hugging. In fact, she actually felt somewhat jealous of Ashima embracing Matt like that.
"Ahem!" coughed Asagi.
This got the attention of both Matt and Ashima, who were noticing that the rest of the party—except Discord, who continued to comically cry, while Juri and Mayura both were no longer crying—were basically giving them looks to let them know that they were not invisible.
"Oh, Mike! James! Carlie! Zack! Discord!" realized Ashima, letting go of Matt and waving to her other American friends, "I'm so happy to see all of you, too!"
"Hi, Ashima!" greeted James R., "Welcome back to the United States! It's been a really long time, eh?"
"Have we got a bunch of new friends to introduce you to!" came from Zack, "Some from this city, and others from another country."
David, Janice, and Sean each were the first ones to step forward and introduce themselves to Ashima.
"(こんにちは,) Kon'nichiwa, (Hello,) Ashima-san," began David, speaking in Japanese and giving a polite bow, "My name is David Xadashi, and these two are my best friends…" He motioned to his left and right respectively, "Sean Smith, and Janice Kings."
In response to the customary gesture, Ashima brought her hands together; her palms touching, fingers pointed upward, thumbs close to her chest, and gave a slight bow herself.
"(नमस्ते,) Namaste, (Greetings,)" she said politely, speaking in Hindi.
"Hey," said Sean.
"Wow! I love the color that's part of your hair!" admired Janice, before holding out some of her own long hair, "You have lavender streaks like I do!"
Ashima giggled, before looking nearby at Lisa, who held her right hand out without wasting a second.
"The name's Lisa Drake, and I'm the best duelist and most royally respected student at the Orb Duel School!" boasted Lisa, "How the heck are ya, Ashima?"
"'Royally respected'? Does that mean you're a princess of some kind?" asked Ashima innocently.
Lisa collapsed, anime style. She then got back to her feet while looking very annoyed over being called something she wasn't and really hated to be called in the first place.
"Listen up! Do me a favor and don't call me a princess, or even think of me as one!" snapped Lisa, with an anger pressure mark showing on the left side of her forehead, "I hate being called that!" Finally realizing she was unintentionally being rude to the arrival, her face flushed red a little bit and managed to soften up significantly, "Err… sorry about the outburst. You see, I have a bit of a short temper."
"It's no problem," smiled Ashima sweetly, before holding her right hand out again, "I know for a fact you're not a bad person."
Lisa smiled back as she shook hands with Ashima, being glad she was forgiven. She then started to introduce her other three friends to the newcomer from India.
"A-Anyway, over there are my three friends and fellow duelists from Orb," Lisa went on, as Juri waved, Mayura grinned broadly, and Asagi just folded her arms in a pout, "We have Juri Wu Nien, Mayura Labatt, and Asagi Caldwell."
"I'm glad to meet you three," commented Ashima happily, but then saw that one of the three young women didn't appear to look all that happy, "Um… Are you…okay?"
Asagi looked up with an upset look on her face, which Mayura and Juri both seemed nervous over seeing regarding their best friend. She then approached Ashima and stared into her eyes carefully. Ashima didn't know what was going on and actually felt a little uncomfortable. Eventually, Asagi spoke up…
"So… you're Matt's 'real' girlfriend?" she pressed, somewhat harshly.
"Err… yes, I am," replied Ashima nervously.
Asagi continued to stare long and hard at Ashima, appearing as though she was being hostile towards the new arrival. Matt even appeared worried that something bad would happen. Luckily, there was no need to step in, as the frown on Asagi's face…turned upside down, instead becoming a very warm, welcoming smile as she brightened up considerably.
"It's great to finally meet you!" praised Asagi, acting as though she was never jealous in the first place. She then held her right hand out, "Matt's told us so many wonderful things about you!"
Realizing that things were going to be good between the wavy blonde-haired young woman and herself, Ashima immediately accepted the handshake from Asagi while smiling back. This also brought some big time relief to everybody else—especially Matt. However, Asagi still had a ton she wanted to say.
"You know, Ashima, since you weren't around to be with Matt, I've been taking good care of him in your place," said Asagi proudly, just before shooting Ashima a playful wink, "I mean I took 'really' good care of him."
Noticing the wink, Ashima put a sly smile onto her face; she and Asagi both decided they were going to tease the often stoic and serious Matt Fudo—not that he and everyone else knew of that…yet.
"Gee, thanks a lot, Asagi," Ashima accepted jokingly, "I sure hope my Matty hasn't caused you too many problems while I've been living in India."
Asagi laughed, "'Matty'? That's your little nickname for him?" she blurted loudly, "Oh man, that sounds just like the girl's name Maddie to me! You seriously call him that from time-to-time?!"
"I sure do!" chortled Ashima.
An exasperated-looking Matt actually found himself blushing from the teasing and attention that Ashima and Asagi both were giving him. It got so much worse (for him) when the latter turned to face him with the playful smile still on her face.
"I have to say, 'Matty', you are really lucky," Asagi was saying, putting emphasis on the nickname, "You quite possibly have the best girlfriend on this planet."
"Well, I, um…" stammered Matt.
"However!" The voice of Asagi interrupted, which caused Matt to look more freaked out. She then wagged the index finger of her left hand while her right hand was resting on her hip, "While you are very lucky, you had also better continue to treat Ashima well, or else, you'll have to answer to me. Do you understand?!"
"Y-Y-Yes, ma'am!" obeyed Matt, looking highly subdued.
Nearby, the rest of the group was sharing a hearty laugh (even the equally serious Michael) over the humorous scene. Who knew Matt could actually become embarrassed like this? That showed that even the most serious and mature member of the group wasn't above getting his share of comical moments.
"Wow, Fudo-san is indeed rather popular amongst the female demographic, isn't he?" chuckled David.
"I'll say!" agreed Lisa, "About the only women we've all met thus far who haven't shown any sort of interest in him…" A thought bubble materialized above her, revealing both Sherry LeBlanc and Megan Haw, "…are Sherry and Megan—with the former likely only having a thing for Shinji, and the latter has a rivalry with Juri over getting Mike's attention."
The bubble popped apart. After enduring some initial embarrassment, Matt managed to shake his head and smile right back. He started to finally believe that the teasing he had gotten from Ashima and Asagi was actually a little bit funny, but the subject should change to something else. Good thing he already knew what to change it into…
"Ashima, we've finally found out who the remaining two Signers are," Matt revealed, before he motioned Ashima to look towards David and Lisa. Both teenagers held up their ace cards (David: 'Life Stream Dragon', Lisa: 'Ancient Fairy Dragon') to prove that they were them, "They are David and Lisa respectively."
"That's right," confirmed Lisa, "My Signer Dragon is the defensive 'Ancient Fairy Dragon'."
"Whereas I command the Tuner Synchro Monster known only as 'Life Stream Dragon'," finished David.
To further prove it, he and Lisa then held up their exposed right forearms and revealed the respective birthmarks there. David had the mark of the Dragon's Heart, and Lisa had the mark of the Dragon's Hand. Ashima could only stare in wonderment, amazed at seeing two new birthmarks that Matt and his teammates had spent a good number of years searching long and hard for. Finally, Discord clapped his hands together and got everyone's attention.
"Well, I sure am glad everyone's happy to see each other," he said jovially, "I think this is the perfect opportunity to celebrate it. You all should plan a day trip…to the beach!"
"The beach?!" cried Lisa, overjoyed.
"We know the perfect one!" proclaimed Mayura, "The beach in New Haven! It's not a long drive from Hartford!"
"We'll talk more about it during dinner," insisted Michael, "For now, we should head back to Orb and let Ashima get settled in."
"Good idea," nodded Juri, before placing a hand on Ashima's shoulder, "We'll make sure that Headmaster Zimmerman finds you a dorm to stay in for the duration of your vacation."
"Thank you, that would be most helpful," accepted Ashima.
(elsewhere…)
A while later, the group arrival back at the Orb Duel School. As expected, Ashima had received a very warm welcome from the other students, the teachers, the docking bay staff, and Mr. Zimmerman himself. Some voices could be heard coming from inside the building.
"Let's see…" The voice of Zack was saying.
(inside…)
Inside one of Orb's cafeterias, the group was busy getting their meals, while Zack was also working on a list on what they will be taking with them to the beach. Being the most organized of the friends, he always liked to make a checklist whenever they decide to take a day trip to some place.
"First, we'll need to rent two vehicles in order to drive everyone to New Haven. The Duel Runners simply won't be able to carry all of our things or enough people," continued Zack, writing on the pad of paper. He then looked nearby at Matt, Michael, and James R. as they listened carefully, "To that end, we'll need a driver for each vehicle."
"I'll drive one of them," offered Matt.
Zack nodded, writing on the pad of paper again. One driver was confirmed, now all they needed was a second driver to handle the second vehicle.
"I'll take the second!" put in James R..
"Not a chance!" refused Michael, "You might be skilled at driving a Duel Runner, but you leave a lot to be desired when driving a car or van!"
"Hey, I'm not that bad of a driver!" James R. countered, "In fact, I think I'm definitely a better driver of cars than you are!"
"Say what?! You-!"
"I'll drive the other vehicle," The voice of Carlie cut in, causing both Michael and James R. to shut up and look towards her. The brown-haired young woman simply brought her right hand to her forehead and sighed at the childish bickering between the both of her two friends, "Sheesh… There are times where you two act like children when you can't agree on something as simple as this. Can't you both just…grow up or something?"
