The sun shone down into the stadium as Yuya entered the arena. He could pick out Rei's red jacket easily from other side.
"Still wearing the old colors?" someone called from the crowd. Rei turned, smiled and pointed in the air dramatically.
"Academia gave us these jackets to tell us that we were lowly, disposable, then they threw us away as cannon fodder. Now, we wear our low-rank uniforms with pride, as symbols of defiance against those who would use us!" A few spectators began to clap and it spread quickly across the crowd. Yuya looked around at a loss to how he'd lost the audience so quickly.
"Okay, folks!" Nico piped up. "We'll begin the duel… now!" The stadium's monitors lit up displaying the two duelists.
REI SATOME - SHADDOLL
vs
YUYA SAKAKI - PERFORMAPAL/PENDULUM MAGICIAN/DIMENSION DRAGONS
"Set action field!" Nico called out. The computer selected the Acrobatic Circus action field.
"Yes! That's Yuya's best field!" Yuzu called out. The rest of Yuya's friends cheered.
"And the duelist taking the first turn will be Yuya!" Nico announced. "Duelists locked in battle! Kicking off the earth and soaring through the air with their monsters! Behold dueling's greatest evolution! Action…"
"Duel!" Yuya and Rei called. Yuya looked over his hand.
"I summon Performapal Skullcrobat Joker!" A jester in a top hat flipped onto the field, tipping his hat to the audience.
"When this monster is Normal Summoned, I can add a Performapal, Magician or Odd-Eyes monster from my deck to my hand. I choose my main headliner: Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" A cheer went up from the crowd as he held up the card.
"Now, it's time!" Yuya continued. "I set the Pendulum Scale with Performapal Guitartle and Performapal Lizardraw!" Two pillars of light blue light extended upward, the monsters rising into the air inside them. Rei looked confused.
"They're both scale 6, though… I thought Pendulum Monsters didn't work like that?"
"Ah, but I'm not ready to summon yet," Yuya explained. "Since I activated another Pendulum while I controlled Guitartle, I can draw a card. Then, I'll use the effect of Performapal Lizardraw to destroy him and draw another card. But don't be worried - as a Pendulum Monster, Lizardraw goes to my extra deck face-up instead of the graveyard. Now I re-set my right pendulum zone with Harmonizing Magician, with a scale of 8! That means I can Special Summon level 7 monsters! Swing, my soul's pendulum! Trace an arc of light across the sky! Everyone, please give a warm welcome the hero with beautiful eyes: Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" The dragon reared up and let out his signature roar.
"I end my turn," Yuya finished.
Rei silently examined the card she drew.
"This'll do. I summon Shaddoll Hound from my hand." The monster that appeared was covered in sleek gold and blue armor, that had glowing purple strings attached to several parts.
"You're summoning a flip monster in attack position?" Yuya asked.
"Flip effects are a little too slow these days," Rei explained. "They're a bit limited to rely on."
"How dare you?!" a high-pitched voice rang out from the crowd. "Mieru won't forgive you for disrespecting flip monsters!"
"Oh, no..." Yuya grimaced. Rei cleared her throat.
"Anyway... I equip Shaddoll Hound with Nephe Shaddoll Fusion!" Rei continued. Now I can change my Hound's attribute to anything I choose. I'll change the attribute from DARK to WATER. Now, I can use the equipped monster for a Fusion Summon! I fuse the WATER Shaddoll Hound on my field with the Shaddoll Beast in my hand!" The two monsters rose into the air and blended together in the familiar blue and orange spiral.
"Come out, El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis!" A porcelain-looking woman appeared, gigantic in size, with her limbs connected by ball joints like a marionette. Except that rather than hanging from strings, glowing pink strings attached to her arms and legs flowed all around her body.
"Anoyatyllis attacks with 2700 attack!" Rei shouted. The strings flew through the air, wrapping around Odd-Eyes, hurling him off his feet and slamming him into the ground behind Yuya. Yuya winced, watching his dragon explode as his life points were decreased to 3800.
