Tania burst out laughing.
"Good." Expectation lit up her face. "There's something different about you compared to the others—I can feel it. You've got a certain aura that belongs to the strong.
Don't let me down."
"I'll do my best to satisfy you," Kira said. "But since we're doing an underground duel, we should set the rules in advance. For example, if you win, then what?"
"Do you even need to ask?"
Tania planted her hands on her hips and thrust her chest out to flaunt those extravagant pectorals, speaking heartily.
"If I win, you naturally have to do as I say. I sense a faint kingly dominance in you. If I win, then you'll become my ideal husband-to-be."
"Hold it."
Kira made a time-out gesture.
"And if I win?"
"You win?"
Tania's shoulders sagged, then she suddenly put on a coquettish act, batting her eyes with endless charm. Only, with her burly, musclebound build, the flirtation came with its own built-in dissonance—far from making one's heart throb, it tightened the chest with nameless dread.
"If you win, then I'm yours. I'll devote myself to you and stay by your side from then on."
Kira: "…"
So either way you don't lose, huh?
Then you're invincible.
"Let's skip the part where you devote yourself," Kira chuckled.
Her type might have been right up Misawa's alley, but Kira wasn't particularly into it—especially after learning she was actually a tigress.
And that's not a metaphor—that's literal. After Jaden's duel with Tania ended, the defeated Tania revealed her true form. She was literally a tigress—likely an Amazoness monster spirit, which is why she'd developed intelligence and could take human shape.
So he'd always admired Misawa's choice: even knowing she was a tiger, he charged in without hesitation.
Maybe that's what true love is.
Kira smiled, unfolding his Duel Disk. "But if I happen to win, I will ask you to do me a small favor."
He knew Tania had a card-obsessed brain similar to Jaden's. She joined the Shadow Riders purely to seek thrills—searching for strong men to feed her dueling addiction.
She wasn't ambitious or vindictive, and she had no loyalty to the Shadow Riders organization or its master. So starting with her wasn't a bad idea.
Tania giggled again. "If you beat me, we'll be family. Why talk about a small favor then? Why be so polite with family?"
Kira: "…"
"Enough talk. I'm already itching for this. If we're going to fight, then come!" Tania barked.
"Duel!" x2
[Kira, LP 4000]
[Tania, LP 4000]
"I'll take the first move."
"Good" Tania smiled. "No need to hold back on me, Mr. Revolver. Come at me with everything you've got! I can take it"
"Oh? Is that so?"
Kira said:
"Then I'll set a monster in face-down Defense Position. Next, I activate this card.
The Field Spell, Catapult Zone!"
The catapult field unfolded; it was as if a river cut across the field between them. A massive catapult apparatus landed on Kira's side of the field.
"Then I set one card and end my turn."
"The face-down monster and the set card—what secret is Mr. Revolver hiding, I wonder?" Tania's eyes kept crackling with electricity. "Tania's so excited to find out."
"Excited? Don't worry—you will," Kira smiled.
In the original story, Tania reacted the same way when she dueled Misawa. In the end, Misawa's mental composure shattered and he fell under her sway. He even lost his usual calm in the duel; the duelist's momentum must have been affected too.
Kira knew this was probably part of her dueling strategy. Trash talk is also an effective weapon in a duel—by talking an opponent down, seem to increase their odds of a godly topdeck.
Only, Kira wasn't good at lip service; the traditional methods those seafood-heads used weren't his style.
No matter—he had his own methods. Disrupting the opponent's mindset to interfere with their momentum—different route, same principle, same destination.
Tania's cutesy act and coquettish glances during a duel were the same idea: a way to crush the opponent's momentum through psychological warfare.
"My turn. Draw!"
Tania said:
"I activate the Spell Card Graceful Charity. Draw three cards from my Deck, then discard two cards from my hand."
"Next I Normal Summon Amazoness Swords Woman!"
The red-haired swordswoman Kira knew all too well leaped in with her blade—only this time, she was on the other side.
[Amazoness Swords Woman, ATK 1500]
"Amazoness Swords Woman reflects damage you take in battle," Kira said. "Ah, playing a troublesome monster right out the gate."
"As expected of Mr. Revolver—so knowledgeable. Now, Tania's going in."
Tania fluttered another flirtatious look, but in the next instant her tone shifted, turning gruff—like a general gallantly leading a charge on the battlefield.
"Battle! Amazoness Swords Woman, attack the face-down Defense monster!"
The swordswoman lunged, blade flashing. The set monster flipped, revealing a little angelic figure with wings.
[Skelengel, DEF 400]
"When Skelengel is flipped, I draw one card from my Deck."
Kira drew a card.
"But your angel will still be destroyed by Amazoness Swords Woman," Tania said.
"Will it? That's not a given," Kira smiled.
Tania frowned. "What?"
"Catapult Zone's effect," Kira said. "When a monster you control would be destroyed by battle, you can send a Rock-Type monster from your Deck to the GY instead, and your monster is not destroyed by that battle."
His Duel Disk auto-searched, and a card popped up. Kira drew it out; the Deck then auto-shuffled and cut.
"I send the Rock-Type 'Revival Golem' from my Deck to the GY so that Skelengel isn't destroyed by battle."
A layer of rocky aura formed before the little angel like a transparent shield, stopping the Amazoness blade. The sword strike was blocked, and the swordswoman had to retreat.
"Protecting your monster with the Field, huh," Tania said.
"Not only that—the effect of 'Revival Golem' also activates."
Kira calmly produced the card he'd just sent to the GY.
"Once per turn, when Revival Golem is sent to the GY, I can either return it to my hand or Special Summon it.
I choose to Special Summon Revival Golem."
[Revival Golem, DEF 2100]
"Oh? Defending while also turning it into offense—using my attack to summon a new monster?"
Tania's lips curved upward, battle-lust kindling in her eyes.
"Interesting. Looks like I've finally met a worthy opponent."