Chapter 1: (Atem Stage 1) A King Passes Into Illusion
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Seto Kaiba has only started his afterlife Duel with the Pharaoh and is staring down “Palladium Oracle Mahad”, who stands strong against him. As the Pharaoh's opening turn ends… Mahad looks back to the Pharaoh. Something seemed to be forming underneath his ruler, prompting Mahad to try to come to his aid. “Pharaoh!”
“NOOOOO!” Kaiba jolts forward, “I didn't spend so much time and money for this just to lose you again!”
By the time the CEO reached the Pharaoh, he had dropped into a rift, causing Kaiba to grasp a whole lot of nothing as the hole closed. He glances towards back, noticing all the guards accusingly pointing their spears at him. He knew immediately that this wasn't at all like the time the Pharaoh returned to save Yugi. Mahad holds a hand out towards the guards, who promptly stand down and back away.
Kaiba has some deep thoughts about how to handle this scenario. Last time he had to put a Duel on hold was because of a happening on his side, but now this time it seems to be someone else interfering with his life's work! The CEO of the Kaiba Corporation wasn't about to let this kind of thing fly!
“Obviously, our Duel is on hold,” Kaiba looks back towards the way he entered for a moment, an intense determination in his eyes as his gaze returns to Mahad, “But wherever the missing Pharaoh may be, with the genius of Seto Kaiba, I will find him. I will return him… And we will finish this Duel!”
A white ‘DUEL LOG SAVED’ shows on Kaiba's dueling holographic display as his side of things re-initiates, and he immediately draws two cards.
“And I know just who to start with; your disciple,” Kaiba shows his cards: “Lullaby of Obedience” and “Mausoleum of the Emperor”.
“Save your ba, Kaiba,” Mahad responds as he starts to glow more purple, returning(?) to his form as “Dark Magician”, “You have a long journey ahead of you.”
Casting “Bond Between Teacher and Student”, he calls forth his student, “Dark Magician Girl”.
“Huh? We’re clearly not in a Duel…” the younger magician seems to immediately recognize Kaiba, “To think you’d be the one calling for my help for once.”
“So you did tell him about the Atlantis incident,” Kaiba remarks, “Unfortunately, where you took me then is my only lead.”
“You know about the Spirit World?”
“Let’s just say one of KaibaCorp’s branches had its own run-in with real monsters.”
“I’d be able to notice if he was in one of those dimensions. I just hope he’ll be alright… wherever he is…”
♪ The Ground’s Color is Yellow
In some far-off Eastern mountains, a run-down shrine sits atop a hill watching over a wide region to its west. Roughly mid-afternoon, the shrine’s maiden has just returned from her day’s extermination with a prideful look on her face.
“Quite the haul today,” Reimu Hakurei cheerily tells herself, “I might actually get to have a suzu made if I can hang on to this!”
Around this time is when a familiar rift in fantasy tore open and unceremoniously deposited a rather regal-looking young man in a large purple cape onto the shrine grounds. The three different colors of very spiky hair didn’t look like any Gensokyan, but the man’s aura seemed to be a bit off for your typical Outsider either. It loosely reminded her of Kanako Yasaka, the goddess of the rival shrine to her own.
“That sage is gonna get an earful when I see her,” Reimu grumbles as she floats over to the new guest.
“Who would… dare disrespect a Duel like that,” he asks to himself as he gets up, all the gold along with his off-white outfit and purple cape more visible.
“At least nothing seems to have broken,” the shrine maiden says in a rather neutral manner, “Of course I shouldn’t expect a broken item from the spiriting away of a divine spirit.”
“The what? And how did you know that already?”
“It’s not the first time I’ve seen one. Also, spiriting away is what we call it whenever a certain someone decides to drop someone from the Outside World into this place.
“Mercifully, you were deposited right at the Hakurei Shrine,” Reimu’s voice becomes cheerful again, “I’m Reimu, the shrine maiden of this place.”
“Pharaoh Atem, unfortunately flushed out from the afterlife.”
“Well, that explains the ankhs and Eyes of Wdjat.”
“A Shinto shrine maiden knows about the symbols of Egypt?”
“I don’t know much, but I know a couple folks that do. I take it you’re seeking a way back?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I won’t be able to do it the normal way,” Reimu sighs, motioning with her gohei to make a tear of her own in fantasy that clearly leads to the Outside World, “using this gap to return the Outsider home… But of course, that’s not your home.”
The shrine maiden then closes the gap she just made, “To get you back to the correct afterlife, I’ll need to get us to the Yama so she can guide you to it.”
“Yama?” the Pharaoh asks, “Is that your God of the Dead in this world?”
“You could say that. However, there is one thing I’ll need to get taken care of before we go…”
Reimu gradually floats a little, only a couple centimeters. “Gensokyo is inhabited by dangerous beings known as youkai.”
“Gensokyo, huh,” Atem notes.
“Youkai prey on humans like me, and I can’t assure they’ll stay away from you. You’ll need to know how to defend yourself, Pharaoh, and that’s what the rules of the land allow us to do.”
“Are you saying ‘It’s time to duel’?”
“Not yet. Gensokyo has an intellectual, beautiful game for settling disputes known as the Spell Card Battle. I plan on showing you the ropes on how it works before we actually start our journey.”
♪ The World is Made in an Adorable Way
“First, let’s address the elephant in the room; my flying,” Reimu starts off, “This isn’t just my special ability. Everyone can fly in Gensokyo, even you! It’s a natural feature of fantasy itself!”
It takes the Pharaoh a surprisingly small amount of thought to take to the air and maneuver about in all directions.
“Don’t worry about being sloppy at first,” the shrine maiden smiles approvingly, “Even I needed an aid in my first few flights.
“While flying at walk speed is easy, at run speed is a bit harder to control,” Reimu makes a dash upwards with some steering, repeating it with other directions of dashing and steering, “You won’t be able to turn or stop on a coin.”
It proves quite simple for Atem to follow suit.
“Some patterns’ solutions require going full speed past something, so that’s an important trait to remember.
“But just blitzing around all over the place will get you shot,” Reimu seemed to form a visible sphere inside herself while making slow, highly controlled movements, “Focus for finer evasion.”
This took a little longer for Atem to figure out, mostly due to him focusing on the sphere at first instead of simply fine movements.
“Do be careful, though. Some patterns take advantage of a habitual focuser! Managing between these speeds is key.
“And that’ll settle it as far as movement is concerned,” both of them gracefully float back down to the ground, “which is all you need… if you want to be a pacifist; not recommended. Which leads us to the Spe—”
“Yo, Reimu! Let’s play!”
A witch in black and white came speeding in on a broom from the forest downhill, coming to an air-skidding stop just beside the shrine maiden.
“Can you pipe down,” Reimu laments, “I have a visitor from an afterlife.”
“So who’s our guest this…” the witch retorts as she looks towards the Pharaoh, “time…”
“Atem, this is one of those friends of mine that knows Egyptian,” Reimu points to the witch, “Don’t know how good her knowledge is, though.”
“Marisa Kirisame,” she introduces herself with a tip of her oversized hat, “an ordinary magician.”
The Pharaoh wasn’t sure how to take that kind of title, “Ordinary Magician? An unusual title to say so proudly.”
“Most magicians here are youkai,” Reimu fills the Pharaoh in, “including some who were initially human.”
“But not yers truly,” Marisa boasts, “I carve my own fate!”
“You sound like a billionaire with a grudge.”
“And you’re both stalling my teachings!”
“Wait, you were teachin’ him somethin’?”
“Just flying and Spell Card Battles,” Reimu responds, “Maybe it’s better to just show it.”
With a snap of the fingers, one of the komainu guarding the shrine gains color and springs to life in a more humanoid form, “A!”
“You want me to walk the dog!?” Marisa barks out.
“You could say that,” Reimu smirks, “Just play with Aunn to show the Pharaoh how it’s done.”
Reimu then turns to the Pharaoh and points her gohei at him, “And you, take notes, because we’re up right after.”
Marisa and Aunn take to the air and start casting bevies of bullets at each other, each bobbing and weaving about the other’s patterns. Each of them seemed to have a theme to their patterns, something the Pharaoh doesn’t let go unnoticed.
“Usually, this is the kind of thing a ka or Duel Monster would do,” he muses aloud, “however they can’t easily avoid attacks like that.”
“A what now,” Reimu looks suspiciously at Atem.
“This isn’t the time for explanation.”
The magician and komainu’s battle reaches a point where Aunn casts something:
Dog Sign “Stray Dog's Walk”
犬符「野良犬の散歩」
“That must be a Spell Card,” Atem quickly deduces.
“Right,” the shrine maiden assures him, “Each battle, whenever someone gets hit, or their pattern runs out of time, they move on to the next. A card can be one to three patterns, usually two. Three patterns make a less attractive card but more hits to take, while a single pattern makes a beautiful card at the expense of being unable to take a hit.”
“Then what of Aunn’s first pattern?”
“That would be the card’s nonspell. Most cards have a nonspell to start, and all patterns must have both an intended solution and a meaning to the user. Without both, it becomes little different from actual battle. Each side chooses the same number of Spell Cards; in this case, two. Clearing a spell without taking a hit or, usually, it running out of time is a capture.”
“Usually?”
“Some cards keep the user out of bounds or makes them otherwise unhittable, known as a timeout spell. You only need to last until time runs out to capture one. Very few have what it takes to make those, however.”
After a couple minutes of heated danmaku combat, Marisa emerges victorious just before running out of time on her first spell, causing Aunn to burst with bullet energy.
“And whoever uses up the chosen number of Spell Cards first… loses.” Reimu concludes.
“So yeah, ya basically fight one-on-one like that,” Marisa heads back to the shrine maiden and Pharaoh.
“But before we get there…” Reimu points to Atem again, this time the gohei is basically right in his face, “Ka. Duel Monsters. Explain yourself.”
“Maybe it’s better to just show it,” the Pharaoh throws Reimu’s own words back at her as the eye of his Millennium Puzzle glows. A stone tablet, a carving of a winged demon with huge claws, erects behind the Pharaoh, prompting the shrine maiden to hop backwards. A light of energy emerges from the stone tablet, manifesting a bony white-and-purple monster with blue wings, “such as with this monster, “Summoned Skull”!”
“I exterminate such monstrous youkai on sight,” Reimu yells as she makes a massive Yin-Yang Orb and kicks it at the monster, “Yin-Yang Asuka’i!”
““Summoned Skull”, counterattack! Lightning Strike!”
“Summoned Skull” surges with electricity as it calls a bolt of lightning right on Reimu’s head as it’s decked by the giant orb. The bolt makes Reimu bounce off the ground, but the Yin-Yang Orb strikes with enough force to make “Summoned Skull” blow up as well.
“A double KO!? That’s a surprise.”
“You’re telling me. Usually someone just flexing their power like that is beyond the bulk of Gensokyo in power, if not all of it.”
“All right, Reimu. Let’s not delay this test longer than needed,” Atem starts floating himself, “If I win, I’ll be battling alongside you on this journey back to the afterlife.”
“Depending on how well you do,” Reimu smiles, “I might let you even if you lose. Normally we call ‘Let’s Fire!’ to start a bout, but in this case…”
❓ ““IT’S TIME TO DUEL!”” ✌️
As the two were declaring, the Pharaoh pointed two fingers towards Reimu as if choosing Scissors in a Rock-Paper-Scissors bout.
“What was that for,” Reimu shrugs, “There’s no need for turn order here.”
2-Spell Battle
楽園の素敵な巫女 博麗霊夢
Reimu Hakurei, Wonderful Shrine Maiden of Paradise
VS
Atem, Ancient King of Games
古代遊戯王 アテム
♪ Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monster Breed & Battle – Yami Yugi
The Pharaoh starts with several spills of what looks like a drink flowing about. It looks almost too easy for the shrine maiden, especially compared to all the ofuda she’s spreading out. But one thing sticks out pretty quickly. Whenever an ofuda meets the liquid, that liquid ignites and spreads a fire quickly, making a much more difficult pattern with the effective range increase.
“Russian vodka is 90% alcohol,” Atem smirks as he weaves about Reimu’s ofuda waves.
“That stuff goes in people’s mouths, not a danmaku field,” this seemed to really anger the shrine maiden, less about the flammability of the substance and more about the fact that he’s wasting perfectly good booze! Trying not to let it get the best of her, the shrine maiden eventually manages to slap a seal onto the Pharaoh’s shoulder.
“Got a little lucky there,” Reimu sighs in relief, “wouldn’t want to mess with the hair.”
“It’s taken worse spills than that,” Atem responds as this wing flap (DiaDhank) spreads from his wrist and imprints what looks like a man on his knees with a bunch of fragments of a hollow sphere around him.
Penalty Sign “Mind Crush”
罰符「マインドクラッシュ」
Two… no, three concentric white spheres formed around Reimu, forming two rings of jigsaw-like danmaku with several interlocking points around them. The Pharaoh points his hand at her, causing the pieces to shatter all over the place… but not inward. In fact, the pieces reforming together didn’t seem to reach Reimu, either.
“This has to be the simplest spell since I—”
As soon as the two rings of pieces reassembled, the center became active and locked Reimu in, causing a buffeting all over her body!
“You were saying,” Atem smirks after showing Reimu wrong.
“Okay, I was just asking for that,” Reimu tries to shake off the rather embarrassing capture failure.
Dream Sign “Evil Sealing Circle”
夢符「封魔陣」
The shrine maiden starts firing a big circular spread of amulets and other bullets, with multiple fast lines of amulets restricting where the Pharaoh can move. Reimu’s pattern gave Atem a small field to work with against normal-sized danmaku, whereas Atem’s requires her to get out of the safe spot around her in a hurry, navigating large 3D jigsaw piece danmaku.
The shrine maiden ends up getting clipped a second time after a while, a returning piece catching her sizable backside from behind. Reimu’s Spell Card launches over to the Pharaoh that captured it!
Reimu down! Last Spell!
“Huh, so that’s what a capture entails,” he muses aloud.
“They’re worth a lot in Incidents,” Reimu rights herself, “but that’s another can of worms.”
“We can talk about that on the journey.”
Reimu starts chucking Yin-Yang Orbs about, finally managing to get a piece of the Pharaoh’s leg and making him slip! His device stopped showing “Mind Crush”.
Atem down! Last Spell!
“You don’t feel like the type to crush minds, honestly,” Reimu inquisitively notes.
“I was so for a while,” The Pharaoh sighed, clearly regretting that part of his past.
“That definitely feels familiar.”
The Pharaoh’s device started showing multiple monsters on it that were showing around him; a few swords-beings charging at Reimu, a few flame-spitting dragons giving cover, and a few fiends just causing mischief. Hectic, but relatively simple, at least until the elven swordsman of the bunch, “Celtic Guardian”, manages to get a piece of her arm. Reimu is down to her final hit!
“You see any pathetic cards in this set,” Atem almost jokingly asks.
“I wouldn’t know, I never really heard of Duel Monsters before now,” Reimu answers as she brings out her signature spell.
Spirit Sign “Dream Seal”
霊符「夢想封印」
Multiple Yin-Yang Orbs surround the shrine maiden, and she fires rings of bullets as the orbs spew surges of amulets. The amulets seem to stop and aim at the Pharaoh multiple times on their way, making him have to constantly be on the move. While his monsters can take a few shots for him, it actually throws off his flow and gets him an amulet to the face!
“It may well come down to this, Atem,” Reimu winks.
“Time to end this duel!” he retorts as his monsters return and fade from his device.
Spirit “Dark Magic Attack”
精霊「黒・魔・導」
(Ka "Black Magic")
The name threw Reimu off for a bit before seeing another stone tablet and the visage of what is definitely a powerful monster.
“My ever-faithful companion, “Dark Magician”!”
Mahad/“Dark Magician” seemed… rather out there, not to mention glowing reddish.
“He can still reach out to us,” Mana/“Dark Magician Girl” cheers.
“The Pharaoh better have some good intel on his whereabouts,” Kaiba scoffs.
The way Atem called upon his ace with such fervor left awe in Reimu’s eyes, not to mention the arcane look and fancy staff his servant rocked. But she had no time to be caught in beauty, as the “Dark Magician” takes aim at her location. She knows better than to stay there this time around and quickly bolts away, hearing the loud crackle behind her as an orb of dark energy blasts at where she was initially at. Keeping a steady pace as the Pharaoh steadily weaved his way about her own signature spell, the shrine maiden notices some lingering danmaku where the blast was.
Keeping mindful of where she had been before and using nearly the whole Duel Barrier… *BWIP* she knows time is not *BWIP* on her side. *BWIP* With one last bevvy *BWIIIIP* of seals, she *BWIIIIP* finally nails Atem cleanly in the torso with but 00.08 seconds left, her other seals fading away just afterwards! A card from Atem flies to Reimu, his spell captured!
The “Dark Magician” seemed to shatter into pieces just like “Summoned Skull” did earlier. A bright light radiates within the Pharaoh and blasts out explosively, not only dropping him through the Duel Barrier and onto the ground but also tattering his royal threads a bit! Though surprisingly, he didn’t seem to yell once defeated. Strange.
WINNER (2-1) – Reimu Hakurei
“Even in defeat, you definitely passed my test. I feel like it’ll be an honor to team with you.”
“Teacher! Are you alright?” Mana is already looking concerned for a bit.
“Why are you asking Mahad that,” Kaiba glances at the “Dark Magician Girl” with disbelief in her question, “We’re in the afterlife. What’s more important is ‘Where is the Pharaoh?’”
“I couldn’t tell too well,” the “Dark Magician” answered, “It looked like a forest with a shrine of some sort, though on his command I was more focused on this red and white… mysterious flying shrine maiden that seemed to be going against him. Last thing I remember seeing is him getting smacked by a talisman of hers.”
“If the “Dark Magician” returned after Atem was hit… that can only mean…”
“The Pharaoh LOST!?” Kaiba flips his lid, “Twice now he’s given the crown to some nobody!?”
“It wasn’t a game of Duel Monsters. The players seem to do the attacking for the most part.”
Kaiba looks perplexed for a moment… and decides to not let that bother him, “What about the area itself and the shrine maiden? Remember how they look?”
Mahad fires up some magic to form an image of the area he saw, and the lady that just narrowly defeated Atem. The girl in question seemed to catch Kaiba’s eye, “I swear that girl looks familiar…”
♪ Spring Lane – Colorful Path
“Can’t say I expected you to have some impressive danmaku, Pharaoh,” Reimu smiles as she extends her hand to Atem, helping him back to his feet, “At least you try to play properly, unlike someone else I know.”
“I’m sure that person had their reasons,” Atem grabs Reimu’s outstretched hand and the two pull him up.
“You sure you’re alright with your clothes getting ripped like that?”
“It’s nothing a ka can’t handle.”
Another stone tablet rising occurs, this one of what looks like a praying young lady. However the girl came out blue-skinned and shining a light around the Pharaoh. Before Reimu’s and Marisa’s eyes, his clothing repaired itself! The magician looks especially surprised as the “Mystical Elf” departed.
“Isn’t calling forth gods yer power, Reimu,” Marisa glances at the shrine maiden, “Yer seriously getting outshined by a second such being.”
“Those aren’t gods,” Reimu retorts, “Shinto or Egyptian.”
“‘Monster’ is the term,” Atem corrects both of them, “And you both would know if I was trying to call forth an Egyptian God.”
“Three phantom gods?”
“Try not to think too hard about it.”
Reimu then looks back to Marisa, “I need to take the Pharaoh to the village and get him some clothes that won’t make him stick out like a sore thumb, then take him acro—I mean, to Higan. Hold the shrine while I’m gone.”
“Not a problem, Reimu,” Marisa smirks, thinking she’ll get first dibs if an incident occurs.
“Across what,” the Pharaoh asks, which prompts Marisa to get close to his ear.
“‘Crossing the river’ is a euphemism, like the Shadow Realm. But she has to do so literally to reach Higan.”
With a quick nod from Atem, the red-white and gold-purple were off to the Human Village.
“Does this look familiar to you,” Kaiba shows a projected card image to Mahad, which looks crude, but very much like the shrine maiden that he had encountered as “Dark Magician”:
Paradise Priestess
*******
Spellcaster/LIGHT/Fusion/Effect/2500/2000
2 monsters Special Summoned from the Extra Deck
Neither player can activate cards or effects from the hand.
“That’s her,” Mahad yells out, “How do you have her in card form?”
“It’s not an actual card. This was from a card design contest back in 2015, submitted by someone named Sumireko Usami. But more importantly, look at her lore.”
The lore that came with the card’s submission read “A mysterious flying shrine maiden residing over the fantastic land of Gensokyo. They say nothing can weigh her down.”
“So how did it fare,” “Dark Magician Girl” curiously inquires.
“Never made it past qualifiers,” Kaiba retorts, “but now it has more importance than any of the winners that year…
♪ Kaiba Hacking
“Small change of plans. I’m heading for the Spirit World to find a way to Gensokyo. I’m still seeking out the Pharaoh and finishing this Duel. However, if this link proves true, the Duel may be where I find him. ‘Cause I figure, if there is this land of fantastic beings out there, then let’s teach ‘em how to Duel!”
Kaiba starts laughing like a maniac, while Mana takes him towards somewhere he can enter the Spirit World from.
Notes:
Did I make Kaiba enough of a dick? I mean he wouldn't want to lose his only potential lead on the Pharaoh, but still.
Unfortunately Atem won't be actually Dueling much. He is King of GameS, so adapting to another game shouldn't be an issue for him. Most Dueling will be in Kaiba's story.
...should my Touhou x Yu-Gi-Oh! brainrot last long enough to go decently long on this.What even is the tag I should use for OriCa, anyway? Because there will likely be more of them.
Chapter 2: (Kaiba Stage 1) Interdimensional Voyage of a Fiendish Tour Bus
Summary:
Having entered the Spirit World, Kaiba starts his long road to Gensokyo, and I learn the hard way that Duel simulators, scripted dueling, and shuffle effects don't mix.
This is the first, and possibly only, chapter that will generally be Yu-Gi-Oh stuff, how much it takes to write a Duel aside.
EDIT: Some corrections and added ZEUS's effect name.
Notes:
Duels are depicted kinda weirdly: The briefing of the game state, the story part, and what all happened in the turn as far as the Duel was concerned.
The briefing
Turn #: Turn Player
Player: LP | Hand | Deck | Extra Deck (Face-up) | Graveyard | Banished (Face-down)
Extra row; frontrow; backrow {Known cards in hand}
Anything else of note
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Now that I have a hub world of sorts,” the billionaire tells himself, left in a forest that Mana had led him to, “I won’t need to worry about losing my only chance at the Pharaoh.”
He felt like a load had been lifted off his chest, no longer needing to hold himself to another person’s standards.
Scouring the area and seeking out civilized life among Duel Spirits, Kaiba regularly stops locals on the way to interrogate them.
“Does the fourth-rate monster before me know of a ‘Gensokyo’?”
A “Beaver Warrior”: “Nope.”
“Does this girl look familiar to you?”
Some monkey: “Ook-ook.”
“Gensokyo. This girl. Ring any bells?”
One “Gemini Elf”: “We never heard of either of those things.”
The other “Gemini Elf”: “Just try not to make a mess in town.”
It kept repeating the more and more Kaiba searched. The longer it took, the more annoyed he’d get. His search was getting nowhere, fast. “At this rate, I’ll have to find a Different Dimension Gate,” he laments as he approaches a bus stop.
“Stay to the West Side, Kirin,” a redheaded tour guide pops out of the bus door, followed by this white unicorn with a cape on and then a white-and-blue horned dragon, “and welcome back, Tidal!
“Hey, mister,” she looks at Kaiba, “You seem lost.”
“Get lost,” Kaiba retorts, “Do I look like I need a guide to find a mysterious flying shrine maiden or a Gensokyo?”
“Well, yeah? And Gensokyo is a neighbor of the Underworld.”
“You’re bluffing to get me to climb aboard so you can take me to the Shadow Realm.”
“That’s the Forbidden Realms around here. And you’ll need to board anyway if you want to reach your destination with us, so come take a ride on the Tour Bus to the Underworld! We’re empty right now, so we can Duel over your destination on the way.”
“You’ll regret challenging me to a Duel!”
With a smug laugh, Kaiba boards the fiendish bus with the “Tour Guide From the Underworld” behind him. The driver was definitely a demon minotaur of sorts.
“This one’s coming with us, Char,” the Tour Guide cheerily claims before looking back to Kaiba, “Hey, Original, Advanced, or Traditional?”
“You better not disappoint me by holding back,” Kaiba immediately answers.
“Unformatted, huh? You heard the man. Let’s get the bus in Duel Mode: Type X as we head back to the Underworld!”
A few button pushes and stuff from the driving demon later, the bus seats lay out over each other and lower into the floor, leaving plenty of open space. As the bus starts moving along the road, the Tour Guide opens her purse and pulls out a Duel Disk clearly made out of bones and red-hot stone. Kaiba readies his Duel Disk in response.
“Now remember, keep all cards and effects inside the ride at all times,” she loudly proclaims, in position.
🖐️““IT’S TIME TO DUEL!””✊
“You can start this one,” Kaiba differs, “That way I can defeat you faster.”
Duel
青き眼の王 海馬瀬人
Seto Kaiba, the King with Eyes of Blue
VS
Tour Guide From the Underworld
魔界発現世行きデスガイド
Turn 1: Tour Guide From the Underworld
Kaiba: 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 35 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
TGFtU: 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 35 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
♪ Duel Links ~ Tour Guide From the Underworld
“Indeed I shall start things off,” the Tour Guide smirks, “Literally, as I’ll bring myself up to the field, then use my effect to Special Summon this very Bus from my Deck with its effects negated! I can’t use it as Synchro Material, but I can do this.”
The Tour Guide then lobs and orb of light from herself, and another one forms from the driver’s seat as a galaxy pattern shows on the floor, “I now Overlay our Level 3 selves! With the two of us, I build the Overlay Network!”
The lights bounce off the ceiling of the bus and plunge into the center of the galaxy pattern, which grows unstable and eventually explodes, “A man on a deep journey through the depths of the Underworld. A pursuit through the afterlife, guided by a lost love! I Xyz Summon! Come forth, “Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss”!”
“Dante” appears, looking prepped for a journey.
“Next, I activate “Dante”’s effect! By detaching myself and sending the top 3 cards of my Deck to the Graveyard, I give him 500 more Attack per card I sent until the end of the turn.
“That’s only 2500 Attack. It’s no threat to me.”
“What’s important is the cards I milled: “Cir”, “Libic”, “Scarm”, all of them “Malebranche of the Burning Abyss”.
“First, I’ll activate “Libic”’s effect, then Chain “Cir”’s. “Cir” resolves first, Special Summoning “Libic” to the field! Then “Libic” resolves, letting me Special Summon “Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss” from my hand with its effects negated. Now I build the Overlay Network once more, this time with my Level 3 “Graff” and “Libic”! I Xyz Summon a second “Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss”!”
“So, you’ve got two weaklings on the field,” Kaiba gloats, “You couldn’t hope to handle my power with such nonsense.”
“We’ll see about that,” the Tour Guide retorts, “I Set 2 cards face-down and enter my End Phase. In my End Phase, since “Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss” is in my Graveyard because it was sent there this turn, I activate its effect, letting me add another me from my Deck to my hand. You’re up, Kaiba.”
TGFtU Normal Summons “Tour Guide From the Underworld” (1000/600) and activates her effect, Special Summoning “Tour Bus From the Underworld” (1000/1000) from her Deck in Defense Position with its effects negated. She cannot use it as a Synchro Material. She then Overlays “Tour Guide” and “Tour Bus” to Xyz Summon “Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss” (1000/2500, ORU 2) to the Extra Monster Zone in Defense Position.
TGFtU activates “Dante”’s effect, detaching “Tour Guide” (ORU 2 → 1) and sending the top 3 cards from her Deck to the GY (“Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss”, “Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss”, and “Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss”) to increase its ATK by 500 per card until the end of the turn (Dante ATK 1000 → 2500).
TGFtU activates “Libic”’s effect from the GY and Chains “Cir”’s effect from the GY. “Cir”’s effect resolves, Special Summoning “Libic” from her GY (1300/700) in Defense Position. Then “Libic”’s effect resolves, Special Summoning “Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss” from her hand (1000/1500) in Defense Position with its effects negated. She then Overlays “Libic” and “Graff” to Xyz Summon another “Dante” (1000/2500) in Defense Position.
TGFtU Sets 2 cards, then activates “Scarm”’s effect in the End Phase, adding another “Tour Guide From the Underworld” from her Deck to her hand. The “Dante” in the Extra Monster Zone’s ATK returns to normal (“Dante” ATK 2500 → 1000).
Turn 2: Seto Kaiba
Kaiba: 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 35 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
TGFtU: 8000 | Hand: 2 | Deck: 30 | EX: 14 (0) | Grave: 3 | Banish: 0 (0)
“Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss” (1000/2500, ORU 1); “Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss” (1000/2500, ORU 2); 2 Set cards {“Tour Guide From the Underworld”}
“I draw,” Kaiba declares, adding a sixth card to his hand, “First, I activate “Bingo Machine, Go!!!” This card lets me add one of three “Blue-Eyes” monsters or cards that list “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from my Deck to my hand, chosen at random. But there’s nothing random with three “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”s.”
Kaiba’s “Bingo Machine, Go!!!” pops out a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”, adding it to his hand, “After that, I activate “Trade-In”! By discarding the Level 8 “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” in my hand, I can draw 2 cards.
“Next, I activate the effect of the “Dictator of D.” in my hand! By sending a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from my Deck to my Graveyard, I can Special Summon him to the field! What’s more, I’ll activate his field effect! By discarding “Rage with Eyes of Blue” in my hand, I can Special Summon a “Blue-Eyes” monster from my Graveyard! Take flight, “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”!”
“A two-card combo just for a Blue-Eyes,” the Tour Guide pouts, “That’s quite a bit of resources these days.”
“Next, I summon “Protector with Eyes of Blue”, then use his effect to Spe—”
“Slow down, Kaiba. You’re entering the “Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss”! By sending both “Dante” to the Graveyard, I can destroy all three of your monsters!”
“Grrr… At least “Protector”’s effect wasn’t negated. I Special Summon “Maiden with Eyes of Blue” from my hand!”
The bus sounds its horn as the Tour Guide continues. “Yep, the “Tour Bus From the Underworld” was sent to the Graveyard, so its effect activates itself! Of course, it targets yours truly.”
“It’s not the only vehicle sounding off,” Kaiba retorts, “My “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” activates! Once per turn, if a card was destroyed on the field, I can Special Summon it from my Graveyard if it was there already, or from my hand in any case. Clear for liftoff, “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon”!”
“Unfortunately, your flight is on hold, as I have four more card effects from my “Burning Abyss” monsters! First I’ll activate “Libic”, followed by “Graff”, “Dante” targeting “Cir”, and the other “Dante” targeting “Scarm”.
“First, my two “Dante” return “Scarm” and “Cir” back to my hand. Then, “Graff” Special Summons “Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss” from my Deck! Finally, “Libic” lets me Special Summon “Tour Bus From the Underworld” from my hand with its effects negated… Now your “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” can Special Summon itself, and I go back to my Deck.”
“And now my monster enters into battle,” Kaiba initiates his Battle Phase, ““Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon”, attack and destroy “Cagna”!
“Once it reaches the Damage Step, I’ll activate “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon”’s other effect. It sends your “Tour Bus From the Underworld” back to your hand!” Kaiba’s “Jet Dragon” crashes through “Cagna” and the “Tour Bus” on the field, destroying the former and bouncing the latter, “I don’t want that card spinning another you or worse back into the deck.”
“Not a problem,” the Tour Guide smiles, “As now “Cagna”’s effect gets to activate! Since it was sent to my Graveyard, I can send a “The Terminus of the Burning Abyss” from my Deck to my Graveyard.”
“Don’t think you’re out of the woods yet,” Kaiba scoffs, “I’ve still got more coming in my Main Phase 2!”
“Speaking of which,” the Tour Guide retorts, “I have something to activate at the end of the Battle Phase; “The Traveler and the Burning Abyss”!”
A large gate to a fiery realm rises behind the Tour Guide, “With this card, I can bring back any number of “Burning Abyss” monsters from my Graveyard in Defense Mode, as long as they were sent there this turn. Come on out, “Dante”, “Graff”, “Libic”, “Cagna”, and “Dante”!”
A flood of monsters comes out the gate, filling the Tour Guide’s front row.
“So, you’ve got five weakling monsters. Too bad none of them will help you here. I Tune my Level 1 “Maiden with Eyes of Blue” and Level 8 “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” to Synchro Summon the Level 9 “Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon”! I Set a card face-down and end my turn. It’s your move.”
Kaiba draws, then activates “Bingo Machine, Go!!!” adding one of three “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from his Deck to his hand. He then activates “Trade-In”, discarding “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” and drawing 2 cards.
Kaiba activates “Dictator of D.” from his hand, sending a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from his Deck to his GY to Special Summon it (1200/1100) in Attack Position. He then activates “Dictator of D.” on the field, discarding “Rage with Eyes of Blue” to Special Summon “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from his GY (3000/2500) in Attack Position.
Kaiba Normal Summons “Protector with Eyes of Blue” (800/1300), then uses its on-summon effect, to which TGFtU Chains “Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss”, sending both “Dante” to the GY and targeting all three of Kaiba’s face-up monsters.
The Chain resolves in reverse. “Fire Lake” resolves, destroying each of Kaiba’s monsters on the field. “Protector” resolves, Special Summoning “Maiden with Eyes of Blue” (0/0) from Kaiba’s hand in Attack Position.
Since it was sent to the GY, “Tour Bus From the Underworld” activates, targeting “Tour Guide”. In response, Kaiba Chains “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” since cards were destroyed. On top of that, TGFtU Chains “Libic”, “Graff”, one “Dante” targeting “Cir”, and the other “Dante” targeting “Scarm”.
The Chain resolves in reverse. Both “Dante” resolve, sending “Scarm” and “Cir” from TGFtU’s GY to her hand. “Graff” resolves, Special Summoning “Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss” from TGFtU’s Deck (1500/300) in Defense Position. “Libic” resolves, Special Summoning “Cir” from TGFtU’s hand (1600/1200) in Defense Position with its effects negated. “Jet Dragon” resolves, Special Summoning itself from the GY (3000/0) in Attack Position. “Tour Bus” resolves, shuffling the “Tour Guide” in the GY back into the Deck.
“Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” attacks “Cagna”, then activates its effect, targeting “Cir”. “Cir” is sent back to the hand and “Cagna” is destroyed. TGFtU activates “Cagna”’s effect, sending “The Terminus of the Burning Abyss” from her Deck to her GY.
At the end of the Battle Phase, TGFtU activates “The Traveler and the Burning Abyss”, targeting the two “Dante” (1000/2500, ORU 0), “Graff” (1000/1500), “Libic” (1300/700), and “Cagna” (1500/300) in her GY and Special Summoning all of them to Main Monster Zones in Defense Position.
Kaiba Tunes his “Maiden” with “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” to Synchro Summon “Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon” (2500/3000) to the Extra Monster Zone in Defense Position. He Sets 1 card.
Turn 3: Tour Guide From the Underworld
Kaiba: 8000 | Hand: 1 | Deck: 30 | EX: 14 (0) | Grave: 8 | Banish: 0 (0)
“Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon” (2500/3000); <empty front row>; 1 Set card {“Blue-Eyes White Dragon”}
TGFtU: 8000 | Hand: 4 | Deck: 29 | EX: 13 (0) | Grave: 4 | Banish: 0 (0)
[Left to right] “Dante” (1000/2500, ORU 0), “Graff” (1000/1500), “Libic” (1300/700), “Cagna” (1500/300), “Dante” (1000/2500, ORU 0) {“Cir”, “Scarm”, “Tour Guide”}
Before the Tour Guide began her next move, the bus seemed to come to a stop before a big red circle surrounded by stones.
“We’re not even out of the Spirit World yet,” Kaiba barks, “What’s the holdup?”
“Gotta clear a checkpoint,” the Tour Guide rolls her eyes, “Just a moment.”
The Tour Guide then heads back towards the front, where what looks like a guy in a robotic bug suit awaits her at the entrance, “Hey, “C”! No new arrivals this time around, as much hate as Baronne got.”
The mecha suit hops on and sees Kaiba, then points to him while looking confused at the Tour Guide.
“No, they didn’t ban “Kaibaman”. Seriously, why would they? Seto here is a special delivery, and we’re in the middle of a Duel, so…”
Realizing its error, the “Super Armored Robot Armed Black Iron “C”” stands down, getting back off the bus so it can enter the big circle.
♪ Dimension of Reverie
With a beam of blue light, the scenery outside the bus changes drastically, leaving only one thought on Kaiba’s mind.
“I said it once, I’ll say it again,” Kaiba bemoans, “You mind telling me why we’re floating in space?”
“This is a border space,” the Tour Guide answers, as loads of star-like lights and crystals repeatedly fly by at high speed, “If dimensions are bones, this is the cartilage between them.”
“I didn’t run into any on the way to the Pharaoh, or to the Spirit World.”
“Not many dimensions have them, and we have business to get back to. It’s my turn!”
As soon as the Tour Guide drew her next card, a stone tablet erected from behind Kaiba with a very familiar carving.
“Behold, my dragon!” Kaiba calls out as he activates his trap, ““True Light”!”
The tablet shines, reviving the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” in his Graveyard.
“With my board so full, I’ll build the Overlay Network once more,” the Tour Guide chants as she Overlays “Libic” and “Cagna” at the center of her board, “Bang, bang, bang! A third “Dante” joins the party, this one in Attack Mode! The Burning Abyss hungers for more as I activate “Dante”’s effect, detaching “Cagna” and milling 3 more cards from my Deck to give him 1500 Attack points until the end of the turn.”
“That’s not enough to overtake my Blue-Eyes,” Kaiba quickly notes.
“On its own, no. But I’m far from finished,” the horn sounds again, “One of the cards I milled was “Tour Bus From the Underworld”, and this time it’s your “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” that has a front-row seat!”
This made Kaiba flinch a bit, as it wouldn’t be able to surge out from the Deck.
“I also chain the “Farfa” I milled’s effect to banish your “Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon” until the End Phase, plus “Barbar” to banish “Farfa”, “Fire Lake”, and “The Traveler” from my Graveyard to deal 300 damage per card. And now I add “Cagna” to the mix, ready to mill another “Burning Abyss” Spell or Trap to my Graveyard.
“You may have chain blocked me, but my “Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon” has some powerful effects of its own. First, once per turn, if you activate a card effect from the Graveyard, I can negate its activation! Secondly, “Farfa” won’t be banishing it as I active “Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon”’s other effect. Since it was Synchro Summoned, I can sacrifice it as a Quick Effect to summon another Dragon Synchro monster from my Extra Deck; “Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon”!”
“Even so, I’ve prevented you from stopping “Barbar”’s effect! Incinerate him, boys!” the Tour Guide calls out “Barbar” who guides a lava-laden “Farfa” that flies into Kaiba, lighting him on fire as it burns up! Even though it was only 900 damage, it felt like he was melting!
“Graaaahh,” Kaiba screams out as he promptly pulls out some sort of side card; “Torrential Tribute”. A torrent of water falls down on him, immediately extinguishing the flames.
“Hey, what are you doing bringing cards from outside the Duel,” the Tour Guide stares accusingly at Kaiba.
“That’s my Real Monsters deck,” the drenched Duelist retorts, “In the event of a Shadow Game, or other times when the monsters are real, cards like these become vital lifelines.”
In Kaiba’s hand showed several cards that definitely weren’t in his primary decklist: “Emergency Provisions”, “Muscle Medic”, “Millennium Shield”, “Flashbang” and “Paralyzing Potion”.
“In for the long haul, I see,” the Tour Guide looks impressed at Kaiba’s preparations, “Bit late saying it now, but as you can tell, monsters and their effects are quite real here. Also, your Jet is back in your proper Deck.”
“That’s enough blabbering. “Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon” activates its effect,” Kaiba declares, “Since it was Special Summoned, both it and my “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” can’t be targeted or destroyed by card effects until the end of the next turn, including “Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon”’s effect that would destroy it in the End Phase.”
“That’s gonna be a problem,” the Tour Guide answers, “but nothing I can’t handle. “Graceful Charity”! This lets me draw 3 cards, then discard two. I’ll discard “Cir” and “Scarm”, meaning “Cir”’s effect activates. I target “Barbar”, Special Summoning it to the field!”
“You still have no way to overcome 3000 Attack and Defense.”
“Except I do, Kaiba. And you better takes notes on this one.
“Show yourself, circuit that connects dimensions!”
Between and in front of two of the “Dante”, a modern-looking gate with eight arrowhead holes appears.
“The Summoning condition requires two Level 3 monsters,” she continues as “Barbar” and “Graff” turn into twisting arrow-headed streams making beelines for the circuit, “Servant of the Lord descended to the Underworld, assert the Burning Abyss’s authority over its sinners! I Link Summon! Come on out, Link 2 “Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss”!”
A four-headed, four-winged dark angel appears from the gate brandishing a flaming sword, seemingly connected to the two “Dante” behind it.
“I already know what a Link Summon is, Tour Guide,” Kaiba calls out, “Learned of it around the time I was researching the previous Master Rules, a.k.a. Pegasus’s biggest screw-up since carding the Egyptian Gods.”
“Of course you would,” the Tour Guide pouts, “But it’s not worth crying over. “Cherubini” prevents the monsters it’s pointing to from being destroyed by card effects. And I also activate its effect! By sending a Level 3 monster from my Deck to my Graveyard, then targeting a “Burning Abyss” monster I control, that target gains stats equal to the card I milled until the end of the turn. I’ll mill “Lilith, Lady of Lament” and bless the center “Dante” with another 2000 Attack points!”
“Too bad you forgot to use “Graff”’s effect when being sent to the Graveyard.”
“Did I now, are you trying to hide the horror from me having a 4500 Attack monster? To battle! Center “Dante”, strike down that “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” before you!”
The called “Dante” leaps above the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” and cleaves its head with a rather simple short sword, driving that head to the ground and destroying the dragon. Thankfully since it wasn’t a direct attack, all Kaiba took was basic pain from the 1500 battle damage that resulted.
“Since none of my other monsters have enough power to break your “Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon”, I’ll be ending my Battle Phase, meaning the “Dante” that battled switches to Defense Mode… “True Light” will be a pain if I let it stick, and Link Monsters can’t defend while “Cherubini” has just 500 Attack…
♪ Our Hisoutensoku (Full)
“So, let’s Overlay the “Dante” that just attacked instead!”
“An Xyz Summon!?” Kaiba hollers, “But that’s one monster with no level!”
“This isn’t your typical Xyz Summon, Kaiba.
“Faced with countless extinction threats fated upon them, man stands ever defiant! Ever faithful to the Lord, their ultimate weapon shall rend even gods asunder! Behold an Xyz Evoultion! Assemble, “Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder”!”
“Dante” seems to have light surrounding him that fades out into some sort of robot suit of armor, mostly white with gold trim, blue lights, and huge lightning-making wings.
“Turning a Rank 3 into a Rank 12!?” Kaiba is astonished.
“Since an Xyz monster battled this turn, I can use one Xyz Monster I control to Xyz Summon ZEUS,” the Tour Guide smiles, “And by detaching 2 Overlay Units, it sends all other cards on the field to the Graveyard! No targeting, no destroying! Negalogia Catastrophe!”
Both of ZEUS’s Overlay Units glow purple in its hands as it emits two astrophysical jets across the battlefield, followed by countless explosions that leave no other card on the field.
“Why you…” is about all Kaiba could respond with as “True Light” activates to destroy all his monsters, if he had any.
“And now, my “Dante” and the additional “Libic” all activate their effects! The three “Dante” go first and target each other, while “Libic” will Special Summon “Rubic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss” from my hand with its effects negated.
The Tour Guide steps forward again, “And to think I haven’t even Normal Summoned yet this turn. I should bring myself out again to take care of that, then use my effect to bring out another “Tour Bus” with its effects negated, and preventing me from Synchro Summoning with it. That won’t stop this, however; “Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss”!
An obsidian altar forms before the Tour Guide, “I sacrifice the “Tour Bus” on the field and the “Cagna” in my hand.” The two monsters turn into three flames apiece, making a circle of six on the altar that form a hexagram.
“The protectors of the Eighth Circle and guardians of this Bolgia truly answer to but one name; the commander of the Malebranche, and one of the Burning Abyss’s highest fiends! I Ritual Summon! Descend upon us, “Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss”!”
The flames incinerate the altar into a gate, from which an armored red demon emerges with a long beast-headed tail and red and blue swords.
“You gave up a 4500 Attack monster for a 2700?” Kaiba is nonplussed.
“It won’t be 2700 for long. And again the “Tour Bus” sounds off, this time taking your “Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon” back to the Extra Deck. With that taken care of, I activate the effect of “The Terminus of the Burning Abyss” in my Graveyard! By banishing it and targeting “Malacoda”, that spell gives him 800 more Attack and Defense points until the end of the next turn.
“Finally, I Tune my level 3 “Rubic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss” with yours truly!”
A light outline forms from the Tour Guide as she steps back while “Rubic” transforms into three rings. The outline then becomes three stars.
“With wicked tongue and sharp words, the Traveler’s kin guides him through the Inferno. Bring the tune of victory to our journey! I Synchro Summon! Come on out, “Virgil, Rock Star of the Burning Abyss”!”
The rings and stars become a beam of light, and out of it comes a man with a mandolin that sported fiery attachments. The man himself has quite the hat, too.
“An Xyz Summon, a Link Summon, an Xyz Evolution, a Ritual Summon, and a Synchro Summon!?” Kaiba looked flabbergasted.
“I’ll be reaching my End Phase now, with “Scarm”’s effect activating to bring “Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss” from my Deck to my hand. That ends my turn.”
TGFtU draws, and Kaiba activates his Set “True Light”, using its effect to Special Summon a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from his GY (3000/2500). “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” he controls cannot be targeted by card effects while he controls “True Light”.
TGFtU Overlays “Cagna” and “Libic” to Xyz Summon a third “Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss” (1000/2500, ORU 2) to her center Main Monster Zone in Attack Position, then activates its effect, detaching “Cagna” (ORU 2 → 1) and sending the top 3 cards of her Deck to the GY (“Tour Bus From the Underworld”, “Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss”, “Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss”) to increase its ATK by 500 per card until the end of the turn (Dante ATK 1000 → 2500).
“Tour Bus” activates its effect, targeting the “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” in Kaiba’s GY. TGFtU then Chains “Farfa”’s effect, targeting “Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon”, followed by “Barbar”’s effect targeting “Farfa”, “Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss”, and “The Traveler and the Burning Abyss” in her GY, and finally “Cagna”’s effect. In response, Kaiba activates “Spirit Dragon”’s effect to negate the activation of “Cagna”, followed by Chaining “Spirit Dragon”’s other effect, Tributing it.
The Chain resolves in reverse. Kaiba Special Summons “Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon” (2500/3000) to his left Extra Monster Zone in Defense Position, however it’ll be destroyed at the End Phase. “Cagna”’s activation is negated. “Barbar” banishes “Farfa”, “Fire Lake”, and “The Traveler” and inflicts 900 damage (Kaiba 8000 → 7100). “Farfa”’s effect resolves without effect. “Tour Bus” returns “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” to Kaiba’s Deck.
“Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon” activates its effect, preventing itself and the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” Kaiba controls from being targeted or destroyed by card effects until the end of the next turn. It is no longer set to be destroyed in the End Phase from “Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon”’s effect.
TGFtU activates “Graceful Charity”, drawing 3 cards and discarding “Cir” and “Scarm”. She then activates “Cir”’s effect, targeting and Special Summoning “Barbar” to the field (1700/1000) in Defense Position.
TGFtU sets “Libic” and “Barbar” in the Link Arrows to Link Summon the Link-2 “Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss” (500/↙↘) to her left Extra Monster Zone. The two “Dante” it points to cannot be destroyed by card effects. She then activates “Cherubini”’s effect, sending “Lilith, Lady of Lament” (2000/0) from her Deck to her GY and targeting the “Dante” with 2500 ATK, increasing its ATK/DEF by the sent monster’s (“Dante” 2500 → 4500/2500).
Dante attacks and destroys “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” (Kaiba 7100 → 5600), then switches to Defense Position at the end of the Battle Phase.
Since an Xyz Monster battled this turn, TGFtU Overlays her “Dante” with 4500 ATK to Xyz Summon “Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder” (3000/3000, ORU 2) in Defense Position. She then activates its effect, detaching “Dante” and “Libic” (ORU 2 → 0) to send all other cards on the field to the GY.
Kaiba’s “True Light” activates, set to destroy all his monsters. Since they were sent to the GY, all three “Dante” effects activate, each targeting another “Dante” in a cycle. “Libic”’s effect also activates. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Libic” Special Summons “Rubic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss” (100/2100) in Defense Position with its effects negated. The three “Dante” return to the Extra Deck. “True Light” resolves without effect.
TGFtU Normal Summons “Tour Guide From the Underworld” (1000/600) and activates her effect, Special Summoning “Tour Bus From the Underworld” (1000/1000) from her Deck in Attack Position with its effects negated. She cannot use it as a Synchro Material.
TGFtU activates “Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss”, Tributing “Tour Bus” and the “Cagna” in her hand to Ritual Summon “Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss” (2700/2200) in Attack Position. “Tour Bus” activates, targeting and returning “Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon” in Kaiba’s GY back to his Extra Deck.
She activates the effect of “The Terminus of the Burning Abyss” in her GY, banishing it and targeting “Malacoda” to increase its ATK/DEF by 800 until the end of the next turn (“Malacoda” 2700 → 3500/2200 → 3000). TGFtU then Tunes the Level 3 “Tour Guide” with the Level 3 Tuner monster “Rubic” to Synchro Summon the Level 6 “Virgil, Rock Star of the Burning Abyss” (2500/1000) in Defense Position.
In the End Phase, TGFtU activates “Scarm”’s effect, adding “Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss” from her Deck to her hand.
