"So, if you combine the red chemical with this vial, you end up with..."
The Chemistry teacher poured the two contents together as a chemical reaction occurred. The students watching this were in awe as they saw the test tube bubble from the two substances reacting. Among the students were Roll and Mario as the girl was writing down what she saw and even remembered all the steps that their teacher did to create the reaction. As for her brother, he was just watching lazily before looking out of the window and seeing the sky.
"Bro... bro..." said Roll as she was trying to get her older brother's attention.
Mario was busy gazing out the window that he didn't hear his younger sister trying to get his attention. He was also unaware that their teacher was starting to march toward his desk. Roll saw this and tried to get her brother to avoid being in trouble as she crumpled up a piece of paper and tossed it to the back of his head.
"What?" said Mario as he turned to look at his sister for doing that.
Soon a throat clearing was heard as Mario blinked and sighed before turning his head forward as there stood the woman with her arms crossed and staring at the boy. Roll had tried to get her brother to pay attention to avoid being called out, but it appeared she was too late.
"Well, Mr. Mario. Since you rather look out the window than pay attention in class. Then maybe you can answer this question: What is the average atomic weight of silver?" demanded the Chemistry teacher.
The other students made faces as they seemed to pity Mario for being called on.
"Atomic weight?" responded Mario with some hesitation in his voice, "Uh, well, not very much. I mean, it is an atom." chuckled the boy, making a joke as he hoped to get a laugh, but that was far from the case.
The woman called for him to come to the front of the class. Mario sighed as he got up and followed their teacher before they stood in front of the class and next to the board. Roll dreaded this as she knew her brother had a habit of getting into trouble.
"Then solve it!" demanded the teacher to the boy as she presented the piece of chalk.
Mario looked at the chalk before taking a gulp; he then turned to look at the blackboard. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, the boy recalling a memory that he was once taught.
"Alright. So... how do I find the average atomic weight of silver? Well, that would be 106.905 times 0.5200 plus 108.905 times 0.4800..."
As Mario explained the answer, the other students were shocked to see that the boy was actually solving the problem. They thought he'd choke after being called out by their teacher, but he was proving her wrong. Even the teacher was amazed at seeing the boy staring out the window solve the problem she had asked like it was nothing. As for Roll, she repeated her brother's calculations in her head as she saw he was doing it correctly.
"... which would give us 107.9 amu," said Mario as he circled his answer while turning to look at the flabbergasted teacher.
"Amu?" muttered Roll at how her brother said that as he pronounced it wrong.
"I see," said the professor, "I apologize for..."
"Underestimating me?" said Mario as he finished the woman's train of thought. "Don't make the same mistake twice." The boy tossed the chalk back to her as he left to take his seat.
The other students in the class began to murmur at how Mario got the last word on their teacher. For Mario, he was glad to show that he wasn't as dumb as people assumed him to be. He sat back in his chair and leaned back before he saw his sister looking at him with a look.
"What?" said the boy to his younger sibling.
"It's A-M-U. Not amu!" responded Roll, taking a bit of offense that her brother didn't pronounce the unit of measure correctly.
"Whatever, sis. I still got the right answer. This science class, not English class." was all Mario said as he went back to staring out the window as Roll groaned at how her brother acted. To think... he wasn't always like this... ever since...
Meanwhile, Hitch and Sunny sat at a table in another classroom as they worked on math problems their teacher had given them. The boy was looking at a problem before writing something down on a piece of paper; he soon turned his pencil upside as he erased his answer. He tried to redo the problem he got rid of but made more grunts.
"Something wrong, Hitch?" asked Sunny as she noticed her friend making noises.
"Sorry for bothering you, Sunny. It's just... this problem is giving me, well, a problem," Hitch unintentionally made a joke as Sunny couldn't help but giggle at her friend's statement.
"Let me see if I can help. What seems to be the issue?" asked the girl as she scooted closer to her childhood friend.
"It's this problem that I'm trying to figure out. I've done all the proper steps, but somehow it's not working."
"Did you check all your steps? Maybe you forgot something or made a slight miscalculation," suggested Sunny.
"I did, and it's still not adding up. No pun intended." stated Hitch.
"I see what you did. Mind if I show you?" said Sunny as she began to scribble on a piece of paper. After a while, the girl was able to help her friend with the problem. "So after that, it just becomes a simple limit question."
"Of course! Then you just insert 3 as the x for the difference quotient, and after simplifying, you find that the limit f'(3) as h approaches 0 is equal to... 6." said Hitch as he wrote down his answer in his notebook and showed it to Sunny.
