Back at Tsukiko’s room, it didn’t take too long for signs of life to be shown. A couple of knocks came from the entrance to the room, with a familiar voice to Tsukiko announcing “I’m coming in.”
In stepped a slightly scruffy doctor, though no less professional than the rest. Unlike usual, though, he looked a bit tired. His smile wasn’t really there, the eyes a bit glazed over. “Let’s see… patient Utsue?” he said in a bored tone, needing to cross-reference the dossier in his hand. Tsukiko gave him a nod.
"Doctor, you seem a bit tired today…" Tsukiko commented, not being used to his current absent-minded appearance.
“There was a little… accident today,” the doctor flatly stated, not looking up at his patient. It only added to her unease when he said: “Everything seems to be in order, so if you’ll excuse me…”
Instead of just letting the doctor go, Tsukiko asked "What about the usual questions?"
The doctor’s face turned into a frown and he looked up from his dossier. He said something to the tune of “Listen, missy, I don’t have all day to deal…” but stop midway the sentence. His scowl suddenly turned into a grin. “Hooo… a duel monsters card, here in this ward?” he said with a mad tone of voice. Tsukiko flinched and looked on the edge of her bed, where she’d put the card from earlier. Apparently, Aiya had forgotten to take it back before hiding.
"Ah, that’s not mine…" Tsukiko tried to explain while the doctor reached out and picked it up. A sinking feeling was settling in her that something was very, very wrong. Even though these cards were forbidden on the ward, her doctor’s eyes shined positively mad.
“Aaaah, naughty and a liar? I bet you have a whole deck in there somewhere… I’d love to see it!” he shouted, reaching out with his free arm and forcefully grabbing onto Tsukiko’s. She gave a yelp and a brief scream, signalling to Aiya that whatever was going on out there in the room proper, it wasn’t good.
Aiya, who had been listening in, would jump out from behind her hiding spot. The madness in the doctor's voice was all too familiar. He was acting like the customer was. “Its contagious?!” She’d think immediately but her body was already springing into action as she’d barge into the doctor to knock them away from Tsukiko, Going full on in on that tackle to force him to distance himself from her newfound friend.
“The only one with a deck on them is me, you idiot. Don’t start fights with people that have nothing to do with it!” She’d declare pointing at the doctor.
The force of the blow was definitely enough to have the doctor let go of Tsukiko and stumble back a bit. Still, all it served to do was shift the focus of his attention. “Oooh, so this belongs to you now does it?” he said, waving Burner in front of Aiya to taunt her. Trying to grab it would’ve been futile, the man was both taller and had a bit more muscle than she did. With a grin, the doctor said: “You know, I picked up a deck of my own recently… I think I could go for a round, unless you don’t care about her treatment?”
The doctor walked backwards and closed the door, then pulled a duel disk out of what seemed to be a hammerspace. Whatever possessed him seemed to also compel him to carry a disk, and while the hospital room was spacious enough to have a duel in, it still seemed a little reckless. Not that Aiya had much choice, if she wanted a shot at getting her card back and to protect Tsukiko.
“Hmm.. Nice Magic Trick” Aiya would say brushing off the seemingly magical coincidence in front of her as nothing more than showmanship. There had to be a logical explanation for everything after all. The simplest answer was always the clearest. As she’d prepare her own duel disk, that thrummed into life as she inserted her deck into it. “You will give me back my card, and you will not hurt Tsukiko.” he’d see Aiya say, her face firmly one of protective confidence.
“Aiya… be careful,” Tsukiko requested of her new friend. ”If this is like what happened to me, then this duel is dangerous…!”
The doctor’s response was a mere chuckle, followed up with “Now… let’s commence the operation!”
“DUEL!”
Both players drew five cards from their deck, with the doctor taking initiative and putting his turn first. “First we’ll need to start with a dissection… I will activate the spell card Pot of Desires!” the doctor declared, the card’s hologram spinning on its horizontal axis briefly before facing Aiya. The doctor ran his thumb through his deck, picking up ten cards and fanning them out. “In exchange for ten of my cards removing play face-down, I open up the way to the inside of my deck and draw two cards!”
The doctor closed his ten card stack again and deposited the cards into his surgeon’s attire. After drawing his two cards, a smile formed on his face. “Well well… seems like we have quite the procedure left to go. I’m summoning Genex Turbine!” he shouted, a slightly alien, green rotary device popping up on his field soon after. Ugly protrusions from its side were venting steam, with some kind of transformation process happening to the green goo behind its glass window.
