As the waves crashed along Duel Academia's shores, a group of D.E.C. members were waiting for an unknown party. Who they were, wasn't exactly known. All they knew was that this person was to be arriving at Duel Academia, for they are Kuromu's opponent for his upcoming Punishment Duel. It will be taking place immediately after all classes are done for the day.
"What's taking them so long?" One of them asked impatiently.
"Are you sure they're coming?" Another added.
"Patience. They'll arrive soon." The head of the D.E.C. assured.
Soon, the D.E.C members noticed something in the distance. Just on the horizon, there was a decent sized fishing boat approaching the island.
"Did a fisherman mistake the school for the port?" A D.E.C member pondered aloud.
"No. That's our man." the head of the D.E.C. answered.
"WHAT?!"
The fishing boat quickly docked on before its captain walked onto the port. He took in his surroundings viewing what the island had to offer.
"Welcome to Duel Academia." The head of the D.E.C. greeted, holding out her hand towards the captain. "Thank you for coming. Though, I apologize for having you come all the way here on short notice."
The captain laughed heartily, "Oh it's quite alright! I was rather surprised when I received the phone call and heard of the situation. Still, I accept this duty openly and will challenge my opponent with earnestness!"
"Well he's a charmer." One of the D.E.C members commented.
"Very well. Please follow us." The head of the D.E.C. gestured, before the group escorted the captain.
Today was the day.
Today was the day of the Expulsion Duel.
The past week had its ups and downs, mainly downs due to the situation that brought Kuromu to this day in the first place. However, with the help of many of his friends and the Kamen Rider spirits… despite a couple of their varying methods taking away a chunk of his sanity, the Rider Duelist was now prepared for whatever opponent he was ready to face. His training with his friends certainly helped, keeping up with the Practice Duels, and taking in suggestions of what cards to add or remove to ensure high deck synergy.
"Eat up, Kuro! Can't be fighting for your life at Duel Academia on an empty stomach!" Rika grinned, serving him what's practically a five-course breakfast in Ra Yellow's cafeteria.
"Heh, don't I know it. I'd take your cooking any day of the week, even my Last Meal," Kuromu chuckled.
"Hey now, don't go dying on us yet bro. You still got a Duel to win." Koji joked.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Kuromu waved off. "Still, I wonder who my opponent is gonna be. Hopefully, it's not some jerk…"
Rika gave Kuromu a dry look, "What do you think?"
"Hey, I'm just saying, that's all. Can you really blame me for thinking that way after all the crap I went through this past week?" Kuromu defended.
"I mean, your track record for getting unlucky is pretty high." Rika pointed out.
"C'mon sistah, no more of that bad juju. He needs all the positive vibes he can get." Koji told the Foodon Duelist.
"Yeah, I guess so…" Rika sighed. "Still, do you feel ready?" She asked.
"Yeah, this past week was brutal but… thanks to you both and the others, I'm confident I can win the Expulsion Duel." Kuromu stated.
"We have no doubt you will, Daddy-O," Koji grinned. "We're all rooting for you."
"Thanks, Koji."
*WOOSH! WHAM!*
The three of them were startled, when the doors to the cafeteria suddenly swung open. When they looked to who barged in through the door, four out of the five people present (Kuromu, Rika, Koji, and Asuka), were shocked as to who it was. Especially Kuromu, whose eyes widened considerably and stood up from his seat.
Standing at the entrance and looking frantic was an older male that was significantly older than the group, however this adult had an uncanny resemblance to Kuromu, the only difference is that his facial appearance was more mature and sharp and the hair was a bit messier than his. His attire was a simple white dress shirt and a red tie while wearing black dress pants and shoes.
"Mr. Kyo?!" Koji and Rika gawked.
"Tou-chan?!" Kuromu shouted.
"Son!" Kuromu's father gasped as he rushed over to him, hugging him tightly. "Thank kami you're safe!"
"Oi, Tou-chan, hold on!" Kuromu got out, pushing his father away. "What are you doing here?!"
"I heard from Tsukasa about Oogumo!" Kyoshiro answered, holding Kuromu's shoulders tightly. "What happened to him?! Where is he?!"
"Ugh, will ya calm down, Kyoshiro?" Tsukasa sighed irritably, coming into the cafeteria. "I already told you he's fine."
"But it's my fault that he got hurt!" Kyoshiro snapped.
"Huh?" Kuromu looked really confused. "What are you talking about?"
Kyoshiro sighed heavily as he sat down on a chair, his head hanging down in shame, "I… I told Oogumo where you were…"
"You what?!" Kuromu was shocked, with Koji and Rika having the same expression. "You told him?! Why-"
"It was either that or he was going to hurt your mother!" Kyoshiro looked up at his son, with frustration. "I had no choice!"
"Tou-chan…" Kuromu got out.
"The bottom line is that Oogumo put the entire Kururugi family in a lose-lose situation." Tsukasa interjected. "In Kyoshiro's case, Oogumo knew that the former was damned either way. He took advantage of that and forced him to supposedly choose the lesser evil. In some twisted way, Kyoshiro made the right choice."
"How in the 8-trak was that the right choice?" Koji asked incredulously.
"Oogumo didn't expect Kuromu to actually fight back." Tsukasa pointed out. "His superior complex is one of Oogumo's major flaws and the fact that Kuromu exploited that with his determination throughout that Duel and winning it, has now made him think twice."
"Which now brings me back to my earlier question." Kyoshiro said, looking at his son. "Where's Oogumo?"
"I don't know. After I won my Duel against him, he disappeared." Kuromu answered.
"Most likely he's still on the island. Just hiding and waiting for the right moment." Tsukasa pointed out.
"And I heard from Tsukasa that you're about to be expelled from Duel Academia because of our family situation…" Kyoshiro groaned.
"Something like that…" Kuromu frowned.
"Well I'm going to clear things up with the Principal!" Kyoshiro said, standing up. "No son of mine is going to be expelled for my mistake!" And with that, he stormed out of the cafeteria.
"Ugh… dammit," Tsukasa facepalmed, as Kuromu suddenly decided to follow. "This oughta be good…"
"What do you mean you can't cancel it?!" Kyoshiro exclaimed.
Kuromu, while walking with his father tried to reason with him and talk him out of speaking with Principal Samejima, but Kyoshiro wasn't going to have any of it. As such, he barged into the Principal's Office unannounced, and demanded Principal Samejima that the Expulsion Duel be canceled.
"I'm sorry. I wish I could, but it's out of my hands." Samejima apologized.
"That's a load of crap and you know it!" Kyoshiro snapped. "My son shouldn't be punished for something that was beyond his control! His mother, my wife, was abducted!"
"We understand that and you have our sympathies." Samejima said. "This Oogumo person put you and your son in a precarious position, and I'm not here to argue differently. The only reason this Punishment Duel is taking place is because Kadoya-san suggested this."
"Tsukasa, you-" Kyoshiro whipped his head at the disguised dimension Rider who merely sighed.
"Trust me Kyoshiro, I have a reason why." He explained. "And besides, the Principal ripped the staff members who wanted your boy expelled, a new one. And if he loses his Duel, he's gonna fire them, so they're at the kid's mercy."
