A New Dueling Harmony
Hey guys, I know that some who are following my Fanfiction net page were wishing for another Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V chapter but since Christmas is coming soon, I thought that it will be much more interesting to do another A New Dueling Harmony as I planned to make a Christmas episode in the series and it would be that chapter.
Just as I said it in my previous chapter, that chapter is part of three filler chapters before we hit the next major arc of the series.
All right, Let's-a-go !
Jingle all the way
A few days have passed since Naegi duel against Byakuya Togami, the holiday season had finally started and people would soon celebrate Christmas with their loved ones.
One of them is Hajime as he waits in front of a mall alongside many people who were waiting for the store to open, the young man was planning to buy a present for Chiaki to thank her of having teached him the important lessons of dueling and he thought about buying a PS5 to her as she admitted that she had some difficulty in buying one, since his family, his father being a security guard at a mall different from the one that Hajime plans to enter and his mother being an corporate executive, he wouldn't have any problem in buying one since his family managed to have a lot of money from their professions.
And after that, he thought that he would invite her to his home so that she could meet his parents and so that she wouldn't be alone, he has heard that Chiaki was living in a small apartment all by herself and it pains him to think that she was willing to spend her days outside of the arcade alone and he didn't wanted her to spend Christmas alone either.
The waiting would soon end, it was 8 in a half hour and soon, the mall would soon be open but a irritated customer begins to be a bit way impatient, he was a large man wearing a dark blouse and a white bandana on his head, he came closer to Hajime so that he could speak to him.
"Hey dude, are you here to buy a present for someone?" asked the guy to which his question surprised the young man who looked at him.
"Well yes, just like everyone in here" remarked Hajime.
"Well, me, I could have bought something early for my son but Christmas have always been the busiest time of the year for me, all these important Christmas letters that people send to folks they don't even talk to but once a year, yeah because I am a postman" explained the man to which the young man nodded his head as he kept a look at the mall being opened "I am kept every fuckin days in delievering these stupid letters anyway and as if I don't have enough pressure in my life, my son, who is a big fan of Duel Monsters, sends me out for some stupid card called "Thunderclap Skywild!"
"It's Skywolf sir" rectified Hajime to which the man was surprised that he knows about the card.
"You know this card dude?" asked the man.
"A friend has one in her deck" explained the young man as Chiaki has a Thunderclap Skywolf in her deck and, as he was witnessed it in his duels against her, it seemed to be her favorite monster as she usually summoned him when Hajime was getting close to win.
"That's cool, if you see her, tell her to contact me as soon as she can, my name's Mizoguchi and this is my card" said the man as he gave a business card to Hajime who promtly put it on his coat's pocket "because I am not gonna fall to their ploy for a stupid card".
"A ploy?" asked a curious Hajime who wondered what Mizoguchi was mubbeling about, his question seems to have shocked the man who gasped before he resumed his explaination.
"Man, where have you been? Under a rock? Don't you watch TV?! We are being set up by rich and powerful shopping cartels!" explained Mizoguchi to which his sentence almost caused Hajime to snort but he kept it under his breath in order to not insult the man who resumed his sentence "you got these big fat cats sit there using working class stiffs like you and me! They spend billions of dollard and yen on TV advertisements, and then they sit there and use a subliminal mess age to suck your children's minds out! And I know what I'm talkin' about dude because..."
"Can you just stop?" asked an annoyed Hajime as he was getting tired of his rambling "you're making my ears hurt".
"Oh, I'm making your ears hurt? You know why ? Because you know I'm telling the truth, you know that these guys like to make your kids feel like garbage, as you, the father, who's workin' 24/7, delievering mail so that you can make an alimony payment to a bitchin' wife that slept with everybody at the post office but me!" raged the man as Hajime decided to ignore him as he was resumed his look at the mall.
And he was right in doing that as the mall employee opened the doors to the mall so that the customers could enter.
"Come..." was about to say the employee but he is suddenly pushed away by the wave of clients who even trampled him as they were ready to buy a wondeful present for their Christmas.
One of them was Hajime as he ran to the video game store so that he could try to buy a Playstation 5 for Chiaki but when he entered the store, he noticed that all the PS5 were gone much to his shock as he didn't wanted to try another store as he has promised to visit the Ultimate Gamer home after he will drop the present at his home, he noticed a employee who worked at the video game store and he decided to ask him a question.
"Excuse me" asked the young man.
"Yes, what can I do for you sir?" asked the employee.
"I'm trying to find a Playstation 5, do you have any?" asked Hajime as he hoped that the employee could direct him to a section of the store where he could find a Playstation 5.
But suddenly, the employee strated to laugh at his face, much to the young man's confusion as he didn't understand why the man was bursting into laughter, the employee called out his colleague so that he could repeat Hajime's question to him.
"This guy is looking for a Playstation 5, am I correct sir?" asked the first employee.
"Yes, that is right" confirmed Hajime as the second employee started to burst into laughter and his coworker joined in the fun too much to the young man's annoyance "what's so funny?"
"Where have you been sir? The Playstation 5 is one of the highest selling consoles ever" mocked the first employee as he even stick his tongue at the young man before he resumed his laughing fit but this only served in angering Hajime who took the man by his collar and slightly lift him off his feet causing his colleague to stop laughing.
"Where's your Christmas spirit?" angrily said Hajime to which the employee started to flash out a apologetic smile as he realized that he has hurt the young man feelings by laughing at his face "that's better".
Hajime put down the man before he resumed his question.
"There has to be a Playstation 5 somewhere, do you know where I can find one?" asked the young man to which the store employees begins to think about the answer until the first store employee remembered something.
"There is an old lady who left with one of them, she's just left a couple minutes ago" explained the employee.
"Where could I find her?" asked Hajime.
"She shouldn't been far away, check the other stores, she must be in one of them!" the second employee said to which the young man burst out of the store in order to check around the mall if he could find the lady that the employees were talking about.
Eventually, he found a old looking lady wearing a straw hat and carrying a Playstation 5 box with her, the young man decides to meet up with her and trying to convince her to give the console to him.
"Excuse me, miss" called out Hajime as he approached the old lady so that he could talk with her.