Genex Turbine: 1400 ATK
“As long as its on the field, every Genex I have in play gains 400 attack… including itself!” the doctor explained, Turbine’s attack raising up from 1400 to 1800. The doctor flashed two more cards in his hand, then set them face-down on his field without a word. “Turn end,” he declared, the ball in Aiya’s court now.
Aiya would gaze over his field. She had never seen a deck like that before. What kind of machines were they? No matter, she just had to power through it. For Tsukiko’s sake. She’d draw her card for the turn. “Draw,” She’d then immediately place a monster onto her duel disk with a flourish of her hand.
“I summon Reactan Dragon Ruler of Pebbles” She‘d declare as the rock-like dragon would flash into existence on her side of the field. Its boulder-like protrusions glistened in the light of the hospital.
Reactan, Dragon Ruler of Pebbles: 1800 ATK
She would take a moment to check if the doctor had any response to her dragon, seeing that they didn’t she would immediately continue: “I activate Dragon Shield, Equipping it onto Reactan” She’d say as she’d place the equip spell into her duel disk. The card would flash on the side of the field, before bursting into a set of armour-like fragments that would attach themselves to her dragon. Causing it to be wearing something akin to a set of tailor made armour.
“Go, Reactan! Destroy Turbine!” She’d say as her dragon would stomp across the field, crashing into the opposing monster with a fierce headbutt. As she opposing monster with equal attack would shatter into fractals her Reactan would not “Dragon shield prevents its destruction by battle.” She’d would explain. Looking at Tsukiko then back at the Doctor.
“Nobody likes a bully doc. I set one card and end my turn!”
“Aiya…” Tsukiko called her name, worry mixed into her voice. The doctor, meanwhile, calmly drew his next card.
“Very good, very good… assess the patient’s condition and proceed when success is assured. However…” the doctor trailed off a bit as he looked at his drawn card, a smile creeping up. His eyes trailed back to Aiya. “What will you do when the situation is far more dire than you had planned for?”
The doctor slammed the card down onto the duel disk, another monster rising onto his field. Its profile followed that of a human’s; two arms, two legs, torso and face, but then the parts it was made of were anything but similar. Both its stomach and arms were containers, half-filled with water. A mesh of tubes went all around and into the monster’s body, seemingly designed to pump up fluid to its diving helmet-like head. “Meet Genex Undine, my dear assistant! With her effect, I send a water monster from my deck to the graveyard and add a new machine from the former to my hand…”
Genex Undine: 1200 ATK
By sending another copy of Undine into his graveyard, the doctor picked out a new card from his deck and didn’t wait long to reveal its identity to Aiya. “I open my trap card! Ultimate Offering!” he shouted as the trap depicting blood sacrifice to an altar sprung up. “By paying 500 of my life, I can normal summon once again… this time my Genex Controller!”
A second monster joined the first after he’d placed the newly added card down. Its head was comically oversized compared to its little stubby arms and legs, with controller generally being much tinier than its companions. The machine was a bit like Kei in that regard, but despite its cutesy look, Tsukiko was worried about it.
“Watch out, Aiya…! Those are two level three monsters…” Tsukiko said to her, and while she was unaware of it herself, reminded Aiya of a similar situation she’d found herself in dueling against the frequenting customer.
“You two seem to have overlooked one detail, however… my controller is a tuner monster!” the doctor explained. “When you add up the levels of a tuner and a non-tuner, a new monster can be summoned from your extra deck… yes, I’m talking about a synchro monster! I’ll tune Controller and Undine!”
The lightbulbs on controller’s head started to flicker rapidly, individually out of sync. The machine rattled a bit before starting to glow, then faded into three green rings that lined themselves up over Undine. Once they had, Undine became transparent, three bright stars revealing themselves from inside her. Once those were aligned with the rings a bright, white light shots through the column.
“Appear, my Genex Ally Tri-Arm!” the doctor shouted with his arms wide. On his field a far more polished, futuristic-looking robot soldier had taken the spot of Undine. It had sleek black armour connected with silver joints, a blue visor and, most prominent of all, a cannon attached to its arm. All three barrels of it were closed off.
“Genex Ally Triarm has multiple effects, which I can activate depending on the attribute of its non-tuner monsters… Now I’ll load a bullet and get rid of that pesky Dragon Shield.” he calmly continued his turn. He picked up a card to discard and, as it entered his graveyard, Aiya could spot it being another monster she hadn’t yet seen this duel. “Fire!” the doctor would shout, the tube connecting to Triarm’s cannon pumping some kind of energy into it. That energy was shot out from the top barrel, piercing right through Aiya’s field and shattering her equip spell to pieces. The doctor pointed his finger straight at her dragon. “Disappear from my operating table, Reactan!”
