Chapter 94: Destiny, Drive Me to Battle!
[Masked HERO Dian] [8-Star / EARTH / Warrior / Fusion / Effect] [ATK: 2800 / DEF: 3000]
[This card can only be Special Summoned via the effect of "Mask Change."]
Unlike standard Fusion Monsters, the Masked HEROes were never Fusion Summoned through Polymerization or a Fusion Spell. Their transformation mechanic was built entirely into Mask Change, armor merging and layering in the style of a tokusatsu suit-up sequence rather than two monsters combining in mid-air. Dian, assembled from earth-attribute plating, brought 2800 ATK to the table, 100 short of Dominance. But the armor density gave it 3000 DEF, a diamond wall that matched the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's attack power point for point.
Latir switched Dian to Attack Position.
"Spell Card: H - Heated Heart! Dian gains 500 ATK!"
Flames wrapped across silver plating, burning it red.
[Masked HERO Dian] [ATK: 2800 -> 3300]
Both sisters carried the H card. It was almost sentimental.
"And I Normal Summon Masked HERO Glare in Attack Position!"
[Masked HERO Glare] [4-Star / LIGHT / Warrior / Normal] [ATK: 1800 / DEF: 200]
A hero radiating gold light stormed onto the field. Another manga-exclusive card. The lower-level Masked HERO lineup was almost entirely sourced from the GX manga, which apparently made it into Eden's card pool at full depth.
"I'll take the simple approach. Heroes, attack!"
Finesse: 'Hmph. All that buildup about a storm-like offensive and she's only got two monsters. Big sis really does love dramatic declarations.'
She wasn't wrong about the declaration. But Amano had been watching the field mechanics long enough to know this wasn't the full picture.
"Masked HERO Dian's attack! Destroy Destiny HERO - Dominance!"
"'Diamond Storm'!!"
A silver blade wrapped in burning fire spiraled forward and hit Dominance center mass, shattering the dark hero into fragments.
[Destiny HERO - Dominance: destroyed]
The residual heat grazed Finesse's face.
Finesse LP: 4000 -> 3600
"Masked HERO Dian's effect! When this card destroys a monster in battle, I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower HERO monster from my Deck!"
The fire trail from Dian's attack kept spreading, burning through Latir's deck until a card ejected and materialized.
"Special Summon! Masked HERO Blaze, in Attack Position!"
[Masked HERO Blaze] [4-Star / FIRE / Warrior / Normal] [ATK: 1600 / DEF: 1000]
A hero cutting through high heat charged onto the field. Special Summoned during the Battle Phase, which meant the attack sequence could continue.
"My offensive is nowhere near done, Finesse!"
"And neither is my defense!"
Amano raised Finesse's Duel Disk arm. The Graveyard still pulsed with dark energy from Dominance's destruction.
"Destiny HERO - Dominance's effect! When this card is destroyed, I can Special Summon up to 3 Destiny HEROes of Level 9 or lower from my Graveyard in Defense Position!"
Dark hero light split into three. Three Destiny HERO cards landed sideways on the Duel Disk simultaneously.
"Defense Position: Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude, Dasher, and Disk Commander!"
[Diamond Dude: DEF 1600]
[Dasher: DEF 1000]
[Disk Commander: DEF 300]
Disk Commander was the weakest-looking of the three. 300 DEF. In almost any context, it was the obvious target.
But in reality, Disk Commander was the most dangerous thing Amano had just put on the field.
"Disk Commander's effect! When this card is Special Summoned from the Graveyard, draw 2 cards!"
Two cards entered the hand.
"More capable than I expected, Finesse!" Something shifted in Latir's voice, a quality closer to genuine excitement than criticism. "Yes. This is what I wanted. A duelist worthy of the Wein name!"
She pressed forward without pause.
"Masked HERO Glare and Blaze attack! Take out Dasher and Disk Commander!"
Two Masked HEROes advanced on the two softest targets in Finesse's Defense Position lineup.
[Destiny HERO - Dasher: destroyed]
[Destiny HERO - Disk Commander: destroyed]
"And now, my trump card." Latir's fingers closed on a card. "Second Mask Change! I send Masked HERO Blaze to the Graveyard and Special Summon the FIRE-attribute Masked HERO from my Extra Deck!"
The transformation belt wrapped around Blaze. This time the merger was different: not earthen plating but high-technology mechanized armor, compact and dense as a fired projectile, with what looked like an energy cannon mounted on its back.
"This body becomes a bullet! Ultimate Battlesuit MK-102, activate!"
"Special Summon! MASKED HERO ATOM!"
[Masked HERO Atom] [8-Star / FIRE / Warrior / Fusion / Effect] [ATK: 2600 / DEF: 2000]
The tech-armored hero drifted onto Latir's field, held aloft by the thruster mounted at its back.
"Masked HERO Atom's effect! When Special Summoned, I can revive a non-FIRE Masked HERO from my Graveyard in Defense Position!"
"Defense Position: Masked HERO Goka!"