Both Michael and James R. scowled in annoyance, but were still satisfied with whom the second driver would be (not the other). Also present in the cafeteria were David's parents Ren and Futaba and his younger sister Gabriella, who was practically begging to go with her Big Brother and his friends to the beach.
"(ママ, パパ,) Mama, Papa, (Mommy, Daddy,) can I please go with (お兄ちゃん!) O nīchan (Big Brother) and his friends to the beach?" pleaded Gabriella, who loved her older brother deeply and wanted to stay by his side, "I promise to behave myself."
"The more the merrier, Gabriella," The voice of David replied, as he stepped into frame, "Mom, Dad, wouldn't you agree?"
"I certainly agree with you, David," said Ren, "Honey, what do you think?"
"I think it's a great idea," admitted Futaba, "David and Gabriella can spend some quality time together, and get some bonding with everyone else," She and Ren looked at their two children, "Of course, you can go with David and his friends to the beach in New Haven, Gabriella."
Gabriella was so happy that she turned and hugged David tightly, which caused him to smile and pick her up in his arms. Over with the other members of the group, the three Astray girls were very giddy about going to the beach.
"This is absolutely perfect!" cheered Asagi, "Those new bikinis we bought during our outing with Carlie will be put to use!"
"I can't wait to wear mine!" added Mayura.
"I'm hoping the day will be perfect weather-wise," wished Juri, "It would totally blow if it was rainy or stormy on the day of the trip."
"It sure would," Asagi agreed, before she bought both her hands together as her eyes sparkled, "There also isn't any doubt we'll find a great number of handsome lifeguards at the beach to flirt with like we did the last time we were there," She (Asagi) then coyly shot Juri a mischievous look as her friend smiled big over going to the beach, "Hell, one of them even hit on you, Juri. Remember?"
Losing her smile, Juri simply blushed a little bit over the reminder. Over with the remaining members of Team 6D's, Ashima, and Zack, the last one continued writing down on the pad of paper what he and everyone else would need to take with them on the day trip to the beach in New Haven.
"Aaaaand the list is done," finished Zack, looking up from his work, "With this, we'll be leaving Hartford for New Haven in two days time. We'll need to make sure we have everything prepared for the trip the night before—except the food, which we'll do on the day we leave."
"Other than that, everything's a go!" smirked James R..
And Lisa jumped up and punched at the air in happiness; she was the most excited to be visiting the beach, since other than about a month ago, she and everyone else rarely got the chance to ever go there. Although the last times had been fun, Lisa was hoping that this trip to the beach would be the best one yet.
(outside…)
Outside as the sun started to go down, Lisa's cheering could be heard from inside the building. Pretty soon, all became quiet as the group's planned trip was all set to begin in only a few days. Would anything exciting happen? Of course, since the beach tended to have fun all over the place.
(elsewhere…)
Two mornings later, at 11:15 am, the newly formed Team 6D's and all of their friends had arrived at the beach in New Haven for some much needed rest and relaxation in the summer weather. Matt, wearing dark blue swim shorts with brown accents, was in the process of preparing lunch on a barbecue he brought for the day, Michael, dressed in a pair of white and light gray shorts and a white tank top, was shown relaxing on a beach chair under a large beach umbrella with a good novel, Zack, wearing gray shorts, was busy building a gigantic sand castle, both Carlie, dressed in a purple two-piece bikini, and James R., in baggy orange swim shorts, were preparing to go out surfing, Lisa, dressed in her dark pink flounce-trimmed two-piece swimsuit, was laying down on a towel while getting a tan, and David, wearing a simple pair of blue shorts and maintaining his glasses, was finishing up rubbing sunblock on Gabriella's face, who was dressed in a simple child's one-piece swimsuit. The younger sibling was fidgeting about as her brother rubbed the cream on her. Standing nearby while waiting for David to finish was Ashima, and she was wearing a soft pink two-piece that was done up with neat purple bows on the bottoms and decorated with several strands of blue beads on the top, which also displayed a generous amount of cleavage.
"(お兄ちゃん,) O nīchan, (Big Brother,) can I please go play with Ashima-neechan, now?" pouted Gabriella.
"Just ensuring you won't be burnt out there," replied David, as he made one final smear over Gabriella's face, "Okay, off you go."
Without wasting another second, Gabriella immediately ran off to go with Ashima into the water and swim—although Ashima remained behind for a few more seconds in order to discuss something brief with David.
"Just please stay within my line of vision!" David called out, as he watched his younger sister sprint off, "Don't go wandering off!"
"Don't you worry, your sister won't be leaving my sight," winked Ashima, "I'll make certain she stays with me at all times."
That made David feel more at ease, and he watched as Ashima turned and followed Gabriella towards the ocean to go swimming. As soon as the pair had neared the water…
"Yo, Dave," The voice of Lisa interrupted, which caused David to look below. She was looking as though she had a question for him, "Can you do me a quick favor?"
"Sure, Lisa-chan," accepted David, "What is it you need from me?"
Lisa smirked mischievously, "Can you help me with some sun lotion?" she teased, holding up the bottle of sun lotion, "It's a bit hard for me to reach a few places."
The sort of question caused David to look nervous and blush in embarrassment. Did he hear that right? Did Lisa want him to rub some sun-tan lotion on her? She actually 'wanted' him to touch her? The last time he did that (although it was by a freak accident), she ultimately slapped him. Lisa simply tipped her sunglasses and smiled slyly, before trying to tempt David by squirting some of the lotion across her right arm and spreading it around using her left hand.
"Don't be scared, I won't bite—well, unless you want me to," said Lisa mischievously.
David was still rooted to the spot, completely at a loss of how to respond. On one hand, he didn't want to be perceived as a pervert for laying his hands on Lisa in that sort of manner, but, on the other hand, she was openly inviting him to help her with applying the lotion. Seeing as how he was not moving, Lisa tilted her sunglasses again and fluttered her eyes at David unabashedly.
"You honestly don't know what you're missing, Davey-boy," joked Lisa, having a ton of fun while making it seem like she was being very flirty, "I'll give you till the count of five to say yes or no, otherwise I'll get someone like Sean or Janice to do the job," She began to countdown as David tried his hardest to find something to say, "One, two, three, four…"
"Okay! You win!" interrupted David, at the last second while still blushing (which appeared to deepen) as he gave his answer, "I'll do it…"
Grinning with anticipation, Lisa handed David the bottle and laid back down on the towel. David dropped onto a knee and, after some hesitation, squirted some sun-tan lotion onto his right hand—but not before looking around to see if anyone was watching. Matt was too busy working on lunch, Michael was much too focused on his novel, and Zack was continuing to construct his sand castle.
"Now then, I think I missed right here," smirked Lisa, lifting up the flounce-trim of her top and slowly tracing her bare tummy with her right hand, "Go on, now, whenever you're ready…"
Stiffening up, David tried to shake his nervousness before he finally went and placed his quivering, lotioned covered hand directly onto Lisa's tummy (right near the navel). Lisa never even reacted to the touch, and simply waited for the aqua blue-haired boy to spread the lotion around.
"I can't believe I'm actually doing this," thought David, flustered. As he smeared the lotion all across Lisa's bare tummy, he couldn't help but stare at her decently curvy figure while being up this close, since the lifted flounce-trim even gave him a clear view of her covered chest, "Oh… I…never knew that up this close, Lisa-chan looked so… so…"
Hearing a chuckle broke him out of his thoughts, and David quickly averted his attention to see Lisa smiling playfully at him.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" David asked bluntly.
"Maaaaybe…" Lisa responded absentmindedly, "Just…continue with the job. Little bit higher, if you wouldn't mind?"
Trying to cement his focus, David smoothly applied the lotion across Lisa's exposed lower and mid torso, delicately making sure not to accidentally brush his fingers against her covered breasts, which would likely cause her to become explosively furious and kill him.
"Will that be all you require, 'your highness'?" asked David coyly.
Lisa frowned slightly, "Normally a comment like that would force me to thrash the hell out of you," she retorted, but didn't drop her smile, "However, you've done some great handwork, so I'll let it pass…'if' you do my back, please and thank you."
"Seeing as how you've swindled me along without fail for as long as you have," sighed David, as he had a feeling Lisa would try something else, "Very well…"
With that said, Lisa then rolled herself over to lay on her stomach, propping her head up with her right arm to eye David with a smirk.
"Anytime you want," beckoned Lisa, laying her head down in her arms.
Squirting more lotion on his hands, David tried to keep his composure as he proceeded to do Lisa's back. Though this time, while he narrowly avoided staring at her rear, he shifted his attention to the good number of scars adorning Lisa's skin. Once David was done with massaging Lisa's semi-exposed back, he sat back and let out a light breath of air.
"All finished," stated David, "I hope the experience was satisfying."
Lisa sat up, "Thanks," she said sincerely, while scooching closer to him, "As I said, you really do good work."
For a good minute, the two teenagers sat in silence admiring the scenery around them. Wanting to break the ice, David decided to bring up something that was on his mind from before.
"Um… Lisa-chan," began David, "When I was applying lotion on your back, I couldn't help but take notice of the visible scars you have accumulated. If I may inquire…"
"Oh, them?" pondered Lisa, before scoffing, "Those were from all the times I got into several scrapes whenever my Dad would take me out in the dune buggy and I flipped us over several times," A thought bubble showing clips of her little adventures from years ago were shown, before shifting to her initial times at Orb, "And there are a couple from when I was still learning to ride a Duel Runner during my initial time at Orb," The bubble popped, and she sighed fondly at the memories while David listened on, "All in all, they're no big deal."
