Throughout the entire Winter Break, Kuromu had focused on recovering from his injuries after his Duel with Oogumo. When Kyoshiro arrived at the infirmary, he was all but ready to hug his son, only to be stopped by Tsukasa and the others. They didn't want Kuromu being squeezed to his death in his own father's embrace when he was just waking up.
It took the combined strength of Koji, Judai, Rex, and Daitokuji to get Kyoshiro off of Kuromu.
Even more surprising was that Ayukawa, Kabeyama, and Instructor Chronos had returned to the island to check on him as well. Kuromu admitted that he felt somewhat honored that a lot of people were checking in on him. Especially after what he's been going through these past several weeks.
As for the other ordeal, pertaining to Duel Academia's security, Tsukasa kept his word and the security tech arrived on time before Winter Break ended. Tsukasa worked with the IT to have the security technology installed at various locations of the entire island. From the dorms, to the school, even the Abandoned Dorm, which Principal Samejima had personally supervised, due to said dorm still containing secrets that students and even staff members who weren't in the know, weren't allowed to know.
Kuromu even noticed how much more brotherly the Osiris trio had become, with the three watching each other's backs and frequently dueling each other. Sho seems to be improving quite a bit with his Roid Deck too. Granted, there were still some losses on his end, but his strategies and skills were definitely improving. If he keeps it up, he could move up a dorm or two.
Meanwhile, Judai and Rex always end up neck-in-neck, neither getting ahead of the other in terms of wins. It's also helped Judai learn some strategies in fighting Contact Fusion users like the mutt and Rika. Simply put, it felt like a winter break well spent. Of course, classes would soon start after Winter Break ended and things will have to go back to normal.
As of this moment…
"Well now, it looks like you seem to be on the mend." Ayukawa said, looking over a medical chart.
"That's good. I'm ready to get off of this bed after staying here for so long." Kuromu said, "Hopefully, my physical therapy paid off. I'm ready to really stretch my legs out and walk."
"Looking at your chart now, I'm happy to say that you can finally be discharged." Ayukawa smiled.
"Yeah, and I can get back to training for the Inter-School duel." Kuromu noted, "I did hear though that Judai dealt with a guy called the Duel Giant while I was stuck here. What was that all about?"
"Trust me, it's a long story." an arriving Judai noted as he, Sho, Koji, and Rex came to visit him. "Yo! Wassup?"
"Hey." Kuromu waved back.
"Looks like you're ready to get out of that bed." Rex grinned.
"Yeah, Ayakawa-sensei said I'm discharged." Kuromu said, slowly sitting on the edge of the bed and getting off the bed to stand. He looked all over himself to keep himself steady, before looking at the trio with a smile, spreading his arms out, "Ehhhh?"
"Finally dude! I've been waiting for a rematch with you." Judai noted before Rex sighed.
"Dude, chillax man." Koji chuckled.
"He just got out of the clinic, so give it a rest." the mutt pointed out.
Just then, the doors to the clinic slid open, revealing Misawa, Ryo, and Asuka.
"Misawa, Marufuji-senpai." Kuromu blinked in surprise.
"Nii-san?" Sho blinked.
"How are you feeling?" Misawa asked, "We heard from Koji and Rika about what happened to you. Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Misawa. As you can see." Kuromu smiled sheepishly, presenting himself. "It took the rest of Winter Break, but I'm feeling better."
"That's good to hear." Ryo nodded. "Though we would've stayed had we known about Oogumo."
Kuromu shook his head, "Even if you did, it wouldn't have changed anything. Still, I appreciate the thought." With this, he looked towards his Obelisk Blue jacket that hung over the chair, before grabbing it and putting it on, "Alright, let's get back to hitting those books."
A few weeks had passed since then as the countdown to the Inter-School Duel reached closer and closer. The day-to-day routine of the students had become normal as usual. Oogumo was still at large, but thanks to the security tech that Tsukasa had acquired prior to Duel Academia re-opening its doors, there wasn't much activity from him. It was a relief to Kuromu and his friends, as they could now at least rest easy for the time-being, but they still kept their guard up.
Today was another one of those days without an incident from the spider-masked man. But this particular day was sort of special. Why, one must ask?
"Aniki, slow down!" Sho cried out.
"I can't! Today's the day!" Judai responded back as he kept running down the halls… while dragging Sho and Rex along by their heels, pulling them by their jackets.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" Rex repeatedly said as his head got smacked into various objects whilst being dragged by the Elemental Hero Duelist.
Judai continued dragging the two down the halls of Duel Academia, until finding themselves in front of the card shop. In front of the establishment was a large container where several students from all dorms were gathered around said container. But inside were tens if not hundreds of sandwiches that were sealed in bags.
The drawbread.
There were many different types of sandwiches sealed in those bags. From butter cake, to fried soba, and even pizza bread. All of the bags were obscured so that no one could see what was inside. But there was the one sandwich that eluded all the students, hoping to find it for themselves.
The Golden Eggwich.
Raised by Duel Academia, the golden hen produces this one golden egg once a day, to be used for this Golden Eggwich. To get this rare sandwich of a bread, they have to draw for it everyday.
"Okay, let me take the first draw." a rather bruised Rex grumbled before getting back on his feet and angrily snagging the bag Judai was eyeing. After opening it, he ended up with a sandwich that had a card on it. "Huh, wonder what this one is?" the mutt pondered as he looked at the card, before shaking his head, "Another Pot of Greed… seriously, I have a lot of that card." he grumbled.
"What does that do?" A random Osiris Red asked.
"Buddy? You're in a school that teaches Duel Monsters. Take a wild guess." Rex groaned before stuffing the card in the pocket and taking a bite of his sandwich.
"Well? What did you get?" Sho asked.
"Cheesesteak," Rex noted while eating the sandwich, "Didn't even get a super rare card too. Then again, it would have messed with my deck synergy." he shrugged off.
"Heh… that's too bad." Judai grinned, before looking at the sandwich bin. "I'm gonna pull the Golden Eggwich, this time for sure!" He then reached into it and grabbed a sandwich bag, ripping it off and biting into it. "Mm!" He flinched… before falling on his knees, "Dangit, it's chestnut bread…"
"Hey, good food's good food." Rex noted before finishing his sandwich, "Just because it's not the sandwich doesn't mean it ain't good."
"Then again, that's karma biting him since he drew the Golden Eggwich ten times." A familiar voice said. Judai, Sho, and Rex turned around to see Kuromu approaching them. "You can't have the good without the bad, after all. Such is balance."
"Hoping to draw it this time?" Rex asked.
"Like you need to ask." Kuromu smiled wryly with a roll of his eyes, before taking a sandwich bag and opening it, biting into it after. His eyes widened considerably. "I… this is…!"
"Wait, did you get it?!" Rex asked incredulously, as the students looked towards Kuromu with shock.
"Egg…"
"Egg?!" All of them shouted at once.
"Egg… Salad."
"Gahhhhhhhhhhh!" Everyone fell down to the floor from the tension deflating like a balloon, looking like a scene straight out of an anime.
