ARC V - Wings of the Dragons: Synchro Saga

by SurvivorTierEXO

Book 2: Smile happens if you win, right? Enter the Synchro Dimension. A dystopia divided by two sides: the Commons, the poverty-stricken masses, and the Tops: the wealthier and urban elite groups. Winning is everything. A wall between two sides that cannot be crossed. That's where Yasuko Yukihana comes in. She will do everything to help Yuya Sakaki realize the dream of smiling now.

5. Chapter 5: Queen of the Black Rose

Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards; I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.

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Chapter 5: Queen of the Black Rose; Yasuko Yukihana vs Akiza Izinski

---

This is probably the most frustrating of all the things Yasuko has seen. It was all over the news last night up until morning. Yasuko cannot stop looking at the picture of Zuzu and Yugo on the duel disk where Neo Domino City has issued a city-wide manhunt for the two "fugitives" for trespassing into the Topsiders' residential area, one that is strictly off-limits to anyone who is from the Commons.

Yasuko was lucky to have Lua and Luna cover for her; otherwise, she would've been imprisoned. Now that she's confirmed Zuzu's whereabouts, she wonders where to start. After terrible teleportation and crashing into the Topsiders, she had a small meeting with Lua and Luna, the two Topsider children younger than her. The main challenge of the day is to get some kind of connection. Since she is in the Topsiders, there's a probable cause of her identity being exposed and then getting arrested.

She cannot let it happen, not when the Dimensions War is going on, and these people do not know about it yet.

Sitting at the kitchen table alone, Yasuko scrolls down the news list regarding the two fugitives that escaped last night. She was in deep thought about how she would navigate the city without exposing her identity.

"If Zuzu is Serena's alternate universe doppelganger and Yugo is Yuya's twin brother, there's likely going to be wanted posters and a lot of heat going on looking for those two," Yasuko thought. "And if he's here now, I need to figure out a way to contact Yuya."

She pulls out her duel disk from her holster and checks the calls. She's been trying to call Zuzu ever since she saw her on the live stream of the duel, but she hasn't responded or called back. "Whatever that teleportation did, I can't call Zuzu with my duel disk." She picks up a breakfast egg sandwich she made and eats it while pondering suggestions and solutions to her problem.

"And Yuya didn't respond, so that means his duel disk was also fried when we teleported; he's out of range, or there's no way to connect since my duel disk is a completely different hardware than this dimension's." Yasuko is putting a lot of thought into her situation. So far, she's still got to find a place to stay since she doesn't know how long the twins would let her stay. If they find out Yasuko's not who she says she is, they'll contact the police.

"In case Lua and Luna do turn me in, I need to prepare for the worst," Yasuko thought. "Without contact from the Lancers or Yuya, I have to do this alone." She didn't forget her original mission in the dimension. "But I still need allies in this dimension before anyone from the Fusion Dimension comes in and takes us by surprise."

She was so preoccupied that Yasuko didn't hear the twins entering the kitchen. They spotted the girl when they saw Yasuko sitting alone at the table. Lua and Luna were surprised to see her after last night's outburst.

"Hey, Yasuko," Luna called. "Who were those people on tv? Did you know them?"

Yasuko didn't forget her reaction when she saw Zuzu and Yugo on tv. The twins saw hers, and now they know her connection to Zuzu. "Well, one of the riders, actually. Her name's Zuzu Hiiragi and we used to be classmates," she confided.

"Used to?" Lua asked.

"I moved away while she stays," Yasuko fibbed. "I never spoke to her since." She keeps her ties to Zuzu limited until things are settled, that is, if they do get settled.

"Was she a close friend of yours?" Luna questioned.

To be honest with herself, Yasuko doesn't know the answer. She's only known Zuzu since she moved to Maiami City, but the term of being "close" isn't a thing she is certain of. She just happened to know Zuzu. Then again, Zuzu was there for her while dueling at the Arc League Championship, so it might fit into what being close means.

"I…I suppose," said Yasuko.

Lua and Luna looked at each other, concerned about what they thought of Yasuko. Due to the underlying rule of "No Commons" in the Topsiders, they can't be sure of Yasuko. "So, if this girl, Zuzu, is your close friend, why haven't you come to see her?" Lua asked, earning an elbow jab from his sister. "What? I'm just as curious as you are."

"Don't say that!" Luna rebuked. "That's rude!"

Yasuko blinked; her mind stammered at the thought of Zuzu in the Commons. "Let's just say…I haven't seen her in a while," she kept her façade. "I'm unsure how she'll see me now since she's a Common."

Luna comes forward and sits beside her. "Well, if she's a friend of yours, then maybe we can help," she offered.

The girl looked down at the twin sister with a raised eyebrow. "Really?" She wonders what kind of connections the twins have in the Topsiders.

"I know this one girl in our school, it's a prep school for the Topsiders, and she's the senator's daughter," Luna divulged.

Yasuko must remember that this is a different dimension from her Standard Dimension. "Your city has a senator?" She frowns at the thought of Japan having a senator. Of course, this isn't her home, so it's an alternate-universe thing.

"Uh…yeah? Why?" Lua inquired, shrugging as if it was not a big deal.

"No reason," Yasuko answered, shrugging back. "Anyways, who's this person?" She puts the duel disk away to get her full attention on Luna. Maybe if she can get in touch with this student from Lua and Luna's school, then it'll be a chance she can get to find Zuzu and maybe Yuya.

"But like you could get close to her," Lua doubted. "I mean, she's the popular girl in the school."

Yasuko would think otherwise. She wouldn't care how well-known the girl is. The only thing that matters is that she will need her help to find Zuzu or Yuya in the city divided by the rich and the poor. "Like that's not going to stop me," she said. "If she's got higher connections, then I want to meet her."

Lua and Luna seemed shocked by Yasuko's decision. From their perspective, they find her determination to be absurd since she is a foreigner. Yasuko doesn't seem to be aware of the status gap between her and them. Lua and Luna were born in a rich environment. Yasuko's an orphan taken in by a photographer with a minimum wage salary. Nonetheless, she doesn't care. Yasuko has a mission to do.

"But Yasuko," Luna called. "You can't just simply walk into the school. We know each other."

Yasuko shrugged. "So?"

"So," Lua emphasized. "That means you don't get to walk into campus looking like…that." He raised a hand to gesture to Yasuko's casual outfit. She looked down at her boots to her jeans, and Yasuko knew what they meant.

"Just because I wear these doesn't mean I am a part of this society," said Yasuko, placing one hand on her hip. "There's no harm in getting to the campus and finding this senator's daughter." Yasuko holsters her duel disk and then heads out to the door. "Now, are you two going to come and take me to this prep school? Cuz I ain't got all day." She saw the concerned look from Lua and Luna exchanging with each other.

---

The Neo Domino City Prep School is more like a university than a school. Yasuko couldn't imagine college once she got back to her home dimension. Yet, this dimension's rich class gets a very exclusive and possibly expensive facility.

All the students, from Lua and Luna's age to high school, congregate. A typical school life like the Standard Dimension. The only thing that stands out in the school is Yasuko herself. Most of the students are filthy rich, and she's wearing nothing but casual outfits, something that many might take her as a Common. Of course, Lua and Luna proclaimed that she was their cousin, so she might hold the disguise for as long as possible.

Yasuko and the twins enter the campus, a majestic building twice the size of her old school. She can't be sure if the campus is a college or a boarding school since there are about five ten-story buildings on each side of an open field in front of a large ancient castle. The students are of all ages, some seniors and some as young as Lua and Luna.

"You kids take AP?" Yasuko asked the twins, looking around the buildings on the campus. "This looks like a college."

"First time being in Neo Domino Prep?" Lua responded with a question.

"It's the first time for me to be in college," Yasuko replied sarcastically. She notices that the uniforms are all divided by gender, with the males being navy blue and the females being ruby red. In her old school, there isn't much for the differences in color since they all wear the same uniform. Of course, if the school from this dimension is the same as her old one in the Standard, it's no surprise for Yasuko.

"Does this place have duels?" Yasuko asked the twins.

Lua turns his body around, walking backward to show how enthusiastic he is. "Of course!" he beamed. "Duels are popular here in this school! We even have a duel club for each grade!"

Yasuko doesn't seem bothered or surprised about a duel club in the school. Of course, she used to be in a duel club once, and that didn't work out for her. "Are you kids in a duel club?" she asked.

Both the twins nodded to confirm their answer. "That's right," Lua replied, smiling at Yasuko. "Our duel clubs are the best in the whole city. We even won the Neo Domino League three times."

"Oh wow, can't wait to hear that story," Yasuko drawled. "I don't suppose this person who can help me find Zuzu be any useful."

"Oh, trust me," Lua assured. "This person will definitely be a help to you."

The three of them enter the main campus building to meet the one person the twins mentioned about. Yet, Yasuko does not let her hopes up. She doubts a senator's daughter would be any different than the twins or any help, considering that this is the Tops. She can't even fathom asking her for help to find Zuzu in a city divided by the rich and the poor.

"So, who's this senator's daughter anyway?" Yasuko questioned, following the twins up the stairs.

"She's the top duelist in the school and the most popular," Luna explained as she and the three of them had already walked up about three flights of stairs.

