That same night, Samejima looked out the window overseeing the island from down below. He had just been informed by Tsukasa that his suspicion of David as a member of the Seven Stars was confirmed true. Not only that, he was also informed of Chronos' loss to him as well. Meaning that the jig was up.
'The first dominos have fallen, which means now he'll be left trying to figure out who has a real Spirit Key amongst them.' He thought worryingly.
Just then, the computer on his desk lit up immediately, static noise echoed in his office momentarily before a distorted voice could be heard.
["How disappointing, Samejima. You should know better than to try to throw us off by hiding the true Spirit Key wielders with false ones."]
"I would say the same in bringing such a talented Duelist from the LIGHT dorm into your ranks." Samejima countered, not bothering to turn around.
["Touché. And it would seem that you have quite the catch with Yuki Judai, given what powerful card he holds."]
"Admittedly, I had no knowledge of how he acquired Terra Firma."
["Regardless whether or not you knew, it's best you and your keepers watch your backs from now on. Just because your student has the only Legendary Planet card left in the world, does not mean your victory is assured."]
Now this surprised Samejima, as he finally turned around to look at the screen. "The others were destroyed?"
["They were sent into space, where they belong. At least, I assumed that was the case, but clearly I was wrong. If I had them on hand, taking the Spirit Keys would have been much easier. But alas, beggars can't be choosers."]
Samejime was left conflicted as the call was cut, leaving him to plan out his next move.
Meanwhile, at the same time this conversation was going on, David made his way over to the cave system that he and the other Seven Stars were hiding. When he arrived, the red eyes gleamed in the darkness.
"Back so soon?" One of them scoffed raspily with his deep voice.
"They pulled a fast one on us." David grunted. "Apparently, the Principal made fake Spirit Keys to throw us off."
"Ha! Called it! Should have known they would pull something like this!" Another one of them chuckled.
"Silence!" David snapped angrily.
"Come on, tell me that you didn't expect them to have some form of protection." The arrogant voice chuckled.
"Tch… I had my suspicions, but the only way to confirm was to Duel them. And it turns out that my suspicions were correct."
"Then it means that we must be cautious when facing off against these keepers. You'll never know if you're facing off against a fake or the real deal." Another one of them said.
"And what are we to do with Darkness? Or rather, his host Fubuki?" The first voice asked. "He may be of no use to us, but if that boy were to expose the rest of our group… he must be eliminated."
"Hmph… and look where that got you." David scoffed.
"You dare mock me?!" The first voice roared as the cave slightly shook from the sheer sound of their voice, though the other members of the Seven Stars were not fazed by their compatriots' anger.
"Heh, but still, I'll try and send the twins out to find who's got what." The arrogant voice shrugged off.
"Speaking of siblings," The third voice said, "What of your sister?"
"She is sticking to the plan." David answered. "Those fools will never see it coming."
"Having her act like a fool, eh?"
"She is also to dispose of the one who took out Darkness."
"Heh, I like that. Divide and conquer." The sadistic voice chuckled. "And she will act once she finds this Key Keeper and give them their… just reward?"
All David had to do was nod to give the sadistic voice his approval.
"Who would've thought that your sister would even dare think of invoking divine retribution?" The third voice cackled.
"I mean, why wouldn't she?" The arrogant voice noted.
"Enough." David said, prompting them to stop their conversation. "She will fulfill her duty, that is all." And with this, he left without another word.
"Yeesh, guy's stiff as a board." The arrogant voice commented.
"Stoic as he may be, there's a reason why he's the Heavy Metal Baron." The third voice posited. "Those who oppose him will be crushed under the weight of his superior skills as a Duelist."
"Hmhmhmhm, I hear that one of those Key Keepers ran away scared after he displayed his strength." The sadistic voice chuckled. "As they should. Otherwise, this wouldn't be fun."
When morning came, much of Osiris Red and Obelisk Blue were left confused about Chronos's disappearance. But for the Spirit Key holders, they were left in a state of dread. What had transpired last night was something they couldn't fully comprehend. Chronos lost against David, but it was what happened, after the fact. Not only was his fake Spirit Key destroyed, David used his visor to digitize Chronos into data and store him inside said visor.
They knew the risks they were taking. They signed up to defend the school against the Seven Stars. And yet, this is how it feels when they lose one of their own. For the Seven Stars, they most likely couldn't care less about what happens to their comrades. But for the Spirit Key Keepers, it was different. Last night's incident was too much for Rika that she ran off. In fact, she hasn't come out of her bedroom since that night.
It got to the point where Kuromu, Koji, and Asuka were worried for her sake.
"She hasn't come out?" Kuromu asked Asuka, as she and the others were in the infirmary talking to him.
"No…" Asuka shook her head. "Junko, Momoe, and I tried to coax her out, but nothing worked."
"Was she usually like this?" Junko asked.
"Other than being afraid of thunder and lightning, no." Kuromu shook his head. "We've never seen her this shaken up before."
"I mean, could you blame her after what we saw?" Judai was forced to admit.
"No, but…" Kuromu got out, before groaning in frustration. "Ah~ mou!" He said, before grabbing his PDA, "I'm calling her!"
"Don't." Asuka shook her head. "She turned off her PDA."
Kuromu flinched in shock before deflating. The Rider Duelist then slowly hits his head on the table, racking his head over his friend's safety. "What are we supposed to do then?"
"At best, give her space. At worst, there's a chance that one of us might have to step up." Koji said before looking towards his fellow Spirit Key Keepers, "And frankly with the two of us in bad shape, we don't have a lot of options."
That's when Judai stood up, "Alright, you know what? I'm gonna snap her out of it."
"Eh?!" Everyone gawked.
"Judai, what are you-" Kuromu began.
"Dude, don't do what I think you're gonna do." Koji feared.
"Do what? I'm gonna entice her towards my own cooking!" Judai said.
…
…
…
"You lost me, what?" Kuromu said, confused.
"What in the 8-trak are you talking about?" Koji asked.
Rex, Jun, and Sho all paled in fear. Which spoke volumes of how bad Judai is at cooking if the mutt is scared of his cooking.
"Relax, I know what I'm doing." Judai grinned.
"I call BS…" Jun deadpanned.
"Yeah, you nearly killed us all." the mutt added.
"Aniki, I'm not so sure about this." Sho said, addressing his worries about this plan.
"Sure I'm sure! Just leave it to me!" Judai grinned, before running out of the infirmary.
"Aniki, no!" Sho panicked, running after him alongside the ace and the mutt.
Kuromu couldn't help but wonder what kind of food the three had eaten to make all of them want to stop Judai. But, he decided against asking them as there are some horrors man must never face.
"Should… we be worried?" Misawa asked.
"It's best that we don't." Ryo muttered.
Just then, the doors to the infirmary slid back open to reveal that Reggie had come through.
"Sorry, I just saw Manjoume-san, Taylor, and Marufuji-san chase after Yuki-san." She apologized.
"It's fine." Ryo assured her. "What brings you here?"
"I just… I want to apologize for what my brother did to the instructor." she said, giving a quick bow of apology to them. "I had no idea he would do that."
"You couldn't have known." Kuromu shook his head. "What's his deal anyway?"
"I… I wish I knew." she said, "Things have been pretty bad since… father…"
"Your father?" Asuka asked.
"Principal MacKenzie. He heads the American branch of Duel Academia." Ryo answered. "What happened, Reggie?"
"It's quite the tale. I wish I could tell you but-"
"We just saw your brother digitize our instructor into pixels and digits. I'm pretty sure nothing's off the table." Kuromu noted.
"Please… just tell us." Asuka said.
Reggie was silent but sighed, "Very well… You heard about the Legendary Planet cards, right?"