Turn 4: Kaiba
Kaiba: 5600 | Hand: 1 | Deck: 31 | EX: 13 (0) | Grave: 10 | Banish: 0 (0)
<empty board> {“Blue-Eyes White Dragon”}
TGFtU: 8000 | Hand: 1 | Deck: 18 | EX: 12 (0) | Grave: 17 | Banish: 4 (0)
“Virgil” (2500/1000); “Malacoda” (3500/3000), “ZEUS” (3000/3000, ORU 0) {“Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss”}
“Malacoda”’s ATK/DEF are boosted by 800 this turn.
“I’m not about to let some tour guide take me away from the Pharaoh,” Kaiba hollers, “No matter how many realms I must go through, I vowed it to his most faithful servants!”
Kaiba notices a constellation that looks like a circle in the distance before the bus and, figuring this to be the exit to the Underworld, decides to be a bit dramatic about it, waiting on his draw until the Tour Bus is just about to exit. And right as it crosses…
“I draw!”
♪ You’re Not Me
Kaiba smirks, “Just what I needed, and quite fitting for the location. I activate “Card of Demise” [[Anime]]!”
“Oh no,” the Tour Guide yells out, immediately realizing what’s about to happen.
“This lets me draw until I have 5 cards in my hand, as long as I discard my hand in 5 turns, but there’s no way this Duel is going that long! Especially not with this; “Cards of Consonance”! By discarding “The White Stone of Ancients” in my hand, I draw 2 more cards!
Kaiba looks at his hand in surprise, “In fact, it seems this Duel will end this turn.”
“With four new cards,” the Tour Guide shrugs it off, “that wouldn’t surprise me one bit.”
“I’ll activate the effect of “The White Stone of Ancients” I just discarded. By banishing it from my Graveyard, I can return a “Blue-Eyes” monster from my Graveyard to my hand. I’ll return the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” you destroyed last turn, and give you a nice long look at it. Because by revealing a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” in my hand, it guides a new one to me. Come on out, “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon”!”
A much whiter-looking Blue-Eyes basically erupts from the floor, sporting all sorts of bright blue trim on its body.
“Unleash your wrath on that Netherlord! Whiteout!”
A bright white orb launches towards “Malacoda” as “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” uses its effect, seeking to destroy it.
“I’m not about to let you go so easily.” the Tour Guide retorts, “I activate “Malacoda”’s effect! By sending the “Alich” I added to my hand to the Graveyard, your monster loses Attack points equal to the monster I sent.
“What a waste. “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” can’t attack the same turn it activates its effect. And “Malacoda” is still destroyed!”
“Meaning I can activate its other effect! If it’s sent from the field to the Graveyard, it can target and send another card on the field to the Graveyard, like your dragon! And don’t think about using any negate on it, as “Alich” will also target your monster and negate its effects for the turn! And even then, “ZEUS”’s other effect gets to activate.”
“Not when I can get the most out of my dragon beforehand. “Enemy Controller”! I sacrifice my “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” to unlock my “Enemy Controller”’s hidden mode. This lets me take control of “ZEUS” until the End Phase, but that End Phase won’t be happening! The card doesn’t really fit the whole afterlife theme and you not being a human anyway, so hand it over!”
The mech gets “Enemy Controller” plugged into its back, which yanks it across the field to Kaiba’s side.
“You can have a “Graff” with your arsenal,” the Tour Guide lobs another card from her Deck to “ZEUS”, attaching it as an Overlay Unit, “though you need two units to use its effect.”
“I don’t plan on using its effect,” Kaiba retorts as both “Alich” and “Malacoda” fizzle out, “In fact, I’ll switch it into Attack Mode and activate “Polymerization”!”
“Find a stop, Char. Quickly,” the Tour Guide gestures to the bus driver.
“I fuse the two “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”s in my hand to Fusion Summon “Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon”!”
This Blue-Eyes basically looked like one of the Legendary Dragons, but with glowing bright wings.
“It’s time to end this,” Kaiba declares, ““Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon”, attack and destroy “Virgil” with Tyrant Flash!” You’re not burying this light, let alone the “True Light” I get to Set from my Graveyard after my monster battles.”
The rock star is quickly incinerated by the attack, to which the Tour Guide retorts, “Now I activate “Virgil”’s effect! If he’s destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I get to draw another card!” She looked a bit disappointed at what she drew.
“Now, “Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder”, attack the Tour Guide directly! And while it’s charging up, I’ll activate my finishing card; “De-Fusion”! This returns my “Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon” to my Extra Deck, and Special Summons its materials from my Graveyard. And since this is mid-battle, they’ll be able to attack this turn!”
The “Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon” quickly splits back into two “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”s that flank the charging “ZEUS”. Around now, the bus finally comes to a stop.
“Now bear witness to the greatest combination between man and monster!
“SKY LIGHTNING”
「人類の爆裂疾風弾」
(Burst Stream of Mankind)
A bevy of lasers and dragon breath bombards the Tour Guide, eventually launching her into the bus’s windshield as she yells in agony!
Kaiba draws and plays “Card of Demise” [[Anime]], drawing until he holds 5 cards (he has 1, so he draws 4) as long as his discards his hand in 5 turns. He then plays “Cards of Consonance”, discarding “The White Stone of Ancients” from his hand to draw 2 cards. After that, he activates “The White Stone of Ancients” in his GY, banishing it to target and return the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” in his GY to his hand.
Kaiba reveals a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” in his hand to Special Summon “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” (3000/2500) in Attack Position. He then activates its effect, targeting “Malacoda”. In response, TGFtU activates “Malacoda”’s effect, discarding “Alich” from her hand and targeting “Alternative White Dragon”.
The Chain resolves in reverse. “Malacoda” reduces “Alternative White Dragon”’s ATK by that of “Alich” (ATK 3000 → 1800). “Alternative White Dragon” resolves, destroying “Malacoda” but it is now unable to attack this turn.
Since it was sent to the GY, TGFtU activates “Malacoda”’s effect from the GY, targeting “Alternative White Dragon” again. She then Chains “Alich” and targets it again, then Chains “ZEUS” as another monster she controlled was destroyed. In response, Kaiba Chains “Enemy Controller”, Tributing “Alternative White Dragon” and targeting “ZEUS”.
The Chain resolves in reverse. Kaiba takes control of “ZEUS” until the End Phase. TGFtU attaches “Graff” to ZEUS as material (ORU 0 → 1). Both “Alich” and “Malacoda” resolve without effect. Kaiba switches “ZEUS” to Attack Position, then activates “Polymerization”, fusing two “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”s in his hand to Fusion Summon “Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon” (3400/2900) in Attack Position.
“Tyrant Dragon” attacks and destroys “Virgil”. At the end of the Damage Step, Kaiba activates “Tyrant Dragon”’s effect, targeting and Setting “True Light” from his GY. TGFtU activates “Virgil”’s effect, drawing 1 card. “ZEUS” attacks directly, in which Kaiba activates “De-Fusion”, targeting and returning “Tyrant Dragon” to his Extra Deck and Special Summoning the two “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” he used to Fusion Summon it from his GY in Attack Position. Since “De-Fusion” was activated during a battle, the Special Summoned monsters can attack this turn. “ZEUS”’s direct attack continues, and the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”s follow suit (TGFtU 8000 → 5000 → 2000 → 0).
WINNER (by Knockout) – Seto Kaiba
“I expected no less from someone like you,” the Tour Guide tries to laugh it off.
“A win’s a win,” Kaiba laments, “but there’s someone else I’d rather defeat.”
♪ Rural Makai City Esoteria
Still reeling a bit, the Tour Guide opens the bus door, leading Kaiba to the top of an outcrop, “This is the Underworld, or Makai as the locals call it.”
Despite the sun being out, much of the land in the Underworld was shrouded in a strange darkness very much unlike that of a Shadow Game. Multicolored sets of lines and right angles abound within this foggy substance. It seemed to feel supernaturally creepy, even to Kaiba; like he just stepped into a place worse than Hell. Much of the terrain he can see is red, and the sky is quite dark past the sun.
“Gensokyo is a neighbor realm to this place,” Kaiba looks at the Tour Guide.
“As in there’s another gate between the two, yes,” she answers, “but it’s kinda far from this neck of the Underworld.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Kaiba pulls out another card from his Real Monsters deck; a “D.D. Scout Plane” that launches itself high into the air, attempting to analyze the size of the expanse around them. After a few seconds, a pop-up from Kaiba’s Duel Disk suddenly shows in front of him. Apparently he just lost a Life Point from an “Unknown Source” of effect damage, dropping him to 7999 and slowly draining him at 2 LP a minute.
“Oh, guess I should let you know,” the Tour Guide sweats a bit, having realized she forgot something important, “The Underworld isn’t exactly fit for most living things. While the realm enhances magic, it’ll slowly drain anyone that’s not a native.”
“Like you,” Kaiba retorts, noticing how the Tour Guide doesn’t seem too phased by it.
“Like me. Used to be a lot nicer, but our maker took things a little too far when our tourism program got out of hand. Since then, Gensokyo has been off-limits.”
It’s around now that the Scout Plane dissipates, relaying information to Kaiba’s Duel Disk and giving him a surprise:
Could not find a dimensional anomaly. There are no unknown dimensional gates for at least a light-second.
“What,” the Tour Guide smirks, “Did you expect the Underworld to have a limit to its size?”
“So how do I reach Gensokyo, then,” Kaiba looked a bit irritated, “Especially with Makai out of the question!” Another click. A second Life Point lost to Makai’s atmosphere.
“Theoretically it’d be much easier through Forbidden Realms, since it’s part of the network of Hells. While it’s much faster, it’s much more dangerous for obvious reasons.”
“So you’re saying we Dueled for nothing!?”
“Not ‘nothing,’ Kaiba. You did win, so I’ll need to give something for going through Forbidden Realms.”
“How about doing your job?”
The Tour Guide looked both flustered and confused, “You want me to guide you through Forbidden Realms!?”
Kaiba responds by pulling out a pen and paper, “You’re fine with human-world currency, right?”
“It’s easy enough to convert.”
“Just get me through Forbidden Realms and into that network.” Kaiba hands something over to the Tour Guide to a third blip of lost life, “Keep the change.”
“You already won the Duel, no need to—” the Tour Guide gets a bit bug-eyed when she notices that he wrote a check to her for $13,500, or just over a quarter-million DP (150 Duelist Points per 8 Dollars).
“We’ll get you right there, sir! We’ll need to transfer busses, though.”
The two get back on the bus, which is back in normal mode and takes a U-turn. Next stop: Forbidden Realms! At least Kaiba gets his three lost LP back.
Notes:
Initially I just had Tour Guide take him to the Burning Abyss as an Otherworld Hell, only to learn that her OCG name says she's from "the Demon World" i.e. Makai. Coincidental double connection between Yu-Gi-Oh and Mystic Square aside, this nearly derailed my gameplan for the story.
If you're wondering, I based Kaiba's check on the price of a Greyhound from NY to LA ($350-750, I went with $600), giving it similar boosting to the time he bought a sports car (likely $20-30k in '97) for half a million dollars.
Way overdue edit: Some minor corrections, like putting "Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon"'s Synchro Summon in the main story and re-lining "Cherubini"'s to properly say it stops destruction instead of targeting.
Chapter 3: (Atem Stage 2) Different Dimension Store
Summary:
A vague premonition meets a foreboding sign, prompting a very suspicious finding and a silly attempt at returning a favor.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“And that’s around the time I got dropped into this place.”
The shrine maiden and Pharaoh are walking down the forested trail between the Hakurei Shrine and the Human Village, carrying on a conversation to pass the long trek.
“Geez, Atem,” Reimu reacts to the Pharaoh’s story, “And I thought Yukari making me go to the Moon was a salty runback.”
“Where you ran into her, right? The one I reminded you of?”
“Precisely. It was clear from the get-go she was still fighting for real, so there was no real sense in playing. That’s why I noted solution and meaning requirements when explaining the Spell Card Battle to you.”
“You feared it would happen again.”
“Right. Though I guess being a former King of Games and relative lack of stakes allowed you to adapt easily.”
“Even though I mostly got it from Duel Monsters?”
“I mean you seemed fine in the recreation and some of your antics after waking up. Though come to think of it…”
Reimu had a vague premonition, her instincts basically yelling at her about something.
“Is something the matter,” Atem asks.
“Yes, actually, I want to learn how—” Reimu was finally able to see the wall and gate to the Human Village, “Actually, now isn’t the time. Let’s just get you something to blend in a little easier with. I can ask once we get some privacy.”
♪ Nostalgic Blood of the East ~ Old World
Reimu pushes the large wooden doors open, giving Atem his first view of the rather old-fashioned Human village. It looked like it was mostly built in the late Edo period, with few modernities to be found, and hardly anyone outside, “Sorry if the look is unusual or historic to you. Naturally, progress has been mostly stagnant for decades around here. Now let’s get to the clothier.”
After a couple blocks of travel and prying eyes on the Pharaoh, they finally reach what’s pretty clearly a homemade clothing store… at least from what one can see inside the place. A sign on the door really set Reimu off, however.
“Oh come on, it’s not even seven yet,” the shrine maiden groans as she’s met with a ‘CLOSED’ sign, ““Closed due to”…” reading the sign gave her goosebumps, ““inclement weather.””
“Weather,” Atem notes the weirdness of the sign, “When there’s hardly a clou—”
Reimu grabbed the Pharaoh’s arm and made a flying beeline for the center of town, where a statue of a dragon is present. Looking into its eyes made Reimu sigh. “Of course they’re red.”
“There’s something I’m not getting here,” the Pharaoh looks at Reimu.
“This is the Dragon God’s Statue, him being basically the creator god of Gensokyo. Its eyes predict the weather, accurately about two-thirds the time. White is sunny, gray is cloudy, blue is rainy. But there’s one color it’s never wrong on.”
“Red.”
“Precisely. This appears when something truly strange is about to happen. This precedes either some really bizarre weather, or an event of unknown origin that rattles Gensokyo at large…” Reimu glares at Atem with utmost seriousness, “an Incident!”
“That explains the clothier’s closure,” Atem tries to stay calm despite the emphasis Reimu put on the word Incident.
“Which leads me to what my instinct told me earlier. I’ll have to whisper it…” Reimu gets in close to the Pharaoh’s ear, barely audible for either of them.
“Can you teach me how to Duel?”
“What!?” Atem immediately reels back upon hearing the shrine maiden’s question, “That’s what your intuition suggests?”
The shrine maiden simply smiles all smug-looking, “Well?”
“Well first, you’d need a deck of cards, and not just any cards.”
“So something from the Outside World? I know just the place! To Kourindou!”
“Are you sure that place is even open?”
The shrine maiden doesn’t answer the Pharaoh and just heads down the street to another village gate, following another forested path and forcing him to follow suit.
♪ Curious Old Shanghai Tile
A modest distance later, the two come upon a very discernible building with lots of miscellaneous signs and older Outside World items, including what looked like a plethora of old CRT TVs.
“Here we are! You won’t find more Outside World items in one place than Kourindou,” Reimu cheerily opens the front door, “Rinnosuke-san?”
A tall oldish man with white hair and glasses had his face buried in an indecipherable book as usual, almost grumbling as he gets up from his chair, “During a red-eyes day of all days?”
“So this guy dropped in from what’s apparently an afterlife of the Outside World, and he’s looking for a way back. But something tells me I should at least learn something specific from him that apparently involves some kind of cards? And that made me think there may be some here… Are you even listening!?”
“Yeah, I’m not.”
“I’d like to see your most recently acquired goods, please.”
The presence of a second, male, much wiser-sounding voice prompted Rinnosuke to turn around. He wasn’t expecting the shrine maiden to bring the guy in question with her. His gaze heads downwards towards the Pharaoh’s pendant.
“Don’t even think about it,” Atem immediately senses that Rinnosuke wants his Millennium Puzzle Pendant.
“My apologies, sir,” Rinnosuke bowed in remorse, “The most recent thing I got was a set of unusual cards that can contain just about anything.”
“Like that console,” Reimu asks.
“Far from it,” Rinnosuke retorts, “These cards contain, not alter. Most of them are already occupied by a monster, spell, or trap. And I have no idea how to evoke or empty them.”
“Allow me to see them,” Atem reacts, almost in a demand.
Rinnosuke lamented as he pulls out a deck with a swirly brown back, “Surely you don’t expect me to sell something so potentially dangerous.”
Atem immediately recognizes the backing, which causes him to nod, “As I suspected. Duel Monsters cards.”
“You’re familiar with these cards?”
“Quite,” the Pharaoh forms up his own deck and shows it to Rinnosuke.
“A lot of the auras in this deck feel familiar,” Reimu takes a look at the deck Rinnosuke had out, pulling out a few cards from it: “Aratama”, “Mirror of Yata”, and “Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi”.
“Spirit monsters,” Atem notes, a huge sweatdrop on his head as he realizes just what Reimu is getting herself into.
The door opens, but nobody enters. Instead, an audible gasp is heard. Reimu quickly turns around and sees a girl with glasses and a hat on, wearing purple, with a huge black cape and a red inside decorated in glyphs.
“And this is why I wanted some more common clothes for you, Atem,” Reimu laments, “You recognize this guy, Sumireko?”
“How could I not,” Sumireko nearly geeks out, “That’s none other than the King of G—wait, did you seriously call him Atem?”
“My whole time here,” the Pharaoh answers before turning to Reimu, “So who’s this?”
“Hifuu Club President Sumireko Usami,” the girl proudly introduces herself.
“She’s an Outside World human psychic who inadvertently saved Gensokyo by almost destroying it,” Reimu quickly points out, “She lives in the Outside World but dreams her way to Gensokyo. Pretty much the only person besides Yukari with much idea of the Outside World as of late.”
“And she definitely knows Duel Monsters,” Atem remarks, “at least going by her reaction.”
“So what brings you of all beings here, and why are you dragging him along?”
“He needs to get back to the afterlife, and I need to learn how to Duel.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“That’s Reimu for you. If she needs to learn how to Duel, she must have a good instinct telling her to.”
Sumireko heads in and tries to lead the two not-customers, “We can do this upstairs. Just give me a few minutes to pick up my deck from the Outside World and download a few quick vids.”
“In my bedroom!?” the shopkeeper yells out in shock.
“Don’t want to show this in public yet,” Reimu takes the deck Rinnosuke had and casually follows the psychic.
“Hey, aren’t you—” Rinnosuke tries to address Reimu about borrowing his cards, to no avail.
“Is she always like that, Rinnosuke,” the Pharaoh asks, putting a few gold coins on the counter as trade.
“Sadly, yes,” the shopkeeper answers as Atem follows the girls upstairs.
♪ Mushroom Waltz
Once the Pharaoh makes it to the upstairs room, he sees a table, as well as Sumireko holding on to a block about the size of a card deck, basically asleep-looking in a corner of the room.
“What’s going on with Sumireko,” Atem asks.
“She’s awake in the Outside World,” the shrine maiden answers, “she’ll be right back.”
Indeed, before either of them knew it the thing Sumireko was holding had transformed into a deck of Duel Monsters cards. The psychic wakes as if on cue.
“Had to make a couple adjustments to cover stuff. Just one last thing before we start, since we don’t have a mat,” Sumireko takes the one card in her deck bigger than the others and divides her deck at that point, the larger part to the right side of her and the smaller to the left. She then takes the big card itself, labeled “Field Center Card”, and puts it smack dab in the middle of the table.
“That’ll show at least some of the field,” Sumireko sounds pumped, despite looking rather nervous, “Now let’s show Reimu the Outside World’s version of the Spell Card Battle,”
“With what all Kaiba has been doing with it,” the Pharaoh retorts as the two take their seats, “That’s one way to call this game.”
✌️““IT’S TIME TO DU…””✌️
✌️““D-D-D-DUEL!””🖐️
“I’ll go first,” Atem states.
“Huh, so that’s how you say it in ties,” Reimu notes.
Duel
古代遊戯王 アテム
Atem, Ancient King of Games
VS
Sumireko Usami, Dreaming Psychic of Paradise
楽園の夢見るエスパー 宇佐見菫子
Turn 1: Atem
Atem: 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 35 | EX: 15(0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
Sumi: 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 35 | EX: 15(0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
♪ Duel Links ~ Yami Yugi
“We open with the Draw Phase,” Atem starts, “This is the time one draws a card from their Deck. However, it’s the first turn, so I don’t do so. Next is the Standby Phase, a time for certain effects between drawing a card and the start of play proper. Of course, there are none right now, though a player could activate a card or effect here. Now we enter Main Phase 1.
“I start this duel off by revealing “Illusion of Chaos” in my hand,” the Pharaoh kicks off, “Once per turn by revealing it in my hand, I can add either “Dark Magician” or a non-Ritual monster that mentions it from my Deck to my hand, and I choose “Palladium Oracle Mahad”. Then, I place 1 card from my hand at the top of my Deck. Next, I activate “Graceful Charity”. This lets me draw three cards and discard two.”
“But “Mahad”’s effect to Special Summon itself is a ‘when: you can’ effect!” Sumireko points at Atem like she’s about to catch him breaking a rule, “Since “Graceful Charity” also discards, he’ll miss the timing!”
“I discard “Soul Servant” and “Magician Navigation”,” he retorts, basically ignoring the psychic as he already knew that, “But… It seems I’ve drawn “Watapon”!”
“Just a “Watapon”?”
“If “Watapon” is added from my Deck to my hand by card effect, I can Special Summon it to the field. And, as an ‘if: you can’ effect instead of a ‘when: you can’, it can activate as soon as possible, even if something else was the last thing to happen this Duel.”
Sumireko can’t help but smile, “Oooh, I see what you’re going for. Putting the lessons first and foremost over actually winning. But let’s not miss basics like summoning techniques here, okay?”
“I don’t plan on it,” Atem smirks, “as now I activate “Magicians’ Souls” in my hand! Once per turn, I can send a Level 6 or higher Spellcaster from my Deck to my Graveyard to either Special Summon this card, or by sending this to the Graveyard, Special Summon a “Dark Magician” or “Dark Magician Girl” from my Graveyard. I’ll send “Palladium Oracle Mana” to my Graveyard to Special Summon “Magicians’ Souls” in Defense Mode. Now we can get to one of the more core elements of the Duel; the Normal and Tribute Summons.
“Each player gets one natural Normal or Tribute Summon per turn, letting them summon 1 monster from their hand face-up in Attack Mode, or face-down in Defense Mode; known as a Set. However, this can only be done directly for a Level 4 or lower monster normally. For a Level 5 or 6 monster, you must also sacrifice another monster to Tribute Summon or Set it. But in this case, I sacrifice both “Magicians’ Souls” and “Watapon”! This allows me to Tribute Summon a Level 7 or higher monster, such as “Palladium Oracle Mahad”! I’ll Set one card face-down and enter the End Phase. Some effects can be activated here, but this is where I end my turn and pass it to Sumireko.”
Atem activates “Illusion of Chaos” in his hand, revealing it to add “Palladium Oracle Mahad” to his hand and send 1 card from his hand to the top of his Deck. He then plays “Graceful Charity”, drawing 3 cards and discarding “Soul Servant” and “Magician Navigation”. One of the cards he drew with “Graceful Charity” was “Watapon”, so he activates its effect, Special Summoning it (200/100) in Defense Position.
Atem activates “Magicians’ Souls” in his hand, sending “Palladium Oracle Mana” from his Deck to his GY to Special Summon it (0/0) in Defense Position. He then Tributes “Magicians’ Souls” and “Watapon” to Tribute Summon “Palladium Oracle Mahad” (2500/2100) in Attack Position. He Sets 1 card.
Turn 2: Sumireko Usami
Atem: 8000 | Hand: 1 | Deck: 31 | EX: 15(0) | Grave: 5 | Banish: 0 (0)
“Palladium Oracle Mahad” (2500/2100); 1 Set card {“Illusion of Chaos”}
Sumi: 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 35 | EX: 15(0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
“Well, if the point is teaching and not winning,” Sumireko points out, “I’ll be sure to give you both some real lessons. It’s my move!”
♪ Last Occultism ~ Esotericist of the Present World (Antinomy of Common Flowers)
Sumireko draws, pleased with what she got, “I’ll use the Scale 1 “Parametalfoes Melcaster” and Scale 8 “Raremetalfoes Bismugear” to set the Pendulum Scale!”
“Pendulum Scale,” Atem sounds confused, “And why are those monsters in Spell/Trap Zones?”
“Pendulum monsters can be placed at the outer Spell/Trap Zones, referred to as Pendulum Zones. And while I have cards in both, once per turn, I can Special Summon multiple monsters from my hand or face-up Extra Deck (more on that later) whose Levels are between the two cards’ Scales.”
“Oh, no!”
Sumireko brings out a triangle zener card that’s upside-down, making it swing between the Scales like a pendulum, “The momentum of fantasy swings again, from one era to the next! I Pendulum Summon! Come forth, my monsters! “Metalfoes Steelen”, “Silverd”, and “Goldriver”, as well as “Mental Tuner”!”
Sumireko brings out four monsters at once, though none of them are powerful enough to handle “Mahad”.
“Interesting,” the Pharaoh remarks, “That gives quite a few materials for use.”
“But not much use without a catalyst,” the psychic fires back, “For that, I’ll activate “Melcaster”’s Pendulum effect! You see, monsters in Pendulum Zones use this upper text box for their effects instead of the monster one below. This lets “Melcaster” destroy “Bismugear”, then Set “Metalfoes Fusion” right from my Deck. Now the stage is set.
“First, notice that “Mental Tuner” is called a Tuner monster,” Sumireko points out, “kinda like how Reimu’s deck has Spirit monsters.”
“Meaning it can be used for a Synchro Summon,” Atem nods, “as long as the Levels add up.”
“Precisely to the Synchro Monster. I’ll Tune my Level 2 “Metalfoes Steelen” with my Level 3 “Mental Tuner”!
Sumireko pulls out three circle zener cards above the “Mental Tuner” as she sends it to the Graveyard, making light copies of the circles. She then forms two mini-danmaku bullets on “Steelen” as she floats it within the circles, “The artificial mind culminates the man in the machine, entering the arcane network of Psychics! Behold the evolution of technology!
The mini-danmaku lights on “Steelen” turn into a streak of light through the circles as Sumireko puts “Steelen” to her Extra Deck face-up, “I Synchro Summon! Bring the future, Level 5 “Magical Android”!”
“A simple enough summoning technique,” Reimu just goes along with it.
“And any Pendulum card goes to the Extra Deck face-up if they’d be sent from face-up on the field to the Graveyard. Very simple… Especially compared to what’s next,” Sumireko adjusts her glasses as she prepares herself.
“Come forth, circuit that forges fantasy!”
Both Reimu and Atem look befuddled at Sumireko’s chant as she puts another circle zener card next to the Field Center Card.
“To an Extra Monster Zone,” the Pharaoh is quick to notice.
“The Summoning condition is 2 Pendulum monsters,” she continues as she puts “Silverd” and “Goldriver” to her Extra Deck face-up and drops two red triangle mini-danmaku bullets on the circle pointing down-left and down-right, “Man and machine meld in harmony, flowing from car and rider to armor and warrior. Blend your mettle and your metal! I Link Summon! Emerge from the crucible, Link-2 “Heavymetalfoes Electrumite”!”
(Link Summon explanation starts here)
Sumireko puts one of her Extra Deck cards under the zener card and flips the two over, showing “Electrumite” while she pulls the zener cards away and the danmaku dissipates, “Before I go on, there’s quite a bit to get down about Link Monsters.
“They can’t be face-down or in Defense Mode and have no Defense points, not even zero, and both they and face-up Extra Deck monsters can only be Link or Pendulum Summoned respectively to an Extra Monster Zone, or a Main Monster Zone a Link Arrow is pointing to,” Sumireko points to “Electrumite”’s two red arrows that go down-left and down-right.
“Each player is only allowed one Extra Monster Zone at a time,” Atem fills in, “and summons from places besides the Extra Deck can’t use the Extra Monster Zone.”
“Right on, though there’s two more things.”
The psychic pulls out her zener cards again and puts her “Electrumite” to the side, putting two circle cards one below the other at the Extra Monster Zone and the Main Monster Zone below it. She then forms three danmaku triangles, with one on the upper circle pointing down to the second one and the lower one pointing both up and to its right.
“Cards that point to each other are Co-Linked, which some effects specifically want. But things can go even further than that.
Sumireko puts three more circle zener cards: One below the Field Center with danmaku pointing left and right, one below the other Extra Monster Zone pointing up and left, and the last one in that Extra Monster Zone pointing down.
“If one can make a chain of Co-Linked monsters from one Extra Monster Zone to the other, they form an Extra Link and also basically bar the opponent from Link or Pendulum Summoning from the Extra Deck.”
“So someone could seal a mechanic and a half with just three cards,” Reimu hucks four needles that precisely land at what would show an Extra Link with 3 cards in a V shape.
“Hey, these cards are not cheap,” Sumireko gets very defensive of her zener cards, “Also, just about all cards with two up-diagonal Link Arrows forbid you from Summoning to Extra Monster Zones they point to. And the one card that can is super expensive, both to get and to use like that!”
“Is that all,” the Pharaoh notes, “We still have a Duel going on.”
“Right,” the psychic puts her cards away and puts “Electrumite” back where it was, “Back to the Duel.
(Link Summon description ends here)
“Since “Heavymetalfoes Electrumite” was Special Summoned, I can activate her first effect to add 1 Pendulum monster in my Deck to my Extra Deck face-up, and I’ll send “Metalfoes Vanisher”. Next, I’ll activate her primary effect. Once per turn, I can target and destroy 1 other face-up card I control, like “Melcaster”, and add a face-up Pendulum monster in my Extra Deck to my hand. I’ll destroy “Melcaster” and add the “Vanisher” I just sent to my Extra Deck to my hand.”
“But now you have no cards in your Pendulum Zones,” Atem points out.
“Because one just left the field, meaning “Electrumite”’s last effect activates itself. “Melcaster” was destroyed, so I’ll activate her effect as well in a Chain. The turn player’s mandatory effects like “Electrumite” activate first, then their opponent’s, and repeat with optional effects. A Chain of activations resolves in reverse, so “Melcaster” adds “Bismugear” back to my hand, but I won’t be able to place any “Bismugear” to a Pendulum Zone for the rest of the turn except by card effect. And “Electrumite” lets me draw a card, but I won’t be able to use that effect of any “Heavymetalfoes Electumite” for the rest of the turn.”
“Sounds pretty common a restriction,” Reimu quickly determines.
“Very common for cards that aren’t very old,” the Pharaoh continues, “Lots of effects have a ‘hard once per turn’ these days.”
“Whereas “Electrumite”’s second effect is a ‘soft’ once per turn that resets if she leaves the field or flips face-down, or at least it would in the latter if she wasn’t a Link monster.
“But now I’ll activate the card I drew, “Metamorformation”,” Sumireko goes on, “Field Spells can only be placed above your Extra Deck, in the Field Spell Zone. If you already have such a card there, you must send that to the Graveyard to put another there. This Field Spell in particular gives my “Metalfoes” monsters an additional 300 Attack and Defense points.”
“But “Electrumite” still doesn’t have enough Attack points to take down “Mahad”,” Atem smirks.
“Yeah. She doesn’t. But this guy will. I activate my face-down card, “Metalfoes Fusion”!
Sumireko levitates the two monsters she has in dual spiral motions towards each other, “Artificial arcane esper, become one with the heavy metal, and don the hardened shell of the great tortoise!
Once the two finally overlap, she then brings a third card from her face-down Extra Deck and clasps her hands together, “I Fusion Summon! Emerge from the crucible, “Metalfoes Adamante”!”
The psychic sends “Magical Android” and “Heavymetalfoes Electrumite” to her Graveyard to bring out a monster that seems to catch the Pharaoh’s attention, “A non-Effect Fusion monster, at this day and age? “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon” is a thing, but still.”
“An Effect monster wouldn’t be any good with this: I’ll also set “Metalfoes Vanisher” to the Pendulum Scale. Now that I have a “Metalfoes” monster in a Pendulum Zone, “Metamorformation” protects my “Metalfoes” from your card effects, as long as they aren’t Effect monsters. “Adamante” isn’t an Effect monster, so it qualifies. And with its Attack boost, it’s more than powerful enough to handle your “Palladium Oracle”!
“To the Battle Phase we go! There obviously isn’t one on the first turn, and in this Phase each of my Attack Mode monsters can attack a monster of my opponent’s, or if they have none, them directly. “Metalfoes Adamante”, attack Atem’s “Palladium Oracle Mahad”!”
“When two Attack mode monsters meet in battle,” Atem adds, “The one whose attack isn’t higher is destroyed, and the difference is dealt as damage to its controller’s Life Points.”
“But first, there’s the Battle Step. A time where we can activate any quick effects we have: Traps, Quick-Play Spells, and the aforementioned Quick Effects.”
“I won’t be doing so.”
“Neither will I, so we reach the Damage Step. Card effects may have exceptions that disallow or requiring using them in or at the start, middle, or end of the Damage Step respectively. And most effects that change one’s Attack or Defense can’t be used in this time.”
“Now we enter damage calculation, comparing the numbers of our monsters’ Battle Positions.”
““Mahad” still has his base 2500 Attack, while “Adamante” has 2800. Meaning “Mahad” is destroyed and you lose 300 or your initial 8000 Life Points.”
“Oh, no! But, that’s okay. When “Palladium Oracle Mahad” is destroyed, he leaves behind a “Dark Magician” from my hand, Deck, or Graveyard to protect me.”
“Now if his monster were equal to mine, they’d both be destroyed, but if mine was weaker, I’d take the hit and lost monster.”
“But if my monster was in Defense Mode, Its Defense points get used for damage calculation, but it’d survive if its defense matched or exceeded your monster’s Attack, damaging you in the latter case. However, I wouldn’t lose any Life Points if it lost that battle.”
“That is, of course, unless I had something with piercing battle damage,” Sumireko shows Reimu another monster from her Extra Deck, “Metalfoes Orichalc”, whose effect gives all “Metalfoes” monsters double piercing battle damage.
“I’ll be ending my Battle Phase now and entering Main Phase 2. Here, I’ll activate the effect of “Metalfoes Fusion” in my Graveyard, shuffling it into my Deck and drawing another card. I’ll Set that card face-down and enter my End Phase.
“In the End Phase, since I activated and resolved “Raremetalfoes Bismugear” earlier, I can add another “Metalfoes” monster from my Deck to my hand, this time “Metalfoes Volflame”. That wraps things up on my end. There’s still several things I can see us teaching, Atem. How many do you think you can get?”
Sumireko draws, then activates “Parametalfoes Melcaster” (♦1) and “Raremetalfoes Bismugear” (♦8) to the Pendulum Zones. She Pendulum Summons “Metalfoes Steelen” (0/2100) and “Mental Tuner” (200/2100) in Defense Position and “Metalfoes Silverd” (1700/100) and “Metalfoes Goldriver” (1900/500) in Attack Position.
Sumireko activates “Melcaster”’s Pendulum Effect, targeting and destroying “Bismugear” and Setting “Metalfoes Fusion” from her Deck. Since “Bismugear” was destroyed, Sumireko activates its effect, letting her add a “Metalfoes” monster from her Deck to her hand at the End Phase. She then Tunes her Level 2 “Steelen” with her Level 3 Tuner monster “Mental Tuner” to Synchro Summon the Level 5 “Magical Android” (2400/1700) in Attack Position. She then puts “Silverd” and “Goldriver” to the Link Arrows and Link Summons “Heavymetalfoes Electrumite” (1600/↙↘) to her left Extra Monster Zone.
Since it was Special Summoned, Sumireko activates “Electrumite”’s first effect, adding “Metalfoes Vanisher” from her Deck to her Extra Deck face-up. She then activates “Electrumite”’s second effect, targeting and destroying “Melcaster” to add “Vanisher” from her face-up Extra Deck to her hand.
Since a card in Sumireko’s Pendulum Zone left the field, “Electrumite”’s last effect activates. Since “Melcaster” was destroyed, Sumireko Chains its effect. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Melcaster” resolves, adding “Bismugear” from her face-up Extra Deck to her hand, but preventing her from activating it to a Pendulum Zone this turn except by card effect. “Electrumite” resolves, and Sumireko draws a card.
Sumireko activates the Field Spell “Metamorformation”, which boosts the ATK/DEF of her “Metalfoes” monsters by 300 (“Electrumite” 1800 → 2100). She then activates “Metalfoes Fusion”, fusing “Electrumite” and “Magical Android” to Fusion Summon “Metalfoes Adamante” (2500 → 2800/2500 → 2800). She activates “Vanisher” (♦1) to her Pendulum Zone. Since she controls a face-up “Metalfoes” card in a Pendulum Zone, “Metamorformation” makes her non-Effect “Metalfoes” monsters (“Adamante”) unaffected by Atem’s card effects.
“Metalfoes Adamante” attacks and destroys “Palladium Oracle Mahad” (Atem 8000 → 7700). Since “Mahad” was destroyed, Atem activates its effect, Special Summoning “Dark Magician” (2500/2100) from his Deck in Attack Position.
Sumireko activates “Metalfoes Fusion”’s effect in her Graveyard, shuffling it into her Deck to draw 1 card. She Sets a card. Since “Bismugear” activated and resolved this turn, Sumireko adds “Metalfoes Volflame” from her Deck to her hand in the End Phase.
Turn 3: Atem
Atem: 7700 | Hand: 1 | Deck: 30 | EX: 15(0) | Grave: 6 | Banish: 0 (0)
“Dark Magician” (2500/2100); 1 Set card {“Illusion of Chaos”}
Sumi: 8000 | Hand: 2 | Deck: 30 | EX: 16(4) | Grave: 3 | Banish: 0 (0)
“Metamorformation”, “Heavymetalfoes Adamante” (2800/2800); “Metalfoes Vanisher” (♦1), 1 Set card {“Raremetalfoes Bismugear”, “Metalfoes Volflame”}
“Several,” the Pharaoh answers Sumireko, “It’s my move.”
Atem draws, “Perfect. I activate “Bond Between Teacher & Student”. While I have “Dark Magician” on my field, I can Special Summon “Dark Magician Girl” from my hand, Deck, or Graveyard, then, I can Set one of four special cards straight from my Deck. I’ll Set “Dark Magic Attack”. Which I now activate! Since I control a “Dark Magician”, this card destroys all your Spell and Trap cards on the field!”
“Not so fast,” the psychic smiles, “I activate my face-down card, “Fullmetalfoes Fusion”! A Quick-Play Spell can be activated during either player’s turn, including straight from hand during one’s own turn. However, once Set they can’t be activated that turn; same as a Trap.”
“Most card effects can’t respond to another quick effect, unless it is one itself. Furthermore, even those can’t respond to a Counter Trap.”
“Precisely. And “Fullmetalfoes Fusion” lets me Fusion Summon as its effect, sending its materials from my hand or field to the Graveyard. This way, I have someone besides a vanilla beatstick left. I’ll fuse “Volflame” in my hand with the “Adamante” on the field.
Sumireko repeats her Fusion Summon maneuver with those two monsters, “The crucible melts these metals into an all-accepting compound. The legendary universal solvent is born! I Fusion Summon! Mix it all together, “Parametalfoes Azortless”!”
Sumireko pulls out a monster from her face-down Extra Deck that shocks even Atem, “A Fusion Pendulum monster!?”
“That’s right,” the psychic proudly puffs out her chest as she puts her Field Spell in the graveyard and “Vanisher” back to the face-up Extra Deck, “Pendulum can accompany any major monster card type! Though we’ve yet to see Link Pendulum monsters…”
“Why’s “Volflame” in your grave,” Reimu notes, “Don’t Pendulum monsters go face-up in the Extra Deck?”
“I sent it from my hand to the Graveyard, not the field,” Sumireko answers, “but I’m getting off-topic, and “Azortless”’s effect activates! If it’s Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, I can target your “Dark Magician”, then shuffle 2 of my face-up Pendulum monsters in my Extra Deck back into the Deck, and if I do, destroy that target! Still wanna hold on to that face-down?”
“You’ll see it soon enough,” Atem responds, “I will however activate “Palladium Oracle Mana”’s Quick Effect in my Graveyard. Since you targeted a Spellcaster I control with a card effect, I can Special Summon her from my hand or Graveyard. Come forth, “Palladium Oracle Mana”!”
“I’m seeing double… four Dark Magician Girls! Anyway, I’ll shuffle “Silverd” and “Goldriver” into my Deck, and your “Dark Magician” melts into the crucible known as the Graveyard.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Sumireko. Now with “Palladium Oracle Mana” on my field, my Level 7 or higher Spellcasters can’t be targeted or destroyed by card effects.
“And now you’re left with no way to interact with the board,” Atem smirks, “and me left with several things to introduce. First, I activate the effect of the “Soul Servant” in my Graveyard. By banishing it from there, I can draw a card for each of “Dark Magician”, “Dark Magician Girl” and any “Palladium” monsters with different names on my field or in my Graveyard.”
“Ah, yes, banishment,” the psychic notes, “It’s basically a second form of Graveyard that fewer cards can access. And then there’s cards getting banished face-down, which almost no cards can recover.”
“With “Dark Magician Girl”, “Palladium Oracle Mana”, and “Dark Magician” on my field and “Palladium Oracle Mahad” in my Graveyard, I get to draw a total of four cards!”
“Good lord, why not just play “Card of Sanctity” [[Anime]] instead,” Sumireko bemoans.
“The only card in my hand was “Illusion of Chaos”, in case you’ve forgotten,” the Pharaoh reminds her, “And your problems with multiple “Dark Magician Girl”s have only begun. I discard “Kuribandit” from my hand to Special Summon “Apprentice Illusion Magician” from my hand! Now it’s time to get one of the last two summoning techniques left to display…
♪ Passionate Duelist
“Where fantasy and reality intertwine, I build the Overlay Network!
Atem’s pendant shines, making his finger glow a bit as he taps one of the Extra Monster Zones, forming a galaxy pattern. He then puts two of his “Dark Magician Girl” style cards there and a black-background card from his Extra Deck, “By combining my Level 6 “Dark Magician Girl” and “Apprentice Illusion Magician”, I Xyz Summon the Rank 6 “Norito, the Moral Leader”!”
“Still couldn’t find Magi, I see,” the psychic smirks, glad it’s not a fourth “Dark Magician Girl” kind of monster.
“You should consult Pegasus about it, not me.”
“Who’s that?” Reimu interrupts.
“Maximillion Pegasus, creator of the card game,” Sumireko answers.
“Which he based on the ancient game Diaha,” Atem continues, “Though most of these techniques weren’t around back then, like the Xyz Summon. This requires a certain number of monsters of the same Level to perform, with the cards used not going to the Graveyard, but attaching to the summoned monster as Xyz Materials or Overlay Units.”
“Isn’t there another way,” the psychic eyes the Pharaoh.
“Indeed there is,” Atem gets back to the Duel and forms another galaxy pattern below his Xyz monster, performing another Xyz Summon, “as I rebuild the Overlay Network using “Norito” as material. Some monsters can also be Xyz Summoned using one Xyz monster of some sort as material; an Xyz Evolution! I Xyz Evolve “Norito” into “Ebon Illusion Magician”! “Ebon Illusion Magician” can be Xyz Summoned by using a Rank 6 Spellcaster, and gains all the Xyz Materials that monster had in addition to itself. I’ll now activate its effect, which requires me to detach one of the Xyz Materials he has, and I detach “Dark Magician Girl” to my Graveyard. By detaching her, I can Special Summon a Spellcaster Normal monster from my hand or Deck. I Special Summon “Mystical Elf” to the field.”
Sumireko looks all confused about Atem’s combo, “Huh. Not too sure what using a weaker one like that will do.”
“Again, you’ll see her purpose soon enough. But now, I play “Monster Reborn”! Bring back “Kuribandit” [[Anime]]! I’ll then activate his effect, sacrificing him to reveal the top 5 cards in my Deck. Any Spell or Trap I reveal is added to my hand, while any monster revealed goes to the Graveyard.
“I reveal “Fiend’s Sanctuary”, “Electromagnetic Turtle”, “Dark Magical Circle”, “Chaos Form” and “Magician’s Robe”. “Electromagnetic Turtle” and “Magician’s Robe” are monsters, so they’re sent to my Graveyard. The others, however, are added to my hand.”
“Oh dear, this is gonna be a while,” the psychic laments.
“It won’t be much longer, Sumireko,” the Pharaoh assures her, “I activate the “Illusion of Chaos” in my hand, this time adding “Magician’s Rod” from my Deck to my hand and placing 1 card from my hand at the top of my Deck. Now, it’s time for the final type of summoning technique. I activate the Ritual Spell “Chaos Form”!”
“A Ritual Summon!?” the psychic yells as a magic circle of sorts forms in a Main Monster Zone.
““Chaos Form” lets me Ritual Summon a “Chaos” or “Black Luster Soldier” Ritual monster from my hand, so long as I sacrifice monsters from my hand and field—or in the case of “Chaos Form” banish a “Dark Magician” or “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from my Graveyard—whose Levels combine to match the monster I’m Ritual Summoning.”
“Most Ritual cards allow exceeding the level, but not this one.”
“I sacrifice the Level 3 “Magician’s Rod” in my hand and the Level 4 “Mystical Elf” on the field,” the two cards emit 3 and 4 flames respectively, which circle around the magic circle where Atem’s Ritual monster arrives, “Come forth, Level 7 “Illusion of Chaos”!
“But of course just because that’s all the main summoning techniques doesn’t mean there’s other Special Summons out there. “Fiend’s Sanctuary”! Allow me to introduce you to the Monster Token. Many card effects out there create a Monster Token, usually with no effects. However this “Metal Fiend Token” has a few lingering effects from the spell that Special Summoned it. It cannot attack, and my opponent takes any battle damage from a battle involving it. However, in my Standby Phase, I must pay 1000 Life Points or destroy it.”
“Furthermore”, Sumireko continues, “they can’t be sent somewhere for a cost and vanish when leaving the field. They also can’t be flipped or banished face-down, since they can only exist face-up.”
“With one notable exception, of course,” the Pharaoh takes four cards from a side deck of sorts with gray backgrounds. One is placed on the field; the “Metal Fiend Token”. The others show hats with question marks on them.
““Magical Hats”, of course,” Sumi nods, “And you still haven’t played your face-down, What could it possibly be, then? Can’t be anything too weird, right?”
“This is a newer addition to my Deck, largely to befit another recent addition” Atem finally flips it over, “the Trap Monster “Mimesis Elephant”! Trap Cards need to be set for a turn before they can be activated. This Continuous Trap Special Summons itself to the field as a Level 2 EARTH Beast Effect Monster with 0 Attack, but 2000 Defense points, and the exact effect I need to finish this Duel.”
“Wait, we’re ending the tutorial already,” Reimu looks surprised, “Sumireko hasn’t even taken a hit yet!”
“Almost,” the Pharaoh holds up a finger, “I now activate “Mimesis Elephant”’s effect in the Monster Zone, targeting your “Parametalfoes Azortless” and turning it into a DARK Fiend until the end of this turn.”
“Why would you do that,” Sumireko smirks at the apparent waste of effect, before suddenly getting bug-eyed, “Wait a minute, DARK Fiend!?”
“Finally, I sacrifice “Mimesis Elephant”, “Dark Magician”, “Metal Fiend Token”, “Ebon Illusion Magician”, and “Illusion of Chaos”.
Atem’s cards that were Tributes glowed and floated into a pentagon, forming a star circle as he continues a rather peculiar summon, “I alluded it to you in our battle, Reimu. And you should know well, Sumireko. My deck has no pathetic cards. But it does contain…” the Pharaoh emphatically reveals the last card in his hand.
♪ The Sealed Miracle
“the unstoppable Exodia! Come forth, “Exodia, the Legendary Defender”!”
As Atem brings out his trump card through the inner pentagon of the magic circle onto the field, Sumireko is visibly shaking, “I didn’t think you’d teach the last lesson like this…!”
“I can Tribute Summon it by sacrificing 5 monsters, and if it’s Tribute Summoned, its original Attack and Defense points become equal to the combined Attack and Defense respectively of the monsters Tributed. That gives “Exodia, the Legendary Defender” 7100 Attack points and 8700 Defense points. Plus, as a Level 10 Spellcaster, “Palladium Oracle Mana” protects it from being destroyed or targeted by card effects.”
Reimu does some quick math and looks at the psychic, “You’ll still have 1400 Life Points left, Sumi. What’s with all the trembling? Just draw one of your Scale 1s next turn, and you can at least Pendulum Summon “Azortless” again to get rid of “Mana”.”
“There won’t be a next turn,” the Pharaoh says, “Besides the opponent surrendering, there are three ways to win a Duel: Reduce your opponent’s Life Points to 0, make them try to draw a card from an empty Deck, or for a select few, by card effect. “Exodia, the Legendary Defender” has such an effect. Since I Tribute Summoned it with 5 Tributes, when it destroys a DARK Fiend my opponent owns in battle, I automatically win the Duel. And since “Parametalfoes Azortless” is a DARK Fiend this turn…”
“THAT QUALIFIES!? NO WAY!!”
“Yes way! Now, all I have to do to win this Duel is attack her “Parametalfoes Azortless” with “Exodia, the Legendary Defender”. Exodia,
“OBLITERATE!!!”
「魔神火焔砲」
(Exodo Blaze)
Sumireko promptly floats herself backwards and onto the floor like she was just shot with a Master Spark!
Atem draws, then activates “Bond Between Teacher and Student” since he controls “Dark Magician”. He Special Summons “Dark Magician Girl” (2000/1700) in Attack Position and Sets “Dark Magic Attack” from his Deck. He then activates “Dark Magic Attack”. In response, Sumireko activates her Set “Fullmetalfoes Fusion”. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Fullmetalfoes” resolves, fusing “Metalfoes Volflame” in Sumireko’s hand and “Metalfoes Adamante” on the field to Fusion Summon “Parametalfoes Azortless” (2500 → 2800/2000 → 2300) in Attack Position. “Dark Magic” resolves, destroying “Metamorformation” and “Metalfoes Vanisher”. “Azortless”’s ATK/DEF return to normal (2800 → 2500/2300 → 2000).