"Gracious," David commented, though with a hint of admiration for her nonchalant recollection, "You honestly never cease to amaze me."
"Sometimes I even amaze myself," bragged Lisa, as she and David shared a hearty laugh. She then looked back with a more serious expression on her face, "You know, Dave. Even though it's only been a month, I really did miss you."
"Do you… really mean that?" David asked hopefully.
"Of course," replied Lisa sincerely, "I don't know why, but when we started hanging out, I felt like I could just… just relax and not be so hot-headed," She then looked him in the eyes, "And when you saved me from that perverted jackass, Vincent, I knew you were someone I could truly call a friend—well, of course, we cannot forget my friends from Orb, your friends, and the other Signers, too."
David smiled warmly at Lisa's words, and brought her into a surprise hug.
"Whoa-ho, coming in hot," she joked, as David gently let go of the embrace.
"I must confess, when I first arrived at the tournament, I had no intention of making any sort of friends," admitted David, "I didn't wish to pass up the chance to prove to myself that I deserved to compete with the likes of Fudo-san, Atlas-sama, Hogan-kun, and Izayoi-san," He then looked Lisa in the eyes as well, "But upon our encounters, I felt more challenged than I had experienced prior in any game of Duel Monsters; as if I had finally met someone who I simply could not understand from first impressions. You inspired me; to move out of my comfort zone, to confess to everyone about my problems, and to see the good in others more often. And I've honestly never felt more alive since the night I rescued you, and you still wished to be friends with me."
Lisa smiled, "I'm glad you're here, Dave."
"I'm glad I'm here too, Lisa," repeated David, once again not using a Japanese honorific.
The two friends then embraced again; holding each other close without a care in the world. Nearby, Matt, still working on the barbecue, finally noticed how close the two younger Signers were becoming and smiled to himself before resuming cooking the next batch of hamburgers and chicken.
(elsewhere…)
As for everyone else, Sean, wearing a simple pair of red swim shorts, and Janice, dressed in a black and light red skirtini, both were out in the water swimming and playing. Asagi, Mayura, and Juri, each wearing the new swimsuits they mentioned buying, were shown exploring the beach and encountered a number of handsome guys, much to, mostly the former two young women, their excitement. Asagi wore a dark blue/black bikini with some white/blue flower designs. Meanwhile, Mayura wore a pink bikini similar to her previous bikini—although the new one was slightly smaller than the last one, which allowed for slightly more skin to be shown, also the new top also had some white edges and white string. Finally, Juri, without her glasses and instead with contact lens, wore a bright yellow bikini with some daisy designs. Nearby, as James R. and Carlie both prepared to head out into the ocean with their surfboards, the former had noticed Mayura a good distance away and decided to try and impress her.
"Okay, I'll show Mayura what a good surfer I am!" bragged James R., once again becoming love struck before looking back towards Carlie as she listened, "There's been a change of plans, Carlie, I'm gonna head out and catch one of the REALLY big waves!" He then brought his left fist towards his chest, "Besides, I've heard that women love men who can surf like a pro."
"James, are you sure that's a good idea?" pondered Carlie, looking a little concerned with the plan from her friend, "I mean, you're not exactly the most skilled at surfing. Maybe we should just stick with the smaller waves closer to shore? That way, we won't get hurt."
"C'mon, Carlie! I'm a great surfer, and I'll prove it!" insisted James R., as he raced past the brown-haired young woman while she merely observed, "Just watch me catch the waves!"
"Oh, this can't end well," Carlie, with a big sweatdrop appearing on the back of her head, thought to herself, watching as her friend raced towards the water while carrying his surfboard, "Should I be worried, or should I just smile and carry on?"
Soon, out in really deep waters, James R. was on his surfboard, waiting for a big wave to come, and, wouldn't you know it, one such wave did come. Slowly, James R. rose to his feet and rode the wave. He couldn't believe it, he was actually surfing. If only Mayura could see him… Hold up, what was he thinking? Of course, he could get her attention!
"Hey, Mayura! Check me out!" yelled James R. proudly.
Standing near the shore, the three Astray girls over heard the voice calling out to them (Mayura in particular) and turned to look towards the incoming wave. Unfortunately for James R., this was the moment where he started to lose his balance on the board and, with a yelp before it became an outright shout, ended up wiping out. As expected, the hilarious sight caused Asagi, Mayura, and Juri each to burst out laughing at poor James R.'s failed attempt at surfing the big waves.
"Okay, now this is my idea of a good time," guffawed Juri, before looking at her two best friends, "We should do stuff like this more often."
"I give that fall an 8.3," put in Asagi.
The only one not laughing at the scene was Carlie—all she could do was just close her eyes, sigh, and shake her head in disapproval of James R. not listening to her word of advice of avoiding the big waves. Once James R. finally washed up on shore with his surfboard, he spat out the salt water that got in his mouth before opening his eyes with a short groan and showing they were swirling as a result of being dazed. He was then approached by Carlie and the three Astray girls.
"I did warn you that you weren't skilled enough at surfing the big waves, James," deadpanned Carlie, before turning to leave, "Alas, you didn't bother listening to me…"
After Carlie had left, Mayura, with a mischievous smile on her face, approached and lowered herself towards James R.'s current level while resting her head down in her arms, stared into his returned to normal eyes, and said a little something of her own.
"You know, James… As a duelist, you can certainly impress me," she remarked cheekily, "But as a surfer, you leave a lot to be desired."
To finish the bit of teasing off, Mayura reached over and, using her right hand, gently flicked her finger across James R.'s nose. After retracting her hand, she closed her eyes, kept smiling, and let out a flirty giggle. Suddenly, Mayura overheard Asagi letting out a surprised shout of sorts, which caused her to shoot right back to her feet in alarm while believing something bad was happening.
"Asagi, what's wrong?!" demanded Mayura urgently.
"Look!" cried Asagi, looking overjoyed, "Over there!"
Juri, Carlie, Mayura, and a recovered James R. all looked. Nearby, there were several flashes of cameras going on by the water's edge. Wearing a bikini and posing for several pictures was none other than…Misty Tredwell, the very same Misty who briefly competed in Rex's Action Duel tournament before being eliminated in the first round by Clotho Buer. The photographers were mainly female with a couple of male ones, too. Speaking of males, there were a large number of men who were enjoying the photo shoot or were simply attracted to Misty, including a few women who wanted to become like her in the future. Of course, Misty wasn't all that bothered by this, since it ultimately came with the turf of being a famous model and actress, especially in regards to both swimsuits and lingerie, so naturally she had long since grown accustomed to the various reactions that her modeling and, by extension, her well-developed body elicited from her fans. Soon, the lead photographer (a woman) spoke up as the camera flashes ended.
"Very, very good!" The leading photographer called, speaking in a thick Spanish accent, "The next shoot will begin in twenty minutes!" She (the photographer) then addressed Misty, who eased up from her (Misty) pose, "Misty, darling, you were wonderful! Please enjoy your ten minute break!"
Misty nodded, before she sensed somebody approaching and looked nearby. As it turned out, it was more than one 'somebody' who was approaching. They were the three Astray girls, Carlie, and James R..
"Oh, hello there," acknowledged Misty, before recalling that she already met some of them before, "Ah, you three are Asagi, Mayura, and Juri, yes?"
Asagi gasped, "You…" she breathed, with her eyes becoming wide and starry, "You remember our names?"
"Of course," replied Misty, "We met during Governor Godwin's Duel Monsters tournament last month."
Asagi felt very giddy over being remembered by her biggest heroine, but Mayura was able to speak up before any fangirling could ensue.
"It's great that you remember us," The tomboyish, red-haired young woman remarked pleasantly, "And since we're meeting again, we'd like to give you some excellent news; your fortune about Lisa finding her true love seems to have come true," As she finished up speaking, Misty listened and just smiled, "More to it, it was spot on!"
"Wait a sec," interrupted Carlie, which brought all eyes towards her. She directed her attention mainly to Misty, "Ma'am, you can actually read someone's fortune?"
"I can," confirmed Misty, "I do it by reading someone based on their facial appearance."
Carlie raised an eyebrow skeptically, because she found this to be rather dubious—but she did not want to actually say it out loud without making it seem like she was being rude. Undeterred, Misty only approached Carlie and raised her right hand slightly.
"If you would like, I have two minutes to spare before I have to go and change bikinis for the next shoot. How about I read your fortune?" offered Misty, "Don't worry, it won't cost you anything."
"Err, I don't know about that…" mused Carlie.
"Do it, Carlie," encouraged Juri.
"Yeah! Who knows? Maybe you'll get something great out of it," added Asagi.
Listening to the suggestion, Carlie turned to face Misty as a small smile formed on her face. She decided to go through with it without actually saying it. And so, allowed Misty to proceed with the fortune telling, who then gently took hold of Carlie's face using her right hand and stared into her eyes for what seemed like a long time. Misty stared, and stared, and stared, and stared, before…
VISION
In one vision, Carlie, clad only in her bra and panties, was shown screaming in great pain as she suffered repeated electrical shocks while lying on a metal table and hooked up to some form of machinery. Watching the process were some scientists and a familiar blonde-haired man wearing a fancy white suit, and they were smiling sadistically over the torture they were inflicting on the young woman.