"Oh, oh that's actually clever." The card maker noted.
"Yeah, so you can stop worrying and overreacting," Tsukasa grumbled, taking note of the Kururugi patriarch's flustered look.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaa… I'm so sorry about this, Principal. Tou-chan tends to be… dramatic." Kuromu apologized.
Kyoshiro gawked, feeling a metaphorical arrow labeled 'Drama King' piercing his head.
"Like father, like son I see…" the dimensional Rider chuckled.
Kuromu in turn, let his jaw hit the floor while a metaphorical arrow labeled 'Drama Prince' pierced his own head.
Principal Samejima could chuckle in amusement at the uncanny resemblance between the two family members.
Later on that day…
As soon as the last classes were done for the day, Principal Samejima announced on the PA for all students to make their way towards the main dueling stadium. Thus, the students followed as they filed their way in and took their seats. What they were going to witness was the Expulsion Duel. It was to determine whether or not Kuromu Kururugi will be staying or leaving Duel Academia.
Kyoshiro, Asuka, Koji, Rika, Misawa, and the Osiris trio all took their respective places and waited with bated breath for Kuromu's opponent to arrive.
"The dance-off's about to start." Koji said.
"He'll win this. I know he will." Rika reassured. "He's been preparing all week for this."
"Yes, but even with preparation, we still have no idea who his opponent is." Misawa pointed out.
"I just hope whoever they brought out isn't an ass." Rex hoped.
"Don't worry." Kyoshiro said, coming down the steps from the side and sitting down with them. "Kuromu will be fine."
"M-Mr. Kyo?" Asuka looked at the Kururugi patriarch in surprise.
"Huh? Oh, hey Asuka-chan. Long time no see." Kyoshiro grinned. "It's been a while."
"What are you doing here?" Asuka gasped.
"I just want to see my son make it out okay." Kyoshiro explained. "I heard about his Expulsion Duel and… well… I'm partly the reason why he's in this mess."
"Wait what?" Asuka looked confused, before Kyoshiro deflated slightly.
"Oogumo didn't give me a choice. It was either I told him where he was or he was going to hurt his mother…"
"Wait… you mean… you're the reason why Kuro almost got killed?!" Asuka looked shocked, which was about to turn into anger until Rika and Koji intervened.
"Asuka-chan, hold up!" Rika cut off.
"Yeah sistah, chill. We're just as shocked as you were." Koji said.
"No, it's fine, you two. She has every right to be angry at me." Kyoshiro stated, much to Rika and Koji's surprise. "I know it was wrong of me to choose my wife over my son, but… what other choice did I have?"
Asuka sat down as she tried to calm herself down.
"Look, as long as Kuro wins, it'll all be water under the bridge." Kyoshiro said. "I know he'll win it."
"That's a lot of faith you're putting into him." Rex commented.
"He's my son. Of course, I do." Kyoshiro said, before blinking in realization, looking past Asuka, Koji, and Rika to see the others, "Oh, new friends, I see."
"Yo!" Judai greeted him with a wide sheepish grin.
"Heya." Sho responded, with a weak wave of his hand.
"Glad you finally noticed us, sir." Rex added, with a slight roll of his eyes but a small smile, 'I see this was where Kuro got his brains.'
"Greetings." Misawa addressed. "You are…?"
"Oh, I'm Kuromu's father, Kyoshiro." He introduced. "I'm a card designer at Industrial Illusions."
"I'm Yuki Judai, and those are my friends Sho and Rex." The Elemental HERO Duelist introduced himself.
"Misawa Daichi, a pleasure to meet you, sir." Misawa added.
"Likewise." Kyoshiro noted before everyone turned their attention back to the arena.
Meanwhile Jun sat in his seat with crossed arms and one leg over the other. He stared at the empty arena with disdain and disgust. He should be down there going against this Kamen Rider reject, but Instructor Chronos denied him that. To make matters worse, Chronos's reason for his request was because of his Dueling record, threatening to be demoted to Ra Yellow. He wasn't going to take this lying down. He was above those inferior Duelists. He was of the elite.
'You better fail, you Rider Reject.' He thought to himself.
"Attention, the Punishment Duel is about to begin. This is a test condition and, sudden expulsion match."
"Here we go. It's about to start…" Rex muttered.
"Send in the accused: Kururugi Kuromu."
Everyone looked towards one side of the stadium. Coming out of the entrance was Kuromu, a look of determination was etched on his face as he had his Duel Disk equipped to his arm. Everything rode on this Punishment Duel, after all. And he will come out on top.
Once he made his way to the stage, Chronos went up as well, with a microphone in hand. "Your attention please! Allow me to introduce our dueling guest for this Punishment Duel!" He then gestured to the other side of the stadium, to which the audience looked on.
The sound of barefoot steps echoed and coming out of the other entrance was a tanned man with some scars on his body, had black spiky hair, and donned a blue and white gi as well as a blue headband. He also had a standard-issued Kaiba Corp. Duel Disk attached to his left arm.
"I introduce to you, Kajiki Ryota!" Chronos announced as the crowd murmured to one another.
"Kajiki Ryota?" Misawa gasped in surprise.
"The fisherman?" Rex noted as he got curious, "Surprised they didn't bring someone else into this."
Even Kuromu himself was somewhat baffled at who his opponent was. For all intents and purposes, he assumed that they would bring in someone who was… less savory. Then again, given that Tsukasa was in the meeting, it was highly likely that he had the most influence in the selection. Another plus to him, was that Kajiki Ryota is actually one of the very few Duelists that actually duel with honor.
"So, you are the one they call Kururugi Kuromu." Kajiki observed as he gave Kuromu a once over.
"That's right." Kuromu nodded. "I understand that this seems… awkward, given the circumstances."
"I see…" the fisherman noted, recalling what the principal had told him about the Rider Duelist. "But regardless, I have high hopes that you will give it your all in this Duel."
"The feeling's mutual. I intend to give nothing but my best in this Duel." Kuromu said, determined. "So don't hold back on me!"
At this, the fisherman laughed heartily, "Hahahaha! No need to worry about that! I intend to go all out as well!"
With those words, both Kuromu and Ryota shuffled their decks and inserted them into their Duel Disks. Both Duelists then took their respective places.
"Now then, the rules of this Duel are the same, however, we are starting with 8000 Life Points. Is that acceptable?" Chronos asked.
"Yeah." Kuromu and Kajiki nodded.
"Then let's the Punishment Duel commence!" Chronos declared before getting off the stage. Both Players then activated their Duel Disks and drew their Starting Hands.
"DUEL!"
Kajiki: 8000
Kuromu: 8000
"If you don't mind, I'll start this Duel off." Kajiki offered.
"By all means." Kuromu gestured.
"Very well. O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Kajiki declared, drawing his sixth card, "I will start this off by playing my Field Spell, Atlantis, the Legendary City!" He declared as the arena soon became an underwater kingdom in ruins, the many people in the bleachers finding themselves sitting in different spots than they were before. "When this card enters into play, all my WATER-Attribute monsters receive a 200 point boost to their ATK and DEF, while at the same time lowers all WATER-Attribute monsters' Levels in our hands by 1."