Sumireko activates “Azortless”’s effect, targeting “Dark Magician”. Since a Spellcaster he controls is targeted by a card or effect, Atem activates “Palladium Oracle Mana” in his GY. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Mana” Special Summons herself (2000/1700) in Attack Position. “Azortless” resolves, shuffling “Silverd” and “Goldriver” into Sumireko’s Deck. “Dark Magician” is not destroyed due to “Mana”’s effect.
Atem activates “Soul Servant” in his GY, banishing it to draw cards equal to the number of “Palladium” monsters, “Dark Magician”, and “Dark Magician Girl” on his field or GY. With “Dark Magician Girl”, “Palladium Oracle Mana”, and “Dark Magician” on the field and “Palladium Oracle Mahad” in the GY, Atem draws 4 cards. He then discards “Kuribandit” to Special Summon “Apprentice Illusion Magician” (2000/1700) from his hand.
Atem Overlays the Level 6 “Dark Magician Girl” and “Apprentice Illusion Magician” to Xyz Summon the Rank 6 “Norito, the Moral Leader” (2700/2000, ORU 2) to the Extra Monster Zone in Attack Position, then Overlays “Norito” to Xyz Summon “Ebon Illusion Magician” (2500/2100, ORU 3) to the Extra Monster Zone in Attack Position. He then activates “Ebon Illusion”’s effect, detaching “Dark Magician Girl” (ORU 3 → 2) to Special Summon the Spellcaster Normal monster “Mystical Elf” (800/2000) from his Deck in Defense Position.
Atem activates “Monster Reborn”, targeting and Special Summoning “Kuribandit” [[Anime]] (1000/700) from his GY in Attack Position. He then activates its effect, Tributing it to excavate “Fiend’s Sanctuary”, “Electromagnetic Turtle”, “Dark Magical Circle”, “Chaos Form” and “Magician’s Robe”. “Turtle” and “Robe” go to Atem’s GY, while “Sanctuary”, “Circle”, and “Chaos” are added to his hand.
Atem activates “Illusion of Chaos” in his hand, revealing it to add “Magician’s Rod” to his hand and send 1 card from his hand to the top of his Deck. He then activates “Chaos Form”, Tributing “Mystical Elf” on the field and “Magician’s Rod” in his hand to Ritual Summon “Illusion of Chaos” (2100/2500) in Attack Position. He also activates “Fiend’s Sanctuary” and Special Summons a “Metal Fiend Token” (✶1 DARK Fiend, 0/0) in Attack Position.
Atem then activates his Continuous Trap “Mimesis Elephant”, Special Summoning it as an Effect Monster (✶2 EARTH Beast, 0/2000) in Defense Position. He then activates its effect, declaring DARK Fiend and targeting “Azortless”. “Parametalfoes Azortless”’ Type and Attribute are changed (FIRE Psychic → DARK Fiend) until the end of the turn. Atem finally Tributes “Mimesis Elephant”, “Dark Magician”, “Metal Fiend Token”, “Ebon Illusion Magician”, “Illusion of Chaos” to Tribute Summon “Exodia, the Legendary Defender” (?/?) (for the Tribute Summon (but not Set) of “Exodia, the Legendary Defender”, Atem can Tribute 5 monsters). Due to its first effect, the ATK/DEF of “Exodia, the Legendary Defender” become equal to the combined original ATK/DEF of the Tributed monsters (?/? → 7100/8700).
“Exodia, the Legendary Defender” attacks and destroys “Parametalfoes Azortless” (Sumireko 8000 → 3400). Due to the second effect of “Exodia, the Legendary Defender”, since it was Tribute Summoned with 5 Tributes and destroyed a DARK Fiend monster owned by Atem's opponent in battle, Atem automatically wins.
WINNER (by “Exodia, the Legendary Defender”) – Atem
“Did you really have to do me so dirty like that,” Sumireko grumbles.
“You don’t want to see my other alternate win condition card,” the Pharaoh nods.
♪ Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2011: Over the Nexus ~ Card Shop
“And that should just about cover most the basics and a couple of major nuances” the Pharaoh gets up to help Sumireko up, “You’re not too hurt, are you?”
“Just figured it’d fit,” the psychic answers, quickly grasping his hand and pulling herself up, “Unfortunately we couldn't get to the aspect of negation and a couple other things, Reimers. Thankfully I have a few shorts to fill you in on those.”
Sumireko pulls out her smartphone and shows Reimu some of the videos she downloaded that showcased whatever was left over a few minutes, “You got all that, right, Reimu?”
“I definitely see the beauty in all the intricacies,” Reimu nods, “But there’s one thing in play mechanics can’t explain…
“Atem,” Reimu points her gohei at the Pharaoh again, “Your Deck’s auras seemed to flare up whenever you drew cards. Sumireko’s too, to a lesser extent. Why’s that?”
“Seriously, Reimu,” the psychic blurts out, “You can actually see the Heart of the Cards!?”
“She did call me a divine spirit,” Atem recalls, “and seemed to notice the spirits in the deck she borrowed from Rinnosuke.”
“Huh. I’ll have to look into them myself during our journey,” Reimu smiles as she pulls out the borrowed deck in her detached sleeve, looking at it from the bottom.
“Isn’t that right, everyone? Having an actual medium is going to help so much.”
Notes:
There was no way I was honestly going to show the various aspects of negation and other major advanced rulings in a single Duel. At least Sumireko knows to actually wake up before looking something up on her phone by now, at least.
And yes, "of Paradise" is the "archetype" in question here.
Chapter 4: (Kaiba Stage 2) Unfinished Duel of All Living Ghost
Summary:
Finally in a Hell, Kaiba seeks a way to its gates. Though he may get more than he bargained for...
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The second bus ride felt like a trip down memory lane, and not in a good way. “Cyber-Stein”, the “Magical Scientist” behind the wheel, the “Mystic Mine”, “The Forceful Sentry”, and “The Tyrant Neptune” to name a few were among the various things left in the darkness of the Forbidden Realms.
♪ Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories ~ Dark Shrine
“Things never have been the same since the bird was released,” the Tour Guide casually refers to the legendary “Yata-Garasu” that once was the sun of the Realms for years, “Really says something when that’s not even a worry anymore.”
“Lockdowns are for cowards,” Kaiba retorts, “A real Duelist goes after the threat, not the ability to play it.”
“This is about as close as she’ll let me get,” an old balding guy behind the wheel rattles on as he parks the “Tour Bus to Forbidden Realms”, pointing at the Tour Guide, “You’re on your own from here.”
“You’re bluffing,” Kaiba immediately reacts.
“Hey, nobody knows the Forbidden Realms like the “Magical Scientist” here,” the Tour Guide defends the driver, “And we gotta get Plushfire back to the Spirit World, so can you hurry up?”
Kaiba gives some side-eye before exiting the demonic bus, looking on as what looked like a plush torch hopped onto it.
The Forbidden Realms didn’t seem to have a day and was full of fiendish motifs. The vehicles seemed to be alive, with lots of security and surveillance in place. With all the demons and overly potent monster spirits around, Kaiba stuck out quite a bit as a human. Finding a map, let alone a way to Hell’s gates, proves a daunting task, and rightfully so given the realms’ purpose.
Before too long, however, he notices another person who doesn’t look like they belong that certainly wasn’t security or one of the contained. At least that was the assumption from so many fiends bowing to this Goth redhead with a crimson orb for a crown.
“What do you mean ‘nobody new’,” the strange lady yelled at an officer, “Your net residency was supposed to be minus 3, but the energy difference reads minus 2! So who’s the new addition!? Get those signature readers going already!”
As Kaiba approached this group of demons, another officer at a fiendish computer rattles off some names he recalled as Forbidden cards both OCG and TCG… until a hiccup in the list occurs.
“…Grinder Golem, Guardragons Agarpain & Elpy, Kaibaman, Kelbek, Knightma—”
“Hold up,” the boss glared at the reading officer, “who was that before Kelbek?”
“Kaibaman,” the reader repeats himself, “Your guess is as good as mine why.”
“I have an idea why.”
After Kaiba spoke up, all the fiends’ eyes, and the boss’s, fixate on him. After a second, it becomes apparent why the “Kaibaman” entry is present.
“So it’s reading this guy,” the first officer, a blue-skinned fiend, points at him, “an intruder!”
The rest of the officers glare at him, ready to beat the guy up.
“Stop,” the lady commands the fiends, who immediately heed her call, “Can’t you see who that is? None of you will hold your own against Seto Kaiba. Return to your posts, and leave him to me.”
Once all the fiends dispersed, Kaiba had only three words for this lady: “Who are you?”
She answers with an intensely arrogant smirk, “You are in the presence of Hecatia Lapislazuli, Goddess of Hell! The Supreme Being!”
“I’m afraid you’re wrong about that last one,” Kaiba retorts, “If that were true, you’d have blonde hair, lots of white and gold on, and stand about 200 meters tall. The area would also be surrounded in light.”
“That’s an Earthen being. It has no power over me, just like anyone else… At least you don’t seem bothered by my appearance. That’s a nice change of pace.”
“I’ve seen worse-looking people in positions of power before. I come in pursuit of the Pharaoh!”
“Duat is back on the other side of the gate to the Spirit World, though.”
“He was abducted, and I have reason to believe he’s held in a place known as Gensokyo.”
Hecatia shakes her head, “Sorry, Kaiba, but that realm is under my protection. Someone as tech-savvy as you may prove a danger to it.”
“If you think you’ll get between me and the Pharaoh,” Kaiba retorts, “you’ve got another thing coming. This is a simple rescue mission, as far as you’re concerned.”
♪ Pandemonic Planet
“Well, aren’t we cheeky? Guess I could play a little. I’m not the type to face a human, but… ‘You claim someone beyond me exists.’ For that alone, I banish you to the very center of Hell! That reason and no oth—”
As Hecatia prepares to send him away from the Forbidden Realms, Kaiba just stands there laughing his head off at her.
“What’s so funny,” she glares at Kaiba.
“Oh, listen,” Kaiba can hardly contain himself, “That ‘very center of Hell’ is exactly where I’m trying to go to! That way, I can traverse from that hub to the Hell I’m looking for to go after the Pharaoh.”
“In that case, I’ll have to—”
One of Hecatia’s floating orbs—the blue Earth one—vibrated, causing her to turn to it, “Huh? … Okay… Oh, so it is all clear, then?” the goddess laughs, “Nice to see those three actually agree on something.”
Her orb stops vibrating and she turns back to Kaiba, “Sorry about the posturing and delay. I’ve got a reputation to hold, after all.”
“That makes two of us,” the billionaire retorts.
“Four of us, actually, but I digress. Come with me if you want to reach the gates. You can fly, right?”
Kaiba whips out a “Night Flight” card from his Real Monsters deck, forming a hovering motorcycle he hops on to to follow Hecatia to the Forbidden Realms’ gate of Hell.
♪ Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost ~ Pre-Battle 2
On the other side, Kaiba found himself surrounded in barely-visible gates of all sorts and a lot of nothingness otherwise. The ground is bare and it’s about as dark as the Forbidden Realms.
“This is definitely the relay I was after,” he mutters, “Now to find the right gate…”
“O, human full of light.”
A human-fiend hybrid of sorts laid on the ground, seemingly looking calm and serene but also having lots of skull motifs and peasant-like clothes full of tassels.
“My name is Zanmu Nippaku,” she introduces herself, “What business have you in such an empty world?”
“I have a Pharaoh in Gensokyo to rescue…” Kaiba could feel something try in vain to tug and push at his heart. Looking back at Zanmu, he can see that she’s starting to sweat, “And what’s wrong with you, trying to go after me like that!?”
“Well, this is a first,” the ex-human oni sighs, “Never seen a heart lacking nothingness before.”
It took a bit for Kaiba to figure out what Zanmu meant, then smirks, “It’s personally reassembled by Seto Kaiba!”
“Ah, so that explains it. You’re the one whose mind got crushed into pieces live on television, right?” Zanmu recalls, “Seems making you turn back won’t be so easy as a result.”
“You imply that such is even possible,” Kaiba raises his left arm, lighting up his Duel Disk in challenge.
“It definitely is, human who willingly descended to Hell,” Zanmu forms a big spear out of a blue skull, wielding the skull on her wrist and pointing it, and a finger, at Kaiba, “Now make your choice: Gensokyo or Duat?
✊““IT’S TIME TO DUEL!””✌️
“I’ll go first,” Kaiba declares.
Duel
青き眼の王 海馬瀬人
Seto Kaiba, the King with Eyes of Blue
VS
Zanmu Nippaku, Nirvana King of Paradise
楽園の涅槃王 日白残無
Turn 1: Seto Kaiba
Kaiba: 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 35 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
Zanmu: 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 55 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
♪ Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Duel Transer ~ vs Surtr/Odin
“I’ll start this Duel off with “Fusion Armament”,” Kaiba begins, “By revealing “Dragon Master Magia” in my Extra Deck, I can Special Summon one of its materials from my Extra Deck or Graveyard, but it can’t attack and its effects are negated until the end of your next turn. But since this is the first turn, it couldn’t attack anyway, and there’s no effects to negate on “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon”!”
With a single card, Kaiba brings out a behemoth three-headed monster roaring over Zanmu, who doesn’t even flinch, “A beatstick is no good to start off a Duel with.”
“But I’m far from finished. Next, I activate “Dragon Shrine”. This card lets me send 1 Dragon from my Deck to my Graveyard, and if that monster is a Normal Monster, I can send a second Dragon. I’ll send one of my “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”s and “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon” to the Graveyard. And after that I activate the effect of the “Dictator of D.” in my hand! By sending a second “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from my Deck to my Graveyard, I can Special Summon this monster. Take the helm, Dictator of Dragons!”
“So you’re going to leave such a wide open monster for me to beat over?”
“Far from. But now I’ll activate “Dictator of D.”’s effect on the field! By discarding “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” from my hand, I can Special Summon a “Blue-Eyes” monster from my Graveyard. But I won’t target “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” with this. I instead bring forth “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon”!
“And there’s good reason for this, too. If “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon” is Special Summoned, I can activate its effect, adding a Ritual Spell or “Polymerization” from my Deck to my hand. And I choose “Chaos Form”!
“I Set a card face-down and enter my End Phase. In my End Phase, “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon”’s second effect activates, letting me add a Level 8 or higher Dragon monster from my Deck to my hand, and I choose “Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon”! It’s your move.”
Kaiba activates “Fusion Armament”, revealing “Dragon Master Magia” in his Extra Deck to Special Summon “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon” (4500/3800) from his Extra Deck to the right Extra Monster Zone in Attack Position, however its effects are negated and it cannot attack this turn. He then activates “Dragon Shrine”, sending “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” and “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon” to his GY.
Kaiba activates “Dictator of D.”’s effect in his hand, sending a second “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from his Deck to his GY to Special Summon it (1200/1100) in Defense Position. Since he also controls a “Blue-Eyes” monster, he chooses the attack targets of Zanmu’s monsters. Kaiba then activates “Dictator of D.”’s effect on the field, discarding “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” from his hand to target and Special Summon “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon” (2500/2500) from his GY in Defense Position.
Since it was Special Summoned, Kaiba activates “Abyss Dragon”’s first effect, adding “Chaos Form” from his Deck to his hand. He Sets 1 card, then activates “Abyss Dragon”’s second effect in the End Phase, adding “Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon” from his Deck to his hand.
Turn 2: Zanmu Nippaku
Kaiba: 8000 | Hand: 2 | Deck: 29 | EX: 14 (0) | Grave: 6 | Banish: 0 (0)
“Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon” (4500/3800); “Dictator of D.” (1200/1100), “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon” (2500/2500); 1 Set card {“Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon”}
(“Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon” cannot attack and its effects are negated until the end of this turn.)
Zanmu: 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 55 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
“Can’t say I expected much less, or much more. I draw… Aggression is the spice of Hell! “Void Reignition”,” Several blue flames surround Zanmu, assembling an image that looked like a long winged serpent of some sort, “By revealing “Infernoid Devyaty” in my hand, I can discard my whole hand and draw a new one. That means I draw 5 new cards.
The ex-human oni flings her cards as they dissipate and seem to burn up, drawing a new hand, “And one of the cards I discarded was “Fiendish Rhino Warrior”, which means I can activate its effect to send “Infernoid Pirmais” from my Deck to my Graveyard.”
“You’re being awfully flashy like that,” Kaiba quips, “Isn’t Hell about punishment and torture?”
“Hell is a prison, where sinners must be purged of their wrongdoings before they can reincarnate. But many of its punishers, like myself, are oni, making some real party animals able to quell vengeful spirits. Before I get off-topic, though,
“I activate the effect of the “Zalamander Catalyzer” in my hand,” the flames around Zanmu turn into more proper yellow-red ones, showing images of a pumpkin-headed guy and “Devyaty”’s head, “Once per turn, by revealing it and “Infernoid Decatron”, I can Special Summon one and discard the other. I’ll Special Summon “Decatron” to the field, discarding “Zalamander”.”
The flames disperse, leaving only the monster head and Zanmu herself behind.
“Not even using your Normal Summon,” Kaiba glares at the ex-human oni, “I can tell you’re up to something.”
“Of course I am. Most oni are strength of body, whereas being once human, I’m one of mind. I activate “Decatron”’s effect! If it’s Normal or Special Summoned, I can send an “Infernoid” from my Deck to my Graveyard to raise its Level by that monster, as well as gain its name and effects.
The several vacuum tubes on “Decatron” light up as Zanmu makes her choice, eventually turning the multicolored top one black, “I’ll go with “Infernoid Harmadik”, making “Decatron” Level 4 and letting me activate “Harmadik”’s effect from it! Once per turn, I can target and destroy a monster on the field. Say goodbye to your “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon”, Kaiba!”
A circle of blue flames surrounds Kaiba’s three-headed monster, yet the billionaire himself only smirks, “I will be saying goodbye to it, Zanmu, but on my terms. I activate my face-down card, “Ultimate Fusion”!”
“That of all things was your face-down,” Zanmu looks intrigued, “But won’t this make “Chaos Form” a brick in your hand?”
“I searched that card in order to make it feel like I wouldn’t go for this tactic! Now, “Ultimate Fusion” lets me fuse monsters from my field, hand, and Graveyard by returning them to my Deck. I’ll fuse the “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon” on the field with the “Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon” in my hand! Kings past and present unite their powers, reaching heights neither technology nor magic could reach on their own! I Fusion Summon! The ultimate dracomage, “Dragon Master Magia”!
As the flames die out, Kaiba’s dragon reappears in the other Extra Monster Zone, with a “Magician of Black Chaos” on top of it, “Seems my dragon got away, and now I get to destroy cards on the field equal to the number of “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” and “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon” that were fused from the field. Your “Decatron” is deca-gone, Zanmu.”
“You think I wasn’t prepared for that,” the ex-human oni remarks, “I banish “Void Seer” in my Graveyard to prevent “Decatron” from being destroyed.
“Next up is one of Makai’s finest. From Forbidden Realms to spirit worlds to Gensokyo and beyond, it’s the “Tour Guide From the Underworld”!”
A familiar face for Kaiba appears, which doesn’t seem to phase him.
“Wait, what am I doing here,” the Tour Guide turns around and sees Zanmu, “Can’t say I expected you of all fiends to call.”
“What can I say,” the ex-human oni replies, “You and Rhino Warrior gel really well for Infernoids. But I already used his effect this turn, so I’ll fire you up for someone else.”
“No problem here!”
“Big problem here,” Kaiba interrupts, “I activate “Dragon Master Magia”’s effect! My monster negates the activation of any card or effect and destroys it! Shame to have to use it on you, after helping me out earlier.
The “Magician of Black Chaos” on top of the dragon fires a scepter blast that blows the Tour Guide away, “There is one catch. “Dragon Master Magia” can only negate one monster effect, one Spell, and one Trap per turn.”
Zanmu simply smiles, “Thanks for wasting the monster negate, then. I activate “Fire Recovery”!”
““Magia” negates the activation easily!”
“Just like I wanted. I now banish “Harmadik”, “Sjette”, and “Devyaty” from my Graveyard to Special Summon “Infernoid Onuncu” from my hand! And when it’s summoned, I can activate its effect to destroy all other monsters on the field!
A twister of flames spews across the battlefield, incinerating everything but “Onuncu” as there’s no Spells or Traps on the field. But when the smoke settles… “Impossible! Your “Magia” survived!?”
“It did not,” Kaiba retorts, “When “Dragon Master Magia” leaves the field by your card, I can Special Summon a “Blue-Eyes” monster, or “Chaos” or “Black Luster Soldier” Ritual monster, from my Extra Deck or Graveyard. And I brought forth “Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon”.”
“And that’s why I activated “Fire Recovery” even though it’d be negated and destroyed. Because now I can activate its Graveyard effect! This lets me return “Harmadik”, “Sjette”, and “Devyaty” to my Deck and draw 1 card…
♪
Zanmu goes eerily quiet. She either wins or loses the Duel on this draw, or so she thinks. She starts speaking awkwardly, “Yivzprmt gsilfts gsv Hzxivw Yziirvi rh uliyrwwvm. Gsv hxlfitv szh yvvm fmovzhsvw.
“I DRAW!”
♪ The Deviants' Unobstructed Light ~ Kingdom of Nothingness
“Suffer in nothingness,” she says as she hoists her spell high and declares it:
Flood Sign “Void Imagination”
洪符「煉獄の虚夢」
Various cracks of light seem to appear well above everyone, “As long as this Spell Card, or Spell Card as Gensokyo calls it, is on the field, all my “Infernoid”s whose original Level is 2 or higher are Level 1. That brings “Onuncu”’s Level to 1, letting me Special Summon more “Infernoid”s. I’ll banish “Decatron” and “Pirmais” to Special Summon “Infernoid Attondel”! But that’s not why I need this card at the moment. I’ll instead activate its effect! By sending it to the Graveyard, I can Fusion Summon an “Infernoid” monster! And since you have a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck and I don’t, I can also use up to six monsters in my Deck!
Multiple fiery beings emerge and rise towards the cracks, “Onuncu, Devyaty, Attondel, Seitsemus, Sjette, Piaty, Patrulea, Harmadik! Merge yourselves to access the source! I Fusion Summon!
These cracks spread open, revealing what looks like “Devyaty” but way different, “The dormant goddess, “Infernoid Tierra”!”
“And now you’re back to too many Levels,” Kaiba is nonplussed.
“For now. But now, “Tierra”’s effect activates! When she’s Fusion Summoned, I can activate a number of effects in order based on her number of materials. First, just for Fusion Summoning her properly, we both must send 3 cards from our Extra Decks to our Graveyards. Then the top 3 cards of our Decks since I used 5 or more materials. After that since I used 8 materials, we can return up to 3 of our banished cards there.”
“Tierra” unleashes searing energy that incinerates cards from all four Decks in play, burning up cards all over the place.
“One of the monsters I sent from my Extra Deck to my Graveyard was “Infernoid Evil”,” Zanmu continues, “So I activate its effect as well! This lets me add another “Void Imagination” from my Deck to my hand, which I’ll then activate to drop “Tierra”’s Level to 1. God is angry on your doing and want to bring fire flood!
Another bevvy of blue flames spews all over the place, with multiple “Infernoid”s appearing; “Devyaty”, “Onuncu”, “Piaty”, and “Attondel”, “Now, I Overlay “Attondel” and “Onuncu”!
Two of the “Infernoid”s turn into orange and rainbow orbs of light respectively, careening towards a galaxy visual that looks like space that explodes, “From the void where all realms meet, I build the Overlay Network!
“The First Sin against a fellow man showcases the rebellious side of mankind! I Xyz Summon! The betrayer’s fiend, “Number 13: Embodiment of Crime”!”
A bright red “13” flashes from the Overlay Network, appearing on the left shoulder of a black-and-yellow horned fiend surrounded in chains, holding some sort of circular blade.
“So, you gave up all those stats for something so weak,” Kaiba remarks, “I get that you can’t compare to my “Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon”, but still.”
“I’m not finished, for what is this fiend without his brother? Now I Overlay “Piaty” and “Tierra”!
“The victim of that First Sin still haunts mankind to this day, spurning their sense of justice. I Xyz Summon! The betrayed one’s fiend, “Number 31: Embodiment of Punishment”!”
“Just what are you up to!?”
“With “Crime” and “Punishment” together with “Devyaty”, I have just what I need to handle such a behemoth. I end my turn.”
“In your End Phase, I activate the effect of “The White Stone of Ancients” your “Tierra” sent to the Graveyard! This lets me—”
“Do nothing. I activate “Devyaty”’s effect! By Tributing a monster, such as itself in this case, I can negate the activation of a monster effect and banish that card! You won’t even get to use its other Graveyard effect.”
“Why you…
Zanmu draws, then activates “Void Reignition”, revealing “Infernoid Devyaty” to discard her hand (“Infernoid Sjette”, “Devyaty”, “Fiendish Rhino Warrior”, “Infernoid Attondel”, “Void Seer”) and draw the same number of cards she discarded (she discarded 5 cards, so she draws 5 cards). Since “Fiendish Rhino Warrior” was sent to the GY, Zanmu activates its effect, sending “Infernoid Pirmais” from her Deck to her GY. She then activates “Zalamander Catalyzer” in her hand, revealing it and “Infernoid Decatron” to Special Summon “Decatron” (500/200) in Defense Position and discard “Zalamander”. Since it was Normal or Special Summoned, Zanmu activates “Decatron”’s effect, sending “Infernoid Harmadik” from her Deck to her GY to raise its Level by the sent monster’s (✶1 → ✶4) and gain its name and effects.
Zanmu then activates the “Harmadik” effect of “Decatron”, targeting “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon”. In response, Kaiba activates his Set “Ultimate Fusion”. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Ultimate Fusion” resolves, and Kaiba returns “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon” on the field to the Extra Deck and shuffles “Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon” in his hand into the Deck to Fusion Summon “Dragon Master Magia” (5000/4000) from his Extra Deck to his left Extra Monster Zone in Attack Position, then Kaiba destroys “Decatron”, but Zanmu banishes “Void Seer” from her GY to prevent the destruction. “Decatron” resolves without effect.
Zanmu Normal Summons “Tour Guide From the Underworld” (1000/600) and activates its effect. In response, Kaiba activates “Dragon Master Magia”’s effect, negating “Tour Guide”’s activation and destroying it. Zanmu then activates “Fire Recovery”, but “Dragon Magia Master” negates its activation and destroys it.
Zanmu then banishes “Infernoid Harmadik”, “Infernoid Sjette” and “Infernoid Devyaty” to Special Summon “Infernoid Onuncu” (3000/3000) from her hand in Attack Position. She then activates its effect. “Magia” already negated a monster effect this turn, to it cannot negate “Onuncu” and all monsters on the field except “Onuncu” are destroyed. Since it left the field by an opponent’s card, Kaiba activates “Magia”’s second effect, Special Summoning “Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon” (4500/3800) to his left Extra Monster Zone in Attack Position.
Zanmu activates “Fire Recovery” in her GY, targeting and returning her banished “Harmadik”, “Sjette”, and “Devyaty” to her Deck and drawing 1 card. She then activates “Void Imagination”. While “Imagination” is face-up on the field, all “Infernoid” monsters whose original Level is 2 or higher are Level 1 (“Onuncu” ✶10 → ✶1). She then banishes “Decatron” and “Pirmais” from her GY to Special Summon “Infernoid Attondel” (✶8 → ✶1, 2800/0) from her GY in Attack Position. Zanmu also activates “Imagination”’s effect, sending it to the GY (“Onuncu” ✶1 → ✶10, “Attondel” ✶1 → ✶8) to fuse “Onuncu” and “Attondel” on the field with the “Inferniod”s “Devyaty”, “Seitsemas”, “Sjette”, “Piaty”, “Patrulea”, and “Harmadik” in her Deck to Fusion Summon “Infernoid Tierra” (3400/3600) in Defense Position.
Since it was Fusion Summoned, Zanmu activates “Tierra”’s effects. Since it was Fusion Summoned with 3+ materials, both players send 3 cards from their Extra Deck to the GY. (Zanmu sends “Infernoid Evil”, “Infernoid Flood”, and “Hiita the Fire Charmer, Ablaze”; Kaiba sends “Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon”, “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon”, and “Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon”). Since it was Fusion Summoned with 5+ materials, both players then send the top 3 cards of their Deck to the GY (Zanmu sends “Infernoid Antra”, “Skill Prisoner”, and another “Infernoid Piaty”; Kaiba sends “Priestess with Eyes of Blue”, “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon”, and “The White Stone of Ancients”). Since it was Fusion Summoned with 8 materials, both players can return up to 3 of their banished cards to the GY (Zanmu returns “Infernoid Decatron”, “Infernoid Pirmais”, and “Void Seer”; Kaiba has no banished cards).
Since “Infernoid Evil” was sent to the GY, Zanmu activates its effect, adding a second “Void Imagination” from her Deck to her hand. She then activates “Void Imagination” (“Tierra” ✶11 → ✶1). She then banishes “Decatron”, “Pirmais”, and “Antra” from her GY to Special Summon “Infernoid Devyaty” (✶9 → ✶1, 2900/2900) from her GY; followed by “Flood”, “Evil”, and “Harmadik” to Special Summon “Onuncu” (✶10 → ✶1, 3000/3000); “Seitsemus” and “Patrulea” to Special Summon “Piaty” (✶5 → ✶1, 2200/0); and “Sjette” and a second “Piaty” to Special Summon “Attondel” (✶8 → ✶1, 2800/0).
Zanmu then Overlays the Level 1 “Attondel” and “Onuncu” to Xyz Summon the Rank 1 “Number 13: Embodiment of Crime” (500/500, ORU 2) in Attack Position. She then Overlays the Level 1 “Tierra” and “Piaty” to Xyz Summon the Rank 1 “Number 31: Embodiment of Punishment” (500/500, ORU 2) in Attack Position.
At the End Phase, since it was sent to the GY this turn, Kaiba activates “The White Stone of Ancients”. In response, Zanmu activates “Devyaty”’s effect, Tributing itself to negate the activation of “Ancients” and banish it.
Turn 3: Seto Kaiba
Kaiba: 8000 | Hand: 1 | Deck: 28 | EX: 10 (0) | Grave: 14 | Banish: 1 (0)
“Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon” (4500/3800)
Zanmu: 8000 | Hand: 0 | Deck: 39 | EX: 9 (0) | Grave: 9 | Banish: 11 (0)
<no EMZ use>; “Number 13: Embodiment of Crime” (500/500, ORU 2), “Number 31: Embodiment of Punishment” (500/500, ORU 2); “Void Imagination”
“Just when I think I have her in the corner, she pulls the exact card she needed to get back in this…” Kaiba mutters to himself.
“Hey, your Ability surpassed my control of nothingness,” Zanmu retorts, “That’s nothing to sneeze at.”
“Besides this Duel Disk, the closest thing I have to an Ability is drawing good cards! Now let me show you it in action!
“I DRAW!”
♪ The Fang of Critias
Kaiba can’t help but smile when he draws his card, “Looks like your goddess betrayed you this time, Zanmu. As with what she sent to my Graveyard, I can end this Duel. I switch my “Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon” to Defense Mode.”
“I don’t think so,” Zanmu glares, “I activate “Number 13”’s effect. By detaching an Overlay Unit, it puts all your monsters into Attack Mode and forces them to attack it if able!”
“My “Alternative Ultimate Dragon” also has an effect I can activate,” Kaiba retorts as his dragon is forced into Attack Mode, “Once per turn, I can target and destroy 1 card on your field, but if I Fusion Summoned my monster with a “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” as material, I’d be able to choose up to three.”
“Neither 13 nor 31 can be destroyed by battle or card effect when they’re together.”
“Destroy her “Void Imagination”! Burnout!”
“Then I activate the effect of the “Skill Prisoner” in my Graveyard! By banishing it, I can target “Void Imagination”, and for the rest of the turn, any other effect that targeted it at activation has that effect negated.”
“Too bad it doesn’t negate the activation. Since my monster activated its effect this turn, it can’t attack.
“And this is where your chief “Infernoid” betrays you. I activate the “Priestess with Eyes of Blue” it sent to my Graveyard! By targeting my dragon, I can return it to my Extra Deck to Special Summon her to the field. Return from the flames, “Priestess with Eyes of Blue”!”
“A 0/0 monster whose effect you’ve already used? Not exactly a threat.”
“Well… One thing is clear…
Light & Darkness “Chaos Form”
光闇「カオス・フォーム」
“The world that holds the Pharaoh’s soul hostage won’t open unless I force it!” Kaiba hoists his own Spell Card up high, forming a gate behind him where one of his “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”s parts into, making a much bluer dragon in its place, “I Ritual Summon! Come forth, “Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon”!”
Zanmu can’t help but smile, “Look at you go! Emphasis and flash like that will get you far in Gensokyo.”
“I’m not done yet. I also activate the “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon” that has been in my Graveyard. By banishing it, I give my Level 8 or higher Dragons an additional 1000 Attack points!”
“Then I Chain “Number 31”’s effect, detaching an Overlay Unit. Both your “Priestess” and “Chaos MAX” must attack it.”
“And they will,” Kaiba smirks as he enters the Battle Phase, ““Priestess with Eyes of Blue”, offer yourself and attack “Number 31: Embodiment of Punishment”.”
““Number 31”, counterattack,” Zanmu calls, and “Number 31”’s mace starts spinning around and wails at the priestess, destroying her and damaging Kaiba a little, “Some attack that was, and now I get to activate “Zalamander Catalyzer” in my Graveyard to bring it back to my hand.”
“It did what it was supposed to do; destroy a card on the field!
Engines rumble in the distance with a whitish blip closing in fast, “Since a card was destroyed, I can activate this monster’s effect in my Graveyard and Special Summon it. Clear for takeoff, “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon”!”
A very familiar-looking jet plane arrives at the scene, quickly entering hovering as it points right at “Number 13”.
“And I already used both of my “Embodiment”s’ effects this turn…”
“Now, “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon”, attack “Number 13: Embodiment of Crime”!” Kaiba calls as his carded plane rapidly careens towards Zanmu’s monster, “At the start of the Damage Step, I’ll activate my “Jet Dragon”’s effect, letting me target “Number 13” and return it to your Extra Deck. And with him gone, “Number 31” won’t be reflecting any damage!
Zanmu staggers a bit, but quickly composes herself.
““Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon”, attack “Number 31: Embodiment of Punishment!” Maximum Chaos Blast!”
Zanmu is sent reeling as her monster is destroyed, but manages to stay in place. Kaiba, on the other hand, looks dejected, “Unfortunately, that ends my turn.”
Kaiba draws, then changes his “Alternative Ultimate Dragon” to Defense Position. In response, Zanmu activates “Number 13”’s effect, detaching “Onuncu” (ORU 2 → 1) and putting all of Kaiba’s monsters into Attack Position and forcing them to attack it, if able. Kaiba then activates “Alternative Ultimate Dragon”’s effect, targeting “Void Imagination”. In response, Zanmu activates “Skill Prisoner” from her GY, banishing it and targeting “Void Imagination”.
The Chain resolves in reverse. “Prisoner” resolves, causing any other effect this turn that targeted “Void Imagination” at activation to get negated. “Alternative Ultimate Dragon” resolves, but its effect is negated, also it’s unable to attack this turn.
Kaiba activates the “Priestess with Eyes of Blue” in his GY, targeting and returning “Alternative Ultimate Dragon” to his Extra Deck to Special Summon it (0/0) in Attack Position. He then activates “Chaos Form”, banishing a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from his Graveyard to Ritual Summon “Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon” (4000/0) in Attack Position. He then activates “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon” in his GY, banishing it. In response, Zanmu activates “Number 31”’s effect, detaching “Piaty” (ORU 2 → 1).
The Chain resolves in reverse. “Number 31” resolves, putting all of Kaiba’s monsters into Attack Position and forcing them to attack it, if able. “Abyss Dragon” resolves, increasing the ATK of Kaiba’s Level 8 or higher monsters by 1000 (“Chaos MAX” 4000 → 5000/0).
“Priestess” attacks “Number 31” as forced. “Priestess” is destroyed (Kaiba 8000 → 7500). Since a monster was destroyed by battle involving her Fiend monster, Zanmu activates the “Zalamander Catalyzer” in her GY. Since a card on the field was destroyed, Kaiba Chains the “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” in his GY.
The Chain resolves in reverse. “Jet Dragon” resolves, Special Summoning it (3000/0) in Attack Position. “Zalamander” resolves, adding it to Zanmu’s hand. “Jet Dragon” attacks “Number 13”. At the start of the Damage Step, Kaiba activates “Jet Dragon”’s effect, targeting and returning “Number 13” to the Extra Deck. “Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon” attacks “Number 31” as forced and destroys it (Zanmu 8000 → 3500).
“Why can’t you punish me like that, Zanmu-sama~?”
♪ The Path to Yomi Where None Turn Back
A very kinky-sounding voice echoed in the emptiness, which doesn’t even seem to phase Zanmu, “Early as always, I see,”
“I actually cut my quota short today,” the lady said like it was nothing out of the ordinary.
“Before we get further, I should introduce you two. Hisami, that’s Seto Kaiba; Duel Monsters pioneer and one of the Earth’s big dogs. Kaiba, this is Hisami Yomotsu, my rather eccentric assistant that brings people to Hell.”
“Seems like he’s already fallen into Hell, Zanmu-sama. Must’ve been quite a drop.”
“Hisami, no.”
“It has been quite a journey from Duat to Gensokyo,” Kaiba notes, “the Spirit World, Makai, the Forbidden Realms, and now the central Hell.”
“Funny you mention Gensokyo,” Hisami practically flirts, “I was just about to tell Her Greatness here something.”
“Who’d you lure into Hell this time,” the ex-human oni glances at her assistant.
“This isn’t about that,” Hisami shakes her head before whispering something inaudible into Zanmu’s ear.
“SERIOUSLY!?” Zanmu practically freaks out, “I leave them to their devices for five minutes and that happens!?”
“What’s wrong,” Kaiba looks in concern.
“I have to head to Gensokyo, supposedly where this Pharaoh you seek is.”
“I’ll call the Duel off if you take me there. I never have liked a win by forfeit.”
“Deal. Hisami, get back to work. Kaiba, come with me.
Kaiba gets out his “Night Flight” bike again, only to get a smirk from a now floating Zanmu, “Hey, flying is natural in this neck of the dimensional woods. You’re heading to a land of fantasy, after all.”
Notes:
Zanmu throwing for Gensokyo's sake, what else is new? Her speaking Atbash and freaking out, I guess. But the latter's reason will be apparent soon enough. Danmaku chapters are so much easier to write than Duel ones, good lord.
And yes, Zanmu's Duel Disk is based on Odin's in Duel Transer. She also had Kaiba beat with "Void Breach" and "Underworld Goddess of the Closed World". Thanks recent "Infernoid" support! At least he didn't have to fight Hecatia Lapislazuli's 5-card Deck.
Chapter 5: (Atem Stage 3) Convulsion of Paradise
Summary:
Thanks to Reimu, the Pharaoh ponders just why he was brought to Gensokyo, and a potential reason shows itself.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Reimu stares aimlessly out the window of Rinnosuke’s room, gazing out to the sky. Atem looks at her in concern, “You alright, Reimu?”
“She’s fine,” Sumireko answers, “Her mind has a tendency to drift like this. Seems to correspond with her ability to float.”
“Atem,” Reimu asks the Pharaoh, holding the Spirits deck in her hand, “Since you got spirited away, have you ever wondered why you’re here?”
“Because one of your sages abducted me,” he answers.
“No, I meant why she would do that. She must want you here for a reason. You’re much too powerful for her to have sent you on a whim. And doesn’t this Deck’s presence feel the least bit suspicious? Certainly they’re far from forgotten.”
“Especially not with “Yata-Garasu” and the more recent Spirit monsters.”
“Exactly. Which means Yukari brought them here. In other words, it’s not bizzare weather that made the statue’s eyes red.”
Both Sumireko and Atem yell out in unison, “But that means…”
“This is the sky of an impending Incident!” Reimu pronounces, “The Higan trip is on hold, Atem. I have to do my job.”
Without even hearing what the other two have to say, Reimu heads down the stairs and out of Kourindou.
“Would it be safe outside in such an ‘Incident’,” Atem asks the psychic.
“Depends on the Incident. Could be anything from someone poisoning the water to a genuine apocalypse.”
Something seemed to click in the Pharaoh’s head. “Could this be the reason I was brought here,” he thinks to himself. He looks out the window himself and sees loads of animal spirits storming across the sky from one direction. Feeling a harsh nostalgia, the Pharaoh quickly turns around to Sumireko… only to realize that she’s asleep again, Deck in hand.
“Reimu is going to need all the help she can get,” he says as he heads downstairs and out of Kourindou.
♪ The Lamentations Known Only By Jizo
The outside was hectic, with many people fending off spirits like their lives depended on it and hucking all sorts of danmaku the spirits’ way. The spirits themselves naturally fight back, seemingly with a renewed vigor… and ability to speak.
“At last, Gensokyo is ours,” an otter spirit cries out, like they had already won a war of conquest.
“United, we shall overwhelm these—hey,” a wolf spirit howls, “target spotted on my one!”
“That’s a man, you imbecile,” an eagle spirit above caws at the wolf spirit as the trio fly by the Pharaoh, “they don’t do exterminations alone.”
Atem takes a breath as he calms himself and floats against the stream of spirits, a stone tablet of “Dark Magician Girl” rising behind him and projecting its ka.
“Pharaoh,” the girl sounds elated, “Oh, I’m so glad you called!”
“How so,” the Pharaoh quickly realizes her worries, “Couldn’t you get that I was still around from your teacher, Mana?”
“I did, but that’s not what I was glad to see you for. It’s about Kaiba…
Before Mana could get her reason out, several small fairies and animal spirits start shooting all sorts of bullet patterns at the duo, “Guess I’ll have to explain later.”
With the magician in front of the Pharaoh, she shoots two balls of light forwards-ish, repeating her “Dark Burning Attack” way faster than she thought she could. The balls then split into two more in a fork, and finally into two more again for a total of eight. Most fairies it by one pop right away. A few of the larger ones prove more resilient, but all of them seem to leave some sort of red or blue essence behind that he can pick up.
“Any clue how I’m able to attack so much,” she casually asks Atem.
“Presumably part of this world’s game,” he responds, not too sure of the answer himself.
While the splitting balls of magic did result in having a very wide range of attack, the formation was full of blind spots. Whenever he’d focus to slow down, Mana’s shot pattern went from 2 to 3, but it’d only fire one orb at first making a total of nine. While way less spread-out, it’s not a free dodge to whoever’s in the way.
Before long, the Pharaoh had collected enough essence that it seemed to duplicate the attack, causing Mana to fire two or four balls at once when focused or unfocused, respectively. Unfortunately for him it was around this time another otter, wolf, and eagle trio of animal spirits unload a coordinated intricate danmaku pattern against him. Having to make some stronger evasive maneuvers than before, one of the bullets phases right through Mana and nails his arm right as he makes a panic spell:
Multiply “Detonating Kuriboh”
増殖「機雷化するクリボー」
A bevy of hairball fiends, or “Kuriboh”, fly from Atem all helter-skelter, blowing up with any danmaku they hit and a couple managing to bean an animal spirit apiece. This seems to get this trio of animal spirits frightened.
“He’s actually using danmaku,” the wolf spirit states the obvious.
“Gensokyo’s got backup,” the eagle spirit cries out.
“We must warn the matriarchs,” the otter spirit yells as the three retreat posthaste.
“What’s eating them,” the Pharaoh says to himself as he continues his upstream flight. Several other sets of stuff later, a clearing in all the combat appears, giving him time to recollect his thoughts, “So apparently these spirits serve several people, and they’re trying to take Gensokyo by force.”
“Do you think this and Kaiba’s chase might be related,” Mana inquires, “it doesn’t sound very likely, but so has plenty of other stuff we’ve been through.”
“You two aren’t from around here either, are you?”
A lazy-sounding voice up ahead called out to the duo. Its source revealed herself as a horned girl with a big pink tail as long as she is, a loose green shirt reading “Welcome to Hell,” torn shorts, very unkempt hair, and some will-o-wisps around her.
“Something about reinforcements, I think some of the spirits said,” Chiyari Tenkajin continues on, somewhat curious about the Pharaoh’s look.
Another girl also comes forth; a 3-tailed wolf girl in purple and pink with two huge bear traps on her wrists that mimic her hands’ state.
“They’re foreigners, no doubt about it,” Enoko Mitsugashira points at Atem, “Even the Yorigami would envy that much gold.”
The Pharaoh couldn’t help but smile a bit at someone recognizing his style, around the time a third girl came along; a monkey girl with an overly long test tube she seems to use as a staff.
“You think this might be him,” Son Biten remarks, “that ‘pharaoh’ someone distracted Zanmu-sama over?”
The three girls’ conversation is interrupted when Atem puts the pieces together, “Wait a minute…”
“That distractor wasn’t named Seto Kaiba, were they,” Mana asks the girls, who nod.
“Oh, no! But at the same time ‘Oh, yes’ would also fit…”
“Is him coming a bad thing, Pharaoh?”
“I’m not the one to explain it.”
“Sounds like a real problem stemming from Hell,” Chiyari remarks.
“We could help a bit,” Biten sits on her test tube, holding it by her tail, “but Hell tradition states you have to take us down first.”
“But how would that work,” Enoko muses, “It’s three on two, or maybe even three on one.”
“So just make it a 3-card bout,” the Pharaoh answers, “one for each of you, but I must go through all three of you before I lose 3 cards to win.”
“You want to take them all on yourself!?” the magician girl hollers in shock.
“You have no Spell Card Battle experience, Mana” Atem assures his monster, “It might be best to watch and learn first.”
“A danmaku gauntlet it is, then,” Chiyari stretches out, “I’ll take point so I can relax longer.”
“And I’ll take the rear to figure out how to trap him before my turn,” Enoko threateningly closes her fists and bear traps.
“Monkey in the middle again,” Biten laments, “Guess I am the only one suited for the spot.”
Chiyari floats forwards while the other girls, including Mana, fall back, leaving ample space for combat. “Round 1, Chiyari Tenkajin vs. Pharaoh…”
“Atem,” he answers.
“Thanks.
““LET’S FIRE!””
3-Spell Gauntlet Battle
Round 1/3
Atem has 3 Spells. Chiyari, Biten, and Enoko each have 1 Spell, and Atem must defeat all three before running out of Spells to win.
古代遊戯王 アテム
Atem, Ancient King of Games
VS
Chiyari Tenkajin, Tainted Monster of Paradise
楽園の穢れた怪物 天火人ちやり
♪ Vampiric Cryptid Chupacabra
Chiyari quickly opens with triplet lines of bullets, central lines aimed at Atem, as she hoists a flame above her hand. The Pharaoh is flinging groups of 3 light swords as he bobs and weaves about. The blades seemingly impale thin air as they reach their destinations, leaving a slowly fading aerial obstacle course for Chiyari to traverse.
It takes Atem a little getting used to the pattern style the tenkajin was giving him, finally able to shift over to the side so he can switch directions in leading her bullets. Chiyari however gets a bit too hasty in leaving the maze and into parts that were still building, resulting in a light sword right through her raised right hand. She winces in pain as the blade disappears, not giving much else in terms of a reaction.
“Didn’t that hurt,” the Pharaoh asks, surprised by Chiyari’s tolerance.
“I’m a denizen of Hell,” the tenkajin retorts as she readies her spell, “we dish out and take more than that by the minute.”
Cursed Blood “Cursed Devil”
呪血「カースドデビル」
Chiyari spouts a bunch of flaming blood, including from her freshly wounded hand, that seem to stall partway between herself and the Pharaoh. All this blood and its flames then turn purple and go more sideways than before. The rather impromptu nature of this change nearly catches Atem off-guard, resulting in less than optimal movement. As the waves repeated, the tenkajin tries desperately to keep a foothold on where all these swords are being laid.
Before too long, Atem ends up juking into a ball of burning blood shortly before another blade impales Chiyari, this time through the heart! He was just short of a capture as both of them reel back. The tenkajin shined from her wounds and exploded, leaving her stuff in tatters and herself on the ground!
Chiyari down! 2 cards remain. Biten’s turn.
“Someone’s heart wasn’t into it,” the Pharaoh remarks, noticing that Chiyari is already lounging where she landed.
“Much like my own boss,” she talks back, “whenever she isn’t drunk on sinners, anyway.”
“Must be part of the job.”
3-Spell Gauntlet Battle
Round 2/3
Atem is starting his first of 3 Spells.
古代遊戯王 アテム
Atem, Ancient King of Games
VS
Son Biten, Monkey King of Paradise
楽園の猴王 孫美天
♪ Tiny Shangri-La
Biten pole-vaults into the fray, “I’m not about to let Zanmu-sama’s plans on the matriarchs go to waste!”
“And I’m not about to let some crew of Hell beings lay waste to the world I’ve been dropped into,” Atem retorts as he brings out his first spell:
Magic Sign “Thousand Knives”
魔符「千本 ナイフ」
The Pharaoh pulls out a purplish-blue stone shaped like an upside-down teardrop that floats in front of him. A dark magical circle forms below it as “Dark Magician” emerges from it. Naturally “Dark Magician Girl” looks ecstatic, seeing her master again forming a thousand floating knives aimed at Biten, heading towards her at varying speeds. In the meantime, Biten spins her test tube staff and unloads twin bursts of accelerating arrows, forming a rough network for Atem to get through while she guides the knives back and forth.
Stray knives that are going very slowly make Biten’s maneuvering a bit problematic, eventually causing her to back her tail into a knife’s hilt, “What the—”
“Dark Magician” smirks as he wags his finger, knowing what the contact implicates this time around. The sarugami makes an angry screech as she calls out her Spell:
Monkey Strike “Monkey Magic”
猿撃「モンキーマジック」
Biten’s arrows weave into dual swirls, then a slightly broader angle on those swirls. Atem keeps his eyes to the extremes, expecting a more broadside attack, only for the arrows to fire much more straight compared to Biten’s position than their own pointing. Before he could readjust his gameplan, an arrow whizzes right through his hair! The Pharaoh winces as his head reels backwards and “Dark Magician” and his knives disappear.
