Asuka sighed as she walked away from the Ra Yellow Dorm. She needed to calm down from all the teasing their friends gave her and Kuromu. It was definitely not what it looked like. Kuromu and her are childhood friends. Of course she'd be close with him, but not to the extent of her and him becoming a couple. Just what were they thinking?
"We're friends, and nothing else… right?" she questioned herself.
She shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts. Now wasn't the time to think about that. Besides, she needed to meet up with someone else anyways. And so she found herself walking down a different path until finding herself at the island's harbor. She approached the end of the only dock that's there and standing there was someone who overlooked the horizon.
He was an older young man wearing the standard Obelisk Blue uniform with a more pronounced collar, tighter-bound sleeves, and pointed rims coming out the jacket's lower back but it was white with blue lining. His blue hair is sectioned in three layers, his blue eyes positioned directly beneath the bangs of the layer closest to his face.
This was Marufuji Ryo, the Kaiser of Duel Academia, and Sho's older brother.
"Surprised to see you here." Asuka noted.
Ryo didn't respond to her observation, but then spoke, "I heard your friend snapped due to one of our dorm mates berating him, and that a so-called mutt put him in his place."
"Something like that," Asuka trailed off.
"How's he doing now?"
"His demeanor is better." Asuka answered. "He had some time to reflect on what's been going on these past few days and was able to sort himself out."
"I see." Ryo nodded.
"And now that he's feeling better, he's going to do all he can to win his upcoming Punishment Duel." The Obelisk Queen added.
Ryo looked at Asuka with his peripheral vision. "You're thinking about asking me to help with his training."
"W-What? No, I wasn't thinking that. Why would I?" Asuka looked at him surprised.
"You seem to be worried about his chances of success." The Kaiser pointed out.
"It's not like I don't have faith in his abilities as a Duelist," Asuka defended. "But…"
"You need confirmation that he indeed has changed and not relapsed." Ryo figured. His suspicions were proven true when Asuka didn't answer his question.
"It's just…" Asuka trailed off with a slight sigh of sadness. "He's been going through so much, and yet… he's able to smile despite it all."
"You believe he's masking his true feelings," Ryo inquired.
"That's just it. I don't know if he is." Asuka answered.
"Hmm… it is true that Duels reveal everything about a person's true feelings," Ryo pondered with a hand to his chin. "Though, I do have one question."
"Hm?"
"If that's what you're truly worried about, why don't you Duel him yourself?"
Asuka flinched at the question, then looked away. Ryo was confused by her reaction, but then the cogs in his brain started turning. When he put two and two together, a hint of a smirk unseen by Asuka, graced the Kaiser's lips. "Okay, I see how it is."
"Hm?" Asuka looked confused.
"I'll help out. Just this once." Ryo said, before walking away. "Wouldn't want you ruining the special occasion you're saving up on."
"H-Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Asuka stammered.
Ryo didn't give his answer as he kept walking away, but the slight smirk was still on his face.
Manjoume Jun was not happy. Why, one might ask. He had heard the other day that a fellow Obelisk had not only lost a Duel to a mere Osiris Red, he ran off like a coward when Kuromu threatened to put that Obelisk student six feet under.
"This is ridiculous! There's no way that two Osiris Red students beat us so easily." He snarled to himself. "And that Ra Rider Reject, whoever he is. How dare he threaten us?"
Ever since the school year started, Obelisk Blue was handed defeat after defeat. To him, this humiliation will not stand! Duel Academia's reputation rides on the pride of Obelisk Blue as the elite. And that same pride is being dragged down the mud! That's why he was going to confront Instructor Chronos and ask that he would be Kuromu's opponent for his Punishment Duel. It was, in his mind, the only way to make things right.
"It's high time these Osiris Slackers and Ra Rejects get a reminder of who's really at the top!" he affirmed to himself.
As Manjoume kept walking down the hall, he eventually saw Instructor Chronos approaching from the opposite side. But the Antique Gear teacher seemed to be preoccupied about something. Mainly, he was thinking about how in the world he ended up in this mess. It was bad enough that he inadvertently hired the Dark Duelist to practically kill one of the students. It was another that he was very worried that everything would be traced back to him. If they found out, he'll be fired and out of the job!
'This is all falling apart! How am I supposed to get out of this mess?!' The teacher questioned himself mentally. 'If they find out that I inadvertently caused all of this, just to get rid of that Dropout Boy, Judai, I'll be ruined!'
"Instructor Chronos."
Instructor Chronos yelped, snapping out of his thoughts and saw the Obelisk Blue student in front of him. The Antique Gear teacher composed himself, "A-Ah, Signore Manjoume, how may I be of service?"
"Please put me in as Kururugi's opponent in that Punishment Duel." Manjoume said.
"You?"
"It's high time that I teach this Ra Reject some manners." Manjoume stated firmly. "No one disrespects Obelisk Blue and gets away with it. Especially when he threatened one of our own."
"Mi scusi, but there will be no need for that." Instructor Chronos said.
"What?" Manjoume got out.
"The staff have already chosen and agreed on a suitable opponent for Signore Kururugi." Instructor Chronos began. "And besides, you need to instead worry about yourself."
"What do you mean?" Manjoume said, confused, as Chronos turned his back on him.
"From what I hear, at the rate you're going, you'll eventually fall into Ra Yellow, so I suggest that you keep up with your studies first, before you do anything else."
With that, Instructor Chronos left without another word, leaving Manjoume frustrated.
"Why I oughta…" the Obelisk Blue student could feel his hands curling as if to throttle something.
Meanwhile…
"Battle! Kamen Rider W attacks you directly for the win! Joker Extreme!"
"Ko-re de kimari da." W said, as he took out the Joker Memory from the Double Driver and inserted it onto the side of the belt.
JOKER: MAXIMUM DRIVE!
A cyclone formed below W as the wind picked up, raising the said Rider into the air, after which he pressed the button once more. And dived down with both feet aiming at Koji. As W dived down, the Rider's body suddenly split in half down the middle.
"Joker Extreme!" Shotaro and Philip as the halve dived down for the attack, to which Koji brought his arms up to defend himself, blocking the kicks, but was sent flying to the ground.
"GAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Kuromu: 600
Koji: 0
"Ow… not groovy…" Koji groaned.
"Yosha!" Kuromu cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "Another win for me!"
"Welp, glad to see you back in the groove." The disco fan chuckled, "But Daddy-O, could ya have eased up a bit? Rex and I were just joking there."
"I know, but it did feel nice to get back at you." The Rider Duelist said, "Now if only I could get my hands on that stupid mutt…"
"Achoo!" Rex sneezed loudly, before rubbing his nose with his index finger. Why did he suddenly feel the urge to keep his guard up? "I got a bad feeling about this," The mutt said cautiously.
"Anyway, I guess you're excited for the upcoming Punishment Duel?" Koji asked his best friend.
"Well, I wouldn't exactly say I'm excited. If anything, I'm more motivated," Kuromu answered, "I can't let everyone down, not after the support you guys showed."
"That's what I like to hear," The disco fan grinned.
"And you should keep it that way." A voice said, as Kuromu and Koji turned to see Tsukasa walking towards them. "After all, your survival rests entirely on that Punishment Duel."
"Kadoya-sensei." Kuromu acknowledged.
"Trust me kid, you can't take this duel lightly." The dimensional Rider advised the Rider Duelist, "Remember what I told you about deck synergy."
"Yeah, I remember." Kuromu nodded, "I've been checking the card database for any Warrior-type support cards I could put in my side deck, for my normal Rider deck."
"Good. As long as those support cards have good synergy with each other, you can use the Rider deck to its full potential." Tsukasa nodded.
"Let's hope whoever the principal picks ain't another douche to Kuro." Koji sighed.
"Don't worry, I was part of the committee that chose the Duelist." Tsukasa assured him, "And no, I'm not telling you who it is."
"I wasn't going to." Kuromu shook his head, then frowned. "Speaking of… what happened to the corrupted staff that called for my expulsion?"
"You don't need to know." Tsukasa reassured them… though the confused and slightly fearful expressions that Kuromu and Koji sported told a different story. He sighed then said, "Look, if you must know, Principal Samejima ripped them a new one."
"Well that's some good news." The disco fan said.
"And he threatened that should Kuromu lose the Punishment Duel, they could kiss their jobs goodbye as well."
Kuromu scoffed in disbelief, "So their livelihoods are at my mercy, huh? Almost makes me want to throw the Duel."
"I'm serious about this, kid." Tsukasa glared. "Corrupted individuals they may be, they're still human. So don't take that ultimatum the Principal made lightly either. He only did this to show them how wrong they were."