"Oh, what is it young man?" politely asked the old timer.
"I wanna ask miss, wouldn't be alright if I can get the box that you are holding?" worriedly asked the young man as he didn't want to upset the old lady, the old timer begins to smile with a teasing look in her eyes.
"Well, robbing an old lady like me are you? Didn't your parents raised you well young man?" mockingly asked the old lady as she didn't seems to be afraid of Hajime to which he decided to clarify himself about his proposal.
"N-n-no, I am not here to rob you mam, it's just, how can I put it? I'm looking to offer a Christmas present to a friend of mine and she likes playing video games so I thought that I could buy a PS5 for her" explained Hajime as the old lady let out an amused chuckle.
"Aw, it is for your girlfriend? You should say that in the first place, I wouldn't want to ruin your relationship" said the amused old timer as she oared the box to Hajime who took it before he decided to look for his wallet so that he could pay back the old lady as he felt that he was like robbing her despite it wasn't the case.
"How much did it cost you?" asked the young man as he took his wallet so that he could pay the same amount of money that the lady has paid or the console.
"66,980 yen" said the old lady to which Hajime was relieved upon hearing the price, it was almost the amount of money that he took before he went into shopping for the console (he took almost 77 yen), he gives to the old lady 68 yen in payment for taking the console.
"There you go mam, I'm really sorry to buy off the console from you and to make you move away to another store to buy another one" apologized the young man.
"It's alright, if is it for your girlfriend, it would be for a good cause, besides, I need to keep my old legs in shape, besides, you paid me back so that I can buy another one for my grandson, make sure that your girlfriend enjoys herself playing that console" said the old timer before she left to go to another store.
"Will do" complied Hajime as he didn't want to break the old lady heart by saying that Chiaki was not his girlfriend but just a good friend of his, although he was ashamed of having done that, he did manage to obtain the PS5 that he checked in order to see if the old lady has given him the good console and much to his relief, it was indeed the video game console that he was looking for.
Hajime eventually leaves the mall so that he could go home in order to wrap the present for tomorrow night as he was planned to invite the Ultimate Gamer for Christmas Eve.
0-0-0
Ater he made a small jump at his home so that he could wrap his Christmas present for Chiaki, he then decided to go at the Ultimate Gamer's apartment in order to make his proposal at Chiaki if she wanted to come at his home in order to celebrate Christmas with him.
He finally arrived at the Ultimate Gamer's apartment to which he decided to activate the phone door so that he could gain access to her apartment.
"Hello who is it?" asked the apartment janitor who was speaking at the other line.
"Excuse me sir, my name is Hajime Hinata, I am a friend of Chiaki Nanami, I wish to see her at her apartment" asked the young man to which the janitor activated the door, allowing Hajime to enter in the building.
"Help yourself sir, Miss Nanami is on the second floor, door B3" said the janitor to which the young man took note as he didn't really knew where the Ultimate Gamer apartment could be.
Hajime climbed the stairs in order to reach the second floor, he looked at the rooms and he finally discovered the B3 door, he knocked at the door so that he could see Chiaki.
"Chiaki? Are you there?" asked the young man.
"You can get in Hajime, it's open" launched out the Ultimate Gamer rom her room to which Hajime could open the door, he wasn't surprised that Chiaki easily recognized his voice as the two had become quite acquainted with each other or a long time now so the two could easily recognize each other's voices.
When Hajime managed to enter at the dining room, he was surprised by three things: first of all, the young girl's room was decorated with a lot of posters that references numerous games (though he could recognize some of them, the young man thought that it would be too long to figure every game from the posters), the second detail was that he saw a arcade machine that was installed in her room to which he admitted that he shouldn't be surprised that the Ultimate Gamer could afford herself to have a arcade machine in her room and finally, Chiaki wasn't alone, a girl with round teal eyes and a knee-length hair was standing in the room and it seems that she was talking to Chiaki.
"Am I…Interrupting something here?" asked Hajime as he didn't know who the girl was.
"No, not at all, Hajime, I present you Tsumugi Shirogane, she is the Ultimate Cosplayer" introduced the Ultimate Gamer as the young girl rose from her hair in order to shake her hand with the young man.
"Nice to make your acquaintance Hajime" politely said the girl to which Hajime shook her hand in order to continue the introduction.
"Likewise" said the young man as the two eventually break the shaking and they let towards the table "so, what the Ultimate Cosplayer is doing around here, speaking with the Ultimate Gamer?"
"Well, we were speaking about the eventual Japanese Cosplay-Con that will be organized in Neo Tokyo City for a Christmas special" explained the Ultimate Cosplayer.
"Cosplay-Con?" asked Hajime as he didn't know about that event.
"It is the most important cosplay convention that occurs every year and me, as the Ultimate Cosplayer, I must attend as the master of ceremony so that me and my friends, we can showcase the cosplays that I've created or the people to enjoy seeing the characters that they love in real life" explained Tsumugi.
"I see, sounds interesting enough" said Hajime.
"And the fact that Tsumugi is here was because I went into one of her cosplay exhibit and I've told her that I was a bit interested in her cosplays, mainly her recreations of video game characters and she proposed to me if I could participate in the convention tomorrow" explained Chiaki.
"I see and did you agree to this?" asked the young man.
"Of course, I thought that it will be fun to try it out the experience" said the Ultimate Gamer.
"I see, I wanted to know something Tsumugi, this convention, when will it start?" asked Hajime.
"It will start in the afternoon and it will our until 8 A.M, we will parade through the streets dressed in our cosplay through special themes: American super heroes, anime characters, video game characters etc…" explained the Ultimate Cosplayer.
"Well, I wanted to propose something to Chiaki but if she will be busy or your convention, I won't bother her as she has agreed to help you out" said Hajime to which Chiaki was now curious of what will be his proposal.
"What is it Hajime?" asked the Ultimate Gamer.
"If that will be okay with you, would you agree to come at my place for Christmas Eve? I thought that will be nice or you to enjoy a good meal with my parents, they will welcome you warmly in there" proposed the young man to Chiaki to which the young girl decided to answer at his question.