"Yes, we have." Misawa said. "There are ten in fact, The Supremacy Sun, The Tripper Mercury, Splendid Venus, The Blazing Mars, The Grand Jupiter, The Big Saturn, The Despair Uranus, The Tyrant Neptune, The Suppression Pluto, and the card that Judai possesses, Elemental HERO Terra Firma. We all thought that all ten were sent into space by Kaiba and Pegasus to test card durability in zero gravity; to see if space Dueling is possible."
"Well, that was the cover story." Reggie revealed, "This wasn't to test space Dueling, this was to prevent them from sapping the energy out of the Duelists that use it."
"What?" Ryo gasped.
"Last year, there were six users that had Legendary Planet Cards, each one representing the five branches of Duel Academia. My brother and I had the cards in East Academia, meanwhile North, West, and South Academia had one user each. Finally, there was one transfer student that had the Legendary Planet from Central Academia, and that person… was Fuu."
"Fuu? Wait, you mean…" Asuka got out, before looking at her brother with wide eyes. "Fubuki-niisan?"
"Haaaa?!" Kuromu and Koji gasped as they looked towards the militaristic woman… who had clasped her hands upon realizing what she just said.
"O-Oh… did I…"
"Are you and Fubuki-" Ryo began.
"What?! No, no nonononononono no!" she adamantly told them, "We're just friends."
"But you gave him a nickname…" Kuromu sweat dropped. "That's gotta mean something."
"Yeah, and it's clear your face says otherwise, girl." Koji pointed out.
"Well… that's…" Reggie fidgeted.
"We're getting off track." Asuka sighed irritably. "As much as I want to interrogate her about her relationship with my brother, there are other things that are more important." She then looked at Reggie expectantly. "You were saying?"
"Well, when I was a kid, I saw… something enter my dad." She explained, "Something, monstrous."
"Something?" Kuromu got out. "Like… possessed? Something possessed your father?"
She nodded, "That's when someone came up to me and David with a promise. To gain what we truly desire, which to me was my father being free of whatever this evil entity is."
"Who is it?" Koji asked.
"He never said his name. He simply called himself someone who can help." The militaristic woman explained, scratching the back of her neck in nervousness.
"How is Fubuki-niisan involved?" Asuka asked. "Given his disappearance…"
"Fuu, I remember before we were approached by that man, he promised that he'd find a way to help us." Reggie recalled. Kuromu couldn't help but chuckle at the parallel Fubuki had with Asuka. It went to show that dedication was certainly a trait the Tenjoin family shared. "I felt touched by what he promised me… and then he just vanished until recently."
"Was he at the American branch, that is East Academia, as part of an exchange program at the time prior to his disappearance?" Misawa inquired to which she nodded in confirmation, "I see, intriguing."
"So here's a question. What really happened to the other Legendary Planet cards?" Kuromu asked.
"As we said, the part about having the Legendary Planets being launched into space is true. There's no denying it." she reassured them, "It's the reason why they were rocketed out of the Earth that was different."
"But how and why did Terra Firma get left behind?"
Kuromu began to stir on this. How did someone like that reporter have a card this powerful?
"I'm… not entirely sure myself." Reggie answered. "Given that it's an Elemental HERO, I could hypothesize that there's a strong connection to the archetype. Maybe it felt like it couldn't leave its home like the other Legendary Planet cards."
"An interesting theory." Misawa nodded.
Just then the doors slid open to reveal Ayukawa coming into the room. "Alright, everyone. Visiting hours are over for now."
"I guess this conversation will have to wait." Reggie said as everyone began filing out of the infirmary.
"I'll check on you later Kuro." Asuka smiled softly, to which he nodded before the group left, which had her walking with Reggie.
"Is he your boyfriend?" Reggie inquired.
"Wha? N-No!" Asuka said before realizing she was acting like the militaristic woman was acting before. "At least… not yet."
"Not yet?" Reggie raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"
"It's silly, but I made a promise to him. Something that we're both working towards." she admitted.
It was then that the militaristic woman scratched the back of her neck again, "I see…"
"It's just… I owe Kuro a lot. He saved my brother. Even with his mother being held hostage, he still went out of his way to help me." Asuka smiled fondly.
"It sounds like you two have been through a lot." Reggie pointed out.
"You have no idea." the Obelisk Queen hesitantly chuckled. "Kuro is… how should I say this?" She pondered her next words. "He's the kind of person that stays true to his feelings. He's passionate about Duel Monsters, hard-working, and determined to see things through no matter what. Even though things don't go his way and he feels disheartened, he still fights on and pushes through despite that. That's… what made me fall for him in the first place."
"That sounds great. I'm glad that you have a friend like that in your life." Reggie complimented her. "Just… hold on to him and don't let him go."
"Huh?" Asuka looked at the militaristic woman, confused.
Reggie however merely walked away without saying a word.
"What… was that about?" Asuka couldn't help but wonder.
At the Obelisk Blue Girls' Dorm, Rika laid in her bed, the blanket covering her entire body. She hadn't been able to sleep all night because of what happened to Chronos. The memory was very vivid and was etched into her mind. It would repeat over and over again, and she couldn't do anything to make it stop.
"Deck recipe obtained."
The words rang in her ear, making her shudder. The way he said it was so cold… so stoic… so… robotic. It's as if he had no heart.
She began to fear what would happen if another person she cared about would end up falling to him next. Or worse… What if she's next? The chef shivered in fear and horror at the idea of herself becoming data. And her Foodons… What will become of her Foodons?
She can't let him take her Deck away. She created those cards as if she had cooked them herself! It was a dream come true when she received this deck. She remembered pitching the idea as if it were yesterday.
Flashback
"You… want to create an archetype based around cartoon food?" Kyoshiro asked a kid Rika as she, Koji, Kuromu, were all crowded around the elder Kururugi. It was only a couple of months before her birthday and she thought that it could be fun to perhaps pitch her idea of a Duel Monsters archetype to Kyoshiro.
"I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out. I've been working on its lore for months and I finally got it down." Rika said. "It all started some years ago when a culinary-confused king asked a question to his chefs. Which would be stronger: tofu surprise or stuffed duck? The king's chefs thought the king had "gone a little too heavy on the nutmeg". One mysterious chef knew what the king was talking about and presented him with magical cards called Meal Tickets which turned the food into monsters called Fighting Foodons. Since that day, regular food recipes have been turned into Foodons and the art of culinary combat is concocted."
"This sounds like its own monster catching anime." Kuromu commented.
"Yeah, except you have to make the creatures instead of capturing them." Koji answered.
"So what do you think, Mr. Kyo?" Rika asked. "I'm sure Pegasus would love something like this! It's cartoony, it's kid friendly, and you're having a food fight, so-to-speak!"
"Hmmm… I will admit. I like your idea of making it a Contact Fusion archetype." Kyoshiro mused, "After all, the A-to-Z archetype exists, and I heard from Pegasus that a couple more are being worked on as well." He then shrugged, "Oh, why not? I don't see why we can't bring your idea to him."
"Awesome, that's great!" Rika cheered.
"Well, you better get started on drawing and working out those card stats, Rika." Kuromu grinned.
"Oh trust me, I am going to make a masterpiece!" she grinned.
And so with gusto and pep in her step, Rika and Kyoshiro started working together on making the Foodons. She would use a menu from her parents' restaurant and use them as reference for the new archetype. These Foodons were based on the dishes they have at the restaurant, each made with care and love as if cooking them herself.