"Dude, don't give us false hope!" Judai and Rex groaned in unison.
"I mean it's close enough." Kuromu shrugged, before continuing to eat it.
"Better drawing a wrong sandwich, then drawing the wrong card." Asuka said, as the friends looked towards the Obelisk Queen who had two sandwiches in her hand, but they were the wrong ones.
"Oh, I get it. You actually took the Golden Eggwich just so you could have a lunch date with me, right?" Kuromu teased with a chuckle. That made Asuka actually blush hard before looking away.
"T-That's- I'm not-!" she began to stammer. "Don't talk such nonsense! I'm just here to practice my luck on the draw!"
"Heh~? Really?" Kuromu grinned wider.
"Drawing isn't all a Duel consists of. It's also playing the cards you already got." Rex noted. "What's the use of drawing an extra card if you can't use the hand you already got?"
"I'm sorry everyone," A new voice said, as they turned to see a heavyset woman wearing a card shop owner's uniform and a set of glasses. This was Tome-san, the card shop owner.
Despite her job description, she actually has very little knowledge of the rules of a real Duel. She can seem odd sometimes by certain students, particularly the boys, but is well respected by pretty much everyone. She has a perky, sweet, and friendly personality and she is very grateful for helpful people.
In fact, during the first Promotion Exam, she gave Judai Evolving Wings and Winged Kuriboh LV10 as a reward for helping her out, moving her truck of merchandise up the hill and towards the school. It would help him win his Duel against Manjoume.
"To tell you the truth, no one's been able to draw the Golden Eggwich." Tome-san said sadly.
"No one? I don't believe that." Rex noted, crossing his arms in skepticism.
"It's true. Since last week, only the Golden Eggwich has been stolen."
"Either someone's really good at drawing, or there's a thief coming in every night." Kuromu theorized.
"That's what I would assume." Tome-san said. "Someone must have been sneaking in and stealing them after the shop closes."
"Not to mention that I cook the egg everyday!" Rika suddenly snapped in anger. "When I find out who stole them, they're in for some serious head busting!"
Rex smiled, "I smell a stakeout! Man, I haven't done one of those in a long time." he noted.
Judai and Sho knew what he meant, likely assuming that he did quite a few during his time with the Wild Ones. Kuromu, Asuka, and Rika on the other hand looked rather confused by the mutt's excitement for a stakeout.
"What are you talking about?" Kuromu asked Rex.
"Ah, it's nothing. Just got a plan on how we can possibly catch the thief." the mutt said.
"Well whatever it is, when we find him I'm gonna cut them up into unrecognizable pieces then grind them into a human hamburger." Rika growled, before her eyes went evil and lines were shown on the bottom of her eyes, while looking manic. "Then I'll boil their bones in oil until they're crunchy enough for me to eat like chips, then I'll cook them on both sides on a grill before placing them in between two hamburger buns and eating them after with a side of fries and a large diet soda." she began to cackle.
…
…
…
"Oookay… moving on!" Rex noted, as the rest of the group absolutely felt the color leave their skin.
"Hehehehehe… They will pay…" Rika cackled like a wicked witch.
"Oi." Kuromu said dryly, before doing a judo chop to her head, "Focus. We're trying to catch a thief, not serve a thief."
"Hmph…" Rika huffed.
"Okay, with our resident cannibal chef at ease, here's the plan." Rex then used one of the tables and began quickly drawing up a brief schematic of the card shop, "We need to make sure every entrance and exit in this room is covered, so I need each of you guys in these spots." he said as he circled each opening that he saw. "If this guy is a normal student, then we need to have someone keep a Duel Phone handy. If they resist? Well, there ain't nothing a good Duel won't solve. Either that or keep a weapon handy just in case."
"I got my cast iron ready to go." Rika said.
"You are not giving them a concussion." Rex said dryly, "That thing is loud and could alert any of his potential cronies if he's not working alone."
"Oh come on! I cook those Eggwiches with love, and they're stealing them left and right!" Rika complained.
"Rika, you have every right to be angry at them for that," Asuka said, "But this isn't the time for you to act as judge, jury, and executioner."
"Yeah, we're supposed to catch this person and stop them from stealing the Eggwich before someone can get it normally, not send him to the hospital." Rex said bluntly.
"Mmmmmmmmmm… fine…" Rika grumbled.
"Is she always this bloodthirsty?" Rex muttered to Kuromu, getting war flashbacks to his former friend.
"She just has a no nonsense attitude." Kuromu sighed.
"Okay, but if she starts planning murder, I'm calling the cops." Rex said with no hesitation.
"She won't. She's just… sensitive when it comes to the food she cooks." Kuromu reassured him. "Stealing the food she cooks is just a huge no-no in her book."
"I can imagine…" The mutt winced.
"The shop closes at 8PM. You can stop by then." Tome-san said.
"Alright! See ya later!" Judai grinned, before running off.
"Aniki, wait up!" Sho cried out, running after him.
"I guess we'll have to tell Principal Samejima about what we plan to do." Kuromu sighed, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah. It's best we at least get some approval before diving in." Asuka admitted.
Night soon fell as everyone met up at Tome-san's office. Using the new tech Tsukasa had acquired from his friend, they used the cameras to figure out when exactly the sandwiches were being stolen. The only problem was, they couldn't exactly identify who the thief was, even with facial recognition, because of how obscured the cameras were. So they'll have to identify them the old fashion way by catching them in the act.
Apparently, those sandwiches were being stolen around two hours after the shop closed, so the group had some time to kill.
They all agreed to put the bin of sandwiches inside the office so when they catch him, there's no escape. To the far side of the room, where a long desk was, Judai and Sho were playing a card game other than Duel Monsters for once. Rika and Kuromu were playing Duel Monsters without the duel disks. And Alexis was reading a book.
"Haha! High card!" Judai grinned, placing the playing card down.
"Man, I lost again…" Sho groaned. "Your luck of the draw is something, Aniki."
Meanwhile, the mutt was keeping an eye on the openings, being the designated lookout of the group. He was replaying the whole plan in his head to make sure everything went on without a hitch. After all, none of them could afford having another Eggwich stolen on their watch.
"I brought some stakeout food." Tome-san said, coming into the office with a plate of rice balls. "This should keep your energy for the night."
"Thank you, Tome-san." Kuromu smiled gratefully, taking a rice ball and biting into it. "Mm, salmon." He nodded in approval, before grabbing another one. "Rex, here." He said, tossing it to the mutt.
He caught the rice ball and ate it in one gulp before returning to his job keeping an eye out for the thief.
"You're taking this rather seriously." Rika commented.
"As serious as I need to. You were the one who's making those sandwiches so I can't start slacking." Rex noted, "I won't stand by if I can make a difference after all."
"Speaking of," Asuka said, grabbing one rice ball of her own, "You've done this sort of thing before?"
"A couple." Rex answered.
"During your days as-" Judai began, but a stern look from Rex shut him up. Though his eyes read more as 'I'll tell them when I feel like I'm ready to' rather than a harsh and silent motion for him to shut up. "Right, sorry…"
"Okay, I definitely missed something while I was out cold." Kuromu looked between Judai and Rex.
