Hello everyone, I'm back with another chapter, and this time a lot quicker. Although, it's mostly because this chapter is quite a bit shorter than the few recent ones.
fan of Cartoon and animation: I'll try my best to figure out something for what Tori's arc could, I have a couple of ideas as of right now, but not a single one that I'm dead set on.
Dragonkeeper10: Indeed, Caswell won't be as much of a jerk anymore, and Flip will appear a lot less because imo, Yuma never should've just accepted that guy as his friend so quickly in canon, not to mention bro kept causing way too much trouble.
kaiser Younes: Thanks, but Utopia is not referring to Number 96, and Antitopian will indeed appear in this story, but not for the longest while. Shark is gonna make his comeback in about three to four chapters if I would estimate.
HunterHQ: I was planning on having a Goblin Biker player, but that most likely won't come into fruition until we reach Zexal II. Brooke didn't pass away, she's the current Duel Queen. Bakugan was one of the shows I grew up with, and Season 1 is still my second favorite season. Honestly, I love Shark Drake Leveiss so much. Yup, there won't be any Pendulums and Links in this story, and Shark is with the pack right now.
Egduardiazsluber: Thanks, and I'll make sure to keep on delivering then.
darktheking73: That's true, Yuma in this version of the story would definitely dislike a Quattro a whole lot if he continued to torture Rio in the future. Number 93 is definitely going to be a version of Utopia since that's his true King Form, and as for the other two, I don't wanna spoil the story. Maybe not all of the Numbers will have their personalities fine-tuned, but I will try to do as many as I can.
Anyways without further ado, here is the next chapter!
Chapter 6: Icing on the Cake!
Heartland City Mall buzzed with life as Yuma and Rio stepped into the cool, brightly lit cafeteria. Astral was floating after them as usual. The air smelled of fresh pastries, fried snacks, and most importantly—ice cream. The two made a beeline for the ice cream counter, the glass display case filled with colorful scoops of every flavor imaginable.
Yuma grinned as he eyed the menu. "Man, I'm getting the biggest sundae they've got!"
Rio chuckled. "Try not to give yourself a brain freeze, Yuma."
The cashier, a cheerful woman in a pink uniform, smiled at them. "What can I get for you two?"
"I'll have a triple chocolate fudge sundae with extra whipped cream and sprinkles," Yuma said, practically drooling over the thought.
Rio glanced at the menu. "Strawberry parfait sundae for me, please."
The cashier rang up their order, and just as Rio reached into her pocket for some cash, Yuma beat her to it, slapping a few bills onto the counter. "I got this," he said proudly.
Rio raised an eyebrow. "Yuma, I can pay for myself."
"Nah, don't worry about it," Yuma insisted, grinning. "I wanna treat you."
Rio sighed, crossing her arms. "I appreciate it, but I don't need you covering for me."
"I insist," Yuma said, unwavering.
She stared at him for a second before relenting with a small smirk. "Fine. But next time, I'm paying."
"Deal," Yuma said, puffing out his chest like he had won some kind of duel, which he technically did a couple of minutes earlier against Flip. They eventually grabbed their sundaes and found a table near the window. The view overlooked the mall's central plaza, where kids ran around the fountain, couples strolled, and stores flashed their neon signs.
Rio took a small bite of her parfait, her expression content. "Haven't been out like this in a while."
"Yeah," Yuma said through a mouthful of ice cream. "Kinda nice just chilling instead of running into Number holders or crazy duelists trying to rip me off."
Rio smirked. "You do seem to attract trouble. And one of the ones you attracted happened to be Reginald."
"Not my fault!" Yuma protested, waving his spoon. "Adventure just finds me! You should've seen my Duel against Shark, it was one for the ages."
Rio laughed softly and shook her head. "Still, it's nice to take a break. Just enjoying ice cream without worrying about having to Duel maniacs one after another."
Yuma grinned. "Exactly! And hey, next time, when you're paying, I'm getting the biggest sundae they've got again!"
Rio rolled her eyes playfully. "Just don't complain if I make you eat all of it."
Astral on the other hand was just observing them, and keeping to himself. "I wonder what this substance they call sundae or ice cream tastes like?"
The two thirteen-year-olds continued chatting, enjoying the rare, peaceful moment in Heartland City. Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched by three girls their age sitting at the table behind them. "It seems Yuma and his new girlfriend found their way to this lovely café." the dull brown-haired girl named Asuka was the one who spoke. Her hair was styled into a bob-cut as well thick bangs that covered her right eye. Two cowlicks extented from the top of her head, and her visible left eye was olive-colored. She wore a gold tag necklace, which rested just above the collar of her shirt. Her upper body outfit consisted of a black shirt underneath, and a beige, short-sleeved coat that was unbuttoned to reveal the said black shirt beneath. She sported brown boots, and wore short denim shorts, which contrasted with her black thigh-high stockings.
"Are we sure, she is his girlfriend, and that this is a date?" the fair-skinned girl with dark grayish-blue eyes replied. She had long dull cyan hair that was styled into twintails with three thick bangs. The twintails were held by white crown-shaped hairpieces with pinkish accents. She wore a light green loose dress that was accompanied by a green frilly skirt.
"Totally Aki, look at the two of them chatting away." Asuka gestured for her friend to continue looking at the duo who were laughing together over a joke or something.
"It's not a date, you two. Besides, it's none of our business. You've read too many romance novels for your own good, Asuka!" Yuki chided. Her eyes were brown and large, her voluminous, spiky hair was long, and burgundy-colored that reached her hips, with a thick fringe of bangs framing her forehead. Two sidetails extended on either side of her shoulders. She was wearing a striped yellow-and-orange shirt, and over it, a cream-colored waistcoat as well as a frilly salmon-pink skirt. A white shawl was draped over her shoulders.
"Hey, I can't help it. They look cute together. I never imagined Yuma would ever end up having a girlfriend. It's Yuma, we're talking about. The school clown, the ultra novice, the guy who yells a lot and loses a lot of Duels. That same Yuma!" Despite being the least feminine of the trio style-wise, Asuka couldn't help but gush about the fact that Yuma and Rio would make for a cute couple.
"It doesn't seem to be the case anymore, I'm afraid. Apparently Yuma schooled the actual clown Flip Turner just a few minutes earlier." Yuki informed dryly as she consumed her milkshake through the straw. Curious eyes turned towards her as she held her smartphone in front of her, going through Yuma's stats.
"You're checking through his records?" Aki asked.
Yuki kept on scrolling through the date records. "Just felt like confirming whether or not his victory over our Supreme Duel Titan was legit or not. He also apparently beat Mr. Kay sometime near midnight a couple of days ago."
"He even beat our teacher?! Are we sure he's not taking some card game amps or something. Yuma was never this good before, winning three times in a row of all things!" Asuka was astonished, what happened to the guy she used to regularly defeat so Yuki wouldn't have to waste her time Dueling him instead. Yuma wanted to Duel Yuki numerous times, but Asuka always stood in his way.
"It seems, it's mostly because of his new Monster, Number 39: Utopia." She showed them the artwork of Yuma's new signature card. They were mesmerized to see Yuma having such a power and grand-looking Xyz Monster. "Apparently, it can't be destroyed by any Non-Number Monsters during battle, and can negate attacks for each Overlay Unit."
"Wait, his new Monster is that good? Did you just say his new Monster can't be destroyed by Battle with any of the Monsters we have?" Asuka didn't think there could be a group of Monsters out there who couldn't be destroyed by any Monsters other than themselves in battle.
"That's precisely what I insinuated, so yes." Yuki confirmed.
"Isn't that cheating though?" Aki figured. "None of us have these so-called Number cards..."
"I don't perceive it as such. I merely see them as much worthier opponents, being able to beat the seemingly unbeatable always makes things entertaining, wouldn't you say so girls?" Yuki smirked.
Aki stared at her chocolate parfait in sadness. "Easy for you to say, I'm still way behind the two of you."