"You got it! Now how about this problem?" asked the girl.
"Easy, so here you would use integration by parts," said Hitch as he began to work on the problem in front of Sunny. "First, you set this part of the integral equal to u, and then take its derivative..."
And so it went for the rest of the class until the school bell rang. With that, the class was dismissed as both Hitch and Sunny began to walk out after finishing all their classes for the day.
"Whew, glad that's over. Thanks, Sunny."
"What are friends for?"
"Up high, down low. Hitch it to the post. Flip it sunnyside up and on a piece of toast!" said both kids as they shared their special handshake and laughed.
"So, care to hang out with Sprout and me?" asked Hitch.
"Maybe some other time. I got somebody that I need to meet with," responded Sunny.
"Well, okay, then. See ya, Sunny."
Hitch waved goodbye as Sunny went in another direction.
Sweetie Belle was in the classroom as the woman put some papers in her briefcase. She was preparing to head to her office when someone approached her desk.
"Ms. Sweetie Belle."
"Ah, Pipp. Glad to see you kept your word. Take a seat." said the woman to her student as Pipp took a seat in front of the desk of her Fusion instructor.
"So, you have the same deck as me?" asked the teen.
"See for yourself," responded Sweetie Belle as she took something out of her briefcase and placed it in front of the girl.
Pipp opened the small deck-shaped box and pulled out Sweetie Belle's cards. The girl was looking through the contents of the deck as true to what her professor said; she did have the same exact deck as her. Granted a few cards that she didn't have, but still, for the most part, the same.
"Wow," was all the girl said.
"I've had that deck with me since I was a first-year like yourself," said Sweetie Belle as she took a picture and showed it to the girl.
Pipp looked at the photo of Sweetie Belle when she was her age, as she was with two others.
"Who are they?" asked Pipp, seeing the two other girls.
"They're my friends. We've been together since we first met. In fact, they are also teachers here at CHS."
"Must be nice. Having friends you've known since high school, and you all work in the same place," responded Pipp.
"Yes, it's quite refreshing. However, there's something I want to ask you, Ms. Pipp. Do you consider yourself a duelist?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Well, I have a deck of cards. So, that would make me one, right?"
"One isn't a duelist simply because they wield a deck or cards. Anybody can do that. What makes someone a duelist is how you trust your cards?"
"Huh? Sorry, Ms. Sweetie Belle, I'm not exactly following what you mean," said Pipp.
"In the words of someone who told me when I was your age: Put your trust in your deck, and it will trust you."
"Wow! That's like totally inspirational. If I put that on a t-shirt, it would sell." the teen wrote that idea on her phone for later.
"Yes, well, he had a way with words," smiled Sweetie Belle, "But the point I'm trying to make is if you want to stand out among your peers, then perhaps if you spend time with your cards. You might get to know them better."
"I'm so not following you," expressed Pipp.
"You will... eventually. For now, take some time to do some research. Not everybody is a genius; for some, it's simply practicing over and over till they get to where they are." Sweetie Belle said as she closed her briefcase and exited the classroom, leaving Pipp to ponder the words by her instructor.
Mario was in the living room as the boy was lying on the couch. He soon heard a knock on the door as he grumbled, wondering who was trying to bother his peace and quiet. He went to the structure and opened the door to see who it was.
"Oh, hi," said Sunny, seeing the boy before her.
"Are you Roll's friend?" asked Mario.
"Yup. Sunny Starscout. Nice to meet you." said the girl, extending her hand.
"Same here," the boy said as he at least showed respect to the girl by shaking her hand. "Roll! Your friend's here!"
Mario walked in as Sunny followed him.
"Roll!" yelled Mario.
"I'm coming, bro!" said the girl as she walked from the upper level of the dorm. She saw Sunny standing as she began to apologize.
"Hey, Sunny. Sorry about my loud, annoying brother."
"No harm done. Gotta say, nice place. Very different from the Xyz dorm." said Sunny, taking in how special of a place both siblings had.
"Yeah, special," muttered Mario as he walked away.
"Pardon him, it's just... well... he's got some issues," explained Roll.
"Oh, okay then," said Sunny, knowing to steer clear of Mario's behavior.
"Anyways, our assignment for tomorrow is to develop a completed deck so Mrs. Scootaloo can review them for evaluation. And since you told me that you haven't had a chance to construct your own deck, we got some work to do," stated Roll as the two girls sat in the dorm's living room. "So, do you know what theme you want your deck to be?"