After she was finished with her drafts, she would enlist Koji and Kuromu's help with the stats and effects of the monsters, spells, and traps. When it was finished, Kyoshiro would mail these documents to Pegasus, drawings and their stats included. Sure enough, three days later, Pegasus requested a video chat with Kyoshiro, especially with Rika. Waiting with bated breath, the screen soon turned on as a rather eccentric man with long silver hair with one bang covering his new artificial eye, and a red suit that had white ruffled cuffs, and white dress shoes.
["Hello there, Kyo-boy. And Ms. Ryuzaki, so glad to finally meet you!"] Pegasus greeted with his ever flamboyant personality.
"U-Uh, h-hello, Mr. Pegasus." she said in the best English she could.
["Now now, Ms. Ryuzaki. There's no need to force yourself to speak my language."] Pegasus reassured her in Japanese, which at least gave the little Rika some relief, ["But regardless, I saw those documents from Kyo-Boy about your Fighting Foodon archetype."] he mused. He then beamed brightly, ["And I must say, you have quite the imagination! I absolutely adore these Foodons!"]
"R-Really?!" Rika gasped, ecstatic.
["Why yes! I think this could be a fantastic addition to the game!"] the eccentric CEO confirmed. ["Looking at your masterpieces, I couldn't help but be reminded of my own cartoons! So child-like and full of wonder. Why, I was so excited, I had to have a feast for dinner! Hahahaha!"]
Kyoshiro chuckled while Rika sweat dropped with a sheepish smile.
["But enough about me, this is about you. After a meeting with my staff, we all agreed that we will be send you a deck of this custom archetype free of charge."]
"R-Really?!"
["Indeed! In fact, this deck will be the only one of its kind! Meaning only you have this deck and no others! Consider it as a thank you for letting relive my childhood!"]
It was certainly to her, the best birthday present she could ever get as she cheered and jumped in the air for joy.
Returning to the present, Rika looked at her Deck, all filled with cards she had worked so hard to create.
She didn't want to even think about what would happen to the cards if David or worse, any of the other Seven Stars would end up abusing them.
In the background, the worried presence once more, watched over Rika.
"Omelet,"
Rika looked around, hearing that voice as the presence hid itself. She soon thought that she was hearing things, at least until…
"Oregano?"
All of a sudden that melancholy was replaced with full-blown rage.
"WHAAAAAAAAAT?!"
She quickly stampeded her way towards the source of the sound, ready to beat the crap out of anyone who was planning to put that in a dish.
Earlier…
At the Osiris Red dorm, Rex, Jun, and Sho were looking at the evil concoction that was bubbling in the kitchen. It looked like some kind of stew, but it's more like a potion recipe gone bad. The only thing Judai did correctly, to their surprise, was making the base of the curry. At least, they think he's making curry. Everything else he threw in there without a care.
"And here I thought Rex was a bad cook." Sho shuttered in fear.
"I'll be honest, I don't even think I could screw this up badly." the mutt admitted whilst looking on while Judai was seemingly committing food-related war crimes, "And you're saying that this will snap Rika out of it?"
"Of course it will!" Judai smiled, while looking inside the fridge.
"You do realize we're supposed to encourage her, not make her rip our heads off." Jun had to remind him.
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing." Judai said, before pulling out something from the kitchen cabinet. "Aha! Found it!"
It was, to their surprise, a simple bottle of oregano.
"Oregano?"
"WHAAAAAAAAAT?!"
The ace, the Roid Duelist, and the mutt quickly heard that and sure enough, arriving at the kitchen was a raging, fuming Rika, her trusty cast iron pan in hand gripped like it was a mighty sword.
"Yuki Judai, just what do you think you're doing?!" she asked as she glared at the horrors currently being made in the kitchen and the oregano bottle.
"Oh hey Rika! Want some curry?" Judai grinned knowingly.
"First off, I'm not going to even ask how the heck you made that! But you have the audacity to add in oregano?! Oregano is for savages!"
As Rika stomped towards Judai, all he could say was, "Uh… I wanted to try something new?"
And then, the beatings came.
*BONG! POW! WHACK! BOOM! DONG! CRACK!*
"Oooooooooh, yeah, that's gonna leave a mark…" Rex winced as the clangs continued, "I wonder if Kuromu and the others can hear it from here?" he pondered.
"Haaaaa… haaaaa… haaaaaa… haaaaaa…" Rika panted heavily, after wailing on the boy. Despite her efforts, Judai managed to get back up, albeit with a swollen face in several places… and maybe a tooth missing in the process, but he grinned all the while.
"There! That snapped you out of it." Judai said.
All of the anger immediately disappeared as Rika now looked confused.
"What?"
"You feel like you got a clearer head now?" The Elemental HERO Duelist said whilst dusting himself off.
"Uh…" Rika got out. "You mean-"
"C'mon, we all know that I'm bad at cooking, even more so than Rex. We couldn't let you mope all day in bed after what happened last night. And even if by some miracle that I managed to cook something good, you wouldn't come out of the room either. So~ what better way than to get you mad?"
'Ohhhhhhh, so that was your plan.' Rex thought.
Jun scoffed with a roll of his eyes, "You're a dumbass."
"I'm surprised you thought of that, aniki." Sho said.
"You… did that… for me?" Rika asked.
"Of course I did! I'm your friend, aren't I?" Judai smiled before that smile went from beaming to melancholy, "Besides, I promised someone when I was a kid that I was never going to let a friend of mine down." He said whilst holding his chest.
"Judai…" Rika murmured.
"That's why I'm telling you this. You can't give up. It may look scary at first, but don't forget. When you're dueling, you're never alone." The Elemental HERO Duelist affirmed. "Winged Kuriboh can attest to that." He said as the winged fur ball appeared.
"Kuri! Kuri!" He chirped happily.
"Yeah, I can tell…" Rika said… before her smile gave way to confusion. "Wait, how long has he been there?"
"Huh?" Judai blinked.
"What?" Rex and Jun got out.
"Kuri?" the little winged creature chirped before flying around Rika to make sure that this wasn't a fluke. But sure enough, she was watching Winged Kuriboh fly around her and even land on her shoulder. "Kuri, Kuri!"
"Hold on… you can see him?!" Judai gawked.
"Y-Yeah, I think so." she said before looking back, and screaming her head off at the Gladial Quartet, the Ojama brothers, and Light and Darkness Dragon.
"What? Did I forget to preen today?" Besturouli asked.
"You'd make anyone run in fear with your ugly mug." Laquer snarled which got the bird gladiator to snarl.
"Wow, just like the boss." Ojama Yellow observed, "He reacted the same way when I met him."
"T-This is crazy! I'm seeing real Duel Monsters spirits! And we don't have our Duel Disks with us!" Rika freaked out. "But how?!"
"Heck if we know." Jun admitted.
"We're just getting more and more people that see Duel Monster spirits by the day." Rex chuckled with a shrug of his arms. "Still, that begs the question of where Rika's spirits are."
"Eh, I'm sure they'll show up soon." Judai chuckled before becoming serious, "Still, I think it's time we show David the real superpower of teamwork."
…
"…I am never letting you near my GameCube ever again." Rex said frankly.
Meanwhile, David had been stewing over the strongest cards in the instructor's Deck; Chaos Ancient Gear Giant. From what he had just experienced in the prior night's Duel, he could feel a destructive aura from that card. It was indeed a powerful monster. He had not felt that strength in quite a while.
He also examined the other strongest monsters of each of the Osiris Red Duelists, namely Jun's Light and Darkness Dragon, Judai's Elemental HERO Terra Firma, Sho's Super Vehicroid - Stealth Union, and finally Rex's Gladiator Beast Domitianus, or rather Gladial Beast Domitianos in Japan.
'As expected of a Level 10 Monster…' he thought to himself, 'Powerful, but like so many other high-level monsters, if the Duelist that summons them becomes overwhelmed with rage, they could potentially go out of control and send it's Duelist into a berserker state.'