The original EARTH hero reappeared, crouched and ready. Then:
"Quick-Play Spell: Strike Order! Target one Normal Monster you control, Tribute it, destroy one monster your opponent controls!"
"I Tribute Goka to destroy your last Destiny HERO: Diamond Dude!"
All the Masked HERO lower-level cards were Normal Monsters. Manga cards, every one of them. Which meant Strike Order worked perfectly across the entire lineup. Amano noted, in the back of his mind, that he could probably purchase a Masked HERO Normal Monster from the academy credit shop and use it to unlock the Masked HERO card pool.
A thought for later.
Right now, Goka was a fired round aimed at Diamond Dude's crystalline body.
"Launching! Goka!"
The hard-armored body launched at speed and hit Diamond Dude dead center, shattering Finesse's last monster.
Latir's three Masked HEROes stood unchallenged. Exactly as she'd described it: a storm-like offensive. The field went from two monsters and one Dominance down to completely clear.
The next second, Masked HERO Atom's energy cannon was already in Finesse's face.
"Direct attack! Masked HERO Atom!"
"'Quantum Collapse Cannon'!!"
Finesse LP: 3600 -> 1000
"AAAAAAHHHH!"
Finesse: 'Do you have to scream that loudly?'
Amano: 'You're not the one getting hit!'
The hero suit did provide some damage mitigation. Point-blank cannon fire wasn't quite as bad as it would have been without it. Still, the emotional intensity of the duel had reached a certain peak, and a dramatic scream from a girl in a hero suit felt contextually appropriate.
He was going to need to examine that instinct later.
"I Set one card. Turn end." Latir continued: "At end of turn, Masked HERO Atom's effect activates. I can Set one Mask Change from my Graveyard face-down!"
Amano: "At my end of turn, Destiny HERO - Dasher's effect! When Special Summoned, at the end phase I can return one Destiny HERO from my Graveyard to my hand."
He recovered Disk Commander.
Latir set down her Duel Disk with something approaching a smile.
"Surviving my full assault, Finesse. That's actually the first time."
Amano: 'Young lady. You could never survive even one of her turns before?'
Finesse: '..I was weak, okay? Just say it.'
Amano: 'Nothing to be embarrassed about. Knowing your own limitations is a necessary part of growing.'
It was true in more than one sense. If Finesse hadn't known how outmatched she was, she never would have been drawn to Amano's dueling style in the first place. She wouldn't have approached him. Everything that had happened after wouldn't have happened.
Fate worked strangely sometimes.
Amano: 'And your HEROes, Finesse, carry the power to master fate. I believe in time you'll be strong enough to truly earn that name.'
Finesse: 'Amano...'
Amano: 'So until you're strong enough to protect what matters to you, let me guide the path that fate and your heroes will walk.'
He placed Finesse's fingertips on the top of the deck.
This single draw, and the two cards already gained from Disk Commander's revival, all three had been reshuffled into their positions by Destiny HERO - Dominance's effect last turn.
Three cards. The road Amano had mapped out for Finesse, three steps long.
"My turn! Destiny Draw!!"
First card: Destiny HERO - Malicious.
Combined with Tenacious already held in hand and the recovered Disk Commander, the three Destiny HEROes were assembled again.
"Last turn, Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude's effect revealed Grand Convergence in the Graveyard. I can activate it this turn!"
From the Graveyard burst a fusion spiral far larger than a standard Polymerization's effect, distinctive and overwhelming.
[Grand Convergence] [Spell: Send 3 or more Fusion Materials from your hand to the GY to Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck.]
The reason Finesse ran Grand Convergence specifically was that her Extra Deck contained Vision HERO Trinity, and Grand Convergence was the optimal Fusion Spell for it. The more demanding material requirement meant the Fusion Monster it produced came with additional bonuses.
[The Fusion Summoned monster cannot be destroyed by card effects.]
[When this card attacks a Defense Position monster: inflict piercing battle damage.]
Effect destruction immunity. Plus piercing damage, which was exactly what Trinity needed against three Defense Position Masked HEROes.
"I fuse three HERO monsters from my hand!"
Amano raised Finesse's arm, and the spiral responded.
"Shatter the darkness with a massive phantom, proclaim ultimate justice through a crimson body!"
"Grand Convergence Summon! VISION HERO TRINITY!!"
[Vision HERO Trinity] [8-Star / DARK / Warrior / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK: 2500 / DEF: 2000]
[Materials: HERO monsters x3]
The enormous crimson-armored phantom broke through the spiral and landed on the field. At the same time its Fusion Summon trigger fired, ATK doubling.
[Vision HERO Trinity] [ATK: 2500 -> 5000]
"5000 ATK?"
Latir hadn't seen Trinity before. She'd seen Finesse duel, and Finesse had never once summoned this. At minimum, the ATK and presence were commanding.
"That's not all. Vision HERO Trinity can attack three times per Battle Phase. And the Grand Convergence that summoned it gives it piercing damage!"
Three attacks. Piercing. Against three Defense Position Masked HEROes. The math was clean.
