"Hello, Mira! Are you ready to beat this creep?" That was the cheerful greeting to Mira, spoken by the strange girl with various shades of pink.
To Mira, this girl had appeared completely out of nowhere, and was now floating in her presence. Prior to her emergence, Mira was engaged in a battle to save the life of the innocent bystander, Eiko, as well as keep her deck. Her opponent, Hawk, had three monsters on her field, including her ace Upgrade Monster. [ATK: 400] [BASE ATK: 1900] [ATK: 400] And that's when the strange girl made her appearance.
Several questions came to the perplexed Mira's mind. She wanted to know what kind of creature this girl was, how she knew her name, and, most importantly, what she was doing here. But the question that was able to come out of Mira's mouth was:
"Who… Who are you?"
"Who am I? Who am I?" the girl chirped with a giggle. After performing a loop with the trail of pink and violet digital pixels following behind her, she flamboyantly announced: "Why, I'm Pinkie – Pixel Pinkie! And I'm gonna be your friend to the end!"
Hearing this only made Mira more uncomfortable than ever. 'I have a bad feeling about this…' she worriedly thought.
YU-GI-OH! CHRONIXII
LEVEL 1-4
MEETING PIXEL PINKIE
"It's so nice to meet you, Mira!" Pinkie beamed. Sighing dreamily, she continued, "We are gonna have so much fun together!"
"Sure we are…" Mira said, still feeling skeptical about Pinkie's unexplained presence.
"Ooh! Ooh! Once we beat this meanie, we should totally vlog about our victory for everyone to see! I can see it now – Mira and Pinkie: the Modern Dynamic Duo!" Pinkie spoke with her widened eyes sparkling.
"Do you even know what vlogging is?" Mira asked, starting to get annoyed.
"And wow, that belly button!" Pinkie cried, catching the attention of Mira's bare midriff. "It's so beautiful! Then again, I'm not surprised – girls your age are known to wear clothes that show off their best parts!"
"Okay, now you can just piss off!" Mira shouted at Pinkie, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.
"Um… Mira?" the confused Kero asked. "Who are you talking to?"
"What the – don't you see this pink… thing right here?!" Mira shouted, fiercely pointing at Pinkie.
"Um… no," Homanu replied. "I don't really see any 'pink things' in sight."
"B-B-B-But she's right here!" Mira protested. "She's in plain sight!"
"Actually," the nervous Pinkie corrected her, "you're the only person who can see me right now."
"WHAT?!" Mira screamed.
"Yeah, sorry to disappoint you like that…" Pinkie said, sadly rubbing her arm.
"'Dissapoint?!'" Mira berated Pinkie. "Everyone's gonna think I'm crazy!"
"Yo, bitch!" Hawk shouted at Mira. "If you're done talking to yourself for no reason, I've got a duel to win! And it's still my turn!" With that declaration made, another card materialized in between her fingertips.
"I activate the Spell Card, Prosperity of the Forest!" she declared, vigorously swiping the card through one of her blade's horizontal slots. Another card materialized before transforming into the FOREST Spell Card depicting the runes of the mystical forest's monoliths shining brightly. Interestingly enough, the runes of the monolith began to shine rather brightly upon the card's activation.
"Since I have one or less cards in my hand, I get to draw one card for every FOREST-Attribute monster that's on my field, which is a total of three!" she explained as her Disk's ring appeared once again. "But there's a bonus – since we're playing under the 'Forest' Terrain, I get to draw one more card! So that means I get to draw four cards!" Four digital cards stacked on top of each other materialized in front of the ring's red slot, which Hawk drew. "Yes!" she cackled.
