The HERO and the Reaper

This article, The HERO and the Reaper, is property of **the Dark Magician**. Do not modify or use any of its content without her express permission.

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> ---The sun was shining brightly over the illustrious Duel Academy, the school of dueling meant to gather the elites, and teach the new duelists how to become future champions. The waves crash against the island as the wind blows quite strongly through the coast. Within its walls stands one of its former champions; the illustrious Henry D'Acre, Lord of the Gem Knights as he was once called within the Academy. It was quite a breath of nostalgia having returned to the Academy after so long since his graduation, but it still felt much like home as it did when he first enrolled. But he didn't come alone, for he has brought a special someone to show his old stomping grounds.
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> It was a pleasant Saturday, and Shane had woken up early to enjoy it. He lazed around with Michael for a while, before finally summoning the motivation to go and find something to do. Unluckily, Michael had weekend homework he needed to actually get up to finish, so he was sans boyfriend for a few hours. Perhaps he'd bug Akky, or Casey, or maybe Nik... It hit him as he pulled on his hoodie that this was the day that Henry was supposed to come back to the Academy. He was staying for the weekend, and then on Monday was doing some cool guest lecture for the first year students about what it was like to be a professional duelist. A smile crept onto Shane's face. Though his first year at Duel Academy had been Henry's final, they'd grown close, with Shane looking at Henry as a sort of older brother figure.
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> Well, that settled it. Shane headed outside from the dorm, and wandered the grounds, looking for his old friend. A decent distance away from the docks, he found Henry, who was accompanied by a woman he'd never met. "Yo!" he greeted cheerfully, waving as he drew closer. "Henry! How've you been?" The pleasant breeze combed gently through the trees, like fingers through silky hair, rustling defiantly. Shane noticed that the wind carried with it the faint scent of the ocean. It was honestly such a perfect day.
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> "Shane, it's been far too long. I've been great, won a few tournaments, and I've even been given an invitation to become a true Dueling Elite, a member of the Elite Five. I thought I'd stop by the Academy to catch up on old times." Henry replied, a warm smile wrapping around his face. Even if one didn't know him, his welcoming personality makes one feel they've known him all their life. From behind him stepped a girl, clinging to his arm as she takes in the surroundings, in awe of everything around her. "Oh, this here is Freya Watson, my girlfriend and a collegiate from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, and my protegee." Henry speaks up, slightly loosening Freya's grip so he could hold her hand, a feeling that helped Freya feel warm and safe.
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> "Hello, there." She speaks up, her hazy, tired-looking eyes seeming to scan over Shane as her hair gently blew through the breeze, kept largely close together by her hat. She was small for her height, but she carried her weight with a sense of confidence that seems to betray her outward appearance.
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> "I'd heard about the Elite Five thing, that's awesome. You've probably already met my boyfriend's sister, then, Klara, one of the Five." Though he wouldn't admit it, he was still damn salty about his very public loss to Klara. Maybe it was stubborn pride, pride that existed despite his lack of tangible confidence. He was going to duel her again one day, and he didn't intend to lose that rematch. "Oh, hey. I'm Shane, Shane Stryker." Shane offered the woman his trademark bright smile, extending his arm out towards her to offer a handshake.
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> As she stares at his hand for a moment, she raises her free hand to shake his hand. "Henry has told me a lot about you, how you've grown to be a talented duelist. You run an Elemental HERO deck, he told me. I've been building my own deck, using some staple cards Henry gave me and some I found on my own. But I've yet to test it in the current circuits, since I wanted to wait until I found a worthy duelist to test it on. There's a lot of talented duelists in the Liverpool Circuit, but none quite as talented as those found within the Academy." Freya speaks up as she finishes shaking Shane's hand. Opening up her bag, she reveals a slot made specifically for a deck and pulls hers out, looking down towards it.
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> Freya was definitely odd, but not in a negative way at all. It was like being in the presence of a gentle, wandering spirit, a kindred apparition. Casper the Friendly Ghost, he thought. It was like being around Casper the Friendly Ghost. Shane had just met her, but he already knew he liked her. He could easily see why Henry was drawn to her. Blinking, his eyes focused on the deck of cards she held in her hand. "Oh, um... Would you maybe wanna...test your deck against me?"