"Right, sorry. Okay then. I'll do my best." Kuromu declared.
"Good. Now how about we visit the Osiris Red dorm and get you in some more practice?" Tsukasa offered, "I'm sure Judai is gonna love having a potential rematch with you."
"Sure, I don't mind." Kuromu shrugged.
As intended, Kuromu, Koji, and Tsukasa went over to the Osiris Red Dorm to visit Judai, Sho, and Rex. When Tsukasa told them the plan of Kuromu to get more practice for his upcoming Punishment Duel, Judai was more than happy to volunteer first. And so here they are, Judai and Kuromu facing each other in a duel in front of the Osiris Red Dorm. Sho, Rex, Koji, and Tsukasa were on the sidelines watching as the Duel went on. The Duel thus far was intense, yet exciting at the same time.
The current field is as follows. On Kuromu's side, he only has Kamen Rider Ryuki on the field, equipped with his Dragreder, and three cards in his Hand. On Judai's side, he has his Elemental HERO Sparkman and no cards face-down, also with three cards in his Hand. For their Life Points…
Kuromu: 2400
Judai: 1000
"It's not looking good for you, Judai." Kuromu said. "Still think you can win this?"
"Are you kidding? Of course, I can! My deck's never failed me before and it won't now! O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Judai declared, drawing his next card. He grinned widely at what he drew. "Alright! I knew my cards would pull through for me!"
"Eh?!" Kuromu gasped in shock. "You got it?!"
"Sure did! And I'm gonna play it! Cyclone! It will destroy Dragreder!" Judai grinned as a whirlwind suddenly burst out of the card, blowing the mechanical red dragon away, destroying it into pixels. "And with it out of the way, I can now use these two cards in my hand! First I summon my Elemental HERO Clayman in ATK mode!" Judai declared, slapping the card on the tray. Appearing on the field was the large bulky clay-like superhero with a red circular helmet. (4/ATK: 800/DEF: 2000) "And now I'll play the card Fusion! I'll use it to fuse Elemental HERO Sparkman and Elemental HERO Clayman together!"
A vortex appeared in the air and the two Elemental HEROes jumped up into the vortex, which then shined brightly for a moment, that is until the vortex turned into a dark cloud with thunder rumbling. However, descending down from the cloud was a tall man with a very bulky body build that matched its bulky yellow armor over its purple bodysuit. It had very broad shoulders with matching yellow that covered said shoulders and he had very large arms with large yellow gauntlets that had drill-like claws and large yellow greaves. There was a core on its chest that contained electricity which was the same on the back of both of this hero's hands.
"Fusion Summon! Elemental HERO Thunder Giant!" (6/ATK: 2400/DEF: 1500)
"Whew… snazzy." Koji whistled. "He's gonna unleash the Electric Boogaloo on him."
"You bet I am, Koji! Because I activate Elemental HERO Thunder Giant's effect! By discarding my last card in my hand, I can destroy a monster on his side of the field, whose ATK is less than Thunder Giant's!"
"No way, that means-!" Kuromu gawked.
"Yabai…" Ryuki muttered.
"Sorry there, but you gotta go bye-bye! Thunder Giant destroys Kamen Rider Ryuki with his effect! Vapor Spark!"
The bulky armored thunder hero stretched out his hand and the orb on the back of its hand crackled with electricity before it traveled the orb in its hand and then shot out electricity out of said hand, electrocuting Ryuki who cried out from the electric current coursing through his body writhing and spasming until he was finally destroyed.
"And now for the win! Elemental HERO Thunder Giant attacks your Life Points directly! Voltic Thunder!"
Thunder Giant stretched out both of his hand and electricity coursed through his hands, before firing an electric beam at Kuromu, which made him scream from the impact.
Kuromu: 0
Judai: 1000
"Gotcha!" Judai grinned, with a wink and his patented two-finger salute.
When the Solid Vision faded, Kuromu fell on his back in pain, "Ow…" He groaned before noticing the Elemental HERO Duelist offering to help him back up. The Rider Duelist took up the offer. "Welp, that was another loss." he grumbled, as he was pulled up to his feet.
"Hey no worries! You'll get there." Judai grinned widely.
"Not bad at all." Tsukasa nodded, then turned to the other students, "Alright, who's next?"
"How about Sho?" Rex suggested.
"Huh?!" Sho was startled at the mutt's suggestion.
"Hey, that's a great idea!" Judai grinned, to Sho's absolute confusion. "I think you have what it takes to go toe-to-toe with Kuromu!"
"B-B-But, why me?!" He questioned his fellow Osiris Red students.
"Why else? Kuromu needs all the practice he could get." Judai tilted his head in confusion. "Besides, we don't know what kind of opponent he's going to face, let alone what kind of deck they'll run, so he has to face all kinds of decks so he knows what he's up against."
"So it's best for him to get as much practice from all of us." Rex added, "Besides, we haven't seen you duel a lot, so this is perfect."
"A-Are you sure?"
"Yeah, it'll be fine." Kuromu nodded with a soft smile. "All I ask is that you give it your best and don't hold back."
Sho felt a lump go down his throat before reluctantly stepping up to the plate, Duel Disk prepared. "Alright then… I'll do my best."
"Good, and I'll do the same." Kuromu nodded.
"Hey, you guys!" Everyone looked towards the source of the voice as they saw Rika and Asuka approaching them.
"What's up?" Judai asked the girls.
"We were looking for you all until Misawa-kun told us you were here for Kuromu's training." Asuka said, before looking at Kuromu and Sho.
"You're just in time actually. Sho and Kuromu are about to duel." Rex reported.
"Hey Kuromu, your girlfriend's here to cheer you on." Tsukasa snickered at Kuromu.
"She's not my girlfriend!" Kuromu denied.
"This again…" An embarrassed Asuka grumbled.
Kuromu shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts. "Get it together, Kuro! No time for that now!" He said to himself.
Both players then activated their disks, inserted their decks, and drew their starting Hand.
"DUEL!"
Sho: 4000
Kuromu: 4000
"You have the first move, Sho!" Kuromu offered.
"O-Okay! B-Boku no ta-n! Draw!" Sho drew his sixth card and examined his hand, 'Alright Sho, you can do this.' He told himself before he made his first play. "I summon Jetroid in ATK mode!" Appearing on the field, was a red colored cartoonish jet fighter with eyes and its wheels for arms and legs. (4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1800)
Kuromu blinked at this, "Okay, definitely not what I was expecting."
"So, he uses the Roid archetype?" Koji commented.
"Didn't know he liked those kinds of Monsters." Rika noted, "But that also means there's a chance he has the card to fuse those Roids into… well, that." She alluded.
"That's only if he plays his cards right without stuttering," Rex said, with crossed arms. "Oi, Sho! Keep your head in the game!" The mutt called out.
"Yeah Sho, give Kuromu what for!" Judai agreed.
Sho was startled by this nodded, 'They're right! I have to give it my best for Kuro!' He said to himself. "T-Tan endo."
'That's all he's gonna do?' Kuromu thought. Something told him that there was more to this first move than he thought. 'I'll have to be careful. Anything can happen.' Out loud, he declared, "O-re no ta-n! Draw!" He then drew his sixth card. "Okay, not bad. I summon Kamen Rider Blade in ATK mode!" Slapping the card onto the tray, a pulsating noise echoed before a clunk sound was heard, as if someone pulled a lever.
TURN UP
A blue rectangle of energy with the symbol of a rhinoceros beetle appeared, before Blade emerged out of the energy rectangle, his Blay Rouzer in hand. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400)
"Looks like I'm up this time, huh?" Blade mused.
"Hai, Kazuma-san." Kuromu nodded. "And we're gonna have to bite."
"Wakatta." Blade nodded, brandishing his Blay Rouzer.
"Battle! Kamen Rider Blade attacks Jetroid! Lightning Blast!" Kuromu declared. Blade turned his sword downward and pulled a tab, revealing a plastic fan of cards that were inside. He took out two cards, a 5 of Spades with the picture of a Locust appropriately named Kick Locust, and a 6 of Spades with a picture of a deer named Thunder Deer. Taking the two cards, he folded the fan back up and slid the edges of the cards against the side of the Blay Rouzer.
KICK
THUNDER
The cards then enlarged, floating behind him as the holograms of Kick Locust and Thunder Deer came out of the cards and were absorbed into Blade.
LIGHTNING BLAST
He raised his Blay Rouzer up and lightning struck his armor before the spade beetle warrior stabbed the blade into the ground and jumped up. He tucked his right leg while sticking his left leg out, electricity crackling on the bottom of his foot.
"Yahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"I activate Jetroid's ability! If he's selected as an attack target, I can activate a Trap card from my Hand."