They reached the third floor and started heading into the hallway with a few students eying on them.

"But she rarely gets anyone to meet her in person," Lua informed.

Yasuko glances at the twin brother. "And why not? Too busy trying to make herself known?" She doubts it matters since she has to see the daughter. "I'm not surprised. The popularity isn't my stitch." Shoving her hands into her jacket pocket, Yasuko glances outside and sees some students dueling in front of an audience full of other students. "Is she a member of the duel club, too?" she asked.

"No," Luna answered. "She's not a duel club member in our grade, but she's really good at dueling."

"I wonder how good," Yasuko murmured under her breath.

The three stop in front of a classroom with a sign that reads, "Duel Club – 3:30 – 4:45." Lua and Luna enter the classroom, and Yasuko follows inside. She can see that it's not small, but it isn't big either, despite the big campus and the thousands of students on the campus. The students who are in the dueling club are younger than her.

"Wait, this is a dueling club?" Yasuko inquired. "Aren't there supposed to be older kids too?"

Lua turns to Yasuko and says, "We're the Youth division in the school."

"There are other duel clubs, but it's based on the division of which students are in," Luna added.

The girl responds with a sigh, unsure if the kids could do anything good for her. "Great. Just what I needed," she thought in her head.

Lua and Luna are greeted by a younger boy wearing red-rimmed glasses and brown hair and eyes. He and Lua exchanged high-fives with each other.

"Lua! Good to see you, my man!" he greeted.

"Dexter, glad to see you up and dueling again!" Lua beamed.

"Can't say I've gotten better," Dexter replied. He looked up, noticing Yasuko looking down at some kids dueling without duel disks. "Hey, who's she?"

"Oh, her," said Lua. "She's my cousin, Yasuko."

"Your cousin?" Dexter inquired.

"Third cousin once removed," Luna interrupted, trying to cover up Yasuko's identity. "She's from out of town, and she'll be staying with us for some time."

"Huh?" Dexter peeks over Lua to take a closer look at Yasuko. She was watching the two kiddie club members duel on the table.

Yasuko has seen the worst plays before in her dueling experience, but none are as atrocious as the little ones in the duel club. The kids from the You Show could do better than these kids do. "Try that one," Yasuko advised, pointing at the little girl's cards in her hand. Surprised, The little girl pulled out a spell card that caught the boy off guard.

"Ha! That got my monster 800 more ATK!" the little girl boasted. "That's game!"

"That's not fair! She helped!" the boy accused, pointing at Yasuko. In return, the older girl stared at him with one eyebrow raised in confusion.

"And that's wrong because…?"

"Because you can't help her, she has to learn for herself," the boy responded.

"And yet, you kids know how to duel," Yasuko replied, remarking on the lack of understanding of the game. Yasuko was met with skepticism from the two kids. "What?" she inquired.

"Are you supposed to be here?" one of the girls asked Yasuko.

"She's our cousin," Lua announced, coming over to Yasuko. "She just came here for a visit."

The boy and the girl nodded. "Oh."

Yasuko looked around to watch the kids staring at her curiously. How can there be kids like them to be the Tops when they can't even know how to duel. It's hypocritical to think these kids are from the elite. "So, does anyone know who the senator's daughter in this school is?" she asked the kids in the club room.

"I don't know. Why not you ask her?"

Yasuko flinched slightly when she heard a female voice behind her. Yasuko turns around to see a young lady in front of her. She does not know who this girl is supposed to be, but she is a teenager slightly taller than her with fair skin, brown eyes, and dark burgundy red hair. Her hair is chin-length with more elbow-length bangs on both sides of her face. She seems to have rolled her front bangs with a hair roller-like curl on top of her head. The lady gazes down at the twins.

"Lua, Luna, hi!" The lady exclaimed, and in return, the other kids stopped what they were doing and went over to the lady who came to the club room.

Yasuko finds it surprising to see the kids beaming up to the lady who's about a senior. With one eyebrow raised, she wonders who the lady is. Based on the crimson ruby uniform like the other female students in the school, it was clear she was one of them, and the lady had some different air upon meeting her.

"I was just coming out of class, and I happened to notice you two with someone I'm not familiar with," she said, her accent giving away a more Victorian voice.

"Oh, right," said Lua. "Uh…Akiza, this is our cousin, Yasuko Yukihana." He turns to the girl. "Yasuko, this is the one we were talking about. Akiza Izinski."

The girl turns her body halfway to give the lady some attention. "I'm Yasuko Yukihana," Yasuko introduced herself to the lady, her hands in her jacket pocket. Yasuko doesn't realize that the kids around the club are whispering under their breaths, surprised to see the girl standing before her. Yasuko could tell the girl was from the elite, and she did give away the same air she had felt ever since she came to the Topsiders.

"I don't suppose you know why I am doing here, right?" Akiza queried. Yasuko raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "I happen to be in charge of this club," she said. "And I don't recall you being a club member for these kids."

Yasuko narrows her eyes slightly. "The twins told me that you are the senator's daughter in this school," she stated. "So, I came to you because I need your help."

"Why?"

"It's a personal business," Yasuko replied. She does not want to deal with the lady in front of her or any of the kids' business in the club. She just wants to find the senator's daughter and get her help.

"Now, why would someone not from the school even demand such a silly request like that?" Akiza inquired.

"Let's just say I need help looking for someone," Yasuko answered. She can only hope Akiza would be any help since she is the senator's daughter. Maybe she can get Sector Security to call off the search for Zuzu and Yugo.

"How?"

Yasuko isn't sure how she can make Akiza understand her situation without blowing her cover in the dimension. They don't know anything about the Dimensions War, and she intends to keep it that way. "Can we discuss this more privately?" she asked. "It's imperative that I need to speak with you." Her response makes Akiza blink once, confused about what request Yasuko will ask her.

"That's not how it works," Akiza interjected. "You don't get to come up here and ask me a favor." Akiza crossed her arms, inspecting the girl who was not from the club. "Now look, whatever you need me to help, you'll have to wait." Akiza then heads over to the top shelf and grabs a couple of boxes. "I'm about busy with the club here, so whatever it is that's important, I'll have to wait." Akiza started passing out the boxes, and the kids opened them up to see the new decks they would be using in their club activity. The kids were excited to hear more lessons from Akiza, but it didn't set the mood for Yasuko.

She was rather annoyed with Akiza being so preoccupied with the kids learning how to use a deck than try and be of any help for her mission. She must talk with Akiza. "Can it wait? This is important to discuss, and I need your help finding me a friend," she said.

Akiza diverted her attention back to Yasuko, perplexed by how urgent she sounded. "And what's more important than me teaching these kids their decks?" she inquired.

Yasuko sighed, feeling a growing frustration inside of her. She needs to have something that can convince Akiza. It's obviously clear to her that there is one thing that might get her attention. Like before with the park, Yasuko brings up the subject to get Akiza on board. "I have this friend who needs to bail out of a sticky situation," she said, picking up one of the deck boxes from the shelves. "She and some other guy, who happens to be the twin brother of another guy I knew, is being chased by some security dudes, and I need your help to deal with them."

Yasuko can tell by Akiza's face that she has piqued her interest and curiosity. She puts down the deck boxes she passed out to the kids and comes forward. "What kind of friends are you talking about?" she asked.

"The kind that is getting chased by Sector Security," Yasuko divulged.

The more she talked about Zuzu and Yugo, the more Akiza understood what kind of people she was referring to. It was clear Yasuko was referring to the people on the news last night regarding two fugitives on a duel runner fleeing from Sector Security.

"What are you talking about?" Akiza questioned.

"Like is aid before, I need your help," Yasuko repeated her first request. "It's a personal business, and I require your assistance."

The only thing Yasuko gets from Akiza is a shaking head of disappointment. "No," she refused. "I can't help you there." She turns around to start heading back to the kids, which infuriates Yasuko.

"What do you mean you won't help me?" Yasuko's mood turned from annoyance to frustration, and the thought of Akiza not helping her made the girl slam the deck box on the table.

"I mean, whatever it is you're thinking of," said Akiza. "It doesn't work here."

"What won't work? That I can't get you, the senator's daughter, to ask her big daddy to call off the search for someone I know?" Yasuko taunted.

"That you are an idiot to think you can ask me a favor to do that when the whole system is against the idea of helping a friend who's on the run from Sector Security," Akiza dejected. The sound of her voice gives wavering anger. "What got you that kind of idea?"

Yasuko shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal for her. "I guess the kind where I am in an alternate universe where you are the Top, and I am the traveling guest?" Her response made everyone in the club room look incredulous at Yasuko for her weird behavior. "Never mind. I need you to help me, and you don't have to like it. I just need you to call your daddy and get the security off their backs."

Akiza narrows her eyes at the girl who thinks she can get away with something since she is the senator's daughter. "What makes you think I can do that?" she asked, skeptical of Yasuko's intentions.

The girl shrugged. "I don't know. You are the senator's daughter. I assume you had some kind of holdings in the city, so maybe you can get some security guys to back off," said Yasuko.

"Like I said, it doesn't work around here, and it will never happen," Akiza affirmed her decision. "There's no point in talking about that anymore. So, unless you're here for school-related stuff, I suggest you leave the club room." With that in mind, Akiza set back to focus on the youngsters who were watching their conversation.