"Don't worry about it." the Osiris trio said in unison, though Kuromu was surprised the three were in sync for that.
"Aw~kward~" Rika murmured.
Suddenly they heard something knock over inside the shop. Everyone noticed the noise and that only meant one thing.
"He's here…" Asuka whispered. "Hide!"
Tome turned off the lights and hid under her desk. Asuka hid inside one of the lockers while Rika and the Osiris Trio hid behind some shelves and Tome-san hid under the desk. Unfortunately, for Kuromu, that wasn't a hiding spot left. Not to mention it was dark. Looking around and thinking quickly, he went inside one of the lockers. However…
"Kuro, what are you doing here?!" Asuka hissed.
"T-This was the closest place to hide," Kuromu gulped, desperately trying not to think about the enclosed space.
"Get out…"
"As much as I want to, I can't because we got a thief out there…"
Asuka blinked, her anger forgotten at the moment. Struggling briefly, she managed to peer out of the slits of the locker that Kuromu was using. Sure enough, there was someone who was apparently rifling through the crate of wrapped sandwiches. He looked like a fairly large fellow, large as in muscled not chubby. His hair was wild and long and wasn't even wearing a shirt. The odd thing about his rifling though was that he wasn't feeling the sandwiches like he was trying to feel what the toppings were but instead was digging through them to get the eggwich as if he already knew where it was.
And while that was happening, a certain part of Kuromu's body started to get really… shall we say… stiff.
'Dammit, dammit, not good, not good, not good…' the Rider Duelist thought in horror. 'Why did Asuka have to be so curvy in the right places? No! Don't think about that! The thief is right there! Concentrate on them, not on how big her-! DAMMIT!'
As Asuka continued to watch the thief, she… seemed to notice something was touching her. "That better not be what I think it is," she threatened.
Kuromu squeaked, before clamping his mouth.
"Hm?!" The thief grunted, looking around, upon hearing Kuromu. The two were silent as the thief shook his head and went back to his business. Kuromu and Asuka breathed a silent sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Rex and Rika were slowly beginning to approach him. The mutt gave a silent signal to the chef to motion for her to cut off his escape. Once they were in position, the pair quickly dashed towards the thief and tackled him to the ground. Everyone came out of their hiding spot afterwards and Tome-san turned on the lights.
"Move and that'll be the last bag you draw." he stated coldly, attempting to tie the thief up.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
To the surprise of Rex and Rika, he managed to break free from their grasp, sending both of them flying. The mutt barely got back on his feet before going after him.
The thief let out a loud Tarzan-like yell before kicking off the floor, riding the crate of sandwiches towards the front doors. He easily slammed through them, his yell echoing all the way.
"After him!" Judai yelled.
The group then ran after the thief which led all the way to the rooftop. They continued to run until they stopped when the thief suddenly jumped off the roof and somehow managed to grab a vine and started swinging away.
"What is he, Tarzan?!" Rex gawked incredulously.
"What do we do now?!" Sho got out.
"We go after him, that's what!" Rika answered. "We just… gotta get down to the ground first by taking the stairs."
"I'm not." Kuromu said.
"What do you mean by that?!" Rex snapped, "He's getting away!"
"Don't worry, I got this." Kuromu took a deep breath, before yelling, "Momotaros, koi!"
"Ryokai!"
"Uhhh, wha-"
Not a moment too soon, Momotaros flew into Kuromu, quickly transforming him as he wore his school uniform like a punk.
Kuromu's body suddenly sprang up, surprising the others. He then turned around and something was different about him. His hair was now spiked up with several strands of hair red. And his eyes glowed red.
"Ore… sanjou!" Momotaros declared striking his pose in Kuromu's body.
"Wait… isn't that the voice of Den-O?" asked Judai.
"Yeah, what of it, hero?" The possessed Kuromu growled.
"Can someone explain what just happened?" asked a slightly freaked out Asuka.
"I think… Momotaros possessed Kuromu." Rika muttered.
"POSSESSED?!" Sho freaked out.
"Holy-" the mutt then threw water at Kuromu-Red and formed a cross with his fingers, "Out of this house! Out of this house!"
"Oi, don't look at me like I'm some sorta demon!" Kuromu-Red snapped angrily. He was then sprinkled with a bottle of holy water, courtesy of the mutt. "Oi! The hell are you doing?! Stop!"
"Spirits, be gone from this house!" Rex continued, sprinkling holy water on Kuromu-Red repeatedly. "The power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you!" He chanted over and over again.
"Would you cut that out?!" Kuromu-Red roared. "He's fine! I'm just borrowing his body for a bit, okay?!"
"You ain't foolin' me!" Rex shouted.
"Bah! Whatever! I'm finding that thief and kicking his ass! See ya later!" Kuromu-Red waved before jumping off the roof to follow the thief's trail, shocking everyone.
"WHOA!" Everyone gasped surprised.
"What the-?! Does he think he can out-speed me?!" Rex shouted after seeing how fast Kuromu-Red, breaking out of his stupor and quickly chasing after them.
Kuromu-Red continued running into the forest with Rex by his side, leaping from tree to tree like a ninja, leaving the others far behind. Dashing past some foliage, the two ended up in the middle of a small clearing with a snarl on his face.
"Come on out and fight like a man, teme!" he bellowed. "I can smell you a mile away and you REEK! Take a bath after I kick your ass!"
"AHHHAHHHHHHHAAHHHHHHH!"
Kuromu-Red blinked before he turned towards the source. However, that was as far as he got before the wild man thief came swinging down and clobbering him with a double kick to the chest, knocking the possessed teen into the dirt.
"You may try fooling me, but I see the truth!" the thief called. "I bond with nature so deep; I see spirits and ancient beings. I see your true form! You're not human! You are a Duel Spirit!"
"Gee, what made you think that?" Rex snarled before they began wrestling.
"Teme…" Kuromu-Red growled before joining in. "I'm gonna enjoy this!"
The mutt and the possessed Kuromu then began brawling with the thief.
"I'll make sure you're the one crying tonight!" Rex snarled.
"Cry? Momonoji! My turn!"
Kuromu-Red blinked before a haze of yellow overtook him.
"Baka-kumaaaaaa!"
Shaking his head, Kuromu's image changed a second time to reveal long hair tied in a ponytail with yellow streaked in it with yellow eyes. "Your strength is indeed impressive!" he barked, his voice deep and commanding. "But my strength will make you cry!"
"I won't cry! I'll make you cry!" the thief called before pounding his chest. "AHHHAHHHHHHAAHHHHHHH!"
"HMPH!" Kuromu-Yellow snorted, cracking his neck before assuming a sumo position. "We shall see!"
"Kuromu!" A voice called.
Kuromu-Yellow turned around to see Judai and the others coming up towards him.
"Whoa, what's with the new look?" Judai wondered.
"Oh! Kuromu's friends," Kuromu-Yellow blinked before standing up and bowing politely. "It's good to meet you all in person. I have seen good things in each of you. Please continue to look after Kuromu in the future."