"Nani?!" Kuromu gawked.
"Wait, he can do that?" Judai asked incredulously.
"It says so on the card text…" Rex deadpanned.
"So from my Hand, I'll activate the trap card, Reactive Armor!" Sho placed the card in the Spell/Trap zone revealing the trap card, depicting a monster in spiky silver armor walking past warriors that were sent flying. "When your monster attacks, this trap card destroys it!" Soon Jetroid was covered in spiky armor, just as Kamen Rider Blade's kick connected with the cartoonish jet fighter. The spade beetle warrior grunted, trying to push through, but it was all for the naught as he bounced back and was destroyed into pixels.
"Huh, a bait-and-punish tactic. Clever." Rex commented with pride.
"Not bad, Sho." Kuromu smirked, before slotting a card into the Spell/Trap zone. "I'll place a card face-down. Ta-n endo."
"Boku no ta-n! Draw!" Sho shouted before, drawing his next card. "Alright, I can work with this! I summon Submarineroid in ATK mode!" Soon, a blue and yellow cartoon submarine surfaced from the ground and grabbed onto a torpedo with eyes. (4/ATK: 800/DEF: 1800)
"Battle! Jetroid attacks you directly!" Sho declared.
Jetroid soon summoned a couple of missiles on its wings and fired them straight at Kuromu.
"Trap activate!" Kuromu said, revealing said card, "Kamen Riders' Dramatic Entry! This lets me Special Summon a Kamen Rider from my deck and negate the attack after!"
"Oh no." The vehicle Duelist muttered with worry as Kuromu took out his Deck and searched for a card before finding the one he wanted and placed the Deck back into the slot.
"The Kamen Rider I'm summoning… is Kamen Rider Gaim! Koi!" Kuromu said, slapping the card onto the tray.
ORANGE!
A zipper-like portal opened up and a large metallic orange slowly descended from above.
LOCK ON!
The war horn noise that sounded, before a slicing noise was heard.
SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI ON STAGE!
The metal orange dropped and landed midair. The air rippled with energy until the dark blue bodysuit which had quilted leather appeared. The orange then sparked and disassembled and folded to form the samurai armor, also revealing the orange samurai helmet. (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1500)
"Kouta-san!" Kuromu called out.
"Got it!" Gaim said, as he sliced the Lockseed three times.
SOIYA! ORANGE SPARKING!
The armor that folded formed the metallic orange again and Gaim spun the metallic orange to deflect the missile, exploding in midair before it formed Gaim's armor again.
"I-I still have my Submarineroid to attack!" Sho said. "Because Submarineroid can attack you directly regardless if you have a monster on the field!"
"Wait, what?!" Kuromu gawked.
"Death-Deep Impact!" Sho declared. At that declaration, Submarineroid fired the torpedo forward and let it fly straight for Kuromu. Gaim tried to stop the missile, but it was too fast and hit him dead-on.
Sho: 4000
Kuromu: 3200
"And once the Damage has been done, Submarineroid goes straight into DEF mode." Sho said, turning its card sideways and the cartoonish submarine 'dived' into the field, the periscope only visible.
"T-Ta-n endo." The vehicle Duelist finished while Kuromu recovered from the blow.
"Ugh okay, now we're getting somewhere." Kuromu said, shaking his head to shake off the attack. "I have to step it up now. O-re no ta-n!" He declared, drawing his next card. "Nice! I summon Kamen Rider Kabuto in ATK mode!"
The red mechanical rhino beetle suddenly appeared, flying in and circling around the Field, before it suddenly stopped in midair.
HENSHIN!
Hexagon-shaped panels materialized, spreading out to become the armored warrior, who then flipped the horn slightly and the sound of a charging noise echoed. Blue electricity crackled as the armor spread out, letting off steam.
"Cast off!"
Kabuto then flipped the horn to the other side letting the gold underside show and the back slid open.
CAST OFF!
The pieces of armor then went flying off in little parts in all directions, to reveal the armor underneath. The horn appendage rose from his chest armor and locked in place in the middle, bisecting the visor. (4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1200)
CHANGE: BEETLE!
'Wonder what he's planning to do next?' Rika pondered in her mind.
"Time to make things interesting. From my hand, I activate the spell card, Final Henshin!"
"Sweet! Which final form will it be this time?" Judai asked excitedly.
"I'll show ya. But just for a refresher, Final Henshin lets me send a Kamen Rider from my Field to the Graveyard, and special summon a "Kamen Rider" Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck whose name includes the sent monster's! And I choose Kamen Rider Kabuto!"
From the fabric of space, a silver beetle-shaped device appeared and was quickly grabbed by Kabuto. He then attached it to the left side of his belt, parallel before pushing the horn down. "Hyper Cast Off,"
HYPER CAST OFF!
Electricity crackled before all over his body as the armor changed and extended all over his body until the transformation was complete. The horn feature on his helmet grew larger and the torso armor became thicker as it now had some white accents to the red in the center and both the armor on his arms and legs were streamlined this time around. (8/ATK: 2700/DEF: 2500)
CHANGE: HYPER BEETLE!
"Henshin Shōkan! Kamen Rider Kabuto - Hyper Form!"
"This can't be good for Sho." Rex noted, "Come on dude, you gotta have something." He hoped.
"Here's the neat part. When Kabuto attacks in this form, he gets to attack all of your Monsters!" Kuromu grinned.
"Wait what?!" Sho panicked.
"So get ready Sho! Battle! Kamen Rider Kabuto - Hyper Form attacks all of your Monsters!" Kuromu declared.
"Obaachan ga itte ita: My evolution is faster than the speed of the light. There is nothing in the whole universe that can keep up with my evolution." Kabuto quoted. He then raised his hand in the air and from the fabric of space, a mechanical broadsword came down and the upgraded beetle warrior grabbed its handle. This blade was called the Perfect ZECTer.
Its blade sent out a pulsing glow and to the surprise of the spectators a mechanical wasp, dragonfly, and scorpion suddenly appeared, coming towards the sword.
"Wait, where did those come from?" Rex wondered as the mechanical wasp, dragonfly, and scorpion then attached themselves to the blade.
"You sure you want the answer?" The crimson beetle Rider questioned the mutt before he then pressed four buttons on the hilt.
KABUTO POWER!
THEBEE POWER!
DRAKE POWER!
SASWORD POWER!
ALL ZECTER COMBINED!
The blade then enlarged, becoming a blade of red energy to which he quickly rushed for both cartoon vehicles, ready to cut them down. With the press of the trigger…
MAXIMUM HYPER TYPHOON!
"Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Kabuto shouted as he swung the blade and sliced through both Vehicroids, bisecting and destroying them into pixels. Sho was thankful that Submarineroid was in DEF mode, but for Jetroid was a different story.
Sho: 2500
Kuromu: 3200
"The battle continues! Kamen Rider Gaim attacks you directly! Burai Kick!"
The orange samurai brought his hand to his belt buckle then pressed the blade down, 'slicing' the fruit.
SOIYA! ORANGE SQUASH!
Gaim then jumped up and dived down for the kick, orange slices of energy projecting in front as he did. "SEIHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He shouted as his kick connected to Sho's chest, sending him flying a few feet.
"Gahhhhhhhhhh!"
Sho: 800
Kuromu: 3200
"Ta-n endo." Kuromu concluded as Sho was reeling from the direct attack.
"Woo hoo! You got this bro!" Koji cheered while the other members of the Osiris trio looked worried.
"So far, this has been fun." Kuromu noted with a smile.
"Yeah, maybe fun for you." Sho groaned.
Now Kuromu looked concerned, "What's wrong?"
"It's… It's nothing." Sho lied, which the Rider Duelist picked up on.
"Well… if you say so. I'll end my turn." Kuromu said.
"Boku no ta-n! Draw!" Sho declared, drawing his next card. His eyes widened considerably at what he drew. "This is…!"
Judai and Rex smiled upon seeing this, that was until the latter noticed his hand was slightly twitching.
'Come on, Sho. Don't start choking up now.' The mutt hoped.
"I… I play Black Hole!" Sho declared. "This destroys all Monsters on the field!"
"Wha?! No!" Judai panicked as a literal black hole appeared in the middle of the field and sucked in Gaim and Kabuto with its mighty gravitational pull, until it collapsed on itself..
"Next, I play Fusion to combine Steamroid and Gyroid together in my Hand!"
'What is he doing?!' Rex shouted in his mind.
Soon, two cartoon machines, one that was a cartoonish helicopter and the other being a cartoonish steam train, flew into and crashed into each other, causing the pair to merge into a hybrid machine with the body of the helicopter, and the head and platform of a steam train. (6/ATK: 2200/DEF: 1600)
Koji looked concerned for Kuromu, but then he noticed how downright worried Judai and Rex were for their friend.