"But Akiza," Luna begged. "You have to help her. I know what you're thinking, but there's more to Yasuko than you think."

"I said no," Akiza retorted. "I don't know how stupid your cousin is, but I have other things to do than call my father and demand to press off a case."

Yasuko isn't the kind of girl to be backing down from a job. She saw Zuzu and Yugo on tv, and there was no way she won't let Akiza or anyone else stand in the way. "Then how 'bout a little duel then?" she challenged.

It was a total shock for the youngsters in the club room. Some of the kids gasped, shocked by Yasuko's reckless demand. From their reactions, Yasuko could figure out that Akiza is a very powerful duelist since she oversees the duel club in the school.

"And what kind of idiot are you?" Akiza insulted. "Do you even know who I am?"

"Nope," Yasuko responded. "But do you know that dueling's about to change?" She asks, earning nothing but a raised eyebrow from the lady. Yasuko pulls out her Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon card to show her what she means and shows it to Akiza.

Like the kids from the park, all the youngsters and Akiza were astonished by a different card. One that they've never seen before. Some kids were whispering about what kind of card it was supposed to do.

"Akiza, I didn't come all this way just so you can say no to me," Yasuko stated. "I came here on a mission. And my mission is to spread a new kind of dueling. One that will exceed Turbo Dueling in this cruddy city, but I cannot spread this dueling if I do not have someone else to cover for me."

The kids were now drawn into the statement Yasuko made to get Akiza's attention. Even the twins were also curious about what dueling Yasuko was talking about. Of course, it's only about the Pendulum monsters and nothing more.

She can see how much Akiza isn't interested in the new dueling and brushes it off like a fad. "So? It's only a new kind of card," she shrugged. "What can you do in this new dueling with that card?"

"Maybe I can show it to you, and maybe the kids in this club would want to try them for a spin," Yasuko offered. "Dueling is evolving faster than you can—" Yasuko snapped her fingers, "draw a card instantly. So, if you want to teach these kids the new dueling that's about to change the world, I suggest we have a duel." She pulls out her duel disk from her holster and attaches it to her wrist.

"I need your help, and this isn't a request; it's a demand," Yasuko stated. "I have two people out there who need me to spread this new dueling, so are you in? Or are you still gonna wallow in here?"

Yasuko should've learned to never provoke someone who's a complete stranger. If she could guess what Akiza was thinking, she would still decline to help her. It's only until Akiza comes forward and stares down at Yasuko with narrowed eyes bearing her annoyance.

"You think you can change dueling in front of those kids in this club room?" Akiza threatened.

"I'm saying I am," Yasuko retorted. "Now, are you gonna stare at me all day, or are we gonna duel?" As both girls looked at each other, there was one thing they could do for themselves.

---

Akiza leads Yasuko to a private area on the rooftop of the campus where duel clubs can duel without any interference from the media, who are always pestering to show the dueling in the whole city. Yasuko finds the whole field to be completely similar to a football compared to the other duel arenas in her home dimension. Three fields were painted on the ground, marked for anyone to use as testing grounds for their new decks.

"This is where we duel," said Akiza. "However, if I win this match, you don't ever show your face here again." She wagered the deal of their little match.

"But if I win, you'll have to help me find my classmates," Yasuko replied.

"But what I really want to know is if you can change dueling," Akiza stated. "You said you came here to this city to change dueling. Well, just how do you think you can do that?"

"Just watch, and you'll see," Yasuko replied.

The kids from the dueling club and the twins are in the stands watching the duel between Yasuko, an unknown duelist who claimed to be the twin's cousin, and Akiza, the dueling club manager. Some kids were very anxious about the new dueling Yasuko will demonstrate. Still, the only one who was worried was Luna.

"Does she even know who Akiza is?" Luna asked her brother, who was excited about the duel more than Yasuko's opponent was. "I mean, this is Akiza Izinski she's facing."

"Yeah, so?" Lua inquired.

"So, we should've told her," Luna informed. "She shouldn't have challenged her in the first place."

"Yasuko defeated Mikey with my own deck, so I think whatever she has that can beat her, then she'll be fine," Lua assured his sister that everything would be fine, at least in his words.

Akiza pulls out her red duel disk and attaches it to her wrist, allowing a magenta-red blade to emit from her device. She gave the new air change when she had her duel disk ready. It's a different feeling for Yasuko since she came to the city.

Yasuko checks her duel disk and hopes that whatever Declan did to her duel disk can give them the advantage in fighting Academia. Doing that would mean using Action Duels in the new dimension. "Time to duel," she said.

And so, she activates her duel disk, which starts off the first-ever Action Duel in the Synchro Dimension. Yasuko checks her duel disk and hopes that whatever Declan did to her duel disk can give them the advantage in fighting Academia. Doing that would mean using Action Duels in the new dimension. "Time to duel," she said. "Action Field, on!" Upon her command, the duel disk lit up and then initiated the Action Duel.

The A.I. computer on her duel disk commences the duel as the voiceover takes place. "Field Spell, Crossover!" Once it was commanded, the whole area became a more proper field. The bubble that has the Action Cards burst. Spreading all over the arena like rain. Soon afterward, Solid Image floating structures and platforms swarm all over the air, moving them like a video game.

It was a very astonishing sight for the kids and the twins. They were so awestruck that they were gazing and pointing at the floating platforms in the air. Even the twins were amazed by the whole change.

"Wow! Look at that!" Lua exclaimed, holding his sister and pointing at the raining Action Cards. "It's raining cards!"

"Amazing," said Luna, also taken back from the field change.

Akiza, on the other hand, was very curious about the moving platforms. She thought it was just another standard dueling, but instead, moving platforms surrounded them. "What are these things?" she inquired, staring at one of the moving platforms above her head.

"A new kind of dueling," Yasuko answered. "It's called Action Duels."

"Action Duels?" The kids and the twins questioned altogether.

Akiza raised an eyebrow. "What is this Action Duels you speak of?"

"It's basically a free-to-move kind of duel, like Turbo Duel, only we use our feet," Yasuko explained. "Think of it as a game of tag, but we use our decks as the hands." She demonstrates this by jumping up on the floating platforms and hovering up. "This is a game where people can do something other than making a Turbo Duel. Now everyone gets to be in the game."

The more Yasuko explains the course of Action Duels, the more enthralled the twins are. Lua and Luna were just as excited as the other students in the club. However, not everyone wasn't impressed. Akiza is not thrilled to see what kind of new dueling Yasuko brings to the school.

"So, you're saying we can move here in this domain? What's the point?" Akiza questioned.

"The point is getting an Action Card," Yasuko indulged. "That's where the true game begins."

"Action Cards?" Lua wondered, looking at Luna for anything, but she shrugged; she also had no knowledge of the duel.

"Perhaps I can demonstrate it when you duel me right now," Yasuko insisted. Her blue blade illuminates the disk. "Action…" Yasuko snaps once to start their match.

"DUEL!"

DUEL:

Yasuko Yukihana (LP 4000)

VS
Akiza Izinski (LP 4000)

Once the duel has begun, the buddle containing the Action Cards bursts open, raining down Action Cards all over the field. The sight of falling cards makes the kids stare in awe at the new dueling. Akiza also watched the scene, but it does not mean she's still impressed.

"Now that this show is already done, perhaps I shall go first and show you what I mean," Akiza suggested.

"By all means," Yasuko responded, sarcastically unimpressed with Akiza's lack of interest.

"My turn," Akiza declared. "For my first move, I summon White Rose Dragon!" Akiza pulls out a card from her hand and Normal Summons White Rose Dragon (ATK 1200/DEF 1200). The first monster Akiza summons is a black-scaled dragon with white rose petals on the back and wings. "When White Rose Dragon is Normal Summoned, I can activate its special effect to Special Summon a Rose Dragon from my hand, which means I can Special Summon this monster. Red Rose Dragon!" Akiza activates the special effect of her white rose to Special Summon Red Rose Dragon (ATK 1000/DEF 1200) from her hand in Defense Position. Upon the second summon, a dragon with a red rose on its back appears on the field.

"Now, I tune my level 3 Red Rose Dragon with my level 4 White Rose Dragon!" Akiza declared.

(4 + 3 = 7)

The red dragon flies up and turns into three green rings that scan the white dragon, removing all of its solid masses until it was left with four glowing white orbs at the center. "Beautiful red dragon of roses, I call upon you to shine brilliantly through the night and seek out those who defy your beauty! I Synchro Summon! Appear! The level 7! Black Rose Moonlight Dragon!" Akiza tunes the red dragon with her white dragon to Synchro Summon Black Rose Moonlight Dragon (ATK 2400/DEF 2000) in Attack Position.

The first Synchro monster to appear from the white beam of light is a giant dragon with thick brownish-black armor plating, and the dragon has wings made of entirely red petal roses along with two tendrils made of roses. Multiple tails sprout sharp thorns from all over as the dragon roars in the arena.

All the club members and the twins were staring at the dragon in awe when they spotted Akiza's most powerful monster on the field.

"Wow! Look at that!"

"It's so beautiful!"

"Awesome!"

Lua was pumped when he saw the moonlight dragon before his eyes. "It's Akiza's most prized monster! The Black Rose Moonlight Dragon!"

