At 5:18 AM, the sky in Eden was still pitch black. Tracking someone in the dark was hard, but Zero had a drone—or rather, a Priestess of the World Chalice drone.
"This way, this way! Hurry up, Amano!"
"I can't fly! I didn't think the Young Lady was this fast on her feet!"
Zero didn't know Sector 11 well. Without Eve leading the way through the narrow alleys, he would have been lost. Fortunately, Finis finally stopped at the end of a long alleyway. Next to a rusted green dumpster, a massive figure was slumped against the wall.
"Rutz?" Zero hid behind a corner. Even in the dark, the man's bulk was unmistakable. My hunch was right. Finis's duel tonight wasn't about a lake contract for her family.
Rutz, sensing a human presence, suddenly twitched. Seeing him waking up, Finis gripped her Eva Terminal and struck a strange pose—a pose Zero felt he had seen somewhere before.
Her terminal flashed with an eerie light.
Finis: "HENSHIN!" (Transform!) Zero: "Transform?"He understood, but at the same time, he didn't quite get it. Why on earth did she shout "Transform!" at a time like this?
The visual impact of the next few seconds, however, provided Amano Zero with a crystal-clear answer.
The light flashing from the Eva Terminal washed over Finis's entire body, completely altering her clothes. In an instant, she was encased in a black bodysuit that perfectly traced the sensual lines of her figure. Over the suit lay plates of reflective red armor, and a silver cape billowed behind her, caught in the atmospheric pressure generated by the transformation. A sleek helmet covered the upper half of her face, leaving only her ruby-red lips and a delicate, porcelain-carved chin exposed.
At that moment, Amano Zero had a total epiphany. "Holy crap, it's a superhero henshin?!"
Finis's outfit was an eighty-percent match for the superhero cosplay he had just seen in the online photos for the orphans—right down to the transformation sequence. No way... Miss, are you actually a middle-schooler at heart? Do you have Chunibyo?
Completely jolted awake by the "Transformation" sound effects, Rutz pulled himself up using the dumpster for support. In the shadows, his eyes were unreadable, but his voice was low and gravelly. "Who's there?"
Finis placed her left hand on her hip and pointed forward with her right. "The hero of justice who has come to judge you!"
"Pffft..." Zero couldn't take it anymore. The second-hand embarrassment was lethal. Hiding behind the wall, he felt like he could dig out a three-bedroom apartment with his toes from the sheer cringe of it all. Maybe I should just go back. I'll just pretend I didn't see anything tonight.
Just as the thought of retreating crossed his mind, Zero caught a flicker of red light from within Rutz's shadowed eyes.
"What kind of lunatic is this? You're asking for death!" Rutz roared, slamming his fist into the dumpster beside him. The heavy iron crumpled like paper under his monstrous strength.
Okay, this guy is dangerous. Although Finis's "Night Hero" act was baffling, the mysteries surrounding Rutz were far greater. Now was not the time to leave.
Bounty Hunter Rutz, who was supposed to be severely injured, had refused medical attention only to crawl into a deep alleyway and lose consciousness. Everything about this, from head to toe, screamed "suspicious."
Finis: "Answer me! Are you the Bounty Hunter Rutz?"
Rutz: "I am who I am!"
Finis: "I am asking about your persona! Who is the person controlling this body?!"
At those words, Rutz's violent expression suddenly vanished, and the aura around him shifted instantly. For a split second, Zero thought he saw Rutz's hulking limbs twist at a grotesque, unnatural angle in the darkness.
"How much do you know, little girl?"
Faced with Rutz's counter-question, Finis uttered only one name: "The Puppeteer—Shaddoll."
"Hahahaha!" From violent to serious, and then to clutching his face in a fit of manic laughter—the shifts in personality made it seem as if multiple personas were being crushed together inside that massive frame. "In that case, I definitely can't let you leave here alive!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the Eva Terminal on Rutz's wrist exploded with black light. A Duel Disk deployed, and a field barrier spread outward, dragging Finis into its center. Both terminals seemed to be infected by a virus, broadcasting a weird, synthesized announcement unlike anything heard before.