"I set two more cards and end my turn," Rei said with the exact same sweet smile as before.
"Right! Draw!" Yuya shouted. "I now activate Pendulum Storm! I destroy all cards in my pendulum zones, then destroy one spell or trap my opponent controls! I destroy the face-down on my left!" he decided. Rei's trap was destroyed.
"When Shadoll Core is sent to my graveyard by a card effect, I can return another Shadoll spell or trap in my graveyard to my hand," Rei said, holding up Nephe Shaddoll Fusion. "Looks like you lost more than me there."
"Look again," Yuya replied. "The destroyed Pendulum Monsters go into my extra deck, remember? Time to swing this duel in the other direction with an action card!" Yuya called, and began leaping from platform to platform.
"We'll see about that!" Rei called, jumping after him. As Yuya looked for cards, he felt Yugo emerge in his mind.
"Yuya, what are you doing? You're letting this whole duel slip away!"
"Yugo, leave him alone," Yuto told his hotheaded Synchro counterpart.
"I'm trying to help!" Yugo shot back.
"Guys," Yuri spoke up.
"We shouldn't be trying to get involved in a tournament duel," Yuto insisted. "It's like giving Yuya outside help. It isn't fair."
"Guys..." Yuri said again, trying to speak over the argument. Yuya realized too late that the argument had distracted him and ran straight off the edge of the platform he was on. He grabbed onto a tightrope and wrapped his legs around it as he was flung up and down, clinging onto it and clenching his teeth in shock.
"I was about to say, 'we're going to fall'," Yuri said, rolling his eyes. Yuya did his best to ignore his counterparts' bickering and started shimmying across the rope towards a card he'd spotted.
"Yes!" he called as he snatched the card and looked at what it was. "An action trap? 'Lousy Luck: take 800 damage'?!" The card promptly exploded in his face.
Yuya fell from the rope, somehow flipped the other way up in the air and ended up sitting on a lower platform, in shock and down to 3000 life points for his trouble. Over in the stands, his friends collectively groaned.
"Aw, that was unlucky," Rei said, flying past him upside down. She flipped through the air and grabbed a card off a pole.
"Ooh, I got a good one!" She posed happily. Yuya rubbed the back of his head.
"Guess that's what I get for leaping without looking, huh?" he laughed sheepishly at the crowd.
"What's up, Yuzu?" Asuka asked, seeing the concern on the latter's face.
"It's just that, whenever Yuya used to run into trouble, he'd use humor to cover his pain," Yuzu explained. Yuya appeared to hear her, flipped down to the ground in front of the stands and flashed a confident smile that caught her off guard.
"On the contrary: a man who can truly laugh at himself is one who has no fears or doubts!"
Yuzu blinked, wondering if she was really looking at Yuya. And then Rei dropped down in front of him, sitting on the barrier.
"Huh, that was actually pretty deep. What other surprises have you got?"
"Shouldn't you be dueling?" Yuzu asked through gritted teeth.
"Get away from him, you awful girl!" Mieru shouted across the bleachers. Rei looked at each of them and raised her eyebrow.
"Back to the fight, then! I activate my action card: Single Destruction! Since you control only one monster, it's destroyed!" Skullcrobat Joker twitched as he was struck by a lightning bolt, then flopped onto the floor and disintegrated.
"Maybe you're not as lucky you think,"Yuya remarked.
"What?" Rei asked.
"I activate Pendulum Call! By discarding a card, I can add two Magician Pendulum Monsters with different names from my deck to my hand." Yuya held up a new action card and sent it to his graveyard. "And do you know who I'm going to choose? Stargazer Magician and Timegazer Magician!" A cheer rose from the crowd as he held up the cards.
"I now set my Pendulum Scale with scale 1 Stargazer Magician and Scale 8 Timgazer Magician!" Yuya announced. I can now Special Summon monsters with levels from 2 to 7!" A cheer went up from the crowd.
"I need to control no monsters to activate Timegazer Magician in my pendulum zone," Yuya explained.
"You mean, my move helped you?!" Rei gaped. Yuya simply smiled.