"And already on her first turn," Luna added.

Yasuko was fairly intrigued by the young lady's first turn to bring out her monster, so she wondered what else Akiza had in her sleeves. "Pretty cool monster. Got any more to show me?" she conjectured.

"Oh, I've got more than what you can see," Akiza replied. "When Red and White Rose Dragon were sent to the Graveyard as Synchro Materials, I can activate their effects. When Red Rose Dragon is used as a Synchro Material, I can Special Summon one "Rose Dragon" from my hand or deck. Then I'll follow it up by activating my White Rose Dragon's special effect to send one level 4 or lower Dragon or Plant monster from my deck to the graveyard." She removes one card from her hand and sends World Carrotweight Champion from her deck to the graveyard. "I sent my World Carrotweight Champion to the graveyard, and then after that, I'm going to Special Summon a second Red Rose Dragon from my deck!" Once she resolves her white dragon's effect, she can Special Summon a second copy of her Red Rose Dragon from her deck in Defense Position.

Just like the first red dragon, a second copy of the red dragon appears on the field. "Now that I've Special Summoned a Tuner monster, I can Special Summon Dark Rose Fairy from my hand!" Since she has Special Summoned the red dragon from her deck, Akiza activates the effect of her Dark Rose Fairy (ATK 800/DEF 1000) from her hand and Special Summons it in Defense Position.

The monster that appears beside the red dragon is a fairy monster with dark red petals for a dress with pistachio green hair and blue eyes while holding a casing with a red rose in the center.

That's when Lua realized something about Akiza's next move. "Wait a minute, is she going for the Garden Lockdown?" he wondered.

His friend, Dexter, seemed to catch on to what Lua had said before and nodded to agree. "That's right," he said. "No one's ever been able to break out of that lock. Not even those from her division have ever broken out of that combo."

Lua and Luna take a moment to glance at each other, concerned about what Yasuko will do once Akiza manages to finish her board. "Let's hope Yasuko does know what she's facing," said Luna.

(2 + 3 = 5)

Akiza makes her next move by performing another Synchro Summon. "Now, I tune my level 3 Red Rose Dragon with my level 2 Dark Rose Fairy!" Once she decides, the red dragon turns into three green rings to scan the rose fairy, turning her into nothing but two white orbs in the center.

"Maiden who protects and cares for the garden, take a stance and let your beauty bloom like a white rose! I Synchro Summon! Appear! Garden Rose Maiden!" She tunes the red dragon with her rose fairy to Synchro Summon Garden Rose Maiden (ATK 1600/DEF 2400) in Defense Position.

A white beam of light shines brightly through to let Akiza summon a beautiful woman wearing a white dress designed and shaped like a white rose on the field. "When Garden Rose Maiden is Special Summoned, I can activate her effect to add one Black Garden from my deck to my hand." A card pops out to let Akiza add the Field Spell Card: Black Garden. "I add Black Garden to my hand, but now that I have it, I will activate it!" Akiza activates the field spell, which enables her to sprout thousands of thorns all over the field.

Yasuko looked around, seeing how much the field spell covered the whole area with thorns and veins full of dark red roses. "Well, this isn't supposed to be good," she said.

"It's not, because as long as Black Garden's out on the field, all monsters who were summoned lose half of their ATK points, and each time we summon a monster on our field, Black Garden's effect can Special Summon one Rose Token on our opponent's side of the field," Akiza explained.

"Oh great, something even more bothersome," Yasuko grumbled.

Akiza takes another card from her hand to activate the Spell Card: Foolish Burial. "I activate the Spell, Foolish Burial. This spell sends one monster from my deck to the graveyard," said Akiza, pulling out one card from her deck to send Staysailor Romarin to the graveyard. "Now that Staysailor Romarin was sent to the graveyard by a card effect, I can activate its special effect to send one level 5 or lower Plant monster from my Main Deck or Extra Deck to the graveyard, so I'm going to send Fengli the Soldrapom to the graveyard." Akiza removes Fengli the Soldrapom from her deck and sends it to the graveyard. "When Fegli was sent to the graveyard by a card effect, I can activate its special effect to Special Summon it." Akiza uses the special effect to Special Summon Fengli the Soldrapom (ATK 800/DEF 400) in Defense Position.

(Fengli the Soldrapom: ATK 800 → 400)

The monster Akiza summoned is a pineapple dragon with pitaya vines from the top of its head. "When I summoned a monster, Black Garden's effect activates, cutting my monster's ATK in half, and then I can Special Summon one Rose Token on your side of the field," said Akiza. "Watch." Due to the continuous effect of the field spell, the fengli's attack points were halved, allowing Akiza to Special Summon the first Rose Token (Plant/DARK/Level 2/ATK 800/DEF 800) (Yasuko) to Yasuko's side of the field.

From Yasuko's side of the field, a single human-sized rose sprouts from the ground. The sight of the rose concerns Yasuko. "Guess that's why you summoned your best monster in the first place," she assumed. "Better start running." With her experience in the Action Duels from the Standard Dimension, Yasuko starts running up to the platforms and then side-flips over to another.

The club members watched the girl with amazement as she jumped over one platform. Still, Akiza wasn't impressed.

"What are you doing?" Akiza asked.

"Finding an Action Card," Yasuko answered. "This is how Action Duels work. You and I engage in duels, but with a scavenger hunt."

"There isn't anything you can do in a duel until my turn is done," Akiza pointed out. "I tune my level 1 Fengrli with my level 5 Garden Rose Maiden."

(5 + 1 = 6)

The fengli turns into a single green ring that scans the rose maiden, turning her into nothing but five white orbs that glow in the sky. "Clustering Thorns, give rise to the Queen of the roses and all things pointy and sharp! I Synchro Summon! Appear, Queen of Thorns!" She tunes the level 5 Garden Rose Maiden with level 1 Fengril to Synchro Summon Queen of Thorns (ATK 2200/DEF 1700) in Defense Position. From the bright white light is a maiden that was assimilated by a rose with her arms as sepals with teeth.

(Queen of Thorns ATK 2200 → 1100)

"And due to Black Garden's effect, my monster's ATK is halved, and I can Special Summon a Rose Token on your field," Akiza added. Since she summoned a monster, Akiza Special Summons a second Rose Token (Plant/DARK/Level 2/ATK 800/DEF 800) (Yasuko) in Attack Position on Yasuko's side of the field. A second rose grows from the vines on the ground.

"I Set a card face-down and end my turn," Akiza concluded as she Set a face-down.

Turn 2: Yasuko (5x cards)

Once the turn was hers, Yasuko came to speculate the board layout for Akiza. "So, whenever we summon a monster, the Black Garden Field Spell makes us Special Summon a token and all our monsters ATK are cut in half," she thought. "And worse, I have to pay 1000 LP for every monster except Plant monsters. What a drag." Looking at her hand, she has only one spell card: Pendulum Call and the rest are monsters, which makes it very dangerous to pay her life points to summon those monsters.

"My turn, I draw!" Yasuko started as she drew a card from her deck. "Now, let me show you what kind of dueling is changing." She removes one card from her hand and activates the Magical Abductor (Scale 3) on her Pendulum Zone. "I Set the Scale 3 Magical Abductor!" Once she makes the first move, the abductor rises from the ground and floats up in the pillar of light, where she stops with her respective Pendulum Scale number underneath.

Akiza was surprised by the new kind of monster she had never seen before. "A Pendulum Scale?" she inquired. The club members were awed by the first move as they watched the duel.

"Yes, this is what the new dueling is going to create a whole new experience," said Yasuko. "Now, I activate the Spell, Pendulum Card!" Yasuko activates the Spell Card: Pendulum Call. "This spell lets me discard one card to add two Pendulum "Magicians" monsters from my deck to my hand."

Everyone was curious about what kind of cards Yasuko had that were called Pendulum monsters. Yasuko discards one card from her hand for the cost of adding Oafdragon Magician and Dragonpit Magician from her deck to her hand. "I'll discard one card to addOafdragon Magician and Dragonpit Magician to my hand," said Yasuko. "And since I activated a Spell Card, Magical Abductor's Pendulum effect allows her to gain a Spell Counter," said Yasuko.

(Magical Abductor: Spell Counter 0 → 1)

Upon seeing the cards, Lua recognized them as the ones he saw when he was looking into Yasuko's deck. "Hey, those are one of the cards I saw from her deck," he said.

"So, that's a Pendulum monster, but what do they do?" Luna inquired about the usage of such cards as Yasuko's.

Yasuko shows the club the whole new game as she Sets the Dragonpit Magician (Scale 8) to her Pendulum Zone. "I Set the Scale 8 Dragonpit Magician into my Pendulum Zone. I'm gonna show you how I control the duel right now!" And like before, Yasuko places the monster card into her Pendulum Zone, forming the rainbow "Pendulum" on her board disk. The second pendulum monster, a dragonpit sorcerer, floats up in the air and suspends itself with his respective Pendulum Scale number underneath the monster.

The club members were now captivated by the sudden appearance of two monsters in the air with the Pendulum Scales. Even the twins, Lua and Luna, were focused entirely on the duel, especially on the monsters Yasuko has. "No way," said Lua.

