Weasel
Things had been going well! Scarily well, but he was past the point of fear. He was fine. His card would make him strong, teach him how to be strong, like Scorch and Chills. Really, Weasel couldn't see why he hadn't found a numbers card before all of this! It was… a wonderful presence, really.
The card thrummed almost happily from his duel disk. Truly, things were looking up! Apparently, Scorch and Chills had been beaten the other day. That was worrying, but Weasel wasn't too concerned. He'd just avoid the bad part of town, where all the strong duelists hung out!
So far, his strategy was working out great! He'd swiped six decks so far, even. Six decks which he'd torn apart to make his own current one, actually. It was perfect! The strongest deck around! No one could beat it, and so he'd be just fine. He just had to ride out this success, and he'd be perfectly fine.
Now if only he could stop jumping at the sound of passing cars…
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Aniki
Wow, his head hurt. Apparently, Jewels was a pretty wild kid, because he came back the other night practically fervent. He'd found Shark and almost won a duel, which was what had gotten him so ecstatic.
Yeah, Aniki hadn't slept much that night. That, combined with the fact that his coffee maker had still somehow not come in yet, and he was dealing with caffeine withdrawals…
He had a headache. And his hair tie was missing. Lovely. Thankfully, he had a million of them, but that was his favorite hair tie…
Aniki sighed, moving around to grab his things. The shop was closed today, since he knew he wouldn't really be up to do much business. He was starting to run dry on funds, though, which… ugh. He really had to stop just closing the shop for random reasons. That, or he had to actually find someone else to man the register.
He shrugged, rolling a stiff shoulder. Problems for later. For now, he needed a walk. Aniki slotted his deck into his duel disk, before grabbing his gazer. He'd finally gotten into the habit of just throwing on his gear when he left, since it was becoming common to be accosted by one of the academy kids whenever he went by. He… hadn't lost yet.
Whatever that academy was teaching the kids, it wasn't dueling. Probably a normal school, even. Weird to think about, considering where he was, but it was probably for the best. Aniki shook his head at the lovely reminder of “duel alchemy”. GX was a mess. A fun mess, for sure… but a mess.
At any rate, Aniki decided he would head down a familiar route. A nice walk past the academy, then into town proper. He still hadn't really gotten introduced to many people in town yet, though that didn't seem to matter much. People were just overall friendly in Heartland City, it seemed.
That didn't really mean much in the face of a duel, though. Which, judging by the fact that he hadn't been challenged yet, would be happening right about…
“Hey! I haven't seen you before! Let's duel!”
Ah. There it was. A good walk, then.
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Kite
Something was happening around Heartland City. Something annoying.
Someone was collecting numbers. That someone wasn't Kite, which was… concerning. Still, he'd managed to track a few interesting ones down. There was one that kept drawing his attention, though.
Yuma Tsukumo. A student of Heartland Academy, and an amateur duelist. Apparently, he'd run into a few folks that Kite was tracking, and won. This meant that either Yuma was lucky… or he had a number of his own.
If Yuma had a number, that meant he now had a lot of numbers. Four so far, accounting for the first he'd apparently started with, if Kite had kept track of his duels. Of course, it was possible he'd missed one, but that only meant he was an even better target.
Things were slipping into place, but Kite still needed more information. If Yuma was collecting numbers, he was strong enough to be collecting them in the first place.
For now, another target drew Kite's eye. Someone had been going around inner Heartland, stealing the decks of those they'd beaten. Kite didn't have a name or a face yet, but he was confident they only had one number. Likely a weaker one as well, considering they only went after low-ranked duelists. An easy target to suss out, and one he'd be able to use to gather information on Yuma, as well.
Convenient. “Orbital 7! Prepare for the hunt!”
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Aniki
Aniki yawned, slowly meandering through the streets of inner Heartland. The sun was finally beginning to warm things up a bit, and it was looking like a pretty comfortable day, all things considered. Warm, but not unpleasant.
Aniki stretched, turning around to head home. Despite his earlier reluctance, he really should open the shop, at least for a while. He… really needed the money.