"Uhh… thanks?" Rika muttered in confusion.
"AHHHAHHHHHHAAHHHHHHH!"
"So who's that guy?" asked Sho, the wild man's cry bringing all attention to him.
"He's the one who was stealing your sandwiches," Kuromu-Yellow explained. "He was able to discern Momonoji's true identity and was about to fight him when I decided to step in. Allow me to handle this." And that was when the thief started to come at Kuromu-Yellow and all three of them locked up like they would be in professional wrestling.
"Oooh! Wrestling!" Rika catcalled. "Rip his shirt off, wild guy!"
"Huh?" Judai and Sho blinked at her.
"The hell?!" Rex snarled, "What do you think this is? WWE?!"
"What?" Rika blinked. "Can't a girl enjoy a wrestling match between muscular guys? I know what Kuromu's packing and it's nice!"
The three continued to wrestle until the thief somehow managed to get the coat off of Kuromu and rip his shirt off, Kuromu-Yellow threw it away and revealed that Kuromu did have a very nice six-pack which made Asuka blush. Rex merely threw his jacket off before wrapping his fists.
"Oh yeah!" Rika cheered, "Asuka-chan, you'd better treat him right or all of the girls in school are going to try and snatch him up!"
"H-Huh?" Asuka babbled, glancing at Rika whom she quickly discovered was recording the bout on her Duel Pilot. "RIKA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"What?" asked the Foodon Duelist. "You don't see action like this outside of Pay-Per-View and I'm still too young to order it. I imagine a lot of the girls will be willing to shell out good cash too."
"RIKA!"
"Hey, I better see some profit off of that missy!" Rex snarled while putting the thief in a headlock. However, the thief was able to break free and push back both him and Kuromu-Yellow as he returned to the mutt's side, the three of them now in a stance.
"Dang, this guy's pretty good." Judai noted.
"Oi! Bear guy! To me!" Rex called out before they landed a double-lariat on the thief.
"I must say your technique really is impressive." Kuromu-Yellow said.
"Same here. You're a pretty good fighter." Rex moted.
"Oi, Kuma-chan, I wanna get in it!"
"Eh?" Kuromu-Yellow blinked before a purple haze nabbed him. The young man then ducked into a kneeling position, his frame not as muscular anymore but still nice as Asuka noted. He was now wearing a hat with a strand of long hair slicking out from underneath with purple streaks in it and his eyes glowed purple.
"Now I get to play with you wild guy!" Kuromu-Purple smiled. "Ready or not, here I come!"
"Now who is it?" Sho wondered.
"If my guess is right? Gun Form." Rex observed before dodging a strike from the Wild Man.
The Wild Man frowned before he lunged at Kuromu-Purple, but the possessed boy merely dipped out of the way, skipping back as if he were… dancing? Smiling, he moved forward and began jumping and kicking at the wild thief indeed as if he were in the middle of a breakdancing routine with the thief merely being an 'unfortunate' bystander, leading to him focusing on the mutt.
"Whoa! Sweet moves!" Judai praised him.
"Way cool!" Sho agreed.
"Nice footwork but a little help here!" Rex yelped as he was losing a grapple against the Wild Man.
"Coming!" Kuromu-Purple said, dancing his way over to them, but then was caught by the Wild Man after he tossed off the mutt. "Uwhaaaaa!"
"I see you now!" the wild man called, wrapping his arms around Kuromu-Purple in a bear hug. "Temper of a demon! Strength of a bear! Speed of a dragon! You know the spirit world like I know the natural world!"
Just then a blue haze suddenly took over making Kuromu's body slump a bit before perking back up to reveal Kuromu with the same look before he was possessed only this time with a blue streak of hair and glasses.
"And then there's the Wisdom of a turtle." Kuromu-Blue said as he managed to somehow slip out of the thief's bear hug by slipping downward.
"And who's this one?" Rex wondered as Kuromu-Blue looked the mutt over.
"If I remember right, Kuromu said his name was… Urataros?" Rika got out, before deadpanning, "Yeah, I remember, he was hitting on me and Asuka-chan. This one's probably a piece of work… and possibly a pervert…"
"Your words wound me," Kuromu-Blue sighed dramatically. "I say nothing that a young lady does not wish to hear."
"So he's Besturoli's fellow perv." Rex noted, recalling an instance of the turtle Imagin and the bird gladiator trying to peep on the girls had Laquer not dragged them back.
The wild man lunged for Kuromu-Blue who smoothly dodged the attacks before retaliating with kicks and backhands meant to trip and disorient the guy. Basically, Kuromu-Blue was manipulating the battle into his favor in a slow and steady manner, much like how the turtle managed to win the race against the hare. The wild man went for Rex again, only for him to miss, that is until he was about to hit Asuka by accident. Thinking quickly, Kuromu-Blue managed to get Asuka out of the way while the others moved back so the wild man wouldn't hit them. He then held Asuka close looking deep into her eyes while Rex continued to brawl with the Wild Man.
"So sorry about that. You okay?" Kuromu-Blue asked.
"I'm fine," Asuka replied, trying not to blush at the shirtless Kuromu. "Now get off."
"Oh?" Kuromu-Blue smiled. "But being here seems so nice."
"Urataros, get out of my body now!" Kuromu's voice rang out.
"But Kuro-chan, being in the presence of a lady, much less Asuka-chan, isn't that what you wanted in the first place?"
"WOULD YOU GET OUT OF HIS BODY BEFORE I KICK YOU OUT, YOU STUPID TURTLE!" An irate Rex roared before getting knocked to the ground by the wild man. The blue haze was then forced out of the Rider Duelist's body, and his body slumped a bit before coming up to reveal a not-possessed Kuromu.
"Not to self: Never ever let an Imagin fight over my body!" Kuromu panted heavily.
"Yeesh. Must be hell." Rex grumbled as he staggered back to his feet.
The wild man then stared at the Rider Duelist and the mutt, before running off again.
"Hey! Get back here!" Rex shouted, as he and the others followed before they found themselves at a waterfall, to which the wild man started climbing up it.
"Okay, now that's just crazy." Rika said in bewilderment. "Where did he get that kind of strength?"
"The man probably bench-pressed a mountain or something!" Judai shouted.
"Taizan-kun!" Tome-san shouted, as she finally managed to catch up with the youngsters. She isn't getting any younger after all.
The wild man stopped climbing and looked over his shoulder to look at the older woman.
"Tome-san, you know him?" Kuromu blinked in surprise.
Tome-san nodded before turning towards Taizan. "Taizan-kun, it's really you, isn't it?" She asked. The wild man stared at her, but then all of sudden, lost his hold on the rock face hiding behind the waterfall, and fell straight into the river.
Moments later, air bubbles boiled up top before Taizan came up to the surface for air. "Tome-san, it's been too long." He bowed to her.
"At least he doesn't always talk like Tarzan." Judai commented.
"Yeah, but… does that mean… this Taizan guy… is with the school?" Rex asked while catching his breath.
"Yes. He was an Obelisk Blue student." Tome-san answered, much to their surprise. "He was an outstanding student, but last year, he suddenly went missing. And so, to think that he was somewhere like this…"
This was a surprise to the three Obelisk Blue students of the group. This seeming wild man was their senior?