(new scene…)
In another vision, Carlie, while dueling some duelists inside a familiar location, held her right hand out (as her Dragon's Foot birthmark glowed purple) as her psychic powers took effect and she sicked her real 'Rose Tentacles' on her opponents, viciously defeating them all with only a single attack. She was then approached by the same blonde-haired man wearing the white suit from the first vision, and he seemed very pleased with her.
(new scene…)
In a third and final vision, a nearly insane and fully enraged Carlie was dueling Matt in the parking lot of the Orb Duel School. Both duelists had 'Black Rose Dragon' (Carlie) and 'Stardust Dragon' (Matt) on their respective fields.
"'Black Rose Dragon', attack 'Stardust Dragon'!" ordered Carlie, as her ace monster let out a ferocious, angry roar, "Hate Rose Whip!"
'Black Rose Dragon' obeyed, letting several thorn vines erupt from its body and slapped and impaled 'Stardust Dragon' repeatedly. One last vine smacked into Matt and sent him flying across the parking lot whilst screaming before landing on his front, badly injured. Some of the viewers were the other members of Team 6D's, Sherry, Shinji, and, most importantly, Carlie's own Mother, Father, and brother, and they all gasped in horror at what was going on.
END VISION
The vision ended, as Misty's eyes widened and she stumbled away from Carlie, clutching at her own chest in complete shock.
"What…did I…just see?" thought Misty.
Unfortunately, Carlie saw how Misty was currently acting and started to grow very nervous, wondering if the future that was possibly seen was bad or something.
"So, um, Misty…" Carlie spoke up, "What's my fortune like?"
Misty looked up, noticing the confused looks on the faces of everyone staring at her. Not wanting to potentially scare the person she tried telling a fortune to, she had no other choice but to lie about what she saw.
"N-No," declined Misty, shaking her head, "I actually saw nothing worth mentioning. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Carlie."
This reaction left Carlie very confused—yet worried. Was the possible fortune so terrifying that Misty didn't want to tell her about it? Before she could even speak up about it, she felt a hand being placed on her shoulder by Asagi.
"Don't worry about it," The wavy blonde-haired young woman reassured, "I'm certain it wasn't anything important, anyway."
Carlie was not even able to respond back as Sean and Janice both came running up to the six young adults with some news from everyone else.
"Guys, there you are!" panted Sean, "Matt wanted us to tell you that lunch is ready, and that we should return to our spot," His eyes wandered until they came across Misty, becoming starstruck in an instant, "And…whooooa, who are you?"
"She's a new friend of ours," explained Asagi, "The famous actress and model Misty Tredwell."
"Indeed," nodded Misty, unbothered that another male (a teenager even) was going to hit on her, "I'm also a fortune teller in my spare time."
"Sign me up for something like that!" exclaimed Sean, as his eyes turned into hearts. Just then… "AGH!"
As expected, an annoyed Janice was shown grabbing her friend (and possible crush) by the left ear and tugging on it, causing poor Sean to cringe and whine as he was pulled away before he could attempt what David would likely call a pickup line towards the famous and very attractive Misty Tredwell. The rest of the small party only watched with uneasy smiles or expressions before they returned to speaking to Misty.
"Sorry about that, Ms. Misty," apologized James R., "We have to be going now, anyway. You have another photo shoot to attend to."
Misty nodded, before the small group turned and left her behind. However, Asagi had one more thing she wanted to tell her idol before departing.
"One day, I hope to become a famous model and actress just like you," vowed Asagi, "If I ever do, we should star in a movie together."
"I would like that," accepted Misty, liking the idea a lot, "All I can do is wish you the best of luck."
Asagi's heart warmed over that, and she then turned and followed her friends. Once she was left alone, Misty lost her smile and frowned deeply, wondering if it was possible to change a fortune's future. If Carlie was indeed going to be tortured and force Matt Fudo to fight her, then she (Misty) hoped that he would be able to reopen her (Carlie) heart.
(elsewhere…)
Over at the party's spot, everyone had gathered in order to sit on the gigantic picnic blanket as they ate the food from the barbecue like hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, etc., and even some side foods like carrots, celery, and potato chips, and drinking cold, freshly made lemonade which was prepared by Ashima. The only ones not on the blanket were Michael (still sitting on his chair), Zack (who simply stood), and Matt (who stood by the table with the prepared food and the barbecue).
"Mmm! Delicious!" said James R., munching on a hot dog.
"You said it!" A slightly tanned Lisa agreed, stuffing a large amount of potato chips into her mouth and closing it to munch on them, "We sshhouhh oo hiss mmre offfen!"
The rest of the group shared a laugh over Lisa's bad table manners, since it was okay because they were all friends and hanging out at the beach, today. As lunch proceeded, James R. had a question for Ashima, and it was about her dueling.
"Ashima, can I ask you something about your dueling?" pressed James R., which naturally got Ashima's attention, "Have you gotten any more skilled since the end of 'The Great International Duel Cup'?"
"I honestly don't duel as much as I used to since I started my job at the nature center in New Delhi a few years back, but I still battle people whenever I'm able to," answered Ashima, before holding up her Deck (having taken it out of her bag), "While I still carry my old 'Butterspy' Deck, I mainly play a new Deck nowadays."
"A new Deck?" James R., as Matt also overheard, repeated.
The mention of Ashima playing a whole new Deck seemed to peak the interest of everyone around her. The one most interested in seeing the new Deck in action was none other than Lisa.
"In that case, why don't you and I have a friendly duel here on the beach?" The pink-haired girl offered, "Since you have that Deck and your Duel Disk with you like I have my Deck and Duel Disk with me, we should see who's Deck is stronger. We can duel after we're done eating."
"That sounds like a good idea," mused Janice.
"Same," agreed Sean, "Ashima, what do you think?"
"You know what? A duel on the beach does sound nice," accepted Ashima.
"Yay!" The voice of Gabriella cheered, which brought Ashima's eyes towards her. She was seen smiling brightly at the upcoming duel, "(お兄ちゃんの!) O nīchan no (Big Brother's) new girlfriend is going to duel Ashima-neechan! This will be so (エキサイティング!) Ekisaitingu! (Exciting!)"
The outburst of Gabriella claiming that David and Lisa are a couple caused the two mentioned teenagers to immediately blush in embarrassment.
"N-No way!" denied Lisa, waving her hands around while showing the palms, "Me and Dave? We're just friends and nothing more!" Right now, her focus was on the innocently smiling Gabriella, "Where did you ever get such an idea, kid?"
"I-Indeed! Do not misconstrued our interactions as anything but!" added David frantically.
"Suuuuure," teased James R., before remembering something, "You know, if Shinji were here, you can bet he'd have a whole slew of lines prepared for such a denial from the both of you."
"Who cares if Dave and Lisa are a couple or not?" The voice of Michael interrupted, before being shown taking a quick sip from his glass of lemonade and placing it onto the little table set beside him, "I'm more eager to see a duel with nothing at stake between the players here on the beach."
Juri nodded in agreement, followed by Mayura, Carlie, and even Matt. Lisa and Ashima both faced each other, grinned, and nodded as well, accepting the fact they were going to duel each other.
"As Gabriella said, this will definitely be a great duel!" proclaimed Lisa, before glancing down at her paper plate for a couple of seconds. She then, now with a sheepish smile on her face, looked back up while adding in, "Right after I get a second serving of hamburgers."
"HUH?!" gawked Carlie, "But, Lisa, you just ate four burgers already!"
"Yeah, so?" Lisa dismissed, as she got a second serving of hamburgers by Matt, "I'm always hungry, and the food from the barbecue is so damn delicious."
"Hey, can anyone get me more hot dogs and potato chips?" James R. asked hungrily, holding up his own paper plate, "I'm still hungry, too."
That question caused nearly everyone else to sweatdrop over the fact there were two big eaters amongst their party. An hour or so after a very eventful lunch, Ashima and Lisa walked off the blanket and onto a clearing without anyone to accidentally get in the way. Both duelists already had their activated Duel Disks equipped and holding onto their respective Decks
"Let's get it on, Ashima!" requested Lisa, placing her shuffled Deck into the holder on her Duel Disk.
"I'm ready when you are, Lisa!" replied Ashima, inserting her own Deck into the Duel Disk.
A few seconds later…
"Duel!" Both Lisa and Ashima declared at once (LP: 4000) x2.
The group mostly watched the match from the blanket, wondering who was going to win despite not having seen Ashima's new Deck yet.
"The first turn is all mine!" started Lisa, drawing a card, "Draw!"
Turn One: Lisa Drake (LP: 4000)
Deck: 54
Current Hand (6): "Naturia Forest", "Naturia Eggplant", "Naturia Antjaw", "Naturia Hydrangea", "Inverse Universe", and "Tuner's High"
Her drawn card was a Spell Card called 'Tuner's High', which would be extremely helpful for this early in the duel.
"I Summon 'Naturia Eggplant'!" The voice of Lisa, placing a card ('Naturia Eggplant') onto a Monster Zone on her Duel Disk, called out, "Attack Position!"
Appearing onto the field by that command, was a living eggplant-like monster (Level: 2/ATK: 1000/DEF: 700). The sight of that monster caused Ashima to smile at what she was going to face.
"A 'Naturia' monster," said Ashima, becoming deeply interested, "You play a 'Naturia' Deck."