"Battle! Steam Gyroid attacks you directly! Hurricane Smoke!" Sho shouted as the steam helicopter hybrid blew a cylinder of wind at Kuromu, to which he blocked with both his arms, but then he heard the sound of the old-school train whistle as Steam Gyroid came rolling in.
"Oh crap."
He was then sent tumbling to the ground by the monster.
Sho: 800
Kuromu: 1000
"Ow…" he muttered, "Hey, did anyone get the set number on that train?" He grumbled after getting up.
"Ooooooh, that's gotta hurt." Rika winced.
"You tell me." Koji agreed.
"Ta-n endo." Sho stated before Kuromu shook off his initial pain.
"Okay, I really have to step it up." Kuromu said to himself. "O-re no ta-n! Draw!" He declared, drawing his next card. "First, I activate Final Henshin's second effect from the graveyard! I can take it out of the graveyard, shuffle it back into my deck, then draw an additional card!"
After doing as the card instructed he drew his extra card, and Kuromu couldn't help but smile, "Seems like Lady Luck's smiling on me this time." He chuckled.
"W-What?" Sho gulped.
"First, I summon Kamen Rider Fourze in ATK mode!"
The sound of what sounded like a rocket noise coming to life echoed, with each pitch increasing before a countdown was heard.
3!
2!
1!
A tune played as a ring of metal appeared in a flash of light and smoke billowed out. The ring vanished and the light died down to reveal the astronaut-themed Rider. (4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200)
Fourze landed on his feet then suddenly crouched down and screamed-
"Uchu… KITTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"My ears!" Laquari screamed as he attempted to cover his sensitive ears.
"Kuriiiiiii!" Winged Kuriboh wailed in agreement.
"Oi Gentarou, ochitsuite!" Kuromu scolded. "You're not in space!"
"Oh, whoops. Sorry." Fourze apologized.
"That's gonna take some getting used to, isn't it Kuro?" Koji guessed, having gotten the lowdown about Duel Spirits from the mutt.
"No kidding. Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, I'm activating another Final Henshin."
"You gotta be kidding me." Sho groaned.
"Sorry, Sho. I'm giving it my all," Kuromu said. "So now that I activated it, I'm having Fourze go into his final form!"
"Let's get this done!" Fourze agreed before taking out a large Astroswitch that had a large 'case' on it and placed it onto his belt.
COSMIC!
He then pressed down on the warning level, revealing a large red switch surrounded by warning tape. An alarm sounded, before he pressed it.
CO-S-MI-C ON!
At that point, all forty Astroswitches appeared out of nowhere, and circled around Fourze before being absorbed into Fourze. A bombastic space-like tune played as a column of multi-colored light enveloped Fourze until it dispersed to reveal Fourze's new form.
His helmet was blue with a point needle tip as the face had a mask of black with yellow lining and red lens for eyes with fin-like wings on each side of his head. There was now torso armor on his chest but on said armor were different colored squares with numbers 1-40, arranged in different quadrants. Following this were small wing-like protrusions on his shoulders while the rest of his body was a blue bodysuit. The gauntlets and greaves that had a circle, x, triangle, and square were white and said symbols were blue. In Fourze's hand was a club/rocket sword called the Barizun Sword. (8/ATK: 2500/DEF: 1200)
"Henshin Shōkan! Kamen Rider Fourze - Cosmic Form!"
"Whoa, so cool!" Judai gushed with sparkling eyes.
"Wish it wasn't against Sho." Rex feared.
"This Duel is over! Battle! Kamen Rider Fourze - Cosmic Form attacks Steam Gyroid with his effect activated! When he attacks a Level 5 or higher monster, they lose 1000 ATK!"
"What?!" Sho gawked.
After removing the Cosmic Switch from his belt, Fourze then slotted it into the Barizun Sword and slowly pulled down the lever, allowing the rocket cover to fold into a handguard and reveal a blue and golden blade underneath.
"Whoa mama! Look at that!" Koji gawked.
He then removed the Cosmic Switch and then re-inserted it, the resulting burst of Cosmic Energy hurting the hybrid train monster.
Steam Gyroid: (ATK: 2200-1200)
LIMIT BREAK!
"Ikuzo! Rider Super Galaxy Finish!" Fourze yelled, before swinging the blade, releasing a cosmic crescent blade of energy towards the helicopter train hybrid and destroying it. The resulting explosion forced the Roid Duelist to shield himself from the incoming blowback, but was sent to the ground instead.
Sho: 0
Kuromu: 1000
Sho groaned as he was on his back and the Solid Vision disappeared. Kuromu ran over to Sho to help him up, as did Judai and Rex. "You alright Sho?"
"Y-Yeah… I'm okay…" Sho informed as he got back to his feet only to give a heavy sigh, "I knew I was going to lose that… I shouldn't have bothered coming here…"
"What are you talking about? You were doing great out there!" Judai said. "Though, I do wonder, what was that card you drew that got you all spooked?" He wondered as he reached for Sho's hand. "Lemme see."
"A-Aniki!" Sho cried out, but it was too late as Judai took the card and looked at it. What he saw was Power Bond.
"Sho, why didn't you use Power Bond?" Judai asked incredulously, much to Kuromu's shock.
"Eh?! He had… Power Bond in his hand?!" Kuromu gawked.
"Yeah! If he played that? You would've lost big time!" Judai laughed heartily. "Like seriously, this card would've doubled Steam Gyroid ATK points when it was summoned!"
"Maybe so… but I'm not good enough to use it…" Sho rubbed his arm with disappointment in his eyes.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"There's a drawback to that card." Rex pointed out. "Once it's used, when Sho ends his turn, the Monster that was enhanced by that card is destroyed and he would've taken Damage equal to that Monster's ATK."
"Exactly. Which is why I'm not good enough to use it… I should just pack it up and go home… I was never fit to be a duelist like my Nii-san!" Sho then swiped the card from Judai and ran off.
"Wait, Sho!" Kuromu called out, but to no avail. "Sho…"
"Well, I think we should find this 'brother' of his and show him what's for!" Judai huffed, as he didn't like how Sho's brother was like from what they've heard so far, "They're family! How dare he say such things to his little brother?" He then ran off.
"Hey Judai!" Rex called out, as the mutt went after him.
"Well… this turned into a doozy." Tsukasa sighed, scratching the back of his head.
"I'm a little lost." Kuromu said, confused, turning to Asuka. "What was Sho going on about his brother?"
"It's a bit complicated… I think it would be best to forget about it and try to reason with Sho not to give up so easily." Asuka said, as she had no right to butt into someone else's family problem.
"But… who is he though?"
"You don't know?" Asuka asked, to which Kuromu shook his head. "He's a third-year Obelisk Blue. Marufuji Ryo. He's currently the top Duelist here. The Kaiser of Duel Academia."
"Kaiser? As in 'Emperor'?" Kuromu asked incredulously.
"Yes…" Asuka nodded, "And he hasn't lost a single match… It's why he's called that. Nobody has been able to beat him."
"Wow, no wonder Sho looked distressed… he's got a big shadow over him."
"No kidding…" Koji sighed, "To have someone like that and be the younger brother to him? He's got more pressure on his shoulders than anyone realizes."
"Shouldn't we do something though?" Rika asked.
Kuromu pondered on this, before sighing, "As much as I sympathize with Sho, I can't get involved." He then looked to the side with slight bitterness. "Besides, I already have enough of my own problems as it is…"
"Kuro…" Asuka murmured sadly.
"So… you're just going to let Judai run all the way to the Obelisk Blue dorms and let him fight 'Kaiser' himself all alone?" Tsukasa pointed out to the group.
"Ah! We gotta stop him then!" Rika panicked.
"Sistah, chill. Worst case scenario, he'll just be outright denied at the door." Koji said.
"Or he may just end up being deported back to the mainland." Tsukasa added with a casual shrug. "Welp, good luck kids." The dimensional Rider waved off before walking away.
"Koji, we're bailing him out!" Rika said, before dragging the disco fanatic.
"Hey, hey, easy with the threads!" Koji cried out, but Rika wouldn't have any of it as she kept dragging him away while running, leaving Kuromu and Asuka alone.
"Well… can't say today isn't boring." Asuka joked, trying to change the mood.
"I… guess not." Kuromu trailed off. "So uh… I guess it's back to editing my deck. I'll see you later?"
"W-Wait!" Asuka called out to him before fidgeting, "Um… would you like some help? Maybe having outside help can give you the edge you need for your deck?"