"Wait, you mean… he's our senpai?" Rika asked incredulously.
"That's right. Still… to think you would be able to draw that many Golden Eggwiches, in that short amount of time. Back then…"
"Tome-san!" Taizan cried out in dismay.
"Eh? You mean… he was bad at drawing the Golden Eggwich too?" Judai asked.
"Talk about dedication to the draw." Rex observed.
"That's right. Just like the others and yourself, Judai-chan, Taizan-kun always visited the card shop on Sandwich Day to draw the Golden Eggwich." Tome-san said, as Taizan got out of the water, and sat on some rocks to dry off.
"But… this guy's draws are amazing." Judai commented. "You sure it wasn't someone else?"
Taizan laughed heartily at that, "I suppose you could say I was reborn. In this one year, I confined myself in the mountains and practiced drawing."
"Reborn?" Rika inquired.
"So let me get this straight, you basically went on some spiritual journey in the woods to master the Destiny Draw?" Rex asked as he had only seen two other people use that technique, and they were both standing by his side.
"That's right. Before, I always got the top grade on the Obelisk Blue written exam. But when it came to actual combat… the cards were not in my favor. My draws back then were the worst."
"Nothing but dead draws." Kuromu understood. "I'd be devastated too if I was that bad at drawing the card I need."
"So you understand." Taizan said. "I wished for draws. That's what I wished for from the bottom of my heart! But I didn't get an answer. All I gathered from the waves was just to draw. It was the same before, and it wouldn't change in the future or for eternity. And it was then at that moment that I figured it out!"
"How… exactly?" Asuka inquired.
"It was just like drawing in a Duel. Draws also don't change, just like the waves. I thought, 'The true meaning of drawing lies in nature itself!' And so, I confined myself to the mountains. I gave myself to nature, and I gained wisdom from nature. I became one with nature. To get stronger draws, I trained for one year!"
"And to be sure that your training paid off, you'd draw the Golden Eggwiches to test yourself." Kuromu concluded.
"Yes. And I managed to get it for a full week." He then lowered his head, trying to hide his tears, "I managed to hang in there somehow! It's not because I'm a thief!"
"So you were shortchanging everyone from the goods just to see if you were worthy." Rex snarled, "I can respect the hustle, but not cool dude…"
"And besides, drawing isn't the be all and end all of a Duel. Sure, a good draw can often give you an advantage, but it's the Duelist who can make a seemingly dead draw into an amazing play." Rika explained.
"Even so…"
"Okay, how about this?" Rika said. "You and I have ourselves a Duel. If you win, I'll be your personal chef for those Golden Eggwiches until you graduate. But if I win, you stop stealing those Golden Eggwiches and play fair. What do you say?"
"Whoa, Rika, are you sure you wanna do this?" Asuka asked incredulously.
"Of course! You're looking at the girl who cooks the egg every single day!" Rika proclaimed.
"You cooked it?!" Taizan gasped incredulously. "No wonder it tasted so delicious…"
"B-Baka! F-Flattery won't get you anywhere!" Rika stammered with a slight blush.
"Sounds like you got competition, Judai." Kuromu teased. "Rika said if Taizan-senpai won, she'd be his personal chef, and you definitely don't want that to happen, do ya?"
"I don't follow." Judai said, confused, tilting his head.
Rex smacked his palm to his face, "Lemme spell it out for ya. If Taizan wins, you won't be able to eat any of Rika's food for a looong time."
…
…
…
…
"Kick his ass, Rika!" Judai shouted, but it led to the mutt smacking his face with his palm again, shaking his head as he did so.
"Yare yare…" he lamented.
"Actually, you know what, screw it! Let's tag against this guy!" Judai said.
"HUH?!" Everyone looked surprised, including Rika.
"Woah woah woah woah woah, Judai. Think that's a bit hasty to say?" Kuromu asked him.
"Are you kidding me? Rika being Taizan's personal chef doesn't sit well with me! He's not eating all of that food for himself!" the Elemental HERO Duelist declared, "So bring it on! Two-on-one! 4000 Life Points! Rika and I will share!"
"Aniki!" Sho looked shocked at him.
"I'm gonna smack you two with the cast iron when this is over…" Rika snarled at Kuromu and Rex.
"Don't look at us!" the pair shouted with a shrug.
"I'm… not sure about the whole personal chef stipulation," Taizan said, "But I will agree to your Duel. I've always wanted to test my actual dueling skills against other Duelists. And now the time has come to show the fruits of my labor!"
"Alright, let's do this!" Judai shouted.
"I can't believe this is happening…" Rika groaned with a facepalm. With Taizan on one side, and Judai and Rika on the other, both activated their Duel Disks and inserted their Decks into the slots. "Remember, Taizan-senpai, if we win, you stop with the Golden Eggwich stealing, and play fair, got it?" Rika reminded the wild man.
The wild man nodded before all three of them began shuffling their decks.
"Huh, first he fought you and me in a brawl, now he's Dueling two people. Man knows how to take his twosomes." the mutt said to Kuromu before getting smacked by Asuka, "Ow, what did I do?"
"Phrasing." she simply stated.
"You already know what Rika did to Koji when he uncensored himself that one time." Kuromu muttered, knowing that Asuka had told them the story.
"Fair, I'll zip my lip." the mutt raised his hands.
When everyone was ready, all the participants drew their starting Hands.
"DUEL!"
Judai/Rika: 4000
Taizan: 4000
"I'll start this Duel off! O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Judai declared, drawing his sixth card. He smirked, liking what he drew. "Alright, just the card to start off this Duel! I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in ATK mode!"
He soon called upon a superhero with a set of blue and navy set of armor, a white cape, and a pack that allows him to fire bubbles from the nozzle on his armor (ATK: 800/DEF: 1200)
"And if there are no other cards on my side of the field, I get to draw two cards!" He said, before drawing them, increasing his hand to seven. "Heh, and one of them happens to be a sweet one. I play the Equip Spell, Bubble Shot!" A large bazooka with a small water tank on top appeared and the water-themed HERO mounted it on his shoulder. "I can equip this card to Elemental HERO Bubbleman and give him an 800 ATK point boost!"
Elemental HERO Bubbleman - (ATK: 800-1600)
"Then I'll place one card face-down. Ta-n endo." Judai declared, as a reverse card appeared on the field.
"Not bad of a first move." Kuromu commented.
"Yeah, but given that this guy also got a Destiny Draw, there's a good chance that this might be a tough Duel." Rex observed.
"O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Taizan declared, drawing his sixth card. "I shall set one monster and one card facedown." He declared as one facedown monster alongside another facedown card appeared, "Ta-n endo."
"Wait, that's it?" Sho said, surprised.
"He did say Dueling was his weak spot." Koji recalled.
"Watashi no ta-n! Draw!" Rika declared, drawing her sixth card. "I'll start by serving up Fighting Foodon - Hot Doggone-it in ATK mode!"
