Jad LP: 1900

Number 10: Terra Storm: Rock-Type/Xyz/WIND/Rank 4/ATK 1500/DEF 2600 – 2 OLU

Epignosai Aleph: Machine-Type/Xyz/LIGHT/Rank 4/ATK 2300/DEF 2300 – 0 OLU

Epignosai Teth: Machine-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 500/DEF 500

Epignosai Pe: Winged Beast-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 1700/DEF 1700

Leah LP: 600

Borealis Leger: Fairy-Type/Spirit/WATER/Level 4/ATK 1400/DEF 600

Borealis Tatami: Fairy-type/Spirit/WATER/Level 4/ATK 1700/DEF 1100

Susa Soldier: Thunder-Type/Spirit/EARTH/Level 4/ATK 2000/DEF 1600

"So you're planning on Summoning a God Card?" Jad asked sarcastically.

"Well, sort of," Leah replied. "This card isn't Summoned like traditional God Cards, and it isn't a DIVINE monster. It's also a lot weaker than regular God Cards. Still, it's all I need to take you down."

"Do you really think that after a description like that I will even hesitate to use Epignosai Pit on it?" Jad growled.

Leah shook her head, the wind making her light-brown hair swirl around her. "Remember what happened on my first turn? You allowed me to Summon a bunch of weak monsters, but immediately used Epignosai Pit the moment I Xyz Summoned. What you don't know is that I took that on board. I realised that you wanted to wait to use your Trap on something worthwhile instead of wasting it on weaker monsters. So I've been playing only weaker monsters up to now, which you've been mostly ignoring."

"I thought you were going for another Xyz Summon?" James called from the side-lines.

She grinned at him. "So did Jad, but you were both wrong." She turned back to her opponent. "You gave me too long to set everything up, and now it's too late for you to do anything."

"I'm losing my patience, girl. Summon the card!" Jad snapped.

"Well, since you asked so nicely," Leah smiled. She took a card from her hand and held it up. "To Summon this card, I have to return three face-up Spirit monsters I control to my hand. So I return Borealis Tatami, Borealis Leger, and Susa Soldier to my hand." The three monsters faded away into mist. "Now, here we go! Keeper of two worlds, descend down to us now! Appear, Ausos, Goddess of Borealis!

The floor beneath them gave an almighty shake, as if a giant fist was pounding on something. Pieces of the already destroyed walls started falling to the ground as the tremors got worse. The lack of ceiling gave the players a good view of what happened next. A flash of light in the sky caught Jad's attention, and he looked up to see the Northern Lights materializing above the building, spreading across the sky from a point directly above Leah and pushing the clouds out of the way as they grew, until they took up most of the visible sky. With a resounding crack, a bolt of green lightning flashed across the aurora. Another bolt, this one yellow, quickly followed it. The Deltas and Kodoku covered their ears as more lightning bolts of different colours chased each other across the sky, contrasted sharply by the rippling aurora. With a final, deafening crash, a huge bolt of white lightning seemed to slice through the aurora like a blade, and the shimmering lights began to fold away in either side like huge celestial curtains. Where they had been was what appeared to be a slit in the very fabric of the world. It was abundantly clear that another world lay on the other side of it, but there was too much light flooding out of it to see clearly.

From out of the gateway came a clamour of tiny, distant voices. All of them were shouting at the two duelists, but the sources of the voices were hidden, and they were too far away to make out any individual words. One thing was clear, however – they were absolutely terrified about something.

Then something began to form within the light, slowly outlining its limbs and figure, and descending from its place in the heavens. It was the very image of what a goddess should look like. She seemed to be an ordinary woman dressed in a white robe, but for her size and her hair. It flickered and waved like curtains, and glowed with a thousand different colours. It wasn't that her hair resembled the aurora – her hair was the aurora. They could actually see the Northern Lights waving in unison with the movements of her hair. As more of the goddess became visible, the duelists observed a change in her garment as well. It was no longer a pure illustrious white, but was now a constantly swirling mixture of colours, as though it too was a window into another world.

The heavenly entity took her place behind Leah, towering over the entire building, and indeed matching the height of many skyscrapers in the city. It stood at least ten times taller than Jad's Number, which despite its own huge size, was dwarfed by the goddess. To Jad, it was like facing a moving, breathing skyscraper. The goddess looked down upon the duel almost kindly, its hands clasped gracefully in front of it.

Ausos, Goddess of Borealis: Fairy-Type/Spirit/WATER/Level 9/ATK 2800/DEF 1200

Jad took a step back. He certainly hadn't anticipated something like this. "It... it's enormous!" he breathed. Then he shook his head to clear it. "But it was all pointless! I activate the effect of my banished Epignosai Pit! By returning it to the Graveyard, I can banish the monster you just Summoned!" He held out his hand for the card, but nothing happened. Puzzled, he looked down at his duel disk. He pressed a few buttons, then whacked the top of it with his free hand, but still the duel disk refused to surrender the card. "What's going on here?" he muttered. Then, with a feeling of dread, he looked up at Leah. "Did you do this?"