"And because I activated Dragonpit Magician as a Spell, my Magical Abductor gains another Spell Counter," said Yasuko.

(Magical Abductor: Spell Counter 1 → 2)

"Now watch as I Pendulum Summon right here," Yasuko announced. "Hear my soul roaring upon thy! I call forth upon the energy of my heart to unleash the flames of solemnity from within! I Pendulum Summon! Appear, my monsters!" At the cost of half her life points, she Pendulum Summons both Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000) and Oafdragon Magician (ATK 2100/DEF 1400) from her hand in Attack Position.

(Yasuko: LP 4000 → 2000)

A hole in the sky expands outwards, allowing Yasuko to summon the oafdragon wizard and Odd-Eyes Phantom from her hand. This mighty dragon has bone-encased armor over its blue scales with heterochromia red and green eyes. The dragon roars to life in the field.

Everyone except Akiza marveled at Yasuko's summon. They were taken back. All the club members had no idea you could summon multiple monsters simultaneously, and both are high-level monsters.

"Wow," said Luna, eyes wide as teacups. "Amazing."

"That is so cool!" Lua beamed, throwing his arms over to Yasuko and the monsters. "She can summon multiple monsters like that; they're all high-leveled monsters!" Lua wasn't the only one who was thrilled. Many club members and youngsters were very enthusiastic about this new ordeal. To see Pendulum monsters in action means that the audience is very intrigued. Yet, the two monsters are still under the effects of the Field Spell, which cuts their attack power in half.

(Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon: ATK 2500 → 1250)

(Oafdragon Magician: ATK 2100 → 1050)

Even with two high leveled monsters, Aliza was still not impressed. "Okay, so you managed to summon two monsters simultaneously," she said. "That still doesn't change the fact that if we summon monsters, Black Garden's effect activates, which cuts all of your monsters' ATK points in half, and you have to Special Summon a Rose Token onto my side of the field. Now, I will activate Black Rose Moonlight Dragon's effect!" She throws her hand to the moonlight rose dragon. "If a level five or higher monster was Special Summoned, I can target one of those Special Summoned monsters and return it to the hand!" Aliza points to Odd-Eyes Phantom. "I'm going to target your Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon!" The rose moonlight dragon spreads its wings wide and then blows a volley of rose petals against Odd-Eyes Phantom. "Rose Burst Retaliation!" The rose moonlight dragon flays all the rose petals straight to hit Odd-Eyes Phantom, returning it to her hand.

Much to Lua's dismay, Yasuko's best monster was gone from the field, unable to return without another monster. "Oh no!" he exclaimed, holding his head in panic. "That's got to be Yasuko's best monster, and now it's completely gone!"

It still doesn't bother her despite losing one of Yasuko's best monsters. "So, that's why you had Black Rose Moonlight Dragon put on the field first," she clarified. "You had it on the field first and then created an impossible task of making me pay my life points just to summon a monster from my hand that isn't Plant."

"I'm amazed you catch on so quickly," said Akiza. "Now that your strongest monster is gone, what will you do now?"

"Well, I have some tricks to deal with that," Yasuko replied. "Since you activated a monster effect during my Main Phase, I can activate this Spell, Triple Tactics Talents!" Yasuko removes one card from her hand to activate the Spell Card: Triple Tactics Talents. "This card can let me either draw two more cards, take control of one monster you control, or lets me look into your hand and shuffle one card to your deck, and I choose to draw two cards."

With the spell's activation, Yasuko draws two cards from her deck. "And when a Spell Card resolves, Magical Abductor gains a Spell Counter." In addition to the activation, the abductor also gains a counter.

(Magical Abductor: Spell Counter 2 → 3)

"I activate the Pendulum Effect of my Magical Abductor to remove three Spell Counters from this card to add one Pendulum monster from my deck to my hand."

(Magical Abductor: Spell Counter 3 → 0)

Yasuko searches for one Pendulum monster she can add and chooses Nobledragon Magician. "I add Nobledragon Magician," she said.

The club members were interested in what the Pendulum effect does for Pendulum monsters. "What's a Pendulum Effect?" Lua inquired.

"I'm not sure," Dexter replied. "Is it some sort of a monster effect?"

Yasuko overheard the boy's question and quickly glanced over her shoulder. "A Pendulum effect is what all Pendulum monsters have," she explained. "Pendulum monsters spread out to the far corners of my duel disk are treated as Spells that can let me activate them as Spell Cards."

Lua doesn't seem to understand the concept, which makes him scratch his head. "What?" he quipped.

Luna sighed and gave a shorter answer to help Lua understand better. "What she means is Pendulum monsters are treated as Spells, so that means she can activate them like Spells," Luna stated, but her brother was even more puzzled.

"What" Lua repeated.

Yasuko refocused on the duel and continued her turn. "I activate Destrudo, the Lost Dragon's Frisson's special effect from my graveyard," Yasuko declared. "If this card was in my hand or graveyard, I can pay half my life points to target one monster on my field, Special Summon it, and then reduce its level equal to the monster I targeted." As a portal opens, she gestures to the front, allowing Yasuko to Special Summon Destrudo the Lost Dragon's Frisson (ATK 1000/DEF 3000) from her graveyard in Defense Position.

(Yasuko: LP 2000 → 1000)

"I target my Oafdragon Magician and Special Summon Destrudo!" The ground opens, and a grotesque dragon with revealing muscles and bones over the flesh appears on the field with its attack points cut in half and its level reduced by six.

(Destrudo the Lost Dragon's Frisson: ATK 1000 → 500)

(Destrudo the Lost Dragon's Frisson: Level 7 → 1)

The club members were astonished that Yasuko took a big risk of cutting her life points in half to summon a Tuner monster from her graveyard. Lua was more taken back than the rest because Yasuko was throwing away half of her life points all for summoning a monster.

"Why'd she do that?!" Lua gasped. "Yasuko will lose this duel if she summons a monster from her hand this time!"

"Maybe," Dexter agreed. "But this puts her at a disadvantage so long as Black Garden's out on the field.

Akiza finds Yasuko to be reckless if she wants to lose the match. "You would risk cutting your life points to summon that thing?" she questioned. "Don't you know that as long as Black Garden's out on the field, all summoned monsters lose half their attack points, and then it Special Summons a Rose Token onto our opponent's field?"

True to Akiza's words, Yasuko Special Summons a second Rose Token (Plant/DARK/Level 2/ATK 800/DEF 800) (Akiza) to Akiza's side of the field.

"I wouldn't be calling this a risk but rather a necessary self-sacrifice to get more than one monster," Yasuko replied.

(6 + 1 = 7)

"I tune my level 1 Destrudo with my level 6 Oafdragon Magician!" Yasuko has made it her intention to perform her own Synchro Summon. The grotesque dragon turns into a single green light to scan the oafdragon wizard, removing the solid mass from his body until the monster turns into six glowing white orbs aligning at the center. "Magician of Arcana, come forth and bring out the full power of your magic! I Synchro Summon! The level 7! Arcanite Magician!" Yasuko Synchro Summons Arcanite Magician (ATK 400/DEF 1600) in Attack Position, and a white light bursts a stream to summon a magician with white robes and an oversized hood that has two horn-like padding on the hood as the magician holds a scepter staff.

"What kind of a monster can that do that can't even fight back?" Dexter questioned. "Arcanite Magician's ATK points are way weaker than Akiza's monsters."

"Yeah, it can't even go up against Akiza's Black Rose Moonlight Dragon or the Queen of Thorns," Luna agreed. "And Akiza still has her Black Garden on the field, which means Arcanite Magician's ATK points are going to be weaker than any of the Rose Tokens Yasuko Summons." Since the field spell is out on the field, the monster loses half of its attack power, and Yasuko Special Summons a third Rose Token (Plant/DARK/Level 2/ATK 800/DEF 800) (Akiza).

(Arcanite Magician: ATK 400 → 200)

Lua did not take their comments well and turned to face his sister and Dexter. "What are you talking about? Did you see her duel with my deck? She beat Mikey with my deck! I'm sure whatever kind of cards she has now with her own deck will beat Akiza," he defended.

"When Arcanite Magician is Synchro Summoned, I can place two Spell Counters on this monster, and it gains 1000 ATK for each Spell Counter it has," Yasuko declared. True to Lua's words, the arcana sorcerer glows up to reveal a Spell Counter inside the crystal orb, gaining some counters and increasing its attack power.

(Arcanite Magician: Spell Counter 0 → 2)

(Arcanite Magician: Spell Counter 200 → 2200)

Yasuko's only reaction from Akiza is a look of surprise when she not now has higher points to declare an attack. Regardless, she still remains serious about the duel.

So, you managed to get your monster more ATK points, but that still doesn't mean it's strong enough to take down any of my monsters except for the Rose Tokens on the field," Akiza clarified.

"That's what Action Duel is for," Yasuko pointed out. "Battle! Arcanite Magician attacks your Queen of Thorns!" The arcana sorcerer raises his scepter, and thunderous clouds form in the sky. Akiza knows what is coming and needs to defend her monster.

