Wind Underneath Your Wings Ch 6
The final rounds of the tournament would happen today. The excitement could be felt upon entering the building.
After today Crow will likely have less time to come here due to his participation in the WRPG. He really wanted to throw himself into the coaching gig, but other things took priority.
He made his way to the miscellaneous room to greet the girls before their duel. Allie, Amanda, and Guu all had anxious looks on their faces. The trio leaped for joy when the older ginger entered the room.
""Crow!""
"We did it! We have a strategy!" Allie said.
"Keep your voice down." Amanda hisses at Allie.
Guu timidly walks over to Crow and hand him a small pouch.
"Don't open it until after we win." Allie says with full confidence of their victory.
"We made it last night while planning." Amanda said. "We wanted to show you that we were thankful for your help."
"Thank you." Crow said, their gratitude making him elated.
Team Cosmica was called to the field. Today the final matches would be held. If the girls won, this match they would go onto the finals. This was it, the final stretch for them. They really put their all into this new strategy. Crow noticed that Guu went first so that her teammate could take advantage of her graveyard effects. They pulled off a victory and moved onto the finals. There was a break for them while the third-place match commences. Resting was a bit difficult due to the high emotions.
"I didn't think we would make it this far." Amanda said.
"Well we did. So let's go all the way!" Allie shouts. Amanda and Guu cheers with her.
Crow couldn't help but smile at the display of friendship in front of him.
"What aspect of dueling are you all interested?" Crow asks them.
"Action Duels." Allie blurts out. "It's a new type of dueling were you can run around on the field with your monsters. Think of it like a performance."
Allie did a dance routine. It resembled the one she would do upon taking the stage on the duel field.
"I hope to one day go to the Yu-Show Duel School for training to become the number one Dueltainer!"
"She gets excited about Action Duels." Amanda said.
Crow remembers hearing about that form of dueling. Though it is still in its infancy. The solid vision tech is growing rapidly, so that form of dueling might be closer than he thinks. He would love to try it one day just for the purpose of petting his Blackwing birdies. He look toward Guu for her answer.
"Riding... Duels..." She looks way in embarrassment.
"No need to be shy." Crow said. "Amanda? What about you?"
"Oh, I am more into the tech. Like making and designing duel disks. Stuff like that." She replies.
All of them have goals that they wanted to achieve. It made Crow happy to see them so passionate. The third-place match was over which means it is time for the final.
"No matter the outcome, are you able to tell yourselves and each other that you did your best?"
"I can confidently say that!" Allie says.
"Our efforts mean more than the outcome. I like that way of thinking." Amanda says. "Though it would be nice if we won."
"We... did our best... no matter what."
It was time for them to head toward the duel arena. Crow could feel the excitement and anticipation in the air. The audience was at the edge of their seats.
"Lets put on a show the crowd will never forget!" Allie said.
on the opposite side of the field their opposing team was none other than Xitto, Phovi, and Taxus. They called themselves team Rush. First up it was Taxus vs Guu. He knew what they were planning and tried to send as little monsters of hers to the graveyard. his dinosaur deck did not have much in the way of burn or banishing effects to bypass her strategy. It did not help that Guu had ways of sending her own cards to the graveyard. It came close, he managed to overpower Guu and win the match.
Next up was Allie. She still had Guu's one face down and one monster card on the field. She was able to work with it since it was a water attribute and it synergized with her deck. She was able to get rid of Taxus and Phovi came in next. Phovi came in swinging hard. He manage to summon his ace monster Demise, Supreme King of Armageddon. Phovi activated its effect that destroys all other cards on the field and inflicts 200 points of damage for every card the opponent controlled. Guu's card that halves all effect and battle damage to the player's life points was already in the graveyard. So Allie took 500 points of damage instead of 1000. Since Aquarium Lighting was sent to the graveyard from the field, she was able to special summon a aqua monster from the graveyard. So she was able to get back Aquaactress Arowana on the field. Phovi only placed one card face down and ended his turn.
Allie drew a card during the start of her turn. The was another monster of Guu's that could be used from the graveyard. It could be banished from the hand or graveyard in order to destroy any card on the field. Demise, Supreme King of Armageddon was only protected from being destroyed by battle. So it was goodbye to Phovi's ace monster. She added Aquaactress Guppy to her hand using Aquaactress Arowana's effect. She summoned Aquaactress Guppy to the field and played Aquarium Set and Wetlands which gave her monsters the boost it need to take down Phovi.
The last duelist was Xitto. He opened with Monster Reborn to bring back Demise, King of Armageddon. He wasted no time activating the effect to clear the field and inflicting damage to Allie. Though since Aquarium Set was sent to the graveyard from the field, she could special summon one aqua monster from the graveyard. She choose Aquaactress Arowana and put it in defense mode. Xitto summoned Witch's Apprentice in attack mode. This monster gave a 500 point attack boost to all dark attribute monsters on the field. Then he played Raigeki; a card a destroys all monsters your opponent controls. So Allie was left open for two direct attacks that dropped her life points to zero.
It was down to the last duelist of each team. Xitto vs. Amanda. Xitto finished his turn by placing one card face down. Amanda took her draw. With 6 cards in hand she took a breath and began to summon Guu's boss monster Constellation of the Dragon from her extra deck. Zodiac of the Dragon could be synchro summoned by using 'Constellation' monsters from the graveyard as material. Once summoned it could also banish your opponent's cards on the field up to the number of the user's banished 'Constellation' monsters. Xitto field was cleared of any cards that could stop her direct attack. So she decided to have some fun. She played the card Rescue Cat; by sending it to the graveyard from the field she activated the effect to special summon 2 Level 3 or lower Beast-Type monsters from her deck. Amanda choose The Fabled Cerburrel and Tree Otter in attack mode. All three monsters had enough attack points to win her the duel.
"Team Cosmica are the winners of the Little League Grand Prix!" Muckraker yelled into the microphone.
All three girl ran on stage to celebrate and get their medals from Ryoko.
With the tournament finished it came time for Allie, Amanda, Guu, and Crow to all part ways. Once everything calmed down Crow walked with the girls to the entrance outside.
"Don't forget to open your gift." Allie reminds Crow. He retrieves the pouch from his messenger bag. Opening it revealed an orange and black ribbon.
"You helped us. So we wanted to show you, our thanks." Amanda says.
"We could not have done it without your help." Allie said.
"This win is as much your as ours." Guu fidgets as she looked directly at Crow.
"Thank you for this." Crow carefully put the ribbon back in the pouch and safely in his bag.
"We live pretty far from here so we don't know how frequently we will come here." Allie said.
"This isn't goodbye. We are bond to see each other again." Amanda said. Allie and Guu nod in agreement.
They all arrived the parting at the end of the community center pathway. Crow had to go one way and the girls the other.
Allie, Amanda, and Guu all turned their backs to him as they ran off to who knows where.
As Crow walked home, he couldn't help but feel a ping a sadness. With everything going on with the WRPG and Illiaster, he knew he would have less time to volunteer. He wanted to grow into the role of a mentor. He recalls his day learning under Pearson. That is it! That is what he wanted to do. He wanted to be someone who could teach others and impart his knowledge onto someone to help them grow. Just as Pearson did to him.
That means Crow himself had a lot to learn. To be the wind that helps everyone soar. That was the future he wanted.
Crow looked to the sky. It was a beautiful blue clear day. There was enough time for him to make a detour to visit a friend.