Around half past noon that same day, Giichi was in his office at Giichi Corp, closely observing the virtual screen with the strange green markings. He was especially fixated on six differently colored crystal-shaped graphics on the upper right corner of the screen, which were arranged in a hexagonal pattern. Three of the crystals appeared to be lit up – one orange, one white, and one blue.
"A little over a month, and still no new signs of who we're looking for!" Giichi grumbled. "If I don't uncover any more of their identities soon, my plan is sure to fail!"
He was interrupted by a buzzing sound on his desk's intercom. After hastily closing the screen, Giichi pressed a button on the intercom and said, "Yes, what is it?"
"Mr. Davenport wants to see you, sir," a female secretary spoke through the intercom. "He insists that it's urgent."
After lightly fuming through his nostrils, Giichi said, "Very well, send him in."
He pressed a different button on his desk that automatically unlocked the door to his office. Not long after, a middle-aged man with graying hair and gray-brown eyes breathlessly ran into the office. "Mr. Giichi, I'm sorry!" he yelped. "I'm really, really, really sorry for what happened, sir!"
"Maxwell, get a hold of yourself!" Giichi sternly shouted, ceasing his associate's panicking. "Why are you so riled up like this, anyway?"
"I don't know how to say it, sir," Maxwell Davenport stammered, "but I… I think you should take a look at this…!"
Mr. Davenport was hesitant at first, but he steeled himself and produced a small high-tech rod. He pressed a button on the side of the rod, which displayed a holographic screen containing footage of the duel between Mira and Reggie. More precisely, the footage was paused on the frame that displayed the dueling area being set ablaze, with the possessed Reggie's corrupted ace beside her.
Giichi was simultaneously startled and amazed at what he saw. "Davenport, where exactly did you acquire this footage?" he demanded.
"My… My Button was streaming the duel," Mr. Davenport nervously replied.
"Your… 'Button?'" Giichi asked, before realizing whom his associate was referring to. "You mean your daughter, Andrea? That one streaming girl who's always up to date with the quote-unquote 'deets?'"
"That's her!" Mr. Davenport confirmed. "She said that she was going to stream the duel between those two girls, upon the request of one of her friends – but I swear, I didn't know something like this would happen! I'm sure my Button didn't either, but she is so in trouble for potentially ruining your company's reputation like this!"
Giichi said nothing as he closely examined the frame. His keen eyes underneath his sunglasses examined the Krana Xa on Itzam Twelve's face, but they also caught sight of one of the cards in Mira's hand. Specifically, it was the black card she was beyond hesitant of using. Giichi was unable to make out the card himself, given that the frame that caught it was at a considerably low quality. And yet he was still fascinated by Mira possessing the black card to begin with.
"Actually," Giichi said reassuringly, "I want to congratulate your 'Button' for streaming this duel."
"You… You mean it, sir?" Mr. Davenport said, his eyes glistening with hope.
"Without a doubt," Giichi replied. "I might even come over to your house after work to personally offer my congratulations to her."
"Th-Thank you, sir!" Mr. Davenport squealed.
"In the meantime," Giichi ordered, "I demand that this livestream be kept from the public until further notice. But right now, I have some more important matters to attend to. You're dismissed, Davenport."
"Yes, sir!" Mr. Davenport said, saluting his boss before leaving the office.
Once he was all alone, Giichi once again looked at the paused frame, and at the black card Mira was holding. After a few seconds, Giichi pressed a button on his intercom. "Send the head of Public Affairs to my office at once," he ordered. "It's time we arranged a little meet-and-greet…"
YU-GI-OH! CHRONIXII
LEVEL 1-7
LIONHEARTED IDOL, ARTHUR
An hour had passed since Mira's duel against Reggie, complete with its unexpected turn of events. Throughout this time since returning to the orphanage, Mira just lay on her bed, unseeing at the ceiling. She was troubled by what she had witnessed in the duel she just had.
Where did Reggie acquire that 'Itzam Incarnate' card? How did she acquire it? How and why was it able to possess her the way it did? Who was this 'Itzamna' she spoke of? But most of all, what was that vision Mira saw before the duel against Reggie, and how was it that it all came true? Those were just a few of the questions that were stuck on Mira's mind as she kept having repeated flashbacks of Reggie's sudden malicious behavior in the duel. A sudden knock on her door immediately broke her concentration as she rapidly sat up. "Who is it?!" the astonished Mira asked with a jolt.
"It's me, Homanu," Homanu spoke through the other side of the door. "Can Kero and I come in?"
"Sure, go ahead," Mira said, calming down a bit.
With that answer satisfactory, Homanu opened the door and entered the bedroom, Kero following behind. Upon sitting next to Mira on her bed, Homanu lightly sighed and said, "Mira, I know you said that you needed some alone time after your duel with Reggie, but… we really need to talk."
"Talk… about what?" Mira asked, starting to feel uneasy.
"About the way you've been behaving recently!" Homanu shouted, startling Mira with his unexpected change of tone. "You claim that there's a 'pink thing' when there clearly isn't, and earlier today, you were talking to… whatever it was when you dueled against Reggie! Mira, I'm worried about you!"
"Homanu, I keep telling you, I'm fine!" Mira argued.
"I doubt it! I don't know what's gotten into you since your duel against Hawk, but I demand to know now!"
"Look, I honestly can't explain," Mira said, "but there's no need for you to-"
Their bickering was interrupted by Reggie excitedly barging into the bedroom. "Guys! Come quick!" she squealed. "Arthur's on TV! And he's about to announce something big!"
Hearing the news made Kero heavily gasp in excitement. "Oh, man, I don't wanna miss a second of this!" He and Reggie shot out of the bedroom like rockets and raced downstairs to the recreational center.
"We'd better go see what this is about, and pray that Kero doesn't break anything on the way down," Mira said, getting up from her bed to hurriedly follow the two. Homanu grumbled, but willingly followed behind.
It wasn't long before Mira and Homanu caught up with Reggie and Kero, who were among the rest of the orphans whose eyes were glued onto Arthur on the television screen. He had just defeated a random duelist with his trusty Lionhearted Knight Artorigus, equipped with the sword of Excatibur. Reggie and Kero may have missed the duel, but that mattered little to them. Their true excitement revolved around whatever announcement their idol was about to make.
"Duelists of Alba Litora!" Arthur boldly greeted his audience after fiercely facing the camera. "'Tis I, the great Arthur Rutherford – your idol; your superstar; and most of all, your champion!" He pointed directly at the camera, which made most of the orphans swoon.
"I have exciting news for you all: it's come to my attention that there are some ordinary duelists in this fair metropolis that just so happen to be equal in my greatness. Therefore, I shall have the utmost pleasure to be present at the Alba Circuit at six o'clock tonight, where I shall officiate the return of a classic mechanic that will make its way into Game Duels! Not only that, but one of you lucky duelists out there will get the once-in-a-lifetime chance to duel yours truly! So if you want the rare privilege to duel your idol of this city, you'd better not miss out!" The announcement ended, but it left close to all of the orphans squealing in excitement and making all kinds of comments, hoping that they would be the one chosen to duel Arthur.
"I can't believe it!" Reggie squealed as the other orphans left to take their conversations elsewhere. "Arthur's gonna be present when they reveal a new mechanic to Game Duel! And he's gonna be dueling one of us!"
"But what did he mean when he said it 'came to his attention' that there are duelists 'equal in his greatness?'" Mira skeptically asked.
Reggie began to wonder about that, herself. But it wasn't long before the realization came to her, which only increased her excitement. "Arthur must've seen the duel between Mira and me!" she exclaimed.
"How can that be?" Homanu suspiciously asked. "I looked up that stream as soon as I got home, and it's currently set on private!"
"Who cares?!" Reggie cried, still optimistic. "I'm sure that Arthur saw our duel; otherwise, he wouldn't have made this announcement! And I know I lost to Mira, but I'm sure that he'll have to duel me!"
"Arthur, duel you? As if!" a conceited male voice rudely remarked.
The voice belonged to a fourteen-year-old boy who was almost as tall as Kero. He had purple eyes, pink eyebrows, and two-toned hair that was violet with pink underneath. He wore a lavender polo shirt, and light blue pants tucked into silver-tinted leather boots. This was Yuri Kensho, the greatest 'Fusion Champion' of the entire orphanage – or so he claimed. In actuality, he was easily the most conceited, headstrong, and boastful duelist in the entire orphanage, always selfishly trying to prove his strength and worth in one way or another.