He sighed, picking himself up and heading off, before something caught his eye. A kid, probably around seventeen? Hanging around a building, looking… rough.
His hair, once neatly up in a flaming red pompadour, was looking greasy, and was matted down in some places, sticking out in odd angles at others, and entirely fallen down in others still. He was wearing some ratty, beat-up jeans and a dirty leather jacket that clearly didn't fit right, bunched up around the arms, and definitely not meant to be zipped up like it was.
Still, the kid had a duel disk. And a gazer… and he was looking at Aniki with a nervous, frantic gaze.
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The kid looked like a crackhead, and Aniki didn't want to engage.
“Hey! You- you looking at me?! Huh?”
Or maybe fate was giving him the middle finger, who knew? Lovely. “Sure, kid. We'll go with that. What's, uh, what's up?”
The teen sort of shuffled a bit, glancing around, before slipping his way over to Aniki, shoving his duel disk out in front of him. “I think you were looking at me funny, weren't you? Nobody looks at me funny! Duel!”
Great. Aniki was getting mugged by a crackhead. Well, since his headache wasn't going away any time soon, there wasn't much else for it but a duel, he figured. “I… yeah, sure. Why not? Duel!”
The familiar augmented reality border shot up around them, before revealing two lovely little life point counters, as usual.
[Weasel: 4000 / Aniki: 4000]
So the kid's name was… Weasel? Aniki held back a facepalm. Whatever mothers were in this world really didn't seem to notice how bad these names were. That, or it was a gang name, which…
Yeah, it was a gang name. Fantastic. Either way, Aniki drew himself five cards…
No Megarock. Very cool. Mostly bad hand overall, but a Mirror Force wasn't an awful draw. His opponent was probably smart enough to run something to clear backrow, but still.
“I'll take the first turn!” Weasel shouted, clearly a bit anxious to get things moving, it seemed. He slapped a card down on his disk, nodding. “I'll play a monster in face-down defense, and end my turn.”
Aniki blinked. Lovely, another Jewels, except worse. Not… not a great first turn, that. He drew a card…
Right. Maybe he shouldn't say anything, considering the state of his hand at the moment. He sighed, before slapping his Mirror Force down, along with a Sentry Soldier of Stone face-down. “I'll set one, then play a monster face-down myself, since I just felt so left out. Back to you.”
The kid twitched, before letting out a breath. “Right! I'll… I'll play another monster face-down, and pass!”
Oh, boy. That hurt to see. Maybe the kid was just bricking? Please, let the kid just be bricking as bad as Aniki was. “Okay, let's see here, draw…” Needlebug Nest. Cool. “Righty, I'll set another backrow, play a monster face down, and pass back to you.”
Weasel gave Aniki a concerned look, before righting his face. “R-right! Draw-”
Aniki interrupted him, nodding. “Right, I'll activate a trap in response.”
The kid looked mortified, but Aniki wasn't exactly hurting his… lack of board yet. “I’ll pop Needlebug Nest which'll mill me five. Let's see some rocks!”
Card Trooper, Doki Doki… Megarock Dragon… another Megarock, and then a final Sentry Soldier of Stone. Ouch.
Aniki winced, but nodded to Weasel to continue his turn. That was the single worst Needlebug he'd triggered… ever.
Weasel was still a bit concerned, but took his turn, setting yet another defense monster, along with something in the back row. Then, it was back to Aniki to draw… Gogogo Giant. Lovely.
Well, this was starting to get annoying. Thankfully, his face downs included a Doki Doki, so he could get something out… Gachi Gachi Gantetsu wasn't exactly the pinnacle of the deck, though. Just an afterthought he'd tossed in after seeing a few level twos…
Well, it was something better to do than just waiting for Megarock. “Right! I'll flip up my face-down Doki Doki into attack! Then, I'll normal summon a second Doki Doki from my hand, and XYZ summon Gachi Gachi Gantetsu [500/1800]!”