"That just means, you have to do better to reach our level! You're our best friend too, and we want you to become a Duel Titan as well." Asuka spoke in a sincere tone. "Anyways, what do you think Yuki? Shall we greet them?"
Yuki could automatically tell that she was referring to Yuma and Rio. "As soon as they've finished eating. We don't wanna be rude." Yuki continued drinking her milkshake.
"Be for real Yuki, you don't think this girl can be a threat to your status as the Queen of the First-Years? Of course you're still the second best girl overall as long as Angela has anything to say about it, but I doubt this Rio girl can beat you." Asuka praised her friend, she knew what she was capable of, and figured she should work harder to overthrow Angela who was the highest ranked female student in their academy. Angela was ranked as 4th, and Yuki was ranked as 6th.
"I don't know Aki, granted beating Caswell isn't much of a feat of its own, but even then, she managed to OTK him with just one Level 4 Monster doing all the damage." Yuki rationalized, she wasn't going to underestimate Rio.
"So? It's gonna take a lot more than that to beat the most admired girl in school." Asuka claimed.
"Don't flatter me that much Asuka, I prefer to stay humble. It's fitting that they chose to come to the café at this hour. I was planning on sending them a message anyway."
Aki went from sad to curious as she made eye contact with Yuki. "A message for what?"
"As a friend Aki, I want you to Duel Rio for me, and help me figure out how good she is. I've already whispered the idea to Asuka in class earlier while you were at a dentist appointment. I need more data to know what I'm up against, not to mention you can use a worthwhile opponent yourself." Yuki informed. Normally she wouldn't care this much about any girl, but since she happened to be Shark's younger sister, she was willing to make an exception. "I've lost multiple times to her brother in the past, and now I'm curious to see how strong Junior Kastle is in comparison."
"I can't believe you decided a Duel for me like this Yuki..." Aki didn't know how to feel about this. She knew her friend meant well, but arranging a Duel for her without her consent was something else.
"Can you please just do me this one favor, and let your Madolche cards have a crack against her ice-themed Deck?" Yuki requested.
"Fine then, I can't let a friend down, can I?" Aki smiled. Yuki gave her a look that Aki automatically knew she was expressing her gratitude.
Asuka noticed that Yuma and Rio have finished consuming their respective treats, and got up from her chair. "It looks like they've finished, let's greet them."
Yuki and Aki followed suit as all three of them proceeded to walk over to Yuma's table. Asuka was the first one to greet them since she knew Yuma the best among the three of them. "Good afternoon Yuma, how's it hanging?"
"Asuka?! What are you doing here?" Yuma didn't expect to see the aforementioned girl and her friends here.
Asuka facepalmed, what else could she do in a cafeteria other than eating or drinking something here? "Duh, I was happily eating my parfait, and caught my favorite victim, and close friend consuming ice cream together with the new girl. Should I have been anymore obvious?" Before Yuma could reply back to her, Rio tugged on his shoulder.
"Umm, Yuma, mind introducing me?" Rio requested her friend. This was awkward. Yuma was chatting away with three girls, well at least one of them from what she could see. She recognized the girl he was talking to from class today as well as the burgundy-haired one, but the blue-haired girl was a new face.
"Oh yeah, I should probably introduce all of you to my friend. Rio, this is Asuka Uchida, the heartless girl of their trio." Yuma stated intentionally, wanting to incur his friend's wrath.
"WHAT WAS THAT?! If we weren't friends, then I would've ripped you asunder by now." Asuka slammed her hands on the table.
"I'd like to see you try!" Yuma blew a raspberry at her, infuriating her even more. The other three girls sweatdropped at the scene. "Anyways, the other two are Aki Sorano, and Yuki Harada."
"Yuki Harada..." the dark-blue haired girl repeated Yuki's name out loud. Rio and Yuki both made eye contact with one another. "You're the top female student of our year?"
"Guilty as charged. And you're Shark's beloved younger sister I take it?" Yuki already knew the answer, but felt like hearing it from her mouth instead.
"Beloved wouldn't be the first word I would use to describe us, but sure why not. Do you have a grudge against my brother or something as well like Caswell earlier?" Rio folded her arms, and looked at her as if she expected that to be the case.
Aki's voice cut into the conversation. "Please refrain from comparing Yuki to that nobody, Caswell. She holds nothing but deep respect for your brother."
Yuki put a hand on her hip as she stared coolly at Rio. "It's true, even after losing to Yuma, that hasn't changed. From what I've checked, he didn't even summon his true Ace Monster in that Duel, Bahamut Shark."
"Bahamut Shark... You mean Shark never used his Ace Monster against me?" Yuma should've known that Shark wasn't able to go all out against him. "Was he intentionally holding back against me?"
"I'm afraid so Yuma, I don't mean to discredit you or anything, but Bahamut Shark is definitely hailed as Shark's signature Card. Ask his sister over here." Yuki spoke to him in a respectful tone.
Yuma turned to Rio, wanting her to confirm it for him. "Is it true, Rio?"
"Yes it's true Yuma. Bahamut Shark is my brother's ultimate Card as far as I'm aware too at least. Who knows, maybe he didn't have the tools of bringing him out?" Rio figured that should most likely be the case, her brother usually only summons the said Monster if they push him back into a corner to the point he has to bring it out. Although, he always had Bahamut on the ready whenever he Dueled Kyoji.
"I wonder how Utopia would fare against his Bahamut Shark." Yuma figured Utopia should have the advantage because he's a Number, but he would have to see it until he believed it.
"That reminds me Yuma, where did you acquire a Monster such as Utopia? It's seemingly a one-of-a-kind Card too." Yuki inquired.
"Well, I..." Yuma was unsure of what excuse he should make. He didn't want to lie to his friends about the origin of his cards, but he didn't want to drag them into his every day problems.
Rio instantly decided to cover for him since she didn't want other people to get involved in the whole Numbers mess as well. "I gave him that Card as a gift. It's a symbol of our bond you could say."
Yuma looked at her in awe and gave her a subtle smile. He went along with it. "Yeah, what she said. I'm forever indebted to her."
Rio could tell that Aki and Asuka bought their lie, but Yuki on the other hand, looked skeptical. Yuki chose to drop it for now. "I see, anyways, mind doing us a favor?"
"A favor?" Yuma repeated.
"Would you mind Dueling Aki?" Yuki suggested.
"Yeah sure, I would love to Duel her." Yuma agreed thinking the question was directed at him.
"Not you Yuma, we want Rio to Duel Aki!" Asuka called out.
"You want her to Duel me?" Rio made eye contact with Aki. From what Rio could automatically tell, Aki was definitely the most frail-looking between the three, and the quiet girl of their trio. Asuka was the hot-head and noisy one while Yuki was the calm and collected one, and seemingly the leader too.
"Precisely." Yuki confirmed.
"Out of curiosity, may I ask what your Rank is? I've done enough research to know that, thanks to my buddy Yuma over here that Harada and Uchida are Duel Titans. Yes, I have a great memory. So, I take it you're not one of the twenty Duel Titans?" Rio asked the fellow blue-haired girl.
"Ironic since you forgot all about me and our childhood together." Yuma couldn't say that out loud, and just this once he wanted to have a dark thought cloud his mind. He didn't resent Rio for it, he could never do that to her. He rather resented the world for doing this to her in the firstplace.
Aki replied. "Indeed, but I will become one eventually because of my friends helping me. And as for your other question, my Rank is 44. So don't think you'll be able to beat me as easily as you did Caswell."
"I never thought that for a second, I can already tell you'll be a lot more challenging than him. Okay, girls, we can take this outside." Rio got up from her chair, prompting Yuma to do the same as they all walked out of the cafeteria. They went back to the spot where Yuma Dueled Flip earlier, figuring this place would be the perfect spot for a Duel. Yuma, Yuki, and Asuka watched from the sidelines, with Astral wishing to observe the Duel as well, so he floated beside Yuma. Rio and Aki stood across from one another with enough distance between them.