"I think I do. Let me show you something," said Sunny as she reached into her backpack. "This is something I've had since I was a kid. My dad got it for me."
Sunny presented Roll with a folded-up poster. The poster showed the image of a woman dressed in a lavender business suit and miniskirt. Her hair was in a bun, and she wore glasses. However, behind her was a building and several portraits of Duel Monsters, one of which was her signature monster as the pair stood back to back. However, the name of the poster caught Roll's attention.
Sparkle...
"Sparkle's Innovative Industry was the first time I was ever introduced to the game. My dad said he stopped by the mall when one of the companies was handing these out for free to promote their latest launch of newly created cards. This poster was my birthday gift." explained Sunny.
"I see," said Roll.
The girl returned her gaze to the poster and kept a firm look. More specifically, to the woman standing in the middle as her fingers traced over it. Roll knew what Sunny said about these posters being handed out for free to promote because... she knew...
"Anyways, I was thinking of having some kind of spellcaster," stated Sunny as she pulled out some cards she had collected over the years. "This is all I have."
Roll noticed five simple cards in Sunny's hand as she took them. She glanced them over as four were either spells or traps. The only monster card was the last one, named Rilliona, the Magistus of Verre.
"You sure this is what you want?" asked Roll to her friend.
"Yeah, I'd like to try it," responded Sunny.
Hearing this from the kitchen area was Mario. The boy was about to head back up to his room when he saw and heard Sunny talking about the poster she pulled up. Like his sister, he also knew about the poster for a different reason.
"Well, if we're gonna create a deck for you. Then we need more than this," said Roll, returning the five cards to Sunny.
"So, we're heading to the card shop?" wondered Sunny.
"Nah, I got some here," said Roll as she revealed a small tin box beside her.
The girl placed the thing on the table and took the lid off. Inside was a good chunk of cards that Roll had collected over the years as her personal collection. Sunny was taken aback by the many cards as she picked some up to read them.
"Wow. You have so much," said the girl.
"Yeah, over the years, I've collected them," said Roll before digging into the box and pulling out a couple of stacks. "So, let's get started."
The two girls were now sorting through and sifting the many cards that Roll had. Sunny began to sort through the cards that caught her eyes as she set them to the side. As Sunny noted, Roll was reading some of the cards and saying what cards complimented each other.
"So, what do you have so far?" asked Roll.
"Good candidates. But... now I don't know what monsters to use for the Extra Deck?" asked Sunny.
Mario heard that as he sighed. The boy began to head upstairs; moments later, he returned and sat across the girls on the other couch. He dropped another tin box in front of the girls as they looked up to see the boy take a seat.
"May I?" asked Mario, with his hand out.
"Uhm, s-sure," said Sunny as she handed the makeshift deck she put together.
Mario took the deck and began to sift through them quickly before setting them on the table and opening his tin box. Like Roll, Mario also had his own collection of cards that he'd collected over the years. The boy went through the many cards in the box before pulling some out individually as he placed them facing Sunny.
"What do you think of these?" asked the boy.
Sunny picked them up and looked at the cards Mario had put in front of her. She read their effects as both siblings watched her.
"I think I can work with these. Though isn't this a Fusion monster, and this is a Synchro?" said Sunny as she showed some of them to the boy, suggesting those kinds of cards despite her deck being primarily focused on Xyz Summoning, given the course she was taking.
"Well, the type of deck you're building has monsters that are not only Xyz but can use the other methods of special summoning. So, in short, you have access to almost all of them," said Mario. "But for now, I would focus on mastering your Xyz summons before trying Fusion or Synchro."
Sunny nodded as she saw something else in. A card was in a sleeve; her hand reached for it when Mario swatted her hand away.
"Don't touch that!" spoke the boy with some volume in his voice.
"S-Sorry," stated Sunny, a bit fearful of the teen and the tone of his voice.
Roll looked at her brother as she glared at him for raising his voice at Sunny. Mario sighed as he grabbed the sleeved card and put it in his pocket. The boy muttered about keeping that card as he got up to put his box away. As she watched her brother leave, Sunny put the final touches on the makeshift deck she had made using Roll and Mario's cards. The girl placed her deck on the table as it shone slightly.
"Whew, it's finished."
"Congrats, Sunny. You now got a deck."
"Thanks, Roll. But I couldn't have done it without you. Even you, Mario." said the girl as she saw the boy returning downstairs.
"Whatever," responded the boy as if he didn't care much.