Two jars materialized on the field, one from a floating face-down, the other from the space next to it, before both were sucked into a swirling vortex, from which a massive golem made of rock and metal stepped out. The golem flexed, taking a defensive stance, while bolstering Aniki’s field with a staggering, powerful… 400 attack and defense. Amazing.
Gachi Gachi Gantetsu [900/2200]
Weasel was pretty mortified by the play, but held on, drawing a card at Aniki’s nod. “Right…” He got a pretty weird, distant look in his eye, before he nodded. “Now! I'll play Gogogo Gigas [0/2400] in attack!”
Well, the kid was definitely up to some kind of fuckery with that. Maybe a Sword and Shield play? Those were always neat.
“Next, I'll flip up, Obsidian Dragon [800/2100] and Moai Interceptor Cannons [1100/2000]!”
A massive golem rose from the ground, looking a bit more sturdy than the usual egg-shaped one that most ran. Beside it, a dinosaur made of the titular black stone formed, roaring at Aniki's bodybuilder golem. Finally, a trio of stone heads fell from the sky, landing with a whirring of gears.
Weasel blinked, before grabbing a card in his hand, shaking slightly. “Now… now I'll set a card, and play Sword and Shield!”
Aniki actually managed to call that one. Interesting.
Weasel didn't seem to find it as exciting as Aniki, slapping down another card. “And now, I'll play United We Stand, which gives my Gogogo Gigas an extra 800 attack and defense for every face-up monster on my field!”
Gogogo Gigas [4800/2400]
That was a pretty big monster. Shame Aniki knew the kid's next words before Weasel would say them.
“And now, I'll attack your Gachi Gachi Gantetsu with my Gogogo Goliath!”
Yeah, there it was. Unfortunately… “Cool. In response, I'll activate Mirror Force, destroying all of your attack position monsters.”
The way that Weasel's face fell was satisfying in a way Aniki couldn't quite describe. Truly, Mirror Force was uniquely fulfilling to pull off. The kid picked himself up though, shifting around a bit. “Right… I'll pass to you.”
There it was again, that oddly unfocused look. Whatever it was, Aniki was… slightly concerned. And yet… no Megarock. He sighed, tossing a Gate Blocker down in face down defense, and passed to Weasel. This duel was starting to become a long one.
Weasel finally snapped out of his odd trance, shaking his head. He was twitchy, more than before, and he kept fidgeting with his jacket… concerning.
“I'll… I'll flip my Gogogo Golem [1800/1500] up into attack position, and summon Gogogo Aristera and Dexia [0/2200]!” A pair of massive hands burst out of the ground, searching around for a moment, before pulling up a familiar blue golem, shaped rather like an egg with limbs.
Weasel looked frantic, before he slammed a card down on his duel disk, and ripped his jacket open. “I'll construct the overlay network, and XYZ summon Number 55, Gogogo Goliath [2400/1200]!”
Printed on Weasel’s stomach was a glowing 55, in the same font as the positively towering Golem that came out of the swirling red portal seemingly unique to number monsters. That was… very bad. Aniki had found a number card, which was… probably one of his goals. Of course, he'd also found a duelist who was seemingly being mind-controlled by the card, given the shadow duel-esque imprint on the kid's stomach, and the fact that he looked downright rabid at the sight of his apparent ace monster.
“Now! I'll activate Gogogo Gigas in my graveyard, and summon it to the field in defense mode, since I special summoned a Gogogo monster!”
The Goliath slammed its hand into Weasel's duel disk, yanking out the same blocky golem from earlier, before politely placing it on the field. Weasel didn't look done yet though. “And now, I'll activate a second United We Stand! This pushes my ultimate monster's attack up even further! Along with that, Gogogo Goliath gives all of my monsters 800 defense!”
Gogogo Goliath [3600/3600]
Gogogo Gigas [0/3600]
Weasel just kept going, a bit of spittle flying out of his mouth. “And now! I'll activate Raigeki, to destroy your field!”
A massive thunderbolt came down on Aniki's field, slamming into each monster, and leaving only Gachi Gachi Gantetsu standing. Aniki quickly explained. “I'll detach an XYZ material to keep it alive, on a once per turn.