"Jeez, Yuri, do you have to act like such a jerk?!" Homanu snapped.
"I'm just stating that it's very unlikely that someone as famous as Arthur would duel someone as commonplace as her," Yuri defiantly stated, "when it's clear that he would most likely be dueling me, the greatest Fusion Champion in all of St. Miki's Oprhanage!"
"Um… I don't think Fusion Monsters are even out yet for Game Duels…" Kero innocently corrected him.
"If you've actually been paying attention," Yuri scolded, "Arthur said that he'd be present when they'd be including a 'classic mechanic' for this format, so it's obvious that Fusion Monsters will be included!"
"You don't know that!" Mira argued. "And how can you call Reggie 'commonplace' when you're an orphan like the rest of us?"
Yuri was unable to come up with an answer to that, so he shook his head and angrily vowed, "Well, you're significantly more commonplace compared to a champion like me! And Arthur will choose me as his opponent – you'll see!" With a huff, he turned and stormed out of the recreational room.
"Yuri will just never learn, will he?" Homanu contemptuously remarked.
"I guess not," Mira replied.
Reggie, however, was visibly heartbroken by Yuri's harsh comments. "Would… would Arthur really not wanna duel me?" she whimpered.
Mira kindly placed a hand on Reggie's shoulder and looked gently into her eyes. "I can't really say for certain," she said reassuringly, "but I'm sure he'd appreciate you motivating him to make an appearance, at least. Besides, you said it yourself – it's possible that the stream featuring you against me came to his attention."
"Yeah… Yeah, you're right!" Reggie beamed, brightening instantly. "And if he did see my video, then there's still a chance he might duel me after all!"
"Someone's feeling better!" Kero cheerfully remarked.
Mira smiled at the return of Reggie's cheerfulness before she remembered something. "Wait, what about the injuries from the duel we had earlier?" she asked. "Aren't you still hurt from that?"
"Eh, I'm still a little sore," Reggie replied, waving her arms in circles. "But I'm sure I'll be better by tonight! But in the meantime, I got a deck to tweak! See ya!" She raced out of the recreational room and back to her bedroom.
But as soon as Reggie left, the necklace hidden underneath Mira's shirt began to faintly shine once again. Mira's eyes widened as another vision went through her head. The vision was the very same one before she dueled Reggie, only it was Yuri who was possessed, complete with the same demonic red eyes. He even screamed the same vow Reggie previously screamed: "IN THE NAME OF ITZAMNA, I WILL DESTROY YOU!" That was when the vision ended and Mira snapped back to reality.
"See?! You just made that face again!" Homanu shouted. "Seriously, Mira, there's something wrong with you, and I demand to know what it is!"
"Nothing's wrong with me, Homanu!" Mira argued defensively. "I… I just need to be alone for a while." She, too, ran out of the recreational room.
"Mira! Come back!" Homanu called. But Mira didn't listen – she ran up the stairs to her bedroom, slamming the door shut.
Safe inside her bedroom, Mira threw herself into the chair by her computer, panting heavily. But as soon as she did, the streak of pink and violet pixels shot out of the Disk that was on her computer desk, before transforming into Pinkie. "Hello, Mira!" she cooed before realizing the sense of fear on Mira's face. "Um… not a good time again?"
"It's not," she darkly replied, "although this is one time you actually picked the right time to pop out of nowhere."
"Why? What's the matter?" Pinkie asked.
"I had another vision," her frustrated partner explained. "It was the same one I had when I was dueling Reggie earlier today… only this time I saw Yuri."
"You mean whoever this 'Yuri' guy is, he's gonna turn evil, too?" the panicking Pixie predicted.
"I dunno," replied Mira. "All I know is that I don't plan on dueling anyone anytime soon. Arthur's gonna be at an event where they're gonna add some old mechanic to Game Duels, and he's the one who's gonna pick out one of us to duel him. I doubt it'll be me, though."
"See? Problem solved!" Pinkie said encouragingly. "Just don't go to this event, and your problem's solved!"
"I wish it were that easy," Mira murmured. "Something tells me I'm gonna have to attend this event anyway, lest I wanna make Homanu even more suspicious about me than he already is…" Pinkie said nothing to that comment, but quickly retreated to Mira's Disk.
'Why the hell did I have another vision like this?!' Mira angrily thought, already frustrated with the lack of reasoning for her vision involving Reggie. 'I don't know what's going on, but I can't let these weird visions get to me! Just focus on the event that's gonna happen later tonight… and keep hoping that nothing wrong happens…!'
It was close to six o'clock that very evening, and a huge crowd gathered outside the main entrance of Alba Circuit for the big event. Among them were the orphans who were fortunate enough to see Arthur's announcement for themselves, still filled with high hopes that Arthur would duel one of them.
"Ooh, I can't wait for the event to begin!" Kero squealed, hopping up and down in excitement with clenched fists. "What if he chooses me to be his opponent?! If he does, then I'll so be ready for him!"
"Don't forget," Mira reminded Kero, who ceased his hopping, "a lot of people are also here to see what 'classic mechanic' will be added to Game Duels."
"It'll certainly be a relief for Giichi to add something practical to this format for a change," Homanu remarked, crossing his arms.
"Reggie! Mira! There you are!" a familiar preppy voice cried. It belonged to none other than Andrea Davenport, who was hurriedly rushing over to Mira and her friends in a light blue dress with sparkles. Her miniaturized camera orb was flying beside her. Once she arrived, she tightly embraced Reggie and Mira.
"Whoa, what's with all the love?" Reggie asked as the bewildered Mira gently pushed Andrea at an arm's length.
"You're kidding, right?!" Andrea beamed with a friendly laugh. "I honestly can't thank you two enough for having me stream your duel yesterday! Not only did the likes and views practically blow up my phone, but my Fandreas just loved the way Mira ended the duel!"
"Thanks," Mira said rather awkwardly, "but are you sure you didn't get in trouble with your father, or anything? I mean, he must've seen the duel, and there was a fire outbreak, remember? Plus, your father does work for Giichi-"
"About that," Andrea interrupted, "Daddy was gonna punish me for that, but he said that Mr. Giichi that he was so proud of me for streaming that duel!"
"Giichi said that, huh?" Homanu suspiciously commented, holding his chin.
"He sure did!" Andrea said. "He even came to our house to personally thank me for it! As a result, Daddy's now letting me attend and stream the event, and even let me wear my favorite dress! How fab is that?"
"Yes, very 'fab,'" Mira replied.
Suddenly, spotlights began to shine in front of the entrance, which increased the audience's excitement. "Guys! It's starting!" Kero squealed. This also prompted Andrea to lightly toss her camera orb into the air, turning the drone on. She did it just in time, for after that, flares shot up from the floor, surrounding the entrance with a thick smoke. Proudly walking through the smoke was the city's star attraction, Arthur Rutherford, followed by Giichi.
"Duelists of Alba Litora!" Arthur loudly and boldly greeted his audience. "'Tis I, the great Arthur Rutherford – your idol; your superstar; and most of all, your champion!" He pointed directly towards the sky as more flares shot up from the floor, making the audience cheer wildly in excitement.
"You heard it right there, Fandreas!" Andrea said, quickly facing the camera but still making sure her audience would see Arthur. "Your girl Andrea is right at Alba Circuit, where we are about to witness whatever 'classic mechanic' will be added to the ever-so-trending Game Duels! Not only that, but our city's heartthrob, Arthur Rutherford, will actually be dueling one of us, 'cause the duel previously streamed by yours truly has caught his attention! But what will this 'classic mechanic' be, and which duelist will be dueling Arthur? We'll just have to wait and see, Fandreas!"
"Yes, thank you all for coming," Giichi said after Arthur's grand entrance. "We at Giichi Corp were originally going to include this mechanic to Game Duels much later on into development, so that you'd get the chance to be more accustomed to this format. However, it has come to our attention that there are a select few duelists in this fair metropolis that are potentially equal to Arthur's greatness!" Yuri, who happened to be attending the unveiling, smirked at Reggie beside him, only for Reggie to eye back at him menacingly.
"Thus," continued Giichi, "what better way to truly commemorate the inclusion of a classic mechanic into Game Duels than to showcase this mechanic as one of our duelists gets the once-in-a-lifetime chance to duel our very own Arthur Rutherford!?" This declaration immediately pumped up most of the audience.