"So, this is it. Rio versus Aki." Yuma exclaimed. Despite wanting to Duel himself, he couldn't wait to see his friend in action again. "Come to think of it, this is the first time I might be able to see Rio play for more than one Turn since our reunion. I sorta always arrive before Rio is about to take her last turn. The Duel with Caswell doesn't count, since that was an OTK."
"Your new girlfriend just so happens to be Shark's sister, I would expect this to be a good match." Asuka stated with a genuine smile on her face.
Yuma was irritated by her comment. "Could you please cut that out Asuka. She's not my girlfriend, and Rio's her own person, she doesn't need to constantly be compared to Shark." Rio overheard the conversation from the sidelines, and turned to Yuma with a small smile. It warmed his heart to see her smile at him like old times.
"Thanks Yuma!" Rio wanted to thank him out loud, but she could see her smile was already enough. Nobody had ever told anyone off for needlessly comparing her to her brother like that.
Asuka didn't mean to offend anyone with what she said. "Oh sorry about that, it's just expectations you know."
"Sadly, meeting people's expectations is something Rio always feared to meet." Yuma couldn't help but feel bad for Rio. He felt like he should be able to relate to her somehow, in spite of having an older sister himself, he didn't know what it was like being endlessly compared to your sibling. He even caught Rio shedding tears at times even though she tried to play the usual tough girl role she always played, but even he knew the princess of ice had a heart.
"I hope your friend knows what she's in for Yuma, even though Aki isn't a Duel Titan yet, she's still not one to be taken lightly." Yuki informed.
"I can say the same for Rio, because I believe in her and I've seen her Duel enough times. She's going to beat Aki, and then work her way into becoming Heartland's next Duel Queen, I just know she can." Yuma was fully confident that his childhood friend would walk away as the victor in this Duel.
"It's too bad that we share the same dream then. I've made a vow to family and friends that I'll be the one to dethrone Brooke Walker, and I intend to keep that vow." Yuki stated as a matter-of-factly. Yuma sighed, and just decided to spectate the Duel.
Aki wanted to resolve this quickly, so she turned on her Duel Disk. "So what do you say, Kastle? Are you ready to Duel yet?"
"I was born ready!" Rio claimed as she activated her Duel Disk as well.
"Then you don't mind if I let you have the first turn, do you?" Aki asked.
"Not at all, I would be happy to oblige." Rio was confident either way, it didn't matter whether or not she was going first or second, she was only in it to win it.
Aki smirked. "You're benevolence may come back to bite you, but I appreciate it."
"Augmented Reality Vision Link Established!" The duel pads called out as the AR Vision Link was set in motion.
"DUEL!" Rio and Aki shouted in unison as they each drew their first five cards.
Rio Life Points: 4000/Number of cards in hand: 5
Aki Life Points: 4000/Number of cards in hand: 5
Rio 1st Turn:
"My Turn! I Draw!" Rio dramatically drew the top card of her Deck. She observed the cards in her Hand before making her decision. "I set one Monster face-down, and one card face-down! I end my Turn with that!"
Rio Life Points: 4000/Number of cards in hand: 4
Aki Life Points: 4000/Number of cards in hand: 5
Aki 1st Turn:
"Interesting, kinda basic though. I suppose it's my turn then. I Draw!" Aki flipped over the top card of her Deck, and smiled before placing it in her Hand. She then picked out another card, and slapped it onto the middle Monster Zone. "I Summon Madolche Magileine in ATK Mode!" The monster that appeared standing on top of a black jigsaw puzzle was seemingly a young girl with light green eyes, which contrasted with her pinkish-purple hair. Her hair was styled into long, side-swept strands with curling ends, resembling ribbons. She wore a large, floppy purple witch's hat which was adorned with a big, white, bow, and an elegant Victorian-style dress, with puffy sleeves, a corset-style bodice, and a layered skirt.
Madolche Magileine: ATK: 1400/ Level: 4
Aki continued with her Turn. "After having Normal Summoned my dear Magileine over here, I can add one Madolche Monster to my Hand from my Deck, and I choose Madolche Anjelly!" Aki picked out the card from her Deck and revealed it to Rio who stared with indifference. "No words now, but you're going to witness a spectacle soon enough."
"Something tells me, Aki is getting into the zone now." Yuma was getting an awful feeling about this, and hoped that Rio had something planned.
"Geez, whatever gave you that impression. Your friend better prepare herself, because Aki is about to summon her Ace Monster soon." Asuka was excited, she knew that she's setting up the stage for her Ace Monster to thrive.
"Her Ace Monster?" Yuma repeated as they continued to spectate the Duel.
Aki smirked as she picked up the card she drew at the start of her Turn. "I activate Graceful Charity, with this I can Draw three cards, and then discard two." Aki added the three cards from the top of her Deck to her Hand. She analyzed the cards in her Hand before picking up two and slotting them into the Graveyard.
Aki Graveyard (3): Graceful Charity, Madolche Marmelmaide, and Madolche Chickolates
Aki then turned serious as she looked Rio dead in the eye. "I should be honest with you Rio."
Rio was disinterested, but figured she could hear her out. "Honest about what?"
Aki clenched both of her fists. "Two weeks after school had just started, I was scheduled to Duel against the Supreme Duel Titan."
"Wait, the Supreme Duel Titan is my bro-" Rio began.
"Yes, your brother Shark." Aki interjected. She could never forget how she lost that day, it was the most intense Duel of her life.
(Flashback)
The Duel between Shark and Aki took place in one of the Duel Arenas at their school. A lot of people were watching from the stands, cheering. Some were afraid of how intense Shark had been during this entire Duel. To them it seemed like Shark was taking out his anger on his fellow schoolmates after being ousted from the Nationals.
Shark Life Points: 3400
Aki Life Points: 600
"Look at that, you're all alone, it hurts doesn't it? Your Monsters were destroyed one by one, and you've got no one left to protect you." Shark spoke with venom as he grinned evilly. "Oh, wait maybe you're not so alone after all, since you have me, and Tri-Edge Levia to keep you company." Shark gestured at the shadowed Monster behind him. Aki looked at him in fear, she couldn't do anything, she had no more cards left, her field was empty, and Shark's monster had begun slowly walking towards her. Aki wanted to run away from there more and more with every step Shark's monster took. "This is your punishment for accepting this Duel! Let her have it, Levia!"
Upon hearing Shark's command, the monster proceeded to strike, and all that could be heard were Aki's screams. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Aki Life Points: 0
Winner: Shark (LP: 3400)
"I was utterly crushed that Day. My friends were watching, I felt like I had just failed them miserably, so I refused to Duel for months." Aki told her opponent.
Asuka continued for her friend. "It's true, Shark had insulted and toyed around with Aki for the entire Duel. He could've ended the Duel ages ago, but he wanted to break her down until he eventually felt satisfied with his work."
"I remember what Shark used to be like before since I came across him a few times in tournaments and stuff like that . He was one of the most respectable Duelists and young talents Heartland City has ever produced, it was just plain sad to see how much he had changed since Nationals." Aki fondly remembered how her Duels against Shark went, even though she had lost every time, she always found Dueling him worthwhile.
Rio didn't know what to say at this moment. What could she say? Other than apologizing for her brother? She knew Yuma had been telling her the truth the other night, and she believed him yet it still hurt to hear about her brother's personality change from other people's mouths. Rio clutched her right arm tightly with her left. "I'm sorry about what Reginald did to you... He was never like this."
"You don't have to apologize for your brother, I just wanted to get this off my chest, and I can already tell you're nothing like him. I'm not even seeking revenge against you or him either. Just like how I had my humbling experience at his hands, he suffered his against Yuma." Aki then looked towards the crab-haired boy and smiled at him. "I saw the Duel, and saw how Yuma kept on fighting even though Shark had him against the ropes several times in that Duel. He was the one who got me to try Dueling again following my loss to Shark. After seeing how the kid who had never won before, suddenly being victorious against the school's Number One for everyone to see, it made me realize that I shouldn't give up either."