Atem down! 2 spells remain.
“It’ll take more than that to bring down Son Wukong incarnate,” Biten proudly boasts.
“Maybe you should watch your tail a bit more,” Atem points out, a stone tablet emerging behind him that depicts a somewhat serpentine, very pointy winged dragon.
“And what’re you going to do with some giant rock? Break it apart?”
The ka within heeds the Pharaoh’s call, “Come forth, “Curse of Dragon”!”
Now knowing which ways to expect offensives from, Atem has little trouble maneuvering Biten’s spell as his dragon spits short streams of fire from several locations. It feels easy enough for the sarugami to avoid for quite a while. The air starts feeling warm as the lowercase dragon’s pace picks up. Biten proves unable to keep pace, or maybe she was expecting a faster tempo, and ends up getting a line of dragonfire squarely on her torso! Her body lights up, both from the flames and having just been defeated, and lets out another monkey scream as she blows up, careening towards Chiyari. Despite having lazed around since she was eliminated, the tenkajin promptly makes this covering out of her own blood over her tail, causing her partner to crash off the cover and to the side.
Biten down! Last spell! Enoko’s turn.
“You seem like you…” the Pharaoh catches himself about to say something he felt he shouldn’t, “No, I shouldn’t say that.”
“What were you gonna say I seemed like,” Biten cries out, thinking she was gonna get insulted.
“It involves something you wouldn’t understand yet.”
3-Spell Gauntlet Battle
Final Round
Atem is on his second nonspell.
古代遊戯王 アテム
Atem, Ancient King of Games
VS
Enoko Mitsugashira, Cerberus of Paradise
楽園のケルベロス 三頭慧ノ子
♪ A Brave and Leisurely Beast
“I don’t think either of you two girls see it,” Enoko rushes in and eagerly closes her hands repeatedly, making trios of bullet groups in matching arcs from her left to just right of her and repeating it mirrored. It’s a surprisingly dense pattern compared to the other two’s nonspells thanks to its fire rate, leaving several trap spots to avoid or else be caught with nowhere to go. Atem learns this the hard way as his maneuvering leads him into one of these traps and buffeted with purple bullets. Strangely enough, “Curse of Dragon” sticks around.
“That felt almost too easy,” the yamainu barks, “Do you tend to run into traps a lot?”
“Well, you’re not wrong,” the Pharaoh’s face flushes with embarrassment as he calls out his second spell:
Dragon Champion “Spiral Discharge”
竜騎士「螺旋砲撃」
A second stone tablet emerges behind Atem, this one looking like a horse and rider with two lances. This ka emerges from the tablet as well, and starts to swirl together with “Curse of Dragon”, causing the horse to vanish and the rider to be riding on the dragon.
“I fuse “Gaia the Fierce Knight” with “Curse of Dragon” to form “Gaia the Dragon Champion”,” the Pharaoh calls out as his united monster charges at Enoko, leaving spirals of danmaku in its wake.
“Come on now, Pharaoh,” Enoko casually avoids this tactic, “When you’ve been triangle chased by Prince Shoutoku's pegasus like me, this is nothing.”
However, but as soon as “Gaia” hit an invisible wall, several shards of rock came out around the impact point, splintering into dust that makes it hard for Enoko to see. “Gaia” readies to charge again.
“Gah! What kind of trick play is this!?” she yells out loud.
“When you’ve found your way through the collective darkness of mankind, Enoko,” Atem retorts, “this is nothing.”
“Why you…” The Pharaoh’s words stung the yamainu much more than the dust storm he whipped up, but he’s the one who was distracted by his own banter. One of Enoko’s bullets clips a wing of his DiaDhank, both destroying “Gaia the Dragon Champion” and launching a card the yamainu’s way. Atem’s spell, or rather his Trap, is captured!
Atem down! Last spell!
“Guess that darkness wasn’t fighting back,” Enoko smirks.
“Adept at shadows yourself, I see,” the Pharaoh responds, not having much of a comeback.
“We youkai thrive in darkness.”
In a bit of a pickle now, Atem brings out a slew of smaller monster spirits, similarly to the nonspell before his initial “Dark Magician” spell back when he faced Reimu. However the monsters are fairly different this time around, consisting of a bunch of beasts and various colors of “Kuriboh” compared to all the warriors, dragons, and fiends his last one had. The Pharaoh also gives a glance to “Dark Magician Girl”, as if signaling her to get ready.
Unfortunately for Atem, he’s still having problems with all these trap antics. What he thought would be a simple nonspell is proving brutal thanks to Enoko’s natural advantage, managing to nail him a third time! The girls are actually ahead!
“You should be glad this is about to expire,” the yamainu barks.
“And you should be worried for what’s to come,” the Pharaoh retorts, “The great “Dark Magician” has a disciple that can more than hold her own.
Spirit “Dark Burning Attack”
精霊「黒・魔・導・爆・裂・破」
(Ka “Black Burning”)
“Say hello to “Dark Magician Girl”!”
“Dark Magician Girl” comes to the Pharaoh’s aid, forming a burning ball of magic ahead and over to her left that blows up and shoots residual magic from the center. The ball then heads up ahead in an arc, exploding a second time once directly in front of her, repeating this until she has a circle of six blast points to loop.
However as she comes to the Pharaoh’s aid, a loud popping noise is heard and all of Enoko’s bullets dissolve.
“And there it went,” now on her team’s last hit, Enoko brings out the big woofs:
Three Heads “Cerberus Fire”
三頭「ケルベロスファイア」
Clenching her hands—and opening and closing the bear traps attached to her wrists—repeatedly along with opening and closing her own mouth, Enoko spits out three trios of fireballs in spreads, the outer shots of each set coming at increasing angles as they complete and launch towards Atem.
“Finally something more straightforward,” he seems almost relieved, and notices just where the yamainu is; around the center of “Dark Magician Girl”’s circle, right next to her, “Careful there, Enoko.”
“What are you talking a—”
♪ Passionate Duelist
The yamainu bumps into something in her evasive maneuvering of Atem’s last spell; not any of the danmaku, but “Dark Magician Girl” herself!
“The cards I declare,” the Pharaoh elaborates, “use monster spirits performing the named attack. In this case, that’s “Dark Magician Girl”. That means that she too is part of the pattern!”
“Why you,” Enoko barks as her danmaku dissolves, “All these trapping struggles and you put me in one yourself!?”
“Quite ironic that you’d fall in the same style as your own powers. Now, “Dark Magician Girl”, counterattack! Dark Burning Attack!”
In response to getting bopped, Mana then raises her staff and swings it before Enoko, blowing her away with one last burning ball of magic that makes her shine in triangles and explode like the other beasts! The yamainu’s spell is captured!
WINNER (3-2) – Atem
“It would’ve been an embarrassment to lose this after how fast the other two went.”
♪ Beast Kings’ Rest
Chiyari groans as she finally gets up, seeing Enoko crash into a nearby tree, “Man, you’re a lot better than I’d expect out of a man.”
“He did say he had a bout before,” Biten props herself up, “which leaves me curious.”
“But that much mastery out of one bout,” Enoko stammers, “Who could even give that?”
“Her name was Reimu,” Atem clarifies as Mana departs, “though I wasn’t quite able to defeat her.”
“““REIMU!?”””
The name caught all three of the defeated girls off-guard, which doesn’t go unnoticed at the Pharaoh, “Ring any bells?”
“She’s basically main protector of Gensokyo or something like that,” Chiyari answers, “I was too busy chillin’ to remember any major details, though.”
“Zanmu-sama trusted her with the place after making our matriarchs go after each other,” Biten explains, “She even planted us in their factions to make that very farce.”
“But mine vowed they would try to conquer Gensokyo again once they got the chance,” Enoko laments, “and this Kaiba man luring Zanmu-sama away was enough.”
“I have a bad feeling about these matriarchs,” Atem thinks to himself, “Since they run factions from Hell, there’s no way they have any good intentions.”
“So where would they be going after to establish such rule,” he asks.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” the tenkajin passes on answering.
“There’s not much of a central governing body,” the sarugami answers the wrong way, “the closest bets would be the Sages or Reimu.”
“The primary target is the Human Village,” the yamainu corrects her fellow lieutenants, “Easily the most central location of Gensokyo, even containing its geographic center in the Dragon God Statue.”
“Even though I was unceremoniously deposited into this realm,” the Pharaoh declares as he turns around, looking skyward and seeing all the distant danmaku fighting, “I can’t simply leave it behind in returning to the afterlife. I was brought here for a reason, and I will find that out!”
“Hey, can we come wi—,” Biten tries to ask Atem.
“Let him go,” Chiyari interrupts as he flies back towards the Human Village, “It’ll look too suspicious.”
“Besides,” Enoko concludes, “he’ll be fine. We are talking about a ‘King of Games,’ after all.”
Notes:
Yu-Gi-Oh! and falling into traps. A franchise staple.
Touhou and Stage 3 having actual info. Another franchise staple. Can't help but feel bad for what'll happen in Kaiba's, though.If you get what one of the banters is based on, you too are likely an internet fossil.
Chapter 6: (Kaiba Stage 3) Fate of Forty Cards
Summary:
It's times like this I wish I could use ruby text like actual Yu-Gi-Oh! cards do.Now properly shown.Anyway, Kaiba's trip to Gensokyo is almost complete! Unfortunately for him, it seems the law has other ideas.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Of course, I know better than to actively punish her in such instances.
Zanmu casually guides Kaiba up a cave with its usually-entrance in the distance, with some sort of well-lit area nearby and a flower field beyond the mouth, “Especially in this case, since I need to intervene before it becomes Hell on Earth thanks to what she told me.”
Kaiba keeps his mouth shut, not bothering to really listen to anything the ex-human oni was saying as the two float into an incredibly large courtroom.
“Needless to say, this is where people are judged by the Yamaxanadu. Hell, Heaven, Duat, reincarnation, she does them all in this neck of the woods,”
“I didn’t go through Hell for a lecture,” Kaiba retorts, “I came to reach Gensokyo and rescue the Pharaoh.”
“Then your journey will end in this courtroom.”
♪ Mound of Shigan
Zanmu looks to her right, noticing that the oversized courtroom has someone flying towards the two; a green-haired, surprisingly tall lady with a very emblematic blue hat and matching vest, with a white undershirt and black lower-body clothes. Her air is undoubtedly one of authority.
“Eiki-sama,” the ex-human oni looks confused, “if you could let us explain—”
“Dead men tell no tales, fallen oni,” she speaks clearly as if stating fact.
“I’m not sure if he’s even dead or not. I was in the middle of a Duel with him when I got a distress call from Gensokyo.”
“Then you should’ve surrendered the bout and come on your own.”
“That was one of the stakes, your honor. A surrender would’ve forced me to bring him with. You know how Duelists are, right?”
“Objection sustained,” the judge sighs, “You are dismissed, Zanmu-sama. Address the distress call you’re responding to.”
The ex-human oni turns towards the exit without a word.
“And you, Kaiba,” the judge then looks to her defendant-to-be, “You should know where to go. I have to get the bailiff.”
“I wouldn’t run a billion-dollar company if I had never been to court,” Kaiba remarks, heading towards the sole table in the courtroom to take a seat.
Multiple eruptions of flame give rise to various oni and other fiendish figures having a drunken fracas in the gallery. From the backroom a few minutes later, an exceptionally large and busty redhead wielding a scythe walks out. The brawling beasts suddenly find themselves unable to land any blows to each other, as if they’re ungodly far away. As if realizing what’s going on, they quickly if begrudgingly take their seats. It’s clear that this apparent reaper is the bailiff, standing right before the giant judge’s desk.
“Order!” Komachi calls, “All rise!”
As soon as she said the words, these initially chaotic fiends obediently stand. As does Kaiba, who has naturally been to trial before. The back door opens again, this time Eiki herself coming out, rod in one hand and a mirror-like crystal in the other.
“This court is now in session,” the shinigami continues, “the Yamaxanadu Eiki Shiki presiding!”
The scale of the courtroom is much more noticeable when the Yama takes to the bench, which makes her look like a dwarf.
“You may be seated,” Komachi concludes before getting to her place in the courtroom. Everyone takes their seats.
“Our special impromptu case today is of Mr. Seto Kaiba,” Eiki begins as she flips through a record book, “who is charged with one count of breaking and entering an afterlife and one count of attempted Hellbreaking. Komachi, before we continue, I must check. Is the defendant deceased?”
“The defendant has plenty of life left,” Komachi answers. The fiends start booing and jeering, realizing they aren’t getting a new soul to torment.
“Order! Order!” the Yama bangs the gavel several times, quieting the audience, “I still cannot let such crimes against Hell simply go unpunished. And you being alive, Kaiba, means I can do this.”
Eiki puts her book away and places her crystal up front:
Judgement “Cleansed Crystal Judgement -Seto Kaiba-”
審判「浄頗梨審判 -海馬瀬人-」
The crystal shines as it reflects Kaiba’s image upon it, and it starts to transform.
“What are you trying to do,” Kaiba snarks, “reflect my own sins against me, trying to get me to repent?”
“You’re not entirely wrong,” the Yama bluntly answers, “It will reflect your pride, at least.”
Immediately realizing what she means, the man starts getting defensive, “I have anti-cheating measures implemented in every Duel Disk, especially the one I wield.”
Kaiba activates his Duel Disk as Eiki’s crystal finishes transforming into a deck of cards, which his Duel Disk manages to analyze and display an important message: “COUNTERFEIT CARDS DETECTED. There are only three “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” in existence, but there are six between the potential Duelists. Cannot initialize game.”
“It seriously thinks the reflection of your own Deck is a fake,” the Yama looks annoyed as she positions her Decks for her half of the duel mat, “You boast of your might, yet you cower behind your technology in the face of an equal?”
“If you think I’m going to let you call me a coward, let alone call yourself my equal, think again,” Kaiba makes a few taps on his Duel Disk set, causing a second message to overlap the first: “MANUAL OVERRIDE ENGAGED. Ignoring violation.”
“Once you’re found guilty, I’ll return you to Duat, if not the living realm.”
“And you’ll allow me to reach Gensokyo once I defeat you.
✊““IT’S TIME TO DUEL!””🖐️
“You may make the opening statement,” Eiki declares.
Duel
青き眼の王 海馬瀬人
Seto Kaiba, the King with Eyes of Blue
VS
Eiki Shiki, Yamaxanadu
四季映姫・楽園の最高裁判長
(This card is also always considered a card “of Paradise”.)
Turn 1: Seto Kaiba
Kaiba: 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 35 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
Eiki: 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 35 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
♪ Touhou Judgement in the 60th Year ~ Fate of Sixty Years
“The defense opens by Special Summoning “Kaiser Vorse Raider” to the field,” Kaiba begins, “Since I control no monsters, I can Special Summon this one. I’ll then Set 3 cards face-down and a monster in Defense Mode. It’s your move.”
Since Kaiba controls no monsters, he Special Summons “Kaiser Vorse Raider” (1900/1200) to his field in Defense Position. He Sets 3 cards and 1 monster.
Turn 2: Eiki Shiki
Kaiba: 8000 | Hand: 0 | Deck: 35 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
“Kaiser Vorse Raider” (1900/1200), 1 Set monster; 3 Set cards
Eiki: 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 35 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
“An almost uncharacteristically brief opener,” the Yama answers, “But I’ll show you no mercy, just like you would. It’s my turn.
“You claim to be of little faith, yet even in an earlier age you had gods to prayed to. For years, you had been lying both to others and to yourself.”
Kaiba rolls his eyes, knowing full well where this is going.
“A showing of this hypocrisy; “Prayers with Eyes of Blue”! By discarding the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” in my hand, I can add a Level 1 LIGHT Tuner and another Spell or Trap that mentions “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” to my hand; “Maiden of White” and “Saga of the Blue-Eyed Dragon”. Then I activate “Maiden of White”’s effect in my hand. As her prayer brings her from my hand or field to my Graveyard, “True Light” shines, coming directly from my Deck.
“In your path, nearly anyone can be a mere pawn. Countless workers, your own father, even “Neo Kaiser Glider”. By discarding it and “Protector with Eyes of Blue” in my hand, I can target and revive a Dragon Normal monster in my Graveyard. I submit “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”!”
Kaiba visibly grimaces, seething that someone is using his ace monster against him. Especially some mockery of it.
“With her prayers answered and the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” Summoned, the “Maiden of White” in my Graveyard activates her second effect, but first, I Chain “Neo Kaiser Glider”’s Graveyard effect so you can’t negate “Maiden of White” so easily.
“I further Chain “Shrink”,” Kaiba remarks, “This will halve the Attack of 1 monster on the field until the end of this turn.”
“You can’t target my “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” with card effects while “True Light” is on the field. You’ll have to target and weaken your “Kaiser Vorse Raider” instead.”
“Oh no!” Something about this felt forced from Kaiba.
“Now “Neo Kaiser Glider”’s effect can resolve, taking another 500 Attack from your monster until the end of this turn, and finally “Maiden of White” Special Summons herself.
“Your reign over both this monster and the corporate world is astounding,” Eiki continues her built-in lecture, “a terror that won’t hesitate to crush rivals on your way to the top. The “Saga of the Blue-Eyed Dragon” is full of crushed souls.”
“Objection!” Kaiba retorts, “Destroying innocent souls by the thousands is something a CEO has to do every day. It’s called the price of business when you’re running a billion-dollar company!”
“Overruled. Thieves, assassins, and soldiers would all say the same thing. Just because it's their job, it won't pardon their sins. To cleanse your sins even a little, you must accomplish good deeds.
“Moving on, “Saga of the Blue-Eyed Dragon” lets me Special Summon one of my “Blue-Eyes” monsters from the Deck or Graveyard, or that is banished in Defense Mode. However, I can only Special Summon “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” unless I control one already, which I do. Shine bright as white, “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon”! I also activate its effect when Special Summoned, letting me add a Ritual spell or “Polymerization” from my Deck to my hand.”
“Before you do, I have something I need to open: “Gift of the Mystical Elf”! This Trap grants me 300 Life Points for each monster on the field. That’s 1500 extra Life Points in case you try anything big.”
“I’ll add “Polymerization” to my hand.
“Despite your shortcomings, especially early, your acceptance of the Heart of the Cards has fine-tuned your bond with your monsters, whether you admit it or not. And just like you, so shall my Maiden. I Tune my Level 8 “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon” with my Level 1 “Maiden of White”!
“When pride and soul intertwine, their unison shines white through even the darkest black! I Synchro Summon! To the stand, Level 9 “Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon”!”
Kaiba tries his best to not yell at the Yama for using his cards, recalling that these are copies and not the genuine articles.
“Only to activate its effect and sacrifice itself for another LIGHT Dragon Synchro monster in Defense Mode, but it gets destroyed at the end of the turn; “Blue-Eyes Spirit Ultimate Dragon”!”
“She already has an omni-negate,” the defendant ponders, “So much for my last face-down.”
“You’re highly driven by revenge, even going so far as to sacrifice people or bring the world to the edge of destruction. But when push comes to shove, your true colors and your faith shine. I activate “Prayers with Eyes of Blue”’s effect in my Graveyard, targeting my “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” and letting me equip it with a “Blue-Eyes” monster in my Extra Deck that gives it 400 Attack points. I’ll place “Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon” as its equip. But they won’t be staying long.
“Your vision for the world requires an authoritative presence, which your company and continued pursuits contribute to. To reflect this, I Tribute my equipped “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” and turn it into “Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon”. Now I finally activate “True Light”’s effect, Special Summoning that very “Blue-Eyes” back from my Graveyard. Finally, I activate “Polymerization”, fusing my “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” on the field with the “Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End” in my hand!
“With great pride comes a terrifying fall, where even a legendary hero descends into a cruel ruler who stops at nothing to assure his dream comes true. I Fusion Summon! Doubling the reign of terror, another “Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon”!”
“I’ve had it to about here with your lecturing, your honor,” Kaiba retorts, holding a hand at about chin’s height, “I can hardly imagine what souls of the dead deal with.”
“Thankfully for you, I’m just about wrapped up as we go to battle.
““Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon” number 1, attack “Kaiser Vorse Raider”! Tyrant Flash!”
Kaiba can’t help but laugh a bit, “You seriously saw me drop my monster’s attack so much and you still attacked it? You fool, all that does is enable my “Crush Card Virus” [[Anime]]! But you have your “Blue-Eyes Spirit Ultimate Dragon” to negate it, so go ahead and use its effect.”
After a couple seconds mostly calculating, Eiki responds, “Your evidence is accepted.”
“There’s only one reason you would accept having all monsters on your fiend, hand, and Deck with 1500 or more Attack points destroyed.”
“For one, my “Tyrant Dragon”s are immune to Traps.”
“And any monster that the “Crush Card Virus” destroys cannot be summoned from the Graveyard as long the crushing card is in my Graveyard. You’ve basically crippled your own deck.
As soon as “Kaiser Vorse Raider” is destroyed, a plague of spores floods all over Eiki’s cards, eroding many of them to the Graveyard, “Next, “Kaiser Vorse Raider” weakens the monster that destroyed it.”
After inspecting her Graveyard, Eiki continues, “I Chain “Blue-Eyes Spirit Ultimate Dragon”’s effect in my Graveyard! If it’s destroyed, I can Special Summon a different LIGHT Dragon in my Graveyard.”
“With my “Crush Card Virus”, you have few options.”
“I’d be more worried about the star witness you’ve empowered!
“The embodiment of your own vengeance, transcending light and space, bears the scars of your countless defeats to the man you seek. I call “Deep-Eyes White Dragon” [[DSOD]] to the stand!”
From the depths of the abyss, Kaiba’s strongest Main Deck mosnter is staring him down.
“Now “Deep-Eyes”, assume the power of the “Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon”! And now my “Blue-Eyes Spirit Ultimate Dragon” can resolve, adding my initial “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” back to the field. And since it was already in my Graveyard when the “Crush Card Virus” hit, I am allowed to revive it! Return once again, “Blue-Eyes”!”
“Your initial “Tyrant Dragon” loses 500 Attack points from destroying “Kaiser Vorse Raider”.”
“Just before “Deep-Eyes” makes its damning testimony! Feel the wrath of your own dragons!”
The souls of a dozen dragons rise up and all blast at Kaiba… but all the shots were just around him, only narrowly grazing him a couple of times despite all the damage it dealt.
“What,” Eiki looks shocked, “Why did they hit around you like that? The effect is supposed to pummel you once for each dragon in the Graveyards.”
“I never have been a firm believer in the Heart of the Cards,” Kaiba retorts, “but I know full well that it exists, and you just saw an example!”
“But that makes no sense. You still took the 7200 damage.”
“You said it yourself, your honor; “The embodiment of” my “vengeance.” In other words, you’re attempting to use a card with my own heart in it against me. Of course it’d be reluctant to deliver!”
“Something a “Tyrant Dragon” has no trouble with, especially since it can attack all monsters you control. Continue your reign of tyranny, “Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon”! Strike down that face-down! Tyrant Flash!”
Kaiba smirks as the Yama calls her shot, “You’ve attacked my “Cyber Jar”!
♪ Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom ~ Seto Kaiba (Boss)
“First, “Cyber Jar” destroys all our monsters. Then, we each reveal the top five cards of our Decks and must Special Summon any Level 4 or lower monsters among them.”
Eiki puts her hand to her deck, but feels a strange sense of emptiness and hostility. Almost like the Deck was fighting back. She puts this aside and shows her cards… “Rage with Eyes of Blue”. “Bingo Machine, Go!!!”. “Cards of Consonance”. “Chaos Form”. “Trade-In”. Five spells, none of which she can activate or even use as a lure.
“What even is this hand,” the Yama gulps, seeing nothing but green cards of no use.
“Seems the cards are also telling you to shut up. Let me show how it works when you’re a naturally good drawer like Seto Kaiba.”
Kaiba then reveals his five cards… “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”. “Polymerization”. “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”. “Monster Reborn”. “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”.
Eiki takes a bit to realize what’s about to happen next turn; an immediate “Monster Reborn” to her own “Deep-Eyes” to inflict a minimum of 8400 damage. Once at terms with it, she concludes her speech, “However, when it comes to the crimes before the court, you did them under a noble cause and desire for justice. It apparently messed up Gensokyo, but that was to no knowable fault of your own, and no souls left a Hell unauthorized as a result of your actions.”
“Objection!” Kaiba yells, “When I got off the Tour Bus to Forbidden Realms, a Performapal Plushfire boarded!”
“Overruled. That was an authorized departure.
“Yes, you have been a little too vengeful. The way you try to change the world is clouded by this desire for revenge against one who had passed on. If I had to judge you now, you’d fall to the very, very strongest Hell; the Hell of Avici. But you remain alive, so judgment for those crimes will come at a later date. For the crimes of breaking and entering an afterlife and attempted Hellbreaking, this court finds the defendant, Mr. Seto Kaiba…
“NOT GUILTY.”
「無罪」
All the fiends start booing like livid fans after a terrible call.
Eiki draws, then activates “Prayers with Eyes of Blue”, discarding “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” to add “Maiden of White” and “Saga of the Blue-Eyed Dragon” from her Deck to her hand. She then activates “Maiden of White” in her hand, sending it to the GY to activate “True Light” directly from her Deck. She then activates “Neo Kaiser Glider” in her hand, discarding it and “Protector with Eyes of Blue” to Special Summon “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from her GY (3000/2500) in Attack Position.
Because a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” was Summoned to her field, Eiki then activates “Maiden of White”’s effect in the GY. As it was sent to the GY, she Chains “Neo Kaiser Glider”’s effect in the GY. In response, Kaiba Chains his Set “Shrink” and targets “Raider”. Special Summoning it (0/0) in Defense Position. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Shrink” resolves, halving “Raider”’s ATK until the end of the turn (“Raider” ATK 1900 → 950). “Glider” resolves, reducing the ATK of all face-up monsters Kaiba controls by 500 until the end of the turn (“Raider” ATK 950 → 450). “Maiden of White” resolves, Special Summoning itself (0/0) in Defense Position.
Eiki activates “Saga of the Blue-Eyed Dragon”. Since she controls a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”, she Special Summons “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon” (2500/2500) from her Deck in Defense Position, but she now cannot Special Summon monsters from her Extra Deck this turn, except Dragon monsters. Since it was Special Summoned, she then activates “Abyss Dragon”’s effect. In response, Kaiba Chains his Set “Gift of the Mystical Elf”. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Gift” resolves, giving Kaiba 300 LP per monster on the field. (There are 5, so he gains 1500 LP) (Kaiba 8000 → 9500). “Abyss Dragon” resolves, and Eiki adds “Polymerization” from her Deck to her hand.
Eiki Tunes her Level 8 “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon” and Level 1 “Maiden of White” to Synchro Summon the Level 9 “Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon” (2500/3000) in Defense Position, then activates its effect, Tributing it to Special Summon “Blue-Eyes Spirit Ultimate Dragon” (3500/4000) from her Extra Deck in Defense Position, but it will be destroyed at the end of the turn. She then activates “Prayers with Eyes of Blue”’s effect in the GY, targeting her “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” and equipping it with “Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon” to boost its ATK by 400 (“White Dragon” ATK 3000 → 3400).
Eiki Tributes her “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” equipped with “Neo Ultimate” to Special Summon “Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon” (3400/2900) from her Extra Deck to the left Extra Monster Zone in Attack Position, destroying “Neo Ultimate”. She then activates “True Light”, Special Summoning the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” (3000/2500) in her GY, then activates “Polymerization”, fusing “White Dragon” on the field with “Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End” in her hand to Fusion Summon a second “Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon” (3400/2900).
Eiki’s “Tyrant Dragon” in the Extra Monster Zone attacks “Kaiser Vorse Raider”, but Kaiba activates his Set “Crush Card Virus” [[Anime]], targeting “Raider” since it’s ATK is 1000 or less. Eiki chooses not to negate it with “Spirit Ultimate”, and the attack continues. “Raider” is destroyed and the “Virus” resolves, destroying all monsters in Eiki’s field, hand, and Deck with 1500 or more ATK (“Spirit Ultimate” and 7 more monsters from Eiki’s Deck are destroyed) and preventing them from being Special Summoned from the GY as long as “Crush Card Virus” is in Kaiba’s GY. Both “Tyrant Dragon”s are unaffected by Traps.
Since it was destroyed by battle, “Raider”’s effect activates. In response, Eiki Chains “Spirit Ultimate”’s effect in the GY. Since a Level 8 or higher Dragon monster she controlled was destroyed, she then Chains “Deep-Eyes White Dragon” [[DSOD]] in her hand. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Deep-Eyes” resolves, and Eiki Special Summons it (0/0) in Attack Position, choosing “Neo Ultimate” to copy the ATK of (“Deep-Eyes” ATK 0 → 4500). “Spirit Ultimate” resolves, and Eiki Special Summons the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” (3000/2500) that was already in her GY before the “Virus” resolved. “Raider” resolves, reducing the ATK of the monster that destroyed it by 500 (“Tyrant Dragon” in EMZ’s ATK 3400 → 2900).
Since it was Special Summoned, “Deep-Eyes” activates its effect, inflicting 600 damage to Kaiba’s LP for each Dragon in either GY (there are 12, so Kaiba takes 7200 damage) (Kaiba 9500 → 2300). The “Tyrant Dragon” in the Extra Monster Zone attacks Kaiba’s Set monster, which is revealed to be “Cyber Jar” (900/900). Since it was flipped face-up, “Cyber Jar”’s effect activates, destroying all monsters on the field and making both players excavate 5 cards and Special Summon any Level 4 or lower monsters among them to face-up Attack or face-down Defense Position (Eiki excavates “Rage with Eyes of Blue”, “Bingo Machine, Go!!!”, “Cards of Consonance”, “Chaos Form”, and “Trade-In”; Kaiba excavates 3 “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”s, “Polymerization”, and “Monster Reborn”). Neither player Summons a monster. Since it was destroyed, “Deep-Eyes” activates its effect, but it resolves to no effect.
Realizing that she is unquestionably defeated next turn, Eiki surrenders the Duel.
WINNER (by Technical Knockout) – Seto Kaiba
“That is all,” the Yama formalizes her defeat, “this court is adjourned.”
With a final bang of the gavel, all the audience fiends vanish in bursts of flame.
♪ The Flowers Stay in Fantasy
“The case may be closed,” Kaiba says, “but my journey isn’t even half-done. Especially with what you said I caused.”
“I also said it was to no fault of your own,” Eiki answers, “Others took advantage of your duel with Zanmu-sama, which is why she was heading to Gensokyo.”
“Things have been getting rough, yeah,” Komachi yawns, “It’s the main reason I was actually up when you got to me, Eiki-sama.”
“Nice to see my shinigami actually standing watch when the potential for an influx of deceased shows itself, unlike last time,” the Yama glares at Komachi.
“You say it’s not my fault,” Kaiba shakes his head, “But for what I have in mind for the world at large, whether I’m at fault or not is irrelevant. I still caused it, and that’s a problem…
The CEO’s face slowly turns to a scowl not aimed at anyone in particular, “Especially if people’s single chips called lives are in danger!”
Eiki closes her eyes and smiles, “That’s the Seto Kaiba we have on file. Unrepentant, yet atoning in the right way… And since you did defeat me, I am required to oblige. Komachi, take this man to Gensokyo so he can address the Incident at hand. And you, Kaiba, partaking in resolving that Incident.
“That is the good deed you can do right now.”
Notes:
Brick-Eyes, they're gonna get ya.
I initially tried this with Eiki using "Cards of Consonance" to pitch "The White Stone of Ancients" early, but that made 9600 damage (by not using "Spirit Ultimate"'s reborn and instead just Tribute Summon "Deep-Eyes") for an OTK. And I had to hurry on this one before any more Blue-Eyes support showed up.
Chapter 7: (Atem Stage 4) Wave-Motion Magicannon
Summary:
The Pharaoh heads back towards the Human Village to defend it, only to see it missing and beast spirits retreating...
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
♪ Nostalgic Blood of the East ~ Old World
The way to the Human Village had gone from practically deserted to nearly stunning in beauty. From multiple directions, intricate danmaku is flying all over the place. Many girls are shooting up multiple oncoming beast spirits, as if defending something; presumably the Human Village.
“They won’t stop coming,” Sumireko laments as she picks off beast spirit after beast spirit around Kourindou, “just barging in like the own the whole surface!”
Amidst all the danmaku battling going on, flying into the sky shows a rather peculiar sight to Atem; The Human Village seemed to be missing, which made things a lot more awkward-looking. Within only a couple of minutes, the onslaught of beast spirits seemed to just… stop.
“Guess they know I’m here now,” Atem muses aloud as several such spirits fly right above him in retreat.
“You think Zanmu-sama got to them again,” an otter spirit chats with its brethren.
“They’d be commanding us to infight in that case,” an eagle spirit clarifies.
“Must want the conquest themselves,” a wolf spirit howls.
“‘They’ as in those matriarchs,” the Pharaoh corrects himself, then tries to reach out to any of the girls that were fighting them off. A lady wearing mostly blue with a hat that looked like a building on her head sighs, staring accusingly at Atem.
“You, visitor,” she points at him, “Are you the youkai commanding those vile spirits?”
“I’m a Pharaoh, not a matriarch,” he replies.
“No sense pleading innocence with such a strange coincidence. I’ll make your visit never have ha—”
“KEINE!”
A familiar witch in black and white comes to an aerial screeching halt on her broom.
“No need to worry about Atem here, teach,” Marisa smirks, “From the sound of things, those beast spirits are in a tizzy over some ‘Pharaoh’ messin’ up their plans.”
“And he did just call himself a Pharaoh,” Keine adds, “So you insist that he’s not our enemy?”
“It’d be quite shameful of me to leave Gensokyo in tatters during my journey,” Atem floats dutifully.
“Your journey,” Keine inquires.
“Long story short, one of your Sages pulled me out of the afterlife. I was trying to get back there before this Incident showed up, which I have reason to believe has a connection to my presence.”
“I can’t trust a foreign spirit like you just yet,” Keine starts to float up towards the Pharaoh, “Are you even efficient as a danmaku user?”
“Yer askin’ a King of Games if he’s any good at a game,” Marisa laughs her head off, “how about we just show it, Atem and I?”
“I can face him myself,” Keine looks nonplussed at Marisa.
“And our boy here has valuable intel I need to get out of him!”
“So much for welcoming the new guy.”
“He’s already had his first bout with Reimu…
♪ Love-Colored Master Spark
Marisa flashes a smile as she glares intently at the Pharaoh, “a bout ya lost, so I can’t afford to if I wanna keep up with Reimu! Ya wanna prove yerself right? Prove yerself trustworthy to Keine? Take thy danmaku in hand! Settle it like a lady! … I mean, settle it like a gentleman!”
“I won’t be defeated easily,” Atem talks back.
“Ya better not.
““LET’S FIRE!””
4-Spell Battle
古代遊戯王 アテム
Atem, Ancient King of Games
VS
Marisa Kirisame, Black-White Magician of Paradise
楽園の黒白魔術師 霧雨魔理沙
The Pharaoh’s opening nonspell is more generic and straightforward than ones he had used before, consisting of bullets made of specifically curved shapes of light, firing out spinning rings of them in sequence like they’re making a word. Marisa, on the other hand, is unloading bursts of stars from multiple moving focal points around her.
It’s pretty clear from the get-go that this magician is nothing like the beast spirits Atem faced before. She’s fast and elusive, sporting the danmaku knowledge of a grizzled veteran. The Pharaoh has his work cut out for him as he bobs and weaves, while Marisa makes it look like her day job. One mistimed brake and turn later, he found a star go pow, right in the kisser! It’s rather tasty as he has to take a bite out of the danmaku that just hit him.
“How’s the giant konpeito,” Marisa smirks, “Lot harder to have a damagin’ accident with candy danmaku.”
“Quite a sweet treat,” the Pharaoh answers once finished with that bite, “This, however, packs quite a pop.”
Multiply “Detonating Kuriboh”
増殖「機雷化するクリボー」
“My furry friend may appear weak,” A stone tablet of what looks like a hairball fiend erects behind Atem, “but you should never judge a book by its cover. Come forth, “Kuriboh”!”
“Another monster summon,” Marisa notes, “What kind of attack is this thing bringin’ about?”
“Not a summon, Marisa. I activate “Multiply”! One “Kuriboh” becomes many!”
“Kurikibi!” the monster itself sounded pumped.
Before Marisa knew it what was one fiend crying out is now a whole army of the things flying about and even bouncing off the sides of the Duel Barrier, each coated in a light that made the magician smirk, “Simple. I have to deal with this kind of danmaku like 4-5 times a week!”
It quickly proves to be anything but. As soon as any amount of the light on the “Kuriboh” touched her body, the fiend in question blew up and sent her sideways!
““Kuriboh” explode at the slightest touch,” the Pharaoh remarks.
“Hitboxes bigger than their bodies,” the magician laments as she readies her first spell, “This won’t be very fun.”
Magic Sign “Milky Way”
魔符「ミルキーウェイ」
Marisa produces a 9-armed spiral galaxy formation of stars shooting out, with several circles revolving around her that fire short bursts of star pieces. Several even stray in from the sides, looking to catch an unsuspecting foe off guard. Now keeping an extra-keen eye on any “Kuriboh” that even threatens to get close to her, Marisa fluidly eludes the easily manipulated pattern of hairball fiends. Atem, however, is more guided to the sides where he has way too little time to react to the more random strays that nick his elbow, making all but one of his “Kuriboh” detonate harmlessly!
Atem down! 3 Spells remain.
“This ain’t no tutorial fight, Pharaoh,” Marisa winks.
“How did you get past all that damage blocking,” he laments, loosely referring to “Kuriboh”’s main effect.
“A hit’s a hit, even if it does no damage to ‘em. That’s danmaku for ya!”
Atem brings his last “Kuriboh” behind him and calls down a rain of light blades; the same “Swords of Revealing Light” he used on Chiyari earlier, sans the whole maze aspect since nonspells shouldn’t be as complex as their spell. Looking like she had seen it a million times, Marisa nonchalantly eludes all the swords coming her way, guiding them back and forth while a big old star piece’s spin gets the back of the Pharaoh’s knee, leaving him already a card behind!
“Somethin’ tells me that was a lot stronger back in the day,” the magician casually tips her huge hat.
“You’re more right than you think,” Atem responds as he erects another tablet of a familiar face, “Come forth, “Dark Magician”!”
Magic Sign “Mystic Box”
魔符「死のマジック・ボックス 」
(Magic Sign “Magic Box of Death”)
As the Pharaoh’s most noble servant arrives, it seems to bring a towering streak of light barreling down the center of the Duel Barrier. Marisa has to elude it to her left as this border of light sticks around, effectively splitting the Duel Barrier in half! The “Dark Magician” then heads over to his master’s left, Marisa’s right, and… is putting pending lasers on the sides on that half, some aimed right at himself?
“He’s not even aimin’ anywhere near me,” Marisa calls out as her spell starts to run low on time, “That’s no good as danmaku.”
“We’ll see about that.”
For some reason, that line sent a shiver up her spine. Atem’s monster seemed to be casting something else as well while in its half of the field; its box, if you will. And before the younger magician knew it, she’s surrounded in that very web of lasers about to blow! She couldn’t entirely avoid the surprise, one of the lasers blasting her bum!
Marisa down! 3 spells remain.
“Had to size up the spell a bit for rules compliance,” Atem jokes as his monster wags a finger at Marisa.
“Ya certainly stepped up yer game since ya dropped in,” Marisa smiles.
“You shouldn’t expect any less from a King of Games.”
Setting up two moving concentric pentagons of magic circles, Marisa starts two-directional streams of stars from each of them; like the wake of something going through a river. Keenly analyzing the lasers the “Dark Magician” was plotting, the girl manages to find where the holes should be, netting a simple evasion. At one point, however, her position is too interlaced, leaving her with a faceful of blade!
“You don’t seem to be the type to know your magic tricks,” the Pharaoh remarks.
“It ain’t magic if it ain’t flashy,” Marisa boasts as she calls her next spell, “Danmaku’s all about firepower!”
Magic Sign “Stardust Reverie”
魔符「スターダストレヴァリエ」
Marisa calls out a rainbow of magic circles that spread around her, leaving stars in their trail, leaving sizable spaces for the Pharaoh to get into before they get too close to the Duel Barrier and start going nuts on the outside of a circle of stars. It seems simple, until the stars gradually start to move; a few towards and through the center, the rest making counterclockwise curls vaguely similar to a kaleidoscope. But it’s the returning magic circles still making stars that catch Atem’s outside elbow and break the boxes!
Atem down! 2 spells remain.
“Would’ve done the shift myself, but thanks anyways,” Marisa snarks.
“It’s about time I had a properly difficult bout,” the Pharaoh remarks back.
“That’s a lot from someone way behind.”
Atem quickly forms his own magic circle around him, bringing both his “Kuriboh” and “Dark Magician” to vanish into its torches nearby. The circle then starts firing bursts of flames from around it in sequences of eight. These sets in succession, along with the Pharaoh’s own movements, prove a bit much to keep up with, as Marisa’s left arm gets a lick of flame!
Marisa down! 2 spells remain.
“Be glad these fires aren’t full of rage,” Atem quips.
“With what all I’ve had to deal with, that’d be nothin’,” Marisa retorts.
“You have no idea.”
Marisa readies her third nonspell, firing fast-spinning magic circles firing strings of stars all over the place, adding a new one every couple seconds as the Pharaoh’s flames burn up the ones that have been out a while. It’s not until a wave of stars coalesce early-ish in the magician’s pattern that she manages to get another hit, just sneaking a star off his foot. All the flames come together towards Atem as his nonspell is cleared.
“So what was all that fire about,” Marisa asks, “At least ya weren’t wastin’ any booze.”
“You’re about to find out, as the offering has been accepted,” the Pharaoh chants, “I Ritual Summon!”
Black Magic “Chaos Scepter Blast”
黒魔「滅びの呪文－デス・アルテマ」
(Black Magic “Spell of Destruction – Death Ultima”)
The flames turn into a magic circle that forms a dark cyclone, leaving several miniature dark clouds near the top of the Duel Barrier. Another spellcaster descends from those clouds, mostly wearing black with some red trim.
“I call upon the “Magician of Black Chaos”!” Atem declares as his monster twirls its scepter and fires this crackling orb of magic speeding towards Marisa. She effortlessly moves by it, looking confused.
“Seriously, Atem? Just one orb again,” Marisa asks, hearing the crackles behind her… not seem to stop, even after it should have moved out of the Duel Barrier. Instead, the orb slows and turns around as it missed Marisa, taking another crack at her. The girl only notices this just too late, swooping downwards only to get her huge hat blasted off!
“It’s not so easy to avoid a homing attack,” the Pharaoh remarks.
“Ya actually got me to my trump cards,” Marisa grabs her hat, “Now we're gonna play with some real danmaku!”
Love Sign “Master Spark”
恋符「マスタースパーク」
Marisa pulls out this octagonal piece of woodwork out of her hat, pointing it at Atem’s location and forming this ball of light from the item. The Pharaoh promptly gets away from that location before the ball of light becomes a freakin’ huge magical laser. Unloading bursts of stars as well, Marisa keeps on her toes as the “Magician of Black Chaos” continues to fire its smart shots at her every few seconds. Before long Marisa’s laser expires, giving her time to aim at the Pharaoh again as well as better guide the orbs that escaped her wrath. Unfortunately for her, one of those “Chaos Scepter Blast”s beans her mid-charge! A card flies over to Atem, his opponent’s signature spell captured!
Marisa down! Last spell!
“Some trump card you have there if it leaves you wide open like that,” the Pharaoh smirks, finally back in the lead.
“Can’t have danmaku without a solution, ya know,” Marisa answers, “That’s one thing outsiders tend not to understand.”
“Sounds like a common problem.”
“Less common, but destructive enough to have a youkai contract take care of it,” Marisa immediately pulls out her last card, “This is about as strong as I can get under the rules.”
Magicannon “Final Spark”
魔砲「ファイナルスパーク」
“Yer gettin’ everything I’ve got, Atem!” Marisa calls out as she charges another laser while prepping stars around her to unleash. Only this time the laser proves a lot bigger than the Pharaoh expected, getting him caught in the outer parts of the blast and destroying his magician!
Atem down! Last Spell!
“Now let’s see the best you’ve got, Pharaoh!” Marisa practically lays down the gauntlet…
♪
Before Atem could retort let alone set up a fourth nonspell, however, he notices his Deck start to glow; at least to him, “Hold on. One of my cards is calling out to me.”
The Pharaoh then draws the card in question… and his eyes bulge.
“Are you serious about this!?” he seems to be talking to the card, “Yes, I know my hand would be empty… I’m not worried about her getting hurt. I’m worried about people mistaking you for that one!”
“Who’re ya even talkin’ to,” Marisa points at Atem, “I’d hear if ya had a communicatin’ means put in.”
“Understood. Just… try to keep the theatrics at a minimum, okay,” the Pharaoh nods at his card and gets one more before looking at his opponent, “I was talking to my last spell for this battle.”
“We’re right in front of the Village, Pharaoh. Yer making a scene either way.”
He then activates his other card, “Joker’s Straight”, calling forth a lady knight that looks like she could be a queen, followed by a larger one that’s clearly a king with the crown on its head. To the other side of the “Queen’s Knight” comes a third knight, and the three raise their swords together.
“Yo, that wasn’t the card ya were just talkin’ to,” the magician notes before something clicks, “Hold on… Queen, King, I’m assumin’ that’s a Jack… Yer pullin’ out an Ace of some sort, aren’t ya?”
“This is no mere Ace, or even a Joker,” the Pharaoh fires back, “I sacrifice my “Jack’s Knight”, my “Queen’s Knight”, and my “King’s Knight”…”
The three knights turn into streaks of light that beeline to Atem’s card, immediately putting Marisa on edge, “This isn’t good. I don’t have Reimu’s instincts, but even I can feel that the tension just skyrocketed!”
♪ God’s Anger
Sky Dragon “Thunderforce Attack”
天空龍「超電導波サンダーフォース」
(Sky Dragon “Superconducting Wave – Thunder Force”)
“…to summon “Slifer the Sky Dragon”!”
A subtle array of red lights shines from above and well behind Atem, forming this unusual shadow below as a red presence forms below the light. The presence starts taking shape; the shape of an extremely long winged serpent with a black underbelly and red fins all the way down its equally red body. However, it’s only slightly thicker than a person in width, and while definitely very long, it could fit in a large room with relative ease. Slifer also has sizable wings and comparatively small 3-fingered claws, but its most prominent feature was definitely the double mouth.
Marisa immediately heads to a corner of the Duel Barrier close to Slifer before dipping back out as soon as it started inhaling, thinking a gigantic laser of its own is in her immediate future. Only now does she take another aim at the Pharaoh, who now knows well enough to get a long ways away. The Egyptian God finally fires, unloading a breath weapon that could best be described as multiple compressed bolts of lightning, handily covering… most of one of the Duel Barrier walls, thanks to Marisa influencing its aim.
The attack is surprisingly thinner than even a Master Spark, and only seemed to last two seconds or so. But it also unloaded several stray shots of electricity a fair bit wider than the main blast. It kinda reminded Marisa of one of her illegal spells, “Machine Gun Spark”, but a fair bit slower and with more usual strays. And short duration meant more stray bullets to weave around during the sizable time to avoid the wave.
After several beams from each side, Marisa finds herself dodging the wrong way at one point, trying to get past a stray bit of electricity ahead of it instead of behind it. Once she realized she couldn’t, she didn’t have enough time to get out of the way of both the stray and the blast! Slifer’s Thunderforce Attack finally connects, leaving Marisa… not even budging? The telltale burst of defeat still erupted, but still.
WINNER (4-3) – Atem
“A hit’s a hit, even if it does no damage.”
♪ Alice Maestra
“I mean I get that, but you brought out a God to the battle,” Marisa yells out as Slifer dismisses itself, “That should’ve at least hurt.”
“When it comes to Duel Monsters,” the Pharaoh answers, “Slifer’s Attack and Defense are based on the cards in my hand. Since it was my last spell, my hand was empty, so by emulating that effect, Slifer had zero Attack and Defense points.”
“Huh. Most of my Egypt knowledge comes from a couple friends of mine, so it’s easy to miss somethin’ like that. But now I can’t ask ya what ya know about this invasion goin’ on.”
Atem turns his attention to Keine, “It was at least enough to answer your questions, correct?”
“With how you communicate with and utilize your underlings,” the teacher answers, “you’re definitely not colluding with the Animal Realm.”
“Neither is the one I was informed caused this,” the Pharaoh adds, “He inadvertently distracted their boss on his way here to get me.”
“Oh, so he’s probably near Higan or the Netherworld by now,” Marisa concludes while she stuffs her mini-Hakkero into the bristles of her broom, front side out, “Hop on, Atem! I’ll get ya there in a hurry! It’s gonna be a bit before the matriarchs can get to the Village.”
The magician scoots a bit higher than usual on her broom, giving the Pharaoh ample space to get aboard.
“Both hands on the broom,” she says as the two fly upwards on the broom.
Comet “Blazing Star”
彗星「ブレイジングスター」
The mini-Hakkero flares to life once more, charging and firing an enormous Master Spark backwards, propelling the two fliers to great speeds through the air.
“That man’s history runs deep, and with such a mighty god at his side…” Keine smiles, “We may have just what we need to put down the beast spirit menace once and for all.”
Notes:
Another Yori parallel, though I kinda had to add this one because it was just too funny in my head. At least Atem finally got the whole nonspell aspect down, and must be quite a bit more comfortable with using his biggest options in a Spell Card Battle. This was honestly a bit of a filler-ish episode, mostly because I was definitely giving Marisa a bout and she's always Stage 4.
I need to start planning the Matriarchs' decks, and Reimu's in more detail (seriously, every Spirit card/support in a pile is 49 cards). If anyone has ideas on what they should be, feel free to comment them. I have my own ideas for the Matriarchs, but I'll keep them to myself unless someone suggests them by accident.