"I inject Chunin Ayame with Upgrade Core Super, and bring her to her 'Super' Grade!" she resumed, revealing the Core Card that pictured the gray hexagon shrouded by blue light. Afterwards, she placed the card directly underneath Chunin Ayame's card form. Once she did, the two unlit hexagons on Chunin Ayame's chest armor lit up bright blue, and Chunin Ayame furiously sharpened her blades. [GRADE: BASE – SUP / BASE ATK: 1900 – SUP ATK: 2300 2500 / CORE: 0 – 2]
"Now for the fun to really begin! First, I'll activate Chunin Ayame's Base Effect! By sending my two other Krownoichis to the Graveyard, she'll gain one thousand Attack Points this turn!" Both of Hawk's kunai-wielding bird ninjas dissipated into green pixels, which transferred to the blades of Chunin Ayame. [SUP ATK: 2500 – 3500]
"But after using one Core to activate Chunin Ayame's Super Effect, my Krownoichis will come right back!" Sure enough, Chunin Ayame's outer hexagon turned off [CORE 2 – 1]. Afterwards, two lime green portals appeared beside Chunin Ayame as the kunai-wielding bird ninjas flew out of them. [ATK: 200 – 400] [ATK: 200 – 400]
"And with both copies of Kunai Ikkyu back, they can activate their effects again!" Sure enough the bird ninjas flung their kunai daggers directly at Mira's left shoulder, making her wince in pain. [LP: 3000 – 2600]
"And now, for the real icing on the cake!" Hawk continued as another card materialized in between her fingertips. "I activate the Field Spell, Shrine of the Stormwinds!"
A virtual slot slid out of the outer end of the blade, which Hawk slapped the card onto before the slot closed back up. Suddenly, the forest floor began to rumble, and two statues rose up from the virtual earth. Each one was the exact same birdlike statue that was Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds.
"As long as this Field Spell's in play," she explained, "each and every one of my Winged Beast-Type monsters will gain one hundred Attack Points, multiplied by the number of Winged Beast-Type monsters that are already on my field!"
"So, Hawk has three Winged Beast-Type monsters on her field," Eiko calculated, counting on his fingers, "and she said that all of her Winged Beasts would gain one hundred Attack Points multiplied by the number of Winged Beasts on her field…" His eyes suddenly widened. "Wait – could that mean-"
"It does," Homanu said remorsefully. "All of Hawk's monsters are gonna gain three hundred Attack Points apiece!" And sure enough, that's exactly what happened to all of Hawk's bird warriors. [ATK: 400 – 700] [SUP ATK: 3500 – 3800] [ATK: 400 – 700]
"And if that's not enough, I'm also gonna activate my Krowjitsu, Forest Channeling!" Yet another card materialized in between Hawk's fingertips, which she viciously swiped through her blade's horizontal slot. A FOREST Spell Card materialized beside Hawk, its artwork depicting Kunai Ikkyu being shrouded by a spring green aura that transferred from Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds. "This card gives all of my FOREST-Attribute monsters that are Level Three or below a three hundred Attack Point boost!" Both of her kunai-wielding bird humanoids were briefly shrouded by a spring green aura. [ATK: 700 – 1000] [ATK: 700 – 1000] At this point, Mira truly became aghast at the kind of predicament she was in. The same went for pretty much everyone else, including the seemingly invisible Pinkie.
The last card in Hawk's hand materialized in between her fingertips. "I may not be able to beat you this turn," she vowed as she slid the card through one of her blade's horizontal slots, "but taking out a good chunk of your Life Points will be just as satisfying! Chunin Ayame, take out her Destiny Hero Passer!" Chunin Ayame flew directly towards the blue-armored hero, sticking out one of her swords in the process.
"Ooh, not good, not good, not good!" Pinkie wailed, her whole body over-exaggeratingly quivering, much to Mira's annoyance. But suddenly, Pinkie's special x-ray vision detected her partner's Set card, to which she was able to read its text. After the quick analysis, Pinkie cried, "Mira! Activate your face-down card, now!"
"I know!" the frustrated Mira growled to Pinkie through her gritted teeth, making Pinkie jump. Aloud, she announced, "I activate-"
But before she could finish, Chunin Ayame slashed her sword across the blue-armored warrior, shattering it into pixels. Mira tried her hardest to withstand the force of the explosion. [LP: 2600 – 400] "I don't know what's going on in that head of yours," Hawk taunted, "but I figured that my attack would finally snap you back into reality! You're welcome!"
"Rrgh, do you see what you've done?!" Mira fumed to Pinkie. The frightened fairy flushed, embarrassed for unwittingly making things worse for Mira.