"Not a chance! I activate the Trap Card: Rose Petal Shield!" Akiza flips up her face-down to activate her Trap Card: Rose Petal Shield. "If a monster declares an attack while I control a "Rose" monster on my field, I can destroy that attacking monster and then inflict damage equal to its ATK!" The trap card blows a tornado of rose petals over to the arcana sorcerer, but what Akiza didn't expect was the change of the game in the duel, as Yasuko makes a 180-degree aerial flip over to a platform and swipes an Action Card that was on it.

"I activate the Action Spell, Mirror Barrier!" Yasuko activates the Action Spell Card: Mirror Barrier. "This card prevents my monster from being destroyed by card effects!" Once she activates the Action Card, the arcana sorcerer is protected by a dome of mirrors that blocks the petals from hitting the monster, effectively shielding him from destruction.

Akiza was surely surprised upon witnessing her monster being saved from destruction. It wasn't just Akiza, though. Everyone in the dueling club and the twins were astonished that Yasuko had activated a Spell Card right in the middle of a Battle Phase.

"Wait, did she just play a Spell Card during a Battle Phase? It wasn't even her turn," Dexter questioned, pointing at the girl.

"I think she did, a Quick-Play Spell Card, maybe," Lua assumed. "But I don't think she's ever had one in her hand in the middle of her turn."

Luna then recalled something in the duel. She has one short memory of Yasuko making an aerial flip, and her hand swipes something from the platform. "She didn't have a Quick-Play Spell. She was just getting one card from those floating things," she said. Her brother and Dexter turned to face her. "Remember that giant bubble in the air? It had cards inside, and then when the duel started, the bubble popped."

"Wow, really? I thought those were for decoration, but you can use actual cards you find on the ground. That is awesome!" Lua beamed, stars gleaming in his eyes. "Picking up a card in the middle of a duel is a game changer."

It created gossip among the club members when they saw the duel. But it wasn't enough for Akiza. She thought the idea of picking up cards in the middle of a duel to be absurd. "What a cheat. Using cards, you don't even have in your deck, what kind of a game is this?" she questioned the logic behind the Action Duel.

"It's like I told you, this is a whole new game," Yasuko answered. "Dueling is about to change, Akiza. And the real question is…are you going to change, or are you not going to?"

From the club's point of view, Yasuko has the high ground looking down at Akiza, with both girls giving off a stern gaze. Neither of them did not back down and proceeded with the duel.

"I activate Arcanite Magician's effect! By removing one Spell Counter from my field, I can target and destroy one card," Yasuko declared. The arcana sorcerer raises his scepter staff in the air to allow the duelist to remove one Spell Counter from the magic abductor in the Pendulum Zone. "I target and destroy your Black Rose Moonlight Dragon!"

(Magical Abductor: Spell Counter 1 → 0)

The arcana magician summons thunderclouds high above the sky and then shoots down a massive lightning bolt that destroys the rose moonlight dragon from the field. The club members were confused about why Yasuko would only destroy the monster instead of the field spell.

"Wait, why would Yasuko destroy the Black Rose Moonlight Dragon?" Luna questioned. "Isn't the logical choice of destroying the field spell make sense if it makes her Special Summon the tokens?"

Dexter and Lua are also confused about Yasuko's decision to destroy the monster rather than deal with the field spell since it's also a hindrance against her. "I don't know," Dexter agreed. "She has a reason for not targeting the field spell."

"I mean, it does make all the monsters that were summoned lose half of their ATK points," Lua pointed out. "So, wouldn't Black Rose Moonlight Dragon be stronger than any monsters they summoned?"

"Perhaps," Dexter nodded. "But if that's the case, then both players are now on equal footing since Black Garden is still in effect."

Yasuko checks whatever cards she has in her hand and takes out two cards to Set them on her field. "I Set two cards face-down and end my turn," she concluded. Two Set cards form in the field before disappearing in the air.

Turn 3: Akiza (0x card)

Akiza had no clue what Yasuko was trying to do since she had no monsters on the field other than the arcana sorcerer and the rose tokens on the field. "What the hell was that about?" she questioned. "You destroyed my Black Rose Moonlight Dragon instead of the Black Garden?"

"I would've tried and destroyed it, but Pendulum Call doesn't allow me to activate any Pendulum effects of my Magicians in the Pendulum Zone, and Queen of Thorns was in my way," Yasuko explained. "You set up a hell of a board right there. Kind of a good duelist, unlike these slack jobs."

"Hey!" Akiza snapped. "You have no idea what kind of duelists they are?"

"Kind of duelists? I've met all kinds of duelists, and let me tell you, they're not so bright here," Yasuko replied. "I've only been here for a couple of days and already seen the duelists in this city." She jumps over the other platform to the right. "And trust me, I've dueled pros better than these people."

Akiza narrowed her eyes. "My turn," she said. "I draw!" She draws a card from her deck. "And I activate the Spell, Fragrance Storm!" Akiza activates the Spell Card: Fragrance Storm. "This spell lets me draw one card from my deck, and if the card I draw is a Plant monster, I get to draw another card." Akiza draws one card, revealing it as a Plant monster card: Lonefire Blossom. "And since the monster I drew was Lonefire Blossom, I can draw another card." After Akiza draws one more card, she looks at it and then Normal Summons Lonefire Blossom (ATK 500/DEF 1400). "I summon Lonefire Blossom!" The monster Akiza summoned is a different monster with only a yellow-orange flow bud that hasn't blossomed yet.

(Lonefire Blossom: ATK 500 → 250)

Since a monster was summoned to her field, the field spell's effect makes her Special Summon a fourth Rose Token (Plant/DARK/Level 2/ATK 800/DEF 800) (Yasuko) on Yasuko's field.

"I activate Lonefire Blossom's effect to tribute one Plant monster and then Special Summon one Plant monster from my deck," Akiza declared. "By tributing my Rose Token on my field, I can Special Summon Rose Girl from my deck!" The lonefire started tup bloom, allowing a bright light to emerge from the bud. It blossomed into a monster Akiza Special Summoned by tributing one of her tokens: Rose Girl (ATK 800/DEF 600) in Defense Position. The monster Akiza summoned is a girl with bright blue eyes wearing rose petals as a hat, covered arms, and a skirt with green stem leggings holding a big rose.

(Rose Girl: ATK 800 → 400)

"I tune my level 3 Rose Girl with my level 3 Lonefire Blossom and the level 2 Rose Token on my field," said Akiza.

(3 + 3 + 2 + 8)

The rose girl brings up her rose to start transforming herself into three green rings. They scan the token and the lonefire on the field to remove their solid mass into nothing but five glowing white orbs that align themselves.

"I Synchro Summon! The level 8! Diabloantis, the Menacing Mantis!" Akiza tunes the rose girl with her monsters on the field to Synchro Summon Diabolantis the Menacing Mantis (ATK 2500/DEF 2200) in Attack Position.

(Diabolantis the Menacing Mantis: ATK 2500 → 1250)

The third Synchro monster that Akiza summoned is a giant humanoid insect with the ideal form of a praying mantis with dark exoskeleton armor and two giant razor pincers on the shoulders.

"When Diabolantis is Synchro Summoned, I can send any number of Plants or Insect monsters from my deck to the graveyard equal to the total of Non-Tuner monsters I used to Synchro Summon," Akiza declared.

Yasuko wouldn't let Akiza bring out more resources for her deck and decided to cut off any possible attempts to boost her odds.

"But since Black Garden was now being activated, I have no choice but to activate the Trap! Titanocider!" Yasuko responded as she flipped up her face-down Trap Card: Titanocider. "This card lets me target one monster you control that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, change its ATK to 0, and negate its effects until the end of the turn!" Once the trap card flips up, a pink lightning bolt zaps out to hit the diabolantis on the chest, eliminating its attack power and negating its effects.

(Diabolantis the Menacing Mantis: ATK 1250 → 0)

Akiza can only give a small groan of annoyance. Since her monster isn't strong enough to take on the arcana sorcerer, she must use other means. "You think that's new?" she inquired. "It's strictly one-on-one. The basic kind of dueling I've seen."

"I'm not trying to be unique; I'm trying to show you how to use the Action Cards," Yasuko replied. "Dueling is evolving now, and this duel is getting boring for your club members."

"What purpose would that do if I use one?" Akiza questioned. "Action Cards or not, I will beat you so you can get out of here."

"And I'm telling you, I am not leaving until you help me find a classmate," Yasuko snapped.

"Stubborn mule," Akiza insulted. "I activate the Spell! Rose Bloom!" She activated the Spell Card: Rose Bloom. "This Spell lets me target one monster I control, and it gains 400 ATK for every Plant monster on the field until the end of the turn!" She throws her hand to target her diabolantis. "I target Diabolantis!" The spell card flips, and a heavy storm of rose petals circles around the diabolantis.

(Diabolantis the Menacing Mantis: ATK 0 → 1600)

(Magical Abductor: Spell Counter 1 → 2)

"And since there are four Rose Tokens on the field, it gains 1600 ATK," said Dexter. "But it's not strong enough to take down that Arcanite Magician."

"As long as it has two Spell Counters, it still has 2400 ATK," Lua pointed out.

Akiza wasn't done with her turn and began to make her next move. "I activate Garden Rose Maiden's effect from the graveyard," she declared. "By banishing my Garden Rose Maiden, I can target one Dragon or Plant Synchro monster in my graveyard and then Special Summon it!" Akiza has a target in mind and banishes her Garden Rose Maiden to Special Summon her monster: Black Rose Moonlight Dragon, from her graveyard in Attack Position.