"Spell Card, 'Tuner's High', activate!" continued Lisa, holding her drawn card ('Tuner's High') out. She discarded a card ('Naturia Antjaw'), and took a card that slipped from the middle of her Deck, "I must discard 1 monster; I must Special Summon from my Deck, 1 Tuner…" The pink-haired girl held her added card ('Naturia Butterfly') out a few seconds later, "…with the same original Type and Attribute, but 1 Level higher than the discarded monster had in hand. I Special Summon 'Naturia Butterfly'!"
Appearing onto the field was the pink butterfly monster (Level: 3/ATK: 500/DEF: 1200).
"I tune Level 2 'Naturia Eggplant'…" began Lisa, before holding her right hand into the air, "…into Level 3 'Naturia Butterfly'!"
'Naturia Butterfly' turned into three Synchro Rings, which flew over and overwhelmed 'Naturia Eggplant' while turning it into two orbs of light as a Summon Chant boomed throughout.
"Bare your fangs against oppressors trying to destroy the land, guardian of the tranquil forest!" chanted Lisa, as the symbols 2 + 3 = 5 were shown briefly just before the two orbs within the trio of Synchro Rings turned into a massive beam of light, "Synchro Summon! Appear now, 'Naturia Beast'!"
As the beam of light disbursed, appearing onto the field was the familiar green tiger-like monster with tree-like qualities (Level: 5/ATK: 2200/DEF: 1700).
"From there, I'll activate 'Naturia Eggplant's' effect!" As she spoke, a card ('Naturia Butterfly') ejected from Lisa's GY, which she took, held out, and added back into her hand, "When this card is sent from the field to the GY: I can target 1 'Naturia' monster in my GY, except 'Naturia Eggplant'; I must add it to my hand."
"'Naturia Beast's' monster effect is going to give me some problems," thought Ashima, "As long as it's on the field, it can negate the activation of my Spell Cards by sending the top two cards of the Deck to the GY…" She looked at her hand, "Still… I'm not all that worried about that."
Her hand contained 'Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow', 'Lyrilusc - Bird Sanctuary', 'Harpie's Feather Storm', 'Lyrilusc - Turquoise Warbler', and 'Lyrilusc - Celestine Wagtail'. Meanwhile, Lisa was finishing up her turn.
"From there, I'll activate a Field Spell, 'Naturia Forest'!" exclaimed Lisa, holding another card ('Naturia Forest') out. While speaking some more, she then placed the card into her opened Field Zone and closed it up, "Let's change the scenery up a little bit, shall we? Some form of nature should be good for all of us."
As expected, the beach area turned into a huge, lovely forest setting. The group watching the duel looked around in amazement, but also remained aware that if Lisa were to negate the activation of a card (which 'Naturia Beast' was capable of), she could add a Level 3 or lower 'Naturia' monster from her Deck into her hand.
"Finally, I'll Set one card face-down and end my turn!" concluded Lisa, as a face-down card materialized on the field by her feet, "Well, Ashima, it looks like you have quite the disadvantage this early on."
"I know," acknowledged Ashima, "However…" She drew a card, "It's my turn! Draw!"
Turn Two: Ashima Nilgiri (LP: 4000)
Deck: 54
Current Hand (6): "Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow", "Lyrilusc - Bird Sanctuary", "Harpie's Feather Storm", "Lyrilusc - Turquoise Warbler", "Lyrilusc - Celestine Wagtail", and "Xyz Import"
Her drawn card was a Spell Card called 'Xyz Import'. It will come in handy at some point, but she knew she could not use it so long as 'Naturia Beast' remained on the field. Instead, she added the card into her hand, took out a different card, and prepared to place it.
"If I control no monsters, I can Special Summon this card (from my hand)," declared Ashima, placing the card onto her Duel Disk, "Come, 'Lyrilusc - Turquoise Warbler'!"
Appearing onto the field was a small, female humanoid bird-like warrior wearing a yellowish bodysuit and with two large yellow wings for arms (Level: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 100). The audience was left surprised by the kind of monster played by Ashima.
"Isn't that-?" began Mayura.
"It's a 'Lyrilusc' monster," answered David, "Ashima-san plays that kind of Deck."
Back on the field, Lisa, initially surprised by the monster, was unconcerned about it since 'Lyrilusc - Turquoise Warbler' only had an ATK of 100, which was far less than that of her 'Naturia Beast'. Ashima, however, wasn't done with her turn—far from it.
"I activate my monster's second effect!" she continued, going over the effect before placing a second card ('Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow') onto her Duel Disk, "If this card is Special Summoned from the hand: I can Special Summon 1 'Lyrilusc' monster from my hand or GY. Come, 'Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow'!"
Appearing onto the field was a small, female humanoid bird-like warrior with brown feathers and two large brown wings for arms (Level: 1/ATK: 0/DEF: 100).
"'Cobalt Sparrow's' first effect!" Ashima, as she drew a card, announced, "If this card is Special Summoned: I can…" As she spoke on, she looked down upon her drawn 'Lyrilusc - Sapphire Swallow' Monster Card, "…add 1 Level 1 Winged Beast monster from my Deck to my hand."
"Something tells me that Ashima has another monster to bring out," thought Lisa.
Indeed…
"Next, I'll activate the effect of the 'Lyrilusc - Sapphire Swallow' in my hand," said Ashima, before holding her card ('Lyrilusc - Sapphire Swallow'), "If I control a Winged Beast monster: I can Special Summon both this card and 1 Level 1 Winged Beast monster from my hand."
"Hold up, two more monsters?!" complained Lisa.
Appearing onto the field were two Winged Beast monsters; the first was a small, female humanoid bird-like warrior wearing a black bodysuit and two large blue/white wings for arms (Level: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 0), and the other was also a small, female humanoid bird-like warrior wearing a black and gray bodysuit and with two large gray wings for arms (Level: 1/ATK: 200/DEF: 0).
"The first effect of 'Lyrilusc - Celestine Wagtail' activates!" declared Ashima, adding another card into her hand, "If this card is Special Summoned: I can add 1 'Lyrilusc' Spell/Trap from my Deck to my hand."
"But now she has four monsters, and they all have a Level of 1," thought Lisa, knowing where this was heading, "Crap… Not an Xyz Summon this soon…!"
From there, the Overlay Network appeared in the center of the field.
"I overlay Level 1 'Turquoise Warbler', 'Cobalt Sparrow', 'Sapphire Swallow', and 'Celestine Wagtail'!" boomed Ashima, as her four monsters were absorbed.
Cue a beam exploding from the center of the Overlay Network. Sure enough, something started to emerge from said Overlay Network, which was an adult-like, female humanoid bird-like warrior wearing a blue/white battle dress that resembled exposing her midriff, and also two large white wings for arms—all while a Summon Chant from Ashima followed.
"Birds with beautiful wings! Gather on the battlefield and take brilliant flight!" chanted Ashima, "Xyz Summon! Dance in the sky! Rank 1! 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale'!"
The new monster posed on the field for battle (Rank 1/ATK: 0/DEF: 0). Lisa simply gawked, mostly because the new monster she was facing also had no ATK or DEF to speak of. What was Ashima thinking? Of course, since she was a great duelist, she clearly Xyz Summoned 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' since she knew how to use her in a duel.
"Now, my monster might seem weak, but she isn't," warned Ashima, "Her first effect! It gains 200 ATK for each material attached to it."
'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale', surrounded by materials, gained some power (ATK: 0 → 800).
"Furthermore, 'Assembled Nightingale' has gained a new power thanks to a material used for the Xyz Summon," Ashima went on, "This is by the second effect of 'Cobalt Sparrow'! My opponent cannot target this card with card effects."
Lisa scowled, "Okay, maybe she won't be as easy to deal with," she grumbled to herself, sweating a little bit from anxiety, "But still, with only 800 ATK, 'Assembled Nightingale' is no match for 'Naturia Beast' in direct combat."
"Battle!" The voice of Ashima interrupted.
"What?!" cried Lisa, "You're attacking even though 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' only has an ATK of 800?! But she'll be destroyed by my 'Naturia Beast'!"
"I'm not going to attack 'Naturia Beast'," corrected Ashima, "Instead, I'm going to attack…you!" She grinned, while Lisa was not thrilled to hear she would eat a direct attack, "According to its second effect, 'Assembled Nightingale' can attack directly. Furthermore, there's also the third effect! While this card has material, it can attack a number of times each Battle Phase, up to the number of materials attached to it."
Lisa gasped in response. Over with the rest of the group…
"With four materials, 'Assembled Nightingale' can attack up to four times in a Battle Phase!" realized Janice.
"800 ATK is not much, but when combined with four separate attacks-!" put in James R..
Back on the field, 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' took to the skies as she prepared to launch her first attack. However, Lisa was faster on the draw.
"I activate a Trap, 'Inverse Universe'!" The pink-haired girl announced, as her face-down card flipped up and revealed itself, "I must switch the ATK/DEF of all face-up Effect Monsters on the field!"
Since they were Effect Monsters, both 'Naturia Beast' (ATK: 2200 → 1700/DEF: 1700 → 2200) and 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' (ATK: 800 → 0/DEF: 0 → 800). 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' continued her initial attack, firing a blast of wind with a swing from her left arm. Lisa got hit and pushed back, but did not take any damage. She looked up and smiled at Ashima in a taunting sort of way. Unhappy, Ashima canceled her Battle Phase early on.