Leah shook her head, her own hair still being blown about by the fierce winds. "No, I didn't. But she did." She indicated the goddess towering above them.

"I don't understand..." Jad began.

"It's simple really." Leah grinned. "During Ausos' Summoning, cards and effects cannot be activated. Which means that your Epignosai Pit can't be used."

As if in response, Ausos raised one of its arms and pointed towards the duel. Everyone in the room flinched, afraid that it was about to strike. But instead, the goddess gestured almost lazily, as if brushing a curtain aside with great precision.

And just like that, the savage winds still attacking the building were swept away, and a sense of calm settled over the arena. The goddess wasn't actually the one who had stopped the winds - it didn't have any power of its own. Instead, the Number had stopped its own winds. Jad was afraid of the colossal monster, and that fear was seeping through into the Number, stunning it, and preventing it from exerting its full power.

"Whoa..." Katie breathed. "Who knew Leah had a card like this..."

Matt turned to Dan. "Did you know she had this?" he asked.

Dan nodded, then turned to face him. "Have you ever heard of the card Sleeping Giant Zushin?"

"Oh yeah," James piped up. "I have one of those. It's supposed to be almost as strong as the Egyptian God Cards, but it has ridiculous Summoning Conditions to make up for it."

"That's the one." Dan said. "Ausos, Goddess of Borealis is very similar to Zushin. It's a very common card, but no-one ever uses it due to its tough Summoning Conditions. I mean, Spirit Decks are comparatively rare anyway, and even in a well-made Deck, getting three Spirits on the field is hard at the best of times." He turned back to look at Leah. "But that didn't deter her. She still manages to Summon it more frequently than you think." He shook his head. "Honestly, it never ceases to amaze me how she can make a Spirit Deck run with such consistency."

"I agree," Matt said, also turning his attention back to the duel. "She's sure is one special girl."

A movement from Leah caught their attention - she was raising her hand. "I activate the effect of Ausos, Goddess of Borealis. Once per turn, I can reveal any amount of Spirit monsters in my hand, and then return that many cards on the field to the owner's hand."

"Hang on!" Jad gasped. "You just returned three Spirits to your hand when you Summoned that thing!"

Leah nodded and revealed her entire hand. It contained the three monsters she'd returned – Borealis Tatami, Borealis Leger, and Susa Soldier – plus an additional Borealis Tatami that she'd searched earlier that turn.

"Four Spirit monsters! Nice one!" James shouted. She gave him the thumbs up.

"And look!" Katie was bouncing with excitement. "Jad's field contains exactly four monsters. This is perfect!"

"Get rid of them, Ausos!" Leah called. The colossal Spirit spread her arms to either side. Her shimmering hair began to flap wildly as if caught in a gale. Suddenly, a series of spectral lights surrounded all four of Jad's monsters. The three Epignosai monsters disappeared without incident, but the Number spun even faster, trying to escape. But it couldn't hold out, and finally faded away into mist. Its two green Overlay Units, now useless, dissipated on the spot.

But the strangest thing was that Jad didn't seem to feel any pain from his Number's defeat. He simply stood there, taking in the enemy monster. "Extraordinary," he said, "such a difficult card to Summon... such power... you're a very interesting person…"

Leah wasn't listening. "Battle! Ausos, direct attack!" The goddess still had her arms spread. Now, she brought them both forwards, so that her palms were pointing straight at Jad. With a rushing sound, the spectral lights engulfed him. He was knocked to the ground without a sound.

Jad LP: 1900 → 0

Leah LP: 600 [WINNER]

Leah wasted absolutely no time on this one. The tendrils of light were extending from her wrist before the final claxon had even sounded. They entered the body of the downed man, and he gave a groan of anguish.

Guiding the tendrils with her mind, she felt carefully around the teacher's soul, trying to locate the Number. Eventually she found it, latched into a corner of his soul. At her signal, the tendrils wrapped themselves around the Number and gently extricated it from its home, pulling back to the outside world.

With no sound at all, the tendrils retracted with the Number, which took on its card form the moment it left Jad's body. The yellow number ten on the side of his neck shattered, and the card was deposited safely in Leah's hand. She watched as the Number's symbol etched itself onto the back of her right hand, then faded away. It was over.

With a deep sigh, she slipped the card into her back pocket, and jogged over to Jad, the other Deltas and Kodoku right behind her. "Are you ok?" she asked, stopping beside him. "Can you stand?"

The teacher opened his eyes and struggled to sit up. He eyed his surroundings with bleary eyes. "Where… where am I?" he asked slowly. "Who are you people? I don't…" then he saw a familiar face. "Kodoku, my boy. What's going on here?"

"Something happened to you, sir," the boy replied.

"Something happened to me?" the teacher asked quizzically. "What do you mean, Kodoku?"

"You were acting weird, and doing all sorts of bad things. But these people saved you."

"Did they now?" With an effort, Jad got to his feet and cast his eyes over each of the Deltas. "In that case, I extend you my warmest thanks."

Leah was taken aback by the sincerity of a man who had been happy to kill her moments ago. "That's quite alright, sir."