Also considering a "Free Duels" substory to get more practice on that stuff and/or show off characters I wouldn't be able to in the main story.
Chapter 8: (Omake) Untouchable! Invincible! Unbeatable!
Summary:
In the meantime, Reimu has trouble when she realizes just how bad her deck is, needing a hint and a teacher to help her out.
Or, justification for the bullshit I'll need to pull with her in Duels. Brace yourselves.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Ugh. She could not be serious about this Deck.”
Reimu is struggling to make any viable strategy with her borrowed cards. It had hardly anything going for it. “Kinka-Byo” has nobody to Summon, a good fifth of the Deck is bricks, and it’d be extremely unlikely that she gets more than one monster out since basically nothing can be Special Summoned.
“I’m really sorry that ‘Pegasus’ guy did so many of you so quick and dirty,” Reimu felt some serious empathy towards the Spirits in her Deck, “And linking you to that? That’s one of the few things banned from Gensokyo! What a disgrace!
“…” she paused, sensing something, “YUUUKAAARIII!”
The ‘something’ Reimu sensed is startled, and a rift in reality opens behind the shrine maiden, the called Sage stepping out.
“Problem, shrine maiden,” Yukari smirks behind Reimu, “You seem quite upset.”
“Why did you give me such a slowpoke Deck!? And there’s so many blanks! Don’t you realize I only get ONE Normal Summon a turn!? There’s not even a single negate and my…” the shrine maiden rattled on about her deck’s myriad flaws.
“You’re a summoner of gods. No other deck could suit you.”
“The safety and well-being of Gensokyo could be lost on the turn of a card,” the shrine maiden, her face red, takes a deep breath and starts screaming, “AND YOU GAVE ME THIS DECK FOR THE THEME!?”
“Come on now, Reimu. Where’s the untouchable keeper I’ve been keeping my eyes on?”
“Lost to the Third Lunar War!”
Yukari’s next words, through her incredibly smug smile, stung Reimu to her core, “Then go get her,” and with that the boundary youkai vanished.
“That’s not what I meant,” the shrine maiden yells at thin air, “There’s not enough time to get all the way to the Moon just to find something that isn’t there. Besides, it’s a New Moon so I can’t even see it!”
Giving a harsh sigh, Reimu draws a card from her Deck; “Tsukuyomi”, “What do you think? Certainly Yukari doesn’t expect me to just casually overwhelm whoever I face with this Deck.”
She didn’t expect the card to talk back, at least in a way she could hear instead of instinctively know.
“Pure… Lu… gods…”
“What was that,” the shrine maiden’s ears perked as she enters a summoning stance, a divine aura radiating around her.
“Haku… Reimu… you hear me?” The voice sounded familiar.
“Y… Yorihime-sensei!? Where are you, and how did you get here!?”
“Sensei!? I mean you’re not wrong, but still. As for me I’m still on the Moon, fellow summoner. And of course we can communicate through channeling the same god.”
“So why’re you calling me? And what does it have to do with this Deck?”
“Well, it was late last month…
“IMPURITY DETECTED”
The Lunarian princess suddenly bolted from her god training as the alarms blared in the Capitol, making a beeline for the war room. She ends up bowling over a couple moon rabbits before barging in… only to be greeted by a smugly smiling Toyohime.
“Sister,” Yorihime groaned, “How many times have I told you not to fake that alarm?”
“I didn’t,” her sister chuckles, pointing to one of the many surveillance screens, “Turns out this one is some sort of package.”
Yorihime looked flabbergasted at what she saw near the Sea of Tranquility, “A briefcase? That’s not how those impure ones send things across space. I’ll have to investigate.
“Call it a maiden’s intuition, but something felt off about this impurity. I could feel gods residing in it alongside a lot of other things.
Once at the location, Yorihime calls upon two deities, “Kanayama-hiko! Izunome! You two know the drill!”
In a heartbeat, the metal briefcase disintegrated and reintegrated, the two gods inspecting and cleansing the strange being. As the two vanish afterwards, Yorihime seems to have knowledge of the contents in some context… which really surprises her.
“Cards? And what did you read on that logo again… ‘Kaiba Corporation’? Must be who it’s from. I’ll give it a more thorough look back home.”
“What I found was this intricate if rather exploitable card game. Most of the cards had no real use to me, except these so-called Spirit monsters; in other words, the gods we can call upon. So I got sister to purify a few cards so that they’re empty—”
“How could she,” Reimu barks, “Those could’ve had their own spirits inside them!”
“Relax,” the elder of the two responds, “they were all spells with no spirits inside.
“Then I took some of those with all the god-holding cards and brethren, and put them in the box the case came with.
“You know, this will make a nice gift for her if we get a chance to meet again.”
“Now fast forward to what, yesterday for you? You-know-who decided to show her ugly face again for whatever reason.”
“You should know better than to think you can so much as consider competing with us,” Toyohime dully glares at an apprehended daily-look Yukari, ready to forcefully banish her back to Earth again.
“Sister,” Yorihime yells out, “Before you expel her, I have something.”
The younger princess lobs a filled card box at Yukari, which wedges itself in her chest before a pure tornado exiles the gap youkai.
“What was that for? You took so long with that deck.”
“Let’s just say it’s a way of returning an owed favor.”
“So she takes the thing to Kourindou where I borrowed it, sensing the gods’ auras,” Reimu concludes.
“I just figured you could use a proper medium for calling upon those gods,” Yorihime smirks, though Reimu obviously couldn’t see it.
“Oh, so it wasn’t meant for dueling at all, then.”
“Yeah, it’s way too slow playing to be any competitive, though I guess the blanks could be useful.”
“Unfortunately that’s what my struggles are about right now. Yukari expects me to Duel with this stuff.”
“But why? She really should know more than most that it’s a slow deck.”
“Earlier today, she spirited away some old Egyptian Pharaoh named Atem; quite a Duel Monsters master himself.”
“But how could she have known we had some cards?”
“Apparently this Kaiba man occasionally launches card sets into space. He must’ve sent one to the Moon.”
“Well that explains a lot,” Yorihime paused a bit, “But I can’t see it doing any well, unless she expects some sort of cheat skill on par with myself.”
“Like bringing out the actual god,” Reimu inquired, “Doubt that’ll do much.”
“Well, Ame-no-Uzume is a god of the arts, and I did put in a bunch of blanks. You should see where I’m going here.”
“And Rinnosuke did say these could contain just about anything… I see it now!” Reimu beamed a smile that felt like it could reach the Moon, “Thank you so much, sensei!”
“Glad to repay you for rescuing us back then,” The voice in Reimu’s head softens, “Take good care of those gods now!”
“Stay pure up there!”
Reimu stretches her arms behind her head, sighing more happily than before, “Thanks, Tsukuyomi-sama! I’ll make sure Duel Monsters knows the pure power of the Lunar gods!”
Around now, the shrine maiden hears a loud roar, which she floats towards, remembering that she’s still in the middle of an Incident investigation.
Notes:
If anyone has a ideas just what would make sense for custom cards, it'd be really appreciated. Regular cards are fine, too.
Chapter 9: (Kaiba Stage 4) Necrovaltasia
Summary:
Kaiba finally makes it to Gensokyo! But not everyone welcomes such a tech-savvy guy to fantasy.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
♪ Charming Domination ~ Who Done It?
Kaiba found himself at a road in a field of rather reinvigorating flowers, almost as if they were telling him to turn back.
“There’s no way some garden is getting to my head,” he mutters to himself as he follows the road, a distant forest ahead. But before even a few meters, he felt like he bumped into an invisible wall.
“So you’ve finally arrived, invader of dimensions,” a voice seemed to ring out from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
“Who are you,” Kaiba demands an answer.
A rift in reality slowly cuts on the invisible wall before it pops open. A long-haired blonde woman in a sizable pale dress and purple tabard comes out from the gap with an umbrella and fan, answering irritatingly:
“The mentor of the reigning Queen of Games.”
“So I am in the right place,” Kaiba’s muscles immediately tense up in anger. There were few things he took worse than someone else defeating Atem, Yugi notwithstanding, “Listen, lady. I’m not leaving Gensokyo until I get three things done: Rescue the Pharaoh held hostage, put an end to the incident my journey caused, and teach this world and its beings how to Duel.”
“Quite the lofty goals you have,” Yukari puts her elbows on a gap, “But the consequences of your arrival threaten to be more than just a strange Incident.”
“You already have a hostile invasion going on.”
“They just retreated to their bosses. You can thank the Pharaoh you seek for that.”
“That’s the problem, Yukari,” Kaiba points at the sage, “Now rather than a bunch of small fries you could put down in a heartbeat, you’re about to have Hell’s fiercest beasts knocking. Seto Kaiba would be the least of your worries!”
“Even though he’s the reason this entire debacle exists,” Yukari smirks.
“My journey was taken advantage of, and I aim to correct that.”
“What triggered the Incident was not what I referred to.”
It takes Kaiba a second for it to sink in. He recalled the time of Atem’s sudden departure, and the remote familiarity the gap Yukari rested on had with the one that took the Pharaoh away. Eventually, his memory goes back to how he got to Duat in the first place… and his eyes bulge, “You don’t mean…”
“That’s right, Kaiba,” Yukari looks at him with complete seriousness, “I spirited him away over your Duel Dimension System!
“Your research into analyzing and replicating magic led to a successful traversal of dimensions. Spread that out like your Duel Disk, and you’ll be finding more and more dimensions. Before you know it, Gensokyo will be found out to the general public. We, Gensokyo, cannot afford that.”
“What you’re saying implicates that I am your target, yet you took the Pharaoh.”
“Imagine if your roles were reversed: That I spirited you away, leaving him behind. Would the Pharaoh have come for us, just like you did for him? Cause the same distraction? The same Incident?”
“He wouldn’t even think twice.”
“And besides, last time someone tried to mess you up like that, it didn’t go too well for him.”
Kaiba couldn’t help but smirk at that last sentence, “But there’s one major difference between taking him and taking me… I’d be teaching this world how to Duel from the onset. And the Pharaoh?”
♪ Yorimashi Between Dreams and Reality ~ Necro-Fantasia
“He has largely partaken in Spell Card Battles during his stay,” the sage retorts, “Surely someone like you can learn it on the fly.
“LET’S FIRE!”
“IT’S TIME TO—wait, what?”
“Did you seriously think I’d Duel you,” Yukari giggles, “You need to learn a few things about Gensokyo before I can even consider letting you leave.”
6-Spell Battle
青き眼の王 海馬瀬人
Seto Kaiba, the King with Eyes of Blue
VS
Yukari Yakumo, Illusion Sage of Paradise
楽園の幻想魔賢者 八雲紫
With no other warning, Yukari fires circular spreads of purple kunai from her fan upon an unsuspecting Kaiba. Not at all used to flying or evading fire, he just starts flinging virtual cards everywhere, carefully weaving for any holes he can find. The Sage seemed to dodge the cards like they weren’t even there, nabbing a clean hit directly at his torso in the meantime!
“Perhaps you’re not a complete newbie, after all,” the Sage smirks, “But you have a long way to go, and little time to get there.”
“You’re not getting away with defiling our Duel,” Kaiba declares as he pulls out another virtual card:
Blue-Eyes “Burst Stream of Destruction”
青眼「滅びの爆裂疾風弾 」
“Join me, “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”!”
The CEO wastes no time in bringing out his ace monster; a behemoth white dragon looming behind him.
“Once I tear the tangled-up~ time web a~way,
“break~ through all that li~mit hear~say,
Marisa is loudly singing some song she got from Sumireko mid-flight, “and just gather my emotions toge~ther somehow, I'll be going my—WAY!?”
Her song cuts very early as she suddenly sees a big dragon roaring in the distance towards Higan.
“Good grief, no wonder ya wanted Slifer to keep it toned down,” Marisa points at the monster, “that thing’s gonna attract all sorts of attention!”
“The Blue-Eyes White Dragon,” Atem notes, “That means Kaiba has arrived.”
“Yer ride home, right?”
“Once this Incident is done, yes.”
“Man, I was a lot farther off than I thought,” Marisa firmly grips her broom, rolling a bit as she corrects her aim, “Okay, what all should I know about this Kaiba man?”
“Nice little Western wannabe you have,” Yukari mocks Kaiba’s pride.
“Lay waste to our enemy,” Kaiba declares as his Blue-Eyes roars, “White Lightning!”
The Blue-Eyes White Dragon breathes in deeply, forming a ball of energy in its mouth that turns into a destructive beam when fired. The Sage effortlessly eludes the dragon breath, sniping Kaiba again with another clean blow that destroys his dragon!
Kaiba down! 5 Spells remain.
“Spell Card Battles are a game of beauty and thoughtfulness,” Yukari takes a pause in the action, “Brute force alone won’t cut it.”
“So that’s how the Pharaoh lost,” Kaiba laments, “But your journey through Seto Kaiba has only begun.”
“You better learn quickly if you want to return home.”
Forming more virtual cards, Kaiba amplifies his spreads, getting plenty more cards thrown out than before. Yukari weaves by relatively smoothly, only getting a stray slice on her stomach. Strangely enough, at least to Kaiba, that seemed to be enough to dissipate her danmaku!
“Seems the cards are the ones cutting you here,” Kaiba smirks.
“You are no Karnöffel practitioner,” Yukari retorts as she holds her first spell up high:
Barrier “Curse of Dreams and Reality”
結界「夢と現の呪」
Yukari sends two circles out between her and Kaiba. One of them bursts into a dozen sets of 8 bullet starbursts, while the other is a bunch of bullets that beeline after him once set. Firing shots every other second that switch sides each time. It seemed surprisingly simple, almost mockingly so. Just some simple guiding the tracking shots and… realizing that all those bursts are lingering about and the tracking gets quite wide, catching a piece of Kaiba’s shoulder!
“Of course, boys like you wouldn’t understand this game easily,” Yukari boastfully scoffs.
“The first person who underestimated me like that,” Kaiba retorts, “I took over his company!”
Reform “Takeover with Eyes of Blue”
改革「青き眼の逆転」
Kaiba’s Duel Disk lights up, forming images of significant military arms above, from the classic AK-47 and its modern incarnation the AR-15 to rocket launchers and even a satellite cannon. But before any of it gets anywhere let alone firing, they start getting transformed into more virtual cards that go in a variety of trajectories based on where its weapon form was aiming. Showcasing the takeover of KaibaCorp and conversion to a game company was easily one of the more meaningful things he could think of so on the fly.
Not that it helped him all that much, as Yukari makes it look like the cards are hardly there in her lazy maneuvering. The rather scattered nature of the aims made it pretty easy for the Sage to find the closest hole in the web and bean him with another tracking bullet!
Kaiba down! 4 spells remain.
“Look at you,” Yukari muses, “down two cards to none already.”
“I’m not even halfway done, Yakumo,” Kaiba reminds his opponent.
“Are you even familiar with danmaku?”
The word ‘danmaku’ seemed to click with Kaiba. The first thing that came to mind was that old franchise the “B.E.S.” archetype is from; something he based a flight simulator on when learning how to fly his Blue-Eyes White Jet—thanks, aviation laws. That was one authority he couldn’t reasonably buy out, not that he’d try to and cheat himself out of a much needed experience.
There were two big differences, though: Those games were far less dense than this can get, and the body you had to avoid contact with was much larger. But even still, the basic premise seemed the same; analyzing patterns and building their evasion solutions. Easier said than done in what amounts to a blind run. All this time he was practically fighting for his life, but now he knows what to do.
“There can only be one winner,” Kaiba proudly declares, “and you’re looking at him. Let’s go!”
His grip on the aspects of the Spell Card Battle had visibly tightened. No longer fighting but playing, Kaiba fluidly guides what was left of Yukari’s spell left and right, up and down. He retaliates with both virtual cards and the slashing motions of card drawing, not unlike a sword beam. This change in pattern quickly nets dividends, getting a beam right across Yukari’s right leg!
Yukari down! 5 spells remain.
“You’ll regret challenging me to a battle,” Kaiba boasts.
“All is still going as planned,” the Sage calmly shakes it off.
“For now.”
Yukari retaliates with more purple kunai, much thicker in amount than her previous nonspell. But Kaiba remains undeterred, with the solution basically the same general starburst-guiding evasion as before, just occasionally needing to factor in a stray one. His bevy of cards and slash-draws, not to be confused with the card “Slash Draw”, bear more fruit, netting a second straight hit of his own against her left arm!
“Don’t underestimate the diversity of one who dreams of making games,” Kaiba laughs, starting to feel it now.
“Says the one whose signature game isn’t even his own,” Yukari smirks upon calling her second spell:
Barrier “Balance of Motion & Stillness”
結界「動と静の均衡」
Alongside three large spread-out balls of danmaku, Yukari sends a magic circle Kaiba’s direction, which he instinctively gets away from. As the Sage continues to attack, the magic circles she sends spew out strings of bullets in circular direction once they reach where Kaiba was when they were sent.
The spell doesn’t last long, at all. Yukari’s rather bored approach comes back to bite her, in the form of a virtual “Ring of Destruction” card going right through her left leg. It even caught fire as it sliced her, a more physical card coming from Yukari to Kaiba! Three hits in a row, and her spell has been captured!
Yukari down! 4 spells remain.
“Something tells me you meant to take that one,” Kaiba dully glares at the Sage.
“I don’t necessarily need to defeat you to win, Kaiba,” Yukari casually reveals.
“A loser’s mentality.”
The Sage unloads fewer kunai than before, but now half of them are much faster blue kunai. Before Yukari could go long with it, however, a loud popping noise comes from Kaiba’s side of things. His card-flinging had stopped working for some reason.
“Your pattern timed out,” Yukari notes, “You must progress to your next one.”
“Huh,” Kaiba remarks, “So that’s what you meant. Time to behold the terrors within the cards!”
Penalty Sign “Experience of Doom”
罰符「死の体感 」
A slew of monstrous beings’ holograms appear, several of which gun for the Sage or fire their projectiles around, but most of the danmaku is the monsters themselves. It proves fairly easy for Yukari to weave through most of the traffic, save for this… burger with teeth gnawing her right arm!
“It’s a bit inaccurate these days,” Kaiba smirks, “Low-Level monsters tend to be the most important of an archetype.”
“Not when they’re Normals,” Yukari retorts, flicking off the Hungry Burger and calling her third spell:
Border Sign “Boundary of Wave and Particle”
境符「波と粒の境界」
Yukari starts spewing multiple strings of bullets as waves, then starts spinning around to make the fired bullets come out as a particle pattern. This mixture of patterns seems to throw the CEO for a loop, with the various changes in stream count and spin speed making a rough series to navigate. Kaiba nevertheless persists, his flight training paying off in spades with enough lasting for his fifth consecutive strike, this one the magic of one Gyakutenno Megami straight into Yukari’s face! Back-to-back captures, and Kaiba has taken the lead!
Yukari down! 3 spells remain.
“What was that about Normals,” Kaiba mockingly asks, “Even the most pathetic cards have a place.”
“Tell half the OCG’s Normals that,” Yukari quips how they never got to leave Japan.
““Heart of the Underdog”.”
Yukari’s fourth nonspell sent a surprisingly small amount of high-speed blue kunai, quickly catching Kaiba off-guard and causing him to overdodge into a bullet in the knee that destroys his monsters again!
Kaiba down! 3 spells remain.
“You will be devoured,” Yukari declares, “Such is the fate of any Outsider.”
“You think I’ll give in to fear,” Kaiba assumes the Sage is bluffing, “I fear nothing! Especially not you.”
“Then you can fear just that.”
As Kaiba starts hucking sizable amounts of card beams, Yukari makes an ominously familiar purple rift in reality full of eyes along the Duel Barrier at the bottom. The CEO pulls out one of his physical cards, leaving it face-down as the gap grows. Not paying attention quickly costs him, as a second straight kunai pops him upside the head!
“Your very presence shall be at stake,” Yukari commands as the gap shoots up… only to be stopped by his face-down suddenly turning into a huge wall, or rather floor, of concrete bricks.
““Imperial Iron Wall” prevents us from banishing,” Kaiba smirks, “You won’t take me away from the fate I carve!
Vengeful Sign “Destined Rivals”
怨符「対峙する宿命」
Two stone tablets appear behind the players; Kaiba’s of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Yukari’s of Dark Magician. The Blue-Eyes lets in a deep breath and unloads an extremely wide blast of White Lightning, easily encompassing the Duel Barrier… however, the Dark magician on the other side launches its Dark Magic Attack to intervene, stopping most of the attack and leaving plenty of space to maneuver around.
Only about a sixth of the blast would get through the ball of darkness at a time, emerging in the form of scattered bullets of light or thin lasers that serve as the real danmaku pattern. A relatively simplistic if cramped pattern, but still effective enough to get a piece of Yukari’s chest!
“You got some nerve to try to openly break your own game’s rules like that,” Kaiba points at the Sage, not quite over the fact that she tried to gap him.
“What makes you so sure I was,” Yukari smugly smirks as she casts her fourth spell:
Barrier “Mesh of Light and Darkness”
結界「光と闇の網目」
The Sage unloads dual clumps of light bullets ahead; a blue one to her right, a red one to her left. Some of these went a lot faster than the others, but kept to themselves as their guiding bullet leaves more lights in its wake. These lights alternate directions with thin pointers. Kaiba realizes too late that this was the warning light, as a blue laser plows into his shoulder, destroying both monsters he summoned… and his “Imperial Iron Wall”!
Kaiba down! 2 spells remain.
“Whoa, what’s goin’ on there!?” Marisa yells out, pointing at the bright and dark scatterings a short distance ahead, “Is Kaiba seriously playin’ with her of all youkai!?”
“I’d be more worried about him falling,” Atem notes, starting to see this gaping hole below the danmaku.
The magician’s eyes bulge as she sees just how huge that gap is, in addition to all the destruction that just occurred.
“Looks like we’re close,” she says, turning off her mini-Hakkero and slowing down greatly as the two reach their destination, “Don’t wanna ram head-on into a Duel Barrier.”
“I was hoping he wouldn’t arrive,” Yukari laments, “One moment.”
“Don’t think I’m about to let you fly away,” Kaiba retorts.
“Oh, I’m not. This is about entering, not leaving.”
Yukari’s oversized gap spreads more and more, crawling up the Duel Barrier, “Specifically, I won’t let anyone do so during our battle.”
Back outside the Duel Barrier, Marisa has some words about just what Yukari is doing, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her actually try to keep a fight private like this. Danmaku is a spectator sport!”
“It’s because of my presence,” the Pharaoh remarks, “She must not want me to intervene.”
“Personally, I don’t think it’s you. Maybe it’s somethin’ in yer Deck she thinks could mess things up? Can’t think of much that’d handle barriers, though.”
What the magician said rang a bell in Atem’s head. It reminded him of one of the times Kaiba flexed on him in the few times they team together. And it seemed to resonate within his Deck, too. The Pharaoh simply smirks, having a lot of faith in both his Deck and Kaiba.
All the eyes of this purple scenery now surrounding the competitors seemed to be staring straight into Kaiba’s soul, attempting to unnerve the CEO. The effect is little, however, as Kaiba now keeps to his condensed space in her mesh and readily evades fire. His Duel Disk shines and unloads wavy, curving danmaku of its own, but these were a far cry from virtual. Yukari could tell that there was actual magic inside these lights, especially when one of those orbs beans her on the side of her head!
Yukari down! 2 spells remain.
“I’ve seen my share of Shadow Games,” Kaiba says, “and this is a far cry from such a thing.”
“Yet your penalty will be worse than any of them could dream of being,” Yukari smirks, as if declaring she’ll subject the CEO to a fate worse than death.
“All that bark and still no bite so far. You remind me of a certain dog.”
A little peeved that she isn’t getting into Kaiba’s heart, like anyone could, Yukari starts throwing arcs’ worth of blue and green kunai in frequent broken waves, making shapes somewhat like lotus petals in the process. The rather scattered nature of the bullets makes it a bit hard for Kaiba to recollect it all, with a stray kunai nailing his Duel Disk!
“Reality and fantasy do not mix,” Yukari deems, “and neither does magic and technology.”
“Common sense will simply hold you back,” Kaiba smirks, “surpassing it and combining the two is what brought me to Duat in the first place!”
Magitech “Dragon Scepter Blast”
魔技術「ギャラクシーブラスター」
(Magic Technology “Galaxy Blaster”)
A “Magician of Black Chaos” and three “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”s appear behind Kaiba and start swirling into one creature; said magician riding a three-headed dragon! The combined “Dragon Master Magia” unloads three rather thin (compared to his base Blue-Eyes) beams from its dragon mouths: One at the center and two outward. In the meantime, this crackling ball of energy from the magician gives chase to the Sage.
Yukari deftly avoids the incoming ball, retreating to the other side of the center head once it has to catch its breath. Unfortunately for her she’s caught off guard as the two outside heads fire across their body, leaving her in a smaller than expected area and getting some crackling chaos to her side!
“Only together can the arcane and mundane reach their full potential,” Kaiba boasts.
“You of all people calling a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon mundane,” Yukari laughs, “That’s richer than you are!”
Evil Spirits “Dreamland of Straight and Curve”
罔両「ストレートとカーブの夢郷」
Yukari starts shooting sets of cyan bullets off to her sides, which then turn towards Kaiba and form a curving web of bullets. She also hucks twin arcs of bright red balls that hook in, nearly cutting off Kaiba’s advance as he maneuvers about the rather large area he has even with some thin lasers coming along the sides every now and then.
More balls of chaos are launched as the dragon heads of “Magia” alternate between cross-firing and straight firing, leaving little to memory for Kaiba’s pattern. Eventually the convoy of scepter blasts forces Yukari to zig right into some serious dragonbreath. That’s Kaiba’s third captured spell of the battle!
Yukari down! Last spell!
“I highly doubt you’re going to subject yourself to your Penalty Game,” Kaiba scoffs.
“That’s just how I get around, Kaiba,” Yukari retorts, “We don’t have common sense here.”
“I figured that much from the name of this place.”
“And you can be lost for eternity,” Yukari pulls out her final spell, “trapped between time and space!”
Evil Spirits “Yukari Yakumo’s Spiriting Away”
罔両「八雲紫の神隠し」
Right off the bat, Kaiba faces a burst of bullets heading right for him with a warning light, a spread of butterflies accompanying six equiangular lasers. He pretty easily gets away from this, only to realize that Yukari is nowhere to be found. Kaiba looks around to see if he can find the Sage, but where she is becomes his exact location. Catching him sleeping, Yukari reappears directly in Kaiba’s space, every bullet of this attack going right through his body in a painful, devastating telefrag!
Kaiba down! Last spell!
♪
The “Dragon Master Magia” starts to spiral again as the magician on top gets leveled, leaving only the three Blue-Eyes as Kaiba splats on the back edge of the Duel Barrier from that fierce sneak attack. A “De-Fusion” in his hand dissipates.
“I hope you said your goodbyes to the Pharaoh, Seto Kaiba,” Yukari glares at her opponent… who’s laughing his head off?
Kaiba slaps his hand at the Duel Barrier… and his dragons vanish into lights, which seemingly blink out as they enter the boundary past that barrier.
“You just forfeited your monsters, like any monster could help you here.”
Marisa sits on her broom as Atem floats nearby, looking worried, “She’s trying to recreate that!?”
“Can’t say for sure if it’s a proper Shadow Game reenactment or an attempt at privacy…”
“I hope it’s the latter; for Yukari’s sake as much as Kaiba’s. If there’s one thing I know about imitations, they pale compared to the real deal.”
♪ God’s Anger
A thick streak of blue light suddenly shoots up out of Atem’s Deck, and the surrounding area becomes overcast. Marisa quickly realizes what’s going on as lots of lights rise out of the barrier somehow, rocketing into the clouds, “Another god summon, Pharaoh!?”
“Yes,” he answers, “but not by me.”
“But if it wasn’t you, and what ya said about Kaiba was right…
Marisa audibly gulps as a behemoth streak of lightning crashes down right behind the blob of gap. In the wake is a behemoth of a figure from the waist up, big demonlike wings on its back, looking like it was chiseled out of a tremendous blue stone.
“That’s…”
Tormentor “Fist of Fate”
巨神兵「ゴッド・ハンド・クラッシャー」
(Giant Divine Soldier “God Hand Crusher”)
“It’s no monster…” Kaiba loudly calls out his final spell, “It’s a God! “Obelisk the Tormentor!””
It didn’t look like anything was coming, besides a modest-sized bevy of little star bits all heading the same direction. As Kaiba lunges forward from another incoming teleport from Yukari, he makes sure to position himself around the middle of his own danmaku pattern. A warning light of some sort would be there, but it’s blocked by Yukari’s gap! As soon as the Sage’s next teleport locked in, Kaiba swerves upstream from his very subpar-seeming pattern…
Yukari finds it way too easy to weave through all the star bits in her teleport, but as soon as she was back to the field, she witnesses what should be an impossible sight. Her gap ball looked tense in a spot for the slightest moment before tearing apart, giving way to a Master Spark-sized fist that crashed through her with the force of a runaway train! She’s sent careening into another part of her gap, reappearing elsewhere and reeling into another part, again and again for several seconds before she finally explodes, eradicating the ball of gap in question!
WINNER (6-5) – Seto Kaiba
“I’ll defeat you in this dimension or any dimension!”
♪ Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Tag Force Special ~ Story (Problem)
“How was I supposed to know that was coming,” Yukari gradually rights herself, “Where was the warning indication?
Obelisk glares at her before returning to Kaiba. The Sage turned over and saw Atem and Marisa descending towards her, “And was it trying to rub it in or something?”
Atem more directly quotes, “‘You blocked it.’”
Yukari immediately realizes that she screwed herself over when trying to block out Atem. The backside of her gap prevented any incoming signal she could’ve gotten, causing the Fist of Fate to come as a barrier-breaking surprise that ruined any chance of victory she had.
“Just can’t beat the real deal, ya know,” Marisa smirks, feeling a bit nostalgic about the whole debacle.
“Now now, Marisa,” the Pharaoh differs, “you held pretty well against Slifer the Sky Dragon.”
“Everything is going as planned,” Yukari smirks, “pointless loss aside.”
“It won’t be once Hell’s finest are here,” Kaiba interrupts, “Some danmaku system won’t save—”
“You!”
All eyes went towards where the village would be, seeing the all-too-familiar shrine maiden gracefully floating towards the group… specifically Kaiba.
Notes:
Imagine thinking a mere barrier would hold The Breaking Ruin God.
This is my last chapter before I have to build a large amount of OriCa. Seriously, Reimu would be hopelessly outmatched otherwise; more on that in a side-story writing.
If The_Ideal_Script is still available, I have a Twitter and a Discord if you want a contact outside said side-story.
Chapter 10: (Stage 5, Part 1) Duelists of the Lilies
Summary:
The shrine maiden finally gets to the one responsible, ready to instill terror into his heart. In the meantime, the Pharaoh remembers he has more than just Gensokyo to defend.
(This is part of Stage 5 for both Atem and Kaiba.)
Notes:
WARNING: ORIGINAL CARDS INBOUND
And probably broken as hell, too. But when you're dealing with things like Card of Sanctity and the Egyptian Gods at their more usual power, you need all the help you can get.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
♪ Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Tag Force Special ~ Story (Conflict)
“You’re the one responsible for this Incident, aren’t you?” Reimu points her gohei at him, staring daggers into him.
“You’re not entirely wrong,” Kaiba retorts, “but you can thank the Sage behind you.”
“I know Yukari spirited away Atem and all that. She even gave me a Deck, though that was actually Yorihime-sensei using her as a delivery youkai. I’ve already dealt with the Pharaoh, and now it’s your turn! I’m sure he’d like a piece of Yukari, too.”
“She’s not wrong, however,” the Pharaoh looks intently at the Sage, “I do have a Duel to defend the sanctity of. However, you did just go through an arduous battle and received the wrath of an Egyptian God. Let’s ensure that you’re well recovered before I challenge you.”
“You take me for a fragile human,” Yukari scoffs, “You may be a divine spirit, but I’ll make sure you understand what I’m capable of.”
“Considering how you just lost to Kaiba, don’t count on it.
““LET’S FIRE!””
6-Spell Battle
古代遊戯王 アテム
Atem, Ancient King of Games
VS
Yukari Yakumo, Illusion Sage of Paradise
楽園の幻想魔賢者 八雲紫
♪ Night Falls ~ Evening Star (Immaterial and Missing Power)
Having gotten a thorough and proper series of danmaku patterns at last, the Pharaoh unloads the same opening pattern of hieroglyph rings he started the battle with Marisa against. This proves unsurprisingly effortless for the youkai Sage, who retaliates with three overlapping, but differently spread pinwheel shots. This proves rather hard to discern off the bat, managing to clip Atem’s DiaDhank!
“This isn’t like Duel Monsters, Pharaoh,” the Sage smirks, “You won’t be able to come back if you get too far behind.”
“Duel Monsters wouldn’t give a chance to get that far behind,” Atem rebukes as he unloads his first Spell, not Summoning a monster with it.
Soul Sign “Labyrinth Treasure Hunt”
魂符「迷宮宝探し」
Before the Sage knew it, the inside of the Duel Barrier had become apparently a maze of danmaku walls, with something starting to form at Yukari’s location. “Apparently” because there were no dead ends or an exit. The Sage rather lazily floats forward as the thing she leaves becomes an orb that follows her path, occasionally throwing bullet spreads aimed at Yukari. Although there are no dead ends, this doesn’t prevent hairpin turns or forcing the Sage to weave through incoming fire, the tandem of which results in a faceful of searing light!
“In fact, the Duel would’ve ended right about then,” Atem continues his line earlier.
“And yet our battles are faster than yours,” Yukari retorts at her opponent as she casts her first spell.
Evil Spirits “Bewitching Butterfly Living in the Zen Temple”
罔両「禅寺に棲む妖蝶」
Several stray blue butterflies shoot out a short distance as a set of short-distance lasers gradually form a manji pattern. As the blue butterflies start to double back, a foreboding noise proves conducive to all the blue butterflies and the blue manji disappearing; as if Yukari was triggering some sort of supernatural barrier on Atem with the swap. In their place is a red manji the Pharaoh wasn’t expecting, its outer lines not segmented like the blue one and giving him a light faceful of his own!
Atem down! 5 Spells remain.
“Understand whose hand you’ve been playing into,” Yukari nonchalantly muses.
“It’s rather traditional of Duelists,” the Pharaoh admits, seeing it wasn’t that long ago that Enoko gave him the business with traps.
“As traditional as illiteracy.”
Atem then starts firing off rings of more complex hieroglyphs, looking more like sentences than words as the rings pile on. It helps a little in hindering Yukari’s progress, but on his own evasion he ends up getting a butterfly on his bum, staggering him!
♪ Story Mode: Dimension Duel (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links)
“So why’d she even bring him, at least you think,” Reimu quips as she watches the Pharaoh and Sage facing off.
“She did it to lure me to here,” Kaiba dully glares at Yukari, “thinking I might stumble into and spoil this place’s existence if she didn’t intervene.”
“Then why didn’t she spirit you away?”
“The reason is right here,” Kaiba shows his Duel Disk and lights it up “though even if she did, it’d just switch my role and the Pharaoh’s.”
Reimu’s eyes widened, “Is that… magic!?” the thought that someone had handled arcane power with mundane technology caused the shrine maiden to shiver. She immediately puts up her gohei.
Reimu uttered a fierce comment, “I cannot let you leave Gensokyo, alive or dead, until you are bound by youkai contract to keep your technological advancements from resulting in knowledge of this realm becoming public.”
“And I have every intention to bring Duel Monsters everywhere possible,” Kaiba retorts, “The blood-soaked wars of the human race must become a thing of the past!”
“We already have something to prevent that. It’s called the Spell Card Battle. Now listen up! I am the Shrine Maiden of Paradise, Reimu Hakurei! I’ll defend the Barrier, no matter what!
“AND I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL!”
Kaiba laughs, “What are you even going to Duel me with? I see no Duel Disk, no Dueling arena, and not even a decent surface. Zanmu at least used a danmaku skull to hold her cards.”
The shrine maiden puts her hands together and starts uttering things in a much too pure language for her tongue. Before long, a divine spirit seemed to inhabit her body; a goddess wearing revealing clothing and a translucent shawl. Once her summoning was finished, Reimu casually pulls out four Yin-Yang Orbs floating at her side, pulling out five cards from her inner left one.
“The ones you call ‘Spirits’ will show you their true might,” Reimu winks, “We aren’t so shackled in Paradise, Kaiba!”
“Do you really think I’ll lose to a bunch of Spirits,” Kaiba laughs, “That’s one of the worst series in the entire game! That ‘Yorihime-sensei’ you spoke of is going to be disappointed!”
“You shall know the wrath of the Myriad Gods.
✊ ““IT’S TIME TO DU…”” ✊
✌️ ““D-D-D-DUEL!”” ✊
“You’re the—wait, hold on,” Reimu interrupts herself.
The shrine maiden saw that Kaiba’s Duel Disk recognized him as 18 years old, while her shown age remained ‘UNKNOWN,’ “You’re only 18? That’s actually really important to know for later. You know what age Atem died at?”
“Historical records show that the Pharaoh was only 16 when he perished.”
“Okay, so he’s a minor, too. Good to know that. Now where was I… Ah, right.
♪ Dimension Duel: Intro (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links)
“You’re the Incident maker,” Reimu declares, “You go first.”
Duel
青き眼の王 海馬瀬人
Seto Kaiba, the King with Eyes of Blue
VS
Reimu Hakurei, Wonderful Shrine Maiden of Paradise
楽園の素敵な巫女 博麗霊夢
Turn 1: Seto Kaiba
Kaiba: 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 36 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
Reimu: 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 55 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
♪ The Unknown Duelist (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links)
“I’ll start this Duel with “The Melody of Awakening Dragon”. By discarding “The White Stone of Ancients” from my hand, I can add 2 Dragons with at least 3000 Attack and no more than 2500 Defense from my Deck to my hand. I’ll bring a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” and “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” to my hand. Next I’ll call upon “Sage with Eyes of Blue”, and use its effect when Normal Summoned to add another Level 1 LIGHT Tuner to my hand; the vessel of pride and soul, “Maiden of White”! I now activate her effect! By sending her from my hand or field to the Graveyard, I can place “True Light” face-up on the field directly from my Deck!” A sizable stone tablet erects behind Kaiba, depicting the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” on it as Kaiba makes his next move.
“Come forth, circuit bridging man and myth!”
The Link Summoning gate appears between the two players, causing Reimu’s eyes to widen, “So that’s what the thing looks like for real,” she thinks to herself, “And he makes it sound so integral to society, too. They probably summon monsters from their phones to do their work with these so-called ‘circuits’ they can just call out.”
“The Summoning condition requires a Level 4 or lower Dragon or Spellcaster,” Kaiba continues as his “Sage with Eyes of Blue” is spun into a red tornado arrow that launches itself to the lower-left Link Arrow, “Even the mightiest Dragon is born a mere hatchling. From this one chip called life, a legend first spreads its wings! I Link Summon! Introduce yourself to the world, Link-1 “Spirit with Eyes of Blue”!”
A sizable bluish-white altar erects upwards, a sizable egg resting on top. The egg starts to shake, and Reimu immediately makes a wide slash with her gohei, making a sizable rift in reality she hops into, closing the rift behind her. The egg shortly hatches, revealing a newborn dragon roughly the size of a child to the shoulder. Kaiba, however, seems more focused on the disappearing shrine maiden and another rift in reality between him and the altar which Reimu pops out of, putting a large talisman above her head.
“What are you trying to do to that thing, Kaiba!?” Reimu yells at her opponent, “It could’ve registered me as its mother!”
“I’m pretty sure even a newborn Blue-Eyes isn’t as dumb as a bird,” Kaiba is nonplussed as his monster spits a mini burst stream against Reimu’s talisman, to no avail, “Now get back to your spot before my Duel Disk marks the Duel as abandoned.”
The shrine maiden grumbles a bit before taking the talisman and heading back to her rift, closing it and reappearing at her previous location. With the rifts now gone, Kaiba continues, “First, when it’s Link Summoned, “Spirit with Eyes of Blue” lets me add the “Mausoleum of White” from my Deck to either my hand or Graveyard. This time, it goes to my hand. And now I activate it!”
Before Reimu, or even Atem or Yukari, knew it, the ground had changed to a rather white floor that looked like a vast flower with many varied lengths of metal petal, with some blue spots in a Duel formation. Below each Duelist is a pair of stained-glass floors that clearly resemble a Blue-Eyes’ head, with large doors flanked by two banner-bearing colonnades. The whole area is surrounded by ten claw-like spires rising high, which the young dragon’s altar seems based on.
“Next, I activate the effect of “Mausoleum of White”, targeting my “Spirit with Eyes of Blue”. This lets me send a Normal monster from my Deck to my Graveyard to boost the target’s Attack points by 100 times the sent monster’s Level. Sending my second “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” gives my monster an additional 800 Attack points. But that boost isn’t what this is for. I simply wanted to have a “Blue-Eyes” in my Graveyard. Now I activate “Spirit with Eyes of Blue”’s second effect!”
The young dragon and its altar shine as Kaiba uses its effect, “By Tributing it, I can Special Summon a “Blue-Eyes” from my Graveyard, but its effects are negated and it can’t attack, unless I summon a Normal monster.
“Destroy the darkness, “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”!”
The altar the young dragon was on vanishes as it grows and develop rapidly, evolving into the very “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” that Marisa recognized as causing a ruckus earlier.
“Calm down with that thing, Kaiba,” Marisa yells, “Ya want everybody and their mothers comin’ over fer a piece of ya?”
“Did you not hear my intentions, little witch?” Kaiba retorts, “As I told the Pharaoh’s closest servants, I plan on teaching the fantastic beings of Gensokyo how to Duel! So let them come and learn from the masters.”
“Pretty sure Reimu ain’t no master.”
“But the Pharaoh is. Furthermore, I’ve only gotten started. Not only is my “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” untargetable by your card effects, since I Normal or Special Summoned a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”, its vessel rises from my hand or Graveyard. Come forth, “Maiden of White”!”
A young maiden with long white hair, a white dress on, and eyes of blue arrives in a flash of light alongside Kaiba’s fave monster. She seems to be chanting something, causing the stone tablet to glow.
“I now activate “True Light”’s effect,” Kaiba declares, “Setting a Spell or Trap that mentions “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”; “Prayers for Eyes of Blue”, which I then activate! By discarding my “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon”, I can add a Level 1 LIGHT Tuner and another Spell or Trap that mentions “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” to my hand; “Master with Eyes of Blue” and “Roar of the Blue-Eyed Dragons”.”
“Tuner?” Reimu quips, “So you’re the one Atem learned Synchro Summoning from.”
“And my “Mausoleum of White” also grants me an additional Normal Summon, as long as I Normal Summon a Level 1 LIGHT Tuner, such as “Master with Eyes of Blue”! And by Normal Summoning it, I can now activate its effect to bring my “Sage with Eyes of Blue” in the Graveyard back to my hand. But we faithful of the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” are far from finished. “Sage with Eyes of Blue” has a second effect. By discarding it from my hand, I can target my “Master with Eyes of Blue” and send it to my Graveyard, and in return Special Summon a “Blue-Eyes” monster from my Deck.”
“Your second “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”?”
“Not yet. There’s multiple such facets to be had. Rise from the depths, “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon”! And with its arrival, I get to add a Ritual Spell or “Polymerization” to my hand. I’ll be going with the latter.”
“The light of my dragons brings a new one to me!” Kaiba shows the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” in his hand, and a second, sleeker-looking dragon erects from the ground, “Come on out, “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon”! As long as this monster is on the field or in the Graveyard, its name is “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”. And now I activate “Polymerization”!”
The two dragons on the field prepare to fly upwards, while a third one manifests from Kaiba’s hand, “My ultimate dragon takes on a new form! I Fusion Summon! Come on out, “Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon”!”
Reimu shudders a bit as the three-headed beast looms and roars, “An Ultimate Dragon already!?”
“And that’s just the start of it,” Kaiba smirks, “I activate my “Master with Eyes of Blue” in my Graveyard. By shuffling him back to my Deck, I can target my “Maiden of White” to send her to the Graveyard to Special Summon a different “Blue-Eyes” monster from there. But first, since “Maiden of White” was targeted by an attack or card effect, I can activate her last effect, letting me Special Summon a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” or Level 1 LIGHT Tuner from my Graveyard before she departs. I’ll bring back my “Sage with Eyes of Blue”, and then “Master with Eyes of Blue” sends her to the Graveyard to bring back my “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon”!
“And I’ll use “Wishes for Eyes of Blue”’s effect in my Graveyard! By banishing it from the Duel, I can target my “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” and equip it with a “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon” from my Extra Deck to give it 400 more Attack points… just so I can bring those two together and Special Summon “Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon”! This monster can be Special Summoned from my Extra Deck by Tributing a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” equipped with a Fusion monster, plus it’s immune to Traps. And there’s still more. Since the equipped card gets destroyed when the equipped monster leaves the field, another monster is cleared for takeoff; “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon”! It protects all other cards I control from being destroyed by card effects. Finally, I Tune my Level 1 “Sage with Eyes of Blue” with my Level 8 “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” to Synchro Summon the Level 9 “Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon”.”
“Five monsters with that much power!?”
“As long as “Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon” is on the field, we each can only Special Summon 1 monster at a time. I Set 1 card face-down and enter my End Phase. In my End Phase, my “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon”’s effect activates, letting me add a “Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon” from my Deck to my hand. In addition, I also activate “The White Stone of Ancients”’s effect in my Graveyard. Since it was sent there this turn, I can Special Summon “Blue-Eyes Solid Dragon” from my Deck! Now, let’s prove just how powerless your so-called Spirits truly are. It’s your move.”
Reimu’s eyes widened, staring down an Orochi’s worth of blue-eyed dragon heads looming over her just as several other figures seem to be entering the area; mostly fairies and a couple stray youkai.
Kaiba activates “The Melody of Awakening Dragon”, discarding “The White Stone of Ancients” to add “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” and “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” from his Deck to his hand. He then Normal Summons “Sage with Eyes of Blue” (0/1500) and activates its first effect, adding “Maiden of White” from his Deck to his hand. He then activates “Maiden of White”, discarding it to place “True Light” on his field face-up. He then puts “Sage” to the Link Arrows and Link Summons “Spirit with Eyes of Blue” (300/↙) to his left Extra Monster Zone. Since it was Link Summoned, Kaiba activates “Spirit”’s first effect, adding “Mausoleum of White” from his Deck to his hand.
Kaiba then activates “Mausoleum of White” and activates its effect, targeting “Spirit” and sending “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from his Deck to his GY to increase the target’s ATK by the sent card’s Level x100 (“Spirit” ATK 300 → 1100). He then activates “Spirit”’s second effect, Tributing it to Special Summon “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” (3000/2500) from his GY in Attack Position. Since Kaiba Normal or Special Summoned a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”, he activates “Maiden”’s second effect, Special Summoning it (0/0) from his GY in Defense Position.
Kaiba activates “True Light”’s effect, Setting “Wishes for Eyes of Blue” from his Deck to the field. He then activates “Wishes for Eyes of Blue”, discarding “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” to add “Master with Eyes of Blue” and “Roar of the Blue-Eyed Dragons” to his hand. Using the extra Normal Summon of a Level 1 LIGHT Tuner from “Mausoleum of White”, Kaiba Normal Summons “Master with Eyes of Blue” (300/1200) and activates its first effect, targeting and returning “Sage” from the GY to his hand. He then activates “Sage”’s second effect, discarding it and targeting “Master” to send it to the GY, then Special Summon “Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon” (2500/2500) from his Deck in Defense Position. Since he Special Summoned it, Kaiba activates “Abyss Dragon”’s effect, adding “Polymerization” from his Deck to his hand.
Kaiba reveals a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” in his hand to Special Summon “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” (3000/2500) from his hand in Attack Position. He then activates “Polymerization”, fusing the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” in his hand and on the field with the “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” on the field to Fusion Summon “Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon” (4500/3800) in Attack Position. He then activates “Master”’s second effect, targeting “Maiden”. Since it was targeted by an attack or card effect, he then chains “Maiden”’s third effect. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Maiden” resolves, Special Summoning “Sage” (0/1500) in Defense position. “Master” resolves, sending “Maiden” to the GY to Special Summon “Alternative White Dragon” (3000/2500) from his GY in Attack Position.
Kaiba activates “Wishes”’ effect in the GY, banishing it and targeting “Alternative White Dragon” (since its name is “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” while on the field) and equipping it with “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon” as an Equip Spell that gives it 400 ATK (“Alternative White Dragon” ATK 3000 → 3400). He then Tributes “Alternative White Dragon”, which destroys the equipped “Ultimate Dragon”, to Special Summon “Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon” (3400/2900) from his Extra Deck by its own Summoning condition in Attack Position. Since a card was destroyed, Kaiba then activates “Jet Dragon”’s effect in his GY, Special Summoning it (3000/0) in Attack Position. He then Tunes his Level 1 “Sage” with his Level 8 “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” to Synchro Summon the Level 9 “Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon” (2500/3000) in Defense Position. He Sets 1 card.
In the End Phase, Kaiba activates “Abyss Dragon”’s effect, adding “Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon” from his Deck to his hand. Since it was sent to the GY this turn, he also activates “Ancients”’ effect in the GY, Special Summoning a “Blue-Eyes Solid Dragon” (2500/2000) in Defense position.
♪ Night Falls ~ Evening Star (Scarlet Weather Rhapsody)
“Look at that board,” Yukari guffaws as she looks down to the Duel, “All that and only 1 or 2 disruptions.”
“But it is well-protected… from most decks,” the Pharaoh retorts as a stone tablet erects behind him and forms a big stone golem kneeling down.
Stone Sword “Attack the Moon!”
石剣「ムーン・スクレイパー」
“I call upon “Giant Soldier of Stone” and activate “Mystical Moon”!”
A full moon starts to rise behind Atem, and what could be best described as an ocean of danmaku starts filling the Duel Barrier from the bottom up, forcing Yukari uncomfortably high for her manji. Following the beams when it’s red, the Pharaoh figures out the solution to Yukari’s spell.