"And so, without further ado, I present to you the return… of Fusion Monsters!"
With this declaration made, multiple large screens popped open before various locations of the audience, each one displaying one of the two following iconic Fusion Monsters: Alligator's Sword Dragon and Bracchio-raidus. They even had the same color frame as classic Fusion Monsters, though the overall color was more purple than violet. Upon this revelation, the audience began making all sorts of comments in awe about this returning mechanic. Even Homanu had to admit that he was impressed with Giichi including a classic mechanic into this format without blatantly desecrating it.
"Yes, the classic Fusion Monsters of old are making their debut into Game Duels," Giichi proudly resumed the moment he felt the audience was accustomed to this feature. "The rules of Fusion Summoning also haven't changed – much!" With a snap of his fingers, the screens changed to display a WHITE MAGIC Spell Card whose artwork depicted the exact same artwork as the equally classic 'Polymerization', except the monsters were white instead of orange, and the fusion vortex was two different shades of blue, with a galactic flare to it. Furthermore, the kanji in its name literally translated to 'Fusion'.
"'Fusion' is the official Game Duel successor to the classic 'Polymerization'," Giichi explained, "and the only real difference is that you're only allowed to use monsters on your field for Fusion Summoning, as opposed to monsters on your field and in your hand. But rather than bore you with more lectures, why don't we actually showcase this mechanic as Arthur picks out his lucky opponent! Arthur, shall you do the honors?"
"Indeed, I shall, Giichi," Arthur replied. Fiercely turning his attention towards the excited audience, he cried, "Now, who shall be my opponent for this exhibition match?" A majority of the people in the crowd began to do a combination of screaming frantically, shaking their raised hands, or jumping up and down, in the hopes they would get Arthur's attention.
"Ooh! Ooh! Pick me, pick me!" Kero loudly pleaded. "I promise I won't break anything this time!"
"No, pick me!" Reggie screamed. "I'm the one who got Andrea to stream the duel to get it to your attention!"
"I'm still certain that he'll pick me!" Yuri bombastically remarked. "I've always been a Fusion expert, and with Fusion Monsters making their way into Game Duels, it's only appropriate that he chooses me as his opponent!" This comment only frustratingly irritated Reggie before she resumed trying to get her idol's attention.
All the while, Arthur appeared to be trying to make up his mind on who would be his opponent. But what he was really doing was searching for a specific duelist, and one he hoped would be among the crowd.
"Let's see, my opponent shall be…" he said, still surveying the area until his eye caught sight of the exact duelist he was looking for, "…you! The girl with the reddish hair and the purple gear on her shirt!" Only one person fit that description: Mira Yukiko! Everyone stared at Mira, who was surprised herself. For the second time in her life, she had been chosen to participate in an unveiling relating to Game Duels.
"O-M-G, what you're seeing is real, Fandreas!" Andrea announced, facing the camera. "Mira Yukiko – who had previously won the duel you saw between her and Reggie, to which it became a viral hit – has actually been chosen as Arthur's opponent! I guess a lot of good came out when I was personally asked to stream that duel; didn't it, Fandreas?"
Mira was still dumbfounded as an intern escorted her from the crowd to meet face to face with Arthur – something Mira had never imagined would happen. "Consider yourself lucky dueling someone as famous as I!" Arthur proudly greeted her. "May I be so kind as to have your name, fair maiden?"
"M…Mira. M-Mira Yu…Yukiko," the flushed Mira stammered, still in a daze that she was chosen to face the city's idol.
"'Mira Yukiko'… A fine name, indeed!" Arthur beamed. "I hope you have what it takes to face a professional such as myself!"
"I hope so, too…" Mira said.
"Are you saying that she was chosen to duel Arthur, and I wasn't?! I won't stand for any of this!" a brash voice shouted. It was none other than Yuri, who rudely shoved his way through the shocked and upset crowd and confronted Mira, fuming all the way.
"Yuri…!" Reggie seethed through gritted teeth, while Homanu buried his face with his hands in shameful embarrassment.
"What is the meaning of this outrage?!" Arthur angrily demanded. "Someone tell me who this braggard is, and why he has the audacity to barge in like this!?"
"I'll tell you who I am!" Yuri bombastically declared, pounding his chest. "I am Yuri Kensho, the greatest Fusion Champion – not just in St. Miki's Oprhanage, but in all of Alba Litora! And I refuse to be pushed aside and refused the opportunity to showcase my Fusion expertise against a professional, especially when Fusion Monsters are to make their debut in Game Duels!"
"Yuri, you're making a fool out of yourself!" Mira scolded him. "Just go back to the crowd, if you know what's good for you!"
"I refuse!" Yuri shouted. "In fact… I have a better idea – I challenge you to a Game Duel, to see which of us gets to duel Arthur! Then we'll see who's truly worthy of being his opponent!"
"Ooh, such drama we're seeing, Fandreas!" Andrea flamboyantly announced to her audience through the camera. "Mr. 'Fusion Champion' over here is not only disrupting the duel between Arthur and Mira, but now he's challenging Mira to a showdown to see which one Arthur should duel! Talk about being a spoiled sport!"
Mira, however, was greatly startled by this pompous proposal, especially since she hadn't forgotten about the vision she had about Yuri being inexplicably possessed. She wasn't sure if it would somehow come to pass like her previous vision did, but this time she wasn't taking any chances. "Yuri, please!" she begged. "If you duel me, you're gonna be putting yourself in danger!"
"Yuri's… gonna be put in danger if he duels Mira?" the perplexed Kero wondered. "Homanu, what's she talking about? And why is she caring for Yuri all of a sudden?"
Homanu gave no answer, but carefully eyed Mira. 'It's good to give someone the benefit of the doubt,' he thought, 'but this still isn't like Mira. That settles it; I've put this off long enough – once this duel's over, I'm gonna find out what's wrong with you, Mira!'
"Me, in danger?!" Yuri haughtily laughed. "What kind of nonsense is that?! …Or are you simply too scared to accept my challenge?!"
Mira was just about fed up with Yuri's taunts. But more than that, she couldn't let herself endanger a beloved duelist such as Arthur, especially with the vision she had earlier. Almost immediately, she made an arduous decision. "Alright, Yuri," she growled, raising her Disk. "I didn't want to do this, but if it'll get you to shut up, you got yourself a duel!"
"Good answer!" Yuri beamed, raising his D-Gear, which had a black dial.
"Mr. Giichi, are you even going to allow this?!" the distraught Arthur cried, shifting his attention to Giichi. "This braggard is ruining everything!"
"I'm as irate about this turn of events as you are," Giichi said, maintaining his composure. "But if this frivolous match is the only way to cease this disruption… then so be it." Arthur frowned, but nodded upon realizing Giichi was right.
"It's settled – the duel between Mira and Yuri shall commence!" Giichi announced, much to the audience's shock and disappointment. Turning his attention to Mira, Giichi added, "Ms. Yukiko, you have the option to demonstrate Fusion Summoning using a preconstructed deck we've made for this occasion. Do you accept, or shall you pass this opportunity on to Yuri?"
"I have a hunch that if I use that deck, I'll never hear the end of it from Yuri," Mira said glumly, leering at her opponent's defiant face. "So I'll let Yuri use whatever deck you've made!"
"Very well," said Giichi, motioning his right index finger to another intern. The intern slowly approached Yuri, carrying a D-Gear with a dark gray cogwheel – the same model first used in the officiation of Game Duels. However, the intern discreetly placed a hand above the touchscreen, causing a stream of sickly yellow pixels to briefly transfer from the palm to the Disk. Once this mysterious intern approached the boy, Yuri yanked the Disk out of the intern's hands and hastily replaced his current Disk with the one he just grabbed.
Once Yuri fastened the loaner Disk onto his arm, his eye caught sight of a guyed wall near the stadium, which Yuri dashed towards and began clambering up on. "The hell's he doing now?!" Arthur demanded.
"He's getting on the catwalk!" Giichi exclaimed, pointing to the elevated platform just above the entrance's roof, where the spotlights and security cameras were located. There was no chance for security to apprehend him now, for not only was it out of their reach, it wasn't stable enough for more than one person.
From the catwalk, Yuri tauntingly shouted, "Time to see which one of us shall be the superior opponent!" He activated the Disk and projected its green blade. Mira, undoubtedly irritated at Yuri's further antics, merely scowled as she activated her Disk, projecting its hot pink blade.