"I Set these three cards face-down and end my turn," finished Ashima, holding up three cards before slotting them into her Duel Disk.
Three face-down cards materialized on the field.
"Boy, Lisa really got off lucky with her Trap Card," sighed Janice, as Sean looked at her, "Without it, her LP would have fallen to 800 in an instant."
"While she protected herself, 'Inverse Universe' also caused 'Naturia Beast's' ATK to be swapped with its DEF," recalled Sean.
"As you both can tell, Ashima is an extremely skilled duelist," The voice of Michael was saying, causing Janice and Sean both to look over. He was still seated on his chair under the umbrella, "She's one of her country's best, having been chosen to compete in 'The Great International Duel Cup' a few years ago. Even if she controls monsters with 0 ATK, she always finds ways to even the odds."
"There's more about her," put in Matt, "Ashima's capable of seeing actual Duel Spirits like myself and a few others are able to, but she can also sense and feel the feelings of another duelist through touching their cards."
"She can do what?!" Janice and Sean both exclaimed at once,
Matt and Michael both simply smirked over the reactions. Back on the field, Lisa was grinning widely over the duel thus far.
"Man, oh man!" she cried out, "Okay, I'll admit that I underestimated the power that 'Assembled Nightingale' has, but not anymore! Let's continue the duel!" She drew a card, "It's my turn!"
Turn Three: Lisa Drake (LP: 4000)
Deck: 52
Current Hand (3): "Naturia Hydrangea", "Naturia Butterfly", and "Pot of Greed"
On cue, the 'Pot of Greed' Spell Card flipped face-up and revealed itself, causing a large, green jar to materialize from the face-up card and onto the field.
"I activate the Spell Card, 'Pot of Greed'!" The voice of Lisa announced, as the large jar shattered into shards of glass. She then drew two cards and looked at them, "I must draw 2 cards!"
Both cards were 'Naturia Pumpkin' (Effect Monster Card) and 'Super Solar Nutrient' (Spell Card). Lisa added both cards into her hand, then took one of the cards and held it out.
"'Naturia Pumpkin'!" ordered Lisa, "Attack Position!"
Appearing onto the field was the peaceful green pumpkin monster (Level: 4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 400).
"When this card is Normal Summoned while my opponent controls a monster: I can Special Summon 1 'Naturia' monster from my hand," explained Lisa, before taking a card ('Naturia Butterfly') from her hand and holding it out, "Come, 'Naturia Butterfly'!"
Reappearing onto the field, fluttering beside 'Natura Pumpkin', was 'Naturia Butterfly' (Level: 3/ATK: 500/DEF: 1200). Lisa smiled to herself, believing she was about to gain the advantage. However, Ashima…simply smiled back.
"You fell into my trap," uttered Ashima.
"Huh?" wondered Lisa.
"I activate a Trap, 'Lyrilusc - Phantom Feathers'!" announced Ashima, as she motioned her left hand (with the Duel Disk) towards one of her Set cards—which flipped face-up and revealed itself, "I must target 1 'Lyrilusc' monster I control; the ATK of all monsters my opponent currently controls become that monster's current ATK, also their Levels/Ranks become 1. I'll target my Rank 1 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale'…" She continued explaining what her card did, before pointing the index finger of her right hand towards her forehead, "…to reduce the ATK of your monsters to 0 and lower their Levels to 1!"
The Level and ATK of 'Naturia Beast' (Level: 5 → 1/ATK: 1700 → 0), 'Naturia Pumpkin' (Level: 4 → 1/ATK: 1400 → 0), and 'Naturia Butterfly' (Level: 3 → 1/ATK: 500 → 0).
"What just happened?" gasped Asagi.
"Basically, Lisa got her monsters completely crippled," said Zack grimly, "If she had a Synchro Summon in mind, she's no longer able to do it."
"Don't be so sure about that, Zack," The voice of Lisa reassured, which resulted in the black-haired young man looking over. She was not looking very worried about the fact her three monsters had become barely usable, and there was a card in her right hand, "During my turn, if the effect of a 'Naturia' monster was activated on my field, I can Special Summon this card (from my hand)."
"Another monster…" thought Ashima.
"This card…" began Lisa, now holding her card ('Naturia Hydrangea') out before turning it over and revealing what it was, "…is 'Naturia Hydrangea'!"
Appearing onto the field was a trio of flowers with cartoonish eyes (Level: 5/ATK: 1900/DEF: 2000).
"Not yet!" cut in Ashima, as she made her second Set card flip face-up and reveal itself, "I activate 'Harpie's Feather Storm'! If I control a WIND Winged Beast monster: Until the end of this turn, I must negate any monster effects my opponent activates. So even if you do Synchro Summon this turn, any effect that monster may have cannot be used!"
"Well I'm far from being finished," retorted Lisa, as a Spell Card called 'Super Solar Nutrient' materialized face-up on her field, "Continuous Spell, 'Super Solar Nutrient', activate! I must activate this card by Tributing 1 Level 2 or lower Plant monster; I must Special Summon 1 Plant monster from my hand or Deck whose Level is less than or equal to the Level the Tributed monster had on the field +3. When this card leaves the field, I must destroy that monster. When that monster leaves the field, I must destroy this card."
'Naturia Pumpkin' faded away in a blue streak, while Lisa held up the 'Naturia Pumpkin' Monster Card before sending it into her GY.
"I offer my Level 1 'Naturia Pumpkin' as a Tribute," she explained, before holding up another card ('Naturia Strawberry') taken from her Deck, "Now, I'll Special Summon 'Naturia Strawberry' in its place!"
Appearing onto the field in the place of 'Naturia Pumpkin' was the living strawberry-like monster (Level: 4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200).
"Since 'Naturia Strawberry' has just been Summoned, it is unaffected by 'Lyrilusc - Phantom Feathers'!" reminded Lisa, "Which means…I can do this!" As she gave the command to tune, 'Naturia Butterfly' turned itself into a single Synchro Ring, as both 'Naturia Hydrangea' and 'Naturia Strawberry' floated into the air, "I tune Level 5 'Natura Hydrangea', Level 4 'Naturia Strawberry' into Level 1 'Naturia Butterfly'!"
'Naturia Hydrangea' and 'Naturia Strawberry' both entered the single Synchro Ring and turned themselves into nine orbs of lights (five for 'Naturia Hydrangea', and four for 'Naturia Strawberry') as another Summon Chant from Lisa echoed throughout.
"Transform into the latest form of the strongest forest king, and unleash the fierce roar on the oppressors!" chanted Lisa, as the symbols 5 + 4 + 1 = 10 were shown briefly just before the nine orbs of light within the lone Synchro Ring turned into a massive beam of light and slammed down onto the field around her, "Synchro Summon!" From there, a huge paw emerged first, followed by the other paw, and finally the armored body of what appeared to look like a huge lion monster "Appear! Level 10! 'Leo, the Keeper of the Sacred Tree'!"
'Leo, the Keeper of the Sacred Tree' appeared to resemble 'Naturia Leodrake' in a few details, but he wore white majestic armor and was bigger and even stronger (Level: 10/ATK: 3100/DEF: 1900).
"Say, Ashima, do you know what kind of effect 'Leo, the Keeper of the Sacred Tree' has?" asked Lisa.
"It shouldn't matter what effect he has, seeing as it can't be used at this moment," Ashima pointed out.
"Bzzt! Wrong," said Lisa, right after making a buzzing sound, "My monster's effect is a Continuous Effect, meaning it is unaffected by the effect of your Trap Card, 'Harpie's Feather Storm', because 'Leo, the Keeper of the Sacred Tree's' effect 'never' activates! Speaking of which, my opponent cannot target this card with card effects, except during my Main Phase 2."
Ashima was actually surprised that Lisa managed to pinpoint the blindspot of her 'Harpie's Feather Storm' Trap Card. Lisa nodded and entered her Battle Phase, knowing that she was in the clearing.
"Let's go, 'Leo, the Keeper of the Sacred Tree'!" she commanded, "Rip apart 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale'!"
'Leo, the Keeper of the Sacred Tree' (ATK: 3100) obeyed, letting out a roar and charging towards 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' (ATK: 0).
"I activate 'Assembled Nightingale's' fourth effect!" announced Ashima, as one of 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale's' materials faded away, "Once per turn (Quick Effect): I can detach 1 material from this card; until the end of this turn, 'Lyrilusc' monsters I control cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, also I take no battle damage."
As a red barrier then formed around Ashima and her monster, 'Leo, the Keeper of the Sacred Tree' leaped towards 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' with both claws out, but he struck the barrier instead.
"However," continued Ashima, "by declaring an attack, you've allowed me to activate the second effect of my Trap Card, 'Lyrilusc - Phantom Feathers'!" As she explained what the effect was, the mentioned Trap Card emerged from the darkness (GY) before dissolving into dust, and said dust rained upon 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale', "When an opponent's monster declares an attack on my 'Lyrilusc' monster: I can banish this card from my GY; my monster's ATK becomes that opponent's monster's ATK, until the end of this turn."
'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' grew stronger from the raining particles (ATK: 0 → 3100).
"WHAT?!" wailed Lisa, "Dammit! My attack is ongoing and not able to be canceled out!"
Before long, the barrier around Ashima and 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' shattered apart, with the force of the explosion throwing 'Leo, the Keeper of the Sacred Tree' back onto Lisa's field.
"Fight back, 'Assembled Nightingale'!" encouraged Ashima.