[Forced Duel Initiated] [Duel Mode: Dark Game]
"A Dark Game!" Zero was stunned. In the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, a "Dark Game" (Shadow Game) was never a good sign. It meant a battle where lives were truly on the line. He hadn't expected this world to be able to replicate something as dangerous as a Shadow Game.
Unfortunately, Zero was currently just an ordinary duelist. He had no way to stop it and could only watch as Finis was pulled into the darkness. However, despite being suddenly thrust into a Shadow Game, Finis's expression beneath her hero mask showed no sign of panic.
Zero had no idea how strong the Young Lady actually was.
Rutz: "Don't expect to survive this duel, girl. My turn, DRAW!"
Going first, Rutz performed a Normal Summon. "I summon Giga-Tech Wolf in Attack Position! Then, I activate the Spell card Tribute Doll! I Tribute Giga-Tech Wolf to Special Summon a Level 7 monster from my hand!"
It was the same combo Rutz had used against Zero earlier. As the sacrifice for the demon god was released, a violent wind howled through the dark alley. Rutz threw his hand forward. "Special Summon! Come forth, Kazejin!"
Kazejin [Level 7 / Wind] [Spellcaster / Effect] [ATK: 2400 / DEF: 2200]
The green demon god, wreathed in gales, descended into the midnight gloom. "I end my turn."
The turn shifted. Within the Dark Game, Finis began her turn. "My turn, DRAW!"
One had to admit, seeing Finis play cards in that hero suit was actually quite cool. It helped that she had a great figure that carried the look well. Besides, with cosplay, as long as your conviction is strong enough and you aren't embarrassed, the embarrassment belongs to the spectators.
"I activate the Spell card Reinforcement of the Army! I can add one Level 4 or lower Warrior-type monster from my deck to my hand."
Right off the bat, she used a precise search. Finis seemed well-prepared for this duel; a confident, elegant curve played on her lips beneath the mask. "I add Destiny HERO - Doom Lord to my hand!"
Zero thought, Just as I suspected!
It matched his theory that Finis used HEROes. From the "H" spell card to her superhero cosplay, the clues had been there. But he was still surprised. She uses Destiny HEROes?
The dark aesthetic of the Destiny HEROes certainly fit her "Hero of the Night" persona perfectly. Finis slammed the searched monster onto her Duel Disk.
"I summon you in Attack Position! Erase the evil—Destiny HERO - Doom Lord!"
Destiny HERO - Doom Lord [Level 3 / Dark] [Warrior / Effect] [ATK: 600 / DEF: 800]
Rutz couldn't stop laughing. "Hahahaha! A monster with 600 Attack? I've really run into a nest of junk today!"
"Oh? And who was it that lost to 'junk' tonight?" Finis's retort cut straight to the bone.
Rutz's laughter died instantly. "You were there, weren't you?"
"Not only was I there, but I've seen through your way of fighting! Destiny HERO - Doom Lord's effect, activate!"
Doom Lord extended his sharp claws and charged toward the green demon god, completely ignoring the massive gap in Attack power. "Once per turn, Doom Lord can banish one monster my opponent controls until the end of my second Standby Phase!"
As Doom Lord's claws made contact, Kazejin vanished into thin air without a trace.
[Kazejin] banished.
Finis: "Thunder, Wind, or Water—if even one of the gods is banished, you can't summon your ace, Gate Guardian. Am I right?"
Drawing from the combat experience of Zero's duel, Finis had moved to lock down Rutz's ace on her very first turn. Zero couldn't help but admire her. "The Young Lady actually has some skills."
Eve added her own assessment: "And her legs are very long."
Thank you for that insightful contribution, Zero thought. The slender legs encased in black leather were indeed a much stronger look than Eve's own "flat-chested loli" short legs.
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Yu-ki-oh:King of the Scraps (86 Chapters – Ongoing)
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