The room was an unforgiving white, stark and sterile. Luna stood over her fallen double, cards strewn around the motionless figure. Her gaze was void of any warmth, her expression cold, focused solely on what needed to be done.
"It's over," Luna said flatly, turning away without a second glance.
A weak hand reached out from the ground, fingers shaking as they tried to close the gap between them. To bridge the immeasurable gap between the victor and the loser.
The doppelganger's voice, strained and desperate, broke the heavy silence. "Stop," she whispered, the words barely more than a breath. "What you're planning... it will…"
Luna paused, glancing back for the briefest moment. Her face remained impassive, her decision resolute. She resumed walking, the mirrored world behind her fading into oblivion, the echoes of her footsteps the only sound in the empty room.
Anna breathed heavily as she stood on the other side of the white dimension that she had been transported in. The duel between her and her doppelganger was just as intense as she imagined.
Hot blooded!
Intense!
Full of twists and turns!
Like she thought, she really was strong.
"I activate Infinitrack Earth Slicer's effect!" The doppelganger said. "By detaching 1 Xyz Material, I can target and destroy one card on the field!"
Infinitrack Earth Slicer ATK: 3100 Xyz Materials: 2→1
The wheel of Infinitrack Earth Slicer spun to life. It moved forward, ramming into Anna's Gustav Max, grinding the machine to pieces in an instant.
"Oh no! Gustav Max!" Anna cried out as the pieces of her cannon exploded outward. Showering her with the debris.
Anna realized that she was wide open for an attack. She began to panic.
Realizing her vulnerability, a wave of panic washed over her. She was exposed, defenseless against the next onslaught.
"Now, I'll attack directly with Infinitrack Earth Slicer!" the doppelganger announced, her voice echoing ominously. The behemoth machine lurched forward menacingly, its spiked wheel spinning with deadly intent as it bore down on Anna. She turned to flee, terror seizing her limbs, but the relentless Earth Slicer quickly gained ground.
In the next horrifying second, the wheel was upon her.
The impact was brutal, pain searing through her body as the wheel dug into her flesh. Yet, inexplicably, she didn't bleed, and the hit wasn't fatal. Instead, she was hurled through the air, the sensation akin to a car crash.
Anna's LP: 3400 → 300
Mirror Anna's LP: 2000
"Ouch…" Anna groaned, clutching her throbbing head. The pain of being struck by industrial machinery was exactly as one would imagine—excruciating. She couldn't help but think that in real life, a hit like that would have certainly killed her. Actually, she was 100% sure it would have killed her.
She struggled to pick herself back up, her chest heaving with each breath as sweat trickled down her temples. "I knew I was strong, but this... I didn't expect my clone to be this powerful," she murmured.
Her eyes darted to Earth Slicer and its staggering 3100 Attack Points, a massive wall standing between her and victory. Fear gnawed at her insides, but she refused to let it consume her.
For a fleeting moment, she felt overwhelmed, her heart pounding like a drum in her ears. But then she thought of Naruto. How courageous he was. How he never backed down regardless of the odds against him. his unyielding courage, his unwavering determination even when the odds were stacked against him.
The thought of him sparked something within her, a flicker of hope and resolve.
Anna clenched her fist, knowing that she couldn't back down now. Drawing a deep breath, she steadied herself and reached for her Deck.
T4 Anna H:0→1 LP: 300
"My turn! Draw!" she shouted.
Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she saw the card she had drawn.
"I activate Re-Xyz," Anna announced, the card materializing on the floor. "With this, I target one Xyz Monster in my Graveyard and then choose monsters in my Graveyard with the same Level, equal to the number of monsters needed to Xyz Summon that target. I will target the 2 Night Express Knights in my graveyard and use them to Xyz Summon Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max from my Graveyard!"
Anna's doppelganger, wide-eyed with shock, watched as the familiar cannon that she destroyed just moments ago resurfaced from a portal that opened up on the ground.
Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max ATK: 3200 Xyz Material: 2
"An Xyz Summon from the Graveyard?!" The doppelganger exclaimed in disbelief. Her eyes narrowed as the realization dawned on her. "You're planning to use Gustav Max to inflict 2000 points of damage to me and reduce my Life Points to 0!"
But a smirk rose up on the reflection's face. "That is not going to work!" With swift precision, the doppelganger flicked a button on her D-Pad. "I activate Breakthrough Skill!" she declared.
The card shimmered into existence besides her.
"With this card, I can target and negate the effect of Gustav Max!"
But she didn't stop there. "And now, Half Unbreak!" she continued as she flipped over another card. In an instant, her Earth Slicer became shrouded in a protective aura. "With this card, Earth Slicer won't be destroyed by battle this turn. Also any battle damage I would receive this turn would be halved!"