Tri-arm rushed up and tackled Reactan to the ground, pinning its head down with one arm while pointing his cannon at it with the other. All three of its cylinders opened up, combining a stream of multi-coloured beams to completely incinerate Aiya’s dragon.
Aiya: 4000 > 3400 LP
“Sorry Reactan, But it won’t be for nothing. I activate my trap card. Dragon’s Bond” She’d say as the shattered particles would begin to reform.”It can only be activated upon the destruction of my level 4 dragon monster, allowing me to summon another level 4 dragon monster from my deck.” She’d say as Reactan’s particles reformed into a different dragon.
“With that! I’ll bring out Steam, ‘Dragon Ruler of Droplets’!” She’d declare as the new dragon would take its position on her side of the field
Steam, Dragon Ruler of Droplets ATK 1600
“Hahaha… I can handle any patient thrown my way. Why not show me what you can do? I end my turn.”
“My Turn. Draw!” Aiya would say as she would move with flourish. Immediately in a fluid motion she’d place a card onto her duel-disk. “I summon the Exploder Dragon.”
Exploder Dragon ATK: 1000
She’d say as the dragon clutching some sort of explosive device would appear on her side of the field. “Your Synchro monster is nothing! Battle!” She’d say as her Exploder dragon would lurch forth. Straight towards Triarm.
“Attacking into my 2400 Triarm with only 1000 attack on your side? Hahaha… If you want to be euthanized that bad, let me sign off on your request! Counterattack, Genex Ally Triarm!” the doctor yelled back at Aiya, with his monster crouching down and raising up the arm cannon. It aimed for the Exploder Dragon and, after charging up its laser, shot straight at the rushing dragon.
The Dragon would activate the charge in its hand, detonating both monsters in a fiery blast that would leave neither standing. “Exploder Dragons effect!, Both our monsters are destroyed and neither of us take any damage.” Aiya would say as she was about to follow up with Steam. However, something made her hesitate.
The doctor seemed unphased, and for good reason. “What is it? Are you not going to follow up with a direct attack?” he asked, mockingly. When Aiya remained silent, a mad laugh escaped him. “Hahaha… nothing escapes your eyes, does it?” he said, both players glancing down at his field. One of his set trap cards had vanished.
“You’re completely right… I activated Shadow Impulse! When my synchro monster leaves the field, I summon another from my Extra Deck with the same level… appear before us, Geo Genex!”
The room shook as the coming of the Doctor’s monster was heralded, arriving from behind him in a bright vortex of light. The monster was big, so big it barely fit into the room. It slammed down one of its barrier-like arms in front of the doctor, intent on acting as his shield.
Geo Genex: 1800 ATK
”Kyaah!” Tsukiko screamed as the monster slammed down its arm. Despite the monsters supposedly just being holograms, Tsukiko still seemed rather spooked.
Frowning she would immediately end her onslaught. “I change Steam to defense position.” She’d say with reluctance. “I’ll also set one card and end my turn”
Steam, Dragon Ruler of Droplets DEF 2000
“Then… draw!” the doctor shouted, wasting no time in taking his turn. “First, to restock the supplies… I activate Pot of Avarice, returning five monsters to my deck to draw two cards!” he’d say. Five cards slid out of his graveyard, one by one in the order they’d been sent there: Genex Turbine, two Genex Undine, one Genex Controller and Genex Ally Triarm. After sliding four of those back into the deck and letting auto-shuffle work its magic the doctor picked up two more cards. Once he saw what he’d drawn, the doctor smiled and pulled up his surgical mask.
“Time to commence the surgery,” he said. He summoned another Genex Undine, quickly using the same combo with Ultimate Offering to send an undine, grab back the controller from his deck and then summon it to the field at the cost of 500 LP.
Doctor: 3500 > 3000 LP
“I’ll be tuning Genex Undine and Controller once more!” he declared, the same three-ring, three-star alignment as before repeating itself. This time, however, the monster he summoned was a little different. “Come to my side, Hydro Genex!” he’d yell. The monster that would take place on the field looked like a more souped-up version of Undine, sharing a lot of its features, but being much larger. The two most major differences were in the two wing-like appendages sticking out the back, as well as the fluid-containing lance in its hands.