Big bro... you weren't always like this. I wish... I wish you were your old self.
Roll then turned to look at Sunny as the girl went through her newly made deck.
"Care to test it out?" asked Roll.
"Sure," stated Sunny as she accepted her friend's challenge.
The two girls made their way out to the front of the dorm as Mario was off to the side with his arms crossed. The boy watched as his sister and Sunny strapped on their respective Duel Disks. Sunny slotted in her newly-made deck as the device registered the cards and scanned them.
"Scanning... Registration complete... ID user - Sunny Starscout. Deck: Magistus..."
Soon the data was transferred to the school system as Sunny was good to go. Her Duel Disk projected a lavender card tray as Roll's Duel Disk projected a yellow card tray.
"Opponent detected. Streaming data. Duel mode set. Initiating. Commencing duel." said their Duel Disks.
Sunny's Life Points: 8000-
Roll's Life Points: 8000-
The auto shufflers of their Duel Disks kicked in.
"You can go first," said Roll as she and Sunny drew their opening hands.
"Very well then," responded Sunny as she drew the top card of her deck to begin the duel.
Turn 1: Sunny (Hand 5)
"Well, then..." said Sunny while glancing at her hand, "I'll start by summoning this monster, Summoner Monk(800/1600), in defense mode." The girl placed her monster sideways on her tray as the spellcaster appeared to show a monk in blue robes while he was meditating.
"But that's not all. I activate my monster's ability once per turn; I can discard one spell card from my hand to special summon one Level 4 monster from my deck. However, that monster can't attack this turn."
Sunny then took another card in her hand and slotted it into the Graveyard slot of her Duel Disk; she looked at the screen of her device. The girl used her finger to search her deck as she decided which monster she wanted to summon. She soon made her choice as she clicked confirm on her Duel Disk. The device slotted out the card as she grabbed it.
"So, now I summon this, Magical Exemplar(1700/1400)!" stated Sunny as her new monster appeared, a female sorcerer, as she tossed the hood of her cloak back to reveal her face.
"So, Sunny has two Level 4 monsters. Which means..." stated Mario.
"Now, I'll overlay both of my Level 4 monsters to build the Overlay Network!" shouted Sunny as her two monsters transformed into orbs of light. They hovered in the air for a bit as a portal opened in front of the girl; the orbs entered it as a pillar of light emerged.
"I Xyz Summon, Rilliona, the Wondrous Magistus Witch Wardrobe(1000/2800, OLU: 2) in defense mode!" shouted Sunny as out came a witch dressed in a beautiful white dress as light shined down on her.
"I end my turn."
Turn 2: Roll (Hand 5)
"Then it's my move," said Roll as she drew her card. "I'll start by summoning this, Drill Barnacle(300/0)!" The girl's monster appeared as the drills began to pin. "Then I'll activate its ability, which means it can attack you directly!"
Drill Barnacle began to spin as it fired one of its drills at Sunny; the girl covered up with her arm, creating a cloud of smoke from the attack's contact.
Sunny's Life Points: 7700-
"But there's more. Whenever Drill Barnacle deals you damage, it gains 1000 attack points!" said Roll. "With that, I'll lay a facedown and end my turn."
Turn 3: Sunny (Hand 4)
"My move," said Sunny, drawing her top card.
Okay, what to do. As long as Roll's Drill Barnacle is on the field, it'll just keep attacking me and gaining more power. So I have to deal with it now, or else I'm gonna be in serious trouble.
"I'll begin by activating my monster's ability. Using one of its Xyz materials allows me to special summon 1 'Magistus' monster from my deck. However, for the rest of the turn, I can't special summon any more monsters from my Extra Deck unless they're 'Magistus.'"
Sunny then took one of the cards under her monster and slotted it into the Graveyard slot of her Duel Disk as her monster before she absorbed one of its orbs circling it. As she decided, the girl was now looking for what monster she wanted, and the card slotted out from her deck for her to grab.
"Time to meet my Rilliona, the Magistus of Verre(800/1800) in defense mode!" stated Sunny as she summoned her new monster, another female magician who wore a white outfit; she spun her staff before grabbing it.
"And since I summoned my Rilliona, I can activate one of her abilities. I can add 1 'Magistus' spell or trap card from my deck to my hand," stated Sunny as she looked at her deck again before taking the card she wanted.
"I'll lay one card facedown and end my turn."