"I'm in Hajime".
"You will?" asked Hajime.
"Of course, I could agree to spend the night with you, besides, I think that the convention will wore me out so I guess that I won't planning anything else so I will be free or tomorrow night" said Chiaki as suddenly a thought popped out on her head as she got an idea "now that I think of it, maybe I can invite you Hajime for the convention, so that we could spend time together in something else than dueling?"
"Me, cosplaying with you?" asked a dumbfounded Hajime as he didn't expect that kind of outcome.
"Yes, it will be fun Hajime, trust me" said the Ultimate Gamer to which a curious Tsumugi watched over Hajime just like if she was sizing him up.
"Umm, you could probably pull anything off, you might even be great at crossplay" thought the Ultimate Cosplayer to which she decided to give him a question about cosplay "hey, if you were to cosplay, what would you want to be?"
"Uh, isn't that too early to decide for a cosplay for me? I mean, I didn't agree to…" started to explain the young man but Tsumugi interrupted him as she got an idea about the cosplay.
"I KNOW! With your physique, you could pass for Turboman!" excitedly said the Ultimate Cosplayer as her outburst caused Chiaki to let out a small giggle as she too, didn't expect Tsumugi to quickly pull it off an idea for a cosplay or Hajime to wear.
"Turboman?" asked a confused Hajime.
"He's an American super-hero, though he is not really known worldwide, he gained a small fanbase in Japan, you got the muscles and the height necessary for playing Turboman!" said Tsumugi as her eyes was sparkling with joy as she was happy that she could offer a cosplay for Hajime, the young man eventually decided to just roll in on with it.
"Fine, you win, I'll come, besides, I can't criticize something if I don't try it out, won't we?" said Hajime to which his answer pleased the Ultimate Cosplayer who was happy to hear that the young man was ready to cosplay with her.
"Yay! Then it's settled, I see you two tomorrow morning, I will handle your cosplay so that you can parade with them, a Turboman outfit or you Hajime and a Rebecca costume for you Chiaki, see you tomorrow" said Tsumugi as she let the room while leaving the two friends behind, Hajime was a bit curious about what the Ultimate Cosplayer said and he decided to ask a question to the Ultimate Gamer.
"Who is this Rebecca that she mentioned? A game character?"
"That's right, she is a character from the Double Dragon on the NEO-GEO, I thought that it will be a good outfit for me since I'm a huge fan from that series, even though I took it from it's fighting game version" explained Chiaki.
"I see" said Hajime as he clearly didn't know what he was going to be involved tomorrow morning in the Cosplay-Con with his costume.
0-0-0
(BGM: My Nutmeg Phantasy - Macy Gray)
The next day,
Hajime was testing out the Turboman costume that Tsumugi had promised him, it was a red spandex costume with a large T drawn on the costume to which it was accompanied with yellow boots and boots, he also has a yellow visor on his eyes and a red helmet with a metal Mohawk on his head, he came out of the curtain, wearing the costume.
"So, do I look like a bit ridiculous in it or it is fine?" asked the young man.
"You are great in it Hajime, you are making a great Turboman!" praised the Ultimate Cosplayer to which her praise pleased the young man as he was worried that he would pass as a idiot with his costume.
"Well, if you say it, I guess that it is true" said Hajime before the two heard a sound that came out from one of the curtains to which Tsumugi quickly understood who was changing on this one.
"Oh, that's right, Chiaki, why don't you show yourself in front of Hajime? I bet that he will appreciate your Rebecca cosplay" said Tsumugi to which Hajime admitted that he was curious to see how Chiaki would like in her costume.
The Ultimate Gamer eventually came out of the curtain with her costume, she was wearing a blue kimono top with a red robe that hugged her legs floatly, the rest was topped off with two tonfas that she holds in her hands and a bandana that she wears on her head, she was also wearing a long brown hair wig on her head.
"So, how do I look Tsumugi?" asked the Ultimate Gamer.
"You are great in it Chiaki, you're look just like Rebecca Brielle" beamed Tsumugi as she clasped her hands together while she was mesmerized by how the costume looked on the Ultimate Gamer.
For Hajime, if he was a computer, that will be the moment where the computer would have frozen, he was impressed by how Chiaki looked beautiful in that costume, he was so mesmerized that the Ultimate Gamer has to break him back to reality.
"Hajime? Are you alright?" asked Chiaki to which the young man snapped back to his senses.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you Chiaki" apologized Hajime.
"It's okay Hajime but I'm guessing that you are liking my cosplay of Rebecca are you?" asked the Ultimate Gamer to which the young man agreed to answer to the best of his abilities.
"You're beautiful Chiaki" said Hajime to which his answer caused the Ultimate Gamer to be pleased while blushing from the compliment.
"Well, you definitely don't look bad yourself Hajime" praised Chiaki to which her compliment caused Tsumugi to beamed in.
"See? I've told you that you will be great as Turboman" said Tsumugi before she cleared her throat before she tells about the day's outcome "anyway, here's it will work, we're gonna parade today in Neo Tokyo City streets and there will be three sections: the Super-Heroes, the Anime characters and Video Games characters, the first one will start immediately while the second will start at 11 A.M and the third one will start in the afternoon, the goal is to bring joy to every fan of the characters so you need to stay in-character while you exhibit these costumes, am I clear?"
"Yes" "We're understand clearly Tsumugi" both replied to her demands.
"That's very good, all right Hajime, get ready because you are going in stage with the heroes" said the Ultimate Cosplayer to which her statement caused the young man to be nervous and he send out an glance to Chiaki who decides to encourage him.
"Well, just think to yourself that you are in a way for a duel, in that way, you won't have stage fright" cheered the Ultimate Gamer to which her words eased Hajime as he followed the Ultimate Cosplayer so that he could join with the other cosplayers who are portraying other heroes.
0-0-0
The parade was occuring in the main streets of the city with multiple cars transporting the cosplayers who exhibited themselves to the audience who watched with a smile where multiple of them snapped pictures so that they won't forget seeing their favorite characters in the flesh.