"C'mon, Mira, put that bully in his place!" Reggie loudly cheered from the audience.
"Kick his ass, Onee-chan!" Kero also noisily cheered.
"Now that our duelists have activated their Disks," Giichi announced, "it's time to activate the Game Duel Field, Game World!"
With a snap of Giichi's fingers, the 'Game World' card moved up to the center of both Disks' touchscreens. "Now activating Game Duel Field, Game World," the female computerized voice spoke during this sequence.
"As we did when we first introduced Game Duels," Giichi explained, "this duel will be played under the regular 'Game World' Game Duel Field, so that we can showcase Fusion Monsters' fullest potential without any necessary Terrain benefits. Now, let the Game Duel commence!"
"Game Duel, game start!" Mira and Yuri shouted.
MIRA: 4000 LP / YURI: 4000 LP
"I'm going first!" Mira shouted, her ring appearing with the five stacked cards in front of the red-slotted ridge. But no sooner had she drawn the cards when the streak of pink and violet pixels shot out of her D-Gear before transforming into Pinkie, much to Mira's annoyance. But unlike her previous entrances, Pinkie looked more worried than optimistic. "Mira!" Pinkie whimpered. "I heard everything from inside your D-Gear, and you're actually dueling Yuri?! The same Yuri you saw in your vision, turning evil like Reggie did earlier?!"
"I don't have time for you!" Mira hissed through her gritted teeth. "I gotta end this duel, and fast!"
Homanu once again had suspicious concern over Mira's unusual behavior over seemingly talking to her 'pink thing' that she repeatedly claimed to have. However, he wasn't the only one carefully observing Mira – Arthur happened to be closely but discreetly observing her, as well. But unlike Homanu, he actually was able to see Pinkie, in plain sight!
'That's… that's one of the Pixels I was warned about!' he astonishingly thought. 'But… could she really be one of the 'special duelists' I was informed about? Nonsense…'
Back at the duel, Mira observed the contents of her opening hand. 'Damn… only two monsters,' she thought, observing the two Monster Cards in her hand. One of them happened to be her ace, Chronogias. 'And I can't summon Chronogias without any sacrifices on my first turn, nor do I have my Core Card to power it up. Still, this is a better hand than any!'
"I summon Destiny Hero Passer in Attack Mode!" she said, grabbing the card and slapping it onto her blade's centermost zone. A hot pink hexagonal portal appeared beside her, and the blue-armored cybernetic warrior leapt out of it. [ATK: 800]
"I activate Passer's effect! By sending the top two cards of my deck to the Graveyard, he gains eight hundred Attack Points!" Her ring appeared once again, and two cards shot out of the red-slotted ridge before transforming into hot pink pixels, which transferred to the cybernetic warrior. [ATK: 800 – 1600]
"Next, I sacrifice my Passer to Tribute Summon my ace, Destiny Dragon Chronogias!" The cybernetic warrior dissipated into hot pink pixels. Not long after, the pillar of lustrous lavender light shot up behind Mira, and her ace ebony cybernetic dragon flew out of it, unleashing a triumphant roar. [BASE ATK: 1900; GRADE: BASE]
"I place three cards face-down, and end my turn!" she finished, taking the last three cards in her hand and swiping them through her blade's three horizontal slots. Three cards materialized behind the dragon before fading from view.
"And just like that, Mira has used up all the cards in her hand, which means she'll replenish her hand with five new cards on her next turn!" Giichi excitedly announced. "But in the meantime, we'll see how her opponent fares out – and with any luck, he'll demonstrate the returning concept of Fusion Summoning!"
"Very well! It's my turn!" Yuri boldly declared. His ring appeared around his wrist, five stacked digital cards materializing in front of the red-slotted ridge. "I draw!" He valiantly drew the cards, and after quickly examining his hand, a joyously wicked smile stretched across his face. 'Yes! This opening hand is perfect!'
"I summon two copies of Duos in Attack Mode!" After taking two cards from his hand and slapping them onto his blade's outermost floating zones, two green hexagonal portals appeared on the stadium floor, right before Mira. Flying out of each portal was a slender, dark-blue-skinned demonic warrior with small wings and wielding a sword as its weapon. [ATK: 1000] [ATK: 1000]
"Then I'll sacrifice one of them to Tribute Summon Curse of Dragon!" One of the two demonic swordsmen dissipated into green pixels. Another green hexagonal portal appeared, and flying out of it was the iconic Curse of Dragon – the dark yellow skeletal dragon. [ATK: 2000]
"Now for the fun to begin! I activate the Spell Card, Fusion!" After vigorously swiping the card through his blade's centermost horizontal slot, a WHITE MAGIC Spell Card whose artwork was nearly identical to that of Polymerization materialized. It just so happened to be the same 'Fusion' Spell Card displayed on the virtual screens from earlier. "Just like the classic Polymerization, this card fuses together monsters on my field to create something even stronger!
"Duos and Curse of Dragon, fuse together, and show how I live up to my reputation as the greatest Fusion Champion!" Yuri bellowed, stretching his arm directly towards the sky, to which Mira only frowned in annoyance. The demonic swordsman and the skeletal dragon slowly merged to overlay themselves with each other. Once they did, a burst of pitch-black energy flashed before the audience.
"Behold! I Fusion Summon – Duos Dragon!" The black light diminished, and the result was Curse of Dragon, only it was now dark blue like Duos, significantly more humanoid, and wielded the demonic swordsman's blade. [ATK: 2300]
"And there you have it, Fandreas!" Andrea excitedly announced in front of the camera. "Yuri has just performed Game Duel's very first Fusion Summon! Of course, it's totally obvs that most of us already know how Fusion Summoning works, and that we're still rooting for Mira, but it's still exciting to see history in the making! But let's see how this duel unfolds!"
After snickering over his successful Fusion Summon, Yuri grabbed the last card in his hand. "I continue my turn by activating the Spell Card, Card of Necromancy!" After swiping the card through his blade's centermost horizontal slot, a DEMON MAGIC Spell Card materialized beside him. Its overall artwork was nearly identical to that of Necromancy, except one of the zombies was rising from the dirt, and two cards were beside the sorcerer raising it from the dead.
"This card lets me resurrect a monster from your Graveyard to your side of the field! I'll go ahead and resurrect your Destiny Hero Passer!" To Mira's surprise, a hot pink hexagonal portal appeared beside Mira, and the blue-armored cybernetic warrior emerged out of it, kneeling defensively. [DEF: 800]
"But since I have no more cards in my hand, I get to draw one card for every monster that's on your side of the field – and I count two!" His ring appeared once again, two stacked cards materializing in front of the red-slotted ridge. Yuri immediately drew the two cards.
"Okay, but why would you still wanna revive my monster like that?" Mira asked.
"Duos Dragon's effect, of course!" Yuri haughtily replied. "It's capable of making two attacks on your monsters during the same Battle Phase! Not only that, but when it attacks your monster in Defense Mode, the difference between its Defense Points and my monster's Attack Points is dealt as damage to you!"
Mira only growled at this revelation. Pinkie, on the other hand, became her usual ludicrously panicking self in situations like this. "It can attack twice and deal piercing damage like that?!" she wailed. "Mira, you'd better be careful!" This only increased Mira's frustration – as if dealing with a monster like that wasn't stressful enough, so was having to hear Pinkie state the obvious.
"Let the fun begin!" Yuri declared, taking a card from his hand and swiping it through the same centermost horizontal slot. Another card materialized before fading from sight. "Duos Dragon, take out her Passer!" The draconic swordsman flew towards the cybernetic warrior and slashed at the warrior with its sword. The cybernetic warrior was sliced in two before shattering into pixels. Mira winced at the attack. [LP: 4000 – 2500]
"Now, attack her Chronogias!" The draconic swordsman flew directly towards Chronogias, ready to attack it with its sword.
"Mira!" Pinkie wailed as she witnessed the incoming attack.
"I activate the Trap Card, D-Chronomancy, Time Escape!" Mira shouted. After waving her arm, the ILLUSION MAGIC Trap Card depicting Timeater imploding to escape Flame Swordsman materialized. "This card immediately stops your attack on my monster that's of the ILLUSION MAGIC Attribute!" And sure enough, Chronogias imploded to escape the draconic swordsman's incoming attack.