Turn 4: Roll (Hand 4)
"Then it's my turn," said Roll as she drew her card. "I'll start by playing the spell Aqua Mirage and equip it onto my Drill Barnacle! With this spell, if I use my Drill Barnacle as an Xyz Material, this spell also counts as an Xyz Material!" stated the girl as a water mirage of her monster appeared next to her actual monster.
"But I'm not done because now I'm gonna have Drill Barnacle attack you again!" instructed Roll as her monster fired another drill at Sunny as she covered up.
Sunny's Life Points: 6400-
"And remember, when Drill Barnacle damages you, it gains 1000 attack points," said the girl as her monster gained more power. "Now, I'll overlay my Drill Barnacle to build the Overlay Network!"
The monster and its mirage clone turned into orbs of light that hovered in the air for a moment. A portal began to open in front of Roll as the orbs entered, and a pillar of light emerged.
"Now I summon a monster that's both feared on the land and in the water! I Xyz Summon, Submersible Carrier Aero Shark(1900/1000, OLU: 2)!" shouted Roll as her monster appeared and roared as its Xyz materials circled around it.
"Still not stronger enough to take out my Rilliona," stated Sunny.
"True, but that's not what I'm doing. Observe. I activate my monster's ability! Using one Overlay Unit, you take 400 points of damage for every card in my hand. And I'm currently holding 4!" stated Roll as her monster loaded a missile and fired.
"Go, Torpedo Launch!" shouted the girl as the capsule broke and the torpedos inside spread out and exploded the area around Sunny, who covered up again.
Sunny's Life Points: 4800-
"Roll's already taken Sunny down to merely half of her original points," muttered Mario as he saw his little sister not taking it easy with her friend.
"With that, I end my turn."
Turn 5: Sunny (Hand 5)
"Then it's my move. I draw. I'll start by summoning this, Breaker the Magical Warrior(1600/1000)!" A warrior came out, and it wielded a sword and shield. "Breaker has a special ability; when it's Normal Summoned, it gains a spell counter which raises its attack by 300 points."
"So, what's your plan? Have Breaker attack my Submersible Carrier Aero Shark. They both have the same number of attack points, which means they'll both be destroyed." said Roll. "But that would leave me open for an attack from your other two monsters should you switch them into attack mode. However, you can't forget that I have a facedown, and you have no clue what it does."
"You said it perfectly. That would be one plan. That is... if I didn't already have another. Watch." exclaimed Sunny as she prepared to make her move. "I overlay both my Level 4 Breaker and Rilliona to construct the Overlay Network!"
Sunny's two monsters turned into orbs of light as they hovered in the air. A portal opened before the girl as the orbs entered, and a pillar of light emerged.
"I Xyz Summon, Ninaruru, the Magistus Glass Goddess(1800/2400, OLU: 2)!" Another sorcerer appeared as to its name. She was made entirely of glass, and her eyes shined before taking a stance with birds and butterflies on her fingers as a cat lay by her feet.
"Not bad. But it still only has 1800 attack points. Still weaker than my monster." said Roll.
"Then it's a good thing I'm not done. Now I activate my Ninaruru's special ability. Using one of its Xyz Materials, I can target one Level 4 or higher Spellcaster in my Graveyard and add it to my hand. So, I'm taking back my Magical Exemplar!" stated Sunny as she took the Rilliona under her monster and slotted it into the Graveyard slot of her Duel Disk; it shined, and in return, it ejected her other monster as she added it to her hand.
"I see what she's doing," muttered Mario.
"Next, I'll activate this spell card, Magistus Vritia. This allows me to special summon a Level 4 or lower 'Magistus' monster from my Graveyard. So that means the Rilliona I just sent away is back on the field!" declared Sunny as her monster reappeared. "And remember, Rilliona's ability, whenever it's summoned, I can add a 'Magistus' spell or trap card to my hand."
Sunny's Duel Disk then ejected the card the girl wanted as she grabbed it.
"But before I activate it, let me use my Rilliona the Wonderous Magistus Witch Wardrobe's ability. Using her last material, I can summon a 'Magistus' monster from my deck. So I'm choosing Endymion, the Magistus of Mastery(1300/1700), in defense mode!" A male sorcerer in dark lavender robes appeared as he wielded a staff. "Next, I'll activate his ability, which allows me to target 1 'Magistus' monster that I control and attach another one from my Extra Deck. So I will attach a second copy of my Ninaruru to the one I have out!"
A second copy of Sunny's monster appeared as it was absorbed into its counterpart and seemed to strengthen its ally.