"Aki, you..." Yuma was amazed, he knew he didn't manage to bring Shark out from the darkness completely, but to find out he actually succeeded in bringing someone else out from it was truly something else.
"I see, good for you then." Rio then turned thoughtful as she stared fondly at Yuma. Every day he amazed her more and more. "It seems Yuma can be an inspiration to others. He beat my Brother, and now he became someone else's hero."
"Anyways, enough of me narrating my sob story. It's still my Turn. I activate my Continuous Spell, Madolche Salon! With this I can make an additional Normal Summon as long as I use a Madolche Monster. So I Additional Summon, Madolche Mewfeuille!" A pink, plush cat appeared on the field. It had droopy blue eyes, making it look relaxed and sleepy. Its paws were large with cute pink pads, and it wore a small blue bow around its neck, fastened with a tiny bell that resembled a chocolate chip cookie. Floating around it were various fruits and candy-like orbs, and like Magileine it sat on top of a jigsaw puzzle piece that resembled some sort of pastry as well.
Madolche Mewfeuille: ATK: 500/ Level: 3
"Wait a second, isn't that a cat? Well, it's not a scary one..." Usually Rio would be afraid of cats, but it seems she really didn't feel afraid of this one because of how cartoony it looked.
"Upon being Normal Summoned, this fella allows me to Special Summon a Madolche Monster from my Hand! Show yourself, Madolche Anjelly!" Joining Magileine and Mewfeuille was a petite, fairy-like girl with long, wavy brown hair that extended into large curls. She wore a delicate blue and white dress, completed with frilly layers. A pearl-like headband sat atop her head, and her were small and translucent. She was cheerfully, holding a spoon close to her mouth. Her jigsaw puzzle piece resembled red gelatin.
Madolche Anjelly: ATK: 1000/ Level: 4
"Anjelly's effect allows me to tribute her in order to Special Summon one Monster from my Deck. Appear, Madolche Cruffsunt!" Anjelly dispersed into golden particles, and in her place stood an adorable puppy with a rounded, plush-like appearance. Its body was cream-colored with large, soft brown patches, particularly on its long, floppy ears. The pup wore a tiny golden-yellow top hat adorned with a brown bow and a matching collar with a small bell. It sat atop a puzzle piece that resembled a fluffy piece of toast.
Madolche Cruffsant: ATK: 1500/ Level: 3
"Now with Cruffsant, I can return one Madolche Monster on my field to my Hand to increase its ATK Points by 300, and its Level by 1! I choose Mewfeuille!" She picked up Mewfeuille's card from the Monster Zone, and added it back to her Hand, causing the virtual projection of the said monster to disappear.
Madolche Cruffsant: ATK: 1500 plus 300 = 1800
Madolche Cruffsant: Level: 3 plus 1 = 4
"She's got two Monsters with the same level now." Astral informed his partner. Cruffsant and Magileine were indeed both Level 4.
"So I take it, you're going to Xyz Summon?" Rio already knew the answer to that question as she braced herself for what was about to happen.
"Yup! With my Level 4 Magileine and Cruffsant, I construct the Overlay Network!" Her monsters turned into orbs, and entered the usual red portal meant for regular Xyz Monsters. "From a kingdom of sugar and splendor, a queen of grace takes her throne! With a wave of her scepter, the banquet is set! Xyz Summon! Reign supreme, Madolche Queen Tiaramisu!" Aki's Xyz Monster had finally appeared, sitting proudly on an extravagant throne made of rich, golden-brown pastries. The throne was adorned with swirls, curls, and candy-like decorations. The monster herself was a poised and graceful young woman with soft, silvery hair styled neatly with colorful candy ornaments dotted through it like jewels. She wore a small, ornate blue tiara that sparkled like with candy-like gems. Her outfit consisted of a royal gown dominated by dark chocolatey browns, creams, and golden yellows, to a degree, you can say it resembled a layered cake. She held a long royal scepter with a pastry-like swirl and a candy gem with her left hand. Her puzzle piece resembled layers of striped chocolate that was bordered by colorful macarons.
In short, Madolche Queen Tiaramisu was the perfect blend of regal authority and sugary fantasy. A queen ruling over a kingdom of sweets. She floated behind her mistress, and looked eager to get in on the action.
Madolche Queen Tiaramisu: Attack: 2200/ Rank: 4/ OVU: 2
"Is that her Ace Monster?" Yuma asked the two girls who were spectating the Duel with him.
"Indeed, Tiaramisu is her favorite Card. She was the first Xyz Monster she had ever received." Yuki informed.
"What a cute Xyz Monster you have." Rio complimented.
"Why thank you, Tiaramisu to me is the soul of my Deck. Let me show you why with this, by detaching one Overlay Unit from her, I can shuffle up to two Madolche Cards from my Graveyard into my Deck." Tiaramisu consumed her Overlay Unit, allowing her mistress to continue. "Thanks to me detaching Cruffsant, I have now four Madolche Cards in the Graveyard."
Aki Graveyard (5): Graceful Charity, Madolche Marmelmaide, Madolche Chickolates, Madolche Anjelly, and Madolche Cruffsant.
Madolche Anjelly, and Marmelmaide returned from the Graveyard Zone, allowing Aki to place them back onto her Deck, and letting her Deck shuffle for her. "Now, here's the bad part for you, I can send cards from your Field back into your Deck equal to the number of cards I just returned. And what do you know, you only have the two on your Field!"
Madolche Queen Tiaramisu: OVU: 2 - 1 = 1
"With this effect, Rio's Field is gonna be wide open!" Yuma panicked upon realizing what this effect would spell out.
Aki pointed a finger at Rio with a smirk of confidence. "Now force both of your Cards off the Field!"
Rio did as she was told. She grabbed both her face-down Monster, and Set Card, placing them back into the Deck as the Duel Disk proceeded to shuffle her cards for her. "Ugh, she got rid of my Aurora Wing and Negate Attack! Just great!"
"I think, I'll play one final effect before I finally start attacking you. Since I returned at least a single Madolche Card into my Deck from my Graveyard through a card effect, Madolche Salon allows me to set one Madolche Spell or Trap card directly from my Deck!" Aki revealed. Her Deck picked out the card she was looking for, and she grabbed it. "I choose to set Madolche Lesson! Now, prepare yourself Junior Kastle! Show her why you're the Queen of all Confectioners, Tiaramisu!" Her Monster instantly heeded her command, and with her scepter, she blasted a beam of pastry towards Rio who shielded herself with both of her arms. Her Life Points went down by more than half.
Rio Life Points: 4000 - 2200 = 1800
The beam eventually evaporated, giving Rio a chance to unshield her arms to assess her current predicament. "I hate to admit it, but that was well played on your part."
"So are you impressed?" Aki put her left hand on her hip as she wanted to hear her opponent's answer.
It was Rio's time to let a smirk grace her lips now. "Moreso determined, I'm afraid."
"I see, well I'll just set one Card then, and end my Turn with that!" Aki concluded her Turn.
Rio Life Points: 1800/Number of cards in hand: 4
Aki Life Points: 4000/Number of cards in hand: 3
Rio 2nd Turn:
"Now that I've let you have your fun, it's my Turn! I Draw!" The card she drew was Forbidden Chalice. She calmly placed it into her hand, and then picked up Land of Frozen Flames. "I activate my Field Spell! Land of Frozen Flames!" She called out as she placed her card on the Field Zone. The scenery around them proceeded to change into a beautiful frozen wasteland made from the purest ice and snow.
Yuma's excitement grew upon seeing Rio activating Land of Frozen Flames. "There is Rio's signature Field Spell! She's going to counter an Xyz Monster with an Xyz Monster of her own!"
"Such a beautiful Field Spell, but a bit too chilly, I'm afraid." Yuki was mesmerized by the scenery change, it was nice, but she still preferred summer over winter though.
"I promise you, you're in for a real treat now! I Summon Aurora Wing to the Field!" Her bluish-green aurora bird arrived on the field, flapping her wings as she flew around the Field. Rio had a second copy of Aurora Wing in her Starting Hand.