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> "Oh, I would be honored to." She speaks up, a glow emerging from her eyes as her interest becomes piqued at the opportunity presented before her. As she reaches into her bag, she pulls out what looks like a strange wrist brace, made of pure gold. As she puts it on, she feels a hidden power emerge from within her. Before Shane and Henry's eyes, she transforms, taking on a unique form one would compare to a particular monster, but with a more human-like appearance thanks to the natural black hair and fair skin tone. As she places her deck into the wrist brace, a blade emerges from it, showing a field as it's revealed to be a Duel Disk. "I will start this duel." She speaks up, drawing five cards from her deck. "First, I place one card face down, then set a monster face down to end my turn."
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> Shane watched, astounded, as Freya seemingly transformed while he was fastening his Duel Disk to his wrist. Oh, jeez, what in the hell was he up against? Maybe this was a bad idea... No. No, he was going to go through with this, despite feeling uneasy. Shane had complete faith in his HEROes. "Alright, it's go time, then! I'll play the Spell card Twin Twisters to destroy your facedown, and discard Elemental HERO Shadow Mist to do it, using her effect to add Elemental HERO Honest Neos to my hand! Next, I'll summon the Elemental HERO Blazeman, and use his effect to add Hero Fusion to my hand! I'll fuse from my deck the Elemental HEROes Hurricane Breaker and Bright Beacon in order to creaaaate...Elemental HERO Jetstream! Next, since Hurricane Breaker was sent to my Graveyard, I'll add Hero Fusion right back to my hand, and use Bright Beacon's effect to summon out from my deck Elemental HERO Overcharge, and use *his* effect to summon Elemental HERO Nightwalker and Elemental HERO Torrent. I'll use those three to Synchro Summon out my Elemental HERO Firebrand, and he'll destroy the monster you have set!"
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> Obligingly, a sphere of flames appeared within Firebrand's hands, and he launched it at the facedown monster, scorching it. "Next, I'll play Hero Fusion yet again, sending Elemental HERO Steel and my other Elemental HERO Hurricane Breaker from my deck to the graveyard, fusing them into Elemental HERO Titanium! Once again, Hero Fusion comes back to my hand. As you can see, I have fire, wind, and earth on the field, so how about a little water thrown in to balance out nature? I play Hero Fusion again, fusing Elemental HERO Frostbite and Elemental HERO Thunderbolt from my deck to create Elemental HERO Blizzard! Finally, I'll discard Honest Neos and add twenty-five hundred attack points to Elemental Hero Jetstream, who'll lead the charge as all four of my HEROes attack you directly!"
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> As she looks against the onslaught of what was about to take place, she looks down at her hand, noticing she seemed to have less cards than she should have. But then she noticed a card was stuck behind another, the mild humidity having caused them to get stuck. As she lets out a sigh of disappointment, she closes her eyes as her lifepoints hit zero. As she looks down at the ground, she begins reverting back to her ordinary form. "One of my cards was stuck against another one, I knew something didn't feel right with my card count. Could have used it to at least survive a little, maybe." She speaks up, a meek tone of voice giving way to her disappointment in not being able to properly demonstrate her deck.
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> Jetstream, Firebrand, Titanium, and Blizzard all stood down as Freya's Life Points hit zero. Shane shuffled his cards back into his deck, deactivating his Duel Disk and stowing both away in his backpack. "Good game. I'm sorry about that," he replied awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "So, uh...what kind of deck did you build, anyway?"
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> "It's a Zombie deck, more specifically an Underworld deck." Freya replies, handing the deck to Shane to inspect it. "It's built for speed and power, but it can also burn thanks to my Skull Flames and Underworld Cannon." She was proud of the deck she built, and felt immense disappointment when she was unable to demonstrate how powerful it truly can be.
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> The blonde boy took the deck, thumbing through it carefully, his sapphire blue eyes focused and discerning. "Hm... Definitely a great zombie deck, but the one thing I'd say is missing is a search card for your Pendulums. If you could get one and replace two or three of your less useful spells with it, that'd speed up your potential combos a lot. That's why a lot of my cards can search and recycle, so I can do stuff like...well, what I just did."
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