"When Ninaruru is equipped, the monster that it's equipped to can attack all of your monsters twice during each Battle Phase!" declared Sunny.
"But... my monster is still stronger," said Roll.
"True. So let me play the spell I got earlier. Magistus Theurgy! This spell allows me to target 1 'Magistus' monster that I control and equip it with another one from my Extra Deck, Graveyard, or any of the face-up ones I have on the field. So from my Extra Deck, I'm equipping my Awiass, the Magistus Spell Spirit!"
Sunny's new monster appeared as its spirit entered the monster she had on the field, and again, its power rose.
"And the monster that Awiass is equipped to gains an additional 1000 extra attack and defense points. So now it's stronger than your monster!" declared the girl.
"2800 attack points and can attack twice?" muttered Mario as he commented on Sunny's string of moves.
"Wow. She actually made a pro move. And in her first duel, no less." smiled Roll to herself, seeing how fast Sunny was able to pick up her new deck and use it to put her in a tough spot.
"Now to attack! Ninaruru, attack her Submersible Carrier Aero Shark!" exclaimed Sunny as she thrust her arm out. The glass goddess began to charge up her hands, and a second later, it fired shards of glass sent toward its foe. The pieces of glass began to pierce the animal's skin as it cried out while Roll raised her arms to protect her face.
Roll's Life Points: 7100-
"Because my monster can attack twice, yours isn't initially destroyed. But it does mean you're taking way more damage. Now it launches its second attack!" said Sunny.
Her goddess fired more shards of glass; this time, it made Roll's monster screech in pain before an explosion happened. The girl covered up once more as her monster was gone.
Roll's Life Points: 6200-
"With that, I end my turn!" smiled Sunny, standing confidently as she had four monsters on her field.
"Nice one," panted Roll heavily as she smiled. "I'll admit. You got me with that one."
"Thanks," said Sunny, returning the expression.
I hate to say it, but Sunny has a knack for this. She just did a move that Mom would've done.
Mario paid close attention to what Sunny did as he gave props to the girl. The way she influenced her deck to get the cards she wanted to be able to swarm the field. It reminded him of a move his mother often did when she dueled.
Turn 6: Roll (Hand 4)
"Alright, time for me to not hold back," said Roll, drawing her top card. Seeing that Sunny could give her a fight meant she wasn't going easy anymore for her friend.
Okay, what do I got to work with? Four monsters on Sunny's field. And none on mine. This means that if I don't do anything on her next turn, she can launch an all-out assault and win the duel. So the obvious plan is to put something down.
"I'll start by playing Graceful Charity. So I draw three cards and discard two," stated Roll as she picked up the top cards of her deck and saw them. The girl then chose which cards to remove as she sent them away. "Next, I'll summon my Shocktopus(1600/800). But that's not all; I can also bring out this guy when I summon a Fish-type monster. I special summon my Shark Stickers(200/1000) in defense mode!"
Two monsters appeared on Roll's field, each taking a different position.
"I'll call it there," said the girl as she passed it over to Sunny.
Turn 7: Sunny (Hand 5)
Something's up. I don't believe for a second that she had nothing. It could be a bad draw, I can understand. But nothing. If her first move was any indication, she's not just a rookie. Plus, why would she leave her monster in attack mode? She knows she's gonna take damage. So... why? Gotta be careful, though.
Come on, Sunny. Take the bait. I know you want to attack.
"It's my move," said the girl as she drew her card. "And I'll start by having my Ninaruru clear the way. So I'm gonna start off by attacking your Shocktopus!"
Just what I expected.
Roll was smiling as Sunny's monster fired more shards at her Shocktopus. The creature groaned as Roll covered up to avoid shards flying in her face.
Roll's Life Points: 5000-
"And don't forget, it can attack twice. So get ready for more damage!" exclaimed Sunny as her goddess went for another blow. Roll's monster was destroyed this time, and the girl dropped to a knee from the attack.
Roll's Life Points: 3800-
"Holy shit!" said Mario as that came out on instinct. "Now Sunny's in the lead."
"Now to take out your other monster!" said Sunny as her Ninaruru stood still. "What?" exclaimed the girl in confusion. She then looked at her screen on her Duel Disk as it showed a virtual field with her monster on it. Its card showed that its attack had dropped to 0 and couldn't change modes.
"How-"
"Surprised," snickered Roll as she stood up with a smile. "It's all thanks to you. See, when you destroyed my Shocktopus, you triggered its special ability. Whenever it's destroyed by my opponent's monster, I can attach it to that monster. As a result, it loses all its attack points and can't change modes."