"One more thing before Battle Phase." Amano turned Finesse's hand palm-up toward the Graveyard. "Destiny HERO - Malicious was used as Fusion Material. Its Graveyard effect activates: banish Malicious to Special Summon one more Malicious from the Deck!"
[Destiny HERO - Malicious] [6-Star / DARK / Warrior / Effect] [ATK: 800 / DEF: 800]
Finesse's deck only had two copies of Malicious. Both were now on the field or in play, making the card effectively quasi-limited at two for this duel.
"Preparations complete, Latir."
Amano swept Finesse's arm forward. The crimson phantom's cape lifted behind her.
Latir noted the name.
"Calling your own sister by her first name now?"
"Battle! Vision HERO Trinity attacks three times! First target: Masked HERO Atom!"
Trinity launched forward, the first of three blows aimed at the tech-armored hero.
Latir flipped her Set card. "Not letting that through. Trap Card: Scrap-Iron Scarecrow! Negate one of your opponent's monster's attacks!"
A battered scarecrow appeared from nowhere, interposing itself between Trinity's fist and Atom. The 5000-point punch slammed into it and stopped dead.
"And after activation, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow resets to my field!"
The trap card settled back into its face-down position. In an academy environment where raw beatdown was the dominant strategy, a resettable attack-negate was premium defense. But it could only reset, not chain twice in a row. Next turn it could be used again. Right now, it wasn't available.
"Two attacks remain."
Even with two hits left instead of three, the math still ended the duel. Atom had 2600 ATK, Dian had 3300, Glare had 1800. Two piercing attacks would be more than enough to run through Latir's remaining LP.
Latir: "...I'll admit it. This is the first time dueling you that I've actually felt pressure, Finesse."
But she still had the Set card Atom had loaded at end of turn.
"I activate the last Mask Change! Send Masked HERO Glare to the Graveyard and Special Summon the LIGHT-attribute Masked HERO from my Extra Deck!"
The transformation belt found Glare. Gold light rose into a pillar and from the top of that pillar, Latir's final Masked HERO descended, trailing a beam of light like a comet.
"Become a blade of justice, sword of tearing light!"
"Special Summon! MASKED HERO KOGA!"
[Masked HERO Koga] [8-Star / LIGHT / Warrior / Fusion / Effect] [ATK: 2500 / DEF: 1800]
[Masked HERO Koga] gains 500 ATK for each monster the opponent controls. This effect also activates during the opponent's turn: banish 1 HERO monster from your GY to reduce the ATK of 1 opponent's monster.
Amano had Trinity and Malicious on his field. Two monsters.
[Masked HERO Koga] [ATK: 2500 -> 3500]
Then Koga's second effect fired immediately.
"I banish Masked HERO Glare from my Graveyard to reduce Trinity's ATK by 1800!"
"'Radiance Lock'!"
Chains of light wove around Trinity's massive frame, staking it to Glare's last energy signature.
[Vision HERO Trinity] [ATK: 5000 -> 3200]
Latir now had three Masked HEROes standing: Koga, Dian, Atom.
She'd been pushed this far by the girl she'd spent a year dismissing.
"Exceptional. I genuinely didn't expect this from you, Finesse. You've pushed me until I'm actually excited." She looked across the field at her sister. "This is what I was hoping for. This is the kind of hero battle I wanted."
The chains binding Trinity flickered. But 3200 ATK still cleared 3800 by margin. More than sufficient.
"Fate's current does not stop for this. Keep fighting, Trinity!"
Trinity charged through the light-chain restriction and drove the second punch into Atom's high-tech plating.
"'Justice Execution: Double Strike'!!"
[Atom's plating cracked. Internal circuits flickered. But it held.]
Latir LP: 4000 -> 3400
"Masked HERO Atom's effect! Once per turn, this card cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects!"
"Third strike!"
"'Justice Execution: Triple Strike'!!"
No protection remaining. The third punch hit Atom's cracked armor and finished it.
Latir LP: 3400 -> 2800
[Masked HERO Atom: destroyed]
Finesse: 'Big sis is unbelievably strong. Trinity at full power only cleared one Masked HERO.'
At the first-year level, Vision HERO Trinity was instant field dominance. Against Latir Wein, Trinity running all three attacks had cleared exactly one-third of her field.
Amano: 'Don't lose heart. We've only used one-third of our destiny.'
The second fate card, arranged by Dominance last turn and drawn through Disk Commander's effect, was already in hand.
Amano: 'Do you know why I Special Summoned Malicious to the field?'
Finesse: 'Why?'
Amano: 'Finesse. Your mother gave you the name of the phoenix.'
A girl named for a phoenix ought to have that bird in her deck.
Amano was going to give Finesse a gift. Not just a win. Something permanent, something that would stay in her Extra Deck long after this duel ended.
"From my hand, I activate Quick-Play Spell: Instant Fusion! During the Battle Phase, I can fuse two HERO monsters on my field!"
The battle wasn't over.
***
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