As the “water” reaches about halfway up the Barrier and close to the “Giant Soldier of Stone”, the rocky being stands up, pulling out a stone sword from its front sheath and eyeing the “Mystical Moon” just above it at this point. With a hard thrust, the soldier impales the moon with that sword, shattering it into pieces that start falling around! This seemed to cause pause in the Sage, enough of it for the falling pieces of moon to splash her as they enter the now-receding waters!
Yukari down! 5 Spells remain.
“To think you’re the one stunned,” the Pharaoh smirks, “Did my stone soldier strike a nerve, too?”
“Quite,” Yukari laments, “You have no idea how important the Moon is to youkai.”
“I’m just depicting part of a Duel I had.”
The Sage quickly unloads her next nonspell as the tides go back down; two sets of kunai-throwing spinners from herself, one quick and counterclockwise, the other slow and clockwise. Keeping the slower ones as a lane guide, Atem gradually dekes back and forth whenever a quick one comes his way, holding his own long enough for the next moonrise and stabbing to get a piece of miniature moon popped upside her head! It strangely smelled quite pungent.
“It’s not offending you or anything, is it,” the Pharaoh shows some concern over his opponent.
“It’s a lot easier to take in context,” Yukari smirks as she readies her next spell, “And rumi cheese? Seriously?”
Sinister Spirits “Double Black Death Butterfly”
魍魎「二重黒死蝶」
Now over the initial shock of a golem destroying the Moon, Yukari quickly starts eluding fire and unloads a huge burst of dual colors of butterflies outwards a sizable distance before stopping, each color turning around in opposite directions as Atem weaves about, closing in behind him and leaving little room for error. A second such burst of butterflies unloads in a similar way, but look strangely different. But the third burst, looking more like the first, gets the Pharaoh caught between two butterflies putting him on a standing aileron roll, breaking his soldier and imitation Moon and receding the tide!
Atem down! 4 Spells remain.
“The Moon is the reason we youkai exist,” Yukari rather seriously says, “Defiling it will not be tolerated.”
“From what I’ve heard from Reimu,” the Pharaoh remarks, “you’re not too fond of the place yourself.”
“You would be too if a new face one-upped your very best.”
Atem’s nonspell pattern loses its simpler hieroglyph rings, instead favoring hieratic text in a pinwheel pattern. Some wiser eludings later, the Pharaoh finally manages to get a piece of Yukari’s shoulder with what looked like a Sun symbol, scattering the Sage’s butterflies!
Yukari down! 4 Spells remain.
“Hey, that loss was my own fault,” Atem gets a bit defensive at Yukari’s last line, “I was more mad at myself than anyone.”
“I highly doubt you were clearly outmatched,” Yukari continues, “having to do something perilous to preserve integrity.”
“I did have to in order to save two worlds, Kaiba Corporation, and my partner.”
Yukari brings out her third, and unbeknownst to the Pharaoh final, nonspell, which proves to be simply lines of sunburst-patterned kunai as she weaves about. Given its simplicity compared to Atem’s nonspell, she’s quickly outgunned and gets a hieroglyph to the leg! The Pharaoh takes the lead!
“Whereas it sounded like you simply wanted to get at that Lunarian,” he retorts, “It’s no wonder Reimu called it a salty runback.”
Turn 2: Reimu Hakurei
Kaiba: 8000 | Hand: 1 | Deck: 24 | EX: 10 (0) | Grave: 11 | Banish: 1 (0)
“Alternative Ultimate Dragon” (4500/3800); “Mausoleum of White”, [Left to right] “Jet Dragon” (3000/0), “Spirit Dragon” (2500/3000), “Tyrant Dragon” (3400/2900), “Solid Dragon” (2500/2000), “Abyss Dragon” (2500/2500); “True Light”, 1 Set card {“Chaos MAX Dragon”}
Reimu: 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 55 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
“This could be rough,” the shrine maiden sighs a bit before putting her hand over the inner left Yin-Yang Orb and drawing another card from it, “It’s my move. I draw…
♪ Dichromatic Lotus Butterfly ~ Ancients (Seihou Shuusou Gyoku)
“Come forth, circuit connecting Heaven and Earth!”
Kaiba immediately points at her, “You have no monsters to Link Summon with!” Yet, the familiar arrowed circle still appears.
“The Summoning condition requires a Spirit monster or “Izanagi”. Furthermore, since my field is empty, I can use such a monster in my hand!” Reimu shows the green, calm soulfire “Nikitama” that turns into a cycloning arrow that rams into the down arrow, lighting it up.
“The land fractured with native faiths becomes one. Under the banner of the Yamato, Paradise is born! I Link Summon! Unite the gods, “Jimmu the Heavenly Emperor”!”
What stood before Kaiba and most of his dragons is none other than the mythical first emperor of Japan. But with 0 Attack points, he doesn’t seem to pose much of a direct threat.
“However, since I Link Summoned him like this, I can only Special Summon Spirit monsters and “Izanagi” this turn. I now activate “Nikitama”’s effect since it was sent to my Graveyard, followed by the Emperor’s,” Reimu continues, “When he is Link Summoned, by discarding “Konohanasakuya” from my hand, I can add a Spirit monster and a card that mentions them from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand, then Normal Summon the former.”
“So you’ve already been taught a few things,” Kaiba laments getting chain blocked, “I activate my “Solid Dragon”’s effect, as well as my “Spirit Dragon”! By Tributing it, I can Special Summon “Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon” in its place! But it’ll be destroyed at the end of the turn. And my “Solid Dragon” returns to my Deck to call upon my third “Blue-Eyes” from my Deck!”
“And now the Emperor brings a second “Nikitama” and “Stars Align Above the Shrine” from my Deck to my hand, then Normal Summons “Nikitama”! Finally, since I controlled a spirit at activation and resolution, the one sent to my Grave lets me draw another card!”
“Now that my “Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon” has been Special Summoned, its effect activates! All Dragons currently on my field cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects until the end of the next turn.”
“Since I Normal Summoned “Nikitama”, I get an additional Normal Summon of a Spirit monster this turn. Now it’s time to bring yourself to the gate of the gods! “Stars Align Above the Shrine”!”
“I don’t think so, shrine maiden,” Kaiba scoffs as a luminous ringed area forms around the Duel field, “I Chain “Majesty with Dragons of White”! The shine of the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” on the field and the two in my Graveyard destroys all three of your cards!”
A vibrant light shines from the “Blue-Eyes” in play, as well as some shadow images that combine to destroy the shrine and her monsters, making her tense up just a bit.
“Geez, Kaiba,” Reimu groans, “Looks like I’ll need a different approach.
“Lend me your wisdom, “Kushitama”,” Reimu pitches a blue firesoul card to her front-right orb, being her Graveyard, “By discarding it, I can Normal Summon “Aratama” to my field!”
“Which you’ll then search Sakitama with,” Kaiba calls out, “then make some silly Rank 4 that can pull you out of this mess.”
“Well, you’re not entirely wrong. “Aratama” does activate, but instead of “Sakitama” I add “Shinobird Crane”, then use the spare Normal Summon I got from “Nikitama” to bring it out! I already have a “Sakitama” in hand, so I’ll use that one’s effect to Normal Summon it instead. Now “Shinobird Crane” fires into the sky in response to my Spirit monster being summoned. Another card draw for me! And now for one last member to this party, I’ll shuffle my “Nikitama” in the GY back into my Deck to merge them together!
“Soulful spirits of calm, become one in your slumber, and bring rise to a new tomorrow! Contact Fusion! The allurer of the Gods, “Ame-no-Uzume the Dancer of Dawn”!
The aura around Reimu flares to life and spreads forward, starting to form its own being separate of Reimu’s. This bright aura becomes the rather scantily clad woman, at least by Shinto god standards.
“No need to divert your eyes,” Reimu notes, “She activates her effect when Special Summoned, but I need a face-down monster on the field to target in order to actually apply it. She won’t be here long, either, as I now Overlay all four of my Level 4 monsters!
A familiar galaxy pattern forms on the far left of Reimu’s field as her monsters turn into light and fly upwards, “Grandiose hero and lord of the Earthen gods, even now aids us from the hidden land.
The lights crash into the galaxy pattern and both explode, “I Xyz Summon! Savior of the White Hare, “Okuninushi the Unseen Founder”!”
From the blast comes quite the sizable man with four orbs of light revolving around him. The guy’s appearance nets quite the rosy cheeks from the shrine maiden.
“Gods,” Reimu can hardly help herself, “he’s even more handsome than I expected! But now isn’t the time for that, as he has quite the effects! First, by detaching an Xyz Material, this time “Shinobird Crane”, “Okuninushi” guides a Spirit monster or card mentioning them from my hand, Deck, Extra Deck, or banishment to my Graveyard. Plus, if it was from my hand, I can draw a card. Naturally, I’ll send a “Nikitama” to activate its effect to draw another card!”
Kaiba’s eyes widened, “And that’s not once per turn!?”
“Absolutely not,” Reimu smiles as a second orb of light vanishes into her monster, “Long as he has the Xyz Materials, I can do it again and again! With my second “Nikitama” sent to the Grave, I draw yet again!
“…Oh hey, it’s my last “Nikitama”. I’ll leave “Okuninushi” with just “Ame-no-Uzume” and send the “Nikitama” in my hand to my Graveyard, netting me two more card draws!”
“Are you done drawing yet,” Kaiba deadpans.
“Yep! I have all the cards I need!”
♪ Dichromatic Lotus Butterfly ~ Ancients (Touhou Hisoutensoku)
Stars Align “Shinobird’s Calling”
星逢「霊魂の降神」
Dual souls from the Graveyard orb, the “Kushitama” and “Crane”, float over to the outer right orb, indicating her banishment. eight flames light in two lines past a sheathed sword before Reimu as a scroll appears in front of her.
“On this Tanabata, the Cowherd makes his fated trek to the Milky Way, returning those in his path to whence they came. I Ritual Summon! Descend upon us, “Shinobaron Peacock”!”
The flames rise into a column of light. A left arm in a feathery blue and white kimono emerges and grasps the sword, causing the light and scroll to dissipate. In the light’s place is a young man with a lot of peacock motifs and some gold features on the elbows and waist. The “Shinobaron” turns around, now facing Kaiba.
“And as soon as “Shinobaron Peacock” is Ritual Summoned, his effect activates, herding up to three of your monsters back to the hand, then Special Summoning a Level 4 or lower Spirit from my hand despite its conditions!”
“And it’s not a targeting effect!” Kaiba flinches briefly as all three of his Extra Deck monsters, “Tyrant”, “Alternative Ultimate”, and “Azure-Eyes”, are sent straight back to his Extra Deck, but what truly gives him pause is the massive mountainlike cave opening erecting behind Reimu! As the Torii rises just in front of Reimu at the respective Monster Zone, the shrine maiden glares at Kaiba dead in the eyes.
“Only Spirits can activate here. Welcome to “Amano-Iwato”!”
As the oppressive floodgate looms over the Duelists, Reimu ends her Main Phase, “To battle! “Shinobaron Peacock”, Strike down that defending “Abyss Dragon”!”
Kaiba doesn’t even flinch as his monster is destroyed.
“I Set a card face-down and enter my End Phase. In that End Phase, since it was Special Summoned this turn, “Shinobaron Peacock” activates its effect, returning to my hand. I get no “Shinobird Tokens” due to "Jimmu", however. “Then it’s “Okuninushi”’s turn to activate. Not only will he bring his Xyz Materials back as well, returning “Ame-no-Uzume”, but he can place up to the same number of cards returned from our Graveyards or banishments at the bottom of the Deck.”
“Not so fast, shrine maiden,” Kaiba fires back, “I activate “True Light”’s effect to Set a Spell or Trap mentioning “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from my Deck, then chain the effect of “Majesty with Dragons of White” in my Graveyard! By banishing it, I can use my “Blue-Eyes” on the field to Ritual Summon and take things to the maximum level! Come on out, “Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon”!”
“Another monster with protection from destruction and targeting,” Reimu deadpans, “I guess you were potentially about to lose it.”
“I also Set the Quick-Play Spell “Ultimate Fusion” to my field.”
“Hold on, what’s that card?”
A projection of the card appears between the Duelists, which Reimu carefully reads. She quickly sees something she doesn’t like, “There’s a monster that uses “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon” as material!? No way. I’m not letting that happen. Your “Ultimate Dragon” and… “Roar of the Blue-Eyed Dragons” are both going to the bottom of your Decks!
“That ends my turn. Surely you still have some beauty left. Show it.”
Reimu puts a “Nikitama” in her hand to the Link Arrows and Link Summons “Jimmu the Heavenly Emperor” (0/↓) to her left Extra Monster Zone.
聖帝－神武天皇
Jimmu the Heavenly Emperor
[D]
Warrior/LIGHT/Link/Spirit/Effect/0/LINK-1
1 Spirit monster or “Izanagi”
Must be Link Summoned. For this card's Link Summon, if you control no cards, you can also use the above card in your hand as material. You cannot Special Summon monsters the same turn you Link Summon this card this way, except Spirit monsters and “Izanagi”. Once per turn, during the End Phase, if this was Special Summoned this turn: Return this card on the field to the hand. If this is Link Summoned: Discard 1 card; add 1 Spirit monster and 1 card that mentions them from your Deck and/or GY to your hand, then you can, immediately after this effect resolves, Normal Summon that Spirit monster. You can only use this effect of “Jimmu the Heavenly Emperor” once per turn.
Since she Link Summoned it with a monster from her hand, Reimu cannot Special Summon this turn except Spirit monsters and “Izanagi”. Since it was sent to the GY, Reimu activates “Nikitama”’s effect. Since it was Link Summoned, she Chains “Jimmu”’s effect, discarding “Konohanasakuya”. In response, Kaiba Chains “Solid Dragon”. He further Chains “Spirit Dragon”, Tributing it.
The Chain resolves in reverse. “Spirit Dragon” resolves, Special Summoning “Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon” (2500/3000) in Defense Position, but will be destroyed at the end of the turn. “Solid Dragon” resolves, shuffling into Kaiba’s Deck and Special Summoning a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” (3000/2500) in Attack Position. “Jimmu” resolves, and Reimu adds a “Nikitama” and “Stars Align Above the Shrine” from her Deck to her hand and Normal Summoning “Nikitama” (800/1800). She gets an additional Normal Summon of a Spirit monster this turn. The “Nikitama” in Reimu’s GY resolves, and she draws a card.
“Azure-Eyes” activates, and Kaiba’s Dragons on the field cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects until the end of the next turn. Reimu activates “Stars Align Above the Shrine”. In response, Kaiba Chains “Majesty with Dragons of White”. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Dragons of White” resolves, and Kaiba shows the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” on his field and the two in his GY to destroy “Shrine”, “Jimmu”, and “Nikitama”. Reimu then activates “Kushitama” in her hand, discarding it.
奇魂
Kushitama
****
Fiend/DARK/Spirit/Effect/400/900
Cannot be Special Summoned. Once per turn, during the End Phase, if this was Normal Summoned or flipped face-up this turn: Return this card on the field to the hand. You can only use each of the following effects of “Kushitama” once per turn. You can discard this card; immediately after this effect resolves, Normal Summon 1 Level 8 or lower Spirit monster, without Tributing. During your Standby Phase, if this is in your GY or banishment: Return 1 Spirit monster or card that mentions them from your GY or banishment to your hand.
Reimu Normal Summons “Aratama” (800/1800) through “Kushitama”’s effect. Since it was Normal Summoned, “Aratama” activates its effect, adding “Shinobird Crane” from Reimu’s Deck to her hand. She then uses the extra Normal Summon given by “Nikitama” to Normal Summon “Shinobird Crane” (1500/1500). She then activates “Sakitama” in her hand, Normal Summoning it (400/900). Since she Normal or Special Summoned a Spirit monster, she then activates “Crane” and draws a card. She then shuffles the two “Nikitama” in her GY into her Deck to Special Summon “Ame-no-Uzume the Dancer of Dawn” (1400/1100) from her Extra Deck in Attack Position.
明舞－天鈿女命
Ame-no-Uzume the Dancer of Dawn
****
Warrior/LIGHT/Fusion/Spirit/Effect/1400/1100
2 Spirit monsters and/or "Izanagi"
Must be Special Summoned (from the Extra Deck) by shuffling the above cards from your hand, field, face-up Extra Deck, GY, and/or banishment into the Deck/Extra Deck. You can only Special Summon "Ame-no-Uzume the Dancer of Dawn"(s) once per turn. This card can be treated as 2 Tributes for the Tribute Summon of a Spirit monster. Once per turn, during the End Phase, if this was Special Summoned this turn: Return this card on the field to the hand. When this is Special Summoned: Target 1 face-down Defense Position monster on the field; change that target to face-up Attack Position.
Since it was Special Summoned, “Ame” activates its effect, but it has no face-down Defense Position monster to target, so it resolves without effect. Reimu then Overlays “Ame”, “Sakitama”, “Aratama”, and “Crane” to Xyz Summon “Okuninushi the Unseen Founder” (2400/2000, ORU 4) in Defense Position.
幽手－大国主命
Okuninushi the Unseen Founder
****
Fairy/EARTH/Xyz/Spirit/Effect/2400/2000
2+ Level 4 monsters
Must be Xyz Summoned. You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; send 1 Spirit monster or card that mentions them from your hand, Deck/Extra Deck, or banishment to the GY, and if it was in your hand, you can draw 1 card. Once per turn, during the End Phase, if this was Special Summoned this turn: Return this card on the field and its Xyz Materials to the hand, and if you do, you can place up to the same number of cards from the GYs or banishments at the bottom of the Deck.
Reimu activates “Okuninushi”’s effect, detaching “Crane” (ORU 4 → 3) to send “Nikitama” from her Deck to her GY. “Nikitama” activates, and Reimu draws a card. Reimu activates “Okuninushi”’s effect, detaching “Sakitama” (ORU 3 → 2) to send a second “Nikitama” from her Deck to her GY. “Nikitama” activates, and Reimu draws her last “Nikitama”. Reimu activates “Okuninushi”’s effect, detaching “Aratama” (ORU 2 → 1) to send her last “Nikitama” from her hand to her GY and, since it was in her hand, draw a card. “Nikitama” activates, and Reimu draws a card.
Reimu activates “Shinobird’s Calling”, banishing “Kushitama” and “Crane” from her GY to Ritual Summon “Shinobaron Peacock” (3000/2500) in Attack Position. She then activates “Baron”, sending “Tyrant Dragon”, “Azure-Eyes”, and “Alternative Ultimate Dragon” to the Extra Deck and Special Summoning “Amano-Iwato” (1900/1100) from her hand in Defense Position.
“Baron” attacks and destroys “Abyss Dragon”. Reimu Sets a card.
In the End Phase, “Baron” activates, returning to Reimu’s hand. It cannot Special Summon "Shinobird Token"s due to "Jimmu"'s effect. “Okuninushi” activates. In response, Kaiba Chains “True Light”, Setting a card from his Deck and also “Majesty with Dragons of White” from his GY, banishing it.
The Chain resolves in reverse. “Dragons of White” resolves, and Kaiba Tributes his “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” to Ritual Summon “Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon” (4000/0) from his hand in Attack Positioin. “True Light” resolves, Setting “Ultimate Fusion”. “Okuninushi” resolves, returning itself and its Xyz Materials (“Ame”) to the Extra Deck while Reimu puts “Ultimate Dragon” and “Roar” at the bottom of Kaiba’s Extra Deck and Deck respectively.
“Those Lunarians had to know their place if they were to be champions of man,” Yukari scowled, “And I’ll make you know that place, too. Welcome to the gauntlet!”
♪ A Maiden's Illusionary Funeral ~ Necro-Fantasy
Shikigami “Ran Yakumo”
式神「八雲藍」
Atem steels himself for an onslaught of bullets. What he wasn’t expecting was a nine-tailed kitsune barreling right into him!
“Master Yukari,” Ran calls, “Even I can tell this person isn’t such a high level of threat to Gensokyo.”
“I already lost to the threat,” Yukari responds, “The shrine maiden is taking care of him.”
“And I’m the one who challenged her here,” the Pharaoh retaliates as he pulls out his third spell:
Magic Sign “Magical Hats”
魔符「マジカルシルクハット」
An oversized hat with a “?” symbol in front appears and covers Atem, then copies into four hats that start shuffling for a bit before floating about.
“Imagine trying to outfox a fox,” the shikigami makes a zigzag beeline for one of the hats and ferociously claws it apart… revealing nothing but a burst of danmaku all over her! Too bad it’s Yukari that the Pharaoh needs to hit, “Of course he’d start in the far hat!”
After a short recalculation and some timely eluding from her master, Ran takes aim again, seeking the hat that started farthest from where Atem was… This time she’s met with a cry of agony and a Spell Card launching into her sleeve. The Pharaoh’s spell is captured!
Atem down! 3 Spells remain.
“You’re far from alone in using lackeys in battle,” Yukari mockingly boasts.
“I was well aware of that already,” Atem retorts, “And Reimu had a lot to say about one of them.”
“I get the feeling she wasn’t talking about me.”
The Pharaoh brings out more hieratic pinwheel patterns, which Ran seemed to recognize at least some context of.
“Hold up, you guys didn’t even know what pi is that well back then,” Rank barks out as she bounces back and forth, spewing bullets with each launch.
“Let’s not forget his journey, Ran,” Yukari reminds her shikigami as she slips back and forth, “It looks like said journey is his focus, anyway.”
After a while, Atem starts struggling to keep up with the shikigami’s pattern and drifts into one more bullet! Just a second later, Ran seemed to suddenly vanish. The Spell Card that Yukari called her with had timed out.
Yukari down! 3 Spells remain.
♪
“And just like that, you’re as behind the 8-ball as your little rival down there,” Yukari points to the Duel going on, where Kaiba, despite having two powerful monsters, is staring down one of Duel Monsters’ strongest floodgates.
“You see him floodgated,” the Pharaoh remarks, “I see him still able to Duel.”
Marisa is torn between looking at the Spell Card Battle or the Duel as the passers-by start to become more of an audience for both. She looks tense and worried, “This is basically what Kaiba wanted; a multitude of Gensokyans being exposed to Duel Monsters… Sure, the Spell Card Battle is getting more people, but still. This is going to cause quite the phenomenon, with things we can’t even get!”
TO BE CONTINUED…
Notes:
Three months of sidetracks and struggles with building the cards and making sure I have them working right, and three different instances of something falling flat because I forgot a single big interaction (like Nikitama needing a Spirit on the field, or Jet summoning itself). And all that was just on Kaiba's side of things.
Hopefully the second half of the stage won't take a season plus.
EDIT: I can't believe I missed my own card restriction this entire time! No "Shinobird Token" summoning should've happened due to "Jimmu" locking Reimu into Spirit monsters/"Izanagi" and "Shinobird Token"s are not Spirit monsters.
Chapter 11: (Stage 5, Part 2) Luna-Tic Danmaku Spirit
Summary:
With both the boys in apparent pickles and a crowd gathering, tensions quickly escalate between Reimu & Kaiba as well as Atem & Yukari.
Notes:
Another OriCa inbound, and this is Reimu's ace monster (but not her boss monster)!
EDIT 1: Remembered the anti-Equip generic Egyptian God effect.
EDIT 2: Minor change to wording now that I properly know how Chain order works.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Marisa starts idly talking to nobody in particular, “‘What all’s been goin’ on in Paradise?’ Glad ya asked…”
Reimu’s stick is pointed at Kaiba, “I’ve already dealt with the Pharaoh, and now it’s your turn!”
The Pharaoh looks intently at Yukari, “I do have a Duel to defend the sanctity of.”
Kaiba gloats, “Let’s prove just how powerless your so-called Spirits truly are.”
Reimu’s eyes widened, staring down an Orochi’s worth of blue-eyed dragon heads looming over her.
Yukari laments, “You have no idea how important the Moon is to youkai.”
“Whereas it sounded like you simply wanted to get at that Lunarian,” Atem retorts.
Reimu chants out as a man herds several dragons back to Kaiba, “Descend upon us, “Shinobaron Peacock”!
A massive mountainlike cave opening erects behind Reimu, “Welcome to “Amano-Iwato”!”
Ran is giving the Pharaoh a beating as Yukari gloats, “And just like that, you’re as behind the 8-ball as your little rival down there.”
Marisa looks tense and worried as people gather around the Duel, “This is going to cause quite the phenomenon, with things we can’t even get!”
Both Yukari and Atem declare their fourth Spell Cards.
♪ Necrofantasia (Magical Astronomy)
“Boundary of Humans and Youkai”
「人間と妖怪の境界」
Wave-Motion “Piercing the Darkness”
波動「切り裂かれし闇」
The Pharaoh calls forth two more monsters; his familiar “Dark Magician” and a “Buster Blader” that swirl together into a much greener-looking Dark Magician that unloads a bright blast of magic waves from the tip of its sword-staff.
“Come forth, “Dark Paladin”!” Yukari suddenly vanishes before the waves could hit her, confusing Atem, “What!?”
“This must be your first timeout spell,” Yukari giggles, “Only the one challenged can use these. During this time, I cannot be touched, however your danmaku is stopped in return.”
“So that means I can’t attack at all!?”
“You can, just not to any effect. But it’s not all bad, however. Since your patterns can’t reach me, they can’t time out.”
While the Pharaoh had to deal with several lasers reducing his maneuvering area and various balls of light passing through that area, the Sage floats over to Marisa to check up on the Duel.
“So what are these extra monsters she’s calling out,” the Sage asks, “Pretty sure those don’t exist. It’s like she’s calling down the gods as she plays.”
“Doesn’t that remind ya of someone,” Marisa barks back, “Someone she has the same power as?”
“Of course it does. I got the Deck from her.”
“So there’s no reason to think it wouldn’t be stuffed with blanks so she can just create new cards as she goes, long as there’s a Shinto god to accompany it with.”
“This isn’t 5D’s or ZEXAL.”
“Like it even needed justifyin’ half the time.”
Turn 3: Seto Kaiba
Kaiba: 8000 | Hand: 0 | Deck: 24 | EX: 13 (0) | Grave: 12 | Banish: 2 (0)
“Mausoleum of White”, “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” (3000/0), “Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon” (4000/0); “True Light”, Set “Ultimate Fusion”
(“Jet Dragon” cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects this turn.)
Reimu: 8000 | Hand: 3 | Deck: 45 | EX: 14 (0) | Grave: 9 | Banish: 2 (0)
“Amano-Iwato” (1900/1200); 1 Set card {“Shinobaron Peacock”}
♪ Keycard Theme #16 (Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel)
“Surely you still have some beauty left,” Reimu insists, “Show it.”
Kaiba runs through his options in his head, “Either she forgot I had “Chaos MAX”, or that’s “Shinobird Salvation”. There’s no way she’d openly leave 8800 damage like that.”
“It’s my turn,” Kaiba declares, “I draw… I activate “Pot of Greed”!”
““Pot of Greed”,” Reimu looks confused, “What’s that do?”
“You'll find out soon enough. I also Chain “Ultimate Fusion”, followed by “True Light” to summon a “Blue-Eyes” from my Graveyard. Now, “Ultimate Fusion” lets me Fusion Summon by returning cards from my hand, field, or Graveyard to my Deck.
Two dragons, one normal Blue-Eyes and one the hatchling, fly over the scene from the Graveyard as the young one seems to turn into a big pair of light wings onto the grown-up one, “Welcome back, “Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon”!”
“Okay, that’s cool and all,” Reimu deadpans, “getting a pair of monsters so easily is pretty good. So what does “Pot of Greed” do, then?”
“It lets me draw 2 new cards to refresh my hand.”
The shrine maiden’s face suddenly turns to severe worry, “One of those cards… has a god’s aura!”
“What,” Kaiba immediately looks peeved, “How do you have info on my cards and the KaibaCorp Anti-Cheat System not catch it?”
“It’s an Ability of mine. Typically it’s for tracking youkai, but it also lets me determine something’s race at a glance and, apparently, see the ‘Heart of the Cards’ as it’s called.”
Kaiba’s scowl turns to a smirk for a slight moment, “Seems I was right about this world being well worth reaching out to, beyond it simply being the Pharaoh’s whereabouts. But before I bring my God card out, I’ll use the additional Normal Summon from my “Mausoleum of White” to Normal Summon “Priestess with Eyes of Blue”! I now have 5 monsters on my field, the exact number I need to flatten that mountain of yours!
“I sacrifice my “Priestess with Eyes of Blue”, “Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon”, and “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”!”
♪
Yukari starts laughing her head off, pointing at Kaiba, “That “Tyrant” would’ve stopped her card! And this guy fancies himself King of Games!?”
“So,” Marisa interjects, “maybe Obelisk can kill from here.”
“If only Kaiba Tributed his “Jet” or “Chaos MAX” instead.”
The closing-in walls and moving around area gets to the Pharaoh, causing him to back into one of the lasers and lose his “Dark Paladin”!
Atem down! 2 Spells remain.
♪ Obelisk the Tormentor
“Prepare to cower before my Egyptian God! An almighty creature that knows no equal!
The ground below rumbles drastically, a fault forming behind Kaiba and tearing several floor shards of the mausoleum into two pieces. The shadowy force underneath the earth erupts upward, causing sizable panic among the steadily growing audience. But the view afterwards is undeniable; the same towering creature that defeated Yukari just a few minutes ago had returned.
“Show yourself, “Obelisk the Tormentor”!”
Reimu, on the other hand, seems nonplussed, “So you’ve got some big piece of beef on the field. It’s not like your monster can activate its effects.”
“It’s no monster…” Kaiba calmly retorts, “It’s a God! And that means several things, such as being able to activate its effects even with your little floodgate on the field, as long as it’s an effect that needs “Obelisk” to be able to attack.”
“Oh, no!”
“Before we get to that, I’ll activate my “Mausoleum of White” to bring the “Blue-Eyes” I shuffled back to my Graveyard and give my God 800 more Attack points!
“Let’s battle, then. Here is where I can activate “Obelisk”’s Fist of Fury,” Kaiba’s other monsters dissipate into spirits that imbue into the god’s right hand, “By Tributing my other two monsters, your monster and you take a shot equal to Obelisk’s Attack points!”
“Obelisk” fiercely opens its hand, causing a sonic shockwave that rips through and breaks apart “Amano-Iwato”.
“And here’s the miss,” Yukari tells Marisa, “If he kept his “Tyrant”, Reimu can’t use her face-down card against it because it’s immune to Traps, leaving “Obelisk”’s effect still usable.”
“It still wouldn’t be enough,” Marisa notes.
“Only because he used that effect in particular,” Yukari waggles a finger, “If he could clear “Amano-Iwato” with his Tyrant, he could use another effect to end the Duel here and now.”
“So yer sayin’ “Obelisk” could get more than 8000 Attack points?”
“Infinitely more. But instead, Kaiba chose to show that he could activate it through her floodgate, plowing through her defenses with his god rather than his dragon.”
“Now attack her directly! And since a card on the field was destroyed, “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” is cleared for takeoff again!”
“I activate “Shinobird Salvation”,” Reimu retorts, revealing her face-down, “By banishing the emperor from my Graveyard, your big old fist is stopped cold and your Battle Phase is gone!”
“I’m afraid you get no “Salvation” from my God’s attack!”
The Blue-Eyes plane erupts from the Graveyard, perched on “Obelisk”’s right shoulder as the Egyptian God winds up. Kaiba coldly glares at Reimu, “Prepare to lose 7800 Life Points!”
“Obelisk” swings its monstrous fist towards Reimu, with the perched “Jet Dragon” launching itself just above the Egyptian God’s fist. The smashing blow sends Reimu right into the charging jet, bouncing her off the ground and both the top and side of the Duel Barrier as she yells in agony multiple times over! She finally crashes to the ground face-down in a heap, dropped all the way down to 200 Life Points.
“I could’ve sent your “Salvation” back to the hand with my “Jet Dragon”, but that’d leave your field empty for your Emperor to come out with a Link material from your hand. Now with your floodgate gone, I’ll use the effect of “The White Stone of Ancients” in my Graveyard to put the “Blue-Eyes” I sent there back to my hand. I end my turn,” Kaiba starts gloating, “At this point, not a Spirit you can think of can save you from the wrath of my Egyptian God card. You’re not Tributing it or using it as a material. And with “True Light”, I can access its effect every turn!”
Certain of his victory, Kaiba begins to cackle.
“Such a deluded soul,” Yukari quips while Atem struggles with the way too tight closing stages of her spell, getting nicked again by a bullet, “The last thing you want to do in Duel Monsters is leave the enemy standing when you could’ve defeated them.”
“So,” Marisa looks staunchly at the Sage, “literally the very concept of danmaku?”
Before the Sage could respond, a loud popping noise sounds, “No valid danmaku has the concept of inevitable defeat, unlike Duel Monsters,” she answers before vanishing in a gap, reappearing back with her own opponent.
Yukari down! 2 Spells remain.
Kaiba draws and activates “Pot of Greed”, then Chains “Ultimate Fusion”, and finally “True Light”, selecting to Special Summon a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from his hand or GY. The Chain resolves in reverse. “True Light” resolves, and Kaiba Special Summons a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” (3000/2500) from his GY. “Ultimate Fusion” resolves, and Kaiba shuffles a second “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” and “Spirit with Eyes of Blue” from his GY into his Deck/Extra Deck to Fusion Summon “Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon” (3400/2900) in Attack Position. “Pot of Greed” resolves, and Kaiba draws 2 cards.
Kaiba then uses the additional Normal Summon of a Level 1 LIGHT Tuner from “Mausoleum of White” to Normal Summon “Priestess with Eyes of Blue” (0/0) in Attack Position. He then Tributes “Priestess”, “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” and “Tyrant Dragon” to Tribute Summon “Obelisk the Tormentor”[Anime+] (4000/4000) in Attack Position.
(Generic Egyptian God effects)
● Requires 3 Tributes to Tribute Summon. (Cannot be Tribute Set.) This card's Summon cannot be negated. When this is Normal Summoned, cards and effects cannot be activated.
● Control of this card cannot switch.
● Your opponent cannot Tribute this card, nor use it as material.
● This card's effects that require it to be able to attack cannot be prevented from activating.
● Does not have to leave the Zone it is in, flip face-down, or change its Battle Position by Spell or other monster effects, except those of Spells that do not target this card or monsters whose original Attribute is DIVINE. Does not have to be affected by activated Trap effects.
● Activated effects only affect this card on the field until the end of the turn. At the end of the turn, if this was Special Summoned, return this card to where it was Special Summoned from.
● Destroy any card equipped to this card.
● If this card is Special Summoned in Defense Position before resolving a card or effect that targets exactly 1 monster you control (and no other cards), or during a battle with your opponent's attacking monster (except after the start of the Damage Step), you can change the attack/card/effect target to this card, and if you changed an attack target as a result, perform damage calculation.
He then activates “Mausoleum”, targeting “Obelisk” and sending the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” he shuffled into his Deck to the GY to increase the target’s ATK by the sent card’s Level x100 (“Obelisk” ATK 4000 → 4800).
Since “Obelisk” can attack, Kaiba activates its effect, Tributing “Jet Dragon” and “Chaos MAX Dragon”. Due to being an Egyptian God, this effect of “Obelisk” cannot be prevented from activating by the effect of “Amano-Iwato”.
(Obelisk’s activated effect)
As Chain Link 1, during either Battle Phase, if this Attack Position card can attack (Quick Effect): You can Tribute 2 other monsters you control, then activate one of the following effects;
● Destroy as many monsters your opponent controls that this card can destroy by battle as possible, also, immediately after this effect resolves, declare a direct attack with this card, also this card cannot declare an attack for the rest of this Battle Phase.
● This card’s ATK becomes ∞ until the end of the Damage Step of the next battle it participates in, also, immediately after this effect resolves, declare an attack with this card, also this card cannot declare an attack for the rest of this Battle Phase.
Kaiba chooses to destroy Reimu’s monsters and attack directly with “Obelisk”. “Amano-Iwato” is destroyed, and “Obelisk” attacks Reimu directly. Since a card on the field was destroyed, Kaiba activates “Jet Dragon” from the GY. In response, since an attack was declared, Reimu Chains “Shinobird Salvation” and uses its second effect, banishing “Jimmu the Heavenly Emperor” from her Graveyard. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Salvation” resolves, but since it is an activated Trap effect, Kaiba chooses not to let it affect “Obelisk”. “Jet Dragon” resolves, Special Summoning it (3000/0) in Attack Position. “Obelisk”’s attack continues, and “Jet Dragon” follows suit (Reimu: 8000 → 3200 → 200).
Kaiba activates “The White Stone of Ancients” from his GY, banishing it to add a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from his GY to his hand.
At the end of the turn, the effect of “Mausoleum” on “Obelisk” expires (“Obelisk” ATK 4800 → 4000).
“All that just so you could smack-talk Kaiba for getting too full of himself,” Atem glares at Yukari, “It’s not uncommon if one doesn’t take great care in handing an Egyptian God.”
“Boredom is the bane of an ancient youkai,” the Sage retaliates as both of them declare their penultimate cards.
Ka “Dark Burning Magic”
精霊「黒・爆・裂・破・魔・導」
Barrier “Boundary of Life and Death”
結界「生と死の境界」
Two stone tablets emerge behind the Pharaoh, and his “Dark Magicians” emerge, “Magicians Unite!”
The two seem to basically be doing their own spells together, with “Dark Magician” firing delayed jolts of dark magic that leave residual danmaku while “Dark Magician Girl” makes her ring of six danmaku bursts in a circle.
In the meantime, Yukari brings her own revolving fire as she gradually guides the “Dark Magician”’s blasts, hopping from one safe zone in “Dark Magician Girl”’s pattern to another. It’s mere pellets at first, but then she brings in butterflies, and later larger danmaku circles. She keeps it going, a fourth type of bullets finally pinning down Atem and nailing him square in the torso! His spell is captured again!
Atem down! Last spell!
“Of course you would know well about this boundary,” Yukari smirks… only to realize that the Pharaoh wasn’t responding.
Instead, “Buster Blader” returns for a brief moment before all three monsters vanish. Atem starts throwing a very specific chain of hieratic symbols at Yukari as he steadily chants and maneuvers about.
♪ The Rage of Ra (Marik/Atem)
“Almighty protector of the Sun and sky, I beg of thee, please heed my cry.
Yukari wasn’t too sure what he was talking about, until a vast golden orb started descending from the clouds above, emitting bright rays of light! Lots of the Duel onlookers quickly turn their attention to the Spell Card Battle and what’s being summoned.
“Transform thyself from orb of light and bring me victory in this fight.
The big orb starts shifting shape, giving even the Sage goosebumps about what she’s going against.
“I beseech thee, grace our humble game. But first… I shall call out thy name;
““WINGED DRAGON OF RA!””
The ultimate Egyptian God unfurls its wings, revealing the massive mechanical griffon of gold roaring mightily as it stares Yukari down, that roar being the indication that the nonspell had timed out.
Winged Dragon “Blaze Cannon”
翼神龍「ゴッド・ブレイズ・キャノン」
(Winged Divine Dragon “God Blaze Cannon”)
Ra immediately starts charging up and firing a huge fireball at the Sage, who only narrowly has the time to get away, only to see the shot explode as it hits the Duel Barrier. All sorts of light and embers spew from the impact site, making maneuvering out of the way of the next shot much harder. A few back and forths of this later, even with a fifth and sixth shot types to make Atem weave about, one of the blasts from Ra singes Yukari’s side as she was trying to evade it, dissipating all of her danmaku and not to mention hurting a crapton! Not quite as much as what Reimu just took, but still.
Yukari down! Last spell!
“It’s only natural I save my best for last,” the Pharaoh remarks, “Surely you have done the same.”
“Your god won’t be much use,” Yukari scoffs, “You’re going through a second timeout spell! And you have no hits left to take!”
Yukari’s Arcanum “Danmaku Barrier”
紫奥義「弾幕結界」
As Yukari half-departs from the Duel Barrier, twin circles of danmaku slaves spew a continuous circle of bullets outside while firing burst after burst of shots inside, stopping after specific distances. This left ample room for maneuvering as they left… this time.
The second time around left much longer streaks of bullets, greatly reducing navigation space. Third time up had surprisingly short 3-round bursts, but frequent in number making things rather crowded. But it’s still nothing too convoluted for Atem. More of the same on the fourth round.
But in the final round, Yukari pulls no punches. She makes a complete and thorough prison of bullet strings, all but touching the Pharaoh already! His only clue was a strange change in direction at two specific parts of the pattern. Following it and trusting his instincts, he makes one last counterclockwise swirl as the prison walls close in, gliding along until he finally sees the end of the line! The bullets dissipate and a huge burst of energy nearly knocks Yukari off her gap! Her ultimate spell is captured for game!
WINNER (6-5) – Atem
“It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game,” the Pharaoh remarks, “And for that, this was a great Spell Card Battle!”
Turn 4: Reimu Hakurei
Kaiba: 8000 | Hand: 1 | Deck: 21 | EX: 13 (0) | Grave: 14 | Banish: 3 (0)
“Mausoleum of White”, “Obelisk the Tormentor” (4000/4000), “Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon” (3000/0); “True Light” {“Blue-Eyes White Dragon”}
Reimu: 200 | Hand: 3 | Deck: 45 | EX: 14 (0) | Grave: 9 | Banish: 3 (0)
<Empty front row>; “Shinobird Salvation” {“Shinobaron Peacock”}
♪
Reimu struggles to get up, heavily battered, “That definitely wasn’t a mere projection… At this rate, one more punch could send me clear across the river!”
“That is what it means to stare down a god,” Kaiba sneers, “And you think some gaggle of weaklings can stand up to true power like this?”
“You still haven’t won… I won’t let you endanger the Barrier…” Reimu finally stands upright again, seeing her Deck flare into an inferno of auras in response to Kaiba’s words, “It’s my turn.
♪ Maiden's Capriccio ~ Dream Battle
She then looks Kaiba dead in the eyes. “By your grace, my power flows like an endless current!
“I DRAW!”
Emphatically drawing a specific card from her Deck, Reimu immediately starts feeling it, “In my Standby Phase, “Kushitama” activates its second effect from my Graveyard or banishment, letting me add a Spirit monster or card that mentions them from those locations to my hand; like itself. Then I’ll Contact Fuse the “Jimmu” in my banishment and a “Nikitama” in my Graveyard to resummon “Ame-no-Uzume the Dancer of Dawn”!”
“You’re not putting that mountain up on me again,” Kaiba retorts, “I activate the effect of “True Light” after your dancer's mandatory effect fizzles out to bring back a “Blue-Eyes” from my Graveyard! And with it comes my “Maiden of White”! Now, as soon as you enter your Battle Phase, this Duel is as good as over.”
“It’ll be a while before I get there, Kaiba,” the shrine maiden calmly retorts, “Come forth, circuit connecting Heaven and Earth!
“Ame-no-Uzume” quickly jumps into the downwards Link Arrow that appears as Reimu resummons her Link monster, “Return to the fray, “Jimmu the Heavenly Emperor”! You know its effect, I discard “Shinobaron Peacock” to bring “Tsukuyomi” from my Deck and “Sakitama” from my Grave back into my hand, then Normal Summon “Tsukuyomi”.
The currently-new Moon suddenly shines as if full as its god arrives at the scene, beaming down on Kaiba’s jet, “The pure light of the Moon forces your “Jet Dragon” into hiding, meaning your other cards are no longer protected by its effects.”
The “Jet Dragon” enters a sort of sleep-mode state before vanishing into a face-down Defense Position card. The Moon goes back to new as Reimu starts chanting again, a yellow soulfire igniting in her hand.
“I activate “Sakitama”’s effect to Normal Summon “Shinobird Pigeon”,” Reimu declares, “then use its effect to bring “Tsukuyomi” back to my hand.” As Reimu’s humanoid pigeon-like monster starts writing, the Moon god vanishes back into the shrine maiden’s hand. A ton of magpies start to flock above the battlefield.
“Since a Spirit monster I controlled returned to my hand,” she calls, “I can activate “Shinobird Salvation”’s other effect, targeting and destroying your “True Light”!”
“Oh, no,” Kaiba slowly realizes as the magpies divebomb his stone tablet and break it apart, “If that goes, so do all my monsters! Besides “Obelisk”, of course.”
“Which is a good thing…” Reimu lets the last part hang as Kaiba’s monsters sans “Obelisk” are destroyed and a blue soulfire ignites again, “For me, that is. Now I’ll activate “Kushitama”’s first effect to discard it and Normal Summon “Hebo, Lord of the River”!”
This old kappa rises, wielding a staff in one hand and holding a shirikodama in the other. Its ball starts to glow as the shrine maiden almost welcomingly extends her arm… towards Kaiba’s last monster.
“When “Hebo” is Normal Summoned or flipped face-up, it can turn 1 monster on the field into a Spirit monster, returning it to the hand at the End Phase.”
“You think I’m going to just let you send my “Obelisk” back to my hand like that,” Kaiba scowls, “It’s staying right here on the field, and will only be a Spirit monster until the end of this turn!”
“That’s all I need!”
A strangely ethereal aura surrounds the Egyptian God; similar to the soulfires of the “tama” Spirit monsters, except white since it’s a complete spirit. “Obelisk” looks a bit confused about the aura, but doesn’t seem to feel any different from before.
“Now then, as to why I made “Obelisk” a Spirit monster,” the shrine maiden continues, “I sacrifice “Shinobird Pigeon”. Since I Normal Summoned it, I can Tribute Summon this monster with only that one!”
“But “the Lord of Swords” won’t help you against an Egyptian God,” Kaiba cackles.
“Oh, this isn’t “Tsumuha-Kutsunagi”…” Reimu flares with another divine aura, “I call down the cleanser of impurities and caller of the Myriad Gods! Come forth, “Izunome the Divine Priestess”!”
♪
Behind the shrine maiden, what appears to be another, more formal shrine maiden gradually materializes, several sparkling lights around her that seem to gather impurities. Once separated from the aura that was surrounding Reimu, “Izunome” jingles her kagura suzu and brings the lights above her before dissipating them, impurities and all.
♪ Eastern Youkai Beauty
“So, you summoned some shrine maiden,” Kaiba scoffs, “She doesn’t have nearly enough power to handle “Obelisk”!”
“She will be handling it,” Reimu declares, “Just not that way. I activate “Izunome”’s effect! The Myriad Gods, or what you call Spirits, are able to split into multiple copies, and even be used against themselves. And “Izunome” can invoke this, targeting another Spirit monster from either field, Graveyard, or banishment and Special Summoning a copy of it. And since your “Obelisk the Tormentor” is a Spirit monster this turn, she can copy it too!”
“One problem, shrine maiden. You don’t have the blood to handle an Egyptian God!”
“I won’t need it, as the “Yaoyorozu-no-Kami Token” she summons is also a Spirit monster, just like what it splits from!
The white aura around “Obelisk” flares to life and lurches towards Reimu’s side of the field, forming another source at “Izunome”’s side as some of it splits off of the aura of the source monster. The second white aura continues forming higher and higher, spreading out and eventually becoming a whitish mirror-image of “Obelisk”!
“My “Yaoyorozu-no-Kami Token” may have no Attack and Defense and go away at the End Phase, but it also has the same Type and Attribute as “Obelisk the Tormentor”, copies its name, and most importantly gains its effects!
“To battle! I offer “Jimmu the Heavenly Emperor” and “Hebo, Lord of the River” to activate “Obelisk the Tormentor”’s effect!”
“Its Fist of Fury effect won’t help you, shrine maiden. Since your cheap imitation has 0 Attack points, it not only won’t destroy the real “Obelisk” but my Life Points are safe.”
“Who said I was using Fist of Fury?”
“But that means…”
“Atem and I had a few chats while I was escorting him, up until the Incident started. That’s how I learned this!
The copy “Obelisk” aura goes from white to a tinge of red, its fists crackling with bright light and power it can hardly control as Reimu continues, “For its next attack, which happens as soon as this effect resolves, my “Obelisk”’s Attack is infinite! Now, feel the wrath of your own Egyptian God!
“Soul Energy MAX!!!”
「ソウルエナジーＭＡＸ！！」
Reimu’s “Obelisk” unleashes twin blasts of raw soul energy from its fists, pummeling into and eventually through Kaiba’s “Obelisk” with enough force of shockwave to make Kaiba groan fiercely in pain as he goes through the Duel Barrier! He keeps going and crashes into a large tree!
Reimu draws. In the Standby Phase, Reimu activates the “Kushitama” in her banishment’s second effect, returning it to her hand. She then shuffles a “Nikitama” from her GY and a “Jimmu” from her banishment into her Deck to Special Summon “Ame-no-Uzume the Dancer of Dawn” (1400/1100) from her Extra Deck in Attack Position.
Since it was Special Summoned, “Ame” activates its effect, but it has no face-down Defense Position monster to target, so it resolves without effect. In response to the resolution, Kaiba activates “True Light” to Special Summon a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” (3000/2500) from his GY in Attack Position. Since a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” was Normal or Special Summoned, Kaiba activates his “Maiden of White” in his GY, Special Summoning it (0/0) in Defense Position. Reimu then puts “Ame-no-Uzume” to the Link Arrows and Link Summons “Jimmu the Heavenly Emperor” (0/↓) to her left Extra Monster Zone. She then activates its effect, discarding “Shinobaron Peacock” to add “Tsukuyomi” from her Deck and “Sakitama” from her GY to her hand, then Normal Summon “Tsukuyomi” (1100/1400) in Attack Position. She then activates “Tsukuyomi”’s effect, targeting and flipping “Jet Dragon” to face-down Defense Position.
Reimu activates “Sakitama” in her hand to Normal Summon “Shinobird Pigeon” (1000/1800) in Attack Position. She then activates its effect, targeting and returning “Tsukuyomi” to her hand. Since a Spirit monster Reimu controlled returned to her hand, she activates “Shinobird Salvation”’s first effect, targeting and destroying “True Light”. Since it was sent from face-up on the field to the GY, “True Light” activates its effect, destroying all of Kaiba’s monsters. Due to it being an Egyptian God and “True Light”’ being an activated Trap effect trying to make “Obelisk” leave its Zone, Kaiba chooses not to let it be destroyed.