Aurora Wing: ATK: 1200/ Level: 4
"It's time for some Xyz action of my own! Here goes, with my Field Spell assisting me, as long as I'm trying to Xyz Summon using a WATER Monster, I can treat the said Monster as two." Rio exclaimed as she held out her right hand.
"Wait, you're only using one Monster to Xyz Summon?!"
"Exactly! I will build the Overlay Network with just my Level 4 Aurora Wing!" Aurora Wing turned into a blue orb of energy that entered a spiraling red portal on the ground. "From the frozen winds and roaring blizzards, a beast of absolute zero awakens its fury! Let all be silenced beneath its icy howl! I Xyz Summon! Break free, Ice Beast Zerofyne!" Rio chanted as her Ace Monster from childhood descended onto the field from the raging blizzards.
Ice Beast Zerofyne: ATK: 2000/ Rank: 4/ OVU: 1
"Just wait a bit Zerofyne! I'll set two cards face-down! And then I'll equip you with this! Mage Power!"
"Mage Power?" Asuka repeated.
"With that Equip Spell, she can increase Zerofyne's Attack Points by 500 for every Spell or Trap Card she controls, including the Equip Spell itself." Yuki informed, knowing what this Card was capable of.
"Rio has three cards in her Spell and Trap Card zones, not to mention her Field Spell..." Yuma began.
"Which means, Zerofyne's ATK and Defense will increase by 2000 in total." Astral finished despite knowing that only Yuma heard him.
Ice Beast Zerofyne: ATK: 2000 plus 500 x 4 = 4000
Ice Beast Zerofyne: DEF: 2200 plus 500 x 4 = 4200
"It's just going to get bigger, I'm afraid, because I'm using Zerofyne's effect!" The Sub-Zero Bird Beast proudly absorbed her Overlay Unit. She quickly flew into the air, glowing golden. "By detaching one Overlay Unit, she can Negate all face-up cards on your Field! Perfect Freeze!" Zerofyne then fired light blue colored lasers from her wings towards Madolche Tiaramisu who cried out in pain as she slowly was encased in ice, and the virtual form of Madolche Salon. "And then her ATK Points increase by 300 for every face-up cards on the field excluding herself. We have Tiaramisu, your Continuous Spell, my own Equip Spell and my Field Spell! That's 1200 more Points for her!"
Ice Beast Zerofyne: OVU: 1 - 1 = 0
Ice Beast Zerofyne: ATK: 4000 plus 4 x 300 = 5200
"5200 ATK POINTS?!" Yuma and Asuka shouted in unison.
"Your Monster is about to be destroyed, and you can't activate Madolche Salon's effect until my next Standby Phase!" Rio informed her opponent.
"Ugh, there is no point in using Madolche Lesson anymore, her ATK Boost is too big." Aki then proceeded to activate her other face-down. "I'm still not out of options. I activate Madolche Waltz! Now for every time a Madolche Monster attacks or is attacked, my foe will take 300 Points of Damage."
"That's not going to stop me! Zerofyne, make it rain with Icicle Storm!" Rio commanded as she held her right hand out in front of her once more while allowing her Ace Monster to twirl around in the air as she glowed light blue. Zerofyne then brought her hands up the into the air, before swiping them to the side, firing a stream of icicle shards towards the frozen form of Tiaramisu, completely obliterating her. Aki was sent flying, and landed harshly on the ground. (5200 - 2200 = 3000)
Aki Life Points: 4000 - 3000 = 1000
"Damn, that looked painful." Asuka cringed, but then she saw the virtual form of Madolche Waltz firing a white-colored laser towards Rio. She remained indifferent even though the attack had hit home.
Rio Life Points: 1800 - 300 = 1500
"Forgive me, sometimes my Monsters and I can get hardcore during Duels." It was true, Rio could get occasionally way too immersed in the moment. She
Aki got back up to her feet, and dusted herself off. "No worries, I've been through way worse than this. Is that all Junior Kastle?"
"Would you please stop calling me that, it sounds so weird. And yes, My Turn is over." Rio had no Cards in her Hand while her opponent still currently had three. She remembered that Aki added Mewfeuille back to her Hands, thanks to Cruffsant's effect. She did manage to shut down Madolche Salon albeit temporarily, but still she wouldn't be able to Additional Summon for now.
Rio Life Points: 1500/Number of cards in hand: 0
Aki Life Points: 1000/Number of cards in hand: 3
Aki 2nd Turn:
"It's my Turn again! I Draw!" The Card she drew this time made her smile, it was Xyz Import. Her Current Hand wasn't ideal, but she figured she could make it work. "I activate Pot of Greed, to Draw two more Cards! You know, your Monster may have ATK Points, and I don't have any means of being able to overcome it in Battle. However, there are other ways to make that Monster disappear."
"I know so, but what route are you going to take is the question?" Rio figured that her opponent already had a plan to get herself out of this predicament. So far, from what Rio knew, Madolche Monsters aren't about achieving high ATK Points, and it seemed like a Deck that's meant to recycle archetypal Cards from the Graveyard into the Deck.
"Let me show you! I Summon my Mewfeuille once more, and thanks to its effect, when its Normal Summoned, I'm allowed to Special Summon another Madolche Monster from my Hand." Madolche Mewfeuille materialized first on the Field, and then it was joined by a youthful chibi-style knight. The knight wore a sharply detailed, miniature version of a formal black military uniform, complete with gold trim, buttons, and shouulder tassels. He sported a large black bicorn hat adorned with a massive red plume and a gold button. The knight rode a candy-themed steed, a plump, pastel-blue horse with a poofy lime green mane and tail, styled in elegant girls. The horse's hooves are tipped with green, matching its mane. It definitely looked more like a toy than a real horse. Below them, their jigsaw piece resembled a giant cookie or biscuit. "Meet Madolche Chouxvalier!"
Madolche Mewfeuille: ATK: 500/ Level: 3
Madolche Chouxvalier: ATK: 1700/ Level: 4
"Now I will activate Harmonic Waves, which allows one face-up Monster on the field's Level to become 4, naturally, the only option here is Mewfeuille." Aki only had two Cards left in her Hand now.
Madolche Mewfeuille: Level: 3 plus 1 = 4
"She's going to Xyz Summon again!" Astral warned his partner.
"The only question is, what will she Xyz Summon next?"
Aki already knew what she wanted to bring out, and it was time for some payback. "Tiaramisu would like to get reacquainted with you Rio!"
Rio could tell what the implications of that meant. "Let me guess, you have a second copy?"
"Yup, she'll clear your Field for me once again! I Overlay Mewfeuille and Chouxvalier to form the Overlay Network!" Aki's two Monsters were consumed by the spiraling red portal that proceeded to explode. "Return, and fight by my side once more! Madolche Queen Tiaramisu!" The aforementioned Monster materialized on the field while glaring at Rio and Zerofyne for what they did to her the Turn earlier.
Madolche Queen Tiaramisu: ATK: 2200/ Rank: 4/ OVU: 2
"Looks like we angered the Queen!" Rio giggled despite being aware that Tiaramisu's presence on the Field could spell disaster for her.
"That you did, and it's a crime that can't go unpunished! I activate Madolche Queen Tiaramisu's effect!" Tiaramisu absorbed the Overlay Unit that contained Madolche Mewfeuille.
"As if I would let you do that again, I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Forbidden Lance! In exchange for negating your Monster's effects, Tiaramisu gains 400 ATK Points." Rio exclaimed.
Madolche Queen Tiaramisu: OVU: 2 - 1 = 1
Madolche Queen Tiaramisu: ATK: 2200 plus 400 = 2600
Tiaramisu's effect had been negated, and there was nothing Aki could do about that. "Looks like I'll have to use this Card after all! I play Half Shut! With this, your Monster can't be destroyed by Battle, but I can halve its ATK!"
Ice Beast Zerofyne: ATK: 5200/2 = 2600
"So what? They still have the same ATK Points!" Rio called out.