"Okay, something's not right!" Homanu said. "First, she starts talking to herself for no reason, then she wants us to believe that there's something pink beside her, and now she lets herself lose this many Life Points?! What the hell's wrong with her?!"
"Oh, I hope this won't cost her the duel!" Kero whined.
"This is the end for you!" Hawk cackled. "First, one of my Kunai Ikkyus will attack your fallen angel, leaving you wide open!" She viciously pointed at the masked armored angelic warrior as she announced this. "And once she does, you'll be wide open, and my other Kunai Ikkyu will finish you off!"
"Onee-chan!" Kero wailed as he overheard Hawk's monologuing.
"Time for you and your deck to say goodbye!" Hawk screeched. One of her kunai-wielding bird humanoids flung her dagger directly at the angelic warrior.
Seeing the incoming attack made Pinkie over-exaggeratingly quiver once again. But Mira maintained her composure. "I activate the Trap Card, D-Chronomancy, Past Mirage!" A card materialized before transforming into an ILLUSION MAGIC Trap Card. Its artwork depicted the faded image of Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman standing in between Destiny Hero Diamond Dude and an attacking Elemental Hero Thunder Giant, all in a black background with pulsating lime green circuit board patterns.
"When you attack my monster that's of the ILLUSION MAGIC Attribute," Mira explained, "this card takes one of your other monsters and creates an illusion of itself! From there, it will be the monster you'll have to attack, instead! I'm sure you know which one of your monsters I'm gonna choose!"
"God damn you…!" Hawk hissed through the gritted teeth underneath her mask. In an instant, a faded image of Chunin Ayame appeared to intercept the incoming kunai dagger by swatting it away with one of her swords. Afterwards, the illusion retaliated by viciously bringing the same sword down upon the attacking Kunai Ikkyu, slicing her in two and creating an explosion of yellow pixels. Hawk winced at the sight of her monster's destruction, before the illusion imploded. [LP: 4000 – 1200]
"And with one of your monsters gone," Mira said, rather smugly, "your monsters instantly get weaker!" Hawk's remaining two monsters were briefly shrouded by the red-orange digital aura that flowed downwards. [SUP ATK: 3800 – 3700] [ATK: 1000 – 900]
"Well… at least I still have my other Kunai Ikkyu to take out your Paradoxer!" Hawk defiantly pouted. And sure enough, the last of her bird ninjas flung her kunai dagger at the angelic android, causing the angel to shatter into pixels. Some of the pixels struck at Mira, bringing her down to her left knee. [LP: 400 – 200]
"Maybe I wasn't able to beat you so quickly," Hawk declared, almost obsessively, "but at least I took a good chunk out of your Life Points in one turn! So, whaddya say to that, Miss I'm-Gonna-Save-Eiko's-Sorry-Ass-Because-He-Wanted-You-To?!"
"Just this," Mira said, slightly struggling to get herself back up. "You realize that if you brought your Shuriken Nikyu back with Chunin Ayame's effect, you would've been able to destroy my Trap, inflict me with damage, and actually win, right?"
"What the hell are you talking ab-" Hawk began. It wasn't long until she realized the mistake she made, which caused her to ultimately miss her opportunity of a quick victory. When she did, her eyes popped wide open, and she began to violently tremble in anger. "GODDAMMIT, YOU'RE RIGHT!" she screamed. "I COULD HAVE BEATEN YOU IF I DID THAT! HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SO STUPID?! GODDAMMIT! GOD-FUCKING-DAMMIT!" She jumped up and down on the pillar in a fit of rage while ranting and shouting out expletives, all of which lasted close to half a minute. Afterwards, she immediately regained her composure.
"No… I'm still gonna beat you! Even if my monsters lose their bonuses, they're still strong enough, and you're still hanging on to your Life Points by a thread! There's no way you can win!" Despite her dementedly defiant declaration, the Attack Points of all of her monsters returned to their previous values. [SUP ATK: 3700 – 2700] [ATK: 900 – 600]
"This isn't good! This isn't good! This is not good!" Pinkie over-exaggeratingly wailed. "Even if you found a way to take out a good amount of Hawk's Life Points, you're still in a heap of trouble, especially since you have less than a tenth of remaining Life Points! We also don't know how strong her face-down card is, so she probably is gonna beat you after all!"