Kuromu was a bit surprised at her request, but smiled a bit, "Sure. I could use a second opinion." He said, much to her delight, before the two walked off. Unbeknownst to him, a few of the Rider Duel Spirits watched on.
"Oho~ what have we got here?" Urataros mused with interest as he looked on seeing Kuromu and Asuka walking together. "Looks like Kuro-chan is reeling in a nice fish."
"The hell are you scheming this time, Kameko?" Momotaros growled in annoyance.
"Nothing at all, senpai. I'm merely making… an observation." Urataros said coyly.
"Observation, my ass! He's not you!"
"Senpai, senpai," Urataros shook his head in a scolding manner. "You seem to forget that our young friend is the stereotypical shounen protagonist. Trust me, his teenage hormones will win out in the end."
"Except none of us here are hitched!"
"I am." Drive raised his hand.
"You're a Phase 2 Rider! You don't count!" Momotaros stomped his foot down in annoyance. "That's it, I'm annoyed! Let me strangle you!" He said, before grabbing Urataros by the neck with both hands and started choking him. The other Riders present then attempted to break the fight between the two.
"Wai, wai, fight! Fight! Fight!" Ryuutaros cheered.
Later on that night, after getting some help from Asuka, Kuromu was in his dorm room, overlooking his cards, figuring out what support cards he could add in or take out. But as he thought about it, his mind went back to earlier in the day. Particularly, he was still thinking about what happened after his practice Duel with Sho.
"I knew I was going to lose that… I shouldn't have bothered coming here…"
"I'm not good enough to use it…"
"I should just pack it up and go home… I was never fit to be a duelist like my Nii-san!"
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmm…" Kuromu hummed in thought.
"Something on your mind?" A voice asked. Kuromu looked towards his right, and saw Shotaro appearing next to him, him leaning against the desk while the latter was laying on Kuromu's bed, reading his book.
"Oh, Shotaro-san…" Kuromu acknowledged. "Yeah, just… thinking about Sho. He doesn't have a lot of confidence in himself, does he."
"There are times in every shonen's journey to become a man. One of which is of course, low confidence." Shotaro nodded, "He hasn't had a lot of help and approval because everyone sees his brother more. So for him to finally become the man he wants to be? He has to break away from being with his brother. Otherwise, he'll never understand what it means to be a duelist."
"Hmm…"
"In a way, I can understand how Sho-kun feels." Another voice said, and this time, it was Kiva. Kivat then flew off from the bat and the armor turned into quicksilver which then receded back, revealing Kiva's human side, Kurenai Wataru. He had medium-length brown hair with highlights that curved inwards on his facial frame with matching eyes wearing a white shirt with a black jacket over it and a red scarf around his neck. He wore red pants and black shoes to match the outfit.
"You do, Wataru-san?" Kuromu blinked.
"Hai. I have a half-brother." Wataru nodded. "Nobori Taiga. At first we didn't know each other as brothers, but at the time we were friends. He cared for me as a friend, but even then, he referred to me as a low-class human."
"Huh? Low-class human? I don't understand."
"Wataru here is half-human and half-Fangire, which by the way, Fangires are stained glass vampire monsters." Kivat said. "Well, the proper term for Wataru would be Fandiri. But that's beside the point. See, Taiga's hate for humanity and Wataru's love for them made them rivals, bitter archenemies at one point. But after a mutiny from the Fangires that once followed Taiga, both brothers came to an understanding, reconciled, and were able to defeat the Fangires together."
"So… where exactly are you going with this?" Kuromu pondered.
"At times, brothers may fight and disagree. But deep down, they still care for each other. If Sho-kun wants to stay? He'll need to face his fears and step up to his brother, regardless if he agrees or disagrees with Sho staying here." Wataru said.
"I see. I guess that makes sense." Kuromu nodded in understanding, "I just hope that Sho realizes that soon."
"Only time will tell. Can only be there and support him." Kivat nodded.
*BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP!*
"Hm?" Kuromu grabbed his PDA off the desk and saw that Asuka had sent a message. "Asuka?" He frowned in confusion, before opening the mail. What he read shocked him, "Bakana… Judai lost to Marufuji-senpai?!"
"He isn't the Kaiser for nothing." Shotaro commented.
Kuromu didn't say anything else as he gathered his cards and grabbed his Duel Disk before heading out of his dorm. The message came from the Harbor, most likely it's where Judai and Ryo dueled.
It wasn't long before Kuromu had finally arrived at the Harbor. Standing on one side of the field was Ryo who stood with arms crossed. Judai was on one knee, the hair covering his eyes while Sho, Rex, Koji, Rika, and Asuka were on the sidelines, in shock.
"Yabai… looks like Asuka wasn't lying about Judai losing." Kivat said.
"JUDAI!" Kuromu called out, catching the attention of the others.
The Elemental HERO Duelist looked towards Kuromu who was running towards him and gave him a sheepish smile. "Hey Kuro."
"What happened?" Kuromu asked, shocked. "Asuka messaged me saying you dueled Marufuji-senpai and lost! What were you thinking?!"
"I just wanted him to stop being so mean to Sho and give him the positive help he needs so he doesn't leave…" Judai confessed. "In fact, Sho almost did try to leave."
"Sho?" Kuromu looked at the Roid Duelist in shock. "Sho, why would you-"
"It's… a long story." Sho admitted with a sheepish smile of his own, which confused Kuromu. Why was Sho smiling?
"It's fine. At least I had fun with the Duel." Judai grinned.
"Eh?!" Kuromu asked incredulously. Now he was really confused. What was going on?
"So defending your friends is what draws you out, huh?" Ryo spoke up to Kuromu, catching the latter's attention. "And here I thought I needed to be more serious."
"What was that?" Kuromu growled. "Look, I don't care if you're the Kaiser of Duel Academia! I don't care if you're Sho's brother! In fact, I don't even care about the problems between you two. But no one messes with my friends and gets away with it!"
"Is that so? Then why don't you put your mouth where your deck is and duel me?" Ryo challenged the Ra Yellow.
"You want a Duel? You got one!" Kuromu said, inserting his Deck into the Duel Disk and it went from standby to active mode.
"Remember your training, kiddo." W said. "If you do that and rein in your emotions, you'll be a hardboiled Duelist in no time."
"Wakatta…" Kuromu muttered to himself.
"And to make this even remotely worth my time, we'll start with 8000 Life Points." Ryo added.
"Fine by me. Whenever you're ready, Marufuji-senpai!"
"I am." Ryo nodded to Kuromu before both players drew their starting Hand.
"DUEL!"
Kuromu: 8000
Ryo: 8000
"O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Kuromu declared, drawing his sixth card. He looked at his cards to consider his options before deciding what to do. "I'll start by summoning Kamen Rider Wizard in ATK mode!" He declared, slapping the card on the tray.
SHABADOOBIE TOUCH TO HENSHIN! SHABADOOBIE TOUCH TO HENSHIN!
FLAME! PLEASE!
A red magic seal with runic writing appeared and it slowly went across the air while leaving behind a fiery trail.
HII! HII! HII, HII, HII!
As the red magic seal passed over, the jewel themed Rider came out from the other side of said magic seal. (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000)
"Kamen Rider Wizard's effect activates! When he's Normal or Special Summoned, I can add 1 Level 8 or lower "Kamen Rider" monster or 1 "Henshin" Spell/Trap from my deck to my hand. I choose to add Final Henshin to my Hand!" He said, taking said card out of his Deck and revealed it before shuffling his deck. "Now that I have a Kamen Rider on my field, I can special summon this from my hand in ATK mode! Koi! Kamen Rider Faiz!"
There was the sound of three beeping noises, each frequency higher than the last before another beeping noise was heard.
STANDING BY
Another sound in the form of a pulsing power up noise was heard before there was another announcement.
COMPLETE
Red lines appeared in thin air forming a frame, then glowed briefly before the light dimmed, revealing the Rider. (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1500)
"I'll place one card face-down." Kuromu added, as he slotted said card in its respective zone and the reversed card appeared. "Ta-n endo."
"Not bad for a first move." he observed, before drawing his sixth card. "And now here's mine. I summon Cyber Dragon in ATK mode!" Suddenly, a large serpent-like machine appeared before Ryo, roaring into the sky before glaring at the two Riders. (5/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1600).
"Huh?A five-star monster?!" Kuromu gasped, "How did-"
"Cyber Dragon can be Special Summoned from my hand only if my opponent controls a monster." the Kaiser explained before taking out a card and placing it onto the field, "I summon Magical Mirror Master Reflect Bounder in ATK position!"
Soon, a large red machine with mirrors on its palms, shoulders, and chest emerged before splaying its hands (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000).