It was then that Jad caught sight of all the other injured kids. "Dear lord, my students! The classroom! What on earth happened here?"

"It was y-" Kodoku began, but Katie swiftly pulled him to one side.

"It's probably better if you don't tell your teacher what really happened today," she said kindly. "If people found out, then they'd have your teacher arrested, and that's not fair when he wasn't in his right mind. Don't you agree?" Kodoku paused, then nodded.

Leah, meanwhile, was doing her best to come up with an excuse. "It was a hurricane, sir."

"A hurricane?" Jad stopped and looked at her, puzzled.

"It was in the forecast this morning." Leah insisted. "It must've hit this building pretty hard."

Jad gave her the strangest of looks, then shrugged. "I suppose you must be right – a hurricane is the only thing capable of causing such destruction." He glanced at the students again, then back at the Deltas, jiggling his hands with apprehension. "Listen, I don't mean to be rude, but I have some students to attend to."

"Oh, no problem," Dan said. "Would you like our help?"

"No, no, that's quite alright." Jad said. "Once the authorities get here, it'll look mighty suspicious with you lot hanging around here, so I suggest you all leave. Still, thanks for the offer."

Leah was about to argue, but Matt interjected. "I think we'll do just that. It was nice meeting you, sir."

"Goodbye, kids." Jad said. "I very much hope we meet again."

With hurried farewells, the Deltas departed, picking their way over the rubble to get out of the building. Kodoku stayed behind to help his teacher.

When the five of them finally emerged from the destroyed building, they were glad to see that the wind had finally died down. With cheery smiles and a real sense of accomplishment, they started the long walk home. Leah examined her new card – Number 10: Terra Storm.

Well," she said, as the first sirens echoed in the distance. "I think that went pretty well."

Author-made cards:

Epignosai Teth (credit to Superjad)
Machine-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 500/DEF 500
When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: Add 1 "Epignosai" card from your Deck to your hand, then banish 1 "Epignosai" card from your Deck.

Epignosai Pe (credit to Superjad)
Winged Beast-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 1700/DEF 1700
Once per turn: You can target 1 "Epignosai" monster in your Graveyard; banish it, and if you do, this card gains 500 ATK and DEF until the End Phase.

Borealis Leger
Fairy-Type/Spirit/WATER/Level 4/ATK 1400/DEF 600
Cannot be Special Summoned. During the End Phase of the turn this card was Normal Summoned or flipped face-up: Return it to the hand. When this card is Normal Summoned: You can target 1 face-up Spirit monster you control; that target gains 1 Level.

Borealis Tatami
Fairy-Type/Spirit/WATER/Level 4/ATK 1700/DEF 1100
Cannot be Special Summoned. During the End Phase of the turn this card was Normal Summoned or flipped face-up: Return it to the hand. When this card is Normal Summoned: Add 1 "Borealis" monster from your Deck to your hand.

Ausos, Goddess of Borealis
Fairy-Type/Spirit/WATER/Level 9/ATK 2800/DEF 1200
Cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand) by returning 3 face-up Spirit monsters you control to the hand, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card's Special Summon cannot be negated. Cards and effects cannot be activated in response to this card's Special Summon. During the End Phase of the turn this card was Special Summoned: Return it to the hand. Once per turn: You can reveal any number of Spirit monsters in your hand, then target an equal number of cards on the field; return them to the hand.

Number 10: Terra Storm (credit to Superjad)
Rock-Type/Xyz/WIND/Rank 4/ATK 1500/DEF 2600
2 Level 4 monsters
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a "Number" monster. This card can attack while in face-up Defence Position. If this card would be destroyed, you can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card instead. During your next Battle Phase after this effect was used, this card can attack your opponent directly, and if the effect was used more than once since your last Battle Phase, this card's maximum number of attacks this turn is equal to the number of times that effect was used since your last Battle Phase.

Epignosai Aleph (credit to Superjad)
Machine-Type/Xyz/LIGHT/Rank 4/ATK 2300/DEF 2300
2 Level 4 "Epignosai" monsters
This card gains the original Types of all Overlay Units attached to it. Once per turn: You can detach and banish 2 Overlay Units from this card, then target 1 card your opponent controls; destroy that target.

Fun Fact #22: That was the longest Summoning sequence we've ever written. Hope it was worth it.

Fun Fact #23: Ausos doesn't actually follow the naming theme of the Borealis at all. Ausos is an alternate spelling of Hausōs, who is the dawn goddess in the Proto-Indo-European religion.

Fun Fact #24: It was extremely hard to decide whether to make Ausos a WATER Fairy-Type monster, a DIVINE Divine-Beast-Type monster, or some combination of the two. It was Sleeping Giant Zushin that finally swayed me, as Ausos was based on a similar concept to Zushin (the common-yet-hard-to-Summon God Card), and Zushin is simply and EARTH Warrior-type monster. I'm still not certain of my choice, but for now, it's what I'm sticking with.

Fun Fact #25: No kids were harmed in the making of this cha- oh wait...