Dueling life in a futuristic world

 I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the lagoon. Even without mentioning the food, the bright environment and breezy atmosphere kept me entertained for hours on end. But I had ‘work’ to do, and by work, I just mean more fun as I made my way to the changing room of the arena’s backstage to meet up with the girls.

 I soon learned from Haruna that me and Nanako would be cheering for Aiko while she and Naeko would do the same for Yasuna. I was a little mad that they came to this decision without asking my opinion on it, but they apparently chose it randomly and I wasn’t about to argue with Lady Luck.

 As we would be cheering for different duelists, a question rapidly arose: What would be the punishment for the loser’s cheer team?

 “I mean, it has to be sexy, right? What about we have the losers get glowing tramp stamp tattoos for the last few matches? You know? Barely visible unless people look close enough…” Naeko gives her suggestion.

 Haruna shakes her head. “No, that’s just public humiliation with extra steps. Don’t forget that we’re no longer just cheering on the NWDA island. We have an image to maintain and that would stain it. Also, before anyone suggests it, I won’t permit ‘Using your performer avatar in the next duel’ being a punishment here. I hope you are all mature enough to realize why.”

 It’s a little strange seeing Haruna be the voice of reason, but she is the captain. That’s technically her job.

 Still, I raise my hand, asking. “Just making sure we’re on the same page here. Performer avatar means going all out, right?”

 The dark-skinned girl nods. “Yes, and everything that goes on top is your performer outfit. I thought we went over this after your initiation.”

 I shake my head. “Sorry Nanako, I was a little too drunk at the time to remember that. Thanks for the clarification.”

 The main reason I asked that, was the lack of a definitive answer from the usual sources. I knew it had to do with going all out, but I wanted to be sure.

 Stroking her chin, Nanako shoots an alternative. “If we’re having so much trouble finding something naughty right now, why don’t we just leave this open and decide what to do with the losers when we’re feeling a little friskier?”

 Haruna sighs. “Because then it’s not that fun. The point of deciding a punishment beforehand is to make the duel itself have some stakes. As it is now, we’ll have no reason to care about either duelist winning. We’ll be faking it just like at the NWDA when we practice with randos.” She crosses her arms and looks to the ceiling. “But now that you mention it, it doesn’t feel right to doll out sexual punishments. Maybe we’ll just go with the tramp stamp idea and wear higher waisted skirts for the next match. It’ll stay as a little secret between us. What do you girls think?”

 “I was fine with it even without the different skirts, so it’s a yes from me,” Naeko points out.

 I lean back against a wall and close my eyes, thinking it over.

 Meanwhile, I hear my partner say. “Also a yes for me. I actually wanted to get one for some time now. What about you Yuumi?”

 Contrary to her, I really don’t want to get something like that. “I don’t really want to… How long would we need to wear it for?”

 Haruna thinks about it for a bit, then holds three fingers up. “Three weeks and then you can get it removed.”

 Shaking my head, I counter. “One week and that’s my maximum. I don’t really like idea of tattoos like that.” Just because I don’t mind people gawking at me doesn’t mean I want to validate their actions by getting such a slutty tattoo.

 She sighs. “Fine, we’ll do it your way. But only if you finally get to designing your performer avatar. I don’t care if you end up using it or not, just get it over with.”

 Haruna may be the protector of the public image of the cheer club, but she evidently doesn’t care a bit about personal modesty.

 Still, I had to come up with a performer avatar at some point and I’m not about to argue the tattoos aren’t a good punishment, so I nod. “So be it. Let’s go out and do this shit.” I lean up from the wall and square up with Haruna. “Don’t you think for a moment that you’ll be safe cuse Yasuna has been doing this for longer. She might have a better deck than Aiko, but that doesn’t mean shit if she can’t use it.”

 The tall girl with a toxic pink pixie cut leans down, looking at me with a crazy smile. “Good thing that you’re so confident! Wouldn’t want to stain that squeaky clean public image with a reminder of how much of a slut you are!”

 We square up for a moment before the four of us walk off from the changing room to the arena backroom. I admit I may have exaggerated to try to get a bigger response from her. Unless my refusal to get a tramp stamp triggered her that much, I suspect she did the same.

 Oh and, just to be clear, the reason I spoke about removing it so casually is that tattoo removal is a simple, quick, and painless process here… Kind of obvious, right? I would not accept something permanent as a consequence for losing a bet. Doubly so if I didn’t want it.

—

 As the platforms rise, I look at my partner and ask. “So, do you think Aiko wins this?”

 She shrugs. “Well, you built their decks, didn’t you? You should know better than anyone. But just by looking at their duels, I don’t see how Aiko would win. Unless Yasuna severely fucks up her combo, we shouldn’t be expecting any upsets.”

 I frown, looking at the floor. “Yeah… I just wanted to hear it from another person.”

 The truth was: Aiko’s deck was badly suited for this duel. I gave her the most basic deskbot deck you could imagine, simple three of’s of all deskbots, with some disruption and general support sprinkled in. But unlike Yasuna, who had kept upgrading her deck consistently, Aiko didn’t have a reason to do it.

 As the platform finally reaches its place high above the arena, level with the stands, I look down at the pit. “Well, let’s not get gloomy just yet. We’ll still have a lot of work to do.” I turn to my partner. “Let’s make this one count.”

 Nanako, standing with her arms crossed, nods with a smile. “That’s the spirit!”

 “Good morning MDS ARENA!” Haruna yells over the announcement system.

 I stand up, adjusting my mic, then continue her message. “We have a truly special duel prepared for you today!”