Mira looked grimly at the ground upon hearing Pinkie's words. After a few seconds, she bravely raised her arm up to her face that was still looking down. "She isn't…" she said as the ring formed around her wrist. "…she can't…" Four stacked digital cards materialized in front of the ring's red-slotted ridge. "…AND SHE WON'T!" she shouted, lifting her face and defiantly looking at her surprised opponent. Afterwards, she valiantly drew the four cards, and her eyes sharply caught sight of one of the drawn cards.
"Normally, I'd have to sacrifice a monster to summon this. But since I drew it this turn and have no monsters on my field, I'm allowed to summon it without any sacrifices whatsoever! I summon the Upgrade Monster, Destiny Dragon Chronogias!"
She slapped the declared card onto her blade's centermost floating zone. Afterwards, a pillar of lustrous lavender light shot up from behind her. Flying out of the pillar was the ebony cybernetic dragon with lavender eyes and accents – the same dragon she used when Game Duels first premiered. [BASE ATK: 1900]
"It's Chronogias!" Eiko exclaimed upon recognizing the newly summoned dragon. "It's stronger than her Kunai Ikkyu, which is more than enough to take out the rest of Hawk's Life Points!"
"Go get her, Onee-chan!" Kero cheered with a leap.
Hawk once again fumed upon realizing this. But she shouted, "I'm not letting you win so easily! You've just triggered my Trap Card: Krownoichi Faceoff!" A card on her field materialized before transforming into a FOREST Trap Card, its artwork depicting Chunin Ayame being shrouded by a spring green aura as she was about to face off against a Great Shogun Shien.
"Since you just summoned a monster, my Chunin Ayame will gain fifteen hundred Attack Points this turn! But the real kicker is that because I activated this card during your turn, your monsters are forced to attack my Chunin Ayame!" The audience's horror returned as Chunin Ayame struck a battle pose. [SUP ATK: 2700 – 4200]. "Looks like I'm gonna win after all!"
"Don't be so sure!" Mira said as another card materialized in between her fingertips. "I inject Chronogias with Upgrade Core Super to bring it to the 'Super' Grade!"
She immediately took the card and placed it underneath Chronogias's card form. In an instant, the two unlit hexagons on Chronogias's chest lit up blue as the dragon unleashed an intimidating roar. [GRADE: BASE – SUP / BASE ATK: 1900 – SUP ATK: 2400 / CORE: 0 – 2]
"Since it's now of the 'Super' Grade, I can activate Chronogias's Super Effect! By using one Core, your Chunin Ayame will lose fifteen hundred Attack Points!" [CORE: 2 – 1] After the outer hexagon of Chronogias became unlit, the dragon unleashed a burst of lavender energy that struck directly at Chunin Ayame. [SUP ATK: 4200 – 2700]
"Still not strong enough to beat me, bitch!" Hawk loudly taunted.
"That's where Chronogias's Base Effect comes in!" Mira corrected her. "By sending one Spell Card from my hand to the Graveyard, I get to take a Normal Spell Card in my Graveyard, and add it to my hand!" A card materialized in front of Mira, which she flicked across with her fingertips, causing the card to pixelate. Afterwards, a streak of hot pink light shot from her ring's green-slotted ridge and into Mira's hand, transforming into a card.
"Then I'll activate that Spell Card, which just so happens to be the same card you destroyed the previous turn: D-Chronomancy, Past Strength!" After swiping the card through one of her blade's horizontal slots, another card materialized before transforming into an ILLUSION MAGIC Spell Card. Its artwork depicted three phantasmal versions of Necrolancer the Time-Lord, all of which were being absorbed into Chronogias.
"With this card, I have to shuffle up to three monsters of the ILLUSION MAGIC Attribute from my Graveyard into my deck, just as long as they each have one thousand Attack Points or less. Once I do, Chronogias will gain Attack Points equal to the combined Attack Points of the monsters that were returned to the deck!