Across the field, Anna's heart sank as her plans crumbled before her eyes. The panic was evident in her voice as she grasped at straws. "No, this can't be happening," she stammered, her mind racing for any alternative.
"What would Naruto do?" she muttered under her breath again, trying to draw strength from the man who had captured her heart.
If Naruto was in her situation, he surely would find a way to win.
"He wouldn't give up," she said quietly, steadying her voice. "He'd find a way. I must do the same."
"This battle isn't over," she announced as she faced her doppelganger, her eyes firm. "Watch me turn this around!"
At that moment, a section of her D-Pad's touch screen flickered to life, a soft glow emanating from the Extra Deck Zone. Anna frowned, her instincts kicking in as she reached out to touch the screen, half-expecting it to be a glitch. But as her finger brushed the display, a card materialized in front of her—a card she had never seen before.
"Superdreadnought Juggernaut Liebe…" She read out the name of the card. Suddenly a new possibility opened up inside her.
"I'm not ready to give up just yet!" Anna declared. Her doppelganger smirked in response.
"Right here, right now, I will evolve Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max!" Anna declared as her cannon melted into light that shot into a galaxy-like portal that spread out in front of her.
"What, evolve?" The doppelganger yelled out in surprise.
Soon after the portal exploded into light. From within, a war machine emerged, a sleek, armored leviathan made for destruction. Its central cannon jutted forward like a colossal, iron spear. The turret, a fortress of metal and menace, rotated with the slow, deliberate precision of a hawk's gaze, scanning the horizon for prey.
Anna grinned, her eyes narrowing with that zealous gleam she was known for. "Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe! Come on, out!" she announced, excitedly.
[Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe ATK: 4000 Xyz Materials: 3]
Her doppelganger quickly shook off her initial surprise. "Only 4000 ATK?" she sneered, a cocky smirk tugging at her lips. "My Earth Slicer's sitting at 3100. That's not enough to take it down. And don't forget, I activated Half Unbreak. Your damage is halved. You're looking at, what, 450 points? Barely a scratch!"
Anna cut her off, her grin widening. "You really think I'd stop there? Please. This is just the beginning." With a sharp motion, she activated Liebe's effect, detaching one Xyz Material. "Liebe's power isn't maxed out yet. By detaching one material, its ATK jumps to 6000!"
The doppelganger's confidence wavered for the briefest moment, her eyes widening in shock. "6000...?"
"Yeah," Anna replied, her voice steady, almost casual. "6000. Liebe, fire!"
The cannon roared to life with a sound that shook the earth itself. The massive cannonball tore through the air, colliding with Earth Slicer in a thunderous explosion. The shockwave rippled out, a wave of force that left no doubt about the devastation it had wrought.
But the doppelganger wasn't about to go down without a fight. "Half Unbreak's still active," she shouted over the roar, bracing herself against the blast. "Damage is halved!"
Mirror Anna's LP: 2000→1550
Anna's grin widened as the dust began to settle, revealing that Earth Slicer had somehow survived the first blast. But there was something cold and dangerous in her eyes, something that her doppelganger couldn't miss.
"You know," Anna said, her voice almost casual, "Liebe gains one additional attack for each Xyz Material it has. And since it has two… that means it can attack two more times."
The doppelganger's confidence shattered, her eyes widening in shock. "Two more attacks…?!"
Anna's voice was low, almost a whisper, but it cut through the air like a knife. "Which means, even though Earth Slicer wasn't destroyed thanks to Half Unbreak, I can still hit it two more times. That's 950 points of damage twice over. You're done!"
Before the doppelganger could react, Liebe's cannon roared to life once more, the massive barrel swiveling back toward Earth Slicer. The first cannonball fired with a deafening blast, striking the target dead on. The doppelganger braced herself as another 950 points of damage hit her like a freight train.
Mirror Anna's LP: 1550→600
And then, before she could even catch her breath, the second shot came. The explosion was even more massive this time, a shockwave that sent the doppelganger flying high into the air, her Life Points plummeting to zero.
Mirror Anna's LP: 600→0
As she tumbled back down to the ground, her strength fading, the doppelganger managed a weak smile. "Heh... you really got me this time," she murmured, as her body began to fizzle away. "Congrats, Anna… you beat me fair and square."
The world around Anna began to fracture, cracks spider-webbing through the air as if reality itself were made of glass. The dimension splintered, shards of the battlefield falling away into nothingness. The ground beneath her feet crumbled, the sky above shattered like a mirror, and everything that had been solid and real just moments ago dissolved into a swirl of fragments, tumbling into the void.