"I banish my Garden Rose Maiden to target my Black Rose Moonlight Dragon and Special Summon it back to my field!" Once Akiza has decided, she banishes her garden maiden to bring back the rose moonlight dragon from the grave with its rose petal wings spread out and roaring loud; however, its powers have been cut in half due to the effect of her field spell.

(Black Rose Moonlight Dragon: ATK 2400 → 1200)

"When Black Rose Moonlight Dragon is Special Summoned, I can activate its effects to target one Special Summoned monster on your field and return it to the hand," said Akiza, pointing at the arcana sorcerer. "I target your arcana Magician and return it to the Extra Deck!" The rose moonlight dragon spreads its wings wide and bursts all the rose petals straight to hit, returning it to the Extra Deck. "Rose Burst Retaliation!"

"Not so fast! I activate the monster effect from my hand, Effect Veiler!" Yasuko takes out the monster: Effect Veiler from her hand and sends it to the graveyard. "By sending this card from my hand to the graveyard, I can target one monster you control and negate its effects until the end of the turn!" Once she has sent the card into her disk, a mirage of the angelic veiler appears before the arcana sorcerer, blocking most of the rose petals being hurdles at him before redirecting the trajectory back to the rose moonlight dragon. The rose petal storm slams the moonlight dragon, negating its effects.

The club members were observing the duel now that it was reaching its peak. The twins also keep a close eye on the duel, watching how the new duel will change dueling forever.

"Amazing," said Luna. "She was able to stop Black Rose's monster effect."

"Now, Arcanite Magician is the strongest monster on the field!" Lua boosted.

"Akiza has nothing left to beat that thing except for the Rose Tokens," Dexter pointed out, making Lua flinch in surprise when he forgot about the tokens on the field.

"Let's battle! I attack Arcanite Magician with Black Rose Moonlight Dragon!" Akiza declared, much to everyone's surprise. "And I banish my Rose Petal Shield from my graveyard to activate its effect! I target one "Rose" monster I control, and it gains 800 ATK for every Plant monster on the field!"

"But Yasuko has 4 Rose Tokens on the field!" Luna pointed out. "That means Black Rose Moonlight Dragon gains 3200 ATK!" True to those words, the rose moonlight dragon's attack power has increased drastically to be able to inflict an OTK.

(Black Rose Moonlight Dragon: ATK 1200 → 4400)

"Go! Rose Flare Burn!" The moonlight dragon opens its jaws wide, and fires a purple flame with purple rose petals to streak across and hit the arcana sorcerer. Once the blast hits the sorcerer, the monster explodes, shaking the entire arena.

"I activate my Trap! Defense Draw!" Yasuko responded and flipped up her face-down to activate the Trap Card: Defense Draw. "During the damage calculation, I can activate this card to reduce this battle damage to 0 and draw one card from my deck!" After nullifying the battle damage, the aftershock was diverted to swim around Yasuko. Once that is done, Yasuko draws a card.

"You may have dodged my Black Rose, but I can still attack the Rose Tokens that are still on the field," said Akiza. "Diabolantis, attack the Rose Token!" The diabolantis flies overhead with two razor pincers springing out and slicing the fourth token with two slashes before exploding after getting destroyed in battle.

Yasuko can feel the winds blowing her hair and covering her eyes as the rose petals pepper her with battle damage.

(Yasuko: LP 1000 → 200)

The duel is keeping the club members on edge as it continues. The sheer fire between two duelists is still growing.

"Wow, no one's even been this close to holding out against Akiza Izinski," said Dexter. "She's like the top duelist in the school, and your cousin's keeping pace."

"And something tells me this duel's still going to get even more insane," Lua added.

Akiza did not have the slightest reaction up until now. She was impressed with Yasuko for holding off against her despite being pushed to a corner. "Impressive, no one's ever been able to last this long," she said. She will end her turn right there since there's nothing more she can do. "I end my turn," she concluded. At the End Phase, Diabloantis' ATK returns to normal. "And during the End Phase, Rose Bloom's effect ends, which means your Titanocider's effect ends as well."

(Diabolantis the Menacing Mantis: ATK 1600 → 1250)

Turn 4: Yasuko (5x cards)

"You'll find me to be a very different duelist than the ones you've faced," Yasuko replied.

"Even so, that doesn't mean it'll change the whole thing," Akiza responded.

Yasuko starts to make her way down to get on with Akiza's attitude. "What's that supposed to mean?" she inquired.

"It means that this whole Action Duel isn't gonna cut it," Akiza admonished. "All you've been doing is running out, seeking these cards on the ground to beat me, but nothing will change the game."

Yasuko pursed her lips, and she had a point, but Akiza didn't believe that Action Duels weren't going to work out in the Synchro Dimension. "Yeah, I get that," she agreed. "Action Duels aren't going to change anything here, but they will change how we duel." She continued to talk to Akiza. "When I first heard of Turbo Duel, I thought it was a new kind of dueling, but you see people riding on duel runners, and nothing's changed. Not unless you take the necessary steps forward."

"The necessary steps? What do you know about taking the necessary steps?" Akiza accused. "You, of all people, should know that this is Neo Domino City. Things don't change."

"Well, it's about to change," Yasuko replied. "And that begins when you, too, can change." She places a hand on her deck. "My turn!" She draws a card from her deck. "Whether I can change this system or not, I don't care. I wanted to ensure that someone I know does not end up in jail because of what you perceive to be illegal." She checks the cards that can stand up against Akiza's dragon. "Since Black Rose Moonlight Dragon returns any level 5 or higher monster that I Special Summon, I need to bait her into taking the chance."

Yasuko pulls out the card from her hand and begins her move now that she is free from her spell card's restrictions. "I activate the Pendulum Effect of my Dragonpit Magician!" she declared. "By discarding one Pendulum monster from my hand, I can target one Spell or Trap on the field and destroy it." She discards Nobledragon Magician. "I target and destroy Black Garden!" The dragonpit sorcerer raises his staff in the air, summoning clouds in the sky. As the clouds form, lightning strikes at the arena, annihilating the roses and vine plants swarming the field.

"Oh, so now she decides to take down the field spell," Lua complained sarcastically. "Could've done that like the last turn." He ends up getting a jab in the elbow by his sister. "Ow! What?! I was trying to make an obvious point."

"Don't be such a jerk, Lua," Luna rebuked. "Yasuko couldn't destroy the Black Garden until now because Queen of Thorns was already making it hard for her, and even if she did, she could not use any other effects since Pendulum Call stops her from activating any Pendulum cards that are "Magician.""

"Now that you mentioned it," Dexter added. "Akiza had Black Rose Moonlight Dragon out first and then brought out the Queen of Thorns. It would've made anyone have a difficult time dealing with that setup. So it was probably the right call for Yasuko to destroy the monster first. And since Black Garden's effect is still active, even when it leaves the field, Black Rose Moonlight Dragon still has half of its attack points."

Yasuko checks whatever cards she has in her hand and then makes one glance over at the field Akiza has. Since she has the Tokens herself, Yasuko decides to use them. She takes out one card and Normal Summons Tuning Gum (ATK 400/DEF 1200). "I Summon the tuner monster, Tuning Gum!" The tuner monster Yasuko summoned is a piece of gum with a skull face.

"Now, I tune level 1 Tuning Gum with my 3 level 2 Rose Tokens that your Black Garden summoned for me!" Yasuko declared. Once she decides, the gum jumps up and transforms into a single green ring. The ring scans the three rose tokens on Yasuko's side of the field to turn them into white orbs.

"Born from the flames of meteor showers, the red dragon with heterochromia eyes of red and blue! Fall to the earth and blow away all of my enemies! I Synchro Summon!Rain down, Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon!" Yasuko Synchro Summons Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000). From the sky, a meteorite falls fast on the ground before it dissolves into a Synchro variant of Odd-Eyes. A mighty dragon with red and blue heterochromia eyes, burning red hot armored scales, and purple skin.

Akiza watched the move very closely, waiting for the chance to strike. Yasuko realizes she isn't buying into her ploys and makes more to get her to use her monster's bouncing effect.

"I activate my Nobledragon Magician's effect from my graveyard," she declared. "When I control a level 7 or higher Odd-Eyes monster, I can target it and then reduce its level by 3 to Special Summon it from the grave." She gestures to the field. "I target my Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon and then reduce its level by 3 to Special Summon Nobledragon Magician!"

(Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon: Level 7 → 4)

With the meteorburst dragon's level reduced, Yasuko Special Summons Nobledragon Magician (ATK 700/DEF 1400) from her grave in Defense Position. The nobledragon priestess appears on the field next to the meteorburst dragon.

Akiza narrows her eyes, realizing what she will do next now that the dragon's level is reduced by three.

"I tune my level 3 Nobledragon Magician with my level 4 Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon!"

(3 + 4 = 7)

The nobledragon priestess takes her staff, and then a chime rings from the tip, transforming the priestess into three glowing green rings. They scan the meteorburst dragon, scanning the monster into four bright white lights in the center.