"I must thank you for increasing Tiaramisu's ATK with your little maneuver over there, because now I can use this, Xyz Import!" Aki activated the last Card in her Hand.
"Xyz Import?!" This was bad, Rio was aware of what that Card could do.
"It's the end of the line for you Junior Kastle! Xyz Import allows an Xyz Monster on my Field to absorb a Monster on your Field as an Overlay Unit as long as your Monster has equal or less attack points than My Monster. And what do you know, Zerofyne has only 2600 ATK!" Tiaramisu began charging her Attack as Zerofyne was converted into an Overlay Unit for her to absorb. The Equip Spell Mage Power left the Field too.
Madolche Queen Tiaramisu: OVU: 1 plus 1 = 2
"Now, you're all alone again! It's over! Blast her away Tiaramisu!" Aki ordered her to her unleash her attack. Tiaramisu fired a beam of pastry towards the dark-blue-haired girl.
"You're a good Duelist..." Rio started to say as her visage was shadowed, looking as if she had already accepted the blast that was approaching her.
"RIO!" Yuma shouted in worry.
"It's over, Aki won the Duel!" Asuka cheered.
"No wait Asuka..." Yuki could tell something was off.
"Huh?" Asuka stared at her friend in confusion.
Rio then let out a devious grin grace her face. "But I'm still winning this! I activate Counter Gate!" A blue force field surrounded Rio, and made contact with the pastry beam.
"NO WAY!" Aki, and Asuka shouted in unison. Yuki was simply amazed.
"I knew she wouldn't lose like this!" Yuma cheered.
"With this Trap Card, I can Negate a Direct Attack, and Draw a Card. If it's a Monster, I get to Normal Summon it. So you better hope I either draw a Level 5 or higher Monster or maybe a Spell or something." Rio drew the top card of her Deck, and revealed it for everyone to see as she beamed. "It's my lovely Frostwing Harpy, and she's a Level 4!" The crystalline winged beauty of ice appeared on the field, and was eager to hunt her down foes.
Frostwing Harpy: ATK: 1300/ Level 4
"You may have negated my Attack, but you will still take 300 Points of Damage because of Madolche Waltz's effect!" Another white laser was fired from the said card. Rio didn't flinch again from the miniscule attack.
Rio Life Points: 1500 - 300 = 1200
Aki realized, she was all out of tricks for now. "And with that, I end my Turn..." Forbidden Chalice's effect wore off, making Tiaramisu's ATK Points go to normal.
Madolche Queen Tiaramisu: ATK: 2600 - 400 = 2200
Rio Life Points: 1200/Number of cards in hand: 0
Aki Life Points: 1000/Number of cards in hand: 0
Rio 3rd Turn:
"They both have 0 Cards in their Hands. Rio only has Frostwing Harpy on her Field, and at the same time, Aki has Tiaramisu, and her face-down. Not to mention Madolche Salon is working again, and her troublesome Madolche Waltz is also in play." Yuki told her fellow spectators as she analyzed the current Field. "Whatever Rio draws next will be the deciding factor."
"I hope Rio can make it a good one!" Yuma had to hope that Rio could Draw the out.
"I have faith that my Deck will give me exactly what I need." Rio stated. She took a deep breath and drew her Card. "I Draw! Now here we go. Thanks to my Field Spell, when a WATER Monster I control is used for an Xyz Summon, it counts as two Monsters!"
"You're going to bring forth another Zerofyne? She won't be able to do enough damage to win you this Duel." Aki then grinned as she realized that maybe it was for the best that she summoned Zerofyne. "Even if she Summons Zerofyne, she will only gain 900 Attack Points, because I currently only have three face-up cards on my Field. Once she uses her effect, I'll just use Madolche Lesson's effect to increase Tiaramisu's Attack by 800. Zerofyne will have 2900, and Tiaramisu will have 3000. It's so over now!"
Rio cracked her knuckles. "Not exactly, this next Monster of mine is a princess."
Aki snorted. "A princess? You know as well as I that a princess is always inferior to a queen!"
Rio the right side of her hair tightly. "I do, but that only applies if they're from the same tribe, clan, or something. Just watch, my princess here will dethrone your queen here and now!"
"I'm not losing to another Kastle!" Aki promised herself that she would never lose to another Kastle.
"Too bad, because your statement is about to come untrue! When Frostwing Harpy is used for an Xyz Summon of a WATER Monster, I can choose to treat her as a Level 5 or 6 Monster." Rio revealed what her Monster was capable of to her opponent.
Aki was perplexed. "You can do what?!"
"You heard me! I treat my Harpy as Level 5 for this Xyz Summon! Now let's build the Overlay Network, shall we?!" Frostwing Harpy turned into a blue orb of light that entered a spiraling icy blue vortex instead of the regular red one. "From the silent frost and endless winter, a princess of ice weaves her frozen will! With a single breath, the world is sealed in stillness! I Xyz Summon! Break your shackles, Ice Princess Zereort!" The Field exploded with a dramatic visual of frozen chaos. The swirling blue energy, icy particles, and a powerful shockwave bursting outward.
The field then was consumed by raging, harsh blizzards, making everyone shield their faces except for Rio, who admired her work with a radiant smile. The blizzards eventually died down, and at Rio's side of the field stood a tall, regal, and mechanical form. The monster's entire body appeared to be armored in angular, sharp-edged plates of shimmering light-blue ice, with clean, polished surfaces reflecting the intense cold aura around her. She wielded a long, slender scepter in one hand that was topped with a golden, spear-like point. Her face was partially obscured by a sleek helmet with sharp, crown-like projections. Red lines ran through her armor, glowing like thin veins of magma beneath a frozen crust, and behind her massive, wing-like shards fanned out. They were jagged and radiant, almost resembling giant crystalline blades.
Ice Princess Zereort: ATK: 2500/ Rank: 5/ OVU: 1
Yuma was in complete awe by Rio's Rank 5 Monster's appearance. "Woah, a Rank 5 Monster of Ice. .. And she looks tougher than Zerofyne! Now Rio can add a card with Blizzard in its name because she used that Harpy for an Xyz Summon." He smiled at her as he saw Rio adding a Blizzard Card, and revealing it to her opponent. "Heh, kinda fitting that an Ice Princess uses an Ice Princess Monster."
"What is she?" Aki didn't like where this was going. The Monster before her radiated absolute power, and it frightened her.
"In short, Ice Princess Zereort is the embodiment of an ice-crowned sovereign." Rio giggled as she continued hyping her Monster up. "Cold, lethal, majestic! Combining the elegance of royalty with the devastating force of nature locked in frozen form. Every detail of her design sharpens that image. She's simply a cold beauty with an edge of unstoppable power. And let me prove it to you with her effect! By detaching one Overlay Unit, she can decrease one face-up Monster's Attack Points on your field to 0."
"She's able to do WHAT?" Aki yelled out in concern for what was about to happen to her.
"Zereort! Let her experience the power of Absolute Zero with SUB-ZERO SUBTRACTION!" Rio called out as her monster brought forth a snowstorm with one wave of her scepter. A swarm of blue crystals crept up to Tiaramisu's body until she was completely frozen solid.
Madolche Queen Tiaramisu: ATK: 2200 - 2200 = 0
"NO TIARAMISU!" She called out to her monster in worry, but she received no response. "Dammit, there is no point in using Madolche Lesson anymore, the ATK increase isn't enough to cover my Life Points. You win this time Kastle." She had already accepted her defeat. She made eye contact with Rio, nodding at her and giving her a soft smile. "It looks like I accept my defeat, bring it!"
Rio returned the smile as a sign of respect. She decided to honor her opponent by letting Zereort put an end to this. "Finish it Ice Princess Zereort! BLIZZARD CHAOS!" The Ice Princess Monster raised her weapon into the air, summoning forth raging snowstorms that almost threw everyone off their feet. She fired a large and wide powerful icy-blue beam towards her opponent that utterly annihilated the frozen form of her adversary. The shockwaves from her strike sent Aki flying sky high and quite far before she eventually crashed to the surface again on her back.