Appearing onto the field was an anthropomorphic hot dog wearing cowboy clothes carrying a gun of ketchup and mustard. (4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200)
"Hot Doggone-It! Let's start this showdown!" the hot dog said, readying his ketchup and mustard gun.
"Hell yeah, brother!" Rex snapped himself shut after letting out a slight Texan accent, "The heck did I just say?" He questioned himself.
"Yeah, what's up with that?" Sho raised an eyebrow.
"Moving on! I activate Hot Doggone-it's effect! One per turn, I can remove a Spell/Trap card on your field! So say goodbye to it!" Rika said, as the cowboy hotdog shot ketchup and mustard at the face-down in the Spell/Trap zone to which it melted the card and shattered after, to which Taizan pocketed the card. "And with that out of the way, it's time to battle! Fighting Foodon - Hot Doggone-It attacks your face-down Monster!"
"Round 'em up!" The hot dog cowboy laughed before firing off his condiment guns at the unknown monster, revealing it to be a rather evil-looking steam locomotive with a vampire face on it (4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1000) the ketchup and mustard splattered on its face before being destroyed.
"You revealed Dekoichi the Demon Locomotive! Since it was flipped and destroyed, I draw one card." Taizan said, drawing his additional card, increasing his hand back to five.
"Then I'll place one card face-down." Rika said, placing said card down, "Ta-n shuuryou."
"O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Taizan declared, replenishing his hand back to six cards, "I summon Muka Muka in ATK position!" From the field, a rather disgusting looking black and green bug with red eyes, purple limbs, and smoke from its carapace appeared (2/ATK: 600/DEF: 300)
"Muka Muka's effect activates! Depending on the number of cards in my hand, this card will gain 300 ATK and DEF each!" He shouted as the bug began chirping loudly.
Muka Muka - (ATK: 600-2100/DEF: 300-1800)
"Now that's a lot of damage if that hits." Rex winced.
"Battle! Muka Muka attacks Fighting Foodon - Hot Doggone-It!" Taizan declared as the ugly bug scurried towards the hotdog cowboy.
"Not so fast! I activate my face-down!" Rika said, revealing the card depicting someone unveiling a food item from under the cover. "Secret Ingredient! I can activate this during my opponent's Battle Phase, and when you attack a "Fighting Foodon", I can choose a "Power Topping" from my Deck and activate it!"
"Wonder what Rika's got cooking this time?" Asuka pondered, as Rika chose a card from her deck.
"The card I choose… is Power Topping - Garlic!" Rika said, revealing a picture of two bulbs of garlic. "And when it's equipped to a Foodon and your monster attacks, with this equipped to my Foodon, your Monster's ATK is cut in half!"
"What?!" Taizan gasped as Rika held the two bulbs of garlic and threw it at the cowboy hotdog. The ingredient scattered into bits and pieces, surrounding the cowboy hotdog, powering it up. All the meanwhile, the ugly bug smelled the garlic and was reeling from the smell. (ATK: 2100-1050)
"Counterattack!" Rika declared as the cowboy hotdog then shot ketchup and mustard, coating the bug before it melted, destroying into pixels in the process.
Judai/Rika: 4000
Taizan: 3650
"First blood, it's only gonna get big from here." Kuromu observed.
"Let's hope she can keep her head in the game." Rex added.
"Anything else you wanna do?" Rika asked tauntingly.
"Grr… I place one card face-down. Ta-n endo…" he growled.
"Alright, here we go! O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Judai declared, drawing his next card. He grinned at the sight of the card. "I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman in ATK position!"
Appearing on the field beside Bubbleman is the familiar navy suited and golden armored HERO as he struck a pose while his control over electricity appeared in his palms. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400)
"And with no monsters on your field, you're wide open for an all out superhero blitz!" Judai grinned widely before declaring, "Battle! Elemental HERO Sparkman, directly attacks the player! Spark Flash!"
Elemental HERO Sparkman's palms pulsed with electric power before he sent it right at Taizan.
"Activate Trap!" Taizan declared, pressing the button to activate it. "Guard Block! During this battle, I take 0 Damage and I get to draw one card!" He said, as an invisible dome barrier covered him, just in time as the electricity crashed into the barrier, deflecting it. Taizan then drew a card to increase his hand back to five.
Judai grinned, "You may have stopped this battle but not the other one. Elemental HERO Bubbleman, pick up where Sparkman left off! Bubble Shoot!"
The bubble hero quickly took aim at the journeyman and fired his Bubble Shot with pressurized water and a blast of bubbles right at him.
Judai/Rika: 4000
Taizan: 2050
"And last but not least, since Rika and I share the Field, Fighting Foodon - Hot Doggone-It attacks you directly!" Judai declared.
"Reach for the sky, boy!" The hot dog cowboy called out as he shot ketchup and mustard at the wild man.
Judai/Rika: 4000
Taizan: 650
"Ta-n endo." Judai grinned with satisfaction.
"Huh… this Duel might end quickly." Kuromu commented.
"Given he's being fought on two fronts, it'll take a miracle for him to win." Rex added.
"O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Taizan declared, drawing his next card. "I activate the Spell Card, Great-Reversal Quiz! I send all cards in my hand and on my side of the field to the Graveyard." He said, as he discarded his entire hand and there were no cards on the Field. "Then I call the type of card: Spell, Trap, or Monster, on the top of my Deck. If I call it right, our current Life Points switch!"
"Spoke too soon." The mutt realized.
Taizan closed his eyes as he used his mind's eye, imagining the waterfall of cards that fell into the water during his training. He saw an image of a card, spinning before revealing the face of the card. His eyes snapped back open, "The card is… a Spell Card!" He said, drawing the card, before revealing it to be… Treasured Cards from the Heavens.
"No way! That's impossible!" Sho gawked.
"The Destiny Draw… that's a scary skill." Rex noted.
"Crap, that means our Life Points switch!" Rika panicked.
Judai/Rika: 650
Taizan: 4000
"Now Judai and Rika are the ones in trouble." Asuka said surprised.
"The Destiny Draw served me well. Now I'll play Treasured Cards from the Heavens, allowing both of us to draw until we have six cards." Taizan said, as all of them drew. The wild man looked at his new hand and nodded, "I can work with this. First I activate Pot of Avarice! I return five Monsters from my Graveyard that I sent earlier thanks to Great Reversal Quiz back to my Deck, shuffle and draw two cards." He said, doing as the card instructed, his Hand now at seven.
Taizan couldn't help but smile now that his comeback strategy worked. Perhaps he had finally found what he was looking for?
"Now I summon Drawler in ATK mode!"
Coming into the field, was a large golem-like Monster that had large wheels underneath (3/ATK: ?/DEF: ?)
"I hate undetermined ATK point monsters…" Rex growled.
"I activate Drawler's effect! I can send any number of cards I have in my Hand to the Deck, and Drawler gains 500 ATK points for each card!"
"Taizan-senpai has six cards, that means Drawler's ATK and DEF will be 3000!" Kuromu gasped as Taizan returned his entire hand to the deck and shuffled while the golem powered up. (ATK: ?-3000)
"It's over! Battle! Drawler attacks Elemental Hero Sparkman! Roller Press!" Taizan declared as the golem started rolling towards the water-themed hero.