"Dragon of fire, come to the earth and blast away all my enemies who stand before you! I Synchro Summon!" Yasuko chanted as the rings shot a bright beam. "Rage on, Level 7! Exploder Dragonwing!" Yasuko chanted before she Synchro Summons Exploder Dragonwing (ATK 2400/DEF 1600). A white beam summons a dark back-deformed violet-red dragon with red-orange wings and flappy scales. Its forearms and calves are two times bigger than the limbs, with sharp claws and an orange tail.

If this were in the Standard Dimension, the youngsters would've been amazed by the summon. Still, it's just another Synchro Summon for those in this dimension. Yet, Yasuko does not care. She has to deal with Akiza and her stubborn attitude toward the Action Duels.

"Now, with my Magical Abductor and Dragonpit Magician in my Pendulum Zones, I can Pendulum Summon any monsters between levels 4 and 7 simultaneously! I Pendulum Summon! Revive once again! Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon!" A small portal opens in the sky, allowing Yasuko to summon Odd-Eyes Phantom back onto the field. The dragon roars with life as it echoes in the field.

Akiza's eyes were slightly wide, which was the perfect time to strike. "And since you just summoned a level 5 or higher monster, I can activate Black Rose Moonlight Dragon's special effect to target one of your Special Summoned monsters and then return it to the hand!" she shouted. "I target Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon!"

Yasuko was a bit taken back that Akiza never intended to target her Synchro monster but Odd-Eyes Phantom. She didn't know why, but Yasuko could guess Akiza knew Odd-Eyes Phantom was one of the strongest so far in her deck and made a counter by playing the Quick-Play Spell Card: Forbidden Droplet. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Forbidden Droplet, by sending a number of cards from my hand or field to the graveyard to negate the same ones on the monsters you control. And not only is that monster's ATK points halved, but you cannot respond to its activation based on the card types I sent!" She pulls out one card from her hand and sends her Mythical Beast Jackal from her hand to the graveyard. Once the activation begins, the card flips up in the air. Then it sprouts a lightning bolt to zap the moonlight dragon to negate its effects and lose half its weakened attack power.

(Magical Abductor: Spell Counter 2 → 3)

(Black Rose Moonlight Dragon: ATK 1200 → 600)

Akiza gasped, surprised at how Yasuko could work up a countermeasure against her. "No way," she said. "This is the first time anyone's cornered me before."

"First time for everything?" Yasuko inquired. "You haven't met a duelist like me before, and trust me, I'm a whole new kind of elite." She points at the moonlight dragon on the field. "Let's battle! Exploder Dragonwing, attack Diablolantis!" The exploder dragon leaps up in the air with its dark breath being charged up. "When this card battles a monster, during the damage step, I can destroy that monster and inflict damage equal to its ATK!" The dragonwing blasts a powerful red beam that incinerates the diabloantis to oblivion, destroying the monster.

Akiza covers her face as the bangs sway against the shockwaves to inflict battle damage.

(Akiza: LP 4000 → 2750)

The club members watched with awe as Yasuko pushed back against Akiza. Perhaps, this was the first time for everyone that Akiza's opponent was more than what they assumed. The new kind of dueling. The Pendulum monster. It's a new experience for both of them, with the club members' attention now drawn to the duel.

"Battle! Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon, attack Black Rose Moonlight Dragon!" Odd-Eyes Phantom does what Yasuko told it and charges across the field toward the moonlight dragon.

As Akiza watched Odd-Eyes moving closer, her peripherals caught a floating platform hovering above her. And in the corner, she spotted what appeared to be a card at the edge. The height shouldn't be a problem, but with Odd-Eyes Phantom rapidly charging like a mad bull, Akiza makes one split-second decision.

She moves to the left and leaps up in the air with her right hand raised, earning surprised gasps from the other club members and one eyebrow raised from Yasuko. Her hand swipes the Action Card and checks what it is. Once Akiza has what she needs, she activates the Action Spell Card: Miracle. "I activate the Action Spell, Miracle! This card negates my monster's destruction, and the damage I took is halved!"

Odd-Eyes Phantom jumps high and unleashes a violent torrent of blue breath blast at the moonlight dragon. The rose dragon responds by flapping its wings to counter the flaming burst with a storm of rose petals from its wings, effectively shielding itself from the blast.

(Akiza: LP 2750 → 1800)

Akiza recovers, panting as if she hasn't been able to move so fast in a while. She turned to the club members, and she saw the astonished looks on their faces. They had seen Akiza do many things, but this was a new kind, even for Akiza herself.

Then, Yasuko jumps down from the floating platforms and lands across from her. "You see? Action Duels are going to change the whole thing," she said. "What do you think?"

Akiza took a moment to give her thoughts about the Action Duel. It's a different feeling than just a Master Duel. She watched Yasuko moving around like a jungle gym hopping over the floating platforms and using one of the Action Cards all over the field. Not even Turbo Duel has that kind of stuff.

"It's…different," Akiza answered.

"Then you're 'bout to know the differences between you and me," said Yasuko. She then jumps off the platform and lands on another before rolling over to swipe an Action Card at the corner. "If you can't keep up, then you have to change yourself." Yasuko activates the Acton Spell Card: Star Boost.

"I activate the Action Spell, Star Boost! This lets me target one monster I control, and it gains ATK equal to the total level of all monsters on the field x 100, and it can attack all monsters this turn," she said. "And the monster I target is Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon!"

"All levels of monsters on the field? How much is that?" Lua inquired.

"Let's see…" Dexter calculated. "Since all of the monsters on the field are both level 7, that would mean 21, which means…"

"Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon gains a total of 2100 ATK," Luna answered.

The club members were watching the duel of their lives, now witnessing the strongest duelist in the school get beaten by someone who wasn't from the city. A red aura spreads out of Odd-Eyes Phantom, allowing the dragon to gain a lot of firepowers.

(Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon: ATK 2500 → 4600)

"4600 ATK points?!" Akiza gasped.

"Battle! Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon, attack Black Rose Moonlight Dragon!" Upon her command, Odd-Eyes Phantom charges in and then jumps up in the air with the shadow looming over Akiza and the moonlight dragon. Once there, the dragon unleashes a firey burst of blue laser beam on the moonlight dragon.

Akiza has never been outplayed before in her life. So many duelists before her have tried and failed to beat her in her own game, but Yasuko has come in and changed the whole thing. She doesn't feel disappointed or afraid that she will lose. There's something different with Yasuko. In light of her defeat, Akiza simply smiles as the blast destroys the moonlight dragon, draining her life points completely.

(Akiza: LP 1800 → 0)

WINNER: Yasuko Yukihana

Once the duel has reached its conclusion, the floating platforms disappear from the air like dust along with the monsters and Action Cards, reverting it back to the original arena they were in. As the field returns to normal, Yasuko stands in front of Akiza. She finds the girl not depressed or upset that she lost. Instead, she was at least grateful that her loss wasn't a total defeat.

"So, now that I've beaten you, shall we discuss something I wanted to discuss earlier?" Yasuko inquired.

Akiza had no ill will toward her for defeating her. She was impressed Yasuko managed to hold out against her.

"I'm surprised, Yasuko," said Akiza. "I'm all go the duelists I've gone up against; none of them have are like you."

Yasuko shrugged. "Let's just say…I'm more than what you might think." Her response from Akiza was a snort.

Then, the club members from Aliza's group and the twin converge to them, most around Yasuko, to learn more about the Action Duel.

"That was so cool!" Lua exclaimed. "I never imagined that you could use any cards you find on the field." Like the other club members, he was thrilled to see the duel, and they wanted to join in on the Action Duel.

"Yeah, me too!"

"I wanna be in a Action Duel!"

Soon, all the club members started clambering Yasuko to duel them next since they wanted to experience the Action Duel like Akiza.

It was too much for Yasuko and makes some space between herself and the club members.

"Whoa, whoa. Take it easy. This is only a prototype. Action Duels haven't been released yet," she lied. "I'm just here to see Akiza." She turns to the older girl. "Now, listen. I need your help."

Akiza had one eyebrow raised with curiosity. Yasuko wasn't sure what or how she could explain it to someone like her, but she could only bet Zuzu would be safe for now.

Or at least until Yasuko finds Yuya first.

---

OC cards

Akiza

Spell Cards

Rose Bloom

Normal Spell Card

Effect: Target one Plant or Insect monster you control, and it gains ATK equal to the total of Plant monsters on the field x 400 until the end of the turn.

Trap Cards

Rose Pedal Shield

Normal Trap Card

Effect: When your opponent declares an attack, and if you control a "Rose" monster on the field, you can destroy that monster and then inflict damage equal to its original ATK. You can banish this card from your GY, then target one "Rose" monster you control, and then it gains 800 ATK for every Plant monster on the field until the end of the turn. You can only use 1 effect of "Rose Pedal Shield" per turn.

---

A thousand apologies for the months' delay, but ever since I graduated, I need to deal with real-world stuff first before working on the story. I promise to make it all up to those who were hoping for the story to be updated, but remember that it's not a sprint. It's always a marathon, even for me. And I will try to do everything I can to focus more on keeping the story going.

If you have waited long enough for this, then please give down some comments and thoughts on what the story needs to improve, to correct, and what needs to be done.

So, until then, enjoy the rest of the day.