"Whew, this place looks funky." Koji commented.
"Next, I shall set one card face down and summon forth Star Boy!" Kajiki declared as a facedown card appeared alongside a large red star with a brown eye, a mouth with sharp teeth, and a series of green, orange, yellow, and purple tentacles onto the battlefield. "When he's on the Field, all WATER-Attribute Monsters gain 500 ATK, but all FIRE-Attribute Monsters lose 400 ATK."
(2-1/ATK: 550-1250/DEF: 500-700)
"Ta-n shuuryou." Kajiki finished.
"O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Kuromu declared, drawing his sixth card before looking at his Hand. 'Okay, so I have to take Star Boy off the board to make sure that any FIRE-Attribute Riders won't get gimped by his effect.' He then observed the facedown Kajiki had. 'There's also the face-down he has… but I have a feeling of what it might be.'
"For my turn, I summon Kamen Rider Den-O in ATK mode!"
Slapping the card onto the tray, they heard the sound of an electronic keyboard tune.
SWORD FORM!
Motes of light spread out on one space of the board before converging to reveal the black train track black bodysuit before the pieces of red armor and helmet started appearing and attached themselves to said Rider. (4/ATK: 1800-1400/DEF: 1000)
"O-re… san…jou…" Den-O declared, initially beginning to point his chest at himself with his thumb and was about to spread his arms out… when he noticed his ATK had changed. "Nani?! Hey, why the hell are my stats lower!?" Den-O demanded Kuromu.
"Trust me, Momotaros. That'll change." the Rider Duelist reassured him.
"Huh, wonder what Kuro's got in store?" Judai noted.
Kuromu then held up a card. "Next, I'll activate his ability, since I control no other Monsters than Kamen Rider Den-O, I get to Special Summon another one from my Hand! And the card I chose is Kamen Rider OOO!"
TAKA!
TORA!
BATTA!
Images of the three animals in the form of symbols appeared then combined into one large crest which flew backwards.
TA-TO-BA! TATOBA! TA-TO-BA!
Moments later, the animal theme Kamen Rider appeared. (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 0)
"Wait, but OOO can't attack when he's summoned!" Sho pointed out.
"When he's Normal Summoned." Kyoshiro pointed out. "I did make the cards after all. What Kuromu did was a Special Summon, meaning that particular effect doesn't apply."
"But why would he Special Summon OOO?" Rex pondered, "Does he have some kind of gimmick to him too?"
"Just watch."
"Next I'll activate Form Change - Rod! This lets Kamen Rider Den-O change to a WATER-Attribute and give him a special ability! Momotaros, switch with Urataros!"
"Haaaaah?! Like hell I'm switching with Kameko, I just got here!" Den-O snapped.
"Sorry, but it's the only way I can raise your stats." Kuromu apologized.
"Why I oughta-!"
Momotaros was cut off as the turtle Imagin entered Den-O's body, swapping places with the oni Imagin.
ROD FORM!
Sword Form's armor burst out then spun to a different configuration, changing to the blue set armor. The two turtle pieces attached themselves to the sides of his head before twisting so that the front turtle fins were pointing behind him. (4-3/ATK: 1400-1800-2000/DEF: 1000)
"Baka kame!" Momotaros shouted.
"Oya, oya, so this is the so-called Punishment Duel." Urataros said, before looking around, "And what a spectacle, a lot of lovely ladies are here to watch. Omae-tachi… boku ni tsurarete miru?" he said, which made Rika and Asuka slightly blush.
"Heh heh, now this is a guy who knows the good things in life." Bestiari chuckled… until he got smacked upside the head by Laquari and Momotaros.
"Shut it, ero-tori/you perverted fowl!" both Duel Spirits berated.
"Oi… Urataros…" Kuromu deadpanned with one of his eyes twitching, not appreciating that the turtle Imagin was flirting with Asuka.
"Oh, I apologize. I forgot Tenjōin-san is already spoken for." the turtle Imagin teased.
"WOULD YOU FOCUS ON THE DUEL ALREADY, LOGGERHEAD!" a blushing Kuromu roared.
"Uh… who are you talking to?" Kajiki asked in confusion, making Kuromu flinch.
"Ugh, it's nothing…" Kuromu grumbled, holding his face with his palm. "Moving on! When Den-O is equipped with Form Change - Rod, he can take a Set Spell/Trap card on your Field and place it on mine!"
"And this means that he got Kajiki's set spell. Clever play." Misawa observed.
Den-O reconfigured the DenGasher to be in its staff form, before quite literally fishing for said Spell/Trap card and placing it on Kuromu's side.
"Now it's time to battle! Kamen Rider Den-O attacks Star Boy! Den Rider Kick!"
Den-O took the pass into his hand and scanned it on the belt.
FULL CHARGE!
Blue electricity crackled along the DenGasher in its staff mode as he threw it at Star Boy. When it made contact, it turned into a paralyzing blue hexagonal symbol, stunning the starfish. Den-O then jumped up and dived down for his Rider Kick, shattering the hexagonal symbol and the starfish.
Kajiki: 7250
Kuromu: 8000
"Now Kamen Rider OOO attacks you directly! TaToBa Kick!"
At once, OOO picked out a circular scanner device and passed it through his belt, causing his suit to glow.
SCANNING CHARGE!
His legs became a pair of grasshopper legs. Then he leaped into the air while three colored rings formed right in front of Kajiki. As a pair of red hawk wings materialized, OOO flew through the rings.
"SEIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The fisherman quickly blocked the incoming attack but briefly staggered.
Kajiki: 5250
Kuromu: 8000
"Ta-n endo." Kuromu smirked.
"Alright! Way to go, Daddy-O!" Koji cheered.
"Using your enemy's own strengths against them. Not bad." Rex praised the Rider Duelist with a proud smile.
"He might win this after all!" Sho added.
Judai soon cheered, "Go get 'em, Kuromu!"
Kajiki crossed his arms and smiled, "Not bad Kururugi-san, that was quite the play."
"Thank you, Kajiki-san." Kuromu nodded with a small grin.
His smile then became predatory, as Kuromu now looked somewhat concerned, "You may have taken a huge bite out of my Life Points, but I'll show you that you're a big fish in a very small pond. O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Kajiki drew his next card. He then nodded before making his play, "I play the Spell card, Lightning Vortex! By discarding 1 card, I destroy all Monsters on your side of the Field!"
"Yabai!" Kuromu panicked.
"Oh my…" Urataros feared as a large storm cloud began to form above the water. Then lightning bolts struck the ground and surrounded the two Riders, traveling in a circle like a vortex before shocking them and destroying them in the process.
"Aw man… I knew it was too good to be true." Sho groaned.
"Figured he had something in reserve." Rex sighed.
"Next, I shall set a monster face down in DEF position." He said before a card appeared on his side of the field. "Ta-n shuuryou."
"O-re no ta-n!" Kuromu declared, drawing his next card, increasing his hand from three to four. However, when he drew his card, he frowned at what he got. Then he eyed the card he had on his side, 'If my hunch is right, that card…' He thought to himself, then declared, "I'll pass this turn."