His mind drifted back to seeing such a beast go on a rampage…
Flashback
"SKREEOOONK!"
Everyone began fleeing as two Duelists began to run and hide as one Examiner with his Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk and were left terrified by the sight. David and Reggie looked towards the opponent, one of a seething Rex whilst on the field was a huge hulking sea serpent-like Gladiator Beast with purple scales, regal armor across his body, and a large trident in hand.
"I-I activate Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk's effect!" the Examiner tried to say.
"Denied. Gladiator Beast Dominiatus's Quick Effect activates." Rex snarled, "If a monster tries to activate an effect, I can negate that effect and destroy the monster. Poseidon's Punishment!" He ordered. With a roar, Dominiatus let out a blast of concentrated water at the large thunderbird, knocking it's rider off before both were shattered into pixels whilst also tearing through the Duel Arena. The Examiner stepped back in fear.
"S-Stay back!" He cried out.
"You think people like me are monsters? How about I show you what a real monster looks like." the berserk Rex snarled.
"Brother, we need to stop him!" Reggie shouted to David.
"Grk…" he snarled before running towards the kill switch on the panel to shut down the Solid System on the Duel Disks.
As the berserk mutt was about to declare a direct attack, the stern young man slammed his fist directly onto the button and shut down the Duel, ending it in a draw as Dominiatus vanished. From there, Rex suddenly gained clarity.
The stern young man thought to himself while his adoptive sister helped calm down the people and potential new students, 'So, that damned spirit was planning on using him as a new vessel.'
David frowned harder at the memory. Admittedly, at least not in front of everyone, when he had heard that Rex was accepted to Central Academia, he was rather surprised. Surely, there was no way that Central Academia's standards were that low in accepting students who couldn't control their monsters into their campus.
'It just doesn't add up.' he thought to himself.
Then there were two others that concern him. The Obelisk Queen of Duel Academia and the one that possesses the Kamen Riders.
Cyber Angel - Vishnu, Asuka's boss monster, was just as powerful as the other ones he examined and from the records, she never went berserk even once. It piqued his interest that Tenjoin Asuka was able to control such a monster within her deck. Meanwhile, Kuromu has too many high level monsters that could potentially drive him insane should his rage get the best of him, and yet none of them have even shown signs of going berserk.
There was also another thing of concern about his deck. From what he could gather, there are 20 Riders yet only 19 of their upgrades. The set wasn't exactly complete. Could it be… that this missing upgrade would be the most dangerous monster should it go berserk due to Kuromu's wrath? Perhaps there are only 19 upgrades in total and the 20th simply doesn't exist, or wasn't made yet.
'Too many factors…' David frowned in his thoughts.
Regardless, he still had a mission to complete and this time, he was going to make sure the Spirit Key he'll get will be a real one. He just hoped that he'd keep his cool, lest he too ends up succumbing to A-to-Z-Dragon Buster Cannon going berserk.
That night, Rika stood at where the Obelisk Blue Dorm is, with Judai, Sho, Rex, and Jun standing by her side. Thanks to the support of her friends, she now had the courage to stand up against David and avenge Instructor Chronos.
"Are you sure you're up for this, Rika-san?" Sho asked.
"I'm definitely sure." she said firmly, "If we don't, then we'll just be giving up the Spirit Keys to our enemies. I'm not running anymore."
"Glad you feel that way." A voice said. The group looked to see Kuromu who was being helped walking by Asuka. Koji, Misawa, and Ryo followed them from behind.
"Whoa, whoa, Kuro, you sure you should be up and about?" the mutt asked.
"You're pretty banged up yourself." Kuromu pointed out, "If you can walk off nearly getting a hole in your chest, I think I can do just fine. Besides, I can't stay cooped up in the nurse's office all the time."
"That's on me. I set the bar too low." the mutt chuckled while raising his hand.
"Guys…" Rika said before she noticed W by the Rider Duelist's side.
"Shotaro, I think Rika can see us." Phillip pointed out as he noticed the chef's eyes widen a bit.
"Eh?! Seriously?!"
"Huh?" Kuromu got out, before looking at the Foodon Duelist, "Rika, you…"
"Hehehe. Surprise." she said with an uneasy laugh.
"What is it?" Asuka asked.
"She can see Duel Monster spirits, like me and the others." Kuromu quickly explained.
"That begs the question of where Rika's spirits are," Jun pointed out.
"Yeah, I thought for sure they'd be here too." Judai added, before he noticed something else. "Hey Kuro, isn't that-" He said pointing to the Shadow Charm Pendant… which was whole.
"Uh… yeah." Kuromu said. "There's something else you need to know. Fubuki woke up earlier today."
"Really?!" Rika, Judai, Sho, and Rex gasped.
Earlier…
"So what's the prognosis, Hojo-sensei?" Kuromu asked the video game Rider doctor, as Emu was looking him over while Ayukawa was away.
"So far? You seem to have recovered enough to walk around the campus." Emu observed.
"That's good at least. I don't wanna stay cooped up in this clinic any longer than I should." Kuromu sighed in relief. Just then the doors slid open, revealing the Tenjoin family letting themselves in. "Hey, Asuka. Chiyomi-san. Akihiro-san." He greeted them.
"Hey there, Kuro." Asuka greeted him.
"Is there any progress on Fubuki?" Akihiro inquired, to which Kuromu shook his head. The Tenjoin patriarch could only look down with narrowed eyes. "I see…"
"I truly hope he wakes up soon." Chiyomi said.
"I wish I knew the full extent of his condition, but…" Kuromu trailed off.
Asuka lowered her head, feeling the same frustration the Rider Duelist was feeling at the moment.
"Uuuuuuuggggghhhhh…"
Kuromu and the Tenjoin family snapped their gaze towards Fubuki's bed. They heard another groan coming from him, as his body started moving.
"N-Nii-san?" Asuka gasped.
The family then rushed to Fubuki's bedside, awaiting the young man to wake up.
'Hojo-sensei.' Kuromu said urgently in his thoughts, wanting the video game doctor to check his vitals.
"On it!" Emu shouted as he quickly checked up on the stirring Fubuki.
Everyone crowded around his bed as he slowly awakened from his slumber. "Asuka… Otou-san… Okaa-san…" He murmured with slightly wide eyes.
"Nii-san/Fubuki!" Asuka and Chiyomi cried out as they held the Tenjoin heir's hands, tears going down their eyes.
"Son… you're alive…" Akihiro smiled softly in relief.
"What? What happened?" Fubuki asked as he slowly sat up and held his aching head, "The last thing I remember is…"
"You Dueling me." Kuromu interjected, prompting the Red-Eyes Duelist to look at him in surprise.
"Kuromu?" Fubuki gasped in surprise.
"Hey, long time no see." Kuromu waved at him. "Though I wish it were under different circumstances." He frowned.
"I can imagine." The Tenjoin heir soon groaned from his injuries, "Ugh, you must have really done a number on me."
"Given how you were possessed by Darkness, yeah I had to." Kuromu said.
"Darkness…?" Fubuki got out, before his eyes widened in realization. "No! Yusuke! Where-"
"Calm down, son. It's fine. We can explain everything." Akihiro placated his son. "A lot has happened since you went missing."
"Then, what happened to my friends? Where are they?" Fubuki soon saw the somewhat unconscious bodies of the other Abandoned Dorm students.
"They were freed after I defeated Darkness." Kuromu answered.
"…and Yusuke?" he asked.
Kuromu shook his head. "I'm sorry, but… he's not among the missing students here in the infirmary."
"I… I see…" he sighed, looking disappointed with what happened..
"Do you remember anything else?" Asuka asked.