"I return to my deck, Destiny Hero Paradoxer and two copies of Destiny Hero Passer!" Sure enough, phantasmal versions of the three monsters – one of the cybernetic angel, and two of the blue-armored android – formed, only to be absorbed into Chronogias as the dragon was shrouded by a lustrous lavender aura. [SUP ATK: 2400 – 4800] Hawk just started in horror at what she was witnessing.
"So, I'm forced to attack Chunin Ayame, huh?" Mira smugly commented. "Well, I really need no coaxing now!" To her dragon, she commanded, "Destiny Dragon Chronogias, attack Chunin Ayame and end this duel!"
The dragon unleashed a spiral of lavender digital flames from its mouth, striking at the armored bird ninja and incinerating it. The flames also headed directly for the dumbfounded Hawk, who screamed as she was flung off the pillar upon impact. [LP: 1200 – 0] As for Eiko, he gripped the tree hard as he could to keep away from Hawk's fate. Meanwhile, as the scenery returned to the forest area in the park, Mira noticed that Pinkie playfully winked at her and flew into her Disk, all within a split second.
"YOU DID IT, ONEE-CHAN!" Kero cheered once again. "You actually beat that jerk!"
"You did more than that," added Homanu, "you saved the life of a defenseless child!"
"Thank you," Eiko said, blushing a bit. The tree the child had been stuck too started to lower to the ground, along with the rest of the virtual world's props, and he was eventually able to step off of it with ease.
"No prob," Mira said with a gentle smile. Sternly shifting her attention to the defeated Hawk, she warned, "Alright, Hawk, we had a deal! You get out of here, and leave Eiko alone!"
Hawk slowly got herself up, brushing off the dirt and gravel from her clothes. "Okay, fine!" she shouted. "But you will regret this! Believe me!" She ran away from the group in a huff.
"Well, you're safe now," Homanu said to Eiko, "so you can go back to whatever you were doing."
"Actually," said Eiko, walking over to Mira, "I kinda want to give Mira a little something as thanks for saving me."
"That's nice of you," said Mira, "but I don't think I really deserve any kind of reward-"
"Oh, I insist!" Eiko interrupted. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace consisting of a black tag hung by a white string, with a silver ring in the center. Inside the ring was an amethyst crystal with a carving of a crude human eye with five rays resembling eyelashes.
"You're seriously giving me this?!" Mira gasped, eyeing the purple amethyst. "I-I don't know if I can accept anything this valuable!" She tried to hand the necklace back to Eiko.
"Please, you've earned it!" Eiko said cheerfully, pushing Mira's hand back. "I have to go meet up with some friends. See you later!"
"No, wait!" Mira cried. But Eiko didn't listen. He quickly turned and skipped happily away from the three friends.
"Wow… now that was totally unexpected!" Kero said, scratching his head.
"It's also something that makes me suspicious about Eiko even more," Homanu added. "I'm not gonna question about his dueling talents anymore.NowI'm wondering how someone like Eiko managed to acquire something so valuable. And more importantly, why would he just give something as valuable as that toyou, Mira?"
"I dunno," Mira said with a sigh. "But just in case anything else happens, I'm gonna hold onto this. Besides, we should probably be heading back. I've personally had enough excitement for one day."
"Good idea," said Homanu. "That reminds me – are you still feeling okay?"
"I… I guess I'm feeling better," Mira replied. "I don't think that dream's bothering me much anymore."
"Actually, I was referring to when you were talking to yourself, and you said that there was a 'pink thing,'" Homanu corrected her. This shocked Mira.
"Yeah, what wasthatall about?" asked Kero.
"Look, I know it's weird, but there actuallywasthis pink thing!" Mira argued. "You only didn't see her because of some stupid reason about me being the only one who could see her!"
"That's right!" Pinkie's voice spoke from Mira's Disk, much to Mira's shock.
"What the – how did you get in this thing?!" Mira shouted, shaking her left arm.