"What?" Rika gasped. "He's not playing a card?"
"Must have been a dead draw…" Rex frowned.
"Kuro…" Asuka murmured worriedly.
"O-re no ta-n! Draw!" He declared, drawing his next card. "I activate Cyclone! This will destroy the face-down card you took from me!"
"Crap!" Kuromu cursed as the card appeared and a gust of wind burst out of it, revealing the card to be… Tornado Wall, and subsequently destroying it after.
"You thought you could use my card against me, eh?" Kajiki smirked. "But I won't let you have that satisfaction."
"Tch…" Kuromu clicked his tongue in annoyance, 'There goes that strategy…'
"Next I shall activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards!" Kajiki said, doing as the card instructed. "I now summon The Legendary Fisherman in ATK mode!" Slapping the card onto the tray, a tan-skinned muscular man with wild blue hair wearing a green cloth on his waist while wielding a harpoon and riding on top of a shark appeared (5-4/ATK: 1850-2050/DEF: 1600-1800)
"The Legendary Fisherman?" Kuromu couldn't help but wonder in confusion, "I thought you gave that card away to Jounouchi-san at Battle City."
"I gave him the one that was sent to me by my father before Battle City began. I never told Jounouchi that there were two additional copies of the same card in the envelope." Kajiki stated.
"Figured he had multiple copies." Rex noted, "Always make sure you have a back-up of any important monsters in your deck."
"But enough about nostalgia, it's time to do battle! Legendary Fisherman will attack you directly! Hunting Attack!" Kajiki declared. At Kajiki's command, the sea warrior urged his shark to dive into the water. Kuromu looked around, wondering where he would pop up. He eventually saw that the sea warrior came out of the water from behind and threw the harpoon, the weapon impaling Kuromu.
"Ergh!" Kuromu gritted as he felt the hit from his back before the sea warrior pulled it back out, and returned to Kajiki's side.
Kajiki: 5250
Kuromu: 5950
"Ta-n endo." Kajiki concluded.
Misawa placed a hand to his chin, "As expected, Kajiki-san is giving no quarter."
"C'mon Kuro, you can do it! Turn that shark into sashimi!" Rika shouted.
"And give the old fish face some hell!" Koji added on.
"You got some good friends cheering you on." Kajiki noted.
"They all believe in me. And I'm not gonna let them down! O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Kuromu declared, drawing his next card. "I play Treasure Cards from the Heavens! This lets both of us draw until we have six cards!" He declared as both players drew. "Alright, let's try this out! I summon Kamen Rider Zi-O in ATK mode!"
ZI-O!
There was a mechanical-like sound before a low humming note played out alongside a ticking sound, before a chime sounded out after a resounding boom of a clock.
RIDER TIME! KAMEN RIDER~ ZI-O!
Soon, the astral clock appeared and summoned the metal watch bands to summon forth Zi-O complete with the katakana eyes landing on his visor. (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1000)
"You ready, Sougo?" Kuromu asked.
"I think we can do this!" the silver clock Rider affirmed.
'Least he's not staring at me again… That was weird as hell.' Rex thought to himself.
"Now I'll activate Zi-O's effect! Once per turn, I send a Kamen Rider from my Deck to the Graveyard and he gains half the ATK of the Monster sent! And the one I choose… is Kamen Rider Build!" As he declared that and discarded said card, Zi-O took out a watch very similar to his original watch, but now had a blue body, a red dial that partially displayed Build's helmet, and a matching red button. He then turned the dial to fully reveal the helmet and pressed the button.
BUILD!
Once he placed the Ridewatch into the driver and spun it, the pink katakana flew out of Zi-O's helmet.
RIDER TIME! KAMEN RIDER~ ZI-O! ARMOR~ TIME!
A projection of an empty FullBottle and a suit of armor that looked similar to Build appeared and performed his signature pose before splitting apart and reforming around the clock Rider much like the halves of Build's suit.
After the pink katakana letters returned, Zi-O was in a suit of armor that was silver, sharing the half-and-half aesthetic that Build had, a pair of large red and blue FullBottles as the shoulderpads, a new arm-mounted silver and yellow drill which had the Build symbol on it, and the helmet resembling Build with the clock hands having crystalized parts sticking out, resembling the 'eyes', a red and blue diagonal stripe in the middle, and the katakana for Build as the new eyes.
BEST MATCH! BUIL~D~!
"Nice!" Zi-O cheered, "The laws of victory are set!" he then tried to do Build's pose… but mostly ended up overdoing it. (ATK: 2000-2950)
Both Sento and Rex slapped their faces to their palms in shared disappointment.
"Saiyaku da…" the physicist lamented.
"Oi, Sougo, what are you doing?" Kuromu deadpanned.
"Oh, sorry." Zi-O apologized.
"Moving on!" Kuromu shook his head. "Next I'll play Dual Summon, allowing me to summon one more time! So now I'll summon Kamen Rider Kabuto in ATK mode!" He declared, slapping the card on the tray. 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!
"Battle! Kamen Rider Zi-O attacks The Legendary Fisherman! Vortex Time Break!"
Soon, several physics equations flew past the group. However, instead of numbers, the equations were mostly filled with Sougo's thoughts about physics ranging from "complicated formula", "learned it as a freshman?", and "Don't understand" among many other thoughts.
"I… I am fairly disturbed by this…" Misawa said with a twitching eyebrow.
"Looks kind of different." Rex added.
"Zi-O's a highschooler, whaddya expect?" Kyoshiro shrugged.
"Oh… well my condolences." the mutt said with a motion of tipping the hat, "Physics can be hell to do. No offense when I say that, Sento."
Meanwhile Zi-O pressed the button on the Zi-O and Build Ridewatches.
FINISH TIME! BUILD!
This soon summoned the same graph Build normally used for his Rider Kick… but instead of kicking, the silver clock Rider skated down the graph with his Drill Crusher Crusher like a blue and red blur.
VORTEX TIME BREAK!
"Oryaaaaaaaaaaah!" Zi-O shouted as he rammed the opponent and pierced the sea warrior.
Kajiki: 4350
Kuromu: 5950
"Your turn, Souji!" Kuromu said, as Kabuto wielded his KunaiAxGun, unsheathing the hilt of said weapon to reveal a hidden dagger. He then jumped up and landed, stabbing the face-down card with the dagger, but upon doing so, the monster revealed as it was destroyed was… Penguin Soldier! (2-1/ATK: 750-950/DEF: 500-700)
"Aw crap baskets." Judai muttered.
"You revealed my Penguin Soldier! Meaning its effect activates, forcing you to return your two Monsters back to your Hand!" Kajiki declared.
"Kuso…" Kuromu gritted, as he took the card off the tray, "Sorry guys, I got careless…"
"It's fine." Kabuto reassured him before he and Zi-O were returned to his hand, his hand increased back to five. "I'll place one card face-down. Ta-n endo."
"Dang, Kuromu's got a lot of work ahead of him." Koji observed.