'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' obeyed, holding both hands out and releasing a blast of wind. 'Leo, the Keeper of the Sacred Tree' did his best to withstand the attack, but was not able to and wound up shattering into shards of glass as a result of his destruction.
"Thanks to 'Assembled Nightingale's' effect, her destruction is negated," recalled Ashima, before making her final Set card flip face-up and reveal itself, "Now, I'll activate a Quick-Play Spell, 'Xyz Import'!"
"No… Thanks to 'Harpie's Feather Storm', I can't use 'Naturia Beast's' effect to negate this Spell Card," Lisa muttered to herself.
"I must target 1 Xyz Monster I control and 1 monster my opponent controls with ATK less than or equal to it; I must attach that opponent's monster to my monster as material," explained Ashima, before holding her right hand out, "Now, I'll be targeting my 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' and your 'Naturia Beast'! This will turn 'Naturia Beast' into a material!"
'Naturia Beast' made no effort to fight against the effect of Ashima's card; it turned into an orb of light and floated over towards 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale', becoming one of her materials. Lisa couldn't believe she lost her best monster that easily, and, without any more cards to play, had to settle her turn there.
"I…end my turn," Lisa said in defeat.
With that being said, the second effect of the 'Lyrilusc - Phantom Feathers' Trap Card expired, causing the ATK of 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' to take a massive drop (ATK: 3100 → 200).
"Wow," commented Juri, "Ashima really is a strong duelist."
"There's also the fact that 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' can attack multiple times for each material attached to her," added Asagi.
"Don't forget that her ATK is also determined by the amount of materials she has, too," reminded Mayura, "And since 'Inverse Universe' was used, that ATK buff is mostly rendered useless. With only 200 ATK, Lisa can't be defeated in a single turn."
"You might be right about that," admitted Zack, "Although, let's not forget that Ashima might still have a way that will enable her to win quickly," He thoughtfully brought his right hand to his chin, "Will she pull it off on her turn? We don't know that for certain."
Back on the field, Ashima and Lisa stared at each other for a full minute before the former finally took her turn.
"It's my turn!" announced Ashima, drawing a card, "Draw!"
Turn Four: Ashima Nilgiri (LP: 4000)
Deck: 51
Current Hand (2): "Lyrilusc - Bird Sanctuary" and "Lyrilusc - Beryl Canary"
Her drawn card was a Monster Card known as 'Lyrilusc - Beryl Canary'.
"This is just what I was waiting for!" murmured Ashima, before making a move, "I activate the first effect of the 'Lyrilusc - Beryl Canary' in my hand! If this card is in my hand: I can target 1 'Lyrilusc' monster in my…" A card ('Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow') ejected from the GY during the explanation, which she took hold of, "…GY; I must Special Summon both this card and that monster, also I cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck for the rest of this turn, except Xyz Monsters," She held both cards ('Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow' and 'Lyrilusc - Beryl Canary') out, "I Special Summon 'Cobalt Sparrow' and 'Beryl Canary'!"
Reappearing onto the field was 'Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow' (Level: 1/ATK: 0/DEF: 100), and appearing onto the field was a small, female humanoid bird-like monster wearing all yellow and came with two large yellow wings for arms (Level: 1/ATK: 0/DEF: 200).
"Appear now, 'Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow' and 'Lyrilusc - Beryl Canary'!" The voice of Ashima commanded, during which her two monsters appeared, "However, this again activates 'Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow's' first effect!" As she explained her monster's effect, he drew a card and noticed it was another copy of the 'Lyrilusc - Celestine Wagtail' Monster Card, "If this card is Special Summoned: I can add 1 Level 1 Winged Beast monster from my Deck…" The black-haired young Indian woman looked as she continued speaking, before holding her added card ('Lyrilusc - Celestine Wagtail') out, "…to my hand. Come forth, 'Celestine Wagtail'!"
Appearing onto the field was a second copy of 'Lyrilusc - Celestine Wagtail' (Level: 1/ATK: 200/DEF: 0). 'Lyrilusc - Beryl Canary', 'Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow', and 'Lyrilusc - Celestine Wagtail' each fluttered around 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' as all four monsters stared Lisa down.
"I overlay Level 1 'Beryl Canary', 'Cobalt Sparrow', and 'Celestine Wagtail'!" yelled Ashima.
All three monsters turned into streaks of light, which were then absorbed into the returning Overlay Network. Before long, something started to emerge from the Overlay Network, which was another adult-like, female humanoid bird-like warrior with purple/violet armor and helmet, and came with two large black wings with orange tips for arms—all while a Summon Chant from Ashima followed.
"Untamed songstress of the skies, spread the wings of beauty as the chorus of the winds brushes past your foes!" chanted Ashima, "Xyz Summon! Take flight! Rank 1! 'Lyrilusc - Promenade Thrush'!"
The new 'Lyrilusc' Xyz Monster did a couple of back flips before standing on her spot on the field while posing for battle (Rank: 1/ATK: 0/DEF: 0).
"'Promenade Thrush's' first effect!" continued Ashima, "It gains 500 ATK for each material attached to it," As she counted up the number of materials floating around, 'Lyrilusc - Promenade Thrush' crouched a little bit and allowed herself to focus and gain strength, "She has three materials at this time, meaning her ATK will become 1500!"
'Lyrilusc - Promenade Thrush' got stronger (ATK: 0 → 1500). Lisa was not liking this already, but what happened next made her like it even less.
"The second effects of 'Lyrilusc - Beryl Canary' and 'Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow' will activate!" reminded Ashima, "The first one comes from 'Beryl Canary'! A WIND Xyz Monster that was Summoned using this card on the field as material gains this effect."
This was the effect written on the 'Lyrilusc - Beryl Canary' Monster Card:
-"This card gains 200 ATK, also its control cannot switch."
"Swell…" groaned Lisa.
'Lyrilusc - Promenade Thrush' grew stronger (ATK: 1500 → 1700), and Lisa continued to look dismayed at what she faced.
"And the second effect of 'Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow'!" The voice of Ashima added, causing Lisa to face fault. She looked like she was having a ton of fun, "A WIND Xyz Monster that was Summoned using this card on the field as material gains this effect."
This was the effect written on the 'Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow' Monster Card:
-"My opponent cannot target this card with card effects."
"Oh, you have got to be freakin' kidding me!" whined Lisa, "I already can't stop your monsters, and you're practically rubbing salt in the wound by further powering them up! Can't you just stop doing that and just finish me off already?!"
"But where's the fun in that?" remarked Ashima playfully. When she got no response back, she continued speaking, "Besides, we have to get back to the beach now, and 'Promenade Thrush' will be the one to return us there with her second effect!"
'Lyrilusc - Promenade Thrush' made one of her materials disappear as she became energized to strike something down. This, of course, reduced her ATK by 500 due to the usage of a material (ATK: 1700 → 1200).
"Once per turn: I can detach 1 material from this card, then target 1 Spell/Trap my opponent controls; I must shuffle it into the Deck!" The voice of Ashima explained, during the above sequence, "The Spell Card to return to your Deck will be none other than 'Naturia Forest'!"
Finished charging up, 'Lyrilusc - Promenade Thrush' sent a large whirl of wind at the face-up 'Naturia Forest' Spell Card on Lisa's field, striking and destroying it on contact (and sending it back to Lisa's Deck). The loss of the appropriate Field Spell resulted in the forest setting returning to the New Haven beach.
"Oh well, that forest was nice while it lasted," pouted Janice.
"Ashima really cleared Lisa's field of cards that quickly," admired Matt.
"But she isn't done preparing, mate," Michael pointed out, "Just watch."
Back on the field…
"I still require one more monster before I'm prepared to end this duel," said Ashima, taking a card ('Lyrilusc - Celestine Wagtail'), "The second effect of the 'Lyrilusc - Celestine Wagtail' in my GY activates!"
Appearing onto the field briefly was 'Lyrilusc - Celestine Wagtail', who then turned herself into an orb of light and soared over to 'Lyrilusc - Promenade Thrush' to become a material.
"If this card is in my GY: I can target 1 'Lyrilusc' Xyz Monster I control; I must attach this card to it as material," The voice of Ashima explained, as she clenched her right hand into a fist and held it up for a few seconds before swinging it about, "With another material attached to 'Lyrilusc - Promenade Thrush', she gains 500 more ATK!"
'Lyrilusc - Promenade Thrush' again grew stronger (ATK: 1200 → 1700).
"Here I go! Battle!" announced Ashima, entering her Battle Phase. While giving a command to her monster, she pointed forth, "'Lyrilusc - Promenade Thrush', attack the enemy player directly!"
'Lyrilusc - Promenade Thrush' obeyed, sending another large blast of wind towards Lisa's field, this time almost sending the pink-haired girl flying—but she managed to stop that from happening, but not without losing a large amount of LP in the process (LP: 4000 → 2300).
"H-Hey! Watch what you're doing!" snapped Lisa, gripping her swimsuit's top while looking a little peeved, "You almost blew me into the air and towards the ocean, or, even worse, blew my top off!"
Upon being told that, Ashima only smiled sheepishly as she scratched the right side of her face with the index finger of her right hand. With the rest of the group, David's face heated immensely when he overheard Lisa claim her swimsuit's top was almost blown off by 'Lyrilusc - Promenade Thrush's' attack, being keenly aware that he and the others would have accidentally seen Lisa naked from the waist up should that have happened. Glancing about and noticing his best friend's flustered expression, Sean simply gave David a deadpan expression that read "Really?".