"Weren't you paying attention?" Pinkie playfully teased. "I flew into your Disk just when the Game Duel was over." Mira actually did recall seeing something like that. "And I should probably tell you that in addition to being the only person who canseeme, you're also the only person who canhearme, as well."
"WHAT?!" Mira screamed. "You know, you could've told me that before!"
"See? There you go again!" said Kero.
"I'm fine," Mira said defensively. "It's probably just some virus I haven't noticed. But when we get back to the orphanage, the first thing I'm gonna do is delete it!"
"Mira, wait!" Pinkie pleaded. "You can't delete me!"
"Oh, yeah? Watch me!" Mira shouted at her Disk, much to her friends' confusion. Embarrassed, she grumbled, "Let's just go…"
With nothing else to do, the three friends left the park to head home. But as soon as they were gone, Eiko poked his head out of a bush he was hiding behind. He managed to overhear the rather unpleasant conversation between Mira and Pinkie, and he didn't look too happy about it. "I was afraid something like this would happen," he murmured. "Pinkie's bubbly attitude has caused a rocky start between her and Mira. All I can hope is that their relationship will improve, and hopefully soon. And it has to, if our mission is to succeed!"
Although Mira herself said that she was going to delete Pinkie once she and her friends got back to the orphanage, she wasn't sure if she had the knowledge to delete someone as complicated as Pinkie. Luckily, she did know someone who might. As soon as she and her friends returned to the orphanage, Mira headed to the outside of a bedroom a few doors down from hers, and knocked on the door. "Hey, Yusaku!" she called. "It's me, Mira! Can I talk to you for a bit?"
The door opened, and there stood Yusaku, who just so happened to be more than knowledgeable with computer software. "Oh. Hey, Mira," he calmly greeted her. "Whaddya need?"
"I usually wouldn't ask for favors like this," Mira explained, "but I think there's a virus in my Duel Disk system, and I was wondering if you could delete it for me."
"Mira, I said that you couldn't delete me!" Pinkie whiningly pleaded. Mira tried her hardest to ignore her.
"Are you sure you can't do it yourself?" asked Yusaku.
"I could," Mira replied, "but I don't know if I can delete a virus as complicated as this one. Hell, I don't even know if I have the right software to do it."
"Well… okay," said Yusaku. "Just hand me your Disk, and I'll take a look at it." Mira obediently took the Disk off her wrist and handed it to Yusaku. "But if this virus really is as complicated as you say it is, I'm gonna have to do some thorough and extensive scans for it. I probably won't be done until bedtime."
"Fine by me," said Mira. "Thanks, Yusaku."
"Anytime," said Yusaku as Mira left to return to her bedroom.
Around six o'clock that same day, it was suppertime at the orphanage. Most of the orphans were chatting about their respective Game Duel progresses as they ate their meals. Mira was dining on teriyaki chicken, Homanu helped himself to donburi, and Kero was happily stuffing his face with gyoza dipped in Szechuan sauce.
"Boy, that duel sure was fun…" Mira sighed as she proceeded to put another piece of chicken into her mouth.
"I know!" Kero squealed with a mouth full of food. After swallowing it rather hard, he continued, "I still can't believe you were able to beat Hawk like that! And those new cards you've acquired sure helped, didn't they?"
"They did," said Mira, "but I think it was luck, more than anything."
"Wait, you actually beat Hawk?!" a voice chirped. It belonged to Reggie, who ran over to Mira's table upon overhearing their conversation. "The same Hawk that dueled Arthur and lost?!"
"The one and the same," Homanu replied.
"Oh my gosh; Mira, you just have to duel me after dinner!" Reggie pleaded.
"Sorry, Reggie," said Mira, "but that's out of the question – my Disk's with Yusaku."
"Wait, with Yusaku?!" Reggie cried. "What for?"
"I think I got some kind of virus in my Duel Disk after my duel with Hawk," Mira explained, "so I'm getting it looked over to make sure nothing's wrong with it."
"Aw, no fair!" Reggie whined. "How am I gonna find out if I'm strong enough to kick Arthur's butt now?"
"Wait, when did dueling Arthur become such a big deal all of a sudden?" asked Homanu. "Are you really that much of a fan of him?"