Hajime was on board of a parade stage with other cosplayers who disguised themselves as Superman, Batman and other heroes who waved at the audience and who flexed their muscles (for some of them, they were false) in order to impress the people who came watching them, the young man tries to imitate them by flexing alongside a Superman cosplayer who enjoyed that his comrade was imitating him.
"Nice poses dude, think that you can beat Superman?" teased the man to which Hajime decided to reply with a snark.
"Next to me, you are nothing as strong than Turboman!" replied the young man much to the delight of the people who enjoyed the mock battle between the two as they put everything in order to entertain the audience.
(BGM ends)
Such was the case of Chiaki who looked at the parade on the top of a roof as she wanted to watch the parade with a excellent view and she felt that she could watched it at the Neo Tokyo City mall's rooftop.
She smiled at the spectacle while she decided to eat a sandwich that she bought as she felt that she wouldn't have the time to eat a lot before she would get her turn to shine in the parade and she wouldn't get any trouble with Tsumugi as she was parading alongside her as the Ultimate Cosplayer has decided to cosplay herself as Hatsune Miku which means that she will be part of the Video Game section.
After she finished her sandwich, she decided to join her group so that she could practice her poses as Rebecca Brielle from Double Dragon until someone calls her out.
"AH-HA! Found you!"
Spooked, the young girl turned around to which she saw Mizoguchi who was watching her and whom he has a duel disk strapped on his arm.
"Um...You were looking out for me?" asked the Ultimate Gamer as she felt that this man wants something from her.
"Hell yeah, I was searching for you, I've heard that you have a card that I was being searching for, I've looked every store but I found nuthin' that ressembled that dreadful Thunderclap Skywolf but I've searched through the net and I've discovered that you have one, so give it to me and I can give it to my son" demanded the delivery man as Chiaki was shocked that he was planning to give such a gift to his son, he was looking out to make a good present to his kid but for her, Thunderclap Skywolf was a special card, she can't give it away like if it was nothing.
"Sir, this card means a lot for me, it is not for sale" answered the Ultimate Gamer.
"Gotta be kiddin' me! Everything in the universe can be for sale, you want my watch?" asked Mizoguchi as he pulled out a gold watch from his pocket as he believed that he will obtain what he wants if he gives something valuable to Chiaki.
"No thanks, I'm sorry sir but I need to go, I wish you luck for your search" sadly said Chiaki as she hoped that the man would find the present for his child, however, Mizoguchi wasn't that keen to obey her demands.
"No way, you're gonna leave, I CHALLENGE YOU IN A CHILDREN'S CARD GAME!" launched out the man to which his demand caused the Ultimate Gamer to be surprised, he wants a duel now?
"Are you sure about this sir? I mean, I'm going to be busy so maybe we can..." started to explain Chiaki but Mizoguchi cut her off.
"Oh no, hell no! I'm not gonna wait, Christmas is in six hours and if I can't obtain that card, my kid will hate me for the rest of his life, I won't back out, once I will obtain that bloody card, then I will leave deal?" raged the man as he activate his duel disk to which Chiaki let out a sigh as she realize that there would be no way to convince the man of switching his opinion, maybe she can make a clear answer through her dueling.
"Fine, if that's would make you happy sir, however, you will only get my Thunder Skywolf if you win this duel" said the Ultimate Gamer as she activate her duel disk.
"Tsk, if a kid could play the game, I can easily win this" confiandtly said Mizoguchi.
IT'S TIME TO DUEL !
Chiaki vs Mizoguchi
(BGM: Marstorius theme – Fighter's History Dynamite)
"I'm gonna take that damned card right now, I draw!" said the man as he drew a card "I summon Denko Sekka in Attack mode"
A woman dressed in a white samurai armor appears on the field (A:1700/D:1000).
"And I'll end my turn, now try to beat that girlie!" mocked Mizoguchi to which his move caused Chiaki to be confused.
"I wonder if he thought of a strategy when he summoned that monster, true, that monster can prevent me to set any Spells or Trap cards but it also affects him, besides, summoning her alone is not a bright idea to begin with" thought the young girl as she drew a card "I summon Bistro Butcher in Attack mode"
Chiaki's trusted Bistro Butcher appeared on the field with a devilish grin on his face (A:1800/D:1000)
"W-what?" gulped Mizoguchi as he didn't expect the young girl to summon a monster more powerful than his own.
"Bistro Butcher, attack Denko Sekka with your Butcher Slice!" ordered Chiaki as the demon launched at the warrior and cut her with its knife, destroying her and taking out a bit of Mizoguchi life points (Mizoguchi: 3900).
"N-not bad but it won't stop me for getting that card" the poster said.
"Do know that once Bistro Butcher attack and inflict some damages to your life points, you can draw two cards from your deck" added the Ultimate Gamer to which the man drew two cards.
"Tsk, foolish girl, with these two cards, I will win this stupid duel" mocked Mizoguhi.
"You know sire, the number of cards that you will draw will not determinate your chances of victory, it must be gained through your strategies and your perseverance" explained Chiaki as she proceed to her net action "I put a card facedown and I end my turn".
A hologram of a card appeared on her side of the field.
(BGM ends)
"Well, I guess that it is my turn then" said the man with a smirk as he drew a new card "first of all, I activate Raigeki, with this card; I can destroy all of your monsters on your field".
A thunderbolt appeared and struck down Bistro Butcher who disappeared of the field.
"Then, I activate the effect of Thunder Dragon, you see, if I discard one of my Thunder Dragons from my hand, I can add two of them in my hand" explained Mizoguchi as he discard his Thunder Dragon and add two more into his hand "and then, I will stomp you up with this spell card : Thunder Dragon fusion !"
A vortex suddenly appeared in the sky, sending out multiple thunderbolts that hit on the ground, including on the glass panel that the two were standing on, making some cracks to appear on its surface.
0-0-0
Meanwhile, Tsumugi begins to be worried, the Anime characters parade was almost over and Chiaki was still not there, if she would be missing, it could prevent the Video Game characters parade to occur.
"Tsumugi, is everything okay?" asked Hajime who came to check on the Ultimate Cosplayer.
"Ah, Hajime, good timing, have you seen Chiaki recently? Our parade will eventually begin and she is not here yet" asked Tsumugi.