 The lights to the venue dim, then light up again in blue and white.

 “As you may have noticed, today’s final is a match between our two NWDA contenders!”

 Glancing at the audience, I say. “Even if both of these incredible duelists have what it takes to carry the NWDA’s flag to the Final, only one of them may become the staunch champion!”

 Haruna opens her arms wide. “So, today! Let me call the spotlight to the NWDA’s own Synchro Queen! Yasuna Nishioka!”

 As Haruna ordered, a spotlight creeps to the tan, green-haired ponytail girl wearing a familiar NWDA red rank uniform.

 “And last, but certainly not least! The NWDA’s bot Mistress! Aiko Nagasawa!”

 Another spotlight hovers on the pale, blue-haired girl wearing an identical uniform to Yasuna.

 Our double introduction seems to go over well as the thunder of the audience’s cheers reach the arena.

 Yasuna waves up at the stands before drawing her duel disk. “I’m warning you, Aiko, just because we’re friends doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you.”

 The normally shy girl furrows her brow, also drawing her disk. “And I wasn’t expecting you to. Don’t underestimate me just because of my sister!”

 Seeing the genuine conflict between the two, me and Haruna share a shrewd smile. It seems that we aren’t the only ones with something riding on the duel’s result.

 With the introductions completed, one six-sided die appears above each of the platforms.

 We could do our signature bicycle kick, but that is getting stale at this point. So instead, Nanako draws her duel disk and places down a card.

 A flaming fireball in the form of Salamangreat Spinny emerges close to the die, ramming into it at full speed.

 On the opposite platform, Naeko is the one who draws her disk. She summons ‘Lemon Magician Girl’ who bashes the die with her staff, sending it flying.

 Just like always, the dice bounce around the cylindrical shaped arena, hitting into each other, but magically avoiding the duelists.

 They finally stop, with a simple conclusion forming.

  I voice it first. “It seems like Yasuna will get to decide the turn order! Today, live in MDS Promotional Space Station Arena! Yasuna Nishioka, The NWDA’s own Synchro Queen! Vs Aiko Nagasawa, also the NWDA’s own Bot Mistress! Ready!?”

 Haruna continues. “SET!”

 Then we both shout. ““DUEL!””

 Yasuna smirks, then tells. “I’ll let you go first, Aiko. Show me what you can do!”

 “She’s really taking this seriously, huh?” Nanako says over our headsets.

 Nodding, I tell. “Very much so. Using insider knowledge even.”

 The only reason Yasuna would decide to give Aiko the first turn is if she knew her deck didn’t have any decent options for the first turn. And the unfortunate truth about pure pendulum deskbots was: They were a go second deck through and through, and while I gave her some hand traps, I’m sure Yasuna can play over them.

 If this was a match between different academies, then having this much internal knowledge about the opponents’ deck may even be grounds for disqualification. But as far as the organizers cared, this was as important as those inter-bracket matches. There was also no penalty for two duelists from the same academy just deciding who gets to pass without a duel being necessary. So the rules about insider knowledge were also relaxed.

 [Draw Phase, Standby Phase, Main Phase 1]

 With a furrowed brow and a frown, Aiko grabs a card from her hand. “That’s not nice Yasuna… I normal summon ‘deskbot 002’ followed by the card ‘Machine Duplication’ Targeting 002.”

 A small robot wielding a pistol which doesn’t look that different from the head of a pen appears on the field, chased by two other copies of the same monster.

 ‘So she’s going for it? Tch. I don’t know if that’s the right move here.’ I hold on to the mic and yell. “Aiko is calling her bots! Don’t get fooled by their small stature! When these cute little robots swarm the field, their effects buff each other! Watch as those measly 500 attack points grow into 1500!”

 With the three bots on the field, they start growing, quickly approaching Aiko’s size.

 The blue-haired girl raises her arm and declares. “With the on-summon effects of deskbot 002, I add two deskbot cards from my deck. Yasuna… I also won’t go easy on you. I add deskbot 007 and deskbot 003. Next, I scale deskbot 007 with deskbot 008. Pendulum SET!”

 On her left, a yellow robot wielding a pair of scissors rises through a pillar of light, with a pink and white deskbot rising to her left. The numbers 10 and 1 glow below their respective scales with a pendulum forming above her head.

 Aiko grabs two cards from her remaining three. “By activating the spell card ‘Double Summon,’ I normal summon for the second time this turn, Deskbot 003. Activating its on-summon effect to special summon deskbot 004 from the deck.”

 Yet another two deskbots hit the field, one yellow, wielding a transparent ruler and a drawing compass, while the other is red and wields a toy gun and a rainbow toy sword. Both deskbots grow above the rest in size, matching Yasuna’s height.

 Aiko looks at her remaining card and places it in her duel disk. “I set a card face down. I will end my turn here.”

 “True to her name, the bot mistress has left us with a full field of formidable looking robots! Will Yasuna’s deck overcome the impenetrable wall? Or fall to the children’s toys they wield?”

 Haruna sounds more than happy to answer my rhetorical question. “I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you! This field may look impressive, but Yasuna has proven to be more than capable of swarming the field herself! And with much more impressive monsters, no less! GO YASUNA!”

 I tap on my headset and ask. “You think she’s getting too much into it? She didn’t get this fired up since the Aya Vs Anna duel.”

 Nanako sighs, humming. “I think she just wants you to get a tramp stamp that bad.”

 Facepalming, I mumble. “She should really get motivated over other things than getting me to look sluttier…”