Hydro Genex: 2300
Tsukiko started getting worried for her new friend, saying ”Two Synchro monsters…? Aiya…”
The doctor, however, just wagged his fingers. “No… two assistants is not enough. When the patient is in cardiac arrest, it’s time to defibrilate! I use the spell Silent Doom to bring back Controller from the graveyard in defense position!” he would continue his turn unabated, bringing the little robot back for a third time this duel. Silent Doom had been one of the cards drawn this turn and, then, the doctor reached for the other one. “When I have controller on my field, I can normal summon this card without tribute… and when Ultimate Offering is on the field, I can normal summon as I please!”
Doctor: 3000 > 2500 LP
Cutting his LP even further, the doctor placed down yet another monster in the Genex Series. “Come, Genex Furnace!” he shouted, with the monster popping up right next to Controller. Once more, there was a tuner and a non-tuner. And, once more, the doctor would say: “I tune Genex Furnace with Genex Controller to call upon another one of my monsters!”
Three rings covered five stars from Furnace. In a brilliant flash of light, a third Synchro Monster had taken to the right side of the doctor’s field. “Descend, Thermal Genex!” was the cry that signalled the arrival of a hulking frame to rival that of Geo Genex. Blue hot flames spewed from the four openings on each of its bulky fists, clearly coming from the reactor chugging along in the middle of its body. The three of these monsters together covered the entire space behind the doctor.
Thermal Genex: 2400 ATK
“Don’t worry,Tsukiko.I’ll be fine I promise.” Aiya would say, though she wasn’t entirely confident given the fact the doctor appeared to so easily weave in multiple synchro summons in a turn. She had never faced a synchro deck that could churn out its monsters like this but that just got her excited. “Besides, when stuff starts getting difficult that's also when it gets the most rewarding. Bring it white-coat” She’d say steeling herself.
“Who am I to deny a patient’s wish? Hydro Genex, pierce through her dragon!” he yelled, the monster spinning its lance around a little before aiming its tip at Stream. Hydro Genex rushed forward and skewered the dragon, shattering it into tiny particles. Those particles, instead of scattering like they usually do, flowed back into Hydro Genex’s body. The fluids inside of them started to rapidly circulate, covering the doctor in a blue aura. “Whoa there! I forgot to mention, but when Hydro Genex destroys one of your monsters, I regain life points equal to its attack!” the ‘white-coat’ said to gloat.
Doctor: 2500 > 4100 LP.
”No…! All of his life is back already…” Tsukiko lamented.
“Oh but that’s not all… Geo Genex, give her a direct attack!” the doctor continued, the hulking monster standing up. It reached one arm back and was tall enough to throw a punch straight at Aiya’s gut without having to move from its position. She could feel a very real impact, like a sledgehammer being tossed straight at her, permeating through her body.
Aiya: 3400 > 1600 LP
Aiya would clutch her head in pain as she felt the attack connect. The barrage was only mental pain. She hadn’t been hit by a sledgehammer in actuality. No bones had been broken and yet every part of her hurt.
“And with that, your life’s down to only 1600! My Thermal Genex’ 2400 attack is enough to finish you, but I’m still activating his effect… he’ll be gaining another 200 for every FIRE type in my graveyard, meaning my Furnace!”
The reactor in Thermal Genex began to churn violently, with both Aiya and Tsukiko able to see the visage of the doctor’s monster being melted in its core. The monster’s attack quickly rose to 2600. “Your disease… is terminal,” the doctor said as he raised up one hand. “Vanish.”
Thermal Genex threateningly raised one arm, its four vents on the fist all opening up. Aiya was quickly engulfed in the flames, signalling her would-be loss.
All of a sudden, a shield would appear from nowhere, absorbing the fire, and compressing its energy down into a wave of gentle green particles that would quickly wash over Aiya. “Draining Shield.” Aiya would say grateful she had avoided the agony of burning alive.
Aiya: 1600 > 4200 LP
“So you made it through the surgery after all…” the doctor growled, clearly annoyed. “Well, it doesn’t matter! I’ll just end my turn. Your field is empty and I have three powerful monsters on my side… I can wait another turn to finish you.”
“My turn then” Aiya would say as she looked out at a field of monsters. She had to do something right? Hopefully luck was on her side. “I activate my spell card. Graceful Charity!”
She’d say as the silhouette of an Angel would appear behind her before dissipating. “It allows me to draw three cards, then discard two cards.” She’d say as she’d add one, two, three cards to her hand. Looking over them. She’d soon put two into her graveyard as she’d look at the doctor.
“Don’t count me out just yet. I summon Decoy Dragon!” She’d say as a cute adorable dragon would float onto her side of the field. Its appearance appearing to taunt the opposing synchros into attacking it.