"Come on, guys." Kuromu hoped.
"Sorry, but you're gonna have to do better than that! I activate my trap card, Holy Javelin!" Judai said, revealing his face-down. "Thanks to this, Rika and I gain Life Points equal to the attacking Monster's ATK points!"
Judai/Rika: 3650
Taizan: 4000
The stone monster with huge wheels growled and immediately rolled over towards the electric-themed HERO with its huge presses, to which the latter tried in vain to stop it in its tracks by firing electricity. But as soon as it was close…
A large javelin appeared, striking Drawler right as it flattened Sparkman like how one would see a cartoon, before granting Judai and Rika a portion of the monster's power. And Sparkman's card returned to the bottom of the deck.
Judai/Rika: 2250
Taizan: 4000
"Sweet! They turned the duel around!" Sho cheered.
"Judai, you had us scared for a moment." Rex pointed out.
"Sorry, but you're not taking us down that easily." Judai grinned.
"We'll see about that. Ta-n endo." Taizan finished.
"Watashi no ta-n! Draw!" Rika said, drawing her next card to increase her hand to seven. "Yosh! Just what I'm looking for! Judai, mind if I borrow Bubbleman for an Advance Summon?"
"Huh? Sure. Go ahead."'Judai nodded.
"Alright! I tribute Elemental HERO Bubbleman and Fighting Foodon - Hot Doggone-It!" She said, as the two monsters disappeared into a skillet. "Now serving in the Advance Summon course, Fighting Foodon - Spring Chicken!"
After a flip of the skillet, the blue and brown energies of the two monsters flew up into the sky. Descending onto the field, was a large bird Foodon that had a spring roll for a head, red feet with sharp talons, and a green base of tail feathers coupled with a pair of longer tail feathers. Its pink, feathered body bears two huge wings with the colors green, purple, white, and pink from top to bottom. (7/ATK: 2700/DEF: 2400)
"Judai, behave." She told the already salivating Elemental HERO Duelist.
"But I wanna eat it!" Judai complained, much to the large bird's shock.
Rex groaned, "Yare yare daze…"
"Moving on! Fighting Foodon - Spring Chicken's effect activates! She gains 100 ATK for Level of the Monsters tributed to summon it! Both Bubbleman and Hot Doggone-It were Level 4, add their Levels and it totals up to 8, meaning my Spring Chicken gains 800 ATK!"
Fighting Foodon - Spring Chicken: (ATK: 2700-3500)
"And that's not all the effects she has! Once per turn, I discard a "Fighting Foodon" from my hand to my Graveyard and target 1 monster you control. That target loses 200 ATK points for each Level of the "Fighting Foodon" I discarded!" Rika continued as she revealed a humanoid Foodon wearing a yellow jumpsuit with a plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce for a head. He wields a deadly fork and a cheese shaker on his back. "I discard Fighting Foodon - Spaghetti-About it who is Level 5, meaning your Drawler loses 1000 ATK!"
Drawler: (ATK: 3000-2000)
"Battle! Fighting Foodon - Spring Chicken attacks Drawler!" Rika declared.
Spring Chicken then let out a crow as several bolts of lightning struck the golem and destroyed it.
Judai/Rika: 2250
Taizan: 2500
"I place two cards face-down. Ta-n endo." Rika concluded.
"O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Taizan declared, drawing his lone card. "I play the spell card, Card Loan! First, you gain 1000 Life Points, and I lose 1000 Life Points, but I get to draw a card. And the card I drew is sent back to my deck at the End Phase."
Judai/Rika: 3250
Taizan: 1500
Taizan drew his card and smirked, "The card I drew and will activate is One-Strike Kill! Sword Draw!"
"Wait, what?! Is he nuts?!" Kuromu gawked.
"What is it?" Sho asked.
"It's a rather risky card to play. First he has to send cards from the top of his deck to the graveyard equal to the total number of cards on Judai and Rika's field. In this case, three. Then he draws one card. If that card is " One-Strike Kill! Sword Draw!", he can send it to the graveyard to destroy all the cards on the field and inflict 1000 damage for each card destroyed. Worst of all, they can't negate it."
"So it's a complete gamble." Rex noted, "And the perfect way to test if he can truly draw like the best of them."
Taizan milled the top three cards of his Deck, then placed two fingers on it. With a calm and deep breath while eyes were closed, he suddenly opened them. "Draw!"
*WOOSH!*
He looked at the card and revealed it. "One-Strike Kill! Sword Draw!"
"That's twice now!" Sho cried out.
"You gotta be kidding me." Judai groaned.
"Now that I've drawn it, I send it to the graveyard and you lose 1000 Life Points for each card destroyed. Since you have three, you lose 3000 Life Points!"
*SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!*
Rika's two face-downs and Spring-Chicken were cut in half, destroying them into pixels.
Judai/Rika: 250
Taizan: 1500
"Ta-n endo." Taizan said. "Just one more turn. And if I win, I know for sure that my training's complete!"
"Oh no, you don't." Judai stated as he looked at Taizan with determination in his eyes. "You just don't get it. You've already finished your training."
"What?" Taizan looked confused.
"You say that drawing has to do with the power of nature, but… all that aside, you were excited about drawing cards. You enjoy drawing, that's how you built your deck, right? If that's the case, then you should be excited until the end! You shouldn't be focused on winning!"
Taizan was surprised to hear this from the Elemental HERO Duelist. Was what he was saying true? Did he already complete his training without realizing it?
"And I know this next draw is getting me excited! O-re no ta-n! Draw!" Judai declared drawing his next card. "Hehe… it's here!"
"You got it?" Rika gasped.
"Sure did! I play Fusion! I fuse Elemental HERO Featherman and Elemental HERO Burst Lady!"
Appearing in a burst of wind and fire separately came forth Featherman and Burst Lady. Both Elemental HEROes looked at one another then nodded before uniting with the power of Fusion.
"Fusion Summon! Rise up, my favorite HERO! Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!" Judai declared with a smirk as his favorite Elemental HERO emerged from a vortex of wind and fire before landing on the field with his arms crossed. (6/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1200)
"It's here! Aniki's Ace Monster!" Sho cheered with obvious joy.
"Bring it home, Judai!" Rex cheered.
"Elemental HERO Flame Wingman attacks you directly! Flame Shoot!"
Flame Wingman soon aimed his dragon arm right at Taizan, who merely closed his eyes as he awaited his fall. Then the flames hit him.
Judai/Rika: 250
Taizan: 0
"Gotcha!" Judai declared with his trademark two-finger salute and wink, satisfied with the win.
"Aniki and Rika-san won!" Sho cheered.
"Whew, what a relief." Rex noted.
"Yeah." Kuromu agreed.
*BOOM! POW!*
"OW!/ITE! WHAT DID WE DO?" they yelled while massaging their heads.
"I told you I was gonna smack you both with the cast iron after this was over!" Rika huffed.