"Come out, my monsters! Level 4 Xiangsheng Magician and level 6 Performapal Lebellman, and returning from the exta deck: level 3 Lizardraw, 4 Skullcrobat Joker and 7 Odd-Eyes!" The returning monsters appeared, accompanied by a girl in white robes holding a bow and arrow, and a doll-like man in a red uniform with an oversized bell for a hat.
"Anoyatyllis's effect prevents monsters from being Special Summoned by a spell or trap effect," Rei protested.
"Pendulum Monsters count as spell cards while in the pendulum zones, but a Pendulum Summon is not a card effect," Yuya explained.
"I made a mistake in my research..?" Rei gave a start. However, her face quickly hardened. "Well luckily, I prepared this just in case! Activate trap card: Bottomless Trap Hole! All monsters you just summoned with 1500 or more attack points will be destroyed, then banished!"
Yuya gasped.
"Odd-Eyes has 2500 attack and Skullcrobat Joker has 1800," Rei said as a black pit opened under the two monsters. Their startled cries echoed downward as they disappeared from sight.
"And since they're banished, they won't go to your extra deck," Rei grinned, pointing at Yuya. "Odd-Eyes is gone!" Yuya crossed his arms.
"In that case, it may be time for a different dragon to join the show. I activate Lebellman's effect! I target Lizardraw, deceasing Lebellman's level by one and Lizardraw's by the same amount!" Lebellman began ringing the bell on his head, making himself level 5 and Lizardraw level 4. The crowd began to stir in excitement, realizing what was coming next.
"I overlay level 4 Lizardraw and Xiangsheng to Xyz Summon a rank 4 monster!" Yuya shouted. The two monsters shrunk into orbs of golden energy that spiraled together in a black hole-like vortex, which exploded outward and released a black, shadowy mist. A serpentine creature became visible inside.
"Rise from the shadows and bare your fangs of defiance! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" Yuya announced. Dark Rebellion reared up and roared.
"I activate Dark Rebellion's effect! By detaching both of his Xyz Materials, I target my opponent's monster, halve its attack, then give the lost attack to Dark Rebellion!" The dragon unleashed purple arcs of electricity that wrapped around Anoyatyllis, binding her arms by her sides.
"Treason Discharge!" Yuya shouted, and the electric bindings sparked as Anoyatyllis's attack decreased to 1350 while Dark Rebellion's rose to 3850.
"Battle! Dark Rebellion attacks Anoyatyllis! Lightning Disobedience!" Dark Rebellion's claws and tusks glowed with crackling purple energy as he soared towards Anoyatyllis and slashed her apart. Rei threw her arms up over her face as the shockwave hit her and her life points dropped to 1500.
"Yuya took her life points down by over half in a single attack!" Shuzo beamed. "He must be getting really fired up!"
"I hope he's not going too hard on the poor girl," Yoko smiled sheepishly, scratching the side of her head.
"No, he's not going hard enough," Yuzu said quietly, her fringe covering her eyes and their friends leaning away as though they were afraid of getting burned.
"That's right! Smash that girl, darling!" Mieru shouted. Rei noticed their reactions and a grin formed on her face.
"When Anoyatyllis is sent to the graveyard, I can add a Shaddoll spell or trap from there to my hand." She returned Shaddoll Core.
"This duel has made me realize emotions I never have before... and I now know what I must do." Leaping back up above Yuya, she pointed down at him. "I battle only for myself no longer. Now, I battle for your heart, Yuya Sakaki!"
"...what?" Yuya stared at her blankly.
"WHAT?!" Yuzu and Mieru shouted simultaneously.
"Now this is a twist, eh folks?" Nico called to the crowd. "How will Rei turn this into a duel of love?"
"I'm glad you asked!" Rei replied. "To reach your heart, Yuya, first I must tame the vicious dragons you've summoned to guard it!"
"Look, I have no idea what you're talking about," Yuya said, holding up his hands.
Yuzu was making choking noises in her throat.
"Yuuuyaaa..."