Decoy Dragon: ATK 300
“Then I'll set one card and end my turn.” She’d say with a sigh. To any outsider this was a pathetic comeback, but she would make it work. She had to.
In stepped a slightly scruffy doctor, though no less professional than the rest. Unlike usual, though, he looked a bit tired. His smile wasn’t really there, the eyes a bit glazed over. “Let’s see… patient Utsue?” he said in a bored tone, needing to cross-reference the dossier in his hand. Tsukiko gave him a nod.
"Doctor, you seem a bit tired today…" Tsukiko commented, not being used to his current absent-minded appearance.
“There was a little… accident today,” the doctor flatly stated, not looking up at his patient. It only added to her unease when he said: “Everything seems to be in order, so if you’ll excuse me…”
Instead of just letting the doctor go, Tsukiko asked "What about the usual questions?"
The doctor’s face turned into a frown and he looked up from his dossier. He said something to the tune of “Listen, missy, I don’t have all day to deal…” but stop midway the sentence. His scowl suddenly turned into a grin. “Hooo… a duel monsters card, here in this ward?” he said with a mad tone of voice. Tsukiko flinched and looked on the edge of her bed, where she’d put the card from earlier. Apparently, Aiya had forgotten to take it back before hiding.
"Ah, that’s not mine…" Tsukiko tried to explain while the doctor reached out and picked it up. A sinking feeling was settling in her that something was very, very wrong. Even though these cards were forbidden on the ward, her doctor’s eyes shined positively mad.
“Aaaah, naughty and a liar? I bet you have a whole deck in there somewhere… I’d love to see it!” he shouted, reaching out with his free arm and forcefully grabbing onto Tsukiko’s. She gave a yelp and a brief scream, signalling to Aiya that whatever was going on out there in the room proper, it wasn’t good.
Aiya, who had been listening in, would jump out from behind her hiding spot. The madness in the doctor's voice was all too familiar. He was acting like the customer was. “Its contagious?!” She’d think immediately but her body was already springing into action as she’d barge into the doctor to knock them away from Tsukiko, Going full on in on that tackle to force him to distance himself from her newfound friend.
“The only one with a deck on them is me, you idiot. Don’t start fights with people that have nothing to do with it!” She’d declare pointing at the doctor.
The force of the blow was definitely enough to have the doctor let go of Tsukiko and stumble back a bit. Still, all it served to do was shift the focus of his attention. “Oooh, so this belongs to you now does it?” he said, waving Burner in front of Aiya to taunt her. Trying to grab it would’ve been futile, the man was both taller and had a bit more muscle than she did. With a grin, the doctor said: “You know, I picked up a deck of my own recently… I think I could go for a round, unless you don’t care about her treatment?”
The doctor walked backwards and closed the door, then pulled a duel disk out of what seemed to be a hammerspace. Whatever possessed him seemed to also compel him to carry a disk, and while the hospital room was spacious enough to have a duel in, it still seemed a little reckless. Not that Aiya had much choice, if she wanted a shot at getting her card back and to protect Tsukiko.
“Hmm.. Nice Magic Trick” Aiya would say brushing off the seemingly magical coincidence in front of her as nothing more than showmanship. There had to be a logical explanation for everything after all. The simplest answer was always the clearest. As she’d prepare her own duel disk, that thrummed into life as she inserted her deck into it. “You will give me back my card, and you will not hurt Tsukiko.” he’d see Aiya say, her face firmly one of protective confidence.
“Aiya… be careful,” Tsukiko requested of her new friend. ”If this is like what happened to me, then this duel is dangerous…!”
The doctor’s response was a mere chuckle, followed up with “Now… let’s commence the operation!”
“DUEL!”
Both players drew five cards from their deck, with the doctor taking initiative and putting his turn first. “First we’ll need to start with a dissection… I will activate the spell card Pot of Desires!” the doctor declared, the card’s hologram spinning on its horizontal axis briefly before facing Aiya. The doctor ran his thumb through his deck, picking up ten cards and fanning them out. “In exchange for ten of my cards removing play face-down, I open up the way to the inside of my deck and draw two cards!”
The doctor closed his ten card stack again and deposited the cards into his surgeon’s attire. After drawing his two cards, a smile formed on his face. “Well well… seems like we have quite the procedure left to go. I’m summoning Genex Turbine!” he shouted, a slightly alien, green rotary device popping up on his field soon after. Ugly protrusions from its side were venting steam, with some kind of transformation process happening to the green goo behind its glass window.