"No, I haven't seen her yet, I thought that she will be with you" replied the young man to which the Ultimate Cosplayer begins to be sickly worried as she feared that something could have happened to Chiaki but before she could ask him to search or the Ultimate Gamer, someone let out a surprised yell.
"Look, on the roof of the mall!"
The two decided to look at the roof and they noticed the vortex that was appearing in the sky, Hajime begins to have a bad feeling about this situation, it looks like that someone was dueling up there, if Chiaki was involved in that duel?
0-0-0
"I use my Thunder Dragon with another Thunder Dragon so that I could summon my Two-Headed Thunder Dragon!" let out Mizoguchi as his newest monster appeared on the field, it was a bisectal dragon who walked with green shaped legs and, just like his name suggested it, it sported two heads on it (A:2800/D:2100).
The Ultimate Gamer prepared herself as she expected that the man would attack her with his newest monster.
0-0-0
On ground level, everyone was astonished that someone was dueling another on the top of the mall's rooftop but more importantly, they were shocked when they noticed that it was an older man who was dueling a very young girl.
"Oh my god, that man is assaulting this young girl!" launched out a female bystander.
"Someone should call the cops!" another bystander replied while Hajime looked more closely at the duel and what he saw shocked him: he recognized the Ultimate Gamer as one of the duelists and she seems to be in trouble.
"Chiaki!" cried out the young man.
"She is in danger up there!" noticed Tsumugi as she looked at the scene but then, an idea crossed her mind as she decided to apply something that can save Chiaki "Turboman, you've got to save her!"
"How?" asked Hajime.
"With your jetpack, you can fly so that you could save her" replied the Ultimate Cosplayer to which her sentence shocked Hajime who didn't expect that the jetpack that he was carrying would be a real one.
"Wait, you mean that this thing is functional?" asked the young man.
"Of course, it respects the character completely, now fly Turboman!" cheered Tsumugi as Hajime looked at his hands and he noticed that two controllers sprung out of his hands to which he decided to push them, the jetpack suddenly activate on his back where they let out powerful flames that an launch him away in the air if he activate the left joysticks of the controllers to which he does but not before the Ultimate Cosplayer let out a remark "Turboman, don't forget your catchphrase!"
"What? Right now?" asked the young man to which Tsumugi nodded, grumbling, Hajime activated the joysticks so that he could fly while he let out his catchphrase "It's Turbo Time!"
But as he begins to fly, he suddenly starts to spiral in a circle while he goes higher and higher in the sky as he has no idea how to control his jetpack, the two duelists were spooked about the sound that they turned around and they witnessed the young man flying up in the air much to their confusion.
"Hajime?" wondered Chiaki as Hajime continued his ascension in the air until he decided to let go of the joysticks, disabling his jetpack and allowing him to let out a sigh of relief as he was happy that the madness was over.
However, he has forgotten one thing: he was standing on mid-air high above the city and his only way of flying was deactivated.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed the young man as he begins to fall down but thankfully for him, he reactivated his jetpack though he was flying erratically across the city as he didn't know how he could control properly his jetpack.
Meanwhile, on the rooftop.
"Don't know what the hell was that for but at least, no one is gonna bother us, Two-Headed Thunder Dragon, attack her directly!" ordered Mizoguchi as the dragon let out a spark of electricity through its horn, however, the Ultimate Gamer has planned that eventual outcome.
"I'm sorry sir but your attack won't work, I activate Magic Cylinder, with this, I can redirect your attack against your life points!" said Chiaki while the two cylinders appeared on her side of the field.
"You WHAT?" yelled the poster as his attack goes through one of the cylinders and it was launched back by the other one, hitting Mizoguhi as his life points decreased drastically (Mizoguchi:1100) "Damn it, what the hell was for? Was this thing legal?"
"Huh? Well, yes, you attacked, I've activated my trap and it played out, that's how the game works" explained the Ultimate Gamer as she begins to have a feeling that the poster didn't really know how to play the game.
"Damn, that's thing is overpowered! My son would never understand a concept like this one" spitted Mizoguchi as he was pissed off that his attack was countered by Chiaki's trap card.
But as the Ultimate Gamer was about to explain to him about the foundations of Duel Monsters, she noticed a red form that was flying towards her, the young girl widened her eyes as she recognized Hajime in his Turboman costume and she drew out her hand so that he could take her as she wanted to avoid dueling that man any longer for she didn't want to humiliate him anymore.
"Hajime!" cried out Chiaki.
"Chiaki, I got you!" yelled out the young man as he tried to grab the Ultimate Gamer's hand but he narrowly missed out her hand (though he accidentally blow off her Rebecca Brielle wig in the process) much to his frustration "Chiaki".
However, much to his horror, he realized that he is flying towards the crowd who starts to running away or dodging him so that they won't be hurt by Hajime, the young man decided to push his body to the right so that he could avoid the pedestrians though he discovered that he is flying towards a banner that was standing between two lamp posts and he dived, head-first, in that banner, dislocating one of its lock and causing him to spin around uncontrollably in a circle much to the audience confusion who moved their head at the speed of his spin that was so ast that Hajime almost threw up but he gulped back the bile to which he was right to do so as his jetpack burned the rope that restrained him and allowed him to get free of the banner but at the cost that he is, once again, flying erratically.
Meanwhile, the poster was starting to be angry as he noticed that Chiaki was trying to run away from him.
"Are my eyes working well? You were trying to flee this duel are you?" angrily asked Mizoguchi.
"Sir, I'm terribly sorry to say this to you but, you are not a good duelist, you're only dueling because you want my Thunder Skywolf card, you don't even know what is a Trap card to begin with!" tried to explain Chiaki but the poster cut her off.
"True but I'm doing this for my kid, if I don't bring this stupid card, he might think that his father is a good for nothing man and I don't want him to think of me in that way, once I get that card, I will be at peace!" said Mizoguchi.
"And that's another reason why I'm considering to end this duel with you, at least, you are trying to make your child happy, to which my own didn't do" sadly mused the Ultimate Gamer to which her explanation caused the man to be confused.