"I then activate the spell card, Time Capsule."
An intricate Egyptian sarcophagus emerged from the ground. "It allows me to choose any card from my Deck and remove it from play for two turns. And when my second turn comes up, I can add that chosen card to my Hand."
He did as the card instructed, as a holographic card appeared and went inside the sarcophagus, which then sank back down into the ground. "I set two cards face down. Ta-n endo." he finished.
Kuromu thought, 'If that card is what I think it is, then…'
"O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Kuromu declared drawing his next card. He smiled at what he got. "Yosh! Just what I need! I summon Kamen Rider Agito in ATK mode!"
Two sounds that overlapped each other echoed, one being a low humming sound while the other was a high-pitched pulsing sound. Moments later, there was a sound of a revving engine as a bright light shone in the middle of the Field before dimming down, revealing the Rider. (4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1000)
"Kamen Rider Agito's effect activates! Since I have another Kamen Rider on my side of the Field, I can send one of your face-downs straight to the bottom of your Deck!" Kuromu stated. "And I choose the card on the left!"
"Clever." Ryo noted as he placed the facedown into the bottom of the deck and shuffled.
"But that's not all! I activate Final Henshin, the card I added with Kamen Rider Wizard's effect earlier!" Kuromu said, playing the card.
"Aw sweet! Which one now?!" Judai asked excitedly.
"With this card, I can send a Kamen Rider from my Field to the Graveyard, and special summon a "Kamen Rider" Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck whose name includes the sent monster's! And I choose Kamen Rider Wizard!"
Wizard placed a new ring on his finger which was silver but had an iridescent colored diamond to it with gray lines etching on said diamond to make the mask.
He then flipped the Hand Author and immediately placed the new ring in front of the WizarDriver.
INFINITY!
As the Driver kept repeating the word 'INFINITY' a giant silver-white column of light with a magic circle appeared, the small circles glowing red, blue, green, and yellow. Out of the column, a clear-diamond shaped European dragon came out as it flew around Kamen Rider Wizard with a roar of authority before going back inside him. The magic circle then rose up through him as the magic-themed Rider was encased in diamond.
PLEASE!
HII SUI FUU DO! BOU JABA BYUU DOGON!
Once the magic seal disappeared, the diamond that encased Wizard shattered into glitter and sparkles as it revealed a brilliant new form. Wizard was now covered in shining silver armor with blue diamond bits all over, including the helmet. Along the chest was a large, diamond mantle with a dragon head in the center of the crest. And as for the helmet, it resembled that of the ring, but showed more of a crown than a visor as he also had on a silvery coat. (8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2000)
"Henshin Shōkan! Kamen Rider Wizard - Infinity Form!"
"O-re ga saigo no kibou da…" Wizard quoted.
"Wow, he's taking 'Diamonds are a girl's best friend', quite literally with that getup." Rika blinked.
"But I'm not done there! I'll activate Kamen Rider Wizard - Infinity Form's effect! When he's summoned via Final Henshin, I get to activate another one directly from my deck, but I have to banish it after!"
"Another one?!" Koji said wide-eyed as Kuromu took said card from his deck and played it.
"And I'll use it on Kamen Rider Agito!" Kuromu said, as the fabric of space swirled on the Alter Ring changing the belt. Moments later, it revealed that around the core was a white ring with three red fangs surrounding it and that the core was purple. Agito was then suddenly set ablaze.
"He's on fire!" Sho and Rex panicked.
"Relax, this is just part of the transformation," Kuromu said as the flames died down revealing his new dorm. His bodysuit was still black but there were some notable differences. The helmet was white, but the crest on his head was split into six and was colored red. The lenses were now colored gold as the armor was crimson red and bulky, somewhat representing molten rock with gray armor. The Wiseman's Monolith was black and the gauntlets had small blades jutting out too. The knee pads changed from yellow to black and the boots were now red with the anklets around my ankle being black.
However, not long ago, a huge orb of light shone brightly from above, causing the spectators to cover their eyes from the brightness, Ryo standing there unfazed.
"Ahhhh, I can't see!" Judai cried out.
Meanwhile, the torso armor started to crack and veins of light pierced through the cracks. The veins of light got brighter and brighter, before the molten armor completely shattered. When the light died down, Agito revealed his new form. While not much has changed, the new torso armor was now pure white with runic lines all over. The bottom of his shoulder armor jutted out into two sections while the shoulder armor themselves and my collar were bright red and the Wiseman's Monolith was now gold with black lines. (8/ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000)
"Henshin Shōkan! Kamen Rider Agito - Shining Form!"
"Shucky ducky quack, quack, Kuro got the shine and the bling!" Koji said wide-eyed.
"You're telling me." Rex added.
"Kamen Rider Agito - Shining Form's effect activates! When he's summoned, I can banish a Set card on your side of the field!" Kuromu declared, as the last set card on Ryo's side, disappeared in a flash of light and Ryo took it out of the slot and pocketed it.
"He has no face-downs!" Sho gasped. "Meaning, he's free to attack!"
"Battle! Kamen Rider Faiz attacks Magical Mirror Master Reflect Bounder! When he attacks a monster whose original ATK is higher than his, he gains 500 ATK, but only for that battle!"
Kamen Rider Faiz (ATK: 1500-2000)
"I-ke Takumi-san! Crimson Smash!"
"Got it!" The shark-themed Rider took his Faiz Pointer then slid the Mission Memory card out of the phone before sliding it into the slot.
READY
He then attached the laser pointer to the right side of his leg, horizontally first before turning it parallel, facing downwards. He then opened up his phone and pressed the 'ENTER' button before closing it.
EXCEED CHARGE
The phone glowed briefly before a red light traveled from the phone down his right leg, activating it. Faiz then sprinted forward towards the mirror monster, leaping up in the air, while flipping forward and slanted his body straight before a laser shot out of the pointer turning into a huge red holographic cone and it slammed into the middle mirror, stunning it. Faiz then bent his left leg and dashed downward towards the cone to perform the attack. He hit the cone and its target before disappearing momentarily.
Moments later, Faiz appeared behind Magical Mirror Master Reflect Bounder in a red blur and landed on his feet in a crouching position, before blue flames surrounded the monster.
"Magical Mirror Master Reflect Bounder's effect activates. Since you attacked it, you take Damage equal to Faiz's ATK." Ryo pointed out.
"You still take Damage, so it's worth it." Kuromu said.
The mirror monster caved in as the energy from Faiz's attack and the blue flames shot back out from the mirror, resulting in Kuromu defending himself from the attack, before it broke down and collapsed into dust, a red thin light resembling the Phi symbol appearing, as the blue flames eventually died down.
Kuromu: 6000
Ryo: 7700
"Next up is Kamen Rider Wizard - Infinity Form attacking Cyber Dragon! Dragon Shining!"
"Koi, Dragon!"
Upon his command, the crystallized dragon came out of Wizard and surrounded him before materializing into a physical manifestation of itself, an axe weapon known as the AxCalibur. He turned it around so that he was holding it in its axe form.
TURN ON!
"Finale da!" he said, before high-fiving the black Hand Author on the weapon.
HIGH TOUCH! SHINING STRIKE!
KIRA KIRA! KIRA KIRA! KIRA KIRA! KIRA KIRA!
Wizard twirled the axe around as it grew larger and larger, much to the shock of the audience as it was now the size of a tree, yet the magic-themed Rider can hold it with ease. Wizard then jumped up and swung down on the metallic dragon, who fired a laser from its maw but the magic themed Wizard cut the laser in half as well as the cybernetic dragon in half, an explosion occurring afterwards.
Kuromu: 6000
Ryo: 7000
"And finally Kamen Rider Agito - Shining Form attacks you directly! Shining Rider Kick!"
Agito crouched down as a flaming crest of Agito appeared in front of him in midair. He then rushed towards the Kaiser of Duel Academia and launched a flying kick through the crest, the flames absorbing into his feet before hitting Ryo's duel disk head on, an explosion from the impact occurring before flipping backwards and landing safely.
Kuromu: 6000
Ryo: 4500
"Ta-n endo." Kuromu finished, a small sigh escaping his lips, as he grinned slightly, something that Asuka had noticed. "Yosh, I managed to pull out that combo somehow…" He said to himself. 'When was the last time I felt this satisfied with any power move I made?'
"Huh, I think this has been the most he's gotten Ryo's life points down to." Asuka noted.
"O-re no ta-n!" Ryo said as he drew his next card, "I activate Treasure Cards from the Heavens. Each of us draws until we have six cards in our Hand." He said, as both players drew. "Next I activate the spell card Fusion allowing me to fuse the two Cyber Dragons in my Hand that I just drew!"