"So you purposely played your monster in attack mode, knowing that I would strike, dealing you twice the damage. All so you can render it useless," said Sunny.
"It was a risk, but I knew the payoff would be worth it. Sometimes you gotta take a hit to deal an even bigger one back. And thanks to that, the strongest monster you have out is now useless." said Roll with a smile.
"Crafty," smiled Sunny.
Hope I made you proud... Dad.
"In that case, I'll just end my turn," said Sunny as even with her strongest monster not being able to attack, she still had three other monsters in defense mode, meaning if Roll destroyed them, her life points would be safe.
Turn 8: Roll (Hand 3)
"Alright then, time to turn this duel around!" said Roll as she drew her card. "And I'll start by playing the spell card, Surface. So now I revive one Water monster in my Graveyard and special summon it in face-up defense mode. So welcome back, my Shocktopus!" declared the girl as the monster that Sunny had just destroyed was back.
"Great," muttered Sunny, seeing that with that creature back, it made things much harder, given its special ability.
"And since I played a Normal spell card, I can special summon this guy as well. Time to chomp at the bits! Big Jaws(1800/300)!" A vortex of water appeared before dying down as a shark with razor-sharp teeth appeared and snapped its mouth, looking to feast.
"Now I overlay my Level 3 Big Jaws and Shark Stickers. With those two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!" shouted Roll as her monsters turned into orbs of light and hovered in the air. A portal opened before her as they were sucked in, and a pillar of light emerged. "I'm Xyz Summoning the champion of darkness and devastation, the mighty Black Ray Lancer(2100/600, OLU: 2)!" A water vortex appeared before it burst to reveal a monster that wore black armor and wielded a lance and spread its fins out.
"Now, Black Ray Lancer. Attack her monster with Shimmering Spear Slash!" shouted Roll. Black Ray Lancer twirled his lance as it shined before throwing it toward Ninaruru; the goddess shattered upon impact and dealt a massive blow to Sunny as she fell to the ground back first from the attack.
Sunny's Life Points: 2700-
"With that, I end my turn."
Turn 9: Sunny (Hand 6)
Sunny started to stir as she slowly rose from the ground and stood.
"You good?" asked Roll.
"Honestly... no," said Sunny, leaning backward to crack her back.
"You get used to it," responded Roll, as she remembered all the countless times she took a tumble to the ground during an opponent's attack.
Sunny drew her card as she looked through her hand to see what she could do. She glanced forward to see Roll's new monster as she managed to bounce back and was now back in control... for now.
"I'll start by playing Foolish Burial. This spell allows me to send one monster from my deck to my Graveyard," stated Sunny as she used her Duel Disk screen to look at her deck and decide which one she wanted to send. She made her choice as she confirmed it, and the card was slotted out for her to grab, and she sent it to the Graveyard slot of her device.
"Next, I'll activate the ability of the monster I just sent away. Crowley, the Magistus of Grimoires. By banishing it from my Graveyard, I can target 1 'Magistus' monster I control and equip it with one from my Graveyard. So I'm equipping my Ninaruru, the Magistus Glass Goddess, to my Endymion. Which means it can launch two attacks on each one of your monsters."
"Still, it only has 1300 attack points. It can't take down both of my monsters," stated Roll.
"Maybe not by himself, but he's not alone. Cause I play United We Stand. Thanks to this spell, my Endymion gains 800 extra attack and defense points for each face-up monster I control. I currently have three, so it gains 2400 points!"
"So now it has 3700 attack points, making it stronger than Black Ray Lancer," stated Mario.
"Now, Endymion! Attack her Black Ray Lancer!" declared Sunny as her magician pointed his staff and fired his spell.
"I don't think so! Remember my facedown that I set on my first turn?" said Roll.
Sunny gasped when she heard that, as she had nearly forgotten about it, given how much time had passed since Roll set it, "But that was so long ago."
"Well, it's time to use it! I activate the trap; Escape Lure!" shouted Roll as her facedown card flipped and shined. "When you declare an attack, I can change the attack target to another monster I control. So your Endymion is attacking my Shocktopus!"
The beam changed direction as instead of destroying Black Ray Lancer, it took out Roll's other monster with an explosion occurring.
"And you remember what happens when Shocktopus is destroyed. It attaches to your monster, loses all its attack points, and can't change modes."
"I guess I'll end my turn with one card facedown," Sunny said as her monster powered down.