Aki Life Points: 1000 - 2500 = 0
Winner: Rio (LP: 1200)
The Augmented Reality vanished, and everything else that was virtualized by the said reality followed suit. Aki couldn't help but laugh to herself as she was lying on the ground in defeat. This was her first loss since she lost against Shark, and unlike that loss, this one made her feel happy to some degree because of how fun it was. She slowly tried to get up, and as she at least managed to get into a kneeling position, a hand was outstretched in front of her. She looked up to see that it was Rio who was trying to give her a helping hand. "Kastle?"
"Here, let me help you up." Rio offered with a smile. Aki let out a heavy breath before accepting the hand, letting Rio help her up. "That was a fun Duel by the way, we could do this again sometime if you want. I'm ready for a Duel anytime, for the most part at least."
Aki rubbed her sore left arm with her right hand. "Sure, and thanks for accepting our Duel Request. It looks like I wasn't able to keep my vow of never losing to another Kastle sibling.
Rio folded her arms. "That's true, but if I were you in this situation, I would use that as a drive to get stronger so I can beat both siblings later on."
Aki figured that it didn't sound like such a bad idea. "Hmm, maybe you're on to something."
"RIO!" Yuma ran up to her with Astral floating behind him. "That was amazing, you didn't tell me you had another Xyz Monster that wasn't a Number." He held his right palm up.
Rio replied by returning his right palm with her left, successfully making a high-five. "Well, you never asked. But still, now you know what you're in for when we finally Duel."
"Great work Rio. Your skills never cease to amaze me." Astral commended. Rio gave him a thumbs up.
"What a bummer. I was hoping Aki would win, but it looks like Junior Kastle has her brother's skills to some degree." Asuka put a comforting hand on Aki's shoulder.
"Not quite, those skills were very much her own. Saying that those are her brother's skills would be considered degrading to some." Yuki chided her friend.
Rio's eyes clashed with Yuki's. "So Harada? Are you going to Duel me too, given that you orchestrated this?"
Yuki remained indifferent. "You may have piqued my interest Kastle, but I would prefer if we Dueled another time. Something grander than your everyday average Duel at the park or mall."
"If that's what you want then." Rio shrugged her arms.
"We're leaving now, see you at school Yuma, Kastle!" Yuki began walking away, causing Aki to nod at Yuma and Rio before following suit.
"See ya!" Asuka waved at them before she joined her friends.
"Bye girls! Sheesh, you're schooling my friends one after another Rio." Yuma rubbed the back of his head as he spoke those words.
Rio folded her arms as she grinned. "Precisely what a girl who aspires to be a Duel Queen should be doing, don't you think?"
"Still, congrats on winning. I can tell that you have a true Duelist's heart you know. That's why your Cards respond to you so well." Yuma praised.
"Thank you for saying that. You would think so too of Reginald, perhaps even more if you saw what he was like before I went into coma." Rio then turned sad upon remembering her Brother. He was still nowhere to be found.
Yuma's thoughts also turned towards the first person he ever managed to defeat. "I hope I can see what Shark is truly like. I know he has a true Duelist's heart too in there somewhere, he just needs someone to open up to."
"I hope I can get him to tell me what's wrong when I find him. And oh boy, do I have questions for that guy." Rio knew she would have to Shark to task eventually for every terrible thing he had done to Yuma, Aki, and others. She then turned to Yuma, looking unsure whether she should ask this or not, but she went for it anyway. "Do you mind walking me home again Yuma? Or maybe I can walk you home?"
"Man, I would love for her to walk me to my house, but I haven't told Kari or Grandma about her yet. Kari might actually kill me for hiding this from her, but I don't think making things even more awkward between me and Rio would help things either." Yuma knew that Kari's inevitable meeting with amnesiac Rio would have to wait. "Do you even have to ask? I was going to ask you myself if I could walk you home. Like I said, you're my friend, and I always treasure my friends."
Rio giggled. "You're definitely an awesome friend Yuma." Thus, both of them along with Astral began walking, hovering in Astral's case, towards her orphanage, happily chatting away.
(Duel Spirit World, Numbers Garden)
Meanwhile, in the Numbers Garden, things were quite peaceful for Utopia and Leviathan Dragon. They decided to make this their base of operations, and decided to let the third Number Monster in Yuma's disposal enter this realm. Well, it took a lot of convincing for Leviathan, but Utopia managed to win over his friend. Too bad it ended up being a decision that Leviathan regretted immensely, and to some degree Utopia as well because Terror-byte was quick the racket.
"Obey Yuma! Obey Astral!" Those were the words Terror-byte had been repeating the entire for the umpteenth time.
"Can you get that thing to shut up?!" Levice could almost swear that thing was going to tear his ears off eventually, well assuming he had ears. It was weird since he wasn't all that knowledgeable when it came to his own anatomy.
"I'll admit it bothers me too, but, he's a new ally of ours. We should give him a chance to acclimate first." the sun knight suggested.
The violet dragon snorted. "I could care less, maybe on second thought I shouldn't have won that Duel for Yuma. Then I wouldn't have to put up with this in my own garden that I found. Why are the two of you even still here?!"
"Oh brother." Utopia was annoyed that his ally didn't seem to get that they made an agreement. However, before he could give a reply back to him, a cold feminine voice cut into their conversation.
"So, this is where you've been hiding, oh legendary sun knight?" the voice spoke with a patronizing tone.
Utopia turned to look behind him, and was shocked to see who it was. "You are..."
"I'm Number 21, Frozen Lady Justice. Pleasure to make your acquaintance Number 39." Lady Justice giggled softly.
Leviathan Dragon recognized the Number Monster too to some degree. "My former master's younger sister's Number, is it? What do you want in our sacred garden?"
"My, such venom coming from supposed allies. Sacred as your garden may be, I'm only here to give you my simple greetings, and maybe even take shelter here because allied Numbers gotta stick together, correct?" She knew her words would irk the loud and proud dragon of the abyss, especially because of the tone she chose to use, but she lived for violence.
"She reeks of deceit, you better not grant her access here knight!" Levice warned his friend. He was definitely not having it with this lady.
"Wait Levice, let me handle this." Utopia held out a hand in front of him, trying to make sure that a fight wouldn't break out.
"The big bad dragon is offended by a mere swordswoman of ice. Have you really lost your fangs and claws after losing to your friend over here?" Lady Justice mocked.
"How dare you, you insolent!" Leviathan Dragon was just about ready to fire a Shock Stream Blast at her, but his friend held out one of his blades.
"Levice, calm down!" Utopia pleaded. Leviatha Dragon sighed, and stopped charging his attack out of respect for his friend. "Are you only here to antagonize my ally, or do you have another agenda in mind?"
"I have an agenda alright, but it's not something I wish to share just like that. But first, allow me to greet you with a Duel of our own want to from one sword-wielder to another." Lady Justice raised her sword, and pointed it towards the holy sun knight.
"You wish to Duel me?" Utopia was trying to make sure he heard her correctly.
"Correct! I want to experience it for myself, what the legendary knight of the infinite sun that is said to be the greatest rival of the Dragon Queen whose eyes can see multiple galaxies at once. Sadly, I've been told you always ended up coming short during every battle you had against her." It was obvious to Utopia that she knew quite a lot about his past, and it opened up old wounds.
"My past is of no concern to you!" Utopia hated thinking about his past, he wanted to forget it, just like how he wanted to forget his actual name.
"Hey, you can't stop a lover of knowledge, such as myself. And I aspire to be the most powerful swordswoman of ice since Lady Khione, and late Lady Ragna. It's only natural for me to know this much about other fellow swordsmen or swordswomen." Lady Justice stated as a matter-of-factly.
"Khione, Ragna..." Those were some names he hadn't heard in a while, and the latter of which he would've prepared to forget.