Genex Turbine: 1400 ATK
“As long as its on the field, every Genex I have in play gains 400 attack… including itself!” the doctor explained, Turbine’s attack raising up from 1400 to 1800. The doctor flashed two more cards in his hand, then set them face-down on his field without a word. “Turn end,” he declared, the ball in Aiya’s court now.
Aiya would gaze over his field. She had never seen a deck like that before. What kind of machines were they? No matter, she just had to power through it. For Tsukiko’s sake. She’d draw her card for the turn. “Draw,” She’d then immediately place a monster onto her duel disk with a flourish of her hand.
“I summon Reactan Dragon Ruler of Pebbles” She‘d declare as the rock-like dragon would flash into existence on her side of the field. Its boulder-like protrusions glistened in the light of the hospital.
Reactan, Dragon Ruler of Pebbles: 1800 ATK
She would take a moment to check if the doctor had any response to her dragon, seeing that they didn’t she would immediately continue: “I activate Dragon Shield, Equipping it onto Reactan” She’d say as she’d place the equip spell into her duel disk. The card would flash on the side of the field, before bursting into a set of armour-like fragments that would attach themselves to her dragon. Causing it to be wearing something akin to a set of tailor made armour.
“Go, Reactan! Destroy Turbine!” She’d say as her dragon would stomp across the field, crashing into the opposing monster with a fierce headbutt. As she opposing monster with equal attack would shatter into fractals her Reactan would not “Dragon shield prevents its destruction by battle.” She’d would explain. Looking at Tsukiko then back at the Doctor.
“Nobody likes a bully doc. I set one card and end my turn!”
“Aiya…” Tsukiko called her name, worry mixed into her voice. The doctor, meanwhile, calmly drew his next card.
“Very good, very good… assess the patient’s condition and proceed when success is assured. However…” the doctor trailed off a bit as he looked at his drawn card, a smile creeping up. His eyes trailed back to Aiya. “What will you do when the situation is far more dire than you had planned for?”
The doctor slammed the card down onto the duel disk, another monster rising onto his field. Its profile followed that of a human’s; two arms, two legs, torso and face, but then the parts it was made of were anything but similar. Both its stomach and arms were containers, half-filled with water. A mesh of tubes went all around and into the monster’s body, seemingly designed to pump up fluid to its diving helmet-like head. “Meet Genex Undine, my dear assistant! With her effect, I send a water monster from my deck to the graveyard and add a new machine from the former to my hand…”
Genex Undine: 1200 ATK
By sending another copy of Undine into his graveyard, the doctor picked out a new card from his deck and didn’t wait long to reveal its identity to Aiya. “I open my trap card! Ultimate Offering!” he shouted as the trap depicting blood sacrifice to an altar sprung up. “By paying 500 of my life, I can normal summon once again… this time my Genex Controller!”
A second monster joined the first after he’d placed the newly added card down. Its head was comically oversized compared to its little stubby arms and legs, with controller generally being much tinier than its companions. The machine was a bit like Kei in that regard, but despite its cutesy look, Tsukiko was worried about it.
“Watch out, Aiya…! Those are two level three monsters…” Tsukiko said to her, and while she was unaware of it herself, reminded Aiya of a similar situation she’d found herself in dueling against the frequenting customer.
“You two seem to have overlooked one detail, however… my controller is a tuner monster!” the doctor explained. “When you add up the levels of a tuner and a non-tuner, a new monster can be summoned from your extra deck… yes, I’m talking about a synchro monster! I’ll tune Controller and Undine!”
The lightbulbs on controller’s head started to flicker rapidly, individually out of sync. The machine rattled a bit before starting to glow, then faded into three green rings that lined themselves up over Undine. Once they had, Undine became transparent, three bright stars revealing themselves from inside her. Once those were aligned with the rings a bright, white light shots through the column.
“Appear, my Genex Ally Tri-Arm!” the doctor shouted with his arms wide. On his field a far more polished, futuristic-looking robot soldier had taken the spot of Undine. It had sleek black armour connected with silver joints, a blue visor and, most prominent of all, a cannon attached to its arm. All three barrels of it were closed off.
“Genex Ally Triarm has multiple effects, which I can activate depending on the attribute of its non-tuner monsters… Now I’ll load a bullet and get rid of that pesky Dragon Shield.” he calmly continued his turn. He picked up a card to discard and, as it entered his graveyard, Aiya could spot it being another monster she hadn’t yet seen this duel. “Fire!” the doctor would shout, the tube connecting to Triarm’s cannon pumping some kind of energy into it. That energy was shot out from the top barrel, piercing right through Aiya’s field and shattering her equip spell to pieces. The doctor pointed his finger straight at her dragon. “Disappear from my operating table, Reactan!”