"Yeah, but you didn't have to give us concussions!" Kuromu pointed out, "We're still smarting from that beating he gave us."
"Oh quit your whining, you big babies. You're men! Suck it up!" Rika said.
'Slave-driving woman…' the mutt thought.
Meanwhile, Taizan fell to his knees in shock. After one year of training in the mountains, all of it amounted to nothing. "There's no way. Everything I did… it wasn't enough? Dammit!" He cursed, banging his fist on the ground. "In the end, I didn't understand what drawing cards was…"
"It's like we said. Drawing isn't the be all and end all." Rika said, "It takes a great Duelist to turn even the biggest dead draw into a Destiny Draw."
"She's right, you know. You get cards you need to win all the time, then winning's just gonna get boring." Rex said. "Then you'd want to lose, but your pride as a Duelist wouldn't allow you to throw a Duel anyways. It's all in the play that comes after the draw, not the draw itself."
"Mmmmmm…" Taizan looked down.
"Look, all we're saying is that drawing the cards you need shouldn't be predictable." Kuromu said. "Unknowingly drawing what you need is what makes Dueling exciting. The moment you realize that you could pull off an incredible reversal and win it, is very rewarding. Believe me, I know."
"I… I see…" Taizan finally realized, taking in their words.
"Taizan-kun…" Tome-san said, kneeling on one knee in front of him, "Let's go back home."
"And get you a bath. No offense dude, but you stink." The mutt stated, while covering his nose.
"Plus, I'll cook you some real food. Eating in the wild can only do so much." Rika smiled dubiously with one eye closed.
"Wait, so you're cooking for him after all?!" Judai cried out in dismay.
"If there's one thing my dad always taught me, it's to never leave a person hungry." she spouted. "B-Besides, I knew we'd win anyway, so nyeh! You can't blame me since we've won!"
Kuromu and Asuka gave the chef a knowing look, something shared by the mutt.
"Uh-huh, sure you did." the Rider Duelist noted.
"Tsun-tsun, bro." the mutt teased.
"Oh shut it!"
The next day arrived and like before, Judai was dragging poor Sho and Rex to the card shop.
"Come on, guys! We can't be late!" the Elemental HERO Duelist cheered.
"Sloooow doooown alreadyyyyyyyy!" Rex cried out as he once more found himself crashing into everything due to the Elemental HERO Duelist dragging him from behind. They soon arrived at the card shop with the students gathered around the sandwich bin once more.
"Welp, another day, another hunt for that sandwich." Sho noted as once again, Rex grabbed the bag Judai was eying and found himself with another card alongside the Eggwich. However, this card made him smile for some reason.
"Magikey Musketeer - Clavis huh? I see one of those archetypes is already on the market." the mutt said before flashing the card to his fellow trio members.
"Uwhoa, that's a rare card." Judai said in amazement, only to hear the last part of, "Wait, that's from one of the other future archetypes?!"
"Yeah, Magikey is supposedly meant to be a Ritual-based deck." Rex confirmed, "At least that's what their top card artist told me when I brought the briefcase to them."
"Woah! That's so cool!" Judai cheered.
"Hey guys." A familiar voice called out. They all turned to see Taizan, now in his normal look with a clean bowl haircut, while wearing his Obelisk Blue uniform. As promised, Taizan would play fair when it came to the Drawbread.
"Well well well, what do we have here?" the mutt said, "He cleans up pretty good once he gets rid of the Tarzan look. Looking spiffy."
"Thank you." Taizan chuckled, before approaching the sandwich bin. "So has anyone drawn the Golden Eggwich yet?"
"No luck so far." Sho reported.
Rex then looked back at the sandwich bin and saw that Kuromu and Asuka were digging for the Golden Eggwich as well. When they felt like they grabbed something, they pulled their hands out and realized that both were holding one sandwich.
"Uh… you first?" they muttered in unison, "Wait, after you. Uhh…"
There was a small tension in the air between the pair.
"Let's… open it together." Asuka said.
"Yeah." Kuromu agreed, before both pulled on the wrapper to reveal… THE GOLDEN EGGWICH?!
"EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!" The students currently in the card shop gasped in shock.
"Wow, uh… score!" Kuromu chuckled, "So uh… what now?" he then asked, not sure of how to proceed.
"I don't know. Split it?" Asuka offered.
At that moment, Rex suddenly got the look of a scared animal as he climbed to the tallest point he could find.
"Whoa, what's wrong with you?" Judai blinked.
"They're coming…" the mutt said with an ominous tone.
"Huh?" Judai and Sho blinked.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
Kuromu blinked as the mob of girls charged at him, nearly trampling Judai and Sho had Rex not made the save and brought him to the same high place. All the while, the squealing came in the form of Momoe leading the charge.
Needless to say, Kuromu was too stunned by it all to react in time before he was mobbed by the girls. He was left in the middle of a dust cloud with hearts rising from it while he struggled with his sudden captors.
"OW! HEY! WHOA, NO! BAD TOUCH! BAD TOUCH! THAT'S MY SHIRT! WAGH, WHO'S GETTING INTO MY PANTS?!"
"What is going on here?!" Asuka demanded. "Get off of him!"
"And leave this hunk of hottie muscle? Not on your life!" one girl snapped.
"Yeah! Share the wealth Asuka!"
"We totally saw the video!"
"Video?" Asuka blinked, but then her eyes widened. "Wait…"
"Check it out, Asuka!" Momoe giggled as she held up her Duel Pilot. Playing on the screen was the admittedly good fight between a shirtless Taizan and Kuromu, with Rex caught between the pair, both going at it hard and heavy. "Rika's been selling them like hotcakes. They're so dreamy!"
"Rikaaaaaaaaaaa!?" Asuka growled, turning to her.
"Just making an honest dime," Rika grinned, as she was at a table counting her profits with more female students lining up to get the video downloaded to their Duel Pilots. "Can you honestly say a yummy sight like this is meant to not be shared with us lonely single girls? Which reminds me…" She then remembered something, "Hey, Rex!"
The mutt looked up and soon saw something coming towards him. To his surprise, when he caught the object, he saw that it was a wad of cash.
"This is…" he asked whilst counting the money.
"Your cut!"
"Pleasure doing business with ya, ma'am." the mutt thanked before pocketing the cash.
"REX, YOU BASTARD!" Kuromu snapped.
"Ugh…" Asuka sighed, rubbing her head from the headache. As much as she wanted to deal with Rika right now, she had to get Kuromu out of the mob. "Alright, that's it!" She yelled as he fought her way through, and managed to grab the poor boy being man-handled by them. "C'mon, let's get out of here!" She said, grabbing his hand.
"I'm with you on that." Kuromu said before they fled.
"After them!" Momoe yelled. "We can't let the hottie go!"
"Wait, isn't that the wild guy over there?" asked a girl, pointing at where Taizan and Judai were, who were still at the bin.
"Huh?" Taizan blinked, looking up.
"It totally is! Just with shorter dorky hair!"
"We can work around that!"
"Yeah!"
"Off with his shirt!"
As Taizan found himself swarmed by them, Judai, Sho, and Rex saluted their fallen friend.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"