"O-re no ta-n! Draw!" The fisherman declared before increasing his hand from six to seven cards, "First, I activate the Spell Card, Salvage! This lets me retrieve 2 WATER-Attribute Monsters from my Graveyard that are 1500 or less. And I choose Star Boy and Penguin Soldier!" He said, taking the two cards out of the Graveyard and into the Hand. "Now I summon forth Abyss Soldier!"
The sky soon darkened as the group looked up to see a large humpback whale-like warrior with a large trident in hand swimming in and landing on Kajiki's side (4-3/ATK: 1800-2000/DEF: 1300-1500). "And now for his effect. Once per turn, I can discard a WATER-Attribute Monster to my Graveyard and return one card on your side of the Field back to your hand!"
"What?" Kuromu gasped.
"But that face-down is the only one at the moment!" Sho gasped.
"That means Kuromu's screwed." Rika feared. The humpback whale warrior released a breath of water, forcing the face-down to return to Kuromu's hand.
"Now Abyss Soldier, attack him directly!" Kajiki declared. The humpback whale-like warrior readied its harpoon and threw it straight at Kuromu's chest, stunning him.
Kajiki: 4350
Kuromu: 3950
"I place two cards face-down. Ta-n shuuryou." Kajiki concluded.
'Crap, I gotta turn this Duel around or I'm toast!' He thought to himself.
"Kuromu-san." Kajiki called out.
"Huh?"
"As much as I'm enjoying our Duel, you seem to be lacking something."
"Lacking… something?" Kuromu blinked.
"I've been told of your situation." Kajiki began. "For what it's worth, you have my sympathies. You were put in a difficult situation that you virtually couldn't get out of. However, as much as you are putting everything you have into this Duel, which I appreciate, this whole situation you're in is holding you back."
"W-What do you mean?" Kuromu asked, perplexed.
"You came to Duel Academia for a reason: to show and prove to everyone that you can be the best of the best. This school is here to nurture the next generation of Duelists. I see great potential in you for that. But, to achieve that, you must let go of what is holding you back. Do some soul searching and ask yourself: What kind of Duelist do you want to be?"
That hit Kuromu. Up until that point, he was mostly focused on finding his mom than actually wanting to become a Duelist.
"What I… want to be…" He muttered.
"It's clear what kind of Duelists your friends want to be." Kajiki noted, "They each have dreams that push them ahead towards their goals. But here you are, unsure and indecisive. I'm not telling you to forsake the goal you have now, but to put it on hold. What's important is in the here and now."
"In the here and now…"
"The only way to have any chance of defeating me, is to show me the kind of Duelist you are!" Kajiki declared. "Let your passion for what you love drive you!"
"I…"
He soon began to internalize what the fisherman had said. Maybe he was too focused on what he had lost to see what he had now? It was then that he turned towards his friends watching and cheering him on in the stands.
"You can do it, Kuro!" Rika cheered.
"You can swim around him in circles!" Koji added.
"Turn that fisherman into chum!" Judai called out.
"Yeah, kick his ass!" Rex shouted.
"You got this, Kuromu!" Sho cheered.
"I have faith you can win this duel." Misawa joined in.
"We believe in you son!" Kyoshiro said.
"I know you can do it, Kuro! Please win this for yourself!" Asuka said.
"Minna…" Kuromu said, looking at how much they were supporting them, before closing his eyes with a smile while his head was down, before opening back up. A metaphorical fire was lit in his eyes. "Alright Kajiki-san, you want me to show you what kind of Duelist I am? Then I'll show you!"
"Very well, let's see the strength of your resolve Kururugi Kuromu!" Kajiki encouraged him.
"O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Kuromu declared, increasing his Hand to five, before looking at his drawn card. "I play Pot of Greed allowing me to draw two extra cards!" He said, before drawing said card and smiled, 'Lady Luck's smiling on me today.' He then looked back at Kajiki, "First, I'll summon Kamen Rider Drive in ATK mode!"
A holographic cylinder appeared, with steam coming out; various parts of body armor attaching themselves onto a body. When the hologram and steam disappeared, the race car themed Rider stood amidst the Field while the car Tridoron came screeching to a halt and spat out the tire that then attached to Drive's chest armor.
DRIVE! TYPE: SPEED!
An upbeat jazz tune played as the 'camera' showed every angle of this new armored warrior. (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1100)
"Looks like you got your groove back." Drive said.
"You bet I did Shinnosuke. I'm in top gear." Kuormu grinned. "Now I activate the other card I drew, Final Henshin!"
"Sweet! A new final form!" Judai cheered.
"Final Henshin allows me to send a Kamen Rider to the Graveyard and Special Summon their upgraded form! And I choose Kamen Rider Drive!" He said, as the race-car themed Rider took out the Shift and pulled out a new one, but this Shift Car was more sleek, and it had a window that showed cars inside of it. He first turned the ignition key on the Driver then pressed a button on the back wheel of said toy sleek car.
FIRE ALL ENGINES!
He then inserted the sleek Shift Car into the Shift Brace and levered up.
DRIVE! TYPE: TRIDORON!
A holographic cylinder appeared, but this time multiple Shift Cars of different colors came flying and circling around the race car themed Rider as a dramatic rock solo began playing. Not only that the car itself suddenly broke into segments which then became parts of the armor before finally attaching themselves to Drive, the tire of Tridoron then flew around before attaching to Drive's left shoulder. This resulted in a set of that was mostly red with white racing lines on the front of the suit, black on his right arm, wheels on ankles of his feet, a chestplate that resembled the hood of the car alongside the large tire, and a large helmet that had the car's spoiler and two large yellow segmented eyes. (8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2600)
"Henshin Shōkan! Kamen Rider Drive - Tridoron Form!"
"He fused with his car?" Rex asked aloud.
"Yo! That is sick!" Judai cheered.
"And there's more where that came from! When he attacks, he can normally attack all of your Monsters! But since you only have one at the moment, it'll have to do. But when he destroys a Monster, half of its ATK points are added to my Life Points!"
"So Type Tridoron is a sweeper-type card." Misawa observed.
"Looks like it. If done right, he could be able to destroy any low ATK Monsters and become a powerful force on the field." Rex added, "That's only if he's able to destroy any Monsters with that card. If he tries punching above his weight and attack a Monster with higher ATK than him, then Kuromu would be in trouble."
"Now onto the Battle Phase! But before I start the battle, I activate the Instant Magic Card, Magic-Sealing Arrows!" Kuromu declared, playing said card. "At the start of my Battle Phase, none of us can activate Spell or Trap cards this turn, meaning you can't use your face-downs when he attacks!"
"What?!" Kajiki gasped as the arrows came raining down on his face-downs, sealing it from ever activating.
"Battle! Kamen Rider Drive - Tridoron Form attacks Abyss Soldier! Tridrop: Attack 1-2-3 Version!"
Turning the key on the belt, Drive pressed a button on it.
COME ON! FLARE, SPIKE, SHADOW!
He then levered the car up and down.
TIRE KAKIMAZERU! ATTACK 1-2-3!
And an orange with flame-like blades, a green tire with spikes, and a purple tire with shuriken-like tips came flying in. Drive stuck out his arm to insert the three tires, to which all of them spun to form a mixture of the tires into one, replacing the default tire while a tune of an electric guitar squeal, followed by shamisen strums and rock music warble played.