Seeing this made Yuri clench his teeth in anger. "I end my turn…!" he seethed as Chronogias returned from the same implosion. [BASE ATK: 1900]
"Yes! Mira found a way to stop Yuri in his tracks!" Reggie cheered.
"Yeah, but she's still up against a monster that's stronger than Chronogias!" Kero reminded her. "So unless she draws a Core Card to power it up, she's gonna be in real trouble!"
"I swear, why can't Game Duels just stick to traditional methods like Fusion Summoning?" Homanu muttered, crossing his arms in his strong disdain towards Upgrade Monsters.
"It's my turn, Yuri!" Mira shouted. Her ring appeared around her wrist, five stacked cards materializing in front of the red-slotted ride. "I draw!" she declared, drawing the five cards. 'Yes!' she determinedly thought.
"I inject Chronogias with Upgrade Core Super to bring it to its 'Super' Grade!" she said aloud. After revealing the Core Card to Yuri, she slid it underneath Chronogias's card counterpart, lighting its two unlit hexagons blue. [GRADE: BASE – SUP / BASE ATK: 1900 – SUP ATK: 2400 / CORE: 0 – 2]
"I use one of Chronogias's Cores to weaken your Duos Dragon's Attack Points by fifteen hundred!" [CORE: 2 – 1] The outer hexagon became unlit as Chronogias unleashed a burst of lavender energy at the draconic swordsman, making it screech as it winced in agony. [ATK: 2300 – 800]
"But those Attack Points won't go to waste, 'cause I activate my Trap Card, Life Absorption Magic!" With a wave of her arm, a BLACK MAGIC Trap Card materialized beside her, its artwork depicting a fallen Marauding Captain being shrouded by sinister purple energy, which transferred to That Which Feeds on Life. "Since your monster just lost Attack Points from the effect of a MAGIC Attribute card on my field, I gain Life Points equal to the Attack Points your monster lost!" The lavender flames which shrouded Duos Dragon immediately transferred to Mira. [LP: 2500 – 4000]
"Now she has all her Life Points back!" Kero cheered.
"Too bad the same won't be said for Yuri!" Reggie laughed. Homanu only released a quick puff of air through his nostrils.
"I summon another copy of Passer in Attack Mode!" Mira resumed, taking a card from her hand and slapping it on her blade's rightmost floating zone. A hot pink hexagonal portal appeared beside Chronogias, and another copy of the blue-armored cybernetic warrior appeared. [ATK: 800]
"As you'll remember from before, I get to send the top two cards of my deck to the Graveyard, so that it will gain eight hundred extra Attack Points!" And sure enough, her ring reappeared around her wrist, with two cards shooting out of the red-slotted ridge before transforming into hot pink pixels that transferred to the cybernetic warrior. [ATK: 800 – 1600]
"Next, I'll place this face-down!" Mira continued, sliding a card into one of her blade's two unoccupied horizontal slots. A card materialized behind her monsters before fading from sight.
"Battle! Chronogias, take out Duos Dragon!" More lavender digital fire formed in Chronogias's mouth, which the time dragon unleashed at the weakened draconic swordsman, incinerating it. Some of the flames also struck at Yuri, who tried to protect himself. [LP: 4000 – 2400]
"Alright! Yuri's in for it now!" Reggie cheered.
"Passer, attack Yuri directly!" Mira commanded as the blue cybernetic warrior prepared to strike at Yuri.
"Not so fast!" Yuri shouted. "By destroying Duos Dragon in battle, you've activated my Trap – Regretful Rebirth!" A DEMON MAGIC Trap Card materialized beside him, its artwork depicting a rocky monster closely resembling Stone Ogre Grotto emerging from the depths of the earth. "Now the monster you've destroyed returns to my field in Defense Mode! Return, Duos Dragon!" A dark green hexagonal portal appeared in front of him, and the draconic swordsman re-emerged out of it, using its sword to protect itself. [DEF: 2400] "So much for you turning the tables!"
Mira just growled, knowing that Yuri was right. "I end my turn…" she muttered.
"As you should!" Yuri taunted. His ring appeared around his wrist, four stacked cards materializing in front of the red-slotted ridge. But as with Reggie in her duel against Mira, the same blood-red miasma briefly shrouded Yuri's cards, to which nobody noticed it. "It's my turn – I draw!" But after drawing the cards, he suddenly felt a pulse surge through his body, and then proceeded to tightly close his eyes as he clutched his heart in agony.
A lot of the audience showed visible looks of concern and perplexity over Yuri's sudden condition. Mira, however, was downright horrified – even more so than she was in her previous duel when this happened. 'Oh no… this is exactly what happened when I dueled Reggie!' she ghastly thought. 'Does that mean… that vision I had about Yuri… is actually gonna come true, too?!'
Unfortunately for her, it did. A few seconds later, Yuri ruthlessly opened his eyes, and they were glowing a demonic red, as they were in Mira's vision. What's more, the sentence he bellowed was the exact same one he screamed in the vision, word for word:
"IN THE NAME OF ITZAMNA, I WILL DESTROY YOU!"
Mira could hardly believe it – her vision of Yuri becoming evil did, indeed, come true, as did the vision she had of Reggie becoming possessed! This realization left Mira so shaken to her core, she was unable to get herself to speculate as to why she kept having all of these visions, and how they were able to come to pass.
The now possessed Yuri, meanwhile, cackled with a wicked grin as he took a card from his hand. "I summon the ignis formed from Itzamna's will!" he declared. "Behold, Itzam Incarnate!" He viciously slapped the card onto one of his blade's floating card zones. But instead of a hexagonal portal appearing, a blob of black pixels formed beside Duos Dragon, with no real features except for the red markings around its face to resemble the Krana Xa.
Pinkie immediately recognized the card by name. "That's the same card Reggie used when she suddenly turned evil!" Pinkie wailed. "But… But that's not how it worked last time!"
"I can't believe I'm saying this… but you're right, it's not!" said Mira, trying to maintain her composure. "Whatever this 'Itzam Incarnate' card is, it must be capable of doing a lot more than I thought!"
"As I was about to Normal Summon Itzam Incarnate," Yuri resumed, "I must declare a monster Type, to which Itzam Incarnate will become a monster of the Type I declared! Thus, Itzam Incarnate will become a monster of the Dragon Type!" As he made this declaration, the blob shapeshifted to resemble a draconic humanoid version of Duos, the Krana Xa marking on the face.
"Next, I place three cards face-down!" He grabbed three cards in his hand, and within a single swipe, he slid them into all three of his blade's horizontal slots. Three cards materialized behind his monsters before disappearing.
"Then I activate Itzam Incarnate's effect! I can have him gain one hundred Attack Points for every card currently on the field! I count a total of nine cards – five on mine, and four on yours! That means my monster will gain nine hundred Attack Points!" [ATK: 0 – 900]
"Now I fuse together the Dragon-Type Itzam Incarnate with Duos Dragon!" he bellowed, raising his arms. Both Duos Dragon and the transformed Itzam Incarnate were shrouded by a sickly yellow miasma.
"You're fusing them together?! Without the use of 'Fusion'?!" Mira cried in absolute disbelief.
"After I use Itzam Incarnate's effect to gain Attack Points," Yuri overconfidently corrected her, "I immediately get to perform a Fusion Summon using it, without needing 'Fusion'!" Itzam Incarnate and the draconic swordsman slowly merged to overlay themselves with each other. During this sequence, Yuri chanted:
"Almighty Itzamna, heed my call! With the draconic ignis formed from your will, fuse with my dragon so that its wings shall exterminate all that is impure!" Once both of the dragons overlaid with each other, a burst of blood-red energy flashed before the audience.
"Itzam Fusion! Come forth, High Dragon-Type – ITZAM DUABLOS DRAGON!"
Emerging from the burst of red energy was Duos Dragon, only its skin was pitch black mixed with dark red. Furthermore, its wings were skeletal and shrouded by dark red flames, and a red Krana Xa was engraved on its chest. [ATK: 2700]
"And since I used Itzam Incarnate to Fusion Summon, Duablos Dragon permanently gains Attack Points equal to the Attack Points Itzam Incarnate previously had – which, as you'll recall, is nine hundred!" Mira was left absolutely dumbfounded as Duablos Dragon unleashed an intimidating roar. [ATK: 2700 – 3600] But Mira wasn't the only one who felt the sudden hopelessness, for several cries of worry and despair arose from the audience upon seeing all of this happen. Even Giichi himself appeared to be morbidly shaken.