"What? What you chu talk about?" asked the poster to which Chiaki begins to have a flashback about her past.
0-0-0
(BGM: Ventus theme – Kingdom Hears Birth By Sleep)
The first thing that Chiaki recalled was when she was five years old, she was watching her parents playing Gradius in the highest level difficulty, the two grown-ups were enjoying it and the future Ultimate Gamer seems to be interested in playing it.
"M-may I have a turn?" Chiaki asked her father, Yosuke Nanami, the old man was surprised of the question but he decided to let her daughter have a turn.
"Knock yourself out, sweet pee" said the father as he handed her the controller as she took it, it was the first time that she was playing a video game in her life but much to her parent's shock, she easily cleared all the levels in the game in a single playthrough with no continues and no restarts, and despite the difficulty, she enjoyed every minute of it.
But as time went on, however, her life will turn upside down, when she got 11 years old, her parents suddenly starts to ignore her aside of the occasional tournaments in the conventions, they mostly ignored their daughter much to her chagrin as she wondered what she did wrong.
But when Duel Monsters were introduced, her parents did take good care of the young girl in order to make her enter through the newest game.
One day, she had a duel against her mother.
"I summon Lizard Warrior in Attack mode" said the Ultimate Gamer as she plays the card on the table "and with this spell card, Bashing Shield, it gains 1000 Attack and Defense points, making it more powerful than Jerry Beans man so that I could take out the rest of your life points".
Her father smiled as he was impressed that her daughter was getting good at Duel Monsters, however, her wife Leiko let out a sigh as she admitted defeat.
"Seriously, how do you always manage to be so good at games?" asked her mother.
"I-I guess that I was raised that way" hesitated Chiaki as she admitted to herself, why did she liked games that much? The first time she played them, she didn't knew anything about them but now, she was dominating in them, it became their passion but she couldn't explain herself why she was so good at them.
But then, her parents started to continue playing videogames and Duel Monsters all by themselves, Chiaki didn't understand why they were pushing her away that much, what did she did?
But then, came that day, the day that will change her life and the worst day that she has lived.
The Ultimate Gamer was now thirteen, she played in her handheld console when someone knocked on her room door, that knock surprised her that she stopped playing.
"Chiaki? Are you there?" asked a voice to which Chiaki recognized her father's voice.
"Daddy?" asked the Ultimate Gamer as she didn't expect that her father would try to talk to her after two years of ignorance, the old man pushed down the door as a worried look could be read down on his face.
"You don't mind if I talk with you a bit?" asked Yosuke as he sit down to his daughter's bed.
"No but why Daddy? Is there something wrong?" asked Chiaki as she was hoping that her father would restart everything with her, that he could care about her one more.
"No, nothing wrong about it, it's just that I am proud of being the father of the Ultimate Gamer" said her father as he offered Chiaki an envelope and a gift package at her, curious, the young girl took the envelope and ripped it out open so that she could see its content, she discovered that the mayor of Neo Tokyo City has indeed delivered her the certificate that she has become the Ultimate Gamer sine he has witnessed her at a local arcade where she has beaten his high score on Donkey Kong, proud of this, he has named Chiaki the Ultimate Gamer of Neo Tokyo City.
"Daddy this is…" started to say the Ultimate Gamer before her father complete her sentence.
"Your greatest achievement Sweet Pie" said Yosuke to which Chiaki let out a surprised gasp, when he started to ignore her, he stopped allying her Sweet Pie but now, he was starting to all her back with that nickname, was he proud of the fact she became the Ultimate Gamer? "and to congratulate you, I've decided to give you this little gift".
The young girl remembered the gift package that she was holding, she teared it open and what she saw surprised her: it was her father's favorite card: Thunderclap Skywolf, her father decided to create a Thunder like deck and Thunderclap Skywolf was his most prized card in his deck.
"Isn't this…?"
"It is yours now, you've earned it, you're much more capable of using it than I will ever do" explained Yosuke before he rose up of the bed as he prepared to leave her room but before he does, he turned around to his daughter and lashed out a fatherly smile at her "Chiaki, no matter the path that you will take from now on, we will always be proud of you Sweet Pie".
The young girl was taken aback by the comment but she was happy, her father decided to speak with her and it was to address his kind words to her, like if she was thanking a person who saved her life, she rushed towards her father and she hugged him tightly, Yosuke patting her daughter's back as a response.
After that, Chiaki had resumed playing on her handheld but by pure curiosity, the young girl stopped playing her game so that she could hear things that could be going down with her parents, she expected them to be playing on their games but when she pushed the door, she hears them yelling, like if something bad happened.
"Why do you have to do this Yosuke?" cried out Leiko to which her husband tried to answer her question with a hesitated voice.
"I-I-I don't know if we should keep this up, I mean, for Jesus's sake, she is our daughter!" reasoned Yosuke to which Chiaki began to have hope, was her father was trying to reconnect the bonds with her?
"Why do you care?" sneered her mother.
"Why do I care? What do you mean by that Leiko? Must I tell her about the act that we've have no more fun playing with her because she's so much better than us? Is that what you want? Do you want me to metaphorically stab her in the heart with the truth?" replied her father to which Chiaki let out a huge gasp: does that mean that, by winning so much against them in every game, she has taken her parent's love away from her? Tears spilled at her eyes as she made a rush to her room to which her footsteps could be heard in the floor below much to Yosuke's concern "Chiaki?"
However, the only response that he received was the Ultimate Gamer's door closed in a huff to which this leaves him with a shocked look: did she hear everything that he and his wife were talking about? A saddened expression appeared on his face, he has screwed up his chance of reconciling with his daughter as he couldn't take it any longer the fact that he was moving away from his child.
That day, Chiaki cried harder than she has ever did in her lie, she cried of a broken heart.
0-0-0
"From that day forth, I've always wondered if it was okay for me to love games since I took my family's love away from me all that because I was too good at games" replied the Ultimate Gamer as she finished her story to which the man felt bad about Chiaki as he was moved by her story.
"Man, I'm sorry for you girlie, I feel like that even I don't bring that card to my son, I would be less than an asshole that your parents did" replied Mizoguchi.