He then pressed the button on the Shift Bracer then levered the Shift Car.
HISSA~TSU! FULL~ THROTTLE: ATTACK 1-2-3!
As the whale human stepped back to try and defend himself, Drive merely dashed fast enough to create three additional clones of himself that fired out several green spikes and red flames at the Abyss Soldier, then unleashed a Rider Kick destroying it.
Kajiki: 3350
Kuromu: 4850
"I'll place one card face-down. Ta-n endo." Kuromu said, setting said card on the Field.
"Nice, if he's able to win this Duel, then Kuro's in the clear." Koji cheered.
"Well done. You were able to pull out a powerful move!" Kajiki nodded. "Now I will return the favor. O-re no ta-n! Draw!" He drew his next card to increase his Hand to six. "I'll activate the first of my face-downs!" He said, pressing a button to reveal it. "Thunder Break! By discarding one card from my Hand, I can destroy a card on your Field! So Kamen Rider Drive - Tridoron Form is destroyed!"
"Yabai!" Kuromu panicked as Kajiki discarded the card, reducing his Hand to five. Thunder clouds rolled in from above before crashing on Drive destroying him.
"And I'm not done yet! I activate my other face-down!" Kajiki said, pressing another button to reveal it. "Call of the Living Dead! This let me Special Summon a Monster from my Graveyard! And I choose Abyss Soldier!" The humpback whale-like warrior returned to the Field (4-3/ATK: 1800-2000/DEF: 1300-1500).
"Now I shall activate the Ritual Spell, Fortress Whale's Oath!"
"Oh snap! Not good!" Koji panicked.
"I Tribute Star Boy and Penguin Soldier from my Hand, and Abyss Soldier on my Field in order to Ritual Summon Fortress Whale!"
At that moment, Abyss soldier soon began to change as the souls of Star Boy and Penguin Soldier entered him. His arms returned to flippers while his legs melted back into his body, the whale man's species went from humpback whale to a more generic whale complete with rows of sharp teeth and a large horn, before finally a large fortress appeared on its back with long-ranged cannons as the newly transformed Fortress Whale let out a mighty bellow. (7-6/ATK: 2350-2550/DEF: 2150-2350)
"Oh boy…" Kuromu gulped.
"He's as big as a battleship!" Rex called out.
"And now I summon my Seasarion!" Kajiki said, slapping the last card in his Hand onto the tray.
Suddenly, from behind the stands, a large pink sea serpent with purple stripes emerged and entered Kajiki's side of the field, terrifying the audience. (4-3/ATK: 1800-2000/DEF: 800-1000)
"What the?! How long was he hiding under there?!" Rex gasped.
"Now to attack you directly with both my Monsters! Seasarion attacks you first!" The giant red sea snake then slithered towards Kuromu on the surface of the water before coiling around the Kamen Rider duelist, squeezing him tight.
Kajiki: 3350
Kuromu: 2850
"And while Seasarion holds you down, Whale Fortress will attack you directly as well! Whale Bombard!"
The whale aimed its cannons at Kuromu, before launching a bombardment of cannon fire at the boy. The giant red sea snake managed to move out of the way before impact, covering the entire Field. Smoke billowed from the point of impact, and the smoke cleared after, showing Kuromu still standing.
Kajiki: 3350
Kuromu: 300
"Haaa… haaa… haaa…" Kuromu panted heavily. "I activate my trap card." He said, pressing a button to reveal it. "Damage Condenser! Since I took damage, I discard one card and Special Summon a Monster from my Deck, with an ATK equal to or less than the damage I took. I Special Summon Kamen Rider Ghost in ATK mode!"
EY~E!
A ghost-like entity with a black hoodie jacket with orange highlights and orange ghostly eyes came out flying around.
BACCHIRI MINA! BACCHIRI MINA! BACCHIRI MINA! BACCHIRI MINA!
KAIGAN: O-RE!
Orange motes of light gathered on the Monster Zone while lines formed before forming the armor. The Parka Ghost then hunched over the armored person letting the latter wear the hoodie before the orange mask flipped upwards. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400)
LET'S GO! KAKUGO! G-G-G-GHOST! GO! GO! GO! GO!
"Ta-n shuuryou." Kajiki said, seeing that he has no other cards to play in his Hand.
"Daijobu, Kuromu?" Ghost asked.
"Yeah… I'll be fine Takeru." Kuromu answered. "But this next turn may be my last. We're either leaving a winner… or expelled…" Kuromu said, before calming himself down. "Alright, let's finish this! O-re no ta-n! Draw!" He drew his next card to increase his hand to two. "I play the Spell Card, Life Shaving Treasure Cards! This lets me draw until I have five cards in my hand, and during my 5th Standby Phase, I lose my entire Hand!"
He then drew his cards, and his eyes widened at what he got. He saw what could be the strategy he needed. But he needed one more card for it to work. "Now I'll activate the effect of Final Henshin in my Graveyard! I send it back to my Deck, shuffle, and draw 1 card!" He said, before taking said card out of the compartment, placed it in the Deck and shuffled.
"This is it. It all comes down to this next card he draws…" Rex muttered.
"It all comes down to one potential Destiny Draw." Judai added.
"That is a very slim possibility, but… given his luck as of late, I know he'll pull through." Misawa said.
"Come on, Kuromu!" Asuka hoped.
As the anticipation built, Kuromu was silent before placing his index and middle finger on the deck with eyes closed. All time seemed to have stopped for him and as it did, he recalled a memory from many years ago, back to the simpler times.
Flashback - 10 Years Ago
At the Kururugi Residence, a seven-year old Kuromu was in the living room playing Duel Monsters with Yukina at the coffee table. He had just started learning how to play, with Yukina having explained all of the rules. Of course, experience came with practice and for the past couple of hours, she and Yukina had been dueling. Some of them were his wins while others were his mother's. But in this particular instance…
"I won again!" Kuromu cheered, looking at his mother with a bright smile.
His mother was certainly a beauty to behold. She had long flowing pink hair that fell to her back with gray eyes that shimmered with joy at the sight of her son winning a Duel.
"Ara, so you did." Yukina smiled back. "You're getting better at this."
"But you have more wins than me." Kuromu pointed out. "So, if anything you're the one that's better at this."
"It's certainly something your father would tell me in the times we've played together." Yukina giggled.
"Oh come on, Yukina, you know I always mean it when you win." Kyoshiro playfully complained from the kitchen as it was his turn to cook dinner.
"I wanna keep having fun Duels like this!" Kuromu said excitedly,
"Oh?" Yukina asked, amused.
"Yeah, I wanna be a Duelist that makes everyone smile and have fun while doing it!" The young boy declared with a smile, giving a thumbs up as he did so. "They'll have so much fun Dueling me, they'll always remember the fun they had!"
End Flashback
A Duelist who wants everyone to smile… How could Kuromu have forgotten this precious memory all this time? He knew what he wanted to be all along. The problems that happened prior to now made him forget why he chose to Duel in the first place. All he needed was a reminder.
It was then that Kajiki noticed the boy's body language change. He wasn't acting tense anymore.