Reimu activates “Kushitama”’s first effect from her hand, discarding it to Normal Summon “Hebo, Lord of the River” (1800/600) in Attack Position. She then activates its effect, targeting “Obelisk”. “Obelisk” is now treated as a Spirit monster, but due to being an Egyptian God, it will not return to the hand at the End Phase and will only be treated as a Spirit monster until the end of this turn.
Reimu then Tributes the Normal Summoned “Shinobird Pigeon” to Tribute Summon “Izunome the Divine Priestess” (2500/2000) in Attack Position (for the Tribute Summon of “Izunome the Divine Priestess”, Reimu can Tribute 1 Normal Summoned/Set monster).
巫女神－伊豆能売
Izunome the Divine Priestess
*********
Spellcaster/LIGHT/Spirit/Effect/2500/2000
Cannot be Special Summoned. You can Tribute Summon this card by Tributing 1 Normal Summoned/Set monster. Once per turn, during the End Phase, if this was Normal Summoned or flipped face-up this turn: Return this card on the field to the hand. Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can target 1 other Spirit monster from the field, GYs, or banishments; Special Summon a "Yaoyarozu-no-Kami Token" (Spirit/Level 3/ATK 0/DEF 0) with the same Type and Attribute as that target. This Token's name becomes that target's original name, and it gains that target's original effects, but destroy it during the End Phase (even if this card leaves the field).
Reimu activates “Izunome”’s effect, targeting “Obelisk” (since it is treated as a Spirit monster this turn) and Special Summoning a “Yaoyorozu-no-Kami Token” with the same Type and Attribute (✶3 DIVINE Divine-Beast Spirit monster, 0/0) in Attack position. This Token gains the name and effects of that target (“Yaoyorozu-no-Kami Token” → “Obelisk the Tormentor”), but will be destroyed during the End Phase.
In the Battle Phase, Reimu activates her Token “Obelisk”’s gained effect, Tributing “Jimmu” and “Hebo” to make its ATK infinite during its next battle and attack with it (Token “Obelisk” ATK 0 → ∞). Her Token “Obelisk” attacks and destroys Kaiba’s real “Obelisk” (Kaiba: 8000 → 0).
WINNER (by knockout): Reimu Hakurei
“I guess there is some merit to your Sage calling you the Queen of Games,” Kaiba laments, clearly still in pain.
“To such Earthen filth,” Reimu boasts, “the pure power of the Lunar gods is untouchable!”
♪ Outside World Folklore
Reimu heard all sorts of applause and cheering from the audience as the fatal blow landed, something she is largely not used to. Most of the time her victories just get shaken off as being utterly expected, but here, this crowd went nuts with how she channeled multiple gods and non-gods alike. But this didn’t matter to her at the moment. Her battle’s Duel Barrier broke. She quickly flew over to Kaiba.
“I didn’t think that would actually overcome the Duel Barrier,” she says, a genuine look of concern on her face, “Are you alright?”
Kaiba just glares at Reimu as his Duel Disk starts showing things like vitals, the visuals strangely yellow instead of blue with an overall condition of “CAUTION”. It also seemed to have highlighted a spot on his back a bluish green on its model image, labeled “Bruised Ribs.”
“It’s nothing meaningful,” he retorts as he peels himself off the tree.
“Well, then…
Reimu looks over to Yukari, who is floating down on her gap, and points her gohei at her, “Did you seriously call me the Queen of Games!?”
“Why yes,” Yukari smirks, “You did defeat the former King of Games, after all.”
“Atem hasn’t had that title in two years! And it wasn’t even in a Duel, let alone a championship!”
“Tell Kaiba’s Duel Disk those.”
Kaiba stares at Reimu, his Duel Disk flashing a very notable piece of data near Reimu:
HAKUREI Reimu
Duelist ID Now: 890gTWqim06
Ranking Now: KING OF GAMES
Age: UNKNOWN
“Even now, you still won’t approve of someone else defeating me,” the Pharaoh sighs a bit, shaking his head, “Seems I’ll have to get it back, despite the fact that I didn’t have it.”
“If y’all are quite finished,” Marisa drops in, “we need to head back to the village for the whole youkai contract thing Kaiba wagered.”
“Kaiba wouldn’t be able to see the village,” Atem points out, “it’s in hiding from forces of Hell that recently retreated.”
“It also brings us to their target,” Reimu smirks, “with something even Hell gets bound to!”
“Duel Monsters,” Kaiba immediately figures out, “And if King Zanmu had a Deck, their finest should have them, too.”
“And that’s why this invasion won’t be an issue,” Yukari concludes, “With the two best Duelists in history and the Que–excuse me–the King of Games, we can quell the Animal Realm’s ambitions for good!”
Reimu starts floating with a wide smile, gradually heading towards the village’s location while everyone, audience included, follows her.
♪ The Sea Where One's Home Planet Reflects
“And after changing Obelisk into a Spirit monster,” the miko goddess Izunome reports to the Lunar defender Yorihime, who was looking across the Moon’s seaside “she had me copy it as if it were one of us. She then emerged victorious by effectively using the perpetrator’s own god against him.”
“Reimu really is surpassing my expectations,” Yorihime answers, “Needless to say, the operation was a resounding success. Thank you for the report.”
As Izunome vanishes with her dismissal, Yorihime looks over to her elder.
“Sister,” she tells Toyohime, “Descent may be happening within a few Earth days.”
“Don’t work yourself up like that,” the more lax sister retorts, “There’s no way a filthy youkai shrine maiden could call upon a moon princess.”
“Her name is Reimu Hakurei. And you know better than anyone that those cards can pull it off.”
“I’ll be on Lunar defense, then,” Toyohime quickly went quiet and departed, knowing what her younger sister was referring to.
Gazing at the full Earth in the sky, the god summoner smiles, “Like I told you when you completed your god training, Hakurei… ‘Even a little practice from you, and you may well have the whole pantheon at your disposal’…
“Here’s your chance. Prove that no kami, not even I, am beyond the reach of the Envoy of Paradise!”
Notes:
Yes, I improved the protections the Egyptian Gods have to help keep up with the game's function creep. And I did go through quite a problem when I realized that Kaiba had a lethal out (Save Tyrant when Tribute Summoning Obelisk, use it to break Amano-Iwato, Obelisk sacrifices both for infinite ATK to strike down Reimu directly) and had to be assured that it was alright.
But now that all three Egyptian Gods have been in Spell Card Battles, it's time build the big finale, and it's... gonna be a rough one.
Chapter 12: (Final Stage, Part 1 (1/2)) The Ability to Draw Good Cards
Summary:
With their plan finally in place, Reimu & company seek out the Hell forces that Kaiba unleashed to put an end to this invasion once and for all...
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Before it leaves my mind again, Pharaoh…” Kaiba glares at Atem, “What was the interference in the Solid Vision Experiment for? Did you seriously think a thousand damage, not even direct, would endanger the test subject?”
“That was for screwing the rules in my backyard,” the Pharaoh retorts, “If you’re going to summon high-Level monsters out of the blue like that, use “Mausoleum of the Emperor” as your Field Spell. You would’ve been able to test Life Point payment effects, as well.”
“We aren’t even close to that point yet.”
“So, how’d you even know of Gensokyo, anyway,” Reimu slows down a little to line up with Kaiba, “I’ll say it bluntly; if the Outside World at large knew of us, we’d cease to exist.”
“You can thank one Sumireko Usami,” Kaiba retorts, showing the card submission that looks very much like the shrine maiden herself.
“There’s no way that card got shown with so little use, right?”
“Nah. It was pretty low on the list in preliminaries.”
“Thank the gods,” Reimu gave a massive sigh of relief before turning to the Pharaoh, “As for you, Atem, I may as well give you a souvenir of your journey. I don’t have to worry about you spilling the beans, after all.”
The shrine maiden pulls out her Side Deck and takes five cards from it, handing them over to the Pharaoh.
“Blank cards” Atem asks, raising an eyebrow.
“I’m sure you of all people know what these cards are capable of. And this way, even if I don’t get a chance to let you meet Yorihime-sensei, she’s the one that brought the Deck to me.”
The crew head towards the only part of the Human Village still visible; the Dragon God’s Statue. Seeing who’s there makes Reimu’s eyes bulge.
♪ The Shining Law of the Strong Eating the Weak
Near the Dragon God’s Statue, two human girls grovel before three beastly beauties. A sixth girl, an oni, is staring daggers the trio.
““Please, don’t take our world!”” both Sumireko and Keine beg, as if possessed by the same being.
“You seriously couldn’t help yourselves,” Zanmu sternly comments, “just pouncing like panthers while my back was turned?”
“With that Kaiba man’s objective in Gensokyo,” Yuuma smirks, “we knew its defenders would be too busy with the newbie.”
“Then Atem started to fight our forces, too,” Saki continues, “so we had to hurry and come in ourselves.”
“And as you can see, Zanmu-sama,” Yachie walks past the oni, “Gensokyo is now ours for the taking.
“Now show us the village we came for, or this dreaming little kid is dead,” The jidiao starts stomping on the psychic’s head multiple times, glancing at Keine all the while, eyes glowing as her Ability of subjugation activates. The advancing party hears this, and it really seemed to trigger something in Kaiba. He immediately chucks a card at the group around the statue that glows in light.
“Hah, how gullable,” Yachie laughs at Keine revealing the Human Village around everyone. The jidiao rose her foot high to stomp a mudhole through Sumireko’s skull, only for a big butterfly staff to intercept it from the side. She reflexively turns, growling at what she saw; a green-haired, green-dressed elf woman wielding that staff, plus a certain shrine maiden closing in with an entourage behind her.
“Why, you…” Yachie grits as she claws across “Gyakutenno Megami”’s body, destroying it, “You seriously stopped just to interfere with our conquest!?”
“Nope,” Reimu smirks, “I’ve already defeated the one responsible for the Incident.”
“But if you think for a second that I’m going to let you take advantage of my rescue operation,” Kaiba retorts, “you’re sorely mistaken!”
“Rescue operation,” Saki seems to take offense, “Sorry, man, you’re not rescuing this world.”
“He’s referring to the Pharaoh,” Yuuma corrects her fellow matriarch, “You know, the one he went through two Hells for?”
“And as part of the reason this occurred, I intend to see this Incident resolved before I depart,” Atem retorts, “And with your goal, that means the three of you.”
Yachie simply laughs, “Yeah, sure. But there’s one thing you’re all forgetting…
♪
“GENSOKYO IS OURS!”
Yachie’s eyes flare to life, boring deep into the opposing party with her Ability!
Reimu immediately buckles and lays to the exact same begging position Sumireko and Keine were in.
The Pharaoh’s legs quiver as he tries to fight it off, but he still falls to a knee. He may not last much longer.
Kaiba, however, is completely unphased. He looks Yachie dead in the eyes:
♪ Seto Kaiba – 3D Battle (Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories)
“I think not,” his gear starts to hum as he slams a “Remove Brainwashing” onto its orb, “No one orders around Seto Kaiba!
“NO ONE!”
A bright blue light emits from Kaiba’s Duel Disk, seemingly repelling the jidiao’s Ability—that is, removing the brainwashing—out of those it was affecting. No longer feeling the weight, Atem and Reimu get back up, the latter feeling quite relieved. Sumireko and Keine finally stop grovelling.
“What kind of power was that,” the Pharaoh quips, “it felt similar to my own ka usage.”
“Some cards may have little use in Duels,” the KaibaCorp president smirks, “but when the monsters are real, they become important allies and tools. That’s the basis of my Real Monsters deck!”
“You bastard,” Yachie angrily roars, “How could you even fight back against me!?”
“Oh, Yachie,” Zanmu calmly smirks, “Kaiba is the recovered victim of a Mind Crush, leaving his heart complete. Even I couldn’t divert his will to rescue the Pharaoh, though I would’ve beat him in a Duel had Hisami not informed me of you guys.”
“You’re bluffing,” Kaiba immediately calls out the oni.
“Am I?” Zanmu calmly pulls out the bottom card of her Extra Deck and shows “Underworld Goddess of the Closed World” to Kaiba, as if showing him how she would’ve defeated him.
“But even if he resisted you two,” Yuuma butts in, “these three aren’t the one with the Ability needed to bring me down!”
“The Spell Card Rules don’t reach a Hell,” Saki interjects, “meaning, as my partners have shown in the past, they can’t bind us!”
“But via Forbidden Realms,” Kaiba retorts, “this game does reach a Hell.”
“As a result,” Reimu follows up, “it can be used to make you adhere by its contract.”
“And I will do what I must for the world I’ve passed into,” Atem finishes before all three call in unison:
“““We challenge you to a Duel!”””
All three Matriarchs go bug-eyed, feeling the authority of two pantheons’ gods bearing down on them. This last obstacle to conquering Gensokyo won’t be overcome as easily as just saying no.
“Hey Atem, do you need a more proper Dueling platform,” Reimu asks, “A DiaDhank only has three slots, and Duel Monsters uses five.”
“Oh, I got a Duel Disk myself,” Sumireko holds up a hand before bolting it to a nearby forge “I’ll be right back.”
“Three on three,” Saki looks perplexed, “How would that even work? Tags are 2 on 2.”
“It’s called a Team Duel,” Kaiba elaborates, putting up some visuals to show how it goes down.
♪ Menu Theme #2 (Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel)
“Our teams’ first Duelists face each other like a regular Duel. Once one or both Duelists are defeated, that turn goes to the End Phase. The next turn then starts with the next Duelist(s) picking up where the Duel left off. First team to knock out all of their opponents, or get them to surrender, wins.”
Sumireko bolts out the forge, holding this hodgepodge of several metal bars on top of a bracelet, molded together looking like an oversized wrist gauntlet. Another person runs out after her; an odd-eyed, turquoise-haired umbrella girl.
“Where do you think you’re going with—” Kogasa yells, only to catch up to a Sumireko already zonked out in the crowd, metal in hand. More and more crowd gather as the teams figure out their orders, realizing that Gensokyo’s fate may well be on the line here.
“In that case, I’ll kick off for us and take the whole Duel outright,” Yachie laughs as she calls forth several Otter Spirits that form a pack in front of her, each being one column “You can’t fight back with nowhere to fight back from, after all.”
The sleeping psychic’s metal “transforms” into a Duel Disk.
“Pharaoh,” Sumireko wakes up and telekinetically floats it to Atem, “I’ve got you covered! Just make sure to give it back once you’re done.”
The Pharaoh simply smirks as he takes off his DiaDhank, inserting his left arm into the Duel Disk, “I have an alternate win condition card in my Deck, so I’ll go last,” the sides push upwards before clacking together, rotating to his left side before latching back in. He promptly inserts his Deck.
“Likewise,” Yuuma casually wields her spork in the middle, slapping six marking bullets along the handle. She then stuffs her Decks into each slit, designating the inside as the Graveyard. A large Eagle Spirit claws the spork around the right-center marking bullet, keeping her spork afloat and providing her Extra Monster Zones.
“Where’s your banishment,” Saki quips as she spreads her huge wings wide, ready to use them as her Dueling platform.
“I am the banishment!”
“Banishments are public knowledge,” Kaiba interrupts them as his eyepiece lights up and his Duel Disk enters Dueling mode. The taotie grumbles as a second Eagle Spirit nestles into the bowl of her spork, letting her split her Graveyard and Banishment.
“So then, it’s the Kings of Games versus the Animal Realm Matriarchs,” Reimu’s Yin-Yang Orbs revolve into formation, “Lose this, and your dreams of conquering the surface end here!”
“They’ll end either way,” Yachie smirks, “as if we are victorious, the realm is ours!”
“If you’re going to turn my mission into your world domination like that,” Kaiba glares at the jidiao, making it clear what the Kings of Games’ order is, “you’ll have to go through me first! Bear witness, Gensokyo!
🖐️““IT’S TIME TO DUEL!””✌️
“I go first. We win,” Yachie declares, as if the Duel had already ended.
Team Duel (3 vs 3)
Round 1
If the Animal Realm Matriarchs win, they claim Gensokyo.
If the Kings of Games win, the Animal Realm can never attempt to conquer Gensokyo again.
青き眼の王 海馬瀬人
Seto Kaiba, the King with Eyes of Blue
Kings of Games - 1st Wave (Kaiba, Reimu, Atem)
VS
Animal Realm Matriarchs - 1st Wave (Yachie, Saki, Yuuma)
Yachie Kicchou, Otter Spirit Matriarch of Paradise
楽園のカワウソ霊組長 吉弔八千慧
Turn 1: Yachie Kicchou
Kaiba (Kings 1/3): 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 36 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
Yachie (Matriarchs 1/3): 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 35 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 0 | Banish: 0 (0)
“Let me show you true helplessness,” Yachie commands, “Welcome to “Pressured Planet Wraitsoth”.”
Placing the Field Spell on her leftmost Otter Spirit that’s carrying her Extra Deck, Yachie’s spell takes effect.
♪ Yami no Game
The sky becomes a deep bluish purple across Gensokyo. The very ground rumbles all over the Human Village, with many buildings unstably rattling and being broken through! In the place of these buildings multiple heavily-piped red-and-black pagodas rise, reaching far taller than any original building in the village. Several dozen people are stranded at the roofs of the buildings, most grieving over lost homes and businesses or trying to figure out just how to get down.
“Oh, I’m sorry, did I forget to mention something?” the jidiao smirks wickedly, “This isn’t just a children’s card game. Since you invoked Forbidden Realms against us, we’ll invoke them against you.”
“Oh, no,” Atem seems quite shocked at this, “That means all the cards and effects are real. It’s basically a Shadow Game!”
“And as you can tell, I’ve turned this place into a highly repressed land; the land of the Kashtira. Their leader is the embodiment of Vishnu; “Kashtira Riseheart”, who I add to my hand upon activation of my Field Spell. Now, go, “Kashtira Fenrir”!”
What looked like a man in a sleek red cybernetic armor that dons a tiger head leaps from Yachie’s card, ready to pounce on someone with its oversized handaxe.
“A Level 7 just like that,” Reimu hollers, “If you weren’t gonna follow the rules, just bring a 5-card Deck.”
“You’re the one to talk, Miss ‘Link Material from Hand’,” Kaiba retorts at the shrine maiden.
“Only the Supreme Being could get away with a Deck like that. I can Special Summon “Kashtira Fenrir”, “Kashtira Unicorn”, or “Kashtira Ogre” if I control no monsters,” the jidiao smirks, “Plus, I’ll activate his first effect to add “Scareclaw Kashtira” to my hand. The “Scareclaw” and “Tearlaments” are among the victims of the Kashtira, as “Kashtira Birth” spreads their rage across the cosmos!”
Multiple loosely person-sized capsules fall from the sky, landing in various places. Each seems to contain a human or at least humanlike spirit inside. The icy, unmoving looks of those within suggest a state of stasis; the kind of thing you would expect in sci-fi. One of them lands right in the battlefield next to “Fenrir”, carried by another red-armored animal-headed person, this time a horse-head with a notable spike and a sizable sword.
“As long as this Continuous Spell is on my field, I can Normal Summon a Level 7 like “Kashtira Unicorn” without a Tribute. And its effect lets me add “Kashtiratheosis” to my hand, which I then activate!”
An eighth Otter Spirit jumps to Yachie’s side and flies over to the held capsule, which starts to shine and form another red suit of armor around the spirit, starting at its paws, this one brandishing a club. This one was more like a mech suit than armor, thanks to what was inside it. But what was most notable was that the person frozen in the capsule is gone now. Fearful shudders can be heard throughout the audience, from humans, youkai, and even fairies alike, the implication that the Kashtira could flat-out assimilate whole people like that sending shivers down spines. Sumireko looks so scared, she simply passed out on the spot!
“By having my Otter Spirit absorb the prisoner inside the capsule “Kashtira Unicorn”, the target, holds, I can Special Summon another “Kashtira” with a different Attribute, such as “Kashtira Ogre” from my Deck. And it can add the Trap “Kashtira Big Bang” to my hand… And now, we can finally get to why I’ve recruited such a ferocious force.
“We enshroud this pressured planet in the Overlay Network!”
“That’s some big words for a simple Xyz Summon,” Kaiba remarks, “Have you even the slightest bit good of a Rank 7 to back that up?”
“Oh, only the biggest Duel Monster of all!”
♪ Unlocated Hell
As the “Kashtira” monsters “Unicorn” and “Ogre” turn to balls of light, the already twilit sky all around Gensokyo starts filling with bright red clouds; visible even in the dark while providing no light.
“When the Kashtira set their eyes to a world, its denizens are left with nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, nowhere to fight! I Xyz Summon! Make our foe helpless, “Kashtira Shangri-Ira”!”
Several hexagon pieces in like 4 or 5 lines can be seen gradually revolving in the sky. Once one piece was roughly overhead, one can see another of those capsules drop to the left Extra Monster Zone, this one empty with the two Xyz Materials revolving around it. It shines a red light upwards, indicating its status as a beacon to the strange entities above.
“A space monster,” Kaiba almost mockingly suggests, “Are you from Hell proper, or some faraway planet referred to as Hell?”
“Well excuse me for the best-fitting Deck for my Ability being based on a space adventure,” the jidiao sarcastically retorts, “but since I control a “Kashtira” monster, I can bring out the great Vishnu himself, “Kashtira Riseheart”!”
Reimu promptly steels herself, before seeing that “Riseheart” is a Level 4 1500/2100 monster. Unlike the others, he’s not in a full suit of armor and his face is very visible.
“Gensokyo, I presume. A rather… primitive place to ask for aid in obtaining,” the man eyes his summoner, scowl clear and seething rage forcefully contained, “Especially when you offered the Earth of all planets.”
“You’ve been bamboozled,” the shrine maiden yells, “The Outside’s rejection of fantasy would evaporate your entire army, “Shangri-Ira” included, in a matter of hours! You’d be lucky to last a night!”
Around now, Sumireko starts to stir, “I was hoping to sleep until the end of her turn,” she starts tapping away at her phone, rushing to Reimu “but this is kind of important.”
“Oh, no,” Of all people, Kaiba is the one starting to groan over a phone’s presence, “this is going to really complicate contract talks.”
“Eh,” Sumireko looks confused, “Why would some clouds mess things up?”
“Not the sky. The fact that you’re a Duelist and also have your phone around.”
It takes a second for the psychic to realize what Kaiba was implying, “You don’t mean…”
“Young Mr. Kaiba, sir! We’ve received feedback from the Duel Dimension System!”
At his office desk, Mokuba’s eyes bulge as he hears a KaibaCorp tech guy deliver the news, a small chip left on the desk, “Big brother!? But how?”
“It appears to have been an indirect reception from a Duelist in the Kanto Region,” the man bows, “but the data’s unique key matches the Duel Dimension System’s.”
“That’s qbit-encrypted! Not even Seto could crack it without getting caught! Who’s the one responsible!?”
A screen shows up, showing a visage of a young girl with glasses wearing a huge runic cape, “That would be Sumireko Usami. While not a Psychic Duelist, she’s both a psychic and a Duelist that runs “Metalfoes”. But as the info in the data is locked as Pride Secret, only you have the second key needed to read it.”
Mokuba takes a short pause.
♪ Kaiba Hacking
“I’m taking this chip to the Isochamber. Whether it’s real or not is entirely mine to figure out. Back to work.”
“Understood,” the man makes his leave as Mokuba gets up and takes the chip, plus a tiny card containing Sumireko’s file, and heads towards this isolated part of the station.
Shrouded behind multiple layers of security gates, ranging from a password, Duel Disk, and ID card to fingerprints, retinal scans, and even a DNA sample, Mokuba takes the data to a highly private area with no others or surveillance in sight. In fact, there were several things blocking such, from soundproofing to radio scramblers to an arcane barrier around the centermost part of the Isochamber. It’s only here that Mokuba could input the data that supposedly came from his big bro and decrypt it.
“Welcome, young Mr. Kaiba,” a female computer voice begins as the acting President inserts the two keys and Sumi’s file, “This is an automated message from the Duel Dimension System, issuing a Pride Secret alert. A new King of Games has been crowned!”
The wall lights up and shows a red-white mysterious shrine maiden.
KING OF GAMES – 1st Reign
HAKUREI Reimu
Duelist ID Now: 890gTWqim06
Age: UNKNOWN
Deck: Spirits
Signature Monster: “Izunome the Divine Priestess”
Record: 2-0 (Won last 2)
Last 5 Duels
HAKUREI Reimu def. MUTO Yugi (C)
HAKUREI Reimu (C) def. KAIBA Seto
“Wait, that’s not even a card,” Mokuba hollers, calling it a load of bull, “Remove that record immediately!”
“Your key for Pride Secret files is read-only, young Mr. Kaiba,” the computer voice responds.
“Then run a face scan on that shrine maiden and compare it to the whole database!”
After a few seconds, results pop up, “I found no matches in the Duelist database.”
“As expected,” Mokuba answers, reaching for a “Shut Down” light to turn off the Isochamber.
“However...”
Mokuba stopped cold.
“I did find 1 match in the Soul Secret monster database.”
“Bring it up.”
A card image appears on the wall-screen, whose art looks crudely like the alleged new King of Games:
Paradise Priestess
*******
Spellcaster/LIGHT/Fusion/Effect/2500/2000
2 monsters Special Summoned from the Extra Deck
Neither player can activate cards or effects from the hand.
2015 Card Contest Submission
From: Sumireko Usami
Rank: Participant
“A mysterious flying shrine maiden residing over the fantastic land of Gensokyo. They say nothing can weigh her down.”
“That’s the same Sumireko the data came from,” the acting President looks shocked, “But that suggests that both Seto and the Pharaoh are in this ‘Gensokyo’ place!
…
“Very funny, big bro. That’s one way to keep me on my toes, at least,” Mokuba stares at the shrine maiden picture’s face, concluding it was an automated test on him to make sure he stays sharp during Seto’s absence.
Reimu’s eyes lowered as she reads what Sumireko had on display, apparently a saved news article labeled ‘Sudden Clouds Over Yamanashi’, “I don’t have time for the Outside explaining another youkai away.”
“That’s the point, Reimers. It went from completely clear to overcast for most of the prefecture in like 30 seconds. Clouds never form that fast! It’s baffling meteorologists all over the place!”
The Pharaoh sighs, “I was afraid something like this would happen again.”
““Again!?””
“Oh, right,” Reimu remembers, “that one game you relearned your name in.”
“Okay, before I continue,” Yachie points at the trio around the phone, “What are you three talking about?”
“The effects of your Forbidden Realms invocation seem to be affecting part of the Outside World,” Atem puts bluntly, “Especially high-stakes Shadow Games and similarly invoked Duels have a tendency to do that.”
Yachie laughs, “And here I thought this barrier was actually strong. Guess you may get your world after all, “Riseheart”.
♪ The Dark Side of Dimensions: Normal Duel (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links)
“Now with that little distraction taken care of, let’s continue,” Yachie seems all calm again like nothing happened, “Now, Special Summoning “Riseheart” does lock me out of my Extra Deck, save for Xyz monsters, but that won’t be a problem. Now back to the scaredycat Scareclaw as I activate “Scareclaw Kashtira” in my hand. This fearsome, rage-corrupted beast can Special Summon itself right to my field as a Quick Effect, as long as I banish a “Kashtira” or “Scareclaw” card from my hand or grave. I banish “Kashtira Big Bang” from my hand…”
“Riseheart”’s arm starts to glow as he holds it towards the “Shangri-Ira” beacon, “meaning its effect when banished activates,” one of the Xyz Materials surrounding the beacon holds in place as the commander seems to telekinetically throw it to Yachie.
“This allows me to target a “Kashtira” Xyz monster and add a “Kashtira” monster attached to it to my hand; the “Unicorn” attached to “Shangri-Ira”. I’m then allowed to Special Summon it right back to the field!
“And if it was getting cloudy in the Outside World before, time to turn it into a storm! I Xyz Summon a second “Kashtira Shangri-Ira”!”
The freshly summoned “Kashtira Unicorn” turns to light again, this time shooting up with “Scareclaw Kashtira”. The clouds get denser and hotter, and more hexagon pieces appear on “Shangri-Ira” before it vanishes into the overcast sky. A second beacon drops, again containing the Xyz Materials around it.
“Sumi, check up on—” Reimu basically barks to the psychic dreamer, who was already zonked out again.
“Now with two of the biggest Duel Monster, I can finally get to claiming this Duel,” Yachie proudly proclaims, staring at her client with glowing eyes, “Give him the business, “Riseheart”! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!”
“Riseheart” simply nods as another capsule drops from the sky, this one seemingly containing a red mermaid woman. The commander puts his left hand to it and causes the woman to vanish, then lashes to Kaiba with that now-glowing hand. Grasping at the billionaire’s heart, “Riseheart” seems to pull out an orb containing three big cards from Kaiba’s Deck, though only Kaiba could see that they were “Pot of Greed”, “Trade-In”, and “Card of Demise”.
“You won’t be needing these,” the man crushes the orb in his hand, seemingly annihilating the cards.
“By banishing a “Kashtira” card from my Deck, like “Tearlaments Kashtira”, I can delete the top 3 cards of your Deck, removing them for the rest of the Duel, to make him a Level 7 monster!”
“I believe you just mean ‘banished face-down,’” Kaiba quickly corrects, “especially when your own card can flush them out.”
“Details, details. That’s just the first half of my way to victory! None of you will be able to fight back thanks to my “Shangri-Ira”!”
The intense cloudiness starts to rumble before twin searing lasers rip through the clouds and crash down between the Duelists, right inside Kaiba’s side of the field, searing two of Kaiba’s Main Monster Zones.
“This is why the Animal Realm has already claimed Gensokyo,” Yachie laughs evilly, “If a card you own and possess is banished face-down, my “Kashtira Shangri-Ira” can activate their effect, sealing away an empty Main Monster or Spell/Trap Zone for as long as they’re on the field! So kiss any hope of playing this game goodbye, Kaiba, because it only gets worse from here! I also Overlay “Riseheart” and “Fenrir”!”
Now “Riseheart” and “Fenrir” start turning into orbs and launching into the sky.
“Your third “Shangri-Ira”,” Reimu looks worried.
Yachie smirks as a galaxy formation forms behind one of the “Shangri-Ira” beacons, “You wish.
“Deep in the shadows of the manmade world is a ravenous beast, looking for nothing short of utter, permanent destruction! I Xyz Summon! Corrupt this Duel, “Number 89: Diablosis the Mind Hacker”!”
A bright red “89” flashes from the Overlay Network as a red stream of data squares rises up, wide wings on its back as it splits from several points of armor and orbs to form a horned head, arms, and a rifle for a right hand. The monster has a very menacing yet futuristic feel to it, with its Number punched out of its right wing.
“Now I’ll activate “Kashtira Birth” to Special Summon the “Tearlaments Kashtira” I banished earlier,” Yachie continues on, “and use her effect to send the top 3 cards of your Deck to your Graveyard.”
The mermaid woman throws her axe at Kaiba, which goes through his Duel Disk, but not without catching three significant cards: “Ultimate Fusion” and his primary starter “Sage with Eyes of Blue”…
“““Oh, no!”””
The third card drained not only the Kings of Games’ faces, but those of several Gensokyans in attendance. “Tearlaments Kashtira” had just milled “Obelisk the Tormentor”!
Yachie smiles wickedly, realizing the importance of that card, “And now, the main event.”
A capsule drops onto “Tearlaments Kashtira”, with a second “Riseheart” on top of it. He gets off and starts Overlapping her as Yachie starts chanting.
“All that provoke the wrath of God vanish without a trace, assimilated into him, feeding his infinite, unending rage! Kashtira Xyz Evolution! Anger incarnate, “Kashtira Arise-Heart”!”
♪
“Riseheart”’s left arm starts morphing on him into something and spreading around his body, eventually forming a sleek red and black armor with purple trim and a big purple gem at the chest. The contacted arm is still glowing and bluish, with large mechanical wings behind him and a huge halberd in his right hand. The beastlike feet, tail, and fearsome helm give a clear indication of almost primal rage.
♪ The Dark Side of Dimensions: Losing (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links)
As the awakened Arise-Heart completes, an eerie tension fills the atmosphere, as if one could end up in another dimension quickly.
“Once per turn,” Yachie smirks, “since I activated a “Kashtira Shangri-Ira” this turn, I can Xyz Summon “Arise-Heart” with just one “Kashtira” monster. And as long as he’s on the field, no card can be sent to the Graveyard; only banished from the Duel. Now, “Number 89” activates its effect, detaching my “Fenrir” to peer into your Extra Deck and delete one of its cards.
“Number 89” revs up and seems to peer into Kaiba’s mind, revealing the contents of his Extra Deck.
“I’ll go right for the jugular,” Yachie declares, “Your target is “Spirit with Eyes of Blue”, “Number 89”. DELETE!”
“Number 89” fires its rifle right at the card, seemingly blasting it straight out of existence.
“And not only does that mean two fewer Monster Zones for you to work with, but now “Arise-Heart” and “Number 89” get to activate! “Arise-Heart” first, as his effect is mandatory, followed by my “Shangri-Ira” and most importantly “Number 89”!
Her mind hacker’s rifle starts glowing like it’s charging a shot.
“Since a card you owned and possessed was deleted, once per turn, “Number 89” doubles your deleted cards by deleting from the top of your Deck! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!
“Number 89” fires another shot, this one at Kaiba’s head! Visages of four cards fly out the back of his head, also dissipating away. And no rest for the weary, as two more columns of heated anger crash onto the field!
“Finally, “Arise-Heart” acquires one banished card per Chain each time one is banished as a material. I’ll be taking one of yours this time.”
“Arise-Heart”’s core glows as it forms one of Kaiba’s deleted cards, turning it into an Xyz Material. Yachie smiles a bit upon realizing that she pulled “Pot of Greed”.
“But of course another card of yours was banished face-down,” the jidiao is laughing almost hysterically, “meaning this Duel is almost over!”
Two more searing columns of rage crash down, one closer to Kaiba than the rest as Yachie’s “Kashtira Big Bang” becomes a third material for “Arise-Heart”.
Yachie looks at Kaiba dead in the eyes. “You have no more Monster Zones, and one of your Pendulum Zones is gone, too. I place 1 card face-down and end my turn. Choose your first card carefully, Kaiba. It is Gensokyo’s last.”
The jidiao laughs evilly, her capture of Gensokyo already in sight.
(Kaiba’s Deck 41 → 36)
Yachie activates “Pressured Planet Wraitsoth” and uses its effect when activated, adding “Kashtira Riseheart” from her Deck to her hand. “Wraitsoth” gives all her monsters 100 ATK/DEF per different Attribute on the field. Since she controls no monsters, she then Special Summons “Kashtira Fenrir” (2400 → 2500/2400 → 2500) in Attack Position and activates its effect, adding a “Scareclaw Kashtira” from her Deck to her hand. She then activates “Kashtira Birth”.
Since she controls “Kashtira Birth”, Yachie Normal Summons the Level 7 “Kashtira Unicorn” (2500 → 2700/2100 → 2300) (“Fenrir” 2500 → 2600/2500 → 2600) without Tributing and activates its effect, adding “Kashtiratheosis” from her Deck to her hand. She then activates “Kashtiratheosis”, targeting “Unicorn” and Special Summoning “Kashtira Ogre” (2800 → 3100/1000 → 1300, “Unicorn” 2700 → 2800/2300 → 2400, “Fenrir” 2600 → 2700/2600 → 2700) in Defense Position. She then activates “Ogre”’s effect, adding “Kashtira Big Bang” from her Deck to her hand.
Yachie then Overlays “Unicorn” and “Ogre” (“Fenrir” 2700 → 2500/ 2700 → 2500) to Xyz Summon “Kashtira Shangri-Ira” (0 → 200/3000 → 3200, ORU 2) (“Fenrir” 2500 → 2600/2500 → 2600) in Defense Position. Since Yachie controls a “Kashtira” monster, she activates “Riseheart”’s effect in the hand, Special Summoning it (1500 → 1700/2100 → 2300) in Defense Position, but she cannot Special Summon from the Extra Deck for the rest of this turn, except Xyz monsters. She then activates “Scareclaw Kashtira” from her hand, Special Summoning it (0 → 200/2600 → 2800) in Defense Position and banishing “Kashtira Big Bang” from her hand.
Since it was banished, Yachie then activates “Kashtira Big Bang”, targeting her “Shangri-Ira” and adding “Unicorn” back to her hand, then she Special Summons it (2500 → 2800/2100 → 2400) (“Scareclaw Kashtira” 200 → 300/2800 → 2900, “Riseheart” 1700 → 1800/2200 → 2300, “Shangri-Ira” 200 → 300/3200 → 3200, “Fenrir” 2600 → 2700/2600 → 2700) in Defense Position. She then Overlays “Scareclaw Kashtira” and “Unicorn” (“Riseheart” 1800 → 1700/2300 → 2200, “Shangri-Ira 300 → 200/3300 → 3200, “Fenrir” 2700 → 2600/2700 → 2600) to Xyz Summon her second “Shangri-Ira” (0 → 200/3000 → 3200) in Defense Position.
Yachie then activates “Riseheart”’s effect on the field, banishing “Tearlaments Kashtira” from her Deck to face-down banish the top 3 cards of Kaiba’s Deck (“Pot of Greed”, “Trade-In”, “Card of Demise”) (Kaiba’s Deck 36 → 33) and changing its Level to 7. Since a card Kaiba owns and possesses was banished face-down, both “Shangri-Ira” activate their second effect, targeting the center and center-right Main Monster Zones respectively. Those Zones cannot be used as long as the respective “Shangri-Ira” is face-up on the field.
She then Overlays the Level 7 “Riseheart” and “Fenrir” (“Shangri-Ira” 200 → 100/3200 → 3100) to Xyz Summon “Number 89: Diablosis the Mind Hacker” (2800 → 3000/1200 → 1400, ORU 2) (“Shangri-Ira” 100 → 200/3100 → 3200) in Attack Position. She then activates “Kashtira Birth”’s second effect, Special Summoning her banished “Tearlaments Kashtira” (2300 → 2600/1200 → 1500) (“Number 89” 3000 → 3100/1400 → 1500, “Shangri-Ira” 200 → 300/3200 → 3300) in Attack Position. Since it was Normal or Special Summoned, she then activates “Tearlaments Kashtira”’s effect, sending the top 3 cards of Kaiba’s Deck to the GY (“Ultimate Fusion”, “Sage with Eyes of Blue”, “Obelisk the Tormentor”) (Kaiba’s Deck 33 → 30).
Since a “Kashtira Shangri-Ira” activated an effect this turn, Yachie Overlays “Tearlaments Kashtira” (“Number 89” 3100 → 3000, “Shangri-Ira” 300 → 200/3300 → 3200) to Xyz Summon “Kashtira Arise-Heart” (3000 → 3200/3000 → 3200, ORU 1) in Attack Position. She then activates “Number 89”’s first effect, detaching “Fenrir” (ORU 2 → 1) to look at Kaiba’s Extra Deck. She face-down banishes “Spirit with Eyes of Blue”.
Since a card(s) was banished, “Arise-Heart” activates its second effect. Since a card Kaiba owns and possesses was banished face-down, Yachie then Chains both “Shangri-Ira”, targeting the leftmost and center-left Main Monster Zones, then Chains “Number 89”’s third effect. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Number 89” resolves, face-down banishing top cards from Kaiba’s Deck equal to his face-down banished cards (he has 4, so “Number 89” banishes 4 cards) (Kaiba’s Deck 30 → 26). The “Shangri-Ira” resolve, locking their respective target Zones from use. “Arise-Heart” resolves, and Yachie attaches 1 of Kaiba’s face-down banished cards to it as material (“Pot of Greed”) (ORU 1 → 2).
Since a card(s) was banished, “Arise-Heart” activates its second effect. Since a card Kaiba owns and possesses was banished face-down, Yachie then Chains both “Shangri-Ira”, targeting the rightmost Main Monster Zone and leftmost Spell/Trap Zone respectively. The Chain resolves in reverse. The “Shangri-Ira” resolve, locking the target Zones from use. “Arise-Heart” resolves, and Yachie attaches “Big Bang” to it as material (ORU 2 → 3). She Sets 1 card.
Turn 2: Seto Kaiba
Kaiba (Kings 1/3): 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 26 | EX: 14 (0) | Grave: 3 | Banish: 7 (7)
All Main Monster Zones locked, Blue Pendulum Zone locked
Yachie (Matriarchs 1/3): 8000 | Hand: 0 | Deck: 29 | EX: 11 (0) | Grave: 1 | Banish: 1 (0)
“Kashtira Shangri-Ira” (200/3200, ORU 1), “Kashtira Shangri-Ira” (200/3200, ORU 2), “Number 89: Diablosis the Mind Hacker” (3000/1400, ORU 1), “Kashtira Arise-Heart” (3200/3200, ORU 3); “Pressured Planet Wraitsoth”, “Kashtira Birth”, 1 Set card
Countless beings around Gensokyo look in abject horror at the pillars of fury and ravaging brought upon the Human Village. Humans, youkai, fairies, and gods alike seemed to be trembling, realizing the true extent of what’s on the line.
“Is her turn done yet? What’d I mi—” Sumireko groggily wakes and sees the six columns of anger on Kaiba’s side of the field, promptly making her massively freak out, “OH DEAR GODS NO!!!”
Seeing the dire situation on the field, Sumireko’s heart tensed greatly.
“So what’s the status re—” Reimu gazes at Sumireko before Atem’s Millennium Puzzle seemed to be reacting to something on its own.
“What’s going on,” the Pharaoh remarks as visages of the Outside World surround the Duel from above. Those clouds had grown into a big storm, almost a typhoon, flooding much of the prefecture. It’s still loosely regional, but Mt. Fuji is showing multiple signs of pending eruption, which is starting to spread to other nearby Ring of Fire volcanoes.
Reimu looks up in trepidation as she realizes that this is no mere game anymore. She’s probably fighting for the Outside World as much as she is for Gensokyo!
“I do not like the looks of this,” Kaiba thinks to himself, “This better not cause harm to my company, Yachie. I draw…”
Yachie immediately flips over her face-down, “I activate “Kashtira Preparations” and use its effect to Special Summon a banished or Graveyard “Kashtira” monster!”
“Responding,” Kaiba retorts before he looks over to Sumireko. “Your card got us into this, and it’ll get us out of it. I activate “Super Polymerization”! By discarding “Gift of the Mystical Elf”, I can Fusion Summon something using monsters either one of us controls! And neither of us can respond to the activation!”
Both “Shangri-Ira” beacons have a spark light between them, pulling them and the clouds and hexagons in the sky into the spark. With the spark moving between “Arise-Heart” and the columns of anger, Kaiba starts a rather familiar chant.
“Gravity? Stress? Power? Nothing weighs down the protector of fantasy! I Fusion Summon!”
Sumireko wraps it up, “Fly through the air, “Shrine Maiden of Paradise”!”
“ME!?” Reimu’s eyes bulged before they started to glaze over.
♪
What looked like a second Reimu emerges from where the “Super Polymerization” spark and the stuff of the “Shangri-Ira” formed together and bursts, making a short Shinto chant before posing as if declaring a Spell Card. On cue, the columns of rage dissipate. The visions of a nation in turmoil show the storm and volcanoes dying down in a hurry before they vanished from view.
♪ The Dark Side of Dimensions: Winning (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links)
Sumireko smirks as she looks at Reimu proper as well, “See, Reimers, when I made that card of you, I was making what’s called a ‘Super Poly target’: A Fusion with generic materials to blend into, or disrupt, a wide variety of boards!”
Reimu proper wasn’t responding, leaving the dreaming psychic confused. The “Shrine Maiden of Paradise” in one of the Extra Monster Zones, which is apparently Reimu, answers, “I’m over here, Sumireko. Apparently being summoned like this can cause an out-of-body experience.”
“I get it now,” Sumireko’s eyes light up, “By using that card of her, not only does it unlock Kaiba’s field, but it gives Reimers the alibi of a Duel Spirit!”
“As long as the shrine maiden is here,” Kaiba continues, “Neither of us can activate any fast cards or effects from our hands: Quick-Play Spells, any Traps, or any effect that’s a Quick Effect.”
Yachie looks furious, like Kaiba had just pulled that card right out of his ass, “You’ll regret such a move dearly! Rise, “Kashtira Fenrir”! Every time a card is banished, once per Chain, “Arise-Heart” activates its effect, and since you activated a Spell, I also activate “Kashtira Birth” to delete the cards in your Graveyard.
Yachie then looks fiercely at the Reimu on the field as “Arise-Heart” also detaches its three Xyz Materials, activating its effect to face-down banish a card on the field. “And you can vanish from this realm too, shrine maiden! DE—” the Reimu on the field suddenly vanished, the spectating one conscious again, “lete!?”
“Did you think I was just gonna let you erase me,” Reimu proper, now the only Reimu again, smirks, “No, I activated my effect instead by Tributing myself to dodge your monster’s effect. And my target is the Monster Zone your “Diablosis” is in, permanently negating the effects and halving the Attack and Defense of any monster that’s in that Monster Zone right now, or enters it this turn. Divine Art “Omnidirectional Demon-Binding Circle”!”
“Even so,” Yachie sneers as several red soldiers seem to desecrate part of the village with another building, if only a single floor, “You’ve lost your biggest trump card! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!
Another pod dropped beside the building, which seemed to be sapping the three cards’ energy straight from the earth, “And “Kashtira Unicorn” returns to its master, as well.”
Kaiba seemed pretty annoyed… at Reimu, “Remind me, shrine maiden, who are the Duelists this round? I get that the Heart of the Cards allows such acting on the Duelist’s behalf, but I could’ve done that myself.”
“Now “Arise-Heart” and “Kashtira Big Bang” activate again,” Yachie continues, “letting me add the “Kashtira Unicorn” attached to “Arise-Heart” to my hand and Special Summon it, and “Arise-Heart” reattaches “Kashtira Big Bang” as material.”
“Too bad there’s no cards on my field for “Fenrir” to banish,” Kaiba smirks before going on.
“Now with the Outside World’s problems taken care of and you finally out of effects to fire off, let’s get this turn going. “Wishes for Eyes of Blue” lets me discard “De-Fusion” to add “Maiden of White” and “Burst Stream of Destruction” to my hand. And ne—”
“Sorry, man, but “Arise-Heart” must activate as you banished cards. Let’s assimilate “Tearlaments Kashtira” this time around.
“I won’t let your power-hungry activation hog fire up again! The light of my dragons brings a new one to me! Come on out, “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon”! This card’s name is “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” while on the field or in the Graveyard. And since I have a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” on the field, I can declare this Spell Card!”
Blue-Eyes “Burst Stream of Destruction”
青眼「滅びの爆裂疾風弾」
Kaiba’s dragon charges up a fearsome ball of light that unloads into a wide, destructive stream that annihilates Yachie’s entire front row, and leaves the dragon catching its breath.
“I could activate “Tearlaments Kashtira” to mill two of my cards,” the jidiao comments, “but I’d rather banish my cards intsead.”
“Luckily for you,” Kaiba continues, “This spell prevents any “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from attacking this turn. But I have something else in mind. I activate the effect of the “Maiden of White” in my hand, sending her to the Graveyard to call upon “True Light” straight from my Deck! Then I use its effect to Set “Majesty of the White Dragons” directly from my Deck!
“I end my turn,” Kaiba glares at the jidiao, looking as cold and calculated as ever, like he had seen far worse ordeals; which, to be fair, he has.
Kaiba draws (Kaiba’s Deck 26 → 25). In response, Yachie activates her Set “Kashtira Preparations” and uses its effect. In response, Kaiba Chains “Super Polymerization”, which lets him discard a card to Fusion Summon a monster using Fusion Materials from either player's field. He discards “Gift of the Mystical Elf”. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Super Poly” resolves, and Kaiba fuses both of Yachie’s “Kashtira Shangri-Ira” (“Arise-Heart” 3200 → 3100/3200 → 3100, “Number 89” 3000 → 2900/1400 → 1300) to Fusion Summon “Shrine Maiden of Paradise” (2500/2000) to his left Extra Monster Zone in Attack Position (“Arise-Heart” 3100 → 3200/3100 → 3200, “Number 89” 2900 → 3000/1300 → 1400).
Shrine Maiden of Paradise
楽園の巫女
*******
Spellcaster/LIGHT/Fusion/Effect/2500/2000
2 Extra Deck monsters
Neither player can activate Quick-Play Spell cards, Trap cards, nor Quick Effects, from the hand. (Quick Effect): You can Tribute this card, then target 1 Monster Zone on the field; if a monster is currently in that Zone face-up, or a monster enters that Zone this turn, negate its effects, also halve its ATK/DEF. You can only use this effect of “Shrine Maiden of Paradise” once per turn.
All of Kaiba’s Zones are unlocked. “Preparations” resolves, and Yachie Special Summons her banished “Fenrir” (2400 → 2700/2400 → 2700) (“Arise-Heart” 3200 → 3300/3200 → 3300, “Number 89” 3000 → 3100/1400 → 1500) in Defense position. Since a card(s) was banished, “Arise-Heart” activates its second effect. Since Kaiba activated a Spell, Yachie also activates the effect of “Kashtira Birth”, targeting the “Ultimate Fusion”, “Sage”, and “Obelisk” in Kaiba’s GY. In response, she further Chains “Arise-Heart”’s third effect, detaching “Tearlaments Kashtira”, “Pot of Greed”, and “Big Bang” (ORU 3 → 0) and targeting “Shrine Maiden of Paradise”. In response, Kaiba (or rather Reimu, as the monster activating) activates “Shrine Maiden”’s effect, Tributing it (“Fenrir” 2700 → 2600/2700 → 2600, “Arise-Heart” 3300 → 3200/3300 → 3200, “Number 89” 3100 → 3000/1500 → 1400) and targeting the Zone “Number 89” is occupying.