"Aw crap…" Kuromu groaned before two more Cyber Dragons appeared. A portal then opened up, sucking the two metallic dragons inside.
"Fusion Summon! Appear, Cyber Twin Dragon!" Ryo declared
Emerging from the portal were the same Cyber Dragons, but this time they had one body and two heads. (8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2100)
"And with Cyber Twin Dragon, it can attack twice per Battle Phase!"
"It what?!" Kuromu gasped.
"But before I do that, I'll activate Cyclone to get rid of your face-down." Ryo said, as he played the card, reducing his Hand to two. A whirlwind shot out from the card, destroying Kuromu's face-down.
"Great…" Kuromu groaned.
"Where's the confidence you showed earlier?" Ryo questioned the Rider Duelist.
"Oh, I still have plenty left in me, Marufuji-senpai." Kuromu answered. "I'm giving it all I got in this Duel, and a two-headed metal lizard isn't gonna stop me from going all out! So you better not hold back on me, or I'll be really pissed!"
"Very well then." Ryo chuckled, "Battle! Cyber Twin Dragon attacks Kamen Rider Faiz and Kamen Rider Agito - Shining Form! Evolution Twin Burst!"
The two-headed metal serpent charged their beam attacks in its mouths before firing them at the two Riders, destroying them in an instant.
Kuromu: 4400
Ryo: 4500
"I'll place my last two cards face-down. Ta-n endo." Ryo finished, as the reverse cards appeared on the field.
"Man, this dance-off is down to the wire." Koji said. "It's anybody's game at this point,"
"He's toying with him."
The disco fan was surprised at the mutt's observation, and given the tepid expression he had, Rex was noticing something the others weren't.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rika asked.
"The guy's hand. He has cards that should have given him an OTK or even an FTK if he wanted to, especially since one of those cards might be a perfect counter to Kuromu's game plan." The mutt pointed out, "I'm just wondering why he hasn't played them yet."
"What, you mean he's planning something?" Judai asked.
"Likely. Something tells me that this guy's just waiting for some kind of opportunity. Or worse… he's building up Kuromu's confidence before striking it down."
"O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Kuromu declared, drawing his next card, increasing his Hand to seven. "I activate Final Henshin's secondary effect from the Graveyard! I shuffle it back into my deck and draw one more card!" He said, taking it out of the disc and shuffling it back before drawing said card, his hand now at eight. "Alright, just what I'm looking for! First I'll play Dual Summon! This lets me Normal Summon twice this turn! And from my Hand, I summon Kamen Rider W and Kamen Rider Hibiki!"
CYCLONE!
JOKER!
They then heard the sound of something digital being inserted before there was a pulsing sound. Moments later, something seemed to be pushed and the pulsing sound changed into a briefing charging noise.
CYCLONE-JOKER!
A tune began to play as a strong wind suddenly blew, causing dust and debris to fly in all directions. The same dust and debris spun around before composing into a body and forming the suit. (4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1000)
Afterwards, a ringing noise was heard and small soundwaves appeared in thin air as a small golden head of an oni appeared. The space being occupied suddenly burst into purple flames that raged briefly for a few seconds, before the embers dispersed, revealing the oni warrior. (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1400)
W then posed by flicking his wrist, then pointing at Ryo, "Saa… omae no tsumi o kazoero."
"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Ryo asked calmly.
"You don't have to be. But I'm not done yet. I'll activate Kamen Rider W's and Kamen Rider Hibiki's effects! First is W, I discard one card from my Hand and you take 300 Damage for each Kamen Rider on the field other than him. I have Hibiki and Wizard on the field, so you take 600 Damage!"
TRIGGER!
CYCLONE-TRIGGER!
A tune played as W's black half turned blue while equipping himself with a blue gun dubbed the Trigger Magnum. He then aimed it at Ryo and fired two aero shots at him.
Kuromu: 4400
Ryo: 3900
"And now for Hibiki's effect! Since I have a Kamen Rider on my field, I can discard one Kamen Rider monster from my Hand, and you take Damage equal to that Monster's Level x200!" He then showed the card. "I discard Kamen Rider Drive who is Level 4, so you take another 800 points! Ongekibo Rekka!"
"Makasero, shounen." Hibiki saluted, before brandishing his taiko oni sticks, which lit up in flames, before firing four fireballs at Ryo, but was left unfazed.
Kuromu: 4400
Ryo: 3100
"He's trying to whittle down as many Life Points as he can." Rex muttered.
"Okay, and?" Rika raised an eyebrow.
"Don't you get it? He has to finish it this turn, otherwise that card Ryo placed in the Time Capsule." the mutt pointed out. "And I'm sure he realizes what card that is…"
"Wait… you're not saying…" Sho got out.
"Kuro just walked into Ryo's trap." Rex snarled, "At least that's what I think he did. I'd love to be wrong but…"
"Now to activate this, my last Final Henshin!" he said, playing the card. "And I'm gonna use it on Kamen Rider W! Shotaro, Philip, you know what to do!"
"Leave it to us, boss." W said. "Philip?"
"Aa…" The right lens of W flashed as they switched memories again.
CYCLONE-JOKER!
*WHOOOOOOT!*
"Huh? What's that noise?" Asuka blinked.
"Bestiari, you better not be playing a prank on me." Rex said, only to notice the birdman Gladial Beast was just as confused.
*WHOOOOOOT! WHOOOT! ERRR-EEEEE!*
They all looked up to see a large silver and gold and black bird-like Memory fly in and head towards W.
*WHOOOOOOT! WHOOOT! ERRR-EEEEE! FERRRRRWEEEEE!*
"What the heck is that?!" Rika gawked as the Double Driver buckle straightened and energy streams from the Cyclone and Joker Memories shot skyward, connecting with the Extreme Memory. It flew downward and connected with the Double Driver before spreading apart revealing an 'X' emblem.
XTREME!
The silver stripe going down Double's body lit up as holographic numbers and letters gathered towards the Rider which then W used his hands to pull apart the line of light in between his body and expanded said line into a wide iridescent band. His whole armor also changed with 'X' shaped bands around his wrist and ankles and 'W's on his shoulders. His helmet also had horns that spread out from the top and bottom, forming an 'X'. All of this while epic music played. (8/ATK: 2900/DEF: 2400)
"Henshin Shōkan! Kamen Rider W - Xtreme Form!"
"HOLY SHIT!" Judai, Rika, Koji, and Rex cried out in shock and horror, "The dude split himself open!"
W lost his balance, anime style, "Oi! Why do you make it sound worse than it is?!"
"Focus, Shotaro!" Kuromu scolded.
"Uh… right. Sorry." W got out.
"Moving on!" Kuromu cleared his throat. "I activate one of Kamen Rider W - Xtreme Form's effects! By discarding one card, I can drain half of your Cyber Twin Dragon's ATK and gets added to his!" Kuromu said, as he discarded one of his cards and energy transferred from the two-head metallic serpent to the newly summoned W in Xtreme Form.
Cyber Twin Dragon (ATK: 2800-1400)
Kamen Rider W - Xtreme Form (ATK: 2900-4300)
"Battle! Kamen Rider Hibiki attacks your weakened Cyber Twin Dragon! Takeshi Shiki Onigeri!"
Hibiki got into a stance as his symbol of three tomoe with two tails appeared below his feet, surrounded by purple flames, which then spun around and was absorbed into his feet, before jumping up high and diving down for the kick.
"I activate my face-down, the Quick-Play Spell, Fusion Cancel! This splits my Cyber Twin Dragon back into the original two, canceling your attack!" Ryo countered.
As Hibiki neared his target, the mechanical serpent split itself into two and dodged the attack, prompting the oni Rider to retreat back.
"I'll still get to destroy them individually! Kamen Rider Wizard - Infinity Form attacks one of your Cyber Dragons! Plasma Dragon Shining!"
Wizard wasted no time, high-fiving the Hand Author on the AxCalibur five times.
HIGH TOUCH! HIGH TOUCH! HIGH TOUCH! HIGH TOUCH! HIGH TOUCH!
PLASMA SHINING STRIKE!
The AxCalibur glowed brightly before the magic-themed Rider threw it like a boomerang and used his magic to control its movements, slicing one of the Cyber Dragons into pieces, exploding after.
Kuromu: 4400
Ryo: 2400
"And now Kamen Rider W - Xtreme Form will attack the other!"
From the white band, a shield appeared with a sword sheathed within. In four corners of the shield were the Memory slots with a fifth slot in the sword handle. This was the Prism Bicker, consisting of the BickerShield and the PrismSword.
W then produced a green Gaia Memory marked with a 'P', the letter looking like it was made of crystal.
"PRISM!"