Turn 10: Roll - Hand 2
"It's my move. I draw. And I'll play the spell card, Xyz Gift. Whenever two or more Xyz monsters are on the field, I can draw two cards!" stated Roll as she drew more.
"Now I play the spell card, Xyz Crown, and equip it onto my Black Ray Lancer. Doing that changes my monster's rank into a Level."
"What?" said Sunny. "You can do that?"
"Guess Sunny doesn't know that certain cards can change Xyz monsters from ranks to Levels. That's one thing that makes Xyz summoning stand out from the others," muttered Mario as his sister was doing an advanced move they hadn't learned in class yet.
"So Black Ray Lancer is now a Level 3 monster. Next, I summon Double Fin Shark(1000/1200)!" stated Roll as her new creature appeared as its tail did indeed have a double fin. "And here's the best part, Xyz Crown makes my Black Ray Lancer count as two monsters, and the same goes for my Double Fin Shark when I use it to Xyz Summon."
"So, you're gonna pull off a double Xyz Summon?" said Sunny with her mouth open.
"Not quite. 'Cause I play the spell, Falling Current! With this card, I target one face-up monster I control. Then I choose to either increase or decrease its Level between a number from 1 to 3. So I'm choosing to decrease my Double Fin Shark from Level 4 to Level 3!" declared Roll as the stage was set for her to win.
"Four Level 3 monsters?" said Sunny as she feared what was about to happen.
"I overlay my Double Fin Shark and Black Ray Lancer to build the Overlay Network!" shouted Roll as fours orbs of light hovered as a portal opened before the girl. The orbs were sucked in as a pillar of light emerged. "I Xyz Summon the king of the deep, Shark Ceasar(1800/2000, OLU: 2)!" A loud bellowing roar was heard as the water tornado burst to reveal Roll's gigantic monster that stood behind her.
"That's big!" said Sunny, staring at the creature her friend summoned.
"I activate Shark Ceasar's effect. By using one Overlay unit, it gains 3000 attack points!" declared Roll.
"3000? How?" said Sunny, unaware of how Roll did just that.
"Shark Ceasar's effect allows it to gain attack points equal to the original number of Xyz materials required to summon it minus the current Xyz materials it has right now by 1000. Its original number to summon this beast is four, and I only used two monsters to summon it. Making it have only two Xyz materials, but by using its effect, I took one away, leaving it with just one, and from there, it's simple math." explained Roll.
"So... I lose," said Sunny as she realized that with her Endymion having zero attack points, she would be taking the full damage from Roll's monster.
"You played well, Sunny. But not good enough. Shark Ceasar, end this with Emperor Might!" shouted Roll as she thrust her arm out. Her monster opened its mouth as a sphere of blue energy shot out toward its target.
"It's not over," smiled Sunny.
Mario and Roll gasped as a split screen showed their reaction.
"Reveal facedown, Cross Attack! Now the damage I'm about to take, you also take!" said Sunny as her facedown card flipped and shined.
The attack collided with Sunny's monster as it blew the wind in both directions of the girls. They put their arms up to cover their face, but the momentum was too powerful as they were taken off their feet and tumbled to the ground; the entire field was destroyed.
Sunny's Life Points: 0-
Roll's Life Points: 0-
Draw
The environment around them began to fade back to normal as both girls lay there. Mario walked forward as he approached Sunny; the girl spread eagle as he stood over her. Soon she began to stir as she sat up.
"My head," the girl groaned as she rubbed the back.
"You good?" Mario asked as he extended his hand to her.
"I think so," responded Sunny as she grabbed his hand, and he helped her up.
"Not bad. For your first time using that deck we made you, and considering you managed to tie with my sister, you've got skills," said Mario, giving Sunny his full review of how well she did.
"You think so?" asked Sunny.
"Yup. In fact, you dueled like someone I know," stated the boy as he walked toward his sister.
Mario stood over his little sibling as he bent down and shook her.
"Get up, sis."
Roll began to stir as she opened her eyes and saw her brother bent down by her side with Sunny standing on her other side.
"Did I win?" asked the girl.
"Sure, let's go with that," snickered Mario.
Author's Note: This time, it was Sunny who had her debut duel and she's shown that she has potential. To be able to hang in there with Roll and pull off incredible combos after just constructing her deck just moments ago, is really making a statement. And while that was happening, Sweetie Belle was having a one on one moment with Pipp, giving her some advice to keep at it even if she isn't the best. And it seems the poster that Sunny presented has a bit more meaning to both Roll and Mario. What that is? Well, you'll just have to wait and see.