"It seems those names struck quite a few chords within you. Do you know those two personally?" She kept on trying to pry into his history, but Utopia decided not to give her that satisfaction.
"If you can bark this much, it makes me wonder if your bite is up-to par?" Utopia pretended to wonder, he could already tell that she was strong, but he chose to play the fool in order to change the subject.
Lady Justice laughed viciously, before she readied her blade. "Come find out for yourself!"
She managed to close the distance between them in an instant. "She's fast..." Utopia thought to himself as she tried to strike him with a diagonal slash from bottom-right to top-left. "But I'm faster!
Utopia reacted quickly, he deflected the slash with the hilt of his sword, adding enough power to get her off-balance before he followed it up with a slash her across the stomach, sending her flying and sliding across the ground. She groaned in pain from the force of the attack. But she was quickly on her feet and dashed towards him to clash blades with him once again. Utopia blocked the incoming hit, and they were having a sword struggle. "Say goodbye to that sword of yours!" Lady Justice's sword of ice began to freeze her opponent's sword.
Utopia laughed. "Do you really think you can freeze the sword of the sun?!" Utopia's sword began glowing golden. It started melting away the ice that had almost consumed it entirely. Utopia won the power struggle, making his sword push hers to her chest. Before spinning around with his sword outstretched, and it seemed like he was going to slit her throat with that maneuver. However, he came to an abrupt halt with his sword being a few milliseconds away from reaching her throat, making everyone else widen their eyes. "I win!"
Lady Justice let out a heavy sigh, and agreed. "You win! Ugh, you're not the most powerful knight for nothing it seems. To think you could kill me this easily. It amazes me how you choose to follow someone like Yuma who I know for a fact can't handle your talents at all."
Utopia retracted his blade, and attached it onto his hip again. "Yuma is the Duelist fate has chosen for me, and nothing's gonna change that I'm afraid.
"Hahahaha, good job knight! You showed that woman who was boss around here. Oh wait, I'm the boss. Well at least you proved, you're worthy of being second-in-command with that display." Leviathan Dragon was in a joyful mood now. It was cathartic for him, this woman came out of nowhere, and started talking like she was some bigshot in his domain, and figured she could get away it. At least Utopia stopped her from thinking way too highly of herself.
"Do you wish to incur my wrath Leviathan?" Lady Justice spoke in a deadly tone. "And let's be honest here, making you the leader would spell in disaster. Besides, the strongest should lead right, and you're clearly not the first or second as long as me and Number 39 are here."
"CARE TO REPEAT THAT!" Leviathan Dragon was raging like a volcano. The audacity of this girl got on his nerves.
Levice's words fell on deaf ears as her attention turned towards Utopia. "You know, I envy your bond with Yuma. For some reason my master isn't capable of interacting at all with us, but yours can effortlessly with all of you."
"It's an innate ability I'm afraid. Your mistress wasn't born with the power to interact with all of you." Utopia informed.
"I must admit, the world is unfair, Rio is clearly way more powerful and worthier than Yuma, but somehow she wasn't given this gift." She didn't really hate Yuma, rather, it's just that she would've loved to interact with her mistress the same way Yuma's Monsters do with him.
"Maybe your girl isn't worthy." Leviathan stated.
That caught her attention. "What was that?!"
"Don't look at me, I'm just saying, maybe Yuma is destined for greatness, and your mistress isn't." This time he was the one speaking in a mocking tone. That didn't mean Levice didn't think Yuma was destined for greatness. He could already tell that there was something special about this boy that captivated him, and he wanted to be there to find out what it was.
"Please refrain from antagonizing her even further Levice." Utopia's voice cut in before things could escalate. "All of us are fighting for the same side. You need to stop fighting with each other!"
"Tell that to her!" Levice didn't care he was being childish in everyone's eyes, he just couldn't stand the woman.
Utopia covered his face with his right hand, and sighed heavily. "How come Yuma, Astral, and Rio had to collect some of the hot-headed Numbers first? And I thought both water and ice represented calmness."
The holy sun knight looked at the swordswoman of ice with pleading eyes, making her sigh too as she decided she could be the better man or woman for today. She walked up to the dragon. "Look, I know we got off to the wrong start, but can we lay our personal feelings aside since we have a common threat we're dealing with?"
Leviathan Dragon turned thoughtful for a couple of seconds, before he made his decision. "On one condition. You shall refer to me as Levice from now on, not my Number capiche?"
"Wow, talk about not wanting to make it obvious that he likes his new name." Utopia thought to himself as he sweatdropped, but still, he was happy for his friend for finding something else to have pride in other than power.
"Fine, but do me a favor too, and refer to me by my real name." Lady Justice requested.
"Seems easy enough, what is it?" Levice asked.
"Freya... My name is Freya." Lady Justice revealed.
So, that's it for this chapter. I hope you've enjoyed it. Ice Princess Zereort finally debuts, and now it just makes me wish they gave Rio more support, it sucks that the only thing she's been given recently is Zereort Migrator. We also had Rio Dueling against the Madolche User Aki, and now she has more insight on her older brother's rough behavior against his schoolmates while she was in a coma. First Yuma, then Caswell, and now Aki shared their stories and experiences of Shark. Well, Caswell moreso going off of rumors, but yeah he wasn't far off anyway.
Anyways, as I said in the last chapter, I would go over and discuss the Decks and Rankings of the Duel Titans.
7. Max Daniels (2nd Year, Male, Deck: Vendread): He's a character from the WDC/Tag Force Special games. None of the decks he used in the said games really stuck out to me, and my choice for giving him a Ritual Deck like Vendread was mostly for the aesthetics, and he consistently had Ritual Monsters in most of his Deck.
8. Sophie Davison (2nd Year, Female, Deck: Six Samurai): Another character from the WDC/Tag Force Special Games. She's a fencer, and she used Six Samurai as one of her Decks in WDC. Not to mention her being popular among the younger girls in school according to her bio is what actually made me place her this high.
9. Kento Naito (2nd Year, Male, Deck: Noble Knights): Kento Naito is a fellow fencer from the Zexal! D Team Manga. He was Yuma's opponent in the aforementioned Manga, and he used Noble Knights. In this story, I basically made him and Sophie rivals in both fencing and Dueling, so I kept them next to each other in the rankings.
10. Maria Bianchi (1st Year, Female, Deck: Gusto): Maria is a character from the WDC/Tag Force Special Games like Max and Sophie. I figured that there should be a first-year girl between Yuki, and Asuka in the rankings, not to mention she's determined to be a Idol (Duel Idol) according to her character bio. I gave her Gusto because I already figured the Wind-Ups she uses in the games could go to a certain Duel Links NPC in the Zexal World.
11. Asuka Uchida (1st Year, Female, Deck: Ritual Beasts): Like her friends Aki and Yuki, Asuka appeared in the anime a few times, as well as being present in some of the openings and endings. Honestly, I gave her Ritual Beasts because it's one of the archetypes that caught my eyes the most, and I figured there were already enough Xyz Users as there were at the time.
12. Theodore Martinez (3rd Year, Male, Deck: Flamvells): Theo is the NPC from Duel Links. I gave him Flamvells for no particular reason, and I just hope I don't feel like changing it later on.
13. Summer Grace (1st Year, Female, Deck: Traptrix): She's one of Tori's friends, and in all honesty, between her and Jen, she seemed like the better fit as one of the twenty Duel Titans I had in mind. I gave her Traptrixes because she sorta used them in the WDC Game.
Well, that's that for this chapter. In the next one though, Nelson will finally make his appearance.
Card Catalog/ OC Cards used in this Chapter:
Rio's Cards:
Frostwing Harpy: ATK: 1300/ DEF: 1200/ Level 4/ Attribute: WATER/ Winged Beast/ Effect
Effect: If this card is used for an Xyz Summon of a WATER Monster, you can treat it as a Level 5 or 6 monster. A WATER Xyz Monster that was Summoned using this card as an Xyz Material gains this effect.
If it is Xyz Summoned: Add 1 "Blizzard" card from your Deck to your hand.