Andrea, however, was overjoyed by the way Yuri summoned this monster. "You're seeing it with your own eyes, Fandreas!" she energetically announced to her viewing audience through the camera drone. "In one way or another, Yuri has acquired this so-called 'Itzam Incarnate' card Reggie got in her duel against Mira, and has just used it to perform this really fab Fusion Summon!" After a thought flashed through her brain, she quickly checked her cell phone. "Ooh, the likes and comments are already through the roof, Fandreas!"
"Andrea!?" Homanu loudly scolded as he confronted Andrea in front of the camera, much to her annoyance. "Are you seriously more concerned about your stream's ratings than our wellbeing right now?!"
"Hey, I can't leave my Fandreas disappointed!" Andrea scoffed, pushing Homanu away from the camera at an arm's length. "Besides, it's not like this card was used before – as I'm sure my fans will remember, Mira was up against that 'Itzam Incarnate' card in her duel against Reggie, and still came out on top!"
"But do you remember what else happened the last time it was used?!" Homanu angrily reminded her. "The entire dueling field was set ablaze! You yourself were horrified by it!"
"I'm sure those were just special effects, and that I simply overreacted!" Andrea pouted. "Now get outta here, you're interrupting my stream!" Homanu spluttered a bit, but got out of the way of her camera in a huff. "Sorry 'bout that!" Andrea said, acting calmer. "Some people just can't tell when someone's trying to stream – but let's see if Mira's able to defeat a monster summoned by 'Itzam Incarnate' like she did last time, Fandreas!"
Back at the duel, the possessed Yuri was still grinning wickedly. "This is the end, foolish wench!" he declared. "I pay one thousand Life Points to activate Duablos Dragon's effect!" [LP: 2400 – 1400] "By doing so, Duablos Dragon can't be destroyed by battle or card effects until the end of your next turn! Plus, it will now be capable of attacking you three times this turn! And, should it attack a monster in Defense Mode, the difference between its Attack Points and your monster's Defense Points will be dealt as damage to you!" Mira's mouth was agape upon hearing those dreadful words.
"So it won't be destroyed, and be able to attack three times in one turn?!" Reggie cried. "That's so not fair!"
"Be careful, Onee-chan!" Kero wailingly pleaded.
Pinkie, who obviously overheard Yuri's exposition, quivered with overexaggerated panic. "There's no way you can stop a monster like that!" she wailed. "It's all over for you, Mira!"
"It's not over until I say it is!" Mira corrected her. With a wave of her arm, an ILLUSION MAGIC Trap Card materialized beside her. Its artwork depicted Destiny Hero Dystopia emerging from a wormhole, blocking the incoming attack of Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman against Elemental Hero Shining Phoenix Enforcer. "I activate the Trap Card, D-Chronomancy, Effect Paradox!
"I can only activate this after your monster activates its effect. Now I get to activate the effect of one of my monsters, just as long as the requirement's correct! I'll go ahead and activate the Super Effect of Chronogias! I remove its last Core to weaken Duablos!" [CORE: 1 – 0] Chronogias's remaining lit hexagon became unlit as the dragon unleashed another burst of lavender energy at Duablos Dragon. [ATK: 3600 – 2100]
"Yes! Mira weakened Duablos!" Kero cheered with a leap. "She saved herself!"
"I wouldn't get too excited," Homanu said, crossing his arms. "Remember – before all this went down, Yuri played three face-down cards, and who knows what they might be, or how useful they'll be to him…?"
"You may have weakened Duablos's Attack Points," Yuri vowed, "but in doing so, you've used up Chronogias's last Core! Now it gets weaker, as it reverts to its 'Base' Grade!" [GRADE: SUP – BASE / SUP ATK: 2400 – BASE ATK: 1900]
"I know," said Mira. "But as long as Chronogias doesn't get destroyed this turn, it'll all be worth it!"
"I beg to differ!" Yuri wickedly corrected her, to Mira's startlement. "I activate one of my face-down cards – the Spell Card, Tyrant Dragon's Burst Breath!" A FIRE Spell Card materialized beside Yuri, its artwork depicting Tyrant Dragon unleashing fire from its mouth directly at the horrified goblins of Goblin Attack Force.
"I can only use this card when the only monster on my field is a monster of either the Dragon Type, or the High Dragon Type. Because I do, this card immediately destroys one of your Spell and Trap Cards!" Duablos unleashed dark yellow flames from its mouth, striking directly at Mira's card that briefly became visible before being engulfed in the flames, making Mira flinch.
"But there's more! Since my monster is of the High Dragon Type, one of your monsters will lose Attack Points equal to the number of cards on the field, multiplied by one hundred! Then, I'll gain Life Points equal to the same amount! And I count a total of six such cards!" Once again, Mira's mouth became agape.
"Time to weaken your Chronogias!" Yuri laughed. And sure enough, the yellow flames that were still visible on Mira's field transferred to Chronogias, who roared in pain. [BASE ATK: 1900 – 1300] But it wasn't long before the flames transferred over to Yuri. [LP: 1400 – 2000]
"Time to cut you down to size, mortal!" Yuri declared. "First, Duablos will use his first attack on your Destiny Hero Passer!" Duablos flew directly at the blue cybernetic warrior, slashing its sword across the warrior's chest and shattering it into pixels. [LP: 4000 – 3500]
"Next, it'll use his second attack on your precious Chronogias!" Duablos flew directly at Chronogias, slashing its sword across Chronogias's chest and shattering it into pixels as well. [LP: 3500 – 2700]
"Then it'll use its third and final attack… on you!" This time, Duablos flew directly at Mira and swung its sword across her chest, causing her to fall to a knee. She groaned as she struggled to get herself up, all while clutching her chest. [LP: 2700 – 600]
"Just one more attack, and you're through!" Yuri sniggered. "And now that Duablos will regain all the Attack Points he lost this turn, my victory is practically cemented!" [ATK: 2100 – 3600] "You're up!"
Mira was still breathing heavily, but she got herself to bring her Disk up to her chin. "It's… it's my turn!" she gaspingly declared.
Her ring appeared around her wrist, three stacked cards materializing in front of the red-slotted ridge. But as it happened in her previous duel against Reggie, her cards were briefly shrouded by a mysterious violet aura, which she didn't notice. "I draw!" But after drawing the cards, her eyes widened as she saw that one of the cards she drew was the same mysterious black card she drew in her duel against Reggie!
'Mira Yukiko!' a female voice spoke. It was the same mysterious voice that previously spoke to Mira in her duel against Reggie, when Mira was in the exact same predicament she was in now.
"You again?!" Mira snarled.
'I fully sense the predicament you're in right now, as you were in your previous quest of freeing Reggie from the influence of Itzamna!' the voice spoke. 'But this time, you truly must use me if you are to rescue your opponent from this same infectious influence!'
"I don't even know what you do!" Mira argued. "So just leave me alone!" Her presumed argument with a card only increased Homanu's suspicions over her unusual behavior, as it did when the exact same thing happened in her previous duel.
"M-Mira?" Pinkie pleaded. "Something tells me that you really should use that card – whatever it is – if you're gonna win this duel!"
Mira shrugged off Pinkie's suggestion as she grabbed a different card from her hand. "I activate the Spell Card, D-Chronomancy, Paradox Draw!" The ILLUSION MAGIC Spell Card that depicted two cards of yellow light being sucked into a Battle City Disk's Graveyard while its obscure duelist was drawing two cards materialized. "This card makes me discard two cards from my hand – but then I get to return two different cards from my Graveyard back to the top of my deck, and then I can draw two cards!"
The four cards materialized in front of her, and she already pressed her finger on one of them. She was about to press her finger on the otherworldly black card when the voice began to speak once again. 'Mira, please!' the voice pleaded, much to Mira's stressful frustration. 'You must activate me now – it is the only way!'
"NO!" Mira screamed, wincing as she waved her fingertips across her desired cards, including the black one. The two cards dissipated into pixels while the others simply vanished.
'Now I know for sure that something's wrong with her!' Homanu thought, gritting his teeth and clenching his fist. 'And once this duel's over, I'm gonna get to the bottom of it!'
Mira fumed through her nostrils as her ring appeared around her wrist once again, two streaks of hot pink light shooting from the green-slotted ridge up to the red-slotted one before transforming into two stacked cards. Mira drew the two cards with all her might. "Let's do this, Yuri!