"Lisa was exaggerating regarding that last part, Dave," commented Sean, "The way her swimsuit is designed, it would have been a bit difficult for her top to be removed by a blast of wind," He held his right hand up and motioned it as though he were blocking somebody's eyes, "And besides, if it were to have happened, Janice and I would be quick to shield Gabriella's young eyes from the sight."
David immediately relaxed, while Janice watched and simply sighed from her friend's silly antics. Back on the field, Ashima was far from being done with her attacks.
"'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale', attack directly!" she shouted, just as 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' began her first attack, "As of this moment, I'll activate the third effect of 'Promenade Thrush'!"
'Lyrilusc - Promenade Thrush' made all of the remaining materials around her disappear, transferring the power of those materials right over to 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale'. The loss of those materials caused 'Lyrilusc - Promenade Thrush' to lose most of her ATK (1700 → 200).
"At the start of the Damage Step, if another monster I control battles: I can detach any number of materials from this card; that monster I control gains 300 ATK for each material detached, until the end of this turn," The voice of Ashima explained as the above event took place. She then pointed forward once more, "'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' will now gain 900 ATK since three materials were detached!"
Lisa gasped in horror, watching as 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' grew stronger (ATK: 200 → 1100). Initially believing she would survive with 900 LP, Lisa knew she would be defeated when 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' completed her attacks. Speaking of attack, 'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' swung her right arm and sent a blast of wind at Lisa, hitting her for some moderate damage (LP: 2300 → 1200).
"The second attack!" cried Ashima.
'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' swung her left arm and sent another blast of wind out, striking Lisa and pushing her back as more damage was sustained (LP: 1200 → 100).
"And the final blow!" Ashima concluded.
'Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale' swung both her arms and sent a final blast of wind out, striking Lisa and throwing her onto the nearby sand castle that Zack had been building earlier in the day before lunchtime and the duel following it.
"Noooooo!" screamed Zack, horrorstruck over the loss of his hard work, "My sand castle has been destroyed!"
Initially lying in the ruins of the sand castle, Lisa managed to get back to her feet in a wobbly sort of way while dusting the sand off her swimsuit and parts of her body as what remained of her LP completely emptied (100 → 0).
DUEL RESULTS: Ashima Nilgiri wins!
"Damn…" uttered Lisa in disappointment, "I lost so easily…"
"Lisa?" The voice of Ashima cut in, which caused the pink-haired girl to look over. She looked a little sorry for winning the duel like this, "I'm sorry if I won too soon. It wasn't my intention to hurt your feelings like that," She held out her right hand, "Are we still good?"
She then started to hear some quiet laughter, which surprised her a little bit. The soft laughter obviously was coming from Lisa, which got louder and louder until she was laughing up a storm. Nearby, the rest of the group, except Zack, watched and seemed to smile.
"You're claiming to have hurt my feelings just by defeating me? You're kidding, right?" chortled Lisa jovially, "Ashima, you won our match fair and square," She then held her right hand out, "I had an absolute blast in that duel. We oughta face each other in another duel again soon."
Feeling better, Ashima held her right hand out again, and the two new friends shook hands for a great duel.
"I really liked fighting against your 'Naturia' Deck," complimented Ashima, "You use it really well. It's almost as though you're the princess of nature."
Lisa's attitude darkened, "How many times do I have to tell you?" she grumbled hotly, "I absolutely 'hate' being called a princess!"
Once again, Ashima smiled sheepishly, but then she and Lisa heard a loud, mournful groan. It came from Zack Ruaka of all people, and he was looking extremely saddened over his beloved sand castle being crushed at the very end of the duel—even though it really was an accident.
"I worked on this for a good chunk of our morning here," whimpered Zack, slowly lumbering over before sinking to his knees near the ruins of the sand castle, "I wasn't even finished making it!" He then fell onto his hands, "Why? Why did this have to happen?"
"Err… well…" mused Lisa, as she and Ashima looked uncomfortable.
"Just cheer up, man!" The voice of James R. encouraged, as he and Gabriella both walked up and the latter patted Zack on the back sympathetically, "It's just a sand castle, and I betcha the next one you build will be bigger and better than ever before."
"It's okay, Zack-senpai," soothed Gabriella.
Surprisingly, the statement from James R. appeared to perk Zack right back up; he raised his head with a look of pure determination in his eyes. The next time he and the others came to the beach, the black-haired young man would build a bigger and better (as James R. said) sand castle. That would become his goal in life. For now, he would have to live with the fact his castle got demolished before it could be fully completed, but he would get over it.
"You two are right," acknowledged Zack, slowly returning to his feet, "My sand castle might have gotten wrecked in an unfortunate accident, but I'll simply work on a bigger, better version of it!" While speaking on in determination, he stood with a fiery background looming behind him, "Even if I have to wait until we next visit the beach, I will accomplish my new goal in life!"
"That's the spirit!" smiled Gabriella.
Back over with Lisa and Ashima, they simply looked relieved that they were not going to be in any sort of trouble for the sand castle's destruction.
"I think he'll be okay, now," Lisa whispered to Ashima.
"Same," agreed Ashima quietly.
Over with the rest of the group, as James R. and Gabriella rejoined them…
"So, what time is it?" asked Sean, "How much longer do we have to enjoy our day here before returning to Hartford?"
"Let's see…" Matt replied, checking his watch, "We actually have another two hours to go before we leave. That's still plenty of time for us to kick back and enjoy the beach."
"Sounds like good news to me!" cheered Mayura, while standing up and punching at the air with her left fist. She then looked towards Juri and Carlie with a challenging look on her face, "Hey, Juri! Carlie! I challenge the both of you to a hula dance off!"
"Ha!" grinned Juri, "You're on!"
"I'm not too good of a dancer, but, sure, I'll join in," proclaimed Carlie.
"I believe I shall go procure some ice cream from the nearby truck," stated David, "And Gabriella shall come along with me."
"Hurray! We're going for ice cream!" whooped Gabriella.
"As for me, I think I'll spend some time getting myself a nice tan," suggested Asagi, standing up on the large blanket and stretching her arms out for a couple of seconds. She then rested her right hand on her hip, held up her left hand to give the peace sign, and winked, "Hopefully, that will attract a handsome guy my way."
"Hey, I'll help you with that," offered Lisa, as she walked into frame.
"And I'm gonna help James out with how to properly surf," put in Janice, as she cast a coy look towards James R., "That way, he hopefully won't ever again embarrass himself trying to impress a girl through braving the big waves."
"Great idea!" rejoiced James R., remaining unaware of the last bit being a minor insult at his expense, "I could use the lesson from someone who knows how to surf."
"You know something?" Michael said fondly, smirking and removing his sunglasses as he watched all of his friends chatting and telling the others of their plans over how they plan to enjoy the rest of the beach day. He then put the sunglasses back on and started to resume reading his novel, "This day at the beach is certainly shaping up to become unforgettable for all of us, and I mean it in a good way."
You could say that again.
(elsewhere…)
Later that night, inside the darkened, familiar hideout, the mysterious cloaked man was standing beside a table with a number of lit candles, with five other cloaked figures surrounding the table. The only one with his hood down was Vincent Stevens. Everyone else had their hoods up to conceal their identities. Regardless of the unknown identities of the remains, all of them were Dark Signers, and they uttered sinister chuckles as the leader of the group started to speak.
"It has come to pass, hasn't it?" he began earnestly, "Our wait has been worth it."
"Hmph! It sure has, leader man" grunted Vincent, looking towards the first cloaked man with a hard expression on his smug face, "It seems you were right about those six lousy Signers gathering in Hartford once more," He then folded his arms in self satisfaction, "I thought we would have to wait ages for that event to come, but instead we got our wish granted in only about a month."
"Does this mean it's time for us to gain our revenge?" One of the cloaked young men pressed.
"In due time, my friend," insisted the main cloaked man, "We can't go destroying them and the Crimson Dragon just yet," An evil smile formed on his shadow-covered face, "Not until we test them and their friends, just to see what we're up against."
"I agree," The voice of another cloaked man accepted. His voice sounded more youthful and boyish, but nevertheless very evil, "Everyone in the world knows that in order to begin a conflict, you must create a misunderstanding. Misunderstandings create enemies, and when you have enemies, you shoot them—metaphorically speaking, of course."
"If you wish to test one of them, then how about that girl that just arrived?" requested a cloaked young man, speaking in a creepy monotone way, "Based on what we've seen about her thus far, she's the girlfriend of that Coordinator scumbag."
"Hey, that's a good idea!" accepted a second cloaked young man, "By getting rid of her, that so-called champion will lose his will to fight! It will make him easy picking!"
"Of course," agreed the main cloaked man, as he held his clenched right hand, "What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive…"
He opened his right hand and revealed two small black spiders, who fired a thread from their mouths and soared to the ceiling (and exit). As soon as the spiders were gone, the mysterious Dark Signers all uttered evil laughs once more. Uh-oh, I think Matt and his group are going to have some serious trouble coming their way sooner or later, wouldn't you agree?
And there we go; Ashima from "The Great Race" and "Big World! Big Adventures!", who has appeared as a major character in Season 4 of "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sodor Chronicles", has made her grand reappearance, and she has joined the main supporting cast with a brand new Deck. For those who's a fan of her like I am, rejoice!