The white of the dimension faded, replaced by the familiar surroundings of the dojo. The cool air settled around her, the polished wooden floors gleaming under the soft light.
Anna blinked, disoriented for just a heartbeat, and then she saw Luna, standing near the entrance. Luna gave her a polite smile and a small wave, the usual calm in her eyes. But before Anna could respond, she caught sight of Naruto leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Took your time, didn't you?" Naruto drawled, his voice carrying that cocky, cool tone he'd perfected over the years.
Anna rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at her lips despite herself. "Yeah, yeah. Had to make sure I did it right," she retorted, her voice sharp but with an edge of humor.
Naruto chuckled, pushing off the wall with easy grace. "Well, I'm glad we all made it back."
"So, where do you want to do next?" Anna asked, excitedly.
Naruto stretched lazily, his cool demeanor never wavering. "Well, since we've done what we came here to do," he began, letting the words hang in the air for a moment before finishing with a smirk, "we can head home."
Anna glanced outside again, noting the inky darkness that had settled over the landscape. Her excitement from earlier waned slightly as she took in just how late it had gotten. She wasn't one to back down easily, but even she had to admit—heading out into the night didn't exactly sound appealing.
Before she could voice her thoughts, Naruto's smirk softened into something more thoughtful. "On second thought," he said, his tone more serious, "it's pretty dark out. No point in risking a trip back now. We might as well stay here for the night."
"Yes!" Anna cried enthusiastically, her voice echoing slightly in the dojo.
Luna chuckled softly in the background. "It's settled then," she confirmed warmly. "We'll rest here tonight."
The soft hum of machinery filled the dimly lit lab, the glow from the large computer monitors casting sharp shadows across the room. Kaito stood at the center, his gaze fixed on the screens in front of him. Data streamed by, endless lines of code and digital projections, all dedicated to a single purpose—analyzing the weaknesses of his deck.
He couldn't afford to lose again, not after what happened last time.
Orbital 7 hovered nearby, its mechanical limbs twitching with curiosity. "Master Kaito, what are your plans?" it asked, its voice a mix of concern and anticipation.
Kaito's eyes narrowed as he reviewed the data, his mind already several steps ahead. "Naruto and Yuma both attend the same school," he began, his tone as cold and calculating as the machines around him. "Aside from our group, they're the only other ones collecting Numbers cards."
Orbital 7 whirred softly, processing the information. "And what do you intend to do about it?"
Kaito's fingers danced over the keyboard, never leaving the screen even once. "Tomorrow," he said, a determined edge to his voice, "I'm going to pay them a visit. It's time I reclaim the Numbers I lost."
Orbital 7's sensors flashed in acknowledgment. "Understood, Master Kaito! I'll make preparations!"
Naruto jolted awake, the sound of clashing voices pulling him from the depths of sleep. He sat up quickly, disoriented, his mind struggling to catch up with his surroundings. The room was small, barely furnished—just a simple mat and a low table. It was what the dojo owner had provided for the night, a place of quiet reflection now shattered by the commotion outside.
He could hear it clearly now—a mix of angry shouts and the unmistakable crash of something heavy hitting the ground. Swinging his legs over the side of the mat, Naruto moved to the window and peered out into the dark courtyard. There, illuminated by the dim light of a few lanterns, stood a man with wild green hair twisted into an ugly mohawk. He was shouting at the top of his lungs, a sneer twisting his face.
"I'm here to take the magical mirror!" the man bellowed, loud enough that Naruto could hear him clearly even from his room.
Around him, the monks were trying to stop him, but they were being knocked back with little effort. The man seemed to enjoy their struggle, relishing each failed attempt to subdue him.
Finally, the head monk stepped forward. "You will not pass," the old monk declared.
The man with the mohawk laughed, a harsh, grating sound that made Naruto's blood boil. "Old man, just roll over and die already! You're not gonna stop me."
Naruto felt a surge of anger well up within him. He wasn't about to let this guy trash the dojo and disrespect the monk. He moved quickly, crossing the courtyard until he was standing beside the elder. Placing a hand on the monk's shoulder, Naruto gave a small nod. "I'll handle this."
The mohawked guy turned to him, eyes narrowing in disbelief. "Who the hell are you? You're not even a monk. Go back to sleep, kid, and stay out of grown-up business." He flashed a deck of cards, his smirk growing wider. "I just lifted these beauties from a museum. You wouldn't stand a chance."
Naruto met the challenge with a smirk of his own, the thrill of the impending duel already setting his heart racing. He pulled out his D-Pad, the cool metal familiar in his hand.
"That's exactly what I was hoping for," he said, his voice low and confident. "I've been itching for a chance to do a test drive."