"Have you found your answer?" The fisherman asked.
Kuromu opened his eyes and smiled, "Yeah. Which means I can now Duel in earnest! DRAW!" He said, making the fateful draw. Everyone was on bated breath, anticipating what he had drawn. When Kuromu looked at it, a wave of emotions overcame him, "Kitta…"
Judai and Rex smiled wildly, "He got it!" they cheered.
"I'll start first by playing a second Dual Summon, allowing me to summon twice once more! So I'll summon Kamen Rider Kiva and… Kamen Rider Decade!"
A hypnotic sonar noise echoed, and quicksilver appeared, morphing and shaping itself into the bat-themed warrior, shattering to reveal the armor. (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1500)
KAMEN RIDE!
A pulsing sound echoed in the arena before a holographic logo of a barcode with a mask-like face appeared.
DECADE!
The symbols of the Heisei Riders appeared around him before forming into silhouettes that converged onto his body, forming into his suit. It was a full suit of armor which had a black middle with magenta outer sides while the inner sides of their legs were white. A white and black X was on my left pectoral and his helmet was mainly featureless save for the green eyes and barcode-like design crossing the face. (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000)
"So, it's finally my turn huh?" the dimensional Rider observed.
"Wait hold on, when did he-" Judai got out.
"I'm confused…" Rex added, scratching his head.
"You already know that the Riders are Duel Spirits, right?" Kyoshiro reminded the group, who were in the know. "Tsukasa's a special case. The rules of our world don't necessarily apply to him since he can travel from world to world. In other words, at least in this world, he can switch between spirit and corporeal form whenever he chooses."
"Ooooohhh…"
"There's more where that came from, I play my second Final Henshin!" Kuromu declared.
"Wonder who Kuromu's going to evolve next?" Sho pondered.
"I'll send Kamen Rider Ghost to the Graveyard in order to evolve him into his final form!" Kuromu declared.
Ghost pulled out what appeared to be a mechanical eyeball but the iris is rainbow colored, the encasing was translucent baby blue with sparkle and there was an infinity sign symbol on top. He pressed the button on the side and a brief choir noise sang. He then opened up the GhostDriver, taking out his Eyecon before inserting the new one and closing it.
MUGEN SHINKA!
EY~E!
Similar to the ghost that covered Ghost, a large, bright white trench coat park appeared, large shoulder pads protruding from its shoulder. The eyes it held were fierce, as if soul gazing.
BACCHIRIMINNA~ BACCHIRIMINNA~! BACCHIRIMINNA~ BACCHIRIMINNA~!
Ghost then pulled and pushed the lever revealing Ghost Mugen's faceplate.
CHOU KAIGAN! MUGEN!
KEEP GOING! GO-GO-GO! GO-GO-GO! GO-GO-GO! GOT TO GHOST!
As the Mugen Parka kept flying around, motes of light encased his previous armor. The Parka then enveloped Ghost, enveloping him in a bright, rainbow colored light. Feathers exploded from the light, revealing the legendary form as his faceplate lifted upward. His armor was now an angelic white-colored armored form, gaining additional vest-like armor around the upper-torso section, with infinity symbol and metal flake accents on it. The Parka became Ghost's jacket, as it was a large, bright white trench coat with large shoulder pads protruding from its shoulder. Underneath the hood was his faceplate as it was black with orange eye lenses, but there was a translucent, almost transparent visor that covered his eyes and the horn was rainbow colored with red starting at the bottom, all the way to purple at the top. (8/ATK: 2900/DEF: 2200)
"Henshin Shōkan! Kamen Rider Ghost - Mugen Form!"
Kajiki was intrigued by this development, but kept his guard up.
"That's… angelic-like." Rex muttered as he was left in awe of the form.
"Kamen Rider Ghost - Mugen Form's effect activates! When he's Special Summoned, one of your Monsters ATK points goes down straight to 0!"
"It what?!" Kajiki gawked.
"And the monster I choose is Fortress Whale!" Kuromu said, as Ghost made a few hand gestures which sent ethereal energy over to the whale, draining it of his strength. (ATK: 2550-0)
"That means he's won!" Rika cheered.
"Not quite." Kyoshiro said, prompting the group to turn to him. "Even with that ability, Kajiki-san would still have Life Points… unless…"
"I have the card to do just that, Tou-chan!" Kuromu smirked, hearing his father's voice, then revealed said card, depicting the first nine Riders, in one section of the art, and the other half revealing various things: a mechanical stag beetle, a golden board-like machine, Dragreder, a large blaster gun, a large blade, a large dome plate with a tomoe, a red mechanical beetle, Momotaros, and a large bow and arrow that had Kivat as the bow itself. "This is the card that will win me this Punishment Duel! Final Form Kamen Ride!"
Kyoshiro's smile couldn't be brighter, "Now he's won! That card allows Decade to equip a Kamen Rider of his choosing and half of that Rider's ATK points get added to him!"
"Booyah! He's got it!" Koji called out.
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Kuromu smiled, "And for the Rider I choose, it's Kiva! Tsukasa!"
"Ah." The dimensional Rider opened up the DecaDriver by pulling it, then opened the RideBooker on the side to pull out a card, showing a picture of Kiva, with the picture of the Kiva-like bow and arrow weapon.
*VROOM! SHING!*
He then inserted the card in the DecaDriver and closed it.
FINAL FORM RIDE: K-K-K-KIVA!
"Wataru, chotto kusuguttai zo."
"Eh?" Wataru said, before the dimension Rider turned the bat-themed Rider around so that he was looking at the latter's back. He then motioned his hands in a spread out motion, opening up Kiva. A large Kivat came out of his back which then Kiva flipped upside down, and the curves of the 'bow' attached to the legs, which… split in half?! And the kicking leg became the 'arrow', which made Kiva's head the 'quiver'!
Kiva transformed into the Kiva Arrow.
"OHHHHHHHH!" Most of the audience cried out in dismay, mainly due to how Kiva's legs split that far.
"NO! WHAT? WHAT THE HECK?! HO-WHYYYY?!" Rex cried out in despair.
"Sho, avert your eyes!" Judai cried out, hiding his friend's gaze before the carnage happened.
"Aniki, I can't see!"
"Good!" Both Osiris students stated.
"Oh dear… I… I think I'm going to be ill…" Misawa feared while he felt something rise up his throat.
"No, soul! Get back in my body!" Koji shouted as he nearly felt his spirit leave him.
"That's… gotta hurt…" Rika winced.
"I'll say…" Asuka said, before they all looked at Kyoshiro dryly.
"Don't look at me. I just make the cards." Kyoshiro raised his hands in defense.
Kuromu winced as he heard the audience's audible horror at what they just saw. "Moving on, since Kiva is equipped to Kamen Rider Decade, said Rider gains half of Kiva's ATK points!" (ATK: 2000-2850) "And that's more than enough for me to win this Punishment Duel! Now it's time to end this!" The Rider Duelist declared without missing a beat.
Kajiki couldn't help but chuckle, which then turned into laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Go ahead! Win this Duel!" He said, spreading his arms out.
"With pleasure! Kamen Rider Decade attacks Seasarion! Decade Fang!"