"I… I don't think so." the Tenjoin heir admitted before noticing his half of the charm began to glow. Confused, Kuromu checked his bedside and saw that his half was also glowing. "Wait… hold on, I think I remember something, ergh…" He grunted, holding his head.
"Nii-san, please don't strain yourself." Asuka said worriedly.
"No, you need to hear this…" Fubuki shook his head. "More than likely, those Seven Stars will use cowardly tricks to win their Duels. David… is incredibly ruthless when he Duels. In order to stop a Game of Darkness that uses an Item of Darkness…"
"You need one of your own to counter it. Of course, Fight fire with fire." Kuromu realized.
That's when they heard that Rika was heading to the Obelisk Blue Dorm.
"Wait, so then…" Rika got out.
"Yeah…" Kuromu said, before he took the two halves of the pendant that were hung on the rope and placed them around Rika's neck. "You're gonna need this more than I do. Besides, I'd rather not have another one of those visions."
As she looked at the pendant around her neck, the chef soon heard someone walk out of the dorm. It was David, keeping calm and collective as before.
"So… which one of you has the nerve and guts to face me in a Game of Darkness?" David challenged.
"I will." Rika said, with Judai and Rex stepping aside to allow her to take her position; Duel Disk already active.
David scoffed, "You? The girl who ran away at the sight of your precious teacher turning into data? You must be either brave or stupid. Or maybe both."
"Trust me, I'll be sure to get back at you for turning Instructor Chronos into pixels." she said, "Now let's do this. Same rules as before, Master Duel Format. I'm not going to chicken out and go Standard Duel."
"Very well, let's see if your little meals can survive my combinations." he said.
With that, the two shuffled their Decks and drew their starting hands.
"DUEL!"
Rika: 8000
David: 8000
"Here we go…" Koji muttered.
"Rika…" Kuromu said low, clenching his fist.
"It's alright." Judai assured the Rider Duelist with a slight smile. "She'll be fine. I know it."
"Watashi no ta-n! Draw!" Rika declared, drawing her sixth card. She took a deep breath. 'You're not alone. You're not alone.' she reminded herself in her thoughts. She then looked at her cards and smiled, "Alright then, let's see how you like this first course, I activate this Spell Card! Grand Feast!" She said, revealing the card depicting a luxurious banquet table with Foodons and chefs at the table. "I can discard any monster cards in my hand with Foodon in their name and then Special Summon from my deck as many Fighting Foodons equal to the total number of levels of those discarded Monsters."
She then took out three cards to reveal, "And since I can't perform my Normal Summon during the turn I activated Grand Feast, I'll just show you the best I got! I'll discard Fighting Foodon - Spring Chicken, Fighting Foodon - Gazmacho, and 5-Star Fighting Foodon - Fruit Turtle! That's a total of 18 Levels!"
Soon, four silver platters fell onto the four Monster Zones in front of Rika.
"Now serving Fighting Foodon - Curry-Up, Fighting Foodon - Cowboyritto, Fighting Foodon - Spaghettabout-it, and Fighting Foodon - Crab Quake!"
The silver platters opened up to reveal four Foodons. The first being a cloaked figure with yellow eyes, a plate of Japanese curry for a hat alongside what looked to be a spoon and a curry cup, a cowboy with a plate head that had a burrito for a face, wearing old western style clothing with a large brown cowboy hat, a yellow spaghetti-head monster wearing a yellow jumpsuit with a plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce for a head. He wielded a deadly fork and a cheese shaker on his back, and finally a huge and somewhat frightening red crab-like Foodon with dozens of cannons that look like factory spouts on his back, tentacles on his behind, and thorns all over his legs and claws.
"Curry-up!" (3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 900)
"YEEEE-HAAAA!" (4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1500)
"Spaghettabout-it!" (5/ATK: 2000/DEF: 0)
"Crab Quake!" (6/ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000)
Rika's eyes widened when she finally heard the voice of her own cards for the first time, feeling a sense of pride. Of course, she was new to the whole Duel Spirit deal, but she smiled nonetheless. "When Fighting Foodon - Cowboyritto is successfully summoned, you have to discard a random card from your hand!"
David frowned at this, as he discarded said card.
"Then I activate Treasure Cards from the Heavens allowing us to draw until we have six cards in our hand. Unfortunately for you, you could only draw one." She said, before both did as the card instructed. "I'll place two cards face-down. Ta-n shuuryou."
"Hmm, I see." David observed, "Very well, my turn begins now. Draw!" After drawing his seventh card, the stern young man began his strategy, "I activate the Field Spell, Union Hangar!"
"Shit, not again…" Rex groaned as the futuristic hangar emerged around them.
"When this card is activated, I can add 1 LIGHT Machine Union Monster from my Deck to my hand, so I choose A-Assault Core! Next, I activate the Spell Card Dual Summon to summon both V-Tiger Jet and W-Wing Catapult in ATK Position!" David declared.
From the whirling hanger, a large green and yellow jet with tiger parts flew down and landed on the battlefield, its wings quickly transforming into legs (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1800). Alongside it was a large blue hovercraft-like machine (4/ATK: 1300/DEF: 1500).
"Now I banish both monsters to perform a Contact Fusion!" he declared before the tiger mecha leaped into the air and changed into its jet mode while the hovercraft split into two parts.
"Initiate mechanical combination, azure cannon, emerald tiger! Unite and fire out a devastating attack!"
Soon, the tiger mecha quickly attached itself to the top of the blue hovercraft mecha's two halves, forming a powerful machine.
"Contact Fusion! VW-Tiger Catapult! (6/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2100)"
"That card can change a monster's battle position as long as he can discard a card." He snarled with a frown.
"Battle! Go, VW-Tiger Catapult! Destroy Fighting Foodon - Curry-Up! Tigerbolt Jolt!" the stern young man declared as the rockets quickly fired out its cannons at the curry Foodon.
"Not so fast! You activated my trap!" Rika said, revealing the card. "It's called Secret Ingredient! It allows me to play an Equip Spell with "Power Topping" in its name, straight from my deck!"
"What?!" David snarled.
"And the card I play… is Power Topping - Garlic!" She said, taking the card from her Deck to activate it. "I'll equip it to Fighting Foodon - Curry-up! When he battles while equipped with this, the attacking monster's ATK gets cut in half until the end of the Battle Phase!"
VW-Tiger Catapult: (ATK: 2000-1000)
He then called off the attack as the tiger flew back to his side.
"Clever." he sighed, "Then I will set two cards facedown and end my turn."
"Watashi no ta-n!" Rika declared, drawing her next card, increasing her hand to five. "I activate Fighting Foodon - Spaghettabout-it's ability! Once per turn, I flip a coin, and if I get heads I take control of your monster until the End Phase, but if it's tails, he can't attack but he can't be destroyed by battle or card effects!"
After flipping a coin, she then caught it.
"And it looks like it's tails. So Spaghettabout-it can't attack you, but it can't be destroyed either." The chef said. "Battle! Fighting Foodon - Curry-up attacks VW-Tiger Catapult! And thanks to Power Topping - Garlic, your monster's ATK gets cut in half!"
VW-Tiger Catapult: (ATK: 2000-1000)
The curry Foodon dipped his spoon into the curry-filled cup, and whipped the spoon, allowing the curry to fly towards the machine. The machine short-circuited and blew up, leaving David caught in the crossfire.
Rika: 8000
David: 7800
"Next up, Fighting Foodon - Crab Quake attacks you directly and when he attacks, you can't activate your face-downs until the end of the Damage Step!" Rika declared. "Go get 'em, Crab Quake!"
"Crab Quake!" The Crab Cake crab gurgled menacingly before the cannons on its back fired energy balls out of its spouts and came raining down on David all around him, smoke billowing from the multiple impacts.