The Chain resolves in reverse. “Shrine Maiden” resolves, and any monster that is currently face-up in the Zone “Number 89” is currently in, and any monster that moves there this turn, has its effects negated (permanently) and its ATK/DEF halved (“Number 89” 3000 → 1500/1400 → 700). “Arise-Heart”’s third effect resolves without effect. “Birth” resolves, face-down banishing “Ultimate Fusion”, “Sage”, and “Obelisk” from Kaiba’s GY. “Arise-Heart”’s second effect resolves, and it attaches Yachie’s banished “Unicorn” as material (ORU 0 → 1).
Since a card(s) was banished, “Arise-Heart” activates its second effect. Since it was banished, Yachie Chains “Big Bang”’s second effect, targeting “Arise-Heart”. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Big Bang” resolves, and Yachie adds the “Unicorn” attached to her target to her hand (ORU 1 → 0), then Special Summons it (2500 → 2800/2100 → 2400) (“Fenrir” 2600 → 2700/2600 → 2700, “Arise-Heart” 3200 → 3300/3200 → 3300) in Defense Position. “Arise-Heart” resolves, and Yachie attaches “Big Bang” to it as material (ORU 0 → 1).
Kaiba activates “Wishes for Eyes of Blue”, discarding “De-Fusion” to add “Maiden of White” and “Burst Stream of Destruction” to his hand (Kaiba’s Deck 25 → 23). Since a card(s) was banished, “Arise-Heart” activates its effect, and Yachie attaches her banished “Tearlaments Kashtira” to it as material (ORU 1 → 2). Kaiba then reveals a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” in his hand to Special Summon “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” (3000/2500) (“Unicorn” 2800 → 2900/2400 → 2500) (“Fenrir” 2700 → 2800/2700 → 2800, “Arise-Heart” 3300 → 3400/3300 → 3400) in Attack Position.
Since Kaiba controls a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” (“Alternative White Dragon”’s name is treated as “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” while on the field or in the GY), he activates “Burst Stream of Destruction”, destroying all of Yachie’s monsters, however “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” cannot attack this turn. He then activates “Maiden of White” from his hand, sending it to the GY to place “True Light” on the field face-up (Kaiba’s Deck 23 → 22). He then activates “True Light”’s effect, choosing to Set “Majesty of the White Dragons” from his Deck (Kaiba’s Deck 22 → 21).
At the end of the turn, “Shrine Maiden”’s effect on one of Yachie’s Main Monster Zones expires.
“Another one,” Mokuba asks one of his employees, checking checksums on two messages, “and a resend at that?”
“That’s correct, young Mr. Kaiba,” the guy answers.
“A duplicate of the previous message. Something isn’t adding up. A pseudo-psychic Duelist wouldn’t have access to that code, meaning it can only come from big brother… Perhaps that place really does exist, somewhere in the Spirit World… And come to think of it… Seto would never falsely claim that someone defeated him!
Mokuba takes a deep breath to calm himself before looking at his crony dead in the eyes, “I’m declaring a Code: Raphael.”
“A WHAAAAAAAAT!?” The tech guy freaks out, knowing exactly what that meant; Pharaoh Atem is no longer the King of Games, and someone besides Kaiba defeated him for that title.
Mokuba simply inserts the first message and his Pride secret key into the desk, causing the profile of a Duelist named Reimu Hakurei to appear, “This is the new King of Games.”
“There’s no such Duelist in our database with that name or ID. And her Ace Monster isn’t even in the card database!”
“Of course those things aren’t around yet; she’s a Duel Spirit!”
“You can’t expect me to fall for a test like you did, young Mr. Kaiba.”
“If this were a test,” Mokuba points to the new King’s second Duel where she defeated Kaiba, “this wouldn’t be here.”
The tech guy paused for a moment, “Understood,” he bows apologetically and leaves as Mokuba puts his left hand on some sensor panel that made an egg-shaped helmet descend from the ceiling by robot arm down to him. The acting President puts the thing on, and it starts reading his brainwaves. Shortly afterwards, the change had been committed.
“We may not know where she is,” Mokuba takes off the helmet as the breaking news started spreading, “But a King in hiding is still a King.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
Notes:
THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE, AND THEY SPELL DISASTER FOR YOU AT SACRIFICE!
I can't believe I actually had to split this round/part, but that's what happens when you've got so much in other events going on.
But yeah, I had to verify basically the entire Duel (not just these two Duelists but the whole teams) before I could even consider getting started. That's one reason this took so ungodly long, the other being my old phone biting the dust shortly after it became my primary ISP.
Chapter 13: (Final Stage, Part 1 (2/2)) The Ability to Draw Good Cards
Summary:
With the King of Games title officially changing hands, some trouble tries to find the outgoing King.
In the meantime, the first round of the Duel for Gensokyo is only heating up!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Marisa starts idly talking to nobody in particular, “‘What all’s been goin’ on in Paradise?’”
“And out,” Yukari interjected, much to Marisa’s chagrin.
“Hey, don’t interrupt my ‘Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh!’ skit!”
Yachie’s eyes flare to life, Saki and Yuuma alongisde, boring deep into Reimu and company with her Ability, “GENSOKYO IS OURS!”
Kaiba slams a “Remove Brainwashing” onto the orb of his Duel Disk, “No one orders around Seto Kaiba!”
The jidiao smirks wickedly, “Since you invoked Forbidden Realms against us, we’ll invoke them against you.”
Atem seems quite shocked at this, “That means it’s basically a Shadow Game!”
The already twilit sky all around Gensokyo starts filling with bright red clouds; visible even in the dark while providing no light, “Make our foe helpless, “Kashtira Shangri-Ira”!”
Yachie looks at Kaiba dead in the eyes, his whole front row plus one back row Zone blocked by searing rage. “You have no more Monster Zones.”
The Pharaoh sighs, seeing visions of storms and rumbling volcanoes above, “I was afraid something like this would happen again.”
The visions of a nation in turmoil show the storm and volcanoes die down as both “Shangri-Ira” merge from a spark into a Reimu as Sumireko chants, “Fly through the air, “Shrine Maiden of Paradise”!”
“I can declare this Spell Card,” Kaiba calls out upon activating “Burst Stream of Destruction”. His “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” charges up a fearsome ball of light that unloads into a wide, destructive stream that annihilates Yachie’s entire front row.
“Young Mr. Kaiba,” a female computer voice begins as Mokuba inserts two keys and a file card, and a picture of a red-white mysterious shrine maiden appears on the wall, “A new King of Games has been crowned!”
“We may not know where she is,” Mokuba takes off an egg-shaped helmet as the breaking news started spreading, “But a King in hiding is still a King.”
“I get da concoin, but didja really hafta can our date ova it!?” Joey Wheeler sounded anguished at the passenger seat—the left seat—of a small white car, just turning into a parking garage.
“You two have no idea what this kind of notoriety is like,” Joey’s squeeze Mai Valentine retorts, “With Yugi as clueless as the rest of us, the last thing he needs to be is easily found.”
“As much as I appreciate it,” Yugi sat in the central rear seat of the car as Mai parks the car, “Do you really think a sports bar is the best place? They probably have televised Duels on the regular there.”
“Easily,” Mai smirks as Yugi and the others leave the car and walk towards a nearby bar, “You’re both ‘only’ 18, after all, so it’ll be very low on the search priority list. I’ll cover the bill to make up for the canceled date, Joey.”
Once the trio had entered the respective building and got downstairs to the bar in question, the place was more or less empty save for the young cowboy-fashioned bartender. The various TVs, including one that took up the whole back wall, were focused on a channel that soon went to a news broadcast:
BREAKING NEWS
Search for Newly Crowned King of Games Begins
“The manhunt is on for the mysterious maiden that KaibaCorp claims as the new King of Games, apparently having felled not just the previous champion Yugi Muto but also Seto Kaiba himself…
“What brings you of all folks here,” the bartender remarks, “Don’t expect me to babysit da kids for ya.”
“I’m not of age yet,” Yugi remarks as he makes an order, “so I’ll just have some milk if you’ve got any.”
“Jus sum iced oolong here,” Joey follows up.
“Slow down, you two,” Mai hushes the boys, “Would we be able to use a private room?”
“Not without a reservation, tuts.”
“Better hope those guys don’t show up, then,” Yugi points at the big screen, which had just started showing Yugi’s mugshot as its breaking news continues on:
“Some of our reporters (and several other networks’) are live at the Kame Game Store to interview the former King of Games’ grandfather, Solomon Muto:”
There’s a crowd of people at the doors of the Kame Game Store, not at all interested in any business. They started asking the owner Solomon Muto questions all aimed at one subject; his grandson Yugi.
“Is Yugi here?” “Where’s Yugi?” “What happened to Yugi?” “How’s the former King handling his title loss this time?” “Has Yugi told you anything about Reimu Hakurei?”
“I haven’t seen or heard from my grandson in weeks since he went out on his own,” grandpa bemoans, “He won’t even answer his phone at the moment, so I have no real way to reach him.”
The crowd got riled up, as this store was the most likely hiding spot for Yugi.
The bartender does a quick double take as he realizes just who’s among the trio, then starts putting two and two together, “Good grief, I didn’t think that was you!”
“Let’s just say my answers to them will be as shocking as the title loss itself,” the former King concludes, “so I’m going into hiding myself so that word doesn—”
Some old bells rang as the entrance door opened again. A couple of men in dark tuxedos and shades—one blue-haired, the other brown-haired with a beard & mustache—arrived at the bar.
“Hey,” the bartender calls out the men, “if you two are here for the bouncer gig, the big party is Saturday!”
Roland & Fuguta ignore the bartender, with Roland directly talking to Yugi, “Mr. Muto, Young Mr. Kaiba would like to speak with you. Privately.”
Turn 3: Yachie Kicchou
Kaiba (Kings 1/3): 8000 | Hand: 1 | Deck: 21 | EX: 13 (0) | Grave: 2 | Banish: 16 (10)
“Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” (3000/2500); “True Light”, Set “Majesty of the White Dragons” {“Blue-Eyes White Dragon”}
Yachie (Matriarchs 1/3): 8000 | Hand: 0 | Deck: 29 | EX: 11 (0) | Grave: 8 | Banish: 4 (0)
<Empty front row>; “Pressured Planet Wraitsoth”, “Kashtira Birth”, “Kashtira Preparations”
“All that and you can’t even hit my Life Points,” Yachie scowls, “Seems I deleted the right targets. My turn.”
The jidiao’s eyes glow brightly as she glares at her Deck, “You are the one I seek. Report to the Matriarch immediately.
“I DRAW!”
♪ Tortoise Dragon ~ Fortune and Misfortune (Wily Beast and Weakest Creature)
Yachie stares coldly at Kaiba, “I activate “Kashtira Preparations” once again to bring back another “Kashtira” monster!”
“Not happening,” Kaiba retorts, ““Majesty of the White Dragons”! The visages of the “Blue-Eyes” on the field and in my hand destroy both your “Prepaprations” and “Birth”!”
The two dragons seem to glow vastly regal shines as they unload powerful blue balls of light from their mouths, bouncing off and shattering multiple capsules and smaller “Kashtira” buildings around. However the towers remained, as Kaiba did not destroy “Wraitsoth”.
“As I expected,” the jidiao seemed nonplussed for once, “Go, “Kashtira Unicorn”! Bring me my second “Kashtiratheosis” so I can bring another “Fenrir” to your side!”
Once again, a “Unicorn” descends from the sky with another capsule, and Yachie calls upon a ninth Otter Spirit to absorb the person inside and transform, this time into another “Fenrir”.
“Now I’ll activate his effect to get a spare “Riseheart”, who I can then activate and Special Summon like I did in my first turn, as well as use his effect on the field to banish my final “Kashtiratheosis”, deleting the top 3 cards of your Deck to make “Riseheart” a Level 7 monster. DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!”
As “Riseheart” yanks cards out of Kaiba again, yet another Kashtira capsule drops as Yachie continues, “Again, “Kashtiratheosis” got banished, so I can add my banished “Scareclaw Kashtira” back to my hand, then use its effect in my hand to Special Summon it in Defense Mode and banish the “Tearlaments Kashtira” in my Graveyard!”
Out of the capsule comes a fearsome-looking monster that seemed to put several humans in the audience on edge as it roared.
“Now then, it’s time to bring you to a helpless demise,” Yachie boastfully declares as her “Fenrir” and “Riseheart” turned into lights, “For a virus spreads through the manmade world like any society! I Xyz Summon a second “Number 89: Diablosis the Mind Hacker”!”
The familiar number flashes again as another copy of the electric mind beast forms out of corrupted data, its destructive intent far more prevalent than its predecessor.
“Farewell, “Dragon Master Magia”. DELETE!” the jidiao declares as “Number 89” detaches “Fenrir” to blast the mighty monster straight out of Kaiba’s mind, “You wanna cry? Too bad! No rest for the weary! “Number 89”, attack and destroy “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon”! Encryption Blaster!”
“Number 89”’s gun charges a big shot and fires a beam of superheated corrupt data clean through Kaiba’s monster, making it dissipate into data itself.
“Now, “Scareclaw Kashtira”,” Yachie continues, “attack Kaiba directly! Furious Fears!”
“YOUR MONSTER IS IN DEFENSE MODE,” Reimu screams.
“Big deal, he can attack that way. He even uses his Defense points for the damage calculation when he does.”
“I activate “True Light”’s effect,” Kaiba calls, as the oversized stone tablet shines, “Return to us, “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon”! And since I summoned a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” thanks to its naming effect, I can also Special Summon “Maiden of White” in Defense Mode!”
“Thank you, Kaiba,” Yachie smirks as the maiden reappears, “Thanks to you, there’s four Attributes on the field, meaning “Scareclaw Kashtira” can fight your Blue-Eyes head on thanks to “Pressured Planet Wraitsoth”! And your monster’s effects are immediately negated for the turn!
“Continue your attack against that dragon! Furious Fears!”
“Blue-Eyes, counterattack! Blue Lightning!”
As “Scareclaw Kashtira” rushes into “Alternative White Dragon” and starts clawing at it, that dragon fights through its wincing from the attack and unloads a burning stream of destruction, searing through and destroying Yachie’s monster before it too collapses and blows up.
““Kashtira Unicorn”,” the jidiao commands, “strike down that “Maiden”! And while you’re at it, delete another card from Kaiba’s Extra Deck!”
“How naive,” Kaiba retorts, “I activate “Maiden of White”’s final effect! If she’s targeted by an attack or card effect, I can Special Summon a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” or Level 1 LIGHT Tuner from my Graveyard!”
Yachie points accusingly at Kaiba as his dragon comes out again, “But you don’t have a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” or Level 1 LIGHT Tuner in your Graveyard. “Scareclaw Kashtira” negated your “Alternative White Dragon”!”
“It did, but there’s one thing about “Scareclaw Kashtira”: It can negate monsters’ effects immediately as a continuous effect, but it they don’t stay negated ‘(even if this card leaves the field)’. Since your monster is nowhere to be found, my monster’s name is once again “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”.”
“Even though your “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” is back, your “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Spirit Dragon” won’t be. DELETE!
“Unicorn”’s blade cleaves through what looked like a three-headed dragon spirit surrounding the “Maiden of White” before attacking and destroying her as well.
“I’m still attacking your “Maiden”, since “Unicorn” can’t take out your “Blue-Eyes”,” Yachie comments, “But now at the end of the Battle Phase, it’s time for you to lose your will to fight! It destroyed a monster by battle, so I activate “Number 89”’s second effect to delete a card from your Graveyard! Farewell, “Maiden of White”. DELETE!
“Number 89” revved up again and unloaded at Kaiba’s Graveyard, taking out his sticky if weak monster. Its rifle glows brightly, almost brimming with corrupt data.
“Now I finally activate “Number 89”’s final effect, doubling your deleted cards by taking them from the top of your deck!” Yachie takes a deep breath, her monster firing with her every command:
“DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!
“DELEEEEEEEEEEETE!!!”
A total of sixteen lasers pelted Kaiba’s head, causing all but two cards in his entire Deck to vanish and leaving his head spinning for a while!
“I end my turn,” Yachie bores straight into Kaiba’s eyes as he nearly stumbles, eyes glowing brightly, “but YOU SURRENDER!”
Yuuma grumbles at Yachie’s crazed attempt to invoke her Ability on Kaiba a second time, facepalming with her free hand, “Seriously? Not twenty minutes ago, you saw that he’s immune to that!”
Yachie draws. In response, she activates “Kashtira Preparations”. In response, Kaiba Chains “Majesty of the White Dragons”. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Majesty of the White Dragons” resolves, and Kaiba shows the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” in his hand and “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” on the field (whose name is treated as “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” while on the field or in the GY) to destroy “Preparations” and “Birth”. “Preparations” resolves, but as a Continuous Trap that is no longer face-up on the field, it resolves without effect.
Since she controls no monsters, Yachie then Special Summons her second “Kashtira Unicorn” (2500 → 2700/2100 → 2300) in Attack Position. She then activates its effect, adding her second “Kashtiratheosis” from her Deck to her hand. She then activates it, targeting “Unicorn” and Special Summoning a second “Fenrir” (2400 → 2700/2400 → 2700) (“Unicorn” 2700 → 2800/2300 → 2400) in Defense Position.
Yachie then activates “Fenrir”’s effect, adding her second “Kashtira Riseheart” from her Deck to her hand. Since she controls a “Kashtira” monster, she then activates “Riseheart”’s effect in her hand, Special Summoning it (1500 → 1900/2100 → 2500) (“Fenrir” 2700 → 2800/2700 → 2800, “Unicorn” 2800 → 2900/2400 → 2500) in Attack Position. She then activates “Riseheart”’s effect on the field, banishing her last “Kashtiratheosis” to face-down banish the top 3 cards from Kaiba’s Deck (Kaiba’s Deck 21 → 18) and change its Level to 7.
Since it was banished, Yachie then activates “Kashtiratheosis”’ banished effect, targeting and returning her banished “Scareclaw Kashtira” to her hand. She then activates “Scareclaw Kashtira”’s effect in her hand, Special Summoning it (0 → 400/2600 → 3000) in Defense Position and banishing “Tearlaments Kashtira” from her GY.
She then Overlays the Level 7 “Fenrir” and “Riseheart” (“Scareclaw Kashtira” 400 → 300/3000 → 2900, “Unicorn” 2800 → 2700/2400 → 2300) to Xyz Summon her second “Number 89: Diablosis the Mind Hacker” (2800 → 3200/1200 → 1600, ORU 2) (“Scareclaw Kashtira” 300 → 400/2900 → 3000, “Unicorn” 2700 → 2800/2300 → 2400) in Attack Position. She then activates “Number 89”’s first effect, detaching “Fenrir” (ORU 2 → 1) and looking at Kaiba’s Extra Deck, face-down banishing “Dragon Master Magia”.
“Number 89” attacks and destroys “Alternative White Dragon” (Kaiba 8000 → 7800) (“Number 89” 3200 → 3100/1600 → 1500, “Scareclaw Kashtira” 400 → 300/3000 → 2900, “Unicorn” 2800 → 2700/2400 → 2300). “Scareclaw Kashtira” attacks Kaiba directly, but he activates “True Light” to Special Summon “Alternative White Dragon” (3000/2500) from his GY in Attack Position (“Number 89” 3100 → 3200/1500 → 1600, “Scareclaw Kashtira” 300 → 400/2900 → 3000, “Unicorn” 2700 → 2800/2300 → 2400). Since he Normal or Special Summoned a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”, Kaiba then activates “Maiden of White”’s effect in his GY, Special Summoning it (0/0) in Defense Position.
A replay occurs, and Yachie continues “Scareclaw Kashtira”’s attack against “Alternative White Dragon”, negating its effects until the end of this turn. Both monsters are destroyed in a Double Knockout (“Number 89” 3200 → 3100/1600 → 1500, “Unicorn” 2800 → 2700/2400 → 2300), and since “Scareclaw Kashtira” is no longer face-up on the field and its negation effect is continuous, “Alternative White Dragon”’s effects are no longer negated. “Unicorn” attacks “Maiden of White” and activates its effect. In response, Kaiba activates “Maiden of White”’s third effect. The Chain resolves in reverse. “Maiden of White” resolves, and Kaiba Special Summons “Alternative White Dragon” (3000/2500) from his GY in Attack Position. “Unicorn” resolves, and Yachie face-down banishes “Blue-Eyes Ultimate Spirit Dragon”. A replay occurs, and “Unicorn” continues its attack against “Maiden of White”, destroying it.
At the end of the Battle Phase, since it destroyed a monster by battle, Yachie activates “Number 89”’s second effect, targeting and face-down banishing “Maiden of White”. Since a card Kaiba owns and possesses was banished face-down, Yachie then activates “Number 89”’s third effect, banishing top cards from Kaiba’s Deck equal to his current face-down banished cards (Kaiba has 16, so the top 16 cards of his Deck are banished face-down) (Kaiba’s Deck 18 → 2).
Turn 4: Seto Kaiba
Kaiba (Kings 1/3): 7800 | Hand: 1 | Deck: 2 | EX: 10 (0) | Grave: 2 | Banish: 38 (32)
“Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” (3000/2500); “True Light” {“Blue-Eyes White Dragon”}
Yachie (Matriarchs 1/3): 8000 | Hand: 0 | Deck: 24 | EX: 10 (0) | Grave: 12 | Banish: 5 (0)
“Number 89: Diablosis the Mind Hacker” (3100/1500); “Kashtira Unicorn” (2700/2400); “Pressured Planet Wraitsoth”
Kaiba could feel significant tension in him. He knows if he can’t take out Yachie, she’ll be able to delete the bulk of Reimu’s or the Pharaoh’s Decks behind him. “It’s my move.
♪
The orb of Kaiba’s Duel Disk shines brightly, “No man should lose their one chip called life to blood-soaked, savage warfare.
“I DRAW!”
♪ Seto Kaiba [Duel Monsters] (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links)
“Excellent. That means my last one was at the bottom the whole time.”
Kaiba smugly smirks at Yachie, “I activate my “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon”’s effect to blast your “Unicorn”! Whiteout!”
A big ball of light fires from his dragon, destroying the monster as Yachie scowls, “It’s not like that’ll help anywhere near enough.”
“Not alone, no. But this “Dictator of D.” I activate from my hand will! This lets me send my final “Blue-Eyes” from my Deck to my Graveyard to Special Summon it! Then I use its effect on the field, discarding this “Blue-Eyes” in my hand to Special Summon the one I just sent from my Deck! Come forth, “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”!”
Yachie can’t help but laugh, “You’re nowhere near ready to defeat me, and you’re already on your way out the door.”
Kaiba’s Duel Disk started to glow… black!? “Oh, I’m on my way to a door, alright…
Kaiba’s Duel Disk unleashes energy at one of the Extra Monster Zones, stopping its glowing, “A door between dimensions known as the Overlay Network! I Overlay my Level 8 “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” and “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon”!”
The Monster Zone in question starts forming a galaxy-shaped portal of sorts. Kaiba’s dragons turn into balls of light that fly up and careen into the portal.
“First a Super Poly and now an Xyz Summon!?” Atem looks more surprised at Kaiba’s prowess than anyone, “You’ve really expanded your playbook, Kaiba.”
“From the hearts of its brethren, a new form of the legendary dragon crosses dimensions to arrive!” the galaxy gate explodes, “I Xyz Summon! Grant your people’s wishes, “Indigo-Eyes Silver Dragon”!”
From the explosion a pale-blue dragon with a very metallic trim, underbelly, and even wings erupted. Its head looks like it’s wearing a finned helmet with its deep-blue eyes glaring down Yachie’s board. The two telltale orbs of its materials surround this newfound monster as it cries out upon arrival.
“That… is not a card I was expecting out of you,” Yachie starts to sweat a bit, seeing the line herself, before shaking off the stress, “But even if you do take me down, you’ll be down 2 Duelists to 1!”
“Given who that 1 is, I don’t see it being any problem,” Kaiba retaliates, “Especially not with “Indigo-Eyes”’ effect when Xyz Summoned. This lets me permanently negate the effects of all face-up cards on your field!”
“Number 89”’s lighting dims down, as does any of the shine of the remaining towers from “Pressured Planet Wraitsoth” as Yachie retorts, “All your effect really does is prevent us from deleting the Pharaoh’s Deck once he’s up.”
“Hey,” Reimu butts in, “you can’t just cast me aside like some smallfry!”
“That’s not the effect I’d be worried about if I were you,” Kaiba continues on, “Now I activate its main effect! By detaching “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon”, I can Special Summon the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” still in my Graveyard, giving it an additional 1000 Attack points! And finally, I’ll activate “True Light”’s effect to bring back that very “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” back from my Graveyard!”
Yachie simply growled as Kaiba went through the motions.
“Oh, and did I forget to mention that my “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon”’s activated effect is a soft once per turn?” the billionaire brags as his monster blasts another Whiteout to get rid of “Number 89”, leaving Yachie’s board empty save for her negated Field Spell.
“But that’s not why I specifically detached that monster. “Indigo-Eyes” needs a Normal monster attached as material to attack directly, which it still does with my second “Blue-Eyes”. Now, “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”! Attack Yachie directly!” A blast of White Lightning surges through the boosted “Blue-Eyes”’ mouth and bursts half of Yachie’s Life Points away, “Now, “Indigo-Eyes Silver Dragon”! Finish this wannabe Koopa Queen off!
“SILVER’S SCREAM!”
「銀龍の轟音」
(Silver Dragon’s Booming Sound)
A loud, booming scream from “Indigo-Eyes” that seemed to rattle the place. The fierce soundwaves repeatedly blow past Yachie and launch her, causing her to land on her massive shell!
“That ends my turn and this round,” Kaiba retorts, “The rest of your hand, Deck, and Extra Deck go with you. Those cards are DELETED!”
“So I couldn’t quite… win the whole Duel on my own thanks to your stupid shrine maiden,” Yachie laments as she floats her way back up, having her Otter Spirits take hold of her cards, “But now Saki gets to take two of you out!”
Kaiba draws (Kaiba’s Deck 2 → 1). He then activates “Alternative White Dragon”’s effect, targeting and destroying “Unicorn” (“Number 89” 3100 → 3000/1500 → 1400), however it cannot attack this turn. He then activates “Dictator of D.”’s effect from his hand, sending his last “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from his Deck to his GY (Kaiba’s Deck 1 → 0) to Special Summon “Dictator” (1200/1100) in Defense Position. He then activates “Dictator”’s effect on the field, discarding the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” in his hand to target and Special Summon the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” (3000/2500) that was just sent to his GY by “Dictator”’s activated effect in the hand.
Kaiba then Overlays his Level 8 “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” and “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” to Xyz Summon the Rank 8 “Indigo-Eyes Silver Dragon” (4000/0, ORU 2) in Attack Position. Since it was Xyz Summoned, Kaiba activates “Indigo-Eyes”’ second effect, negating the effects of all of Yachie’s face-up cards (“Number 89” 3000 → 2800/1400 → 1200). He then activates its third effect, detaching “Alternative White Dragon” (ORU 2 → 1) to target and Special Summon “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” from his GY in Attack Position, which then gains 1000 ATK (3000 → 4000/2500).
Kaiba then activates “True Light” to Special Summon “Alternative White Dragon” (3000/2500) from his GY in Attack Position. He then activates “Alternative White Dragon”’s effect, targeting and destroying “Number 89”, however it cannot attack this turn.
“Indigo-Eyes” can only attack directly if it has a Normal monster attached as material, which it does (a “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”). “Indigo-Eyes” and “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” attack Yachie directly (Yachie 8000 → 4000 → 0).
Due to Team Duel rules, it immediately goes to Kaiba’s End Phase. Yachie then passes the baton to Saki Kurokoma at the end of the turn, who proceeds in Dueling Kaiba with all the cards Yachie had on her field, GY, and banishment.
In the back of what looked like a garbage truck, but was really an armored vehicle, Mokuba and Yugi looked at each other across seats. The interior is clearly designed to be soundproof to prevent eavesdropping.
“Sorry about any confusion the past few minutes have caused,” Mokuba starts off, “The system must still think you two are the same person.”
“I’m assuming this is involving Kaiba, Atem, and that Reimu woman, right,” Yugi quickly deduces, “I guess I can understand the need for secrecy.”
“Right. I knew you if anyone would realize something was suspicious. But in this case, the cause of this whole thing is actually on my big brother.”
“Kaiba’s alive!?”
“Seems like it. And that’s why both of the Duels came at the same time; he couldn’t get a connection going until just recently.”
“He definitely wouldn’t lie about losing to someone, that’s for sure… But wouldn’t this mean that ‘Reimu Hakurei’ defeated both Kaiba and the Pharaoh!?”
Mokuba simply nodded and showed part of what came with the data he had gotten; a play-by-play of Kaiba’s loss to Reimu, “Didn’t have anything on how she beat the Pharaoh besides a direct attack while he still had his “Dark Magician” out, but this is how she supposedly defended the King of Games crown against Seto.”
Watching the replay, Yugi takes note of several apparently new monsters, but what really caught his eye was how she stood up to Obelisk the Tormentor, defeating it with its own doppelganger.
“There’s one problem,” Yugi glanced at Mokuba, “Aren’t Kaiba and the Pharaoh in the afterlife?”
Mokuba sighs, “Probably not anymore. Our Egypt Research Team has noticed that there’s a big link between Duat and this so-called Spirit World that Duel Spirits—the beings we summon as monsters in Duel Monsters, and those of ancient Egypt did as ka in Diaha—reside.”
Yugi quickly remembers his short time in said realm when awakening the legendary dragon Timaeus, with how Dark Magician Girl mentioned how they both have worlds and all, “So you’re hypothesizing that Reimu is one of these Duel Spirits and they encountered her?”
“That’s the best idea I’ve got.”
“Okay, thanks for the clarification. Hopefully one of those two can get the title back…”
“Reimu must be quite a powerful Duel Spirit to take them both out,” Yugi pauses.
One of Saki’s Wolf Spirits shows up with a belt in its mouth that sports an oversized buckle, handing it over to its matriarch. Once she puts the thing on, the four holsters—three to her right hip, one to her left—make it pretty clear its purpose. The black pegasus puts her thick Deck in the back right holster and her Extra Deck in her sole left holster.
“In here, guys,” she motions to her two remaining holsters, which the Otter Spirits put Yachie’s Graveyard and banishment in, while she herself takes “Wraitsoth” from another one and puts it near the tip of her left wing; half inside the feathers.
♪ Prince Shotoku’s Pegasus ~ Dark Pegasus (Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost)
“Let’s continue the decisive battle,” Saki pulls out her opening hand, “You’re going back to… wherever you came from by horseboot!”
Team Duel (3 vs 3)
Round 2
If the Animal Realm Matriarchs win, they claim Gensokyo.
If the Kings of Games win, the Animal Realm can never attempt to conquer Gensokyo again.
青き眼の王 海馬瀬人
Seto Kaiba, the King with Eyes of Blue
Kings of Games - 1st Wave (Kaiba, Reimu, Atem)
VS
Animal Realm Matriarchs - 2nd Wave (Yachie, Saki, Yuuma)
Saki Kurokoma, Wolf Spirit Matriarch of Paradise
楽園のオオカミ霊組長 驪駒早鬼
Turn 5: Saki Kurokoma
Kaiba (Kings 1/3): 7800 | Hand: 0 | Deck: 0 | EX: 10 (0) | Grave: 2 | Banish: 38 (32)
“Indigo-Eyes Silver Dragon” (4000/0, ORU 1); “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” (3000/2500), “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” (4000/2500), “Dictator of D.” (1200/1100); “True Light”
Saki (Matriarchs 2/3): 8000 | Hand: 5 | Deck: 55 | EX: 15 (0) | Grave: 15 | Banish: 5 (0)
“Pressured Planet Wratisoth” (Effects Negated)
“My move,” Saki draws, then starts boasting, “Nice piece of turtle food you’ve got there”
The ground around “Indigo-Eyes” starts to tremble and liquefy, turning muddy in a hurry. This mud clings to it and drags it helplessly down as the mud becomes more of a muddy water, eventually culminating in a clear, deep abyss. Kaiba’s monster plunges into the depths, and more trembling occurs as a behemoth devours Kaiba’s monster, surfacing at a rapid pace. The behemoth emerges, fin-wings lazily flapping as it roars, looming over the field as it gracefully floats behind Kaiba.
Saki tips her hat, “She’s all yours, Kaiba; “Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju”! I can Special Summon a “Kaiju” to your field by Tributing 1 of your monsters, or directly to my own field if you have one. But, each player can only control one “Kaiju” at a time.”
Considering the thing seemed to be almost as high as the towers of “Wraitsoth”, it was pretty clear why only one could fit on one side.
“And since you have more power on your field than I do on mine, I can also Special Summon “Alpha, the Master of Beasts”,” Saki stuffs the monster’s card into one of her wings as she brings out a sizable fire-maned manticore, multiple horns on its head and talons for feet, “I’ll then Set 2 cards face-down before I bring this Duel into a realm of Danger!
Saki puts two more cards into her wings, these closer to the bottom. Before anyone knew it, this big hairy sasquatch seemed to be looming behind Saki, “I activate the hand effect of “Danger! Bigfoot!”! By revealing it and shuffling my hand, I can force you to pick a random card for me to discard. So which will it be, Kaiba?”
With only 2 cards left in her hand, Saki shifts the two back and forth multiple times in succession.
“Whichever head spits out the marked ball, from your view, is my chosen card,” Kaiba retorts as a hologram of his Ultimate Bingo Machine appears; a ball drum on top of a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon figure, with the center head inside and the side heads with arrows on them. Two balls were inside; one pure white and one with two circles on it. Both balls roll around and eventually enter the open center mouth.
The ball to Saki’s right rolls out blank. The marked one rolls to the one to her left.
“Too bad, Kaiba,” Saki smirks, as she reveals her left card, “You just hit “Fairy Tail – Snow”!”
“Oh, no!” Kaiba immediately realizes a “Snow” in grave is not a good thing.
“And since the card I discarded wasn’t a “Bigfoot!”, I Special Summon one to the field, then draw a card!
The looming sasquatch jumps onto the field alongside “Alpha” as the black pegasus draws a replacement card, “Now I’ll activate “Alpha”’s effect, targeting itself and “Bigfoot!”. I can target and return any number of my Beasts, Beast-Warriors, or Winged Beasts to the hand, then send the same number of your monsters back as well! Which means your “Dictator” and “Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon” return to yours!”
The manticore roars with such authority, the other three monsters promptly retreat before “Alpha” itself casually walks back to Saki. “Bigfoot!” stays behind looming.
“Better get that machine running again, Kaiba,” Saki smirks, revealing “Bigfoot!” and shuffling her hand again, “as the “Danger!” game is not once per turn!”
The bingo machine balls fade away, replaced by three more in the tumbler. The right head of the dragon statue turns up, as only one ball is being chosen. That ball that comes out the left mouth ends up having a “2” on it; Saki’s middle card. She reveals “Bigfoot!”.
“You actually found “Bigfoot!”, but unfortunately for you being discarded activates its main effect, letting me target and destroy your “True Light”, taking your remaining monster and my Gameciel with it!”
The cryptid pounces with ferocity, slashing through the stone tablet of “True Light”, which explodes in a blast that leaves Kaiba wide open!
“So, you’ve left me ripe for the taking,” Kaiba shrugs, “but do you even have lethal to make the most of this?”
“That depends on these cards. First, my face-down “Trade-In”! I discard “Alpha” to draw 2 cards. Next, my also face-down “Pot of Desires”! By face-down banishing the top 10 cards of my Deck, I draw 2 more! And finally, “Allure of Darkness”!
The area gets darker than usual around Saki as she continues, “This also lets me draw 2 cards. However, I must banish a DARK monster. If I can’t, I lose my entire hand. So it’s a good thing I already got “Danger! Thunderbird!” from the earlier cards.
Her bird rises out into the looming darkness, causing it to dissipate with the monster as it is satiated, “And I’m far from done banishing cards. “Gizmek Orochi, the Serpentron Sky Slasher” banishes 8 more face-down from my Deck to Special Summon itself from my hand! And “Fairy Tail – Snow” can banish 7 cards to come out, too. I banish “Kashtiratheosis”, “Kashtira Preparations”, a “Number 89”, “Gameciel”, “Alpha”, “Trade-In”, and “Pot of Desires” to Special Summon her!
One of the “Wraitsoth” towers seemed to crackle a bit as Saki kept her combo going, “And since I banished “Kashtiratheosis”, I can bring the “Preparations” I banished to my hand. And now…
“Come forth, circuit combining infinite Hells!”
“A “Snow” Link climb,” Kaiba realizes as a Link circuit erects from the ground, “But to what!?”
“This Summoning condition requires 2 non-Link monsters,” Saki evokes as both of her monsters become arrowed cyclones that enter the lower corners of the circuit, “Crimes against the continuum run rampant, and a prime culprit flees to our place in time and space! I Link Summon! Welcome aboard, Link-2 “I:P Masquerina”!”
A girl in a catsuit drives out of the circuit in a futuristic motorcycle, smirking for a moment before noticing her summoner’s opponent.
“Nya,” she lets out nervously as she looks at Saki, “Why’d you summon me in front of the Legend of Justice!?”
“Kaiba,” the Pharaoh asks, a big sweatdrop falling down his face as he notices “I:P”’s confusion, “Do Duel Spirits regularly confuse you for Kaibaman?”
“This is the third time since you got kidnapped,” the KaibaCorp president retorts.
“Chill out, “I:P”,” Saki assures her monster, “Just let me get two more guys and you’ll be on your way. I activate “Snow” again by banishing 7 more “Kashtira” cards, but I’ll keep the last “Kashtiratheosis” since that’s a hard once per turn. Welcome back, “Fairy Tail – Snow”! And now I’ll bring your likeness, Yuuma!”
“You take me for some stepping stone, shorty,” the taotie hollers as the Keiga Matriarch pulls out all but 1 card of her Extra Deck into her front-right holster containing her rather bloated banishment.
“Only one Duel Monster eats like you, and I’ll feed it all but one card from my Extra Deck by face-down banishing them!
A shadowy abyss seemed to form right behind “I:P” and next to “Snow”, a big-headed quadruped fiend emerging with a colossal mouth the size of its main body. It roars loudly with a high-pitch, suggesting that it’s rather young for its kind.
“Enjoy your meal, “Eater of Millions”! It gains 100 Attack and Defense points for each face-down banished card either one of us has, giving it 6300 and giving me enough damage to take you out, Kaiba!”
“Take Reimu out,” Yachie quickly roars at Saki, her eyes glowing, “YOUR TURN IS O—”
The back of a big metal spork crashed into Yachie’s face, courtesy of the Matriarchs’ anchor Yuuma. Her Eagle Spirits fly around her as Yachie’s command attempt fizzles out and her eyes stop glowing.
“I get the reason for trying that,” the taotie groans as she takes her spork back, her ruffled Eagle Spirits settling back into position, “but Saki’s the active Duelist. So no backseat Dueling, or I’ll Giant Swing you by the tail again!”
“And you say I’m the one that’s weak because I still have goodness in my heart.”
“You’re the one risking getting us disqualified!”
“Tell Reimu that for what she did two turns ago.”
“A monster activating on its own isn’t that big a deal. Don’t you know about the Heart of the Cards?”
While her partners were arguing, Saki simply sighs, “Of course just 8950 damage is far from enough for what I want. This wouldn’t be the most of it with Forbidden Realms invoked!
“Come forth, circuit combining infinite Hells!”
“Oh! That’s my cue,” “I:P Masquerina” quips before revving up, the Link circuit forming below her.
“The Summoning condition requires at least 2 Effect monsters. While neither of us can Tribute “Eater of Millions” nor use it as material for Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Summons, we can for a Link Summon! I put “Eater of Millions”, “Fairy Tail – Snow”, and the Link-2 “I:P Masquerina” to the Link Arrows!”
“I:P Masquerina” and the others form into more arrowed cyclones, with her splitting into two of them. All four cyclones shoot into the corners of the Link circuit as Saki concludes her evocation, “In the cycle of creation and destruction, the only constant is endlessly reviving nothingness! I Link Summon! Dawn the new age, Link-4 “Topologic Zeroboros”!”
♪
Within the circuit, a wireframe of a monster with a rather fiendish head and a trefoil knot mostly behind it starts becoming solid, spines all over its knot as its clawed arms solidify. The inside holes of the knot fill orange as the very mechanical monster lights up and emerges with a fierce roar.
♪ VRAINS: Losing (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links)
“Now this is more like it,” Saki smiles gleefully, “3000 Attack points, plus 200 more for each of the eighty-eight banished cards between us! But that’s not the only thing ready to annihilate you, Kaiba! I also have the strongest, fastest Duel Monster of all! The unmatched arms to my unmatched legs, “Gren Maju Da Eiza”!
A long-tailed crimson and emerald fiend emerges from a dimensional hole, its hairy-wristed claws looking unnaturally sharp and honed.
“With 50 cards in my banishment, “Da Eiza” has twenty thousand Attack and Defense points… Which is 600 less than “Zeroboros” right now, but still! I Set 1 card face-down, and this battle will make you and your stupid chip cross the river!
“Cross the river,” Kaiba looks a bit confused.
“It is no longer time to Duel,” Saki stares at her foe dead in the eyes, “Now it is time to DIE! “Topologic Zeroboros”! “Gren Maju Da Eiza”!
“STRIKE HIM DOWN!”
「打破せよ!」
“Zeroboros” charges up its backside orange, which starts glowing brightly as “Da Eiza” swoops towards its direct attack target. The hologram statuses of Kaiba’s Duel Dimension System show up again, all red:
Real monster attack incoming!
Significant Vital Organ damage expected
Severe Concussion expected
Death likely
That last one struck a nerve… in the Pharaoh.
♪ Dark Magician (闇の魔術師)
“He’s not leaving Gensokyo without me,” Atem immediately erects a stone tablet of “Dark Magician” again, with his companion emerging from it.
Magic Sign “Mystic Box”
魔符「死のマジック・ボックス 」
(Magic Sign “Magic Box of Death”)
Two big black boxes appear with multiple slits to the sides and three question-mark doors in the front: One around the “Dark Magician” and another around Kaiba just a second or two before “Da Eiza” cocked its arm and made a vicious claw through the box’s front. “Da Eiza” gets out of the way before “Zeroboros” unleashes a devastating trefoil light beam that pierces right through the box entirely, causing all sorts of smoke and dust.
“Farewell, Seto Kaiba. Would’ve been nice to have you in the Keiga Family…” Saki takes off her hat and puts it over her heart. Then the dust settled and the box Saki’s monsters just ravaged opened…
“HUH!?” Saki freaks out and puts her hat back on as inside is a battered up “Dark Magician”, weakly wagging its finger as it’s destroyed, “That means Kaiba is…”
The Mystic Box the “Dark Magician” was first in opens, revealing a perfectly fine KaibaCorp President near his fellow Kings of Games.
“UNHARMED!?”
“Not quite,” Kaiba remarks as his Duel Dimension System shows his LP plummeting to 0 from 40600 damage, “But it seems your little gambit didn’t just backfire, it lets Reimu actually Duel.”
Saki draws. She then Tributes Kaiba’s “Indigo-Eyes” to Special Summon “Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju” (2200/3000) to his field in Attack Position. Since the total ATK of the monsters Kaiba controls (10400) is greater than that of those she controls (0), Saki then Special Summons “Alpha, the Master of Beasts” (3000/2500) in Attack Position. She Sets 2 cards.
Saki then activates “Danger! Bigfoot!”’s first effect from her hand, shuffling her hand and forcing Kaiba to randomly pick one of them for her to discard. He picks a card, and Saki discards the chosen “Fairy Tail – Snow”. Since the card he made her discard was not “Bigfoot!”, Saki then Special Summons one (3000/0) in Attack Position and draws 1 card. She then activates “Alpha”’s effect, targeting and returning itself and “Bigfoot!” to her hand to return “Dictator” and “Alternative White Dragon” back to Kaiba’s hand.
Saki then activates “Danger! Bigfoot!”’s first effect from her hand, shuffling her hand and forcing Kaiba to randomly pick one of them for her to discard. He picks a card, and Saki discards the chosen “Bigfoot!”. Since it was discarded, “Bigfoot!” activates its second effect, targeting and destroying “True Light”. Since it was sent from face-up on the field to the GY, “True Light” activates its first effect, destroying all of Kaiba’s monsters and leaving his field empty.
Saki then activates her Set “Trade-In”, discarding “Alpha” and drawing 2 cards. She then activates her Set “Pot of Desires”, banishing the top 10 cards of her Deck face-down and drawing 2 more cards. She then activates “Allure of Darkness”, drawing 2 more cards and banishing the DARK “Danger! Thunderbird!” from her hand.
Saki then activates “Gizmek Orochi, the Serpentron Sky Slasher” in her hand, banishing the top 8 cards in her Deck face-down to Special Summon it (2450/2450) in Attack Position. She then activates “Snow”’s effect in her GY, banishing “Kashtiratheosis” “Preparations”, a “Number 89”, “Gameciel”, “Alpha”, “Trade-In”, and “Desires” from her GY to Special Summon it (1850/1000) in Attack Position. Since it was banished, Saki activates “Kashtiratheosis”, returning “Preparations” to her hand.
Saki then sets “Orochi” and “Snow” in the Link Arrows and Link Summons “I:P Masquerina” (800/↙↘) to the left Extra Monster Zone. She then activates “Snow”’s effect in her GY, banishing a “Unicorn”, 2 “Fenrir”, “Arise-Heart”, a “Riseheart”, “Birth”, & “Scareclaw Kashtira” from her GY to Special Summon it (1850/1000) in Attack Position. She then banishes 13 cards from her Extra Deck face-down, leaving only 1, to Special Summon “Eater of Millions” (?/?) from her hand in Attack Position. Due to its first effect, “Eater” gains 100 ATK/DEF for each face-down banished card. There are currently 63: 32 from Kaiba, 10 from Saki’s “Desires”, 8 from “Orochi”, and 13 from “Eater” (“Eater” ? → 6300/? → 6300). She then sets “Eater”, “Snow”, and the Link-2 “Masquerina” in the Link Arrows and Link Summons “Topologic Zeroboros” (3000/↙↖↗↘) to her left Extra Monster Zone. Due to its first effect, “Zeroboros” gains 200 ATK for each banished card. There are currently 88: the 63 face-down banished cards, 6 face-up banished from Kaiba, and 19 face-up banished from Saki (“Zeroboros” 3000 → 20600). She then Normal Summons “Gren Maju Da Eiza” (?/?). Its ATK/DEF are equal to her banished cards x 400. She currently has 50 (? → 20000/? → 20000). She Sets 1 card.
“Zeroboros” and “Da Eiza” attack Kaiba directly (Kaiba 8000 → 0 → 0).
Due to Team Duel rules, it immediately goes to Saki’s End Phase. Kaiba then passes the baton to Reimu Hakurei at the end of the turn, who proceeds in Dueling Saki with all the cards Kaiba had in his GY and banishment.
“How so,” Saki looks over to her fellow Matriarchs. Yuuma looks chill as usual, while Yachie is absolutely seething and unloads on the kurokoma:
“His Deck is empty! His draw for turn makes him lose immediately by a Deck out, ending his turn, letting you blast out Reimu instead on the following turn! It’s two Duelists for the price of one! All you had to do was end your damn turn, Saki!”
♪
Kaiba’s words echoed in the kurokoma’s head: “So, you’ve left me ripe for the taking, but do you even have lethal to make the most of this?”
♪ You’re a Horse’s Ass
Saki’s realization of what she just did leaves her jaw agape, and for a brief moment she, besides her hat, turns into a big round candy on a stick that reads “SUCKER” on the wrapper.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Notes:
Of course the dumb muscle horse would fall into such a basic blunder. More reasonable for her to fall for it than Jean, at least.
Saving some of Round 3's transition for Part 2. Sorry in advance, because this one's gonna take a while with Reimu being a team player.
SecondHelios on Chapter 2 Fri 14 Jun 2024 11:52PM UTC
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TurboGhast on Chapter 3 Sun 18 May 2025 06:13AM UTC
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Triple_Factorial on Chapter 3 Sun 18 May 2025 04:33PM UTC
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Kirbychu12 on Chapter 5 Sun 23 Mar 2025 03:22AM UTC
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The_Ideal_Script on Chapter 6 Sun 04 Aug 2024 08:19AM UTC
Last Edited Sun 04 Aug 2024 08:20AM UTC
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Triple_Factorial on Chapter 6 Sun 04 Aug 2024 03:04PM UTC
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The_Ideal_Script on Chapter 6 Sun 04 Aug 2024 03:31PM UTC
Last Edited Sun 04 Aug 2024 03:33PM UTC
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Triple_Factorial on Chapter 6 Sun 04 Aug 2024 04:40PM UTC
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The_Ideal_Script on Chapter 6 Sun 04 Aug 2024 10:10PM UTC
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Triple_Factorial on Chapter 6 Sun 04 Aug 2024 10:37PM UTC
Last Edited Mon 05 Aug 2024 12:38AM UTC
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TurboGhast on Chapter 10 Wed 11 Jun 2025 06:55PM UTC
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ShiftingSandLand on Chapter 12 Tue 13 May 2025 05:16PM UTC
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Triple_Factorial on Chapter 12 Tue 13 May 2025 05:20PM UTC
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ShiftingSandLand on Chapter 12 Tue 13 May 2025 05:24PM UTC
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Triple_Factorial on Chapter 12 Tue 13 May 2025 05:35PM UTC
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ShiftingSandLand on Chapter 12 Tue 13 May 2025 05:52PM UTC
Last Edited Tue 13 May 2025 05:54PM UTC
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Triple_Factorial on Chapter 12 Tue 13 May 2025 06:17PM UTC
Last Edited Tue 13 May 2025 06:20PM UTC
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TurboGhast on Chapter 12 Sat 14 Jun 2025 02:27AM UTC
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ShiftingSandLand on Chapter 13 Thu 17 Jul 2025 08:17AM UTC
Last Edited Thu 17 Jul 2025 08:18AM UTC
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Triple_Factorial on Chapter 13 Fri 18 Jul 2025 08:53PM UTC
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