The dimensional Rider opened up the DecaDriver and pulled out another card, this time showing Kiva's symbol in gold, before inserting it in the Driver and closing it.
*VROOM! SHING!*
FINAL ATTACK RIDE: K-K-K-KIVA!
Decade then slowly pulled on the 'quiver' of the arrow which was actually… Kiva's head.
"He's pulling Kiva's head off!" Rex cried out in horror. "Oh sweet mercy, I can't watch!"
"Look away!" Judai called out.
"What's going on?" Sho asked, still blinded to the events. Meanwhile, Decade took aim at the giant red sea snake as energy glowed at the tip of the 'arrow'.
"Kivatte… ikuze~!" Kivat shouted before the 'arrow' shattered, revealing the red bat wings hidden underneath the plating, to which Decade let loose and an energy arrow was shot at the giant red sea snake, destroying it.
Kajiki: 2500
Kuromu: 300
"Now for the grand finale! Kamen Rider Ghost - Mugen Form attacks Fortress Whale! God Omega Drive!"
At his declaration, Ghost pulled and pushed the lever, making the eye of the GhostDriver 'blink' and the iris now showed a kicking foot in a rainbow color.
CHOU DAI KAIGAN! MUGEN: GOD OMEGA DRIVE!
"Human potential is infinite!" Ghost shouted as he performed a few hand signs and an energy sigil of Ghost Mugen appeared behind him. He then jumped up and the energy sigil was absorbed into his feet, producing a rainbow colored light as he dived down for his finisher at the whale. Diving down, he kicked straight through the whale, blowing it up.
Kajiki: 0
Kuromu: 300
When the smoke cleared, Kajiki was still standing, but had a satisfied look on his face. As the underwater arena dissipated and the Solid Vision disappeared, Kuromu finally collapsed to his knees in exhaustion. He was staying in Duel Academia after all.
"Yatta… I won…" Kuromu got out.
"The winner of this Punishment Duel… is Kururugi Kuromu!" Principal Samejima declared. At first, everyone was silent, but moments later cheers erupted from the crowd. Some of them even gave a standing ovation as they clapped.
"He… he did it…" Rika muttered, before the realization kicked in, "He won… HE WON!"
"See! I told you guys!" Judai declared. "Never doubted him for a second!"
"Dyn-o-mite! Our buddy gets to stay and dance with the rest of us!" Koji cheered.
"YEAH!" Sho and Rex cheered.
"Talk about luck of the draw." Misawa smirked in approval. "Duel Academia would be less interesting had Kuromu lost and I would've left then and there as well. I'm glad to say that my fears were unfounded."
Meanwhile, back on the stage, Kajiki approached Kuromu, holding out his hand with a proud smile, "That was a fine Duel, Kuromu."
Kuromu looked at the fisherman, before taking his hand and was pulled up to his feet, "Thank you, Kajiki-san. You weren't bad yourself."
"Thank you. I gotta say you definitely showed heart during our Duel." The fisherman laughed happily. "And I'm glad I got to see the kind of Duelist you are."
"Yeah," Kuromu smiled with eyes closed and head down, "All I needed was a reminder of why I wanted to be a Duelist in the first place."
"Indeed." Kajiki agreed. "As long as you remember your reason, you will become a true Duelist." He then held out his hand. "I look forward to our next Duel."
"Count on it." Kuromu grinned, shaking his hand with his own.
"KUROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The Kamen Rider duelist turned to see his friends rushing towards him, mainly Judai, Sho, Rex, Rika, and Koji who all tackle-hugged him to the ground with a thud while Misawa, Kyoshiro, and Asuka arrived not long after, and looked on.
"Oof!"
"Oooooooooh, I knew you'd win, Kuro!" Rika said happily.
"Yeah, I'm glad too." Kuromu winced with a pained smile.
"You had us worried there, bro!" Koji chuckled.
"Honestly, I kinda was panicking a bit," Kuromu chuckled, "But I managed to win." He then was helped up by his friends, after they all got up, his father approached him, "Tou-chan…"
"I'm so proud of you, son. Your mother would be too, if she were here to see it." Kyoshiro said, before hugging him, "And I'm sorry for everything you were put through until now. All of this was my fault, because I chose your mother over you."
"T-Tou-chan, it's fine, really…" Kuromu reassured him. "Everything worked out in the end, didn't it?"
The father and son soon broke the hug, "Yeah, I guess so. And I won't make the mistake of choosing one family member over another ever again. I promise."
Kuromu nodded at this, as Samejima approached the group, "Congratulations on winning your Punishment Duel, Kuromu-san."
"Thank you, Principal. I know this was rather strange for you to oversee a Punishment Duel that technically didn't need to happen, but…"
"Oh it's quite alright. Let's just be glad that it's done and over with." Samejima smiled easily.
"So… starting today, I'll be staying here for the rest of your school year." Kyoshiro declared.
"What?!" Everyone, Kuromu especially, gasped.
"Why not? Besides, it's not everyday you have a card designer from Industrial Illusion teaching you kids."
"You can do that?!" Kuromu gawked.
"Is that legal?" Rex asked Misawa.
"Well… if Principal Samejima allows it, he can be accepted as a guest lecturer. It's not uncommon for schools to invite them."
"Let's hope he doesn't end up leaking a new card." The mutt worried.
"Besides, who knows when Oogumo will show up to attack you again." Kyoshiro said, "That way, he won't get the jump on you the first time around."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Kuromu sighed. He then looked at the corner of his eyes, noticing how Asuka was staring at him. He then walked towards her until they were face-to-face, "Hey…"
"Hey…" Asuka smiled softly.
"Did I… worry you?" Kuromu asked carefully.
"A little bit… but, I had faith that you would win."
"Asuka…" Kuromu murmured, before daringly hugging her, much to her surprise, "I'm sorry… I'll try not to worry you again."
The Obelisk Queen didn't say anything, but accepted the hug nonetheless.
"Hoho~ what's this?" Kyoshiro observed, causing the two to realize that they were still hugging each other, prompting them to back away, "Have you finally fulfilled that promise you two made?"
"T-Tou-chan!" Kuromu stammered out, "We haven't- that's-!"
"Hahahaha! Looks like you reeled in a nice one!" Kajiki laughed.
"Not you too, Kajiki-san!"
"Wait, what was that about a promise?" A rather curious Judai asked.
"What is it? A marriage proposal or something?" Rex shrugged, "You know, that kind of cliché?"
…
…
…
"Wait, seriously? Am I the only one who noticed?" Rex asked bug-eyed.
"We're not like that!" Kuromu and Asuka cried out in dismay.
"You synced." Rika pointed out.
"Shut it, Rika!" Kuromu shouted, before squatting down, pulling his hair, "Aww mou~! I'm never living this down!" This caused the group to laugh at his expense.
Meanwhile, Ryo watched the whole thing from afar and smirked in satisfaction, before turning away to leave. As for Manjoume, to say he wasn't pleased was an understatement. In fact, he was so angry and pissed, that he kicked the empty chair in front of him with so much force that it actually bent, before storming out of the arena.
"They'll pay. They'll all pay…" he swore.