"You're wrong, my parents have nothing to do with me having taking away their love for gaming, I am the only one responsible for their situation" explained the Ultimate Gamer as she looked at the poster with a justified look "you see, if I value Thunderclap Skywolf, it is to remember about the time where my family cared or me, the moment where I enjoyed my life to the fullest, that is why I can't give that card away, even if is to help a father and I deeply apologize about it sir but I will win this duel".
(BGM ends)
"You refuse? Not even if I would be a better father than your own is?" angrily asked Mizoguchi.
"But you are doing it with the wrong methods sir and that's will be why I'm going to win this duel" said the Ultimate Gamer as she drew a new card.
Meanwhile, Hajime was still lying erratically across the town and now, he was heading towards an apartment where a family is about to pray for a good Christmas meal, knowing that he has no choice but to move forward, he flied through the family's apartment and passed through another window while he let out a huge windy shockwave that blew off most of the furniture in the apartment much to the family's confusion.
On the mall's rooftop, Chiaki has drawn her newest card and she was ready to make her net move.
"I put a monster face-down in Defense position and I'll end my turn" said the Ultimate Gamer as a hologram of a card appeared on her field much to Mizoguchi amusement.
"Giving up so soon? I guess this duel wouldn't have lasted that much longer, Two-Headed Thunder Dragon, attack!" ordered the poster to which the dragon begins to charge at Chiaki and it cut in half the face-down card to which Man-Bug Eater jumped out of it and hugged tightly to the dragon who was destroyed when the inset exploded with it "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT? WHAT HAPPENED?"
"You've attacked my Man-Bug Eater, when it is flipped, I can destroy a monster on the field and since you've attacked with your Two-Headed Thunder Dragon, I could have destroyed it with my monster" explained the Ultimate Gamer.
"Damn, that's thing is cheated as fuck! How could you authorize such a card to be released?" angrily asked the poster.
Hajime, on the other hand, was now heading towards another building but knowing that it will be dangerous if he pressed forward, he flipped his joysticks to which it managed to stabilize him near an inch before he made contact with the wall much to the bystander's shock but he suddenly lies down near a group of people who evacuate the place where the young man is about to land, he let go of the joysticks so that he could land safely instead of crashing down on the ground, though he fell on his back in the process.
On the rooftop, Chiaki was ready to finish the duel as she has a plan in her mind.
(BGM: You're winning – Yu-Gi-Oh Gx Tag Force 2)
"I draw!" said the young girl to which she noticed that she has drawn a card that can help her greatly "I activate Graceful Charity, with this card, I can draw three cards but I have to discard two cards from my hand into the graveyard".
The Ultimate Gamer draws out three cards and she discarded two of them from her hand into the graveyard.
"And since you are willing to see Thunderclap Skywolf in action, I can summon it for you sir, I activated Monster Reborn!" spelled out Chiaki to which the man rose his eyebrow, he didn't recalled having destroyed the signature card.
"Wait, what? I know how this card works and I don't remember having destroyed Thunderclap Skywolf" replied Mizoguchi.
"No, you didn't, I've discarded it thanks to my Graceful Charity and since he is on my graveyard, I can summon it without having to do a Tribute Summon!" said Chiaki as a furry, dark blue wolf with lightning sparking from the inside of its jaws and its eye sockets (A:2500/D:2000).
"Fuck!" cursed the man as he was entirely exposed to the Ultimate Gamer's attack.
"Thunderclap Skywolf, there will be no need to activate your effect so it's time to attack that man directly!" declared Chiaki as Thunderlap Skywolf let out a powerful burst of electricity that he sent out to the man, decreasing his life points completely (Mizoguchi:0)
Chiaki Wins!
(BGM ends)
Thunderclap Skywolf hologram disappeared from the duel as the Ultimate Gamer tried to approach the man as he was shown to be like severely depressed that he has lost his only hane to gain the Thunderclap Skywolf card.
Suddenly, Mizoguchi give out a severe punch to the glass panel, furthering shattering it as he gets up from his position with an angry scowl on his face.
"ENOUGH! I WILL NOT WAIT ANY LONGER! GIVE ME THAT DAMNED CARD!" cursed the poster as he tried to rip the card from the Ultimate Gamer's duel disk to which the young girl ducked before he could get it, why was she not surprised that Mizoguchi would still want the card even after he lost the duel? Chiaki would have wanted a different matter to occur but with his bad temper, she knew she couldn't get any solution.
But suddenly, as the man angrily step down his foot on the glass panel; the two noticed that the cracks on the glass panel became much more numerous and they were covering the entire glass panel, the two widened their eyes as they were standing on something that could break in any moment.
Eventually, the glass broke below their feet much to the bystander's shock (and Hajime as well as he has managed to get up after his fall and he has noticed that the Ultimate Gamer had fell through the glass) and the two starts falling down into the ground much to their horror, thankfully, the two managed to grab a support beam that stopped their all, although they accidentally caused some Christmas lightbulbs to all down into a kid's playground where an inflatable castle was standing down, though the glass didn't pierced the castle, the parents were taking away their children so that they wouldn't be hurt by the falling glass shards.
Meanwhile, most of the audience who were watching the scene from outside, entered the mall so that they could see Chiaki and Mizoguhi hanging on or dear lie, though the poster was trying to take the Thunderclap Skywolf card from the Ultimate Gamer's duel disk who tried to kick him away from her but the man still insisted to take the ard away from her, Tsumugi, who was witnessing the scene, had an idea.
"Turboman! Use your Turbo-rang!" said the Ultimate Cosplayer as the young man noticed that a golden boomerang was attached to his left leg, he took it and he prepared to aim with it.
"Hope it works!" said Hajime as he threw the boomerang at Mizoguchi who, while he was trying to snatch the card away, noticed the boomerang coming towards him and he took one of his hands off the support beam so that he could avoid the golden boomerang.