"How could this be happening?!" Mieru cried. "Mieru will never forgive you, awful girl!"
"Not another one..." Yuya groaned, rubbing his temples. And stop laughing, you two! He could feel Yuto and Yugo mocking him in the back of his mind.
My best chance to defeat Dark Rebellion is to summon her... Rei thought as she drew. Yes!
"I activate Shaddoll Fusion! Since you control a monster summoned from the extra deck, I can Fusion Summon with monsters in my hand, field, or deck! I fuse my Shaddoll Hedgehog with my LIGHT attribute Denko Sekka to Fusion Summon..."
Yuya watched another gigantic doll-like puppet descend into the arena.
"Anoyatyllis?"
"No," Rei corrected him. "This is her original form. The source and greatest of all Shaddolls: El Shaddoll Construct!
"Battle! Construct attacks Dark Rebellion!"
"His attack boost remains from last turn!" Yuya pointed out.
"Like it matters," Rei replied, and everyone watched as Dark Rebellion was also hauled upward by the snaking strings. Yuya gaped in surprise.
"When El Shaddoll Construct battles a Special Summoned monster," Rei smirked, "she automatically destroys it before damage calculation."
Yuya could only stare up at the new monster.
"Oh, sh... oot."
"That's a powerful effect, but she's too reliant on it," Yuri observed. "We can easily summon a monster to overcome it..."
"Yeah, we know, Yuri," Yugo snapped. "We don't need you explaining everything to us." Yuri growled and disappeared back into Yuya's subconscious.
"That's a good effect, Rei, but you're too reliant on it," Yuya smirked, ignoring Yuri growling again at the back of his mind.
"Pendulum Summon! Appear, Nobledragon Magician, and return to the field, Guitartle! "I'll now use Lebellman's effect to once again and increase Guitartle's level by 3!" Lebellman's level became 3 and Guitartle's became 4.
"I tune level 3 Nobledragon and level 4 Guitartle to Synchro Summon a level 7 monster!" Yuya announced. "Spread your wondrous and beautiful wings, and strike down your enemies at the speed of light! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!" The white, blue and green dragon shone in the lights, dazzling everyone watching.
"Looking to avenge her brothers, is she?" Rei's smile returned. "Come on then!"
"Fine!" Yuya shouted. "Clear wing attacks Construct! Helldive Whirlwind Slasher!"
"Construct's effect activates automatically..." Rei admitted.
"I chain Clear Wing's effect to negate that activation and destroy the monster!" Yuya pointed at the gigantic Shaddoll. "Dichoric Mirror!" Clear Wing lit up with multicolored light that shone out over Construct. She lost control of her strings and they fell back onto her, cutting her to pieces.
"Now, Clear Wing gains the attack of the destroyed monster until the end of the turn." The dragon's attack points climbed to 5300.
"Construct's graveyard effect also allows me to reuse a card," Rei said, showing Shaddoll Fusion.
"Replay!" Yuya called. "Clear Wing attacks directly!" Rei knew that, thanks to his Magicians, she couldn't activate her set trap or even an action spell.
"Battle Fader!" she yelled, summoning the Fiend monster. "Your attack is negated and the battle phase ends!"
"In that case, I end my turn," Yuya said.
"I'll now activate Shaddoll Fusion! I fuse another Shaddoll Hedgehog in my deck and DARK Battle Fader into El Shaddoll Winda!" The new monster had an oddly human head, but on top of a Shaddoll body and accompanied by a corrupted dragon.
"I set a monster!" Rei told him.
"Trying a face-down monster after all?" Yuya asked.
"I said the problem was that they were slow," Rei replied. "I don't have to wait thanks to my trap card - Sinister Shadow Games! All face-down monsters I control are changed to face-up defense position!" A dragon held up by glowing purple strings appeared.
"Shaddoll Dragon's effect targets an opponent's monster and returns it to the hand! And since it's only level 4, Clear Wing can't stop it!"
"Wh - no!" Yuya cried, as Clear Wing was sent back to his extra deck.