"Since I technically drew it this turn and have no monsters on my field, I'm able to bring back my ace, Chronogias!" After slapping the card onto her blade's centermost floating zone, the same pillar of lustrous lavender light from before shot up from behind her. Flying out of the light was her ebony cybernetic dragon, who unleashed another triumphant roar upon its emergence. [BASE ATK: 1900; GRADE: BASE]
"Chronogias!" Reggie cheered. "Yuri's gonna be in for it now!"
Yuri, upon seeing Chronogias, gritted his teeth. "I know what you're trying to do," he snarled, "but it won't work against me! Since you've summoned a monster, you've activated my Trap Card – Tyrant Dragon's Supremacy!" An EARTH Trap Card materialized on Yuri's field, its artwork depicting Tyrant Dragon unleashing a defiant roar at a terrified Blackwing Gale the Whirlwind. "Now all of my monsters of the Dragon and High Dragon Types can't be affected by your monster effects this turn!"
"Oh, no!" Pinkie wailed, further irritating Mira. "That means you won't be able to weaken Duablos Dragon! You're gonna lose!"
"I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve!" Mira cored her. "I inject Chronogias with Upgrade Core Super to bring it to its 'Super' Grade!" Once again, she slid the Core Card directly underneath Chronogias's card form, causing the dragon's two unlit hexagons to light up. [GRADE: BASE – SUP / BASE ATK: 1900 – SUP ATK: 2400 / CORE: 0 – 2]
"Wasn't Mira listening?!" Reggie cried. "She won't be able weaken Duablos with Chronogias this turn!"
"As much as I'm suspicious about the way she's behaving," Homanu said, "I'm still sure she knows what she's doing in situations like this!"
"I'll continue my turn by summoning a new Destiny Hero – Destiny Hero Makyuron!" Mira continued, slapping a card onto her blade's rightmost floating zone. A hot pink hexagonal portal appeared next to Chronogias, and leaping out of it was a warrior closely resembling the infamous Makyura the Destructor. However, any traces of its claws and axes on its cybernetic helmet were replaced with halves of cogwheels, and its violet robotic lens closely resembled the gear decal on Mira's shirt. [ATK: 1000]
"I activate Makyuron's effect! During the turn I summoned him, I have to send him to the Graveyard!" Without warning, Makyuron dissipated into hot pink pixels.
"By doing so, I get to take any ILLUSION MAGIC Trap Card that's in my Graveyard, and set it onto my side of the field!" Her Disk's ring appeared around her wrist, and a streak of lavender light shot out of the green-slotted ridge and briefly transformed into a card before it disappeared.
"And while I may not be able to activate Chronogias's Super Effect to weaken your dragon, I can still use Chronogias's Base Effect! And to use it, I have to send a Spell Card from my hand to the Graveyard, like so!" A card appeared in front of Mira, and she flicked at it with her fingertips, causing the card to pixelate.
"Now I get to take a different Spell Card that's in my Graveyard, and add it to my hand!" A streak of hot pink light shot out of her ring's green-slotted ridge and into her hand, transforming into a card.
"I'll go ahead and activate that Spell Card – D-Chronomancy, Past Strength!" After vigorously swiping the card through one of her blade's horizontal slots, the ILLUSION MAGIC Spell Card depicting the three phantasmal Necrolancers being absorbed into Chronogias materialized. "By returning up to three ILLUSION MAGIC-Attribute monsters with one thousand or less Attack Points from my Graveyard to the deck, Chronogias will gain Attack Points equal to those monsters' combined Attack Points this turn!
"With this card, I return Destiny Hero Makyuron and my two copies of Passer! And even though Makyuron's of the BLACK MAGIC Attribute, his condition lets his Attribute be ILLUSION MAGIC while in my Graveyard!" The phantasmal versions of Makyuron and the two Passers formed, and were quickly absorbed into Chronogias. [SUP ATK: 2400 – 5000]
Reggie was ecstatic at first, but she quickly counted on her fingers. Once she was done, her happiness quickly shifted to despair. "Oh, no!" she cried. "Chronogias is stronger than Duablos by fourteen hundred points! It's not strong enough to beat Yuri!"
"Don't worry! I'm sure that Trap Card she set will help her!" Kero enthusiastically said. But it wasn't long before the horrible realization occurred to him. "Crap, I forgot! Trap Cards can't be activated the same turn they're set! So Mira really is doomed!" Homanu remained silent, still certain that despite his increased concerns for her wellbeing, whatever strategy she did have planned would guarantee her victory in one way or another.
"Let's battle!" Mira shouted. "Chronogias, attack Yuri's Duablos Dragon!" Chronogias unleashed a spiral of lavender digital fire from its mouth, striking directly at Duablos Dragon. Although Duablos Dragon was able to withstand the attack, the flames also struck at Yuri, who protected himself from them. [LP: 2000 – 600]
"Nice… try!" he shouted. "But your monster wasn't strong enough to beat me! And don't forget, Duablos Dragon will be impervious to destruction for the rest of your turn!"
"And in a way, I'm kinda glad it is," Mira said, to Yuri's confusion. "Because now I get to activate my Trap Card – D-Chronomancy, Battle Rehash!" An ILLUSION MAGIC Trap Card depicting the blue ogre flying out of the clock of Timeater materialized beside Mira.
"Hold on!" Yuri loudly protested. "You're not allowed to activate Trap Cards the same turn they're set!"
"You're right, I can't," said Mira. "But thanks to Makyuron, any Trap Card I set with his effect can be activated this turn! And since I did, Chronogias gets to attack your Duablos Dragon again, because it wasn't destroyed by battle this turn!"
"So Mira is gonna win after all!" Reggie cheered.
"END HIM, ONEE-CHAN!" Kero also cheered.
"Chronogias, attack Duablos Dragon and end this duel!" Mira commanded. Chronogias unleashed another spiral of lavender digital fire from its mouth, which struck at Duablos Dragon once again. This time, neither the dragon nor Yuri were able to withstand the flames – Duablos Dragon became incinerated, while Yuri was flung off the catwalk and fell on the grass near the part of the audience that was able to get out of his way in the nick of time. [LP: 600 – 0] A virtual screen displaying Mira's profile with 'WIN' written underneath popped open as the field returned to normal. Pinkie once again retreated to Mira's Disk.
"It's over, Fandreas!" Andrea excitedly announced in front of the camera. "Mira has come out the victor like she did in her duel against Reggie, and Yuri's officially been put in his place! But will she be just as victorious in her duel against Arthur? That's what we're gonna find out soon enough!"
The defeated Yuri slowly got himself up, and as he opened his eyes, they were back to their original state, indicating that he was no longer possessed by the powers of Itzam Incarnate. "What… What happened?" he asked in a fairly normal voice. He then looked around to see that the dueling area was back to its original state. "Wait, where did our monsters go?!" He looked to see that the D-Gear lent to him was deactivated. "Weren't we having a duel just now?!"
"We were," Mira said solemnly as she approached Yuri. "And you lost."
Yuri could hardly believe those words. "No… No…! NO!" he shouted. "That's not possible! I, the greatest Fusion Champion, couldn't possibly have lost to you! I demand a rematch, here and now!"
"There will be no rematch – not after all the inconvenience you've caused by disrupting our duel before it even began!" Arthur berated. "Giichi, take this ungrateful braggard away!"
"Indeed, I shall," said Giichi. With a snap of his fingers, two interns arrived and each grabbed Yuri by the arm. They then dragged him out of the stadium, with Yuri kicking and screaming all the way.
"This isn't over, Yukiko!" he loudly vowed. "One day, I'll get back at you, and show you that Arthur should've chosen me as his opponent! You'll see!" Some of the audience couldn't help but laugh at Yuri's expense. Nevertheless, everyone was relieved to see him gone, so that the event could continue without any further interruption.
"Now that there won't be any further inconveniences," Arthur said more gently as he shifted his attention to Mira, "shall we begin our duel, Miss Yukiko?" Mira flushed, suddenly remembering that she was the lucky duelist chosen to duel the city's idol.
"Unfortunately," said Giichi, gently interrupting their conversation, "due to the inconvenience of a certain someone who had the audacity to disrupt our event, there won't be much time for your duel."
The news greatly disappointed the audience, but it disappointed Andrea most of all. "Aww, what are my Fandreas gonna think?!" she complained.