Tri-arm rushed up and tackled Reactan to the ground, pinning its head down with one arm while pointing his cannon at it with the other. All three of its cylinders opened up, combining a stream of multi-coloured beams to completely incinerate Aiya’s dragon.
Aiya: 4000 > 3400 LP
“Sorry Reactan, But it won’t be for nothing. I activate my trap card. Dragon’s Bond” She’d say as the shattered particles would begin to reform.”It can only be activated upon the destruction of my level 4 dragon monster, allowing me to summon another level 4 dragon monster from my deck.” She’d say as Reactan’s particles reformed into a different dragon.
“With that! I’ll bring out Steam, ‘Dragon Ruler of Droplets’!” She’d declare as the new dragon would take its position on her side of the field
Steam, Dragon Ruler of Droplets ATK 1600
“Hahaha… I can handle any patient thrown my way. Why not show me what you can do? I end my turn.”
“My Turn. Draw!” Aiya would say as she would move with flourish. Immediately in a fluid motion she’d place a card onto her duel-disk. “I summon the Exploder Dragon.”
Exploder Dragon ATK: 1000
She’d say as the dragon clutching some sort of explosive device would appear on her side of the field. “Your Synchro monster is nothing! Battle!” She’d say as her Exploder dragon would lurch forth. Straight towards Triarm.
“Attacking into my 2400 Triarm with only 1000 attack on your side? Hahaha… If you want to be euthanized that bad, let me sign off on your request! Counterattack, Genex Ally Triarm!” the doctor yelled back at Aiya, with his monster crouching down and raising up the arm cannon. It aimed for the Exploder Dragon and, after charging up its laser, shot straight at the rushing dragon.
The Dragon would activate the charge in its hand, detonating both monsters in a fiery blast that would leave neither standing. “Exploder Dragons effect!, Both our monsters are destroyed and neither of us take any damage.” Aiya would say as she was about to follow up with Steam. However, something made her hesitate.
The doctor seemed unphased, and for good reason. “What is it? Are you not going to follow up with a direct attack?” he asked, mockingly. When Aiya remained silent, a mad laugh escaped him. “Hahaha… nothing escapes your eyes, does it?” he said, both players glancing down at his field. One of his set trap cards had vanished.
“You’re completely right… I activated Shadow Impulse! When my synchro monster leaves the field, I summon another from my Extra Deck with the same level… appear before us, Geo Genex!”
The room shook as the coming of the Doctor’s monster was heralded, arriving from behind him in a bright vortex of light. The monster was big, so big it barely fit into the room. It slammed down one of its barrier-like arms in front of the doctor, intent on acting as his shield.
Geo Genex: 1800 ATK
”Kyaah!” Tsukiko screamed as the monster slammed down its arm. Despite the monsters supposedly just being holograms, Tsukiko still seemed rather spooked.
Frowning she would immediately end her onslaught. “I change Steam to defense position.” She’d say with reluctance. “I’ll also set one card and end my turn”
Steam, Dragon Ruler of Droplets DEF 2000
“Then… draw!” the doctor shouted, wasting no time in taking his turn. “First, to restock the supplies… I activate Pot of Avarice, returning five monsters to my deck to draw two cards!” he’d say. Five cards slid out of his graveyard, one by one in the order they’d been sent there: Genex Turbine, two Genex Undine, one Genex Controller and Genex Ally Triarm. After sliding four of those back into the deck and letting auto-shuffle work its magic the doctor picked up two more cards. Once he saw what he’d drawn, the doctor smiled and pulled up his surgical mask.
“Time to commence the surgery,” he said. He summoned another Genex Undine, quickly using the same combo with Ultimate Offering to send an undine, grab back the controller from his deck and then summon it to the field at the cost of 500 LP.
Doctor: 3500 > 3000 LP
“I’ll be tuning Genex Undine and Controller once more!” he declared, the same three-ring, three-star alignment as before repeating itself. This time, however, the monster he summoned was a little different. “Come to my side, Hydro Genex!” he’d yell. The monster that would take place on the field looked like a more souped-up version of Undine, sharing a lot of its features, but being much larger. The two most major differences were in the two wing-like appendages sticking out the back, as well as the fluid-containing lance in its hands.
Hydro Genex: 2300
Tsukiko started getting worried for her new friend, saying ”Two Synchro monsters…? Aiya…”
The doctor, however, just wagged his fingers. “No… two assistants is not enough. When the patient is in cardiac arrest, it’s time to defibrilate! I use the spell Silent Doom to bring back Controller from the graveyard in defense position!” he would continue his turn unabated, bringing the little robot back for a third time this duel. Silent Doom had been one of the cards drawn this turn and, then, the doctor reached for the other one. “When I have controller on my field, I can normal summon this card without tribute… and when Ultimate Offering is on the field, I can normal summon as I please!”