Rika: 8000
David: 5400
"Nice, getting that damage in!" Kuromu cheered.
"You got this, Rika!" Asuka smiled.
"Okay Cowboyritto! Tie him up and give him the puny god treatment!" Rika ordered.
"YEEEEEEE-HAAAA!" Cowboyritto yelled as he twirled his lasso and threw it at David.
"Grr, I activate the trap card Union Scramble! I can target up to three banished LIGHT Machine Normal Monsters and/or LIGHT Machine Union monsters and Special Summon them onto the field!" David declared, "Revive, V-Tiger Jet and W-Wing Catapult!"
The two components that made the VW-Tiger Catapult returned to the Field. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1800), (4/ATK: 1300/DEF: 1500)
"Cowboyritto, stop your attack!" Rika called out, to which the burrito Foodon managed to pull his lasso back at the last second.
"YEEEE-HAAAA!" The burrito snarled in annoyance.
"Aw man, so close too!" Sho snapped his fingers.
"I must admit, that was a sound strategy." David complimented her.
"Flattery will get you nowhere," Rika frowned. "Ta-n shuuryou."
"Very well, it's my turn! I draw!" He drew his next card, increasing his hand to three and slapped it down, "I'll summon Y-Dragon Head in ATK position!"
The red dragon mecha was quickly deployed onto the stern young man's side of the field via the hangar. (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1600)
"Next I activate Union Hangar's effect! Once per turn if a LIGHT Machine Union Monster is either Normal Summoned or Special Summoned, I can equip one appropriate LIGHT Union Monster with a different name onto it. So I'll choose Y-Dragon Head with Z-Metal Caterpillar!"
The yellow tank with a cybernetic cycloptic eye appeared and immediately allowed the red dragon mecha to dock onto it. (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1300)
Y-Dragon Head: (ATK: 1500-2100/DEF: 1600-2200)
"Crap, one more and he'll have his XYZ-Dragon Cannon!" Rex realized.
"I re-banish the V-Tiger Jet and W-Wing Catapult to revive my VW-Tiger Catapult!"
Like before, the two machines quickly combined into their united form. (6/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2100)
"Then I'll activate the effect of my VW-Tiger Catapult! I discard my A-Assault Core to target Fighting Foodon - Crab Quake, switching him to DEF mode!" The crab cake Foodon hunkered down as the machine fired a missile at it.
"Now I play Harpie's Feather Duster to clear your field of your Spells and or Trap Cards!" David declared.
"Not good, now Rika has nothing to defend herself with." Misawa gritted his teeth as a large feather swept away Rika's Spell and Trap card.
"Battle! Y-Dragon Head, destroy Fighting Foodon - Crab Quake without interruption! Draco Laser!" the stern young man declared as the dragon mecha fired its laser blast at the crab cake Foodon, obliterating it.
"Crab Quake, no!" Rika cried out.
David raised an eyebrow, "Why do you care about that monster? It's just a card."
*SNAP!*
Rex looked at Judai with a terrified look, "Oh no…"
"Just a card?" Judai asked as he grit his teeth, "JUST A CARD?! IT'S MORE THAN JUST A CARD!"
"And what exactly would you know?"
"You can do a lot to me and my friends, but insulting someone's cards is where I draw the line. Especially since Rika has done so much with her monsters!" Judai shouted, "She put her whole heart and soul into creating these cards! Cards that she can resonate with! Cards that make her proud! Cards that make her smile every day!"
"Judai…" Rika muttered.
It was then that a dark aura slightly formed around him.
David had taken notice of it. "You…"
"Aniki? You okay?" Sho asked.
Judai quickly snapped out of it as the dark aura subsided, "Huh? What…?"
"Dude, you… good?" Rex asked unnerved.
"Y-Yeah, I think so." The Elemental HERO Duelist reassured his fellow Osiris Red Duelists.
David observed this, 'So a Spirit Bond can happen even outside of a Duel. Interesting…' He cleared his throat, "Anyhow, now it's time I repeat my attack from my last turn. Destroy Curry-Up! Tigerbolt Jolt!"
Once again, the rockets quickly fired out its cannons at the curry Foodon, but this time it went uninterrupted and it was destroyed into pixels.
Rika: 7200
David: 5400
But just as the smoke cleared… two more of the curry Foodons showed up?! (3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 900) x2
"Huh?!" The others but Kuromu, Koji, and Asuka gasped.
"What is the meaning of this?!" David demanded.
"When Fighting Foodon - Curry-up is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can Special Summon two more of them from my Deck. And, you take 400 points of Damage for each one that was summoned this way." Rika explained.
"What?!" David snarled before the Curry-Ups began pelting him with gravy..
Rika: 7200
David: 4600
"Now that's a food fight!" Rex chuckled.
"Anything else you wanna dish out?" Rika taunted.
"Grr, I'll end my turn…" he growled.
"Then comes mine. Watashi no ta-n! Draw!" Rika declared, drawing her next card, increasing her hand to six. Her eyes widened at what she drew. "Alright, let's take this to the kitchen! I activate the Field Spell: Foodon Diner!"
She slotted the card in and the hangar disappeared, replacing it with the cartoonish diner with tables, chairs, and kitchen behind them.
"Nice, now David can't build up his Contact Fusions!" Koji cheered.
"Next I'll activate this spell card, known as Lunch Rush Confusion!" Shedeclared, revealing a card that depicted the artwork of Foodons in a busy restaurant, some trying to cook food, while others trying to serve the food to customers, a few getting the orders wrong. "This allows me to target any number of Foodons on the field and return them to my Deck. Then I can special summon monsters that have "Foodon" with different names equal to the number I targeted, from my Deck! In other words, I can switch Foodons that are on the field, with the new ones in my Deck!"
The two Curry-ups, and Cowboyritto were quickly covered by the silver platter domes.
"Now serving a new course! Fighting Foodon - Sir Dumpling, Fighting Foodon - Shrimp Daddy, and Fighting Foodon - Dim Sumthin' Special!"
The silver dome lids lifted up revealing the three new Foodons.
The first was the humanoid Foodon with the head of a green pea-topped shumai dumpling, wearing green Chinese-style robes with a yellow belt, tied so there are two tails on each hip. (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1000)
The second one was another dumpling but this time with shrimp in it, as he has long eyebrows, a red shrimp sticking in out of his forehead, and has the body of a martial artist with a green karate belt. (3/ATK: 500/DEF: 1500)
And the last was the Foodon with a dim sim for a head that sat in a wooden container, followed by the long green scaly dragon body. (6/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1300)
"Sir~ Dumpling! Jolly good! Smashing!"
"Shrimp Daddy!"
"Dim Sumthin' Special!"
"What are you planning now?" David snarled.
"I'm getting to that. Next I activate Foodon Diner's effect! I can Special Summon as many Level 4 or lower Foodons from my Hand! But they can't attack on the turn they were summoned this way! So now I'll serve up Fighting Foodon - Burnt Meatballs and Fighting Foodon - Fried Ricer!"
Suddenly, from out of the silver platters came the eight charred meatballs and Rika's signature monster. (1/ATK: 0/DEF: 0), (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200)
"Fried Ricer! HA! HA! Fried Ricer!"
"I'm counting on you." She said to the rice bowl Foodon, who reacted in shock to the chef actually speaking to him.
"Fried Ricer!"
"A plate of rice and a bunch of cowardly meatballs?" David scoffed. "What good are they?"
"Hey! That's not nice!" One meatball cried out.
"Yeah, you and your mechs aren't even half the metal Kaiba's bots are!" Another meatball whimpered.
"We may be cowardly!" A third meatball, added.
"And we may suck!" A fourth said.