The Prism Memory was slotted into the sword handle and the Prism Sword was freed from the Prism Bicker as it was drawn out. The guard of the sword had an 'X' stamped on it and a red button.
Then he slid in four memories into the slots of the Prism Bicker.
CYCLONE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!
HEAT: MAXIMUM DRIVE!
LUNA: MAXIMUM DRIVE!
JOKER: MAXIMUM DRIVE!
W drew the Prism Sword and charged at the Cyber Dragon. Energy from the Gaia Memories collected into the blade while unleashing the attack. "Bicker Charge Break!" Shotaro and Phlip shouted, as the blade cut through the metallic like hot butter, unleashing a blast of prismatic light, before exploding.
Kuromu: 4400
Ryo: 200
"Ta-n endo." Kuromu grinned.
Asuka couldn't help but be stunned, "No way… can he actually beat Ryo?"
However, Rex kept skeptical, "Maybe, but something feels off. It feels too easy." The mutt pointed out.
"Come on bro, do you see the Life Points?" Koji pointed out.
"I don't know man…"
"Hehe… hahahaha…" Kuromu chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Ryo raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know. I'm supposed to be defending my friend's honor, after you handed him his first loss at Duel Academia, but… I can't help but feel like I'm having fun with this Duel. How could I not be excited?" Kuromu smiled. "I'm up against you, the Kaiser, the strongest Duelist of Duel Academia, and here I am, grinning like an idiot and having the time of my life thus far!"
"…good."
Ryo's slight smile instantly sent alarm bells in the Osiris trio's minds.
"Then I won't regret this next move." Ryo added, drawing his card. "Since two turns have passed, I can now add the card I banished to my Hand." He said, as he added the card and the sarcophagus disappeared. "Now I'll play Soul Release allowing me to remove the three Cyber Dragons from play." He said, before the cards came out of the Graveyard and pocketed them.
"Huh?" Kuromu looked confused.
"What? Why would he-" Rex muttered, before his eyes widened considerably.
"You're probably wondering why I did that." Ryo said. "And it's all for this next card I'm about to reveal. I activate my other face-down! Return from the Different Dimension!"
"No!" The mutt gasped in horror.
"By paying half my Life Points, I can bring back the Cyber Dragons that were banished!" Ryo declared.
Kuromu: 4400
Ryo: 100
One by one, the three metallic serpents reappeared on the field. (5/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1600) x3
"Now then, I'm sure you know what's next." the Kaiser posited towards his opponent. Surprisingly, Kuromu calmed down and chuckled.
"Yeah, I kinda figured. The card you banished from play until now… was Power Bond."
"Eh?!" Judai, Sho, Rika, Koji, gasped.
Rex however winced in realization, "Game set match…" he lamented.
"Then you know what that means."
Kuromu smiled at this, "Yeah, I know."
"Ahhhh, dammit…" W, groaned with defeat.
"I knew we shouldn't get our hopes up, but…" Wizard added.
"Zan'nen deshita, shounen." Hibiki added. "You were close, but it wasn't meant to be."
"Yeah, though there's always next time, Hitoshi-san." Kuromu said, before looking at Ryo. "Go ahead, Marufuji-senpai! End this! I'm ready to take it!"
"Very well. I'll activate the spell card, Power Bond!" Ryo declared, sliding the card into the Spell/Trap Zone and the face of the card appeared. "This card lets me Fusion Summon a Machine-type Fusion Monster, using monsters from my hand or field as Fusion Material, and it gains ATK equal to its original. So now I'll fuse the three Cyber Dragons that are on the field!"
The portal behind them opened up and the Cyber Dragons were all sucked in. However, coming out of it, electricity crackled while emerging from the portal was a three-headed cyber dragon, each head having a different set of colored jewels along its necks and eyes, the right head with green, the middle with yellow, and the left with red. It had one large serpentine metallic body with a blue jeweled core on its chest. And included for its features were a large pair of metallic wings. (10/ATK: 4000/DEF: 2800)
"Fusion Summon! Cyber End Dragon!"
"Well dang…" Koji looked stupefied at the sheer size of it.
"It's huge! Almost as big as the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Rika gawked.
"Thanks to the effect of Power Bond, my Cyber End Dragon's ATK is doubled!" Ryo declared, as the three-headed metallic dragon roared while bolts of electricity crackled around its body. (ATK: 4000-8000) "If you have a monster on the defense, the difference between my dragon's ATK and your monster's DEF would've been dealt to you as Damage, but in either case, you would've lost."
"Yeah, you got me there." Kuromu chuckled again.
"Now then, Cyber End Dragon will attack Kamen Rider Hibiki!" Ryo declared, waving his arm, "Eternal Evolution Burst!"
The three-headed metallic serpent dragon reared its head, the jewels along its necks glowing from the bottom all the way to the top as its eyes then glowed and energy gathered from each maw before all of them fired an energy beam which then converged into one huge one. The oni Rider took off his Ongekiko buckle that was on his belt, and threw it to which it enlarged to a size large enough to seemingly defend himself. He then used his taiko stick to drum for as long as he could to defend himself. Unfortunately the dragon increased its output, and slowly but surely the shield that was his drum cracked before eventually shattering, allowing the beam to destroy Hibiki, to which it also passed through Kuromu, who accepted with a soft smile.
Kuromu: 0
Ryo: 100
When the smoke cleared, the Solid Vision disappeared after. Kuromu fell on one knee, his face looking peaceful. "I lost…" He murmured. He knew losses, but this loss felt different.
Ryo didn't say anything as he turned around and started walking off. However, he stopped, confusing the boy, "It was a fine Duel you've shown me, Kururugi. You'll be fine against your opponent in your Punishment Duel."
"Huh?" Now Kuromu was really taken aback. "Senpai, you…"
"Remember to trust in your deck and what you worked hard for." Ryo responded before heading back to the dorm. Asuka promptly followed him after, as she was now walking next to him. "So? Did his Dueling tell you what you needed to know?"
Asuka smiled lightly, "Yes…"
"I see…"
"I guess I was worried over nothing, after all."
Meanwhile, back with Kuromu and the others…
"Hey, Daddy-O, you groovy?" Koji asked, as he and Rika helped him up.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Kuromu nodded, as he watched Ryo and Asuka walk off. "So that's how the Kaiser of Duel Academia duels, huh…?" He mused.
"Yeah… he's every bit as strong as they say." Judai said with excitement. "Though I should be the one to challenge him and beat him, not you Kuromu. Don't know what led him to believe you could beat him."
"I don't… either…" Kuromu trailed off.
"So you admit it! Great! Glad we had this discussion! Next time I'll be victorious and become the new Kaiser!" Judai laughed heartily.
"Wait, what?" Kuromu looked at the Elemental HERO Duelist in confusion. "What are you-?"
"I mean, I am going to be the next Duel King after all. So of course I also have to be the next Kaiser too!"
"Typical Judai…" Rex shook his head, but kept a smile on his face.
"Yup. Never changes." Rika shrugged helplessly with a sigh.
"Say… is anyone hungry?" Judai asked, "Cause I am! Rika, can you whip us something tasty?"
"Daddy-O, it's past curfew. This ain't no time for a midnight snack." Koji said dryly.
"Aw come on, what's the harm?"
"Aniki…" Sho sighed in exasperation, but smiled nonetheless.
"You seem better, Sho." Kuromu noticed. "You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'm alright." Sho nodded. "I just have to consider my opponents and deal with any and all possibilities. Back then… before all of this, I mocked my opponent and overestimated my cards, leading me to completely disregard my opponent."
"So… what you're saying is, you got too cocky and your brother had to knock you down a peg." Kuromu deduced.
*POP!*
"Why do you have to say it like that?!" Sho snapped.
"I mean, that's what it ultimately was, right?" Kuromu blinked.
"W-Well… yeah, but you didn't have to be so blunt about it!"
"Hehehe, warui, warui." Kuromu chuckled, placating him with his hands raised. "Still… I'm glad you realized that."
"Yeah… guess I just overthought everything since Nii-san is the top dog around." Sho chuckled with slight embarrassment.
"So you think you can win Duels now, with that better mindset?"
"I believe so…" Sho nodded.
"Good! Starting tomorrow morning, we're dueling again, and this time, you're doing this in earnest." Kuromu nodded with a smile.
"Ehhhhh?!"
"No complaining Sho. We fixed your problem, so we're gonna go with it."
"B-But-"
"Sho~" Kuromu smiled with a dark aura surrounding him.
"Mou… can't I have a break for once?" Sho groaned out as the others laughed.
Well, at the very least, things seemed to return to normal. Just another day in the life of these students at Duel Academia.