"Now if I recall correctly, that one goes back face-down. Attack, Winda!" Rei shouted. Yuya grabbed an action card.
"I activate my own Single Destruction! Winda is destroyed!"
"Oh, did I forget to mention? She can't be destroyed by effects."
"Wait, wha-" and Yuya was thrown across the field with 800 life points left.
"I set another card and end my turn," Rei said. "Oh, one more thing. Winda's other effect prevents players from Special Summoning monsters more than once per turn. So even if you Pendulum Summon your monsters back again, you won't be able to make anything with them."
Okay, Yuya thought, If I can't go into my extra deck again and can't get rid of Winda with effects, I have to summon a monster powerful enough to attack over her. I have to bet everything on this next draw... He stared in shock at what he'd drawn.
This card?! Yuya, Yuto and Yugo looked accusingly at Yuri.
"You were struggling with a 40th card," he shrugged dismissively.
"Is there some kind of problem with Yuya?" Nico asked. Yuya looked around at the crowd, smiled and snapped his fingers, cuing a set of spotlights to shine on him.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" he announced. Rei looked around in confusion, trying to see where the lights were coming from.
"I know you're all expecting a Pendulum Summon about now," Yuya went on, "but thanks to my opponent's rather masterful play, I find myself forced to rely on a single card. A card with ancient, mysterious origins that even I shudder to make the choice to play." His face darkened as he looked over the confused crowd.
"First, I'll grab another action card, but not to activate it. I send a card from my hand to the graveyard to activate my last card: Super Polymerization!"
"Super Polymerization?!" Asuka gasped.
"Yuri's card..." Kaito said.
"With this, I can use monsters on either player's field as Fusion Materials," Yuya explained. "I now fuse your DARK El Shaddoll Winda and and Shaddoll Dragon."
"Two DARK monsters?!" Rei now looked terrified. "But that means-"
Yuya clapped his hands together as though he was praying.
"Behold the terrible beauty of the hungry predator! Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!"
Rei gaped up at the dragon before dashing off in search of an action card. Even with Stargazer Magician in play, she had to try something...
She stopped short when Starving Venom rose up in front of her. He brought his claw up and smashed the platform she was standing on, the crowd letting out cries of shock. Rei screamed as she plummeted down... only for Starving Venom to bring his tail up to catch her and gently lower her to the ground. Rei stared up in awe at the dragon before giving him a grateful nod. Starving Venom returned the nod and the crowd went wild as he disappeared.
"How's that for an ending?!" Nico cried, sounding like he was about to explode from excitement. "The dragons Rei set out to conquer were heroes all along!"
Yuya ran over to ask if Rei was okay.
"I think we managed a pretty good show, wouldn't you say?" she said.
"So wait, all that stuff about winning my heart was just part of the show?" Yuya asked.
"Well, no offense, you're a really cool guy and all." Rei's face became concerned as she looked over Yuya's shoulder. "Maybe my acting was a little too good..." Yuya turned around and saw that Yuzu had hopped over the barrier in front of the stands, while Mieru was trying to pull herself over while squealing incoherently.
"Well, uh, I gotta go!" Rei said quickly, and ran off. Yuya looked back at the other girls,
"Uh oh..."
"So, Yuya's finished his first duel."
"Hm... I guess he lives up to the hype, huh?"
"Our mission is proceeding on schedule. For now, we continue to observe."
"And we will complete our mission..."
"...for the good of all dimensions."
Done! Let me apologize for the huge wait from the last chapter, I've been going through quite a bit from the start of the year, including moving house, starting a new job, on top of doing research to make the duel make sense.
Anyway, bringing in Rei seemed like an interesting way to explore more effects of the legacy characters in Arc-V. Using Shaddolls seemed like a good opportunity to rectify what I see as a big missed chance in the anime: you're going to have Fusion users as the big bad guys and not even reference the strongest Fusion archetype of the time?
Finally, what do you think of the dragons' new summon chants and attack names? I tried to trim down the Japanese names while still maintaining the spirit of them.