"But we're stronger together!" The meatballs declared, as one.
"Wow, being told off by a bunch of meatballs is kinda sad…" Jun commented.
"Definitely." Rex chuckled.
"Now then, allow me to serve up my own Contact Fusion using my Fighting Foodons!" she declared as the Foodons flying into the air to join together and merge into the dragon.
"Hope you're hungry, because it's time for a spicy treat!"
Then, the dragon Foodon landed and let out a mighty roar that the mutt instinctively covered his ears for.
"Contact Fusion! May I present to you, Deluxe Fighting Foodon - Feastivus!" (8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500)
"Alright! Way to go, Rika!" Judai cheered.
"I'm not done yet! Feastivus's effect now activates!" she declared, "When this card is successfully summoned, I can destroy one monster on your side of the field. So I'm choosing Y-Dragon Head!"
Feastivus roared as it fired a fireball at the red dragon mecha attached to the tank, destroying it in the process.
"And now that Feastivus is on the field, I can evolve my Fried Ricer! By Tributing my Fried Ricer, I can Special Summon his evolved form!" She said before switching the old card with the new. "Now serving, Fighting Foodon - Super Fried Ricer!"
"Friiiiiiiied Ricerrrrrrrrrrrr!" The rice Foodon roared as he glowed, before his clothes changed, now sporting a long red sleeveless jacket over a white gi uniform and has a red lobster on his head. (5/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1400)
"And guess what? He gains half the ATK of his previous form when he's summoned successfully! That's an additional 800 ATK!"
Fighting Foodon - Super Fried Ricer (ATK: 2000-2800)
"Now there's nothing stopping me! Battle! Fighting Foodon - Super Fried Ricer will attack VW-Tiger Catapult!"
As Super Fried Ricer jumped forward, Kuromu noticed David's smirk and felt a sense of fear.
"Rika, watch out!" he called out.
The stern young man then sprung his trap, "I activate my Trap Card, Magic Cylinder!"
"Sorry, but Super Fried Ricer has an ability of his own!" Rika smirked. "By discarding a FIRE-Attribute monster from my Deck, I can negate and destroy your trap card! I'll discard Fighting Foodon - Tater-Tons from my Deck!"
With a determined gaze, Super Fried Ricer sliced through the cylinders with his spoons as well as the combined mecha to destroy it once more.
Rika: 7200
David: 3800
"Next up, Feastivus will attack Y-Dragon Head! Burn him!"
"Tsk, I activate Z-Metal Caterpillar's effect! If the monster equipped with this card gets destroyed by battle or card effect, I can destroy this card instead!"
"But you'll still take damage!" She shouted as the dragon mecha disengaged from the tank before it was burned to a crisp.
Rika: 7200
David: 2300
"I'll place my last card face-down. Ta-n shuuryou." Rika finished, as the reverse card appeared on the field.
However, while the group wanted to be happy that Rika got the Life Point advantage, that didn't mean victory was in her grasp. Chronos thought he had won before he was wiped out in one turn. And that showed when David looked absolutely livid.
"You are starting to vex me… My turn! Draw!" David declared as he drew his lone card. He smirked as he revealed a card that depicted each of the A-to-Z monsters merging into various mecha combinations, namely ABC-Dragon Buster, VW-Tiger Catapult, and XYZ-Dragon Cannon, "Your time is over. I play the Spell card, A-to-Z Emergency!"
"What kind of card is that?!" Judai gawked.
"With this card, I can Fusion Summon an A-to-Z monster utilizing monsters from my deck or Extra Deck! So I banish ABC-Dragon Buster and XYZ-Dragon Cannon to perform a Fusion Summon!"
The visages of the two combined dragon mechas emerged to the horror of the Spirit Key Holders before they split apart and reformed.
"Initiate the ultimate mechanical combination to create a true titan of war, rolling dragon cannon, totem metal dragon!"
Soon, the combination was complete as the hulking dragon mecha emerged onto the battlefield.
"Contact Fusion! Deploy, A-to-Z-Dragon Buster Cannon!" (10/ATK: 4000/DEF: 4000)
Rika's demeanor immediately changed as her eyes widened considerably, her body started trembling, and she almost fell to her knees at the sight of the very monster that did Chronos in.
Super Fried Ricer, now aware of his master's fear, tried to calm her down.
"Fried Ricer! Ricer! Ricer! Fried Ricer!"
"It's no use. Your time is over…" David said as his eyes and those of his combined mecha flashed red… just like Rex's eyes had done long ago, and Judai's eyes had done moments earlier.
"David, you idiot!" Rex shouted.
"Rika!" Kuromu, Koji, and Asuka called out.
"A-to-Z Dragon Buster Cannon's effect activates! Much like Power Bond, its ATK is doubled! But more importantly, when I attack, I can give all but 100 of my Life Points to increase its ATK even further!"
The machine roared menacingly as electricity crackled around it going into overload. (ATK: 4000-8000)
"David, stop this madness!" Ryo shouted. "You've already gone too far!"
"And why should I?" David retorted, his voice becoming more mechanical.
"David!" A voice shouted as they turned to see Reggie approach, but upon arriving, she paled at the dark aura consuming A-to-Z Buster Dragon Cannon, "Oh no, he's entered a Spirit Bond."
"What? What's going on?" Judai asked.
"His mind has become clouded with rage, and in the presence of a high-level monster… it often does not bode well for the opponent." Dicaerii said.
Judai immediately understood, "So when Domitianus went out of control…"
"It was because something made the general's wrath go through the roof." Bestrouli finished.
"Brother, you need to control yourself!" Reggie shouted.
"Do not stop me, Reggie!" David shouted. "This is all for the sake of a new world order! For our father's new world order."
"Not like this!" Reggie protested. "Not at the expense of everyone here!"
"Enough! It's time to end this." David snarled. "Battle! A-to-Z Dragon Cannon Buster attacks Deluxe Fighting Foodon - Feastivus! I give up all but 100 of my Life Points to increase his ATK even further!"
The machine roared even louder as its system started overloading (ATK: 8000-10200)
Rika: 7200
David: 100
"Now destroy it and end this Duel, Hyper Buster Destruction!"
The combined dragon mecha then powered up its barrels and fired off a large beam right at Rika.
"RIKA!" Everyone shouted, but she wasn't moving due to fear. As soon as the beams were about to hit the Foodon Duelist…
"OMELEEEEEEEEEEEET!"
That's when something jumped in between Rika and the beam.
"WHAT?!" David snarled.
Rika snapped out of her shock as she saw… a Duel Monster spirit protecting her! It was a Foodon! This Foodon was none other than Omelet!
"OOOOOOMELEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!" the little omelet Foodon cried out, struggling to push the beam away with its tail.
"Rika's spirit is here!" Judai cheered. "Rika! Hurry up and activate your trap!"
"R-Right! I activate the Trap Card, Last Meal!" Rika declared, revealing the trap card depicting a silhouetted prisoner sitting at a table with his last meal in front of him. "If I receive 4000 or more damage, I can select any number of "Foodons" that are on my Field and reduce their ATK to 0, gaining that same amount of Life Points before Damage calculation! Not only that, my Foodons can't be destroyed by battle!"
Rika: 13000
David: 100
"But you will still take damage!" David snarled, "A-to-Z Dragon Buster Cannon, continue your attack!" The dragon mecha continued its attack, and while it damaged the Foodons, it didn't destroy them. Omelet was blown away by the attack, but managed to land on Rika's shoulder.
"Guys!" Rika called out to her monsters.
Rika: 2800
David: 100
"Are you guys alright?" She asked Feastivus and Super Fried Ricer.