Doctor: 3000 > 2500 LP
Cutting his LP even further, the doctor placed down yet another monster in the Genex Series. “Come, Genex Furnace!” he shouted, with the monster popping up right next to Controller. Once more, there was a tuner and a non-tuner. And, once more, the doctor would say: “I tune Genex Furnace with Genex Controller to call upon another one of my monsters!”
Three rings covered five stars from Furnace. In a brilliant flash of light, a third Synchro Monster had taken to the right side of the doctor’s field. “Descend, Thermal Genex!” was the cry that signalled the arrival of a hulking frame to rival that of Geo Genex. Blue hot flames spewed from the four openings on each of its bulky fists, clearly coming from the reactor chugging along in the middle of its body. The three of these monsters together covered the entire space behind the doctor.
Thermal Genex: 2400 ATK
“Don’t worry,Tsukiko.I’ll be fine I promise.” Aiya would say, though she wasn’t entirely confident given the fact the doctor appeared to so easily weave in multiple synchro summons in a turn. She had never faced a synchro deck that could churn out its monsters like this but that just got her excited. “Besides, when stuff starts getting difficult that's also when it gets the most rewarding. Bring it white-coat” She’d say steeling herself.
“Who am I to deny a patient’s wish? Hydro Genex, pierce through her dragon!” he yelled, the monster spinning its lance around a little before aiming its tip at Stream. Hydro Genex rushed forward and skewered the dragon, shattering it into tiny particles. Those particles, instead of scattering like they usually do, flowed back into Hydro Genex’s body. The fluids inside of them started to rapidly circulate, covering the doctor in a blue aura. “Whoa there! I forgot to mention, but when Hydro Genex destroys one of your monsters, I regain life points equal to its attack!” the ‘white-coat’ said to gloat.
Doctor: 2500 > 4100 LP.
”No…! All of his life is back already…” Tsukiko lamented.
“Oh but that’s not all… Geo Genex, give her a direct attack!” the doctor continued, the hulking monster standing up. It reached one arm back and was tall enough to throw a punch straight at Aiya’s gut without having to move from its position. She could feel a very real impact, like a sledgehammer being tossed straight at her, permeating through her body.
Aiya: 3400 > 1600 LP
Aiya would clutch her head in pain as she felt the attack connect. The barrage was only mental pain. She hadn’t been hit by a sledgehammer in actuality. No bones had been broken and yet every part of her hurt.
“And with that, your life’s down to only 1600! My Thermal Genex’ 2400 attack is enough to finish you, but I’m still activating his effect… he’ll be gaining another 200 for every FIRE type in my graveyard, meaning my Furnace!”
The reactor in Thermal Genex began to churn violently, with both Aiya and Tsukiko able to see the visage of the doctor’s monster being melted in its core. The monster’s attack quickly rose to 2600. “Your disease… is terminal,” the doctor said as he raised up one hand. “Vanish.”
Thermal Genex threateningly raised one arm, its four vents on the fist all opening up. Aiya was quickly engulfed in the flames, signalling her would-be loss.
All of a sudden, a shield would appear from nowhere, absorbing the fire, and compressing its energy down into a wave of gentle green particles that would quickly wash over Aiya. “Draining Shield.” Aiya would say grateful she had avoided the agony of burning alive.
Aiya: 1600 > 4200 LP
“So you made it through the surgery after all…” the doctor growled, clearly annoyed. “Well, it doesn’t matter! I’ll just end my turn. Your field is empty and I have three powerful monsters on my side… I can wait another turn to finish you.”
“My turn then” Aiya would say as she looked out at a field of monsters. She had to do something right? Hopefully luck was on her side. “I activate my spell card. Graceful Charity!”
She’d say as the silhouette of an Angel would appear behind her before dissipating. “It allows me to draw three cards, then discard two cards.” She’d say as she’d add one, two, three cards to her hand. Looking over them. She’d soon put two into her graveyard as she’d look at the doctor.
“Don’t count me out just yet. I summon Decoy Dragon!” She’d say as a cute adorable dragon would float onto her side of the field. Its appearance appearing to taunt the opposing synchros into attacking it.
Decoy Dragon: ATK 300
“Then I'll set one card and end my turn.” She’d say with a sigh. To any outsider this was a pathetic comeback, but she would make it work. She had to.