"Um… yeah! I'm a really big fan of him, sure!" Reggie stammered.
"If you really want a duel, I'll duel you!" Kero offered.
"Thanks, Kero," said Reggie, "but I'd prefer dueling against someone who's actually tough, if y'know what I mean!"
"Wha- I'm tough!" Kero pouted, his face turning red in embarrassment.
"Look, Reggie," said Homanu, "if you're really that eager for a duel, I'll duel you after dinner."
"Now we're talking!" Reggie beamed, slamming her fist on the table in triumph. "I can't wait – after dinner, we'll see who's stronger: you or me!" She eagerly returned to her table to finish her supper.
"You sure made someone happy," Mira remarked with a smile.
"Hey, I gotta do whatever it takes to satisfy her," Homanu said with a shrug.
"She prefers a duelist who's actually 'tough,' she says…" Kero grumbled as he and his friends returned to their meals.
Four hours later, it was time for bed. Mira had just finished putting on her pajama top when she remembered the strange necklace Eiko had given to her earlier, placed on a small desk by her bed. She picked it up and studied the curious artifact, suddenly remembering every detail that led her to acquiring it, including what Eiko had told her. A knock on the door broke her concentration. She hid the necklace inside her pocket and hurried to open the door. Outside her bedroom was Yusaku, dressed in his own sleepwear consisting of a white undershirt and black watch flannel pants. "Hey, Mira," he greeted her.
"Hey, Yusaku," said Mira. "What can I do for you?"
"I came to give you your Disk back," Yusaku said, handing the Disk back to Mira.
"Thanks," she said, placing her Disk back on her computer desk. "Did you find any viruses on it?"
"Well… that's the thing," Yusaku said, placing an arm over his shoulder. "I did do all of the extensive scans I could, but I found… nothing."
"Nothing?" the mildly perplexed Mira said. "Like, no complicated viruses at all?"
"I don't think I found any viruses, actually," the suspicious Yusaku said.
"Wow, that is strange…" Mira said, rather thoughtfully. "Well, I'm sorry if I made you do all that for nothing."
"No, it's fine," Yusaku said reassuringly. "Like you said, you usually don't ask for these kinds of favors."
"Well, thanks for not getting angry with me," said Mira. "'Night, Yusaku."
"'Night, Mira," Yusaku replied, exiting the bedroom and quietly closing the door behind him.
As soon as Yusaku was gone, Mira picked up her Disk and looked over it suspiciously. "I know that pink thing was talking to me," she murmured to herself. "I just hope I won't have to deal with her again." She pulled the necklace out of her pocket, and placed it along with her Disk on her computer desk. Then she turned off the light, pulled herself under the covers, and went to sleep.
About half an hour later, the tablet inside her necklace began to glow, and the piece of jewelry suddenly started to levitate and move towards Mira. The black tag touched Mira's forehead as a blinding purple light flashed for a split second.
In what she assumed was her dream, Mira was lying on her front upon some dirt and gravel. As one eye opened, and eventually the other, she got herself up. But as she was about to brush off her clothes, she noticed the fingerless gloves on her hands – the first red flag. Startled, she noticed a nearby pond, and immediately ran towards it. As she looked down at her own reflection in the pond, she discovered that she was, in fact, in her everyday attire – the second red flag. And as she began looking all over her body, she eventually found the Duel Disk that was inexplicably fastened to her left wrist – the third and final red flag.
"Where… where am I?" the startled Mira asked. She hastily began surveying the area, which appeared to be the outside entrance to a cave. "And what's my Duel Disk doing here?"
To her horror, she saw a familiar shot of pink and violet pixels shooting out of her Disk, which transformed into Pinkie. "Hello, Mira!" she cooed. Inhaling deeply through her nostrils, she dreamily sighed, "Don't you just love the great outdoors?"
Mira's mouth was agape in horror at her presence. "AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL HERE?!" she screamed.
"Well, Mira," Pinkie explained, still smiling, "when I said that you couldn't delete me, I meant that you literally cannot delete me!"