"Fried… Ricer…" The rice lobster dish looked at Rika with one eye shut, but still gave a thumbs-up. Feastivus gave a low growl to show it was still ready for a fight.
"Omelet." the egg Foodon nodded.
"Tsk, I end my turn. With A-to-Z Emergency's effect, I must banish my A-to-Z Dragon Buster Cannon, but I gain Life Points equal to its original ATK!" He said, as the dragon mecha exploded to bits.
Rika: 2800
David: 4100
"So you managed to stay alive. Well it doesn't matter, since your monsters are both at 0 ATK. As soon as I draw a monster, this Duel will be over."
"That's where you're wrong!" she declared as she placed her hand on her deck, ready to draw what could be the card to win it all.
"You won't draw it." David said firmly.
"Didn't you know?" Rika asked, confusing David. "Central Academia's known to have students that can pull a Destiny Draw. And I'm about to become its newest member! Watashi no ta-n! Draw!"
*WOOSH!*
Rika drew her card and when she looked at it, she smiled with closed eyes, before opening them up, grinning madly, "I guess it was fitting I played that trap when I did, because it's time for your Last Meal!"
"What?!" David snarled.
"I activate, Platinum Meal Ticket!" She said, showing the card, depicting a silver-platinum colored card. "With Fighting Foodon - Super Fried Ricer and Deluxe Fighting Foodon - Feastivus on my side of the field, I can now serve up the ultimate Fusion Monster!"
As the two Foodons turned into red and blue nodes of light, they quickly flew straight into the silver-platinum card.
"Time to make a feast fit for the strongest Fighting Foodon!"
After letting out a stream of magic onto the field, a giant silver and gold armored knight, with a green cape and small angelic wings on the sides of his helmet materialized alongside his sword and a shield with a cross design on it.
"Contact Fusion! Now serving, Fighting Foodon - Palator, the Foodon Embodiment of Light! (10/ATK: 3500/DEF: 3000)"
"Whoa, check it out!" Judai said in awe.
"Yeah, talk about bling!" Koji added.
"I see, so I have been called to the battlefield once more." Palator said.
"W-Wait, you-" Rika got out.
"Ah, so you can hear me now." Palator noticed. "That would mean that you can now hear the rest of us Foodons. Our spirits have finally linked to your soul."
"I… I never…" she was at a loss for words.
"Fear not, Rika. You've always had this power sleeping within you." Palator began. "Granted, it should not have awakened from your fears, but the circumstances do not matter. We are here to serve and protect you. So do not be afraid to rely on us and your friends."
She couldn't help but smile at not only Patalor, but also Omelet.
"Omelet! Omelet!"
"Tsk, what's this one supposed to do?" David asked, catching Rika's attention. "While it is an impressive monster, it doesn't have enough ATK to take me down in one strike."
"Oh it does." Rika said. "Because when he's successfully summoned, he gains 1000 ATK!"
"It WHAT?!"
Fighting Foodon - Palator, the Foodon Embodiment of Light (ATK: 3500-4500)
"Alright! Rika won!" Kuromu cheered.
"Finish it, Rika!" Asuka shouted.
"Kick his ass, already!" Jun added.
"Battle! Patalor, let's finish this! Together!" She declared.
"I'm right with you." Palator said, as his body was enveloped in fire, before using his lance to conjure multiple fireballs in the air.
"Go! Fireballs of Good!"
The fireballs soon flew across the field and pelted onto David's side, sending him flying in defeat.
Rika: 2800
David: 0
"You did it!" Sho cheered.
"Atta girl!" Rex cheered too.
Rika fell to her knees in exhaustion as she looked up at her strongest Foodon. "You did it, Palator." She said, as the large knight Foodon turned towards her.
"No… we did it." Palator corrected her while the little omelette Foodon cuddled up to the chef.
"Omelet! Omelet!"
"Ehehe… thanks, Omelet. You saved me." Rika smiled, petting her head.
"Call upon us again when the time comes." Palator nodded, before he and Omelet disappeared when the Solid Vision cut off.
As she watched the two vanish, Rika heard David groan. He soon got up and clutched his head. "You… You ruined everything…!" He snarled, likely still under the effects of the Spirit Bond.
As he got up, he attached the visor over his eyes.
"David, it's over!" Reggie shouted.
"It's not over yet! I'll digitize her now!" He shouted, before pressing the button on the side and the visor shot out a blue beam towards Rika.
"RIKA!" Everyone shouted.
As Rika staggered backwards, the two halves of the pendant combined into one, and a bright light emitted from the pendant.
"What the-!" Kuromu got out, as the pendant's light shot out a beam of its own colliding with David's.
The collision caused a burst of light to wash over the group, shattering the visor while also finally snapping David out of the Spirit Bond. As the stern young man fell to the ground, unbeknownst to everyone, a red gem shard flew out of the destroyed visor and into the pendant.
Not only that, pixels of data flew over to a spot on the field and what materialized was an unconscious Chronos.
"Instructor Chronos!" Judai gasped as he and Rex rushed towards him.
"Ugh, where am I?" The instructor groaned as he was helped back to his feet by the two.
"Rika saved you, that's what." The mutt answered.
"Rika!" Koji called out as he rushed over to her with Asuka and Kuromu following, albeit slower due to the latter still recovering. "Sistah, you aight? You cool?"
"Y-Yeah, I think so…" Rika got out, before she saw Asuka approaching her, the latter handing Kuromu over to Koji. The Obelisk Queen then placed her hands on the Foodon Duelist's shoulders.
"It's okay, Rika. It's over now," Asuka assured her.
"Asu… ka-chan…" Rika got out, before she embraced the Obelisk Queen. Asuka embraced her back, but then felt Rika's body trembling, and something dampened her shoulder. It was clear that the chef was holding back the fear she had felt in that Duel until now.
"It's okay… let it all out…" Asuka said, combing Rika's hair.
"That must have been terrifying for her." Judai said, feeling worried about the chef as well as everyone else. After all, it was David that served as their wake up call that these Duels against the Seven Stars aren't gonna be like the simple games they know.
Meanwhile, the stern young man staggered to his feet, just as dazed as the professor.
"What happened…?" David groaned, shaking his head. "Where am I?"
"Brother!" Reggie gasped as she helped David back to his feet.
"What happened? The last thing I remember was summoning A-to-Z Buster Dragon Cannon and…" he muttered.
"It's alright. It's over." She said, confusing David.
"What's over?"
That's when Rex noticed something scuttle out of David's neck. "The hell…?" He muttered, as it was too fast for him to get a read on what exactly left David. He then shook his head, "It's a long story, sir." Rex told David, "Guessing that your boss monster went berserk."
"What?" David frowned.
"Yeah, like I said. Long story." Rex said.
Meanwhile…
Oogumo chuckled as a red insectoid creature scuttled onto his table.
"I see that one of my candidates has fallen." He mused.
The insectoid made tiny shrill and shrieking noises, as if communicating with him.
"No matter, we can reclaim him in due time." The spider-masked man reassured it.
"Oogumo… do you realize… what you did…?" Yukina asked weakly, as she was cuffed on the wall.
"If you mean take a page out of Akaba's playbook and improve upon it, then yes. I do." He chuckled. "The other two will follow suit." He then turned towards a screen monitoring three lifelines, with David's currently listed as unknown since the insectoid creature was here. "Once I have everything that I need, everything will be realized."
"My son… will stop you…" Yukina said.
"And how do you think you can do that?" He laughed, "I have three Duelists that specialize in hybrid defense, graceful deception, and raw power. What do you have?"
"He has heart, determination, and courage." Yukina countered.
"We'll see once I pay him a visit." Oogumo laughed off. "And probably much sooner than you think." He added, looking at one of the lifelines. "It's time for them to make their move."