"HA! Miss me!" mocked the poster to which he let out a victorious cackle as he managed to grab Thunderclap Skywolf from Chiaki's duel disk much to her shock as she couldn't do anything to prevent him of doing so "VICTORY IS MINE! HA HA HA! MVP BITCHES YEA…"
But he didn't have the time to complete his sentence as the golden boomerang came back to its tracks and hit Mizoguchi on the back of his head causing him to let go of the support beam and he starts to fall down towards the inflatable castle that he burst on upon landing to which it saved his lie but it managed to stop him, everyone, including the children, cheered of Hajime's successful throw as the objet came back to his hand much to his amazement as he couldn't believe that he has managed to stop that dangerous madman who was laughing his ass off while he remained on the remains of the inflatable castle.
"I don't care, I still got it! I still got the Thunderclap Skywolf card!" boosted Mizoguchi until someone snatched the ard away from him.
"What will you got sir, will be a prison sentence!" said a police officer as he and his colleagues drew out their handguns and they point them out to the poster who could do nothing but let out a sheepishly smile to the policemen.
However, in the midst of the celebration, a voice brought everyone back to reality as Chiaki's fingers started to slip of the support beam.
"HAJIME, HELP!" cried out the Ultimate Gamer as she knows that she won't hold on any longer to which Hajime could only look at her with a horrified look.
"CHIAKI!" screamed the young man as he feared that Chiaki would let go of the support beam.
But eventually, the Ultimate Gamer let go of the support beam much to the horror of the bystanders as she begins to make a deadly all, however, Hajime activated his jetpack and he starts to fly towards Chiaki's direction and he managed to grab her in the last second, to which the audience burst out cheers of celebration as they were happy that Hajime had managed to save the Ultimate Gamer's life, the two flew through the hole of the mall's rooftop as Chiaki embraced her arms around the young man's neck.
"Thanks Hajime, I knew that you will save me or should I say Turboman?" said the Ultimate Gamer with a hint of a friendly tease.
"You can always count on me!" replied the young man to which his sentence caused a small giggle to escape Chiaki's throat as Hajime decided to take the Ultimate Gamer into a ride while he was still using Turboman's jetpack.
0-0-0
The night of Christmas Eve eventually came at Neo Tokyo City.
Hajime and Chiaki had gone into a long tour of the town before they came back so that they could bring the costumes back at the Ultimate Cosplayer, though the Ultimate Gamer has apologized to Tsumugi that she has lost her Rebecca Brielle wig, the cosplayer forgave her saying that she could build a new one from scratch, the young girl has also retrieved the Thunderclap Skywolf card that Mizoguchi has stolen, speaking of him, he was arrested by the authorities and it would seems that he won't escaped that easily to justice.
After saying goodbye to Tsumugi, the two started to walk towards Hajime's home as he planned to have a good meal with her but also, he was planning to give her present that he had a hard time to find
The two eventually arrived at Hajime's house to which he decided to ring at the doorbell, after a few minutes, Hajime's father opened the door, the man was almost like the splitting image of Hajime but without his signature stubborn cowlick.
"Oh! Rare to see you at home son!" replied Hajime's father.
"Dad, I called home saying that I was coming for Christmas Eve with Chiaki" said Hajime as he was used to his father playful tone.
"I know son, it's just that we are happy that you've decided to celebrate Christmas with us" said his father until he turned his gaze at the Ultimate Gamer "and you must be the infamous Chiaki, my son talked a lot about you".
"Oh, he did?" replied an amused Chiaki.
"Of course, he said that you were turning him into a good duelist" said Hajime's father.
"Well, we can say that he has made a lot of progress, sometimes, I've had a bit of difficulty in beating him which shows how much he progressed" explained the Ultimate Gamer to which her statement caused Hajime to let a lustered smile, for him, he was still a beginner but he was happy about Chiaki's compliment.
"I see, by the way son, I've seen this package in our closet, did you planned to make a gift to someone?" asked Hajime's father as he pulled out a box covered in a red present paper to which it was the PS5 that Hajime has bought.
"DAD, that's Chiaki present!" said Hajime as he took the box rom fhis father while Chiaki let out a surprised gasp as she didn't expect that the young man had planned a gift for her.
"You've bought a present for me?" asked the Ultimate Gamer.
"Uh…Yeah, I thought that I could keep it as a surprise until midnight but since my father spoiled it, merry Christmas Chiaki!" said Hajime as he gave the present to Chiaki who decided to rip out the paper so that she could see what's inside, when she finished, she noticed that it was a PS5 "you've said that you had some difficulty in finding a PS5 so I thought that I could have bought one for you".
"That's so kind of you Hajime, it makes me a bit ashamed that I didn't made a gift for you" said the Ultimate Gamer.
"It's okay, I don't mind" reassured the young man however, a different man has a different idea in mind, the two noticed some mistletoe that Hajime's father was hanging above their heads, the playful old man thought it might be a good idea.
"Maybe you can still give a good gift to my good for nothing son, little girl" joked the old man.
"Dad, you can't force Chiaki to…" was about to say Hajime until Chiaki took him and she give him out a small kiss on his lips though she let out a small one as she rapidly broke away from the kiss.
"Well, I have to respect the traditions, if a mistletoe is hanging above our heads, we must kiss each other under it, right?" said the Ultimate Gamer to which it let out Hajime speechless, she agreed to do it? Noticing his shock, she decided to proceed further with her explanation "more seriously, I will consider this as my gift to you Hajime, not only to have saved me earlier but also to congratulate you on your progress Hajime".
The young man processed her words but he admitted it that he has enjoyed the kiss; he never thought that he will kiss someone on their lips but he was happy that Chiaki has considered doing it with him.
"Thank you Chiaki" replied the young man.
"All right lovebirds, why don't we get inside, your mother has planned a nice little feast for the four of us and she will be very happy to hear that "saving me part" from you little girl" said Hajime's father to which the three decided to enter Hajime's house so that they could enjoy the Christmas dinner that Hajime's mother has planned.
HO HO HO! Merry Christmas everyone!
As you can see, this chapter was entirely based on the Christmas movie "jingle all the way" with Schwartzy to which it was well based since it will soon be Christmas.
It might be the last chapter of 2023 and for 2024, the next chapter might reawaken bad memories of "Twilight Syndrome".
One again, don't forget to fave, follow and review that story.