"However," Giichi said reassuringly, "those who are attending will each get ten free booster packs released for the launch of Fusion Monsters in Game Duels. As for you, Yukiko, because you were both chosen as Arthur's opponent, and with the way you got rid of a braggard like Yuri, you have the honor of creating a Fusion Monster to not only be added to the official card database, but for you to be used!" Mira was astonished by receiving such an honor.
"Wow, Mira sure got lucky, didn't she?" Kero exclaimed.
"Yes, I'm very happy for her," Homanu flatly said. "But after all this, I'm definitely taking her over to Sister Golas!"
"Wait, Sister Golas?" the perplexed Reggie asked. "For what?"
"For the way Mira's been behaving!" Homanu cried. "All this stuff about 'pink things' and talking to her cards for no reason, and the way she acted when she discarded some of those cards – something's definitely wrong with her, and I'm gonna find out what!"
"If you say so. But can we still get our free booster packs, first?" Kero whined, his pupils dilating and his lower lip quivering. Reggie did the same.
Knowing his two friends would be disappointed on missing out on this reward, Homanu grumbled, "Alright, we'll get our free booster packs. But after that, we're going straight to Sister Golas!"
"Alright!" Reggie cheered. "C'mon, Kero, I'll race ya!" She darted inside the stadium.
"Hey, wait up!" Kero cried, attempting to catch up with Reggie.
Mira was about to enter the stadium when Arthur stopped her, "Fret not, Miss Yukiko," said Arthur. "Maybe we won't be able to duel tonight, but I promise that we will one of these days. After all, you were chosen."
"Thanks," Mira said, blushing a bit.
As soon as Mira and the gang went inside the stadium, Andrea faced the camera and announced, "Ooh, so sorry you won't be seeing the duel between Arthur and Mira, Fandreas. But at least you got to see some entertainment tonight, mostly with Mira beating the crap out of Yuri! It's hard to say when we'll see the duel you've been waiting for; but until then, keep it real, Fandreas!" With that closing announcement, the camera drone retreated to its orb form, still floating beside her. Then she decided to go inside the stadium to try and find her parents.
Meanwhile, Giichi motioned to Arthur so that they could talk in private. "So, Arthur, is this 'Mira' person one of the duelists we're looking for?" he discreetly asked him.
"Not sure," was Arthur's reply. "I mean, I did notice the Pixel accompanying her, so while I don't know for certain, there is a chance she might be who we're looking for."
"Excellent," said Giichi. "So that's three down, and three to go. But we need to gather all six of them if our plan is to succeed. So we must scour them, post-haste!"
"Undoubtedly," said Arthur.
"Now then, shall we go inside and meet some of your fans?" Giichi insisted.
"…You go ahead; I need to be alone for a moment," Arthur replied.
"Very well," said Giichi as he headed inside the stadium.
As for Arthur, he went to a side of the building where no one would see him. "'Gather all six of the duelists we're looking for' – preposterous!" he scoffed. Reaching into the collar of his shirt, he pulled out a light brown tag encasing an amethyst tablet, hung by a beige string. On the tablet itself was an upside-down triangle inside a circle, with a horizontal line striking about halfway through the triangle. "If I'm the one who was chosen to save these worlds, then it should be only me who'll do so!"
FEATURED CARD – LEVEL 1-7
Itzam Duablos Dragon
DEMON MAGIC/High Dragon – Fusion – Effect/8/2700/2900
1 Dragon Type "Itzam Incarnate" "Duos Dragon"
This card is always treated as an Itzam card.
Must be Fusion Summoned with "Itzam Incarnate".
After this card was Fusion Summoned, it gains ATK equal to [the ATK the "Itzam Incarnate" used to Fusion Summon this card had on the field].
REQUIREMENT Pay 1000 LP.
EFFECT This card cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects until the end of your opponent's next turn, also this card can attack 3 times this turn and inflicts piercing battle damage.
GIICHI CORPORATION CARD DATABASE
Alligator's Sword Dragon
WIND/Dragon – Fusion – Effect/5/1700/1500
"Baby Dragon" + "Alligator's Sword"
REQUIREMENT The only face-up monsters on your opponent's field are EARTH/FIRE/WATER Attribute.
EFFECT This card can attack your opponent directly this turn.
Bracchio-Raidus
WATER/Dinosaur – Fusion/6/2200/2000
"Two-Headed King Rex" + "Crawling Dragon #2"
Fusion
WHITE MAGIC/Spell Card
REQUIREMENT None
EFFECT Fusion Summon by sending face-up monsters from your field to the Graveyard as material.
Duos
DEMON MAGIC/Warrior – Normal/3/1000/800
An ancient spirit who is presumably the origin of a monster strengthened by deceased vengeful souls.
Curse of Dragon
BLACK MAGIC/Dragon – Normal/5/2000/1500
A wicked dragon that taps into dark forces to execute a powerful attack.
Duos Dragon
BLACK MAGIC/Dragon – Fusion – Effect/6/2300/2400
"Duos" "Curse of Dragon"
REQUIREMENT None
EFFECT This card can make up to 2 attacks on monsters, also it inflicts piercing battle damage.
Card of Necromancy
DEMON MAGIC/Spell Card
REQUIREMENT None
EFFECT Special Summon 1 monster from your opponent's Graveyard face-up to their. Then, if you have no cards in your hand, draw cards equal to [the number of monsters on your opponent's field].
Life Absorption Magic
BLACK MAGIC/Trap Card
REQUIREMENT When a face-up monster on your opponent's field loses ATK by the effect of a WHITE MAGIC/BLACK MAGIC/DEMON MAGIC/ILLUSION MAGIC Attribute card or effect on your field.
EFFECT Gain LP equal to [the ATK that monster lost].
Regretful Rebirth
DEMON MAGIC/Trap Card
REQUIREMENT When a monster on your field is destroyed by battle.
EFFECT Special Summon that monster face-up to your field in Defense Position, but destroy it during your next End Phase.
Itzam Duablos Dragon
DEMON MAGIC/High Dragon – Fusion – Effect/8/2700/2900
1 Dragon Type "Itzam Incarnate" "Duos Dragon"
This card is always treated as an Itzam card.
Must be Fusion Summoned with "Itzam Incarnate".
After this card was Fusion Summoned, it gains ATK equal to [the ATK the "Itzam Incarnate" used to Fusion Summon this card had on the field].
REQUIREMENT Pay 1000 LP.
EFFECT This card cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects until the end of your opponent's next turn, also this card can attack 3 times this turn and inflicts piercing battle damage.
D-Chronomancy – Effect Paradox
ILLUSION MAGIC/Trap Card
REQUIREMENT After your opponent activates the effect of a monster on their field.
EFFECT Activate the effect of 1 monster on your field, if the requirement can be met.
Tyrant Dragon's Burst Breath
FIRE/Spell Card
REQUIREMENT The only monster on your field is a face-up Dragon/High Dragon Type monster.
EFFECT Destroy 1 Spell/Trap Card on your opponent's field. Then, if the only monster on your field is a face-up High Dragon monster, 1 face-up monster on your opponent's field loses ATK equal to [the number of cards on the field] x 100, then you gain LP equal to [the amount of ATK the opponent's monster lost].
Tyrant Dragon's Supremacy
EARTH/Trap Card
REQUIREMENT When your opponent Normal or Special Summons a monster.
EFFECT This turn, Dragon and High Dragon Type monsters on your field are unaffected by the effects of monsters on your opponent's field.
Destiny Hero – Makyuron
DEMON MAGIC/Psychic – Effect/4/1000/600
This card's Attribute becomes ILLUSION MAGIC while in the Graveyard.
REQUIREMENT During your Main Phase that you Normal Summoned or Special Summoned this card, send this face-up card to the Graveyard.
EFFECT Set 1 ILLUSION MAGIC Trap Card from your Graveyard to your field. It can be activated this turn.
Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! CHRONIXII…
Ganymede, the android responsible for infecting Reggie's deck with "Itzam Incarnate", decides to make his move, and lures Mira into a trap where she has no choice but to duel him. But right at the start of the duel, Ganymede uses a card that is, perhaps, more devastating than "Itzam Incarnate"! Just what is this card, and will Mira be able to defeat Ganymede? Find out in Level 1-8: The Pawn of Itzamna, Ganymede! Game Duel, game start!