"Oh, that's just great!" Mira ranted, pacing around the entrance. "That means I'm pretty much stuck with you! You, who's not only the thing I alone can see or hear, but also the one who won't leave! Argh, can things get any worse?!"
"No," said a female voice. "They can only get better, if things go as planned."
A figure walked out of the entrance. It was a woman who was completely biomechanical – a robot that maintained some human features. The woman was clad in black body armor, the wrists and calves being purple. Her attire consisted of a dark grey one-piece dress, the bottom half resembling a sarong, silver sandals and ankle bracelets, and a gold brooch bearing the famous Eye of Wdjat. She also wore a necklace, which happened to be the equally famous Millennium Necklace. Her most notable feature was a silver Kanohi Rau, green lights shining out of the mask's eyeholes. "A pleasure to meet you, Mira Yukiko," was her greeting to Mira.
"Wait… how do you know my name?" Mira suspiciously asked the figure while narrowing her eyes. "And more importantly, who are you, and what is this place?"
"Oh, my apologies," said the android. "I am Isis, Ariki of Chicomoztoc Cave."
FEATURED CARD – LEVEL 1-4
Krownoichi Chunin – Ayame
FOREST/Winged Beast – Upgrade – Effect
ATK {BASE 1700 / SUP 2300}
CORE {SUP 2}
Can be Normal Summoned by Tributing 1 monster, or Special Summoned.
REQUIREMENTS
●BASE EFFECT / Grade BASE or higher: Send 2 face-up FOREST/WIND Attribute Winged Beast Type monsters other than this card from your field to the Graveyard.
●SUP EFFECT / Grade SUP: 1 CORE
BASE EFFECT This turn, this card gains 1000 ATK, also it inflicts piercing battle damage.
SUP EFFECT Special Summon 2 Level 4 or lower, FOREST/WIND Attribute, Winged Beast Type monsters from your Graveyard. This turn, you can only attack with FOREST/WIND Attribute, Winged Beast Type monsters.
GIICHI CORPORATION CARD DATABASE
Shrine of the Stormwinds
WIND/Field Spell Card
REQUIREMENT None
EFFECT While this card is face-up in the Field Zone, face-up Winged Beast Type monsters on your field gain ATK equal to [the number of face-up Winged Beast Type monsters on your field] x 100.
Krowjitsu – Forest Channeling
FOREST/Spell Card
REQUIREMENT None
EFFECT All face-up Level 3 or lower FOREST Attribute monsters you control gain 300 ATK until the end of this turn.
D-Chronomancy – Past Illusion
ILLUSION MAGIC/Spell Card
REQUIREMENT When an opponent's monster declares an attack on a face-up ILLUSION MAGIC Attribute monster on your field.
EFFECT Choose 1 monster on your opponent's field, except the attacking monster, and change the attack target to it.
Krownoichi Faceoff
FOREST/Trap Card
REQUIREMENT When your opponent Normal or Special Summons a monster.
EFFECT 1 face-up FOREST/WIND Attribute, Winged Beast Type monster on your field gains 1500 ATK until the end of this turn. Then, if you activated this card during your opponent's turn, monsters on your opponent's field must attack the monster that gained ATK by this effect, if able.
D-Chronomancy – Past Strength
ILLUSION MAGIC/Spell Card
REQUIREMENT During a turn you have not activated "D-Chronomancy – Past Strength".
EFFECT Choose up to 3 ILLUSION MAGIC Attribute monsters with 1000 or less ATK in your Graveyard. 1 face-up monster on your field gains ATK equal to [the total ATK of the chosen monsters, until the end of this turn. Then, shuffle the chosen monsters into the Deck. For the rest of this turn, only that monster can attack, and you cannot activate cards or effects, except ILLUSION MAGIC cards.
Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! CHRONIXII…
Mira has just arrived at this unknown location known as "Chicomoztoc Cave", and now she must undergo the "Trial of Wisdom" to prove her worth as a "Wielder". Will Mira succeed in this "Trial"? But more importantly, what exactly is a "Wielder", and why has Mira been chosen for this? Find out in Level 1-5: The Trial of Wisdom! Game Duel, game start!