Weasel nodded, before slamming a finger out towards Aniki. “That's fine, because I'll just destroy your monster with Gogogo Goliath!”
Aniki nodded, since there wasn't much he could do otherwise. Annoying, but there was a way out. He just needed a half-decent draw. His bodybuilder golem gave him a happy wave as he fell into the graveyard, padding it ever further full of rocks. He was up to eight now. Riveting.
Weasel nodded for Aniki to take his turn, and smiled. It wasn't quite Megarock, but it was certainly an out. “Right! I'll start off with a Double Summon, which lets me normal summon twice this turn! Then, I'll toss down a Gogogo Golem of my own, and a second Gate Blocker. Finally, I'll XYZ summon! Let's see it, Gallant Granite [2300/1800]!”
A familiar samurai of stone stepped out of a swirling portal of light, giving his two swords a few practice slashes. Before long though, Aniki was already talking. “Then, I'll slap down a Catapult Zone in the field zone, before playing a face-down.”
The space around them changed, massive catapults of ancient make springing up from the buildings between the two duelists, all pointed at Weasel. But there was, of course, more.
Aniki planted himself, throwing a hand towards his stone samurai. “Galant Granite here is gonna fish me out my win condition! Let's see that Megarock Dragon, Granite!”
The samurai obliged, slashing one of his XYZ materials, which transformed into a card in Aniki's hand. The exact card he needed, even. Aniki checked the numbers… but he was slightly off. One more piece, then. “Finally, I'll discard Cartorhyn the Hidden Gem of the Seafront, which will let me summon an extra earth or water monster this turn. Unfortunately, I'm using it for one last card in grave. Because now, I’ll banish all ten rock monsters in my graveyard, and special summon Megarock Dragon [?/?] in attack mode!”
A dragon made from each and every monster Aniki had tossed into his grave rose from the ground, standing at a staggering height above the two duelists. For now? Not enough to win. But it would be rather soon, considering Aniki's facedown, and the monster's effect.
“Megarock's effect means that, for every card I banish to summon it, my rocky boy gains an extra 700 attack and defense! Since I've banished ten rocks, he's nice and beefy!”
Megarock Dragon [7000/7000]
Weasel blanched, but held firm, quickly spouting out a retort. “Your monster can't beat mine! Only a number monster can destroy another number monster in battle!”
Do what? That was… right. Anime effects. Probably some way to create more tension since the main character's big monster was a number. Either way… it didn't matter much. Aniki shrugged. “That's great, but you still take damage. So, to battle I go! When I do, I'll flip the card I played this turn, Mystical Space Typhoon! It'll let me pop your United We Stand, making your Gogogo Goliath nice and weak. Down to 2400 you go!”
Gogogo Goliath [2400/2000]
Weasel went pale, before blinking. Aniki smiled, and jabbed a finger in his direction. “Now then! Megarock, show this kid why battle protection isn't enough to stave off a loss! Attack his Gogogo Goliath!”
The massive dragon roared with primal fury, slamming a stone foot down next to the now-puny golem, and blasting it with a beam of magma from its maw. The Golem stood tall in the face of the assault, laying on pointless blows to the dragon… but its owner was not so lucky, as Weasel's life points ticked down to zero.
[Weasel: 0 / Aniki: 4000] Winner, Aniki!
Weasel fell to the ground as the augmented reality around them dissipated, twitching oddly. Aniki quickly went to check on the kid, before a beam of light shot out from his chest, hitting Aniki's hand, and forming into a card.
Number 55: Gogogo Goliath. Whatever weird mind control the card had on Weasel didn't seem to be affecting Aniki, so he tucked it into his duel disk for safekeeping, before grabbing the now-unconscious teen and hefting him onto his back. He'd have to question him later. From up close… the kid probably hadn't slept in days.
It… was gonna be a long walk home. Aniki sighed, setting out with as much pep as he could muster with a passed out kid on his